"Perfect for fantasy lovers of all ages. Dawson has managed to bring her multiple series together, briefly, for this rock star/angel story.[...]
If magic, fairies, witches and spells intrigue you this book is perfect for you. The story is light, comical, young and fast moving."- Anima, Goodreads
Cover Designer: Undercover Covers
From the author of The Light Tamer Trilogy, comes the duet series, The Dark Side of Good
This is a spin-off series from The Light Tamer, it is three years later and Amber is no longer a Light Tamer. Amber and Thorne have been on the run from the Council after Amber was framed for murder. The two of them join forces with rogue supernaturals and start the punk rock band, The Dark Side of Good. They travel all over the United States playing in night clubs and ampitheaters.
Their bandmate, Xena, uses her gift as a witch to create a glamour to hide their real identity. Everything comes to a halt when a Shadow Warrior hunts Amber down with promises to clear her name. His one condition, she must sign a blood contract. If she is found to be guilty, he will take her life and absorb her powers. His talk of angels and higher powers intrigue her enough to sign the contract.
Their bandmate, Xena, uses her gift as a witch to create a glamour to hide their real identity. Everything comes to a halt when a Shadow Warrior hunts Amber down with promises to clear her name. His one condition, she must sign a blood contract. If she is found to be guilty, he will take her life and absorb her powers. His talk of angels and higher powers intrigue her enough to sign the contract.
Will it all be too much for them? The secrets. The lies. The Fear. In the end, will it lead her to absolution, or more betrayal? - You don't need to read The Light Tamer Trilogy to enjoy this older YA duet.
EXCERPT
“WATCH OUT!” I yell at Amber as an overzealous fan tries to tackle her from behind. She twists around and zaps the guy with an electric current, enough to knock him backwards. “Come on, we need to get out before another lunatic sneaks back here.”
“Okay Guardian,” Amber scowls. “You always take away my fun. You’re a fun sucker.”
I sprinkle a pinch of memory dust on the knocked-out fan to erase what happened here today. “Yeah, well, if we don’t split, someone is going to post this online. Come on, Reed and Xena already left.”
Therefore, I’m always telling everyone we can’t do meet and greets. Amber is like a giant flame, and the fans are moths. No matter what we do, we can’t seem to get the intense attraction factor to subside. Xena, our drummer, is by far the most powerful witch I’ve ever met. She walks the line between the dark arts and white magic. She provides us a glamor that changes the way we look to the world. The four of us are the only ones who can see what we really look like. When we look in a mirror we will see what the world sees. We look similar to our real selves, only our faces are shaped a bit differently, so are our bodies. Amber’s double wears Tink’s signature Marilyn Monroe piercing on her face, but Amber doesn’t.
It never fails, we do an event, and the fans go crazy, and there’s always a guy in the crowd who proclaims his love for Tink, our name for Amber to keep her identity hidden. When we’re close to the time for our glamor to be recharged, her fae pheromones wreak havoc on the fans, making her even more irresistible. By the reaction today, we are due for a recharge.
Amber storms ahead of me, flipping her hair and her middle finger in typical Tink fashion. She must be the most aggravating ex-girlfriend I’ve ever had. When we left the supernatural testing center, she was crazier than any psycho I’ve dealt with. She was running and trying to resist the urge to drain the light from tamers. In the beginning, if I hadn’t been there to stop her, she would have left a long string of drained Light Tamers created by her. That’s how we found Xena, we were looking for an apothecary to create something to suppress Amber’s urges. She found out we were starting up a band, and she was looking for one to join. We met Reed through her, and Dark Side of Good was born.
“Come on Ace, we don’t want to keep them waiting,” Amber smirks at me. She puts on a ridiculously big pair of yellow sunglasses and climbs into the back of the black Uber we ordered.
“Damn, Tink, you have wild mojo with the fans. Good thing you have that zapping power to knock someone out. He was going to squash you,” Reed rambled as he grabbed my guitar to slide into the back row of the SUV.
It never fails to impress us how many people show up to these things, and then when people go freaky fan on us, we bail. If the Council gets wind of a band that is considered irresistible, they’ll think we’re attempting to lure people to our shows. We all want to stay under the radar as much as possible. When Amber and I left the institution two Christmases ago, I knew we were up against the world. It didn’t take long for them to put out an all-points bulletin in their newsletter and send it to everyone. They claimed it was for Amber’s own safety since no one knows exactly what she’s capable of since turning.
We hired a troll to put out the word we were in Canada. Every so often, he has someone report a sighting of us in the most remote parts of the country. So far, we have fooled them. When Hades released all the Dark Ones from the curse three years ago, that left Amber as the only one left. She isn’t really a Dark One, she is a more insane one, when she loses control. It is as if when a Light Tamer is around, she loses her mind and goes nuts. If she drains any light, be it from a Tamer or too much sun exposure, her body spews it out. The first time it happened, she had been sun bathing all day. When she came in the house, every single light bulb exploded. Amber doubled over in pain, curled up on the floor in the fetal position. Xena and I think she’s allergic to the light now. That’s why what the Council is accusing her of is ridiculous. They’re saying she drained several Tamers and they died. A bounty was set on her head and mine as an accomplice. We are being hunted by the best hunters in the world.
“I like the lunatics. They make me feel sane,” Amber states as she taps out a text to one of her admirers.
Since we hit the road, The Dark Side of Good has been a hit on the indie circuit. We met Brennan at our first big gig. She’s been with us since that night. We hit it off like long lost siblings from the minute we met. If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t be nearly as big with the underground industry. Xena was the last to trust Brennan and her extensive knowledge of the dark web. As an orphan elf, she was placed up for adoption with a two-human family who moved to China for six years when she was in middle-school. While in China, she got in with a bunch of computer geeks and became a gamer with incredible hacking skills.
Full-blooded elves are too protective of their children and would never place their children with a human family. No one knows who her mother was or why she placed her for adoption. From what Brennan says, it worked out great for her, she loves her adoptive parents.
Brennan schedules our gigs, appearances, and accommodations. She does most everything regarding the band, but dress us. She has mad skills at managing us, and we’re making money, hand over fist. All of us look out for her, and she does the same for us.
“Pizza will be here in ten minutes. I hope someone has some cash to tip the guy this time.” Brennan shoots Amber a dirty look. Last time we ordered food, Amber hissed at the pizza guy for forgetting red peppers.
“He was a schmuck, he forgot the peppers I ordered.”
“We’ll assume they remembered the peppers. Does anyone have tip money?” Brennan asks again.
Reed tosses a ten on the dining table. “When will we be in Albuquerque?”
“That’s in two weeks. Speaking of New Mexico, Bren, were you able find anything as to who was attempting to break through the shimmer?” Even though I’m no longer Jessie’s Guardian, I can’t help but worry about her. She’ll always be my friend. Until people quit looking for Amber and trying to pin a bunch of crimes on her that she didn’t commit, I can’t talk to Jessie directly. Someone has killed two Light Tamers in Canada and witnesses have described Amber as the murderer. It wasn’t her. She wasn’t in Canada when it happened, and she doesn’t kill people. She’s a queen b, but she isn’t a killer. Until I figure out who is doing it, we can’t have any contact with anyone.
Last week, Brennan found some information on the dark-web that suggested Amber was running with a crew of thugs. They’re saying the thugs plan to attack Jessie and Caleb. All because they couldn’t heal me before Amber stabbed herself with the Sword of Darkness. I had been stabbed with it, and as I lay dying, the Light Tamers tried to heal me. Jessie is the Queen of Everlasting Light on the other side of the shimmer and was my charge. If a person doesn’t wake up before dawn breaks the following day, all the goodness in them is drained and they become dark. Amber took the sword and promised to spend her days dark with me. What they didn’t know was their healing did work and I woke up in the final seconds before the sun rose, but Amber couldn’t be saved. When Hades released all the Dark Ones, we hoped it would release Amber, but it didn’t. Her behavior is calmer than it was before, but there is a darkness to her that is hard to ignore.
Before we get caught as a band, and they accuse us for crimes we didn’t commit, we put Brennan in charge of clearing Amber. “No, but I’m going to a gaming-con. There’s talk that X2O will be there. He has hunters who work for him who are the best in the world. They won’t work for the Council because they think they’re behind some of the framing that goes on in the supernatural world. If I can get X2O to help us, we can get a lot of mysteries surrounding the Tamers solved.”
Amber tosses a tennis ball across the room. “Don’t ya’ll think that all the snooping around you do will get us caught? If this fancy X2O person is out and about, how are you so sure he isn’t a double-agent? What we have going for us is working, so leave it be.”
“Tink, wouldn’t you like to clear your name so you can at least see your own family?” I’ve had this argument with her so many times I can almost write a screenplay with our dialogue.
“Whatever! You won’t listen to me, anyway. Snoop around, Bren, hire all the X2O people you want. I. Don’t. Care. Anymore!”
Xena’s arms flail in the air. “Can we get a mic drop in isle one? Mic drop in isle one.”
“Jeez, is it everyone’s cycle or something?” Reed complains. “Damn drama crap is going on every time you bring up this Jessie-bitch you talk about. It pisses Tink off, which pisses Xena off, and ultimately, Brennan will get pissed because, well, she’s a chick and they all get pissed off.”
I pick up the tennis ball and chuck it at him, but he knows it’s coming and ducks. “Puss.”
We both laugh.
About the author:
I'm a lover of words. Words can create, demonstrate, hurt, cure, evoke and fill the void when nothing else can. My words, when they find their escape through my fingertips to the keyboard, they come to life. They are powerful, and from the lips they can bring joy. Always be mindful of the words you use. ~ Devyn
Devyn is the author of eleven full length novels and two novellas. Currently, she lives in Trent Woods, North Carolina, although her heart is always in her hometown of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She enjoys spending time with her little darlings (grandchildren), and reading anything she can. One of her passions is to share her love of writing with pre-teens and teenagers. Devyn visits schools in Eastern North Carolina to talk with English classes. If you would like to learn more or schedule a school visit, you can email her at authordevyndawson@gmail.com
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