by Kasi Blake
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Release Date: July 25th 2014
Summary:
After sixteen years on the run, Bay-Lee joins her emotionally distant father at his New Zealand school. On her first night there, he dumps her on the doorstep and walks away. Big surprise. Minutes later, a bag is thrown over her head, and she’s kidnapped for Orientation. The hunter in charge calls her Bait. According to him, that’s all she’s good for, to be used to draw out monsters for experienced hunters to kill.
Before Bay-Lee can move up to the rank of Hunter, she will have to prove herself, battle wraiths, a reaper in disguise, and a stampeding border monster. With the addition of her classes, she’s going to be way too busy for a social life. Falling in love is not on the agenda.
Then, she meets Nick Gallos. With the intimidating rank of Warrior, Nick is gorgeous, arrogant, and just plain rude to her. It’s obvious from their first meeting that Nick is hiding a dark past overflowing with secrets, and her father is right smack in the middle of it. Nick seems to be using her to get even with her father, and she won’t tolerate that. What a jerk.
So, why can’t she stop thinking about him?
Bait is FREE!
Excerpt:
The snarling beast prepared to charge. A clawed foot pawed at the dirt, stirring up
a cloud of dust. Black eyes partially
hidden beneath a mass of unruly brown fur stared at her. Its enormous square head tilted to the
side. The thing looked like a cross
between a wooly mammoth and an alien from a scary movie.
Nick jumped to his feet while
shouting a warning at her. Glued to the
ground, she couldn’t move. Cold fear
held her in a tight grip. He caught her
arm, hauled her to her feet, and dragged her with him. The heavy tromp of footsteps thundered behind
them. The border monster was
coming. It would overtake them at any
second.
Bay-Lee cringed, expecting to be
impaled on sharp horns.
They ran through the forest,
dodging trees in a mad dash. Nick’s hand
slipped on her arm and he almost let go.
His grip tightened around her wrist.
She forced her legs to move faster, desperate to keep up with him. The hairy beast leaped over their heads and
slammed down in front of them even though she would have bet the thing was too
enormous to jump that high. The ground
shook as if they were caught in an earthquake.
A cloud of dust enveloped them like a post nuclear mushroom cloud.
Nick’s dagger was gone, lost in the
hole, so he picked up a broken branch to use as a weapon. It was thick and long with a sharp pointy
end. His eyes shone with manic
excitement. He shouted at Bay-Lee. “Stay out of the way!”
The border monster charged them,
but Nick darted to the right. He moved
so fast Bay-Lee didn’t have time to think.
Avoiding the shadows, Nick kept to the light so it could see him. The monster changed course. Head bent, it tried to flatten Nick. He leaped into the air at the last
second. The monster’s head scooped him
up. Nick landed on its back. One of his hands tangled in the long matted
hair, using it to hang on, while his other hand brandished the branch like a
sword. He looked like a man riding a
rampaging elephant.
He shouted a warning to her,
telling her to hug a tree. It was the
only safe place. She wanted to help him
slay the thing, but she didn’t know anything about border monsters. They hadn’t gotten to them yet in Maxx’s
class.
Bay-Lee wrapped her arms around the
nearest tree and held on tight. If she
didn’t move, the thing wouldn’t be able to see her. She wished she hadn’t left her cell phone in
her room. Nick was going to die, and
there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it.
Now she wished she’d gone for help instead of following him into the
woods.
Nick drove the sharp tip of the
branch into the monster’s back. Howling
in pain and anger, the thing stood on two legs, freaking her out. Apparently this was another thing she didn’t
know about border monsters. They could
stand on four legs or two. It reached
around, grabbed Nick by his ankle, and ripped him free. The thing lifted him high in the air. It was going to slap the ground with him,
breaking bones and causing massive internal injuries.
Without giving it a thought Bay-Lee
ran at the giant monster. Desperation
drove her to action. She hit it with a
flying kick. Surprised, the monster
dropped Nick. He executed a summersault
and rolled away from the fight. The
border monster turned in her direction.
She retreated fast, blending in with the trees. As long as she wasn’t moving and wasn’t in
the light, it couldn’t see her.
The border monster bent forward and
sniffed, trying to catch her scent. When
it exhaled, the heavy whoosh of air blew hair around her face, momentarily
obstructing her vision. Her nose
itched. She clenched her fists and
fought the urge to scratch. She remained
frozen, refusing to even blink. The
monster was not going to trick her into moving, no matter what it did. Her fingers dug into the tattered bark of the
tree. A silent scream lodged in her
throat, searching for an exit. If the monster
didn’t get out of her face soon, she might lose control and release the scream.
Nick laughed. The sound seemed to infuriate the
monster. It whipped around, ready to
finish crunching Nick to dust. The
monster charged at him. Nick brought the
branch around in an arcing sweep and plunged it into the monster’s gut. The thing staggered backwards before crashing
forward. It was going to fall on top of
Nick. He lurched to the side, trying to
get out of the way, but he wasn’t fast enough.
The monster fell.
About the Author
Born and raised in California, I fell in love with writing while reading The Outsiders. Then I fell in love with Stephen King's writing style. I enjoy reading many types of books, but YA Paranormal is my favorite. I used to write for Harlequin under a different name. So that's my background. Exciting, no?
I have seven books out now: Vampires Rule, Werewolves Rule,Shifters Rule, Crushed, Witch Hunt, Bait, and my only adult novel, a romantic suspense called Pandora's Box.
I have seven books out now: Vampires Rule, Werewolves Rule,Shifters Rule, Crushed, Witch Hunt, Bait, and my only adult novel, a romantic suspense called Pandora's Box.
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