​A GUARD AND A THIEF. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Aik has fallen hopelessly in love with his best friend. But Raven's a thief, which makes things... complicated. Oh, and Raven has just been kidnapped by a dragon.

Now Aik is off on a quest of his own, to hunt down the foul beast and make them give back his ... friend? Lover? Soulmate? The whole not-knowing thing just makes everything harder.

Meanwhile, the world of Tharassas is falling apart, besieged by earthquakes, floods, and strange creatures no one has ever seen before. Aik's ex, Silya has gone back to Gullton to do try to save her people as the Hencha Queen, and Aik's stuck in a caravan with her mother and a damnable magical gauntlet that won't let him be. He has to find Raven, before it’s too late.

Things were messy before, but now they're much, much worse.

He has to be here. Aik searched frantically through Raven’s pack as the early morning sunlight slipped across the stone windowsill and across the floor, a long, green-tinged ray of light.

He was anxious to be on his way after Raven. His heart was pounding, his thoughts skipping like a spinning stone off hard waters. No one else was awake yet, as far as he could tell, and he wanted to be in and out of the room before anyone was the wiser. Aik glanced at the unmade bed and blushed at what they’d done there the night before. He could still feel Raven’s touch, their bodies entwined….

The sooner he set off, the sooner Aik could rescue him from those awful creatures. The verent must have coerced him; Raven had all but said so. If he could just find Spin, the little familiar could guide him.

He doesn’t love you.

“Shut up.” Knowing that Raven had chosen the verent over him still burned. And that he didn’t say ‘I love you.’ But surely, he wasn’t allowed to be angry about that in the face of what had happened.

His mind was spinning, looking for answers, scared for his love, returning to old, stupid wounds and weaknesses.

Why?

The question reverberated again and again, but not even Aik knew what he was asking. His panic stripped away reason and maturity, and left him dizzy and afraid.

He got to the bottom of the pack, finding nothing but clothing and some toiletries. Farking hell. Where are you?

He started opening some of the side pouches, checking through each one before tying it closed again. Maybe Raven had taken Spin with him?

“Searching for this?”

He spun around to find Tri’Aya leaning against the doorway, looking as fresh as if she’d just slept ten hours, though she couldn’t have gotten more than four at best. How does she do that?

She held Spin’s silver sphere between two fingers.

The Tharassas Cycle is a four book sci-fantasy series set on the recently colonized world of Tharassas. When humans first arrived on planet, they thought they were alone until the hencha mind made itself known. But now a new threat has arisen to challenge both humankind and their new allies on this alien world.
 
Both the prequel and book one are currently on sale for just 99¢!

​Scott is giving away a $20 bookshop.org gift card with this tour!

​Scott lives with his husband Mark in a yellow bungalow in Sacramento. He was indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine. He devoured her library, but as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were.
 
He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.
 
A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and is the committee chair for the Indie Authors Committee at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

Today is the release day for J. Scott Coatsworth's new book, THE DRAGON EATER. It's a YA Sci-Fantasy story with an MM romance subplot. The Dragon Eater is the first book in The Tharassas Cycle series. Read on for more information about the book, an excerpt, a GIVEAWAY, and an opportunity to get the prequel story FREE!

Spin’s voice echoed in his ear. “This is a bad idea, boss.”

“Shush,” Raven whispered to his familiar.

He needed to concentrate. Cheek and jowl against the smooth cobblestones, he held his breath and prayed to the gods that no one had seen him duck under the sea master’s ornate carriage. The setting sun cast long shadows from a pair of boots so close to his face that the dust and leather made him want to sneeze. Their owner was deep in conversation with the sea master, the hem of her fine mur silk trousers barely visible. The two women’s voices were hushed, and he could only make out the occasional word.

Raven rubbed the old burn scar on his cheek absently, wishing they would go away.

“Seriously, boss. I’m not from this world, and even I know it’s a bad idea to steal from the sea master.”

Though only he could hear Spin’s voice, Raven wished the little silver ay-eye would just shut up.

The hencha cloth-wrapped package in the carriage above was calling to him. He’d wanted it since he’d first seen it through the open door. No, needed it. Like he needed air, even though he had no idea what was inside. He scratched the back of his hand hard to distract himself from its disturbing pull.

An inthym popped its head out of the sewer grate in front of him, sniffing the air. Raven glared at the little white rodent, willing it to go away. Instead, the cursed thing nibbled at his nose.

Raven sneezed, then covered his mouth. He held his breath, staring at the boots. Don’t let them hear me.

A shiny silver feeler poked out of his shirt pocket, emitting a golden glow that illuminated the cobblestones underneath him. “Boss, you all right?” Spin’s whisper had that sarcastic edge he often used when he was annoyed. “Your heart rate is elevated.”

“Be. Quiet.” Raven gritted his teeth. Spin had the worst sense of timing.

The woman — one of the guard, maybe? — and the sea master stepped away, their voices fading into the distance.

Raven said a quick prayer of thanks to Jor’Oss, the goddess of wild luck, and flicked the inthym back into the sewer. “Shoo!”

He popped his head out from under the carriage to take a quick look around. There was no one between him and the squat gray Sea Guild headquarters. It was time. Grab it and go.

He reached into the luxurious carriage — a host of mur beetles must have spent years spinning all the red silk that lined the interior — and snagged the package. He hoped it was the treasury payment for the week. If so, it should hold enough coin to feed an orphanage for a month, and he knew just the one. “Got it.”

“Good. Now get us out of here.”

A strange tingling surged through his hand. Raven frowned.

Must have pinched a nerve or something.

Ignoring it, he stuck the package under his arm, slipped around the carriage, and set off down Gullton’s main thoroughfare. He walked as casually as he could, hoping no one would notice the missing package until he was long gone.

“We clear?”

Spin’s feeler blinked red. “No. Run! They’ve seen you.”

​Raven ran.

Stars! Inside, my team sat at the table, munching on treats that Utahn had likely sent with Genj. Which meant we weren’t training right away but learning a new maneuver. I should have known. There is no way to avoid any of them now.

With a sigh, I shuffled into the room. I couldn’t hide any longer but could only hope none of them noticed the bite mark on my shoulder. Particularly Ret. I didn’t want to talk about what happened, especially in front of our teammates. I simply had to get through this part of the day. My training uniform covered most of the mark but not all.

**And a little more...

I took the empty chair, sitting as still as possible. As much as I was tempted to have one of Utahn’s delicious treats, I didn’t dare reach for one. I couldn’t risk exposing my shoulder. Instead, I waited for Ret to start the session, show us the new maneuver before we moved to the simulators to practice it. I could do this.

“The Joedanae maneuver is similar to thidemrev, in that our goal is to fake out our competition. But, unlike the maneuver we never got to perform—and somehow all the other teams knew about it—this time Ilam will still cross the finish line first.”

​A holoscreen appeared in the middle of the table, projecting detailed diagrams Ret had drawn up. They showed us where to be, when, and how to get there. All with contingency plans, depending on how our competition would react. When it came to racing, our team leader prepared us for everything. He was among the most experienced racers in the USRA and constantly could be found studying footage of the other teams in flight. He never spied on them but said he could tell how a racer would react in certain situations simply by studying their casual flying style. Truly, he was the best. And under different circumstances, I wouldn’t mind being his mate. But real life wasn’t fantasy.

​Ret Kaddim has the perfect life. He’s a space racer, the leader of the most popular team across the universe. Always planning, practicing, and racing, he has no time for a relationship, but finds plenty of willing partners who agree to his one-night-only rule. Because there is no way he wants to end up in a relationship and stuck with a family like his younger brothers. He’s having too much fun for that.
 
Ilam Nairan always dreamed of becoming a space racer. And thanks to a chance encounter with a retired racer, he is now living that dream. Far away from the mated and pregnant omega life his parents wanted him to have, he loves everything about his life. It’s perfect.
 
But one night can change everything. Especially when too much alcohol is involved. Can these two teammates survive the resulting media storm? What will it mean for their careers? The future of the team? And for them?
 
Ret is a sweet with knotty heat mm non-shifter mpreg sci-fi romance featuring an alpha space racer and an omega space racer who both believe they’ll always be single, snarky but loveable teammates, lots of space racing, endearing family members, an adorable baby, and a guaranteed happily ever after. If you enjoy teammates realizing they have feelings for each other, and all the obstacles those bring, be sure to download Ret today!