Raised by a heartsick AI, she’s programmed to kill. And desperate to flee. After growing up on an isolated space station, Astra dreams of solid ground. But with an AI guardian plugged into her head—and her nervous system—it’s not like she’s flush with choices. In fact, she’s got just one: use her training to carry out the rogue AI’s revenge. Her first mission? Assassination. When her target flashes a jamming device that would guarantee her escape from the AI’s grasp, Astra sets out to steal it. But the AI’s plans are more dangerous than she suspected. Corrupted by heartbreak, the wayward computer is determined to infect the star system with a new order of digital tyranny. Astra’s been raised to care for no one but herself. Now she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to trade the star system’s freedom for her own. Parting Shadows is a far-future take on Estella Havisham’s journey in Great Expectations, and the first installment in Kate Sheeran Swed’s Toccata System novella trilogy.

Angel of music. Instrument of justice. As the fashionably veiled operatic sensation of Landry City, Claire Leroux is adored by the masses. But Claire must never let her fans discover what hides behind her mask—a body that’s half-machine and hellbent on vengeance. Offstage, Claire hunts for the man whose violent act made her a cyborg and killed her parents. The people of Landry City might despise cyborgs, but her home is all she has left, and Claire means to protect it. Just when her double life leads her straight to the enemy’s door, an unexpected factor enters the equation: Claire’s long lost love, Isabelle Chagny. Even if Iz can accept Claire’s transformation, Claire isn’t willing to risk her ex’s safety. But Iz and her companions are already entangled with Claire’s nemesis, and if she wants to save her home, she’ll need to decide: fight alone in the shadows to save the city that hates her, or form an alliance—and risk the only woman she’s ever loved in the process. Inspired by Gaston Leroux’s the Phantom of the Opera, Phantom Song is the second novella in the Toccata System trilogy.

Two weeks ago, the AI that raised LJ forced her to murder the man she loved. But Conor survived. He wants nothing to do with the woman who tried to kill him, and yet LJ's got the only crew brash enough to chase after his father—who's a step away from twisting every AI in the Toccata System to serve his greed. Conor's desperate, and he's got a scheme of his own: shut down Toccata's AIs, permanently. If the price is a voyage with LJ and her crew of ex-assassins, he'll pay. LJ wants to leave the past behind. But she's not just another AI-trained killer: she's the worst of them all, and the proof of her cruelty stands before her. As mutiny and betrayal chase them across the sea, LJ and Conor must work together to survive—and if LJ can't face the sins of her past, she'll doom everyone she loves to a future that's made of chains.