Title: Shadows of Fate
(Shadow Born #1)
Author: Angela Dennis
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance/ Adult
Series: Shadow Born
Published: April 8, 2014
Publisher: Samhain Publisher
Cover: Kanaxa – Nathalie Gray
Event Organized By: Literati
Author Services, Inc.
Synopsis
Redemption lies beyond the veil
between truth and lies.
After witnessing her husband’s
brutal murder, Brenna Baudouin lost control of her Shadow Bearer powers and
wreaked havoc on her home world. Her penance: one hundred years policing hordes
of supernatural misfits that spilled onto the Earthly plane after a cataclysmic
war.
She’s on a routine exorcism run when
she learns she’s been assigned a new partner. But there’s something about this
Shadow Bearer that sparks her suspicions. Particularly when people closest to
her start turning up as piles of ash.
Gray Warlow holds tight to the
glamour that allows him to get close to the woman on whom he plans to wreak
vengeance for betraying his people. Yet as he skillfully manipulates his way
past her distrust, he begins to see her not as the heartless monster he was led
to believe, but a strong, vulnerable woman.
As they work to put together the
pieces of a killer’s macabre puzzle, an attraction deeper than blood and bone
flares between them. And they must reveal their deepest secrets to avoid
becoming the final targets.
Excerpt
Copyright
© 2014 Angela Dennis
All rights reserved — a Samhain Publishing, Ltd. publication
All rights reserved — a Samhain Publishing, Ltd. publication
Her gaze stretched to the bar.
Beneath the glittering liquor bottles and burnt oak, a bottle of Jack in one
hand and Grey Goose in the other, stood her target. Dirty blond hair brushed
past his eyebrows, the rest tied back in a rubber band. He seemed innocent
enough. As he flipped a glass bottle behind his back, muscles rippling on his
shirtless body, magic seeped from his skin. It flowed around the women
stretched across the bar, their assets on display as well as their lust.
Thankfully, he didn’t get much bang
for his buck. This one was weak. Newly possessed, the demon hadn’t had time to
gain a strong enough lock on the victim’s body. This shouldn’t take long. The
piles of paperwork she had left on her desk might even get done tonight.
She pushed through the crowd,
stripping her leather duster off her shoulders as she went. The black corset
underneath, paired with tight leather pants, flattered her figure. She turned
heads, especially the demon’s. She released the hair tie at the back of her
neck. With a quick shake, her burnt copper curls slid down to her waist. She
stopped at one of the tiny tables and threw her coat across the barstool.
Eyes closed, she pretended the music
was something more aesthetically pleasing as she stepped onto the dance floor,
keeping her mark at the forefront of her mind. She felt his eyes on her body as
she swayed to the music. Hips gyrating to the heavy beat, she pulled on her
glamour to blend in with the other dancers as she let her magic wrap his body.
Losing herself in the music, she let him watch her move, feeling his desire
amp. His energy vibrated as he made his way through the crowd, his power wild.
His hands draped her hips and he
pulled her to him, his magic sliding over her body. Darkness tinged her aura,
but she shrugged it off. Dealing with demon magic never got easier, but his
wasn’t powerful. Grinning, she wrapped her hand around his neck, pulling him
close until her lips brushed his ear. His burning skin jumped against her
touch.
They stilled for a moment as the DJ
switched tracks. “Think you could get me a drink?” she breathed, brushing a
hand down his bare back. “I’m thirsty.” She grinned as he nodded, eager, the
demon jumping beneath his skin.
“Anything for you, darlin’.” He
wrapped a possessive arm around her waist, moving her toward the bar. “What’s
your poison?”
“Whiskey. Straight.”
A grin played on his lips. “My kinda
woman.”
Pushing past the other bartender, he
grabbed a bottle of Jack and poured her shot. She caught it as it slid across
the splintered wooden bar. Tossing it back, she reveled in the slow burn of the
liquor. It was an old favorite. Just cause she was working didn’t mean she
couldn’t treat herself.
She tossed back a second shot,
thankful she didn’t have the ability to get drunk. Giving the demon her best
longing look, she leaned forward. “Thanks. I needed that,” she murmured.
“What’s your name?”
“Zed.”
Leaning forward, she traced a finger
down her cleavage. “Do you think you could give me a ride home, Zed?” she
asked. She bit one finger in a nervous gesture, knowing he was buying it. “My
friend went home with some guy and left me here. I can wait.”
His eyes flashed, and she knew she
had him.
“Sure.” He glanced at the other
bartender. “Give me a second. I got off an hour ago.”
Sure you did, she thought.
A few seconds later he was back,
pulling on a t-shirt as he walked. The gesture was surprisingly human. With the
demon hiding inside, the brimstone dancing in his blood would keep his body
uncomfortably hot, eventually burning him alive from the inside out. It may be
the middle of winter, but he would never feel the cold.
He held up his keys as she rose to
meet him. “My truck’s out back.”
She moved closer, letting him drape
an arm over her shoulder. “Let me grab my coat.” The duster was where she had
left it. She draped it over her arms as she turned on her psychic link with
Xavier. The mage accepted, and Brenna turned to the demon, knowing Xavier was
watching through her eyes. At this point, the mark’s lust was so inflamed he
wouldn’t notice the slight change of color in her irises.
Wrapping her free arm around Zed’s
waist, she led him through the mass of patrons to the exit. As they stepped
into the wintry air, she noticed the bikers again. They stood beside their
Harleys, watching her warily as she passed. She worried the tension might give
her away, but Zed was oblivious.
She led him over the cobblestone to
where Xavier waited. As they closed in on the shadows, she could feel Zed’s
eagerness spike.
The darkness moved over them, hiding
them from prying eyes. Xavier’s power sang in the night, a compass pointing her
to the van. Leaving Zed to follow behind, she moved to the gray van and pressed
her back against its side. Zed moved toward her, all pretense of humanity
stripped away. The graceless stride betrayed his hunger as green scales peeled
away his skin and his eyes turned to blood red slits.
Brenna waited until he was on her,
scales chaffing the sensitive skin of her face, then she dropped her glamour.
The demon jerked back as her magic wrapped around his body, but it was too
late. In one swift movement, she pulled the blade strapped to her back free and
ripped the already tattered t-shirt away from his chest. Shifting her body
weight, she slammed him against the vehicle even as his body mass grew, the
demon pushing its way to the surface. One hand held Zed steady, the other
slipped beneath his jeans to feel the skin of his hip.
“A little to the left,” the demon
growled, body shaking, titillated despite itself.
He shifted his weight and slammed
her against the brick wall behind her. His body pressed hard against hers, he
ran a scaly tongue across her cheek. “You don’t have to get hostile, darlin’. I
don’t mind if you like it rough.”
She let her power surge and kneed
him in the crotch. Sparks flew as her spell sent him flying against the van.
Keeping him in place with a holding spell, her fingers found the rune carved on
his hip. She ripped away the denim as she tried to control the squirming demon.
“A little help?” she called out. She
had pulled back the spell. Her full body weight was pressed against the demon,
but he was starting to get free. Her magic had to be focused on breaking the
possession; she couldn’t waste it restraining Casanova.
She released the demon as Xavier
stepped from the shadows and slammed it against the van again. Subdued, the
creature glared at them, its red eyes filled with hatred. Another hard slam
dazed the creature, but only for a moment.
A flick of her hand and the back of
the van opened. Xavier shoved Zed inside. As soon as he was strapped into the
harness, Brenna ripped off his jeans. His hips now bare, she was able to see
the rune carving, fresh as she had hoped.
Her ceremonial blade pulsed in her
hand as she charged it with her energy.
Zed spit at her. The saliva sizzled
across the corset, burning a hole in the leather.
Damn. That had been one of her
favorites.
“Stuff something in its mouth. I
need to concentrate.”
“Deal with it. Even in the harness
this thing is a bitch to restrain.” White lines creased Xavier’s eyes, and Brenna
worried his injuries were more severe than he let on.
Zed’s fingers began to work the
trappings of the harness, but Xavier pulled him back, one arm around his scaly
neck. In an explosion of power, Zed pulled free, knocking Xavier into the side
of the van. Saliva dripping from his fangs, Zed growled at Brenna, and snapped
the other wrist free. Jumping across the van, he pinned Brenna beneath him.
Spittle fell from his lips, scorching its way across her skin. She pressed her
palm against his face and pushed with all her strength, ignoring her burning
flesh. Then, suddenly, he was gone.
Getting to her feet, she saw Xavier
had strapped the beast back into the restraints.
“You got it?” Once she started, she
wouldn’t be able to help him anymore. All of her energy would go into the
exorcism.
“Yeah. Hurry.”
A sharp giggle jarred Brenna’s
attention. Looking up, she caught Hilda peering through the glass from the
front seat. “If he passes out, I can help.”
“This isn’t a game.”
Zed slammed against his restraints.
“I like ghosts. They burn like whiskey going down.”
“Shut up,” Xavier growled.
Tuning them out, Brenna let the
words of the exorcism spell spill from her lips. Her hand pressed against the
rune on the demon’s hip. The carving glowed and the green light grew until it
filled the van.
Zed fought against the restraints.
Obscenities, the kind only a demon would know or understand, ricocheted
throughout the vehicle.
Xavier stuck a thick leather strap
in the demon’s mouth, cutting off his tirade.
Brenna gathered her magic. It pooled
through her and into the athame as she sliced the silver blade into the center
of the rune. Blood seeped from the wound, spilling over the green light. It
exploded with power, slamming Brenna against the van. Xavier fared better,
still wrapped around the demon. He was surrounded by a musty green steam that
reeked of brimstone.
Continuing the chant, Brenna pulled
a pouch of blessed sand from the crevice between her breasts. Throwing a pinch
onto the rune, she banished the demon back behind the Veil. Golden steam rose
from the wound. It twined around Brenna thick and dense, but she continued to
chant even as its foulness tried to seep inside her mouth.
Darkness teased the edges of her
vision for a few moments, then the warmth of Xavier’s power wrapped around her
body like a shield, pushing out the demonic essence. Time stood still as the
final words filled the air. Then, in a flash, the beast was gone.
About the
Author
Angela Dennis lives outside
Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, son and a sheltie with a hero complex.
When she is not at her computer crafting stories, she can be found feeding her
coffee addiction, playing peek-a-boo, or teaching her son about the great
adventures found only in books.
You can visit Angela at her blog www.angeladennisauthor.blogspot.com or at her website www.angeladennisauthor.com.
She loves to hear from her readers, so feel free to email her directly at angeladennisauthor@yahoo.com.
Giveaway
Review:
Wow. When I heard about this book I knew I would enjoy it, but I can't believe how much I loved this read. Dennis hooked me in with this book. I couldn't put it down. Very well written. I loved the action and the paranormal.
The characters are amazing. I loved Gary, even from the beginning. Brenna was a tough character with a tough past to get past. I loved the chemistry between the two. I really loved the storyline. Honestly I want to gush about all the details, but I don't want to spoil it for the rest of you. Definitely worth your time and something all urban fantasy readers should check out.
Rating:
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