Following that is an excerpt and because you've been so patient, it's a long one - the first half of Chapter 1 (the rest of it comes next week). If you aren't caught up on the series, you might want to skip that part. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone.
As the Amadis prepare for war, Alexis returns to Florida with orders to relax, regenerate and replenish her depleted power. But her task list quickly grows—establish a new safe house, learn the art of conversion, find her AWOL protector, help a desperate fan, and protect her son. Oh, and figure out what’s going on with her husband, whose peculiar behavior just might get them killed.
But most important of all, her primary mission: recover her stolen pendant.
The stone in the pendant not only promises hope for the Amadis future, but its unknown qualities make it a possible weapon in the wrong hands. With guidance and power from an improbable source and an unlikely ally by her side, Alexis sets out to retrieve the stone before the enemy discovers its potential for mass destruction. But when she finds herself in the Daemoni’s lair fighting for her life, all hope seems lost. Will she discover the true power she holds in time? And is it enough to save herself, her family and the Amadis?
Power, the next installment of the Soul Savers Series, takes you on a hot and edgy ride with twists and turns you’ll never see coming, leaving you breathless and once again begging for more.
Eep! I can't believe it's almost here. I can't wait for you to read it! And now for the excerpt...
Chapter 1
Just breathe.
Something I shouldn’t have to remind myself to do, but at the moment, it was a
task easier said than done. Pushing the air out of my tight lungs proved simple
enough, but in through the nose was a different story, as each inhale brought
with it an eye-watering fetor of body odor, liquor, cigarette smoke and vomit pooled
somewhere in the dark corners. I could handle the stench, as well as the flashing
lights, the pulsating music, and a sea of Norman bodies dry-humping to the beat,
but making it all exponentially worse were the drunken mind signatures,
swirling and gyrating and pinging all over the place.
A nightclub in the middle of a seaside tourist village was probably the last place a relatively new telepath should be hanging out. Yet here I was.
I hadn’t been off the Amadis Island for eight months, since the trial last September, and didn’t particularly want to be here either. I preferred to be in one of my usual spots, next to either Rina or Lilith, both still comatose from the dark magic inflicted by Kali the sorceress. But my Amadis power seemed to be doing neither of them much good, and Vanessa had recently been seen in this small town, which meant something was going on.
The Daemoni simply didn’t hang out here—not anywhere on this little key in the Aegean Sea that was the Amadis Island’s closest neighbor. Too many Amadis passed through here on their way to and from our Island, and many came for a day or weekend of mainstreaming without wandering too far away from the safety of our haven. So Vanessa being here was perplexing—as well as bold and stupid on her part. Except the vampire wasn’t stupid, which meant she wouldn’t be here alone for long. The Daemoni seemed to be planning an ambush, and our current strategy was for me to hear her thoughts and learn their plan. She’d also stolen something precious from me, and I needed it back.
Unfortunately, her mind signature was nowhere to be found tonight, so here I was, hoping to pick up a thought of someone who’d seen her today or knew where she stayed. The sensory overload made my head pound and set my teeth on edge. The packs of women not so discreetly waiting their turns to hit on my husband certainly didn’t help my mood.
Tristan’s long and hard body leaned against the bar on the other side of the room from me, blue and green lights from the dance floor flashing over his perfect features. An American girl in a sundress and stilettos twirled her red hair around her fingers as she and a similarly dressed brunette talked to him. More small groups of women stood nearby at the bar and tables, stealing glances his way to see if he’d dismissed these two yet. After all, he’d been dismissing foolish women practically falling at his feet all night, but for some reason, each newcomer thought she’d be the exception.
His eyes slid over to me, and he smirked. I fought the ridiculously immature but overwhelming urge to stick my tongue out. Instead, I turned my back to him and gave my full attention to the intoxicated Greek god offering to buy me a drink. Well, I tried my best to give it to him, but I could barely provide more than a forced smile while my mind scanned the thoughts of the women talking to Tristan. If they knew anything about the vampire-bitch, they weren’t thinking about her. In fact, their minds were pretty focused on how they’d be willing to give Tristan a threesome if that’s what it took to get him into bed. No wonder he was smirking.
Just breathe, I reminded myself again. It was your idea to separate. This is your own doing. Right. I just needed to focus. Even if I didn’t find Vanessa, scanning mind signatures and thoughts in this kind of environment was good practice, which I needed.
I’d acquired the telepathy during my Ang’dora over a year ago, but hadn’t really embraced it until last September to protect Tristan from being banished for betrayal and to save the Amadis by exposing the real traitor. But since then, the only people I could practice my gift on were the people in the Amadis village, and they were nothing compared to this. Especially since the Amadis knew I could hear their thoughts and kept them subdued, while here, thoughts exploded from inebriated minds like fireworks, some bright and cheery and others simply loud and obnoxious.
I could hardly fathom how all these people could be here partying it up with everything else going on in the world. Of course, they didn’t know what I did—the increased homicide rates, animal attacks and missing persons reports weren’t solely a result of depressive economies and political unrest, but rather, the workings of the Daemoni. Normans only joked about the world going to Hell, not realizing how true that was. They hadn’t attended funeral after funeral as I had in the last few months.
Or, perhaps, they had. Perhaps they sought to forget it all in the alcohol, drugs, dancing, and sex. Perhaps if I delved deeper into their thoughts, beneath the blanket of intoxication, I’d find they were on vacation here to escape their own terrible realities. Escapism was a part of human nature, after all, and the people here had apparently found what they needed. Skimming along the surfaces of their minds, listening for the smallest hint of Vanessa’s whereabouts, I concluded no one else was suffering a near anxiety attack like I was. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying the loud music, the strobe lights, and the press of the crowd around them.
I accepted the drink from the beautiful man with the dark but glassed-over eyes, and threw it back, grimacing at the ouzo’s burn as it slid down my throat, wishing this would be the shot that would dull the senses. But, of course, it wouldn’t. I couldn’t get drunk. Unlike the Normans, I couldn’t find my own escape.
“You okay?” Tristan silently asked me.
I clenched my jaw, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to give in, either. Don’t worry about me.
“As if I could stop. I always worry about you.”
I stared directly at him and all the girls surrounding him, particularly the one he smiled at even as he thought his concern toward me.
Well, don’t, I thought to him as I drew in a steadying breath. I can take care of myself.
“Are you sure?” he asked just as the guy in front of me asked me to dance. Without thinking, I nodded, although I truly just wanted to get out of here. “Alexis, don’t think—”
I never heard the rest of his sentence—what he didn’t want me to think. The handsome guy thought I’d nodded to him and had me by the hand, stumbling over his own feet as he dragged me to the dance area. As soon as we stepped onto the sunken floor, his hands were on my hips, pulling me close to him. For a brief moment, I forgot about all the mind signatures, the twirling lights and pounding music, and could only think about how strange it was to be that close to a man other than Tristan.
But only for a brief moment. Before I could even do anything, a growl ripped through the music—or maybe just through my head—and Tristan was suddenly between the guy and me, his back to me and his arms out protectively. The drunk guy swung without even looking, and Tristan caught his wrist in mid-air. With the pain of the grip, the guy finally looked up into Tristan’s face. His eyes grew wide and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped. He gave me an apologetic frown as he carefully stepped away from the dance floor.
Tristan turned back to me and wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me to him as he swayed to the music. I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
“You can talk to girls all night but I can’t dance once?”
His nostrils flared. “There’s a difference. His hands were all over you.”
“I had things under control.”
He leaned closer to me and growled in my ear. “I didn’t like it!”
I stepped back. I should have been warmed by his concern, but his eyes were alit with real anger, and his tone acidic.
“I told you. I can take care of myself.” I added silently, He’s just a Norman, after all.
Tristan cocked his head back and considered me for a long moment, then jerked his hands off my hips.
“Of course you can,” he snarled before walking off.
I stared after him, clenching my jaw to keep it from falling open. Warrior Boy seemed to have lost his cool. Which wasn’t, well, cool, considering the circumstances.
Tristan!
I stomped off the dance floor and toward the front door of the club, expecting him to follow me, but he sauntered back to his place at the bar amidst all the girls who now looked at me like wild cats about to pounce. I almost gave in to the urge to lift my lip and snarl at them just as Tristan had done to my Greek god, but I didn’t. Only because something else caught my attention just as I reached the door. The mind signature I’d been searching for all night.
Tristan, come on. Game’s over. Found her. I looked over my shoulder to see him still leaning against the bar. Are you coming?
He shrugged without looking away from the blonde who’d moved in on him. “You can take care of yourself.”
I turned to glare at him, but he still ignored me. What the hell? It had been my idea to go in separately, to not look like a couple so the Normans would be more likely to talk to us, but Tristan was taking it too far. I wanted to clock him, knock some sense into him. Vanessa’s mind signature was on the move, though, and I didn’t want to lose her. So I rushed outside, knowing Tristan would come to his senses and follow, while mentally reaching out for the other nearby Amadis. They were all on the other side of the island, keeping their distance, as was part of the plan.
Vanessa must not have sensed me yet, because she didn’t move toward the club, as I expected. Too many people stood outside to see me flash, so I hurried down the street toward her mind signature as it continued to move away from me, but slowly, as if she were taking an evening stroll at two in the morning. Probably looking for her midnight snack.
I tried following her signature to her thoughts, but although she remained in my range, my mind struggled to grasp them. My head physically hurt from the effort, probably because of the bombardment it had already suffered in the nightclub, but I pushed harder, desperate to know what her plan was.
But I was too late. I didn’t latch on fast enough. Several new mind signatures popped into existence about a half-mile away. All of them Daemoni.
Vanessa’s mind prickled, but she didn’t move. She remained frozen where she was. I didn’t wait to find out what she was thinking. If the Daemoni attacked the nightclub—the only place on the island with so many Normans in one spot at this time of night—they’d have to go through Tristan and me first.
A nightclub in the middle of a seaside tourist village was probably the last place a relatively new telepath should be hanging out. Yet here I was.
I hadn’t been off the Amadis Island for eight months, since the trial last September, and didn’t particularly want to be here either. I preferred to be in one of my usual spots, next to either Rina or Lilith, both still comatose from the dark magic inflicted by Kali the sorceress. But my Amadis power seemed to be doing neither of them much good, and Vanessa had recently been seen in this small town, which meant something was going on.
The Daemoni simply didn’t hang out here—not anywhere on this little key in the Aegean Sea that was the Amadis Island’s closest neighbor. Too many Amadis passed through here on their way to and from our Island, and many came for a day or weekend of mainstreaming without wandering too far away from the safety of our haven. So Vanessa being here was perplexing—as well as bold and stupid on her part. Except the vampire wasn’t stupid, which meant she wouldn’t be here alone for long. The Daemoni seemed to be planning an ambush, and our current strategy was for me to hear her thoughts and learn their plan. She’d also stolen something precious from me, and I needed it back.
Unfortunately, her mind signature was nowhere to be found tonight, so here I was, hoping to pick up a thought of someone who’d seen her today or knew where she stayed. The sensory overload made my head pound and set my teeth on edge. The packs of women not so discreetly waiting their turns to hit on my husband certainly didn’t help my mood.
Tristan’s long and hard body leaned against the bar on the other side of the room from me, blue and green lights from the dance floor flashing over his perfect features. An American girl in a sundress and stilettos twirled her red hair around her fingers as she and a similarly dressed brunette talked to him. More small groups of women stood nearby at the bar and tables, stealing glances his way to see if he’d dismissed these two yet. After all, he’d been dismissing foolish women practically falling at his feet all night, but for some reason, each newcomer thought she’d be the exception.
His eyes slid over to me, and he smirked. I fought the ridiculously immature but overwhelming urge to stick my tongue out. Instead, I turned my back to him and gave my full attention to the intoxicated Greek god offering to buy me a drink. Well, I tried my best to give it to him, but I could barely provide more than a forced smile while my mind scanned the thoughts of the women talking to Tristan. If they knew anything about the vampire-bitch, they weren’t thinking about her. In fact, their minds were pretty focused on how they’d be willing to give Tristan a threesome if that’s what it took to get him into bed. No wonder he was smirking.
Just breathe, I reminded myself again. It was your idea to separate. This is your own doing. Right. I just needed to focus. Even if I didn’t find Vanessa, scanning mind signatures and thoughts in this kind of environment was good practice, which I needed.
I’d acquired the telepathy during my Ang’dora over a year ago, but hadn’t really embraced it until last September to protect Tristan from being banished for betrayal and to save the Amadis by exposing the real traitor. But since then, the only people I could practice my gift on were the people in the Amadis village, and they were nothing compared to this. Especially since the Amadis knew I could hear their thoughts and kept them subdued, while here, thoughts exploded from inebriated minds like fireworks, some bright and cheery and others simply loud and obnoxious.
I could hardly fathom how all these people could be here partying it up with everything else going on in the world. Of course, they didn’t know what I did—the increased homicide rates, animal attacks and missing persons reports weren’t solely a result of depressive economies and political unrest, but rather, the workings of the Daemoni. Normans only joked about the world going to Hell, not realizing how true that was. They hadn’t attended funeral after funeral as I had in the last few months.
Or, perhaps, they had. Perhaps they sought to forget it all in the alcohol, drugs, dancing, and sex. Perhaps if I delved deeper into their thoughts, beneath the blanket of intoxication, I’d find they were on vacation here to escape their own terrible realities. Escapism was a part of human nature, after all, and the people here had apparently found what they needed. Skimming along the surfaces of their minds, listening for the smallest hint of Vanessa’s whereabouts, I concluded no one else was suffering a near anxiety attack like I was. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying the loud music, the strobe lights, and the press of the crowd around them.
I accepted the drink from the beautiful man with the dark but glassed-over eyes, and threw it back, grimacing at the ouzo’s burn as it slid down my throat, wishing this would be the shot that would dull the senses. But, of course, it wouldn’t. I couldn’t get drunk. Unlike the Normans, I couldn’t find my own escape.
“You okay?” Tristan silently asked me.
I clenched my jaw, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to give in, either. Don’t worry about me.
“As if I could stop. I always worry about you.”
I stared directly at him and all the girls surrounding him, particularly the one he smiled at even as he thought his concern toward me.
Well, don’t, I thought to him as I drew in a steadying breath. I can take care of myself.
“Are you sure?” he asked just as the guy in front of me asked me to dance. Without thinking, I nodded, although I truly just wanted to get out of here. “Alexis, don’t think—”
I never heard the rest of his sentence—what he didn’t want me to think. The handsome guy thought I’d nodded to him and had me by the hand, stumbling over his own feet as he dragged me to the dance area. As soon as we stepped onto the sunken floor, his hands were on my hips, pulling me close to him. For a brief moment, I forgot about all the mind signatures, the twirling lights and pounding music, and could only think about how strange it was to be that close to a man other than Tristan.
But only for a brief moment. Before I could even do anything, a growl ripped through the music—or maybe just through my head—and Tristan was suddenly between the guy and me, his back to me and his arms out protectively. The drunk guy swung without even looking, and Tristan caught his wrist in mid-air. With the pain of the grip, the guy finally looked up into Tristan’s face. His eyes grew wide and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped. He gave me an apologetic frown as he carefully stepped away from the dance floor.
Tristan turned back to me and wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me to him as he swayed to the music. I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
“You can talk to girls all night but I can’t dance once?”
His nostrils flared. “There’s a difference. His hands were all over you.”
“I had things under control.”
He leaned closer to me and growled in my ear. “I didn’t like it!”
I stepped back. I should have been warmed by his concern, but his eyes were alit with real anger, and his tone acidic.
“I told you. I can take care of myself.” I added silently, He’s just a Norman, after all.
Tristan cocked his head back and considered me for a long moment, then jerked his hands off my hips.
“Of course you can,” he snarled before walking off.
I stared after him, clenching my jaw to keep it from falling open. Warrior Boy seemed to have lost his cool. Which wasn’t, well, cool, considering the circumstances.
Tristan!
I stomped off the dance floor and toward the front door of the club, expecting him to follow me, but he sauntered back to his place at the bar amidst all the girls who now looked at me like wild cats about to pounce. I almost gave in to the urge to lift my lip and snarl at them just as Tristan had done to my Greek god, but I didn’t. Only because something else caught my attention just as I reached the door. The mind signature I’d been searching for all night.
Tristan, come on. Game’s over. Found her. I looked over my shoulder to see him still leaning against the bar. Are you coming?
He shrugged without looking away from the blonde who’d moved in on him. “You can take care of yourself.”
I turned to glare at him, but he still ignored me. What the hell? It had been my idea to go in separately, to not look like a couple so the Normans would be more likely to talk to us, but Tristan was taking it too far. I wanted to clock him, knock some sense into him. Vanessa’s mind signature was on the move, though, and I didn’t want to lose her. So I rushed outside, knowing Tristan would come to his senses and follow, while mentally reaching out for the other nearby Amadis. They were all on the other side of the island, keeping their distance, as was part of the plan.
Vanessa must not have sensed me yet, because she didn’t move toward the club, as I expected. Too many people stood outside to see me flash, so I hurried down the street toward her mind signature as it continued to move away from me, but slowly, as if she were taking an evening stroll at two in the morning. Probably looking for her midnight snack.
I tried following her signature to her thoughts, but although she remained in my range, my mind struggled to grasp them. My head physically hurt from the effort, probably because of the bombardment it had already suffered in the nightclub, but I pushed harder, desperate to know what her plan was.
But I was too late. I didn’t latch on fast enough. Several new mind signatures popped into existence about a half-mile away. All of them Daemoni.
Vanessa’s mind prickled, but she didn’t move. She remained frozen where she was. I didn’t wait to find out what she was thinking. If the Daemoni attacked the nightclub—the only place on the island with so many Normans in one spot at this time of night—they’d have to go through Tristan and me first.
Now that's a teaser..
ReplyDeleteCannot waitttt
ReplyDeleteloved it looking forward to reading the rest of the book!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read the book! I live all the books so far :-)
ReplyDeleteLoved it, what a teaser, can't wait to read the test of the book :-)
ReplyDeleteAwesome...can't wait!!!
ReplyDeleteLOVED it!!! Just a few days to go!!!
ReplyDeleteAhhhh got me already...two weeks do you promise ??? JEllis
ReplyDeleteCan't wait!!!!
ReplyDeletegreat stuff. looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to get back in Alexis and Tristan's world! How many books will there be in this series?
ReplyDeleteI can hardly wait to read this! I'm excited to see what the future has in store for Tristan and Alexis, and worried! LOL!
ReplyDeleteamazing, the 24th cannot come quick enough
ReplyDeleteOmg that was amazing i cant wait for the rest xx
ReplyDeleteKristie,
ReplyDeleteI noticed that some authors permit a pre-order (example: Becca Fitzpatrick with Hush, Hust series which is not set for release until October). It sure would be nice if you could do that so that some of us who don't Twitter or Facebook would be assured that we get the book the day it comes out--just a suggestion!
Other than that, I am just soooooo excited that Power is on it's way!! You really know how to write..keep it up!!!
Geri
Geri, that's not an author's choice. That's Amazon and B&N catering to the big publishers to bring in early sales/revenues. For some reason, they don't allow little presses like mine to set up pre-orders, putting us at a disadvantage for bestsellers lists. Otherwise, I definitely would. Sorry! It will be going up on pre-order for iBooks, however - as soon as I get a chance to set it all up. Polishing this book has been top priority so that it's ready by 8/24.
DeleteThanks, though! I'm glad you're enjoying the series. :)
Ohhh cannot wait for this to come out. I am now starting to read from book one again because the 24th seems soooo long away. How many will there be in the series? X
ReplyDelete