Only Hard Problems By Jennifer Estep -epub- May 2026

It wasn’t a choice. It was a curse. Literally.

Lila’s mentor, Felix, a voodoo priest with a penchant for sarcasm and too many tattoos, leaned over her desk. “What’s wrong, sugar? Losin’ your touch?”

“Boring,” she said, tossing a lighter at it. Only Hard Problems by Jennifer Estep -ePub-

The shadow led her to the Marais district, where the air smelled of rotten magnolias. Lila tracked it to an abandoned laundromat, its dryers whirring like possessed organs. Inside, a hooded figure waited—her son?

“This thing ,” she said, clutching a photo of the boy, “it knew about my rule. About only solving hard problems. But it’s a trap. My power can’t handle what’s easy .” It wasn’t a choice

“Ms. Thorne, there’s a woman in your lobby,” her secretary, Mica, called. “She’s… arguing with a shadow.”

Felix lit a stogie. “Your curse was forged by the Hollow Ones. They feed on struggle. Maybe your limitation is their anchor. You’re the last one who can see the line between real and fake.” Lila’s mentor, Felix, a voodoo priest with a

“Maybe,” Lila said, pulling a vial of Felix’s holy water from her coat. “But I don’t need to beat you. I need to solve you.” She hurled the vial. The glass shattered, and the water hissed as it burned the shadow to smoke.