Henning

Book 1: The Hunted Prince Young Henning Babkis has learned not to consider himself to be anything special. Ignored and taken for granted by his family, his education suffering as a result of their neglect, he nevertheless struggles to fit in and improve himself, though with unimpressive results. He's also learned not to expect anything more for himself, convinced that he's doomed to live his life in a deep closet, surrounded by people who don't care and who'd have given him a lot of grief if they were to find out he's gay. Things come to a sudden head when Henning's fifteenth birthday rolls around. An unexpected and terrifying attack by a creature from another world shakes up his quiet life, and Norbert steps forward with remarkable and shocking revelations as to Henning's true identity. And from a boy who's grown up to think himself as a nobody, Henning discovers a previous life in a world called Wintergrave -- a world of magic, romance, and danger. In the company of a motley bunch of former warriors, Henning must reclaim his former life and regain his powers in order to defeat an old threat. But in order to do that, he needs to convince a certain former lieutenant that the two of them were deeply bonded before and need to reform their connection now in order to get their powers back. The wrinkle? Ellery Thomas is in a happy relationship with another boy in this lifetime. Book 2: Prince of Wintergrave Being a prince in a past life yields no benefits in the present, Henning has quickly learned. His concerned housemates have made themselves his official, overbearing chaperones, Ellery appears to despise him, and Henning's limited movements slowly wear down his nerves. With his awakening process turning out to be more of a zombie-like stagger, the stakes rise inevitably as undead attacks not only increase in frequency, but also in danger levels. Henning finds some relief in the company of Alan Scott -- a handsome, smart young man he meets in a store, who displays an earnest interest in Henning. He gradually tears Henning's heartbroken attention away from Ellery, offering him promises of happiness as can only be defined in a boy's first love. In the meantime, danger now spills over to threaten innocent civilians as they get dragged into monster attacks, making it difficult for Henning and his companions to fight back while raising troubling questions about the walls between worlds being torn down by dark magic. It also reveals the effect of a soul bond on Henning and Ellery's awakening -- that is, each boy's awakening is affected by the other, and the mystery of how and why only get muddier. As Henning and his companions scramble for answers, it's a mad race against time when things happen that make them suspect Varian of crossing over to their world, searching for Henning.