Calay tried to slow each breath, to make herself smaller. Quieter. Whatever was going on up there, she wanted no part. A shadow grew over the light. It crawled across the laundry, over her toes, obscuring her face. The silhouette was broad. Clearly out of breath. Human. “Who’s there?” Calay asked, her voice barely above a whisper. The light shifted as the figure picked up what turned out to be a heavy-duty, utility light, like the kind her dad used to have on the farm. They hoisted it up to their chest. Shined it down. She grimaced when the beam hit her square in the eyes. Calay’s heartbeat increased, her pulse raced. She needed to know who was up there. Watching her. “Who are you?” Calay tried again, raising her hand to try to shield the glow. “You alright?” The figure called back. Calay exhaled. Her shoulders relaxed. Of course. Jacob. He was always dashing to her rescue. Showing up when she needed him most. When she wanted him least. After the way she stormed out of the Loft, the last thing she needed right now was for him to rush in and save her. Except, she very much did…

Excerpt from THE STARS IN THEIR EYES. Copyright © 2022 by Kristy Gardner with permission from City Owl Press   As books piled off shelves, and the meager amount of dishes they owned smashed onto the kitchen floor, sending shards of razor-sharp glass throughout the apartment, Calay had grasped for Tess. The bed rolled on its side, sending the two lovers onto the floor, clinging to each other with their eyes sealed tight. Furniture tumbled around them. They screamed, but beneath the noise of bursting pipes, breaking gas lines, and layers upon layers of crumbling drywall, their cries went unheard. “Tess?” Calay choked out, her hands feeling their way through the chaos, “Tess!” No reply. Panic rose in her throat once again. “TESS!” She slid from beneath fragments of their splintered dresser and pulled herself up on the plasterboard that used to be their bedroom wall. “What the fuck is happening?” Surveying the apartment that was no longer an apartment, she coughed and choked back a sob. Beams of morning light fought through the wreckage, casting shadows over what was left of their home and deep within her mind. If anything has happened to Tess–she pushed the thoughts out of…