I had planned to publish Where Will You Turn? today, but due to some personal issues
with my editor, the book release has been put off a bit. Not only is my editor
awesome at what she does, she is an amazing person and a dear friend. For me,
family and friends always come first. I would rather take a little extra time and put out the best book I can instead of rushing it. The book will definitely be published in
November. I'll keep you all posted when I know more. I appreciate
everyone's support and patience.
In
the meantime, I thought I would share with you the first chapter from Where Will You Turn? Book Three of the Díon
Series.
CHAPTER ONE
Mari got up from the dining room table
to stretch her legs. She turned around and pulled the curtains back, looking at
the lights of Scarborough. She had quickly grown to love the old seaside town
and wished the team was there for rest and relaxation.
It had been a month since they had
stumbled upon the last remaining draugr, Reinn Gunnarson. According to the Díon
laws, Reinn should have been killed on sight. As fate would have it, he had
lost his life saving his nephew, Aran, from a draugr. Instead of entering
Valhalla, Reinn awoke to find he had been turned into the monster he had
destroyed.
Aileana was an original member of the
Díon council and Raith's sire. She had demanded Reinn's death, but Raith was
able to save him using a loophole in their Díon laws that made him responsible
for Reinn's actions.
If Reinn created another draugr, Raith
would be forced to kill him and turn himself in to the Díon for punishment and
possible death.
It wasn't a long-term solution, but it
bought them some time. Aileana had ordered that Reinn be kept prisoner in his
castle "as a precaution." The Díon council had allowed his human
lover, Kylee to remain with him. As if the council had a choice.
Raith's team had remained in
Scarborough, but they had not been allowed to contact Reinn. Since all had been
quiet, they assumed Reinn was behaving.
Mari knew Raith's biggest fear was
that Aileana would have one of the Díon teams harm Kylee, forcing Reinn to
either turn her, or let her die. Either way, the Díon team responsible would be
doomed. Reinn would destroy anyone who harmed Kylee.
Raith and his team had been busy
hunting down key players in the human trafficking ring. They were used to going
after rogue creatures, who were threatening humans. But this was a highly
organized group of vampires, who knew what they were doing and how to cover
their tracks.
They chose homeless people and
runaways - humans who might not be missed, herding them up like cattle and
selling them to vampires and other blood-drinking, flesh-eating creatures. The
lucky ones died right away. Mari's stomach turned when she remembered what Raith
had told her about the fate of humans being kept as blood slaves.
Their investigation of the human
trafficking ring had been done with the help and blessing of the Díon council,
but their recent run-in with Aileana led Mari to believe that she was somehow
involved.
Raith didn't want to believe it. He'd
been fighting for the Díon cause since Aileana had turned him during the Draugr
Wars over one thousand years ago. Mari convinced him to at least consider the
possibility and to follow the evidence.
The rest of the team was on edge.
Since Mari and Raith had decided to investigate
the Díon itself, they gave the rest of the team the option of leaving, knowing
the danger they'd be in. They had all signed on without hesitation.
"So what now?" Mari asked,
turning to stand next to Raith who was sitting at the dining room table with
Aran.
"We keep playing along like good
little Díon members until we can figure out what the hell is going on."
Raith sighed.
Raith knew they had to follow wherever
the leads may take them, even if the evidence pointed to the Díon council. He
also knew Aileana was ruthless. If she was behind the disappearances of the
humans for sale as food, she wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who got in her
way. The fact that she had sired Raith would not save him.
They didn't know how far the conspiracy
went in the Díon, but it was unlikely that Aileana could keep that kind of
operation a secret from the other council members.
Raith wanted to be able to talk with
other Díon teams, but there were only a handful of people outside of his own
team he could trust now. Aileana was very powerful. The fact that she was using
those powers to control and use werewolves, was something he had not expected.
After the Draugr Wars, the werewolves kept
out of Díon business. They had a representative on the council, but they
policed their own packs. Their representative was always thought to be more of
a spy. A way for the packs to keep track of what the "parasites" were
doing.
Raith, Mari, and the rest of the team
had been waiting impatiently for their next assignment. They were secretly
investigating Aileana, but she wasn't stupid. Eventually she'd catch on to the
fact that they suspected her, if she hadn't already. Raith wanted Aileana to
make the first move.
While the team continued to gather evidence,
they decided to remain in Scarborough, waiting for any Díon assignments they
were given, keeping up the appearance of business as usual.
Mari ran her fingers through Raith's
hair as she looked into the living room and smiled at the dysfunctional group
who made up her new family.
Marco was trying to keep Steve
occupied with video games, which meant they'd be buying new controllers again
due to Steve's habit of biting whatever pissed him off.
Bohdan was pacing and throwing his
daggers in the air forcing Pierce to take cover in a corner, scowling. When
Bohdan was in a bad mood, daggers had a bad habit of flying off course. Ami
pretended to read the same magazine for the tenth time.
"Wraith." Bodhan froze.
"Yeah," Raith responded.
"Not you," Bohdan whispered,
pointing.
"What?" Raith followed
Bohdan's direction to a spot above Mari's head, where a faceless specter floated
menacingly. Mari glanced up as well. Her feet suddenly rooted to the floor.
"Oh shit." Raith tried to
grab Mari but the creature's decaying claw reached her first.
Mari dropped to the floor feeling a icy
blast that froze her very bones. She couldn't see, hear, or feel anything but
the cold. Fear started creeping into her brain, as she realized whatever was
happening to her was slowly killing her. She could sense the intense rage in
the creature that seemed to be draining the life from her. Despair overwhelmed
her.
********
"Don't touch it!" Aran
screamed at the other team members as he tackled Raith, who made a move to
snatch Mari out from underneath the creature.
"We can't just sit here!"
Bohdan raged.
"Marco..." Aran started.
"On it."
Raith could hear Marco whispering
while burning something that made his nose want to close for business, but he
had to focus on Mari.
"Listen to me brother," Aran
forced Raith's head around until he had eye contact. "You aren't helping
her like this. Marco is working as fast as he can. You have to help her hold
on."
Raith nodded and crawled over to where
Mari had fallen. He tried to ignore the cold despair, seeping from the wraith,
sucking Mari's life away. He moved in as close as he dared.
"Mari, listen to me. I need you
to hold on. Marco just needs a few minutes. Focus on my voice. Just stay with
me, don't give in to the fear and despair. That's what it wants. You have to
fight. Fight, Mari!" Raith struggled to keep himself calm. He didn't want
to give the creature any more fuel.
"Marco!" Aran yelled.
"Done," Marco said,
breathing heavily.
They watched as the wraith appeared to
be struggling with something, as it pulled away from Mari and was dragged from
the house by some unseen force.
"Get her some blood!" Raith
yelled, as he moved in to scoop up Mari's still body and place her on the
dining room table.
Bohdan ghosted next to him with two bags
of blood. Raith tore the top with his teeth and opened Mari's mouth, pouring
the thick liquid in.
"Come on baby, swallow." He
continued to pour blood into her mouth and talk to her, while the rest of the
team stood by and waited.
Mari finally snapped awake, swinging
her arms in self defense, as if she were still under the effects of the wraith.
"Shh...baby it's me." Raith
crushed her against his chest, and she melted into him.
"Is it dead?" Mari croaked.
"It's banished," Raith said.
"From here at least."
"Banished? What was that?"
She asked, pulling back, while shaking her head as if to clear it.
"A wraith," he said quietly,
as if saying it louder would bring it back.
"It's a creature of pure
vengeance," Marco added.
"From what I read, I thought they
fed on souls," Mari added, sounding dazed.
"They do, but they can also feed
on energy or emotion," Marco explained.
"It takes someone very powerful
to raise and control a wraith." Bohdan vocalized what, Raith assumed, everyone
else was thinking.
The fact that it had targeted Mari
left no doubt who had sent it. Aileana had made her first move. So much for
covertly investigating her and the Díon. Game on.
Book one of the series, Where Will You Run?, is still on sale for $0.99 on Amazon.
