Guest Post Chaos Bound (Chronicles from the Applecross #2) by Rebekah Turner

Published: December st, 2013

Description:

The long-awaited sequel to Chaos Born takes us back into the Applecross, where Lora faces increasing threats to her survival and her chance at love.

Lora Blackgoat — mercenary and smuggler — has only just recovered from the last threat on her life and hasn’t even begun to sort out the mess of having both a nephilim warrior and a reborn hellspawn as potential lovers. Work should be a refuge, but a job finding missing persons puts her in the crosshairs of a violent gang and a merchant with a taste for blood sport. 

Reluctantly, Lora turns to the two men in her life for help. Roman — the nephilim — professes to be her soul mate and turns to her when he feels the darkness of nephilim madness descending. But though Lora is drawn to Roman, it is Seth, ex-lover and reborn hellspawn, who Lora must ultimately ask to protect those she loves. Can she trust Seth to save Roman and her adoptive family, or will this be a fatal mistake?

GUEST POST

How to write a great love triangle

I don't mind a good love triangle, but there are some clunky fails I've read in the past that make me shudder. When I'm writing, there are certain devices I try to avoid if I want to bring that element into my stories. 

So behold! A list I keep in mind when writing geometry influenced loving:

• Story is king. Your love triangle must to further the plot. Nothing is worse than having no reason for your Love Problem. If it's just some chick who can't decide between two cute guys, then she's just bragging. Fail.
• The triangle is predictable. If I can guess what's going to happen, or there's an obvious choice, then there's no tension. Why would I finish reading?
• Make the decision a reflection of the life choices the protagonist is facing. Make the decision have character developing elements. 
• Don't make your protagonist a whinger who goes on and on. See first point about bragging. 
• Make the choice hard by engaging the reader with interesting, three dimensional characters. Each character must offer the protagonist some different, something unique. 

Keeping these elements in mind, I think a sexy triangle of mad hot love is always going to be a winner.

A fresh and exciting debut novel introducing the Chronicles from the Applecross.

Lora Blackgoat, smuggler and mercenary, has been lying low after a job gone bad made her a laughing stock in the industry. When a childhood friend turns to her for help, Lora leaps to restore her reputation and starts hunting a killer who is stalking the gas-lit streets.

She never expects that her path will lead her to the Order of Guides, a sadistic militant religious organisation - or to Roman, a deadly and dangerously attractive half-angel warrior who also hunts the killer.

When Lora discovers that the killer has broken fundamental laws of magic to enter the city, she also uncovers a conspiracy that leads back into her own dark past.

EXCERPT:

TOUR SCHEDULE

“The Night World stole me from reality. No, a better way to put it is that the Night World weaned me from the normalcy of what most people would consider the real world,” Gwen began by way of explanation.

“That’s an interesting and very selective memory of events you have there,” Viking said, raising a blond eyebrow at her. “In fact, that is not how I remember it at all.”

Gwen glared. “Storebror, are you going to let me tell my story or are you going to be a nuisance?”

Viking smiled but before he could say anything he was interrupted by Raider, his second-in-command.

“Viking, the boy asked her about her past, let her tell it her own way so we can get on with the game. You know how the new guards become so enamored with our Lady of the Dead. Let the boy get it out of his system.” He laid his cards on the table, folded his arms and nodded at Gwen to continue.

Gwen rolled her eyes. She hated that title and Raider knew it. She had tried desperately over the years to convince the Warriors sent to guard her to call her by her name instead of the title, that really creeped her out. Gwen did not just talk to the dead, but to the entire Spirit World. She wanted to meet who ever had come up with that title and kick him in the balls.

Sighing, Gwen turned to Kegan, one of the new men sent to guard her. The fact that he still used his birth name told Gwen that he was less than two centuries old. When Warriors became older, they tended to make up their own names, like Viking and Raider.

“Anyway, I was seven and once again helped out of the house by my Fairy friends…”

Kegan waved a hand. “Fairy friends? There’s no such thing as Fairies.”

Gwen glared at him until he looked away. Yeah, he was definitely young. Older Warriors would not give in that easily. Gwen looked at Raider.

“What is it with you men and interrupting?”

Raider grinned at her. She had known him since she was seventeen, ten years now. Gwen had harbored a minor crush on him when they first met, but had found out what he was in his first life and the feelings had faded. A first life is what Warriors called their first century; everything after that is considered their second life. Raider’s first life consisted of raiding tombs in the 1700s. The young Gwen had been crushed that the gorgeous man before her was not only far too old for her, but a professional thief as well.

Raider kept his light brown hair a little shaggy and his sharp jaw clean-shaven. His broad nose showed signs of a bad break. The break must have occurred very young because at thirty a Warrior’s body became too strong for scarring like that.

When Raider did not respond to her, Gwen continued. “A small child is not going to understand that a being from the Spirit World is not a Fairy. My Fairy friends and I went to play down by Green River; they knew the paths to take to get all the way down to the bank. I was playing in the water when some of the Fairies picked me up and started dunking me.” Gwen did not like the next part. She still had nightmares. “At first it was fun, but then I was under too long and I needed air. The Fairies would not let me up to breathe. They were trying to drown me.”

She knew her voice was emotionless. Though it had been the first traumatic experience in her life, it was not the last. The attacks only grew worse as she aged.  When Viking’s hand slid onto her left arm, Gwen knew he was thinking of those later attacks as well. His one little gesture calmed her down. She was safe now. Viking always made feel her safe, even when the odds were against them.

Shaking her head to clear it, Gwen continued her story. “Suddenly I was up in the air and huddling against this huge chest. He was yelling at the Fairies, speaking in a language I didn’t know. Nevertheless, I knew he was there to help me. I could feel that he was a good guy. He made the Fairies leave and has protected me ever since.”

*******

When Gwen finished eating, she closed her eyes, and leaned back in her chair. She felt every person at that table go on guard. Gwen almost laughed; they were so protective of her, even when it wasn’t something they could protect against. Taking deep breaths, Gwen lowered her head and slowly rolled out her power into the Spirit World around her. She was trying a technique Oracle showed her, exiting her physical body to reach farther away. Since it was a new skill, Gwen struggled with it. It had taken four tries this morning to finally get it right. This time she headed north. She didn’t know the area too well so Gwen concentrated on the directions she took. The last thing she needed was to get lost outside her own body, where she couldn’t defend herself.

After several minutes, Gwen passed over a school playground in a residential area. A huge shadow creature hunkered down on all fours watched a group of teenagers who stood on the opposite side of the fence. Gwen could feel the malice vibrating from the creature. He was strong but bound to the schoolyard. He seemed to be weaker in the waning sunlight that still illuminated his surroundings.

Gwen landed on the far end of the fence, away from the teens but careful to keep the fence between her and the creature. Once she began hovering near the fence, the thing slowly turned its head to look at her. Gwen gasped and fear flooded her system.

Its head was twice the size of hers and round. Its jaw protruded slightly and when it smiled evilly at her, she could see every single one of his teeth were razor sharp. His eyes were narrow and the irises black. The body was bulky and almost disproportioned. Gwen knew if this thing stood on its hind legs it would be somewhere around eleven feet tall. She couldn’t stop the fear coursing through her.

It moved much faster than Gwen expected it to, crossing the yard in under ten seconds. He moved like a gorilla, putting weight on his knuckles and swinging his back legs forward. He didn’t stop until his face was up against the fence. He straightened slightly so his face and Gwen’s were only feet apart. His breathing was ragged with excitement. Gwen knew her fear rolled off her and this creature could feel it, but she stood her ground. She could feel the spells put on him and the playground. He couldn’t get to her as long as she was on this side of the fence. But he was still damn scary.

“What brings the Lady of the Dead to my corner of the world?” His voice was inhumanly low and high at the same time.

Gwen’s fear spiked, he knew who she was.

That voice laughed at her.

It was one of the scariest things Gwen ever heard, and she automatically shuddered. “I’m looking for information about some men.”

It gave her an unblinking stare. “You are not yet strong enough to force answers from me. I can smell your fear and weakness.” It sat down on its haunches. “I also smell your determination, and that interests me. I may or may not answer your questions.”

Gwen wasn’t quite sure how to take that. This thing was clearly evil, but it might help her. She knew she needed to tread lightly because without a doubt he had an ulterior motive.

“There are three rogue Warriors that may be in the area. They may be trying to start a war.”

The thing’s pointed ears twitched and he interrupted her. “What kind of war?”

Gwen fought to keep her voice steady. She knew the effort was pointless since he knew she was terrified, but she needed to try for her own sake. “We believe an all out one in this kingdom.”

Its breathing slowed and he closed his mouth, staring at her for several beats. “No, they will fail.”

The answer was so abrupt Gwen actually blinked. “What?”

It smiled at her again and Gwen’s fear rose. “The Warriors you speak of, I know of them. Though they are not stupid enough to try recruiting me, they may have recruited Basilix, an enemy of mine. He is too strong for them to handle. Eventually he will eat them, or use them. It is hard to tell with Basilix. These Warriors you seek have been making alliances will all manner of Night Worlders. Now run along back to your body, little girl.”

One giant clawed paw contorted through the chain link fence and slashed across Gwen’s stomach. She screamed as pain shot through her and the shock from it broke her concentration, sending her shooting through the Spirit World back to her body.

The crash back in was jarring and made her feel like she had been hit by a bus. Her stomach burned so bad she screamed. She was only dimly aware of a hand over her mouth. The pain was stealing her consciousness. She barely heard Sivia’s muffled voice from far away.

“Lucia, quick, mask her and clean the blood. We need to get her out of here.”

Pain consumed her and the world appeared to go a dull red. Gwen swore she could hear that creature’s voice laughing. Then there was silence.

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About the author:

Rebekah lives in sunny Queensland and has worked in the past as a graphic designer. She now does freelance work when her kids are looking the other way. An avid writer since she could scrawl in her dad’s expensive encyclopedias, she has progressed from horsey stories to tales of dark fantasy with lashings of romance and a sprinkling of horror.

Her vices include eating overpriced ice cream, over analyzing 80s action and horror movies and buying stationery she just doesn’t need.

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