hi everbody! i hope that you are well and that the new year has been a fresh start for you! i must confess that making history has been put on a bit of a hold, writer's block is eating my insides. however, i have written a new story that i think you all will rather enjoy! it's called becoming fire, and is inspired by the video game "assassins creed: syndicate". no knowledge of this game is required to read this new story, i promise! all you need to know is that it is set in victorian london, the battleground for a brutal fight for world dominance between the templars and the assassins! intrigued? becoming fire tells the story of the daughter of london's prime minister that gets sucked into this war against her will, but finds a fire within her that she never knew she had. and there are a good amount of flirty bits in this book too, so don't worry about that ;P i experimented with a slow burn instead of an explosion (our dear friends ahk and alex got close fast, and i wanted to try something new! this story is much much longer than history lesson). there's a lot of romantic tension, some cool fight scenes, and some raw emotional scenes too! i really think you guys will like it if you enjoyed this story. with that said, i'll post a little teaser of a chapter below! this is something i haven't even posted yet in the actual story, so you guys are in for a treat. enjoy!

A hand clapping over my mouth startles me, but my muffled scream goes unheard by Jacob as he continues to ward off the Aces. An arm wraps around my shoulders, pinning my arm painfully to my side as my shoulder seems to shriek in protest. The pain is dizzying but I keep my wits about me, stomping the heel of my boot onto my assailant's toes. He curses in my ear but does not let go, dragging me out of the stall and towards the carriages parked close by. No! I cannot let myself be dragged away. In a last effort to survive, I bite the palm of the hand over my mouth. He yanks it away and I spin out of his hold, but he grips my forearm and pulls me back to him.

"Jacob!"

Jacob turns, his face spotted with blood. His eyes go wide with fear before hardening with determination, but the distraction affords his enemy an opening.

"No!"

I can hardly warn him as his opponent cocks an arm back and delivers a devastating punch to Jacob's jaw to send him reeling. My abductor continues to pull my arm, and subsequently my injured shoulder. Nauseating pain bubbles up inside of me, but I refuse to give up. Jacob has almost reached me by the time the assailant is yanking open the door of the carriage and throwing me inside.

"Jessamine! No!"

"Jacob!"

The last thing I see is an Ace tackling Jacob to the ground, with easily ten more men closing in. The door slams, locking me inside. I pound on the door with my fist as I attempt to stabilize my shoulder, tears blurring my vision. The carriage starts to move. It is useless.

"No, no, no!"

I hear the sound of a gunshot as the carriage whips around a corner. I am alone, and all of my fighting was in vain. The adrenaline rushes out of me, leaving me with a pounding headache and a shoulder that is supplementing a constant feeling of intense nausea. My left shoulder seems to be hanging lower than my right one, and I am unable to rotate it at all without excruciating pain. Something is seriously wrong with it, it is all I can do to try to keep my arm in one position as we bump down the cobbles.

A loud bang directly above my head startles me, a shout is accompanied by a swerve of the carriage before it continues at its breakneck speed. What on Earth was that? The carriage speeds around a few more corners as I nurse my shoulder and grit my teeth against the headache. As usual, I am left feeling utterly helpless. And Jacob, I pray he is all right. The carriage starts to slow down after a moment before completely coming to a stop. I suppose I am here, wherever "here" is. I wonder what he is going to do to me.

The door is tugged open and I pull my hand back to deliver the hardest punch that I can in a final attempt at rebellion. I have never punched someone before. Will it hurt? At this point, I am already injured enough. I cannot do that much more damage. Someone begins to climb into the carriage, and without hesitation, I throw my fist forward as hard as I can. I punch Henry directly in the nose. Pain explodes in my knuckles as he cries out and falls backwards out of the carriage.

"Henry!"

I scramble out of the carriage as fast as I can, finding Henry with his palm against the glass of his curiosity shop and the other clutching his nose.

"My God, Miss Disraeli, that was quite a blow. I do believe you broke my nose."

"I am so incredibly sorry, I thought you were someone else!"

Through seemingly gritted teeth, he responds, "Not to worry, apology accepted. It is good to see you were taking steps to defend yourself."

He still has not turned around, which worries me. My hand is aching, I wiggle my fingers in an attempt to rid myself of the pain. My head is throbbing and my shoulder is on fire, and yet I am more concerned for him. Finally, he turns around. The front of his white assassin robes is completely covered in deep red blood, his fingers and chin having been coated as well. His nose is at a slightly crooked angle. Guilt comes in waves.

"Oh, Henry. I cannot begin to describe how horrible I feel."

"It's all right, Miss Disraeli. My nose has been broken before. Now hold on, for just one second. It's always good to set it as soon as possible."

"Set it? What do you -"

With a determined locking of his jaw, Henry firmly grasps the bridge of his nose and tugs. With a dull popping sound, his nose straightens. He grunts in pain and takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

"How does it look?"

"Just like new. Although you may need a change of clothes."

if you are interested and want to read from the beginning, hop on over to becoming fire by yours truly and give it a read! i really like this story, it only gets better as it goes along. there are quite a few plot twists that you're going to love! see you there! :)