Cover designed by Najla Qamber Designs
Release Date September 14th, 2015
A journey through time.
A scarlet letter.
A soul crushing betrayal.
The thrilling Legends Saga concludes in a mash-up of literary all-stars. The works of Washington Irving, Edgar Allen Poe, HG Wells, and Nathaniel Hawthorne come to life in an intricately weaved backstory of love, lies, and deception. The driving force of all involved? Passion. But when that passion is cloaked in darkness, madness reigns.
EXCERPT
Watching her mother die was the most beautiful thing Preen had ever witnessed. There was no choked breath rattling from her lungs. No frothy bile bubbling past her paling lips. Nothing so vile tarnished the moment of pure peace in which Haddy Hester drew her final breath and crossed Death’s threshold with a contented smile curled across her lips.
Preen held her mother’s cold, still hand in both of hers, dotting one last kiss to the tender palm that had dried her tears so many times. Now they fell free, unchecked in this suddenly callous world. Her head tilted, the curtain of her mahogany hair sweeping over her shoulders. Gazing upon her mother’s beauty, she was relieved the sweeping stillness of death could not pilfer it.
In a slow, sweet lullaby, she sang her mother’s spirit off to the Summerland, just as her mother had sung to her when she was but a babe. “Tom, he was a piper’s son. He learnt to play when he was young. And all the tune that he could play, was o’er the hills and far away.”
Wiping her tears away with the back of her hand, Preen folded her mother’s hands neatly over her midsection and silently assured her own aching heart that they would meet again someday.
*****
A chorus of catcalls were drowned out by the opening chords of Iggy Azalea’s “Black Widow”. To the horny onlookers’ disappointment, no scantily clad beauty wiggled around the pole for them. Instead, a cloaked figure stalked forward. The thick tread of her scuffed motorcycle boots thumped against the stage with each purposeful stride. The sword and axe hanging low on her hips were made all the more intimidating by the black hood that shadowed her face.
In a prime seat for a money shot, right in the front row, a drunk in a trench coat and sweatpants slapped a stack of singles down on the glitter covered stage.
“Take it off!” he slurred in encouragement.
Metal winged through the air. A blur of speed, the crack of snapping fabric, and she was crouched in front of him. The blade of her sword pressed menacingly to his throat, held there by the pressure of her forearm.
“I could take it off, drop it to the floor, and make it roll,” she purred, violent intent dripping from her tone, “but I have a feeling those terms mean something very different to me.”
The sweaty pervert blanched. His eyes bulged further as she shrugged off her hood. A bone-white face stared back at him, black veins twining intricate lace patterns beneath the surface of her skin. Her lips had been kissed to a frost-bite blue. The dark shadows that lurked around her eyes took the smoky-eyed look to a whole new level. Some may have thought her look to be lovely in a darkly twisted way, but they probably didn’t know the body count associated with it.
About the author:
RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel
Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012
Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013
Stacey Rourke lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant, dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. Mark your calendars! Her latest literary adventure, Crane, will release May 26, 2014. She is currently hard at work on the continuations of this thrilling Legends Saga, as well as other literary projects.
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