Cursed by Fire
(Blood & Magic 1)
by Danielle Annett
Release Date: January
28, 2015
Genre: Urban Fantasy,
Paranormal
It has been six
years since the Awakening and peace in Spokane, Washington is still tenuous at
best. The vampires and shifters are all vying for control of the city and the
humans seem to be the ones suffering the consequences, or so it seems.
Aria Naveed has
spent the last two years of her life fighting to make the many wrongs of the
world right, but soon finds out that the humans aren’t as weak as they appear
and may be a more terrifying foe than any of the other races combined.
When a stranger
rolls into town with trouble on his heels, Aria finds herself trapped in the
middle of a battle that could cost her more than she has bargained for as a
fight for justice turns into an unexpected fight for her life.
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EXCERPT:
(Beginning of
Chapter 1)
All I saw was blood. Blood soaked my hands and
coated the walls. It stained the concrete flooring of the abandoned warehouse
and dripped from fixtures that hung from the ceiling, trickling like a slow
rain. My vision blurred as anguish filled me. How could this have happened? How
could I have been too late?
I stared down at the lifeless body of a child. A
boy. Kneeling in a pool of congealing blood, I ran my fingers through his
chestnut hair, ignoring the now-cool moisture seeping into the denim of my
pants. His face was unrecognizable. Gone was the child with the dimpled cheek
and brilliant blue eyes. Left behind was a mass of flesh and bone—a ruined body drained of its life force at such a young age.
Reality snapped like an elastic band, bringing me
back to the present as I sat at my desk in Sanborn Place. Ripped from the
haunted memories of finding Daniel’s body.
The world was a cruel place. It was a fact of life
and even though I knew it was true, I still had a hard time coming to terms
with the atrocities people committed. The cruelties that for some god-forsaken
reason, people thought were okay. Staring down at the wallet-sized photo now
crumpled in my hands, I was greeted by a crown of chestnut hair, bright blue
eyes, a heart-shaped face, and a brilliant smile; a single dimple on his left
cheek. The face of an innocent seven-year-old boy, cut down like he was little
more than a calf brought to slaughter. I found myself struggling to link the
image of this smiling boy to that of the ruined body I’d found less than
forty-eight hours ago.
Inside, a small part of me burned. My blood heated
and a turbulent rage rolled through me, one I had to fight to contain.
“Ari, you’ve got to stop staring at the kid. He’s
gone. Let it go,” I heard Mike say.
I couldn’t let it go. I didn’t understand how he
could either. I looked up from the photograph and stared Mike straight in the
eyes. He cringed but held my gaze.
“He was seven-years-old, Mike,” I said through
clenched teeth. “Seven!”
I shook my head, the poor kid had barely lived,
barely tasted what the world had to offer. I take that back, he’d tasted too
much of what the world could give and it had cost him.
Ever since the Awakening six years ago when all
things that went bump in the night decided to come out of the woodwork and
play, safety had been tenuous at best and kids like this, like seven-year-old
Daniel Blackmore, were suffering the price.
Vampires, shifters, mages, witches and many more
creatures of the night so to speak had seemingly popped out of nowhere,
deciding they were ready to integrate themselves into everyday, or night,
society.
Daniel had been abducted by a rogue vampire. I’d
found his mangled body, broken and discarded as if he were nothing more than a
piece of trash and I was going to find the bastard that had killed him and make
him pay.
“Ari, I know what you’re thinking and the answer is
no.”
I looked
Mike up and down. He was an older man in his late forties with a streak of
silver in his otherwise midnight colored hair. The wrinkles around his eyes
would lead you to believe he smiled a lot but I knew better. Those lines were
from his ever-present frown. Dressed in black slacks and a grey button up
shirt, his mid-section strained against the buttons looking like they could pop
off at any moment, likely taking someone’s eye out in the process.
“I wasn’t asking for your permission,” I told him,
my gaze going back to the photo.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass if you were asking. I’m
telling you, Ari, let it go! You can’t help him anymore. All you’ll end up
doing is getting yourself hurt or worse, killed for your trouble.”
That was the problem with people who had lived
through the Awakening. Their only concern was self-preservation. Nothing else
mattered. Well, screw that because this little boy, he mattered. His life
mattered and he deserved justice. I had scrubbed my hands after finding his
broken body but couldn’t scrub the stain his death left on my soul.
I stood up from my desk and grabbed my keys and
daggers. I sheathed the twin blades on either side of my waist, grabbed my
leather jacket, and made a beeline for the door. Mike crossed the room to
intercept me, arms folded over his chest blocking my way.
“Move,” I bit out.
“No.”
“I can move you.”
“You can, but you won’t.”
I ground my teeth together. He was being
ridiculous. This entire situation was ridiculous.
“Mike, this isn’t some game. A little boy died. He
died! Does that even matter to you? I couldn’t live with myself if I let this
one go.”
“What’s your plan, Ari, you going to just storm
into the coven and force them to tell you who did it? They won’t tell you. They
protect their own and you’re one person against an entire Coven of bloodthirsty
vampires. Even the kid’s parents know it’s a lost cause. They’ve dropped the
case and are focusing on burying their kid. They’re coming to terms with his
death. It’s over.”
I’d been hired by Jessica Blackmore, Daniel’s
mother, a little over two weeks ago to find her son who’d gone missing one
afternoon. He had been walking home from a friend’s, only five houses down from
his own, but never made it to the front door. She’d thought it safe enough to
allow him the small bit of independence but with paranormals about, it was
never truly safe.
Mike knows I’m different. He knows I have
pyrokinetic abilities and he knows I can take care of myself. This wasn’t
reason talking, this was him being overprotective. Feeling the temperature in
the room begin to rise I forced myself to inhale and exhale slowly. Trying to
calm down and keep my pyrokinesis locked up tight. It wouldn’t help the
situation to start a fire. All it would do is prove to Mike that I wasn’t in
control and right now I was in no mood for a lecture.
“Look, Ari, you’re a mercenary. You take on a job
when you have a client. There is no client so there is no job. We’re not the
police. We don’t try to clean up the streets or bag the bad guys. We’re mercs.”
I couldn’t blame him for his way of thinking. Hell,
two weeks ago I would have said the same thing, but this was different. He was
just a kid and I couldn’t believe everyone was so willing to leave his murderer
out there.
“Why don’t—”
Mid-sentence I heard the distinct buzz of a cell
phone. Mike dug his phone out of his left pocket and answered it without
looking at the screen.
“Hello,” he said. Mike’s face scrunched in
confusion, a furrow forming between his brows. He listened for several moments
and then with a grunt he hung up and stared me down. At six feet tall, he
towered over me by a good five inches, but I didn’t back down. Lifting my chin
and giving him my best try me stare.
The one I knew drove him crazy.
“Looks like you’re getting exactly what you asked
for,” he said.
“And what exactly is that?”
“That was Declan Valkenaar on the phone.”
Holy shit, the Pack Alpha. What the hell was he
doing calling Mike?
My
Review:
A
seven year old little boy has been kidnapped and Aria Naveed is determined to
find him before it is too late. While trying to find the little boy Aria finds
that there is more behind the kidnapping of a little boy than meets the eye.
The more she digs into the case she finds a whole lot of secrets that someone doesn’t
want to be brought out into the opening and is trying to kill Aria to keep it
hidden.
When
the little boy turns up dead finding out who could do this to a little boy becomes
more than just a case to Aria it becomes personal. While working on the case
she finds out that the little boy, Daniel is a shifter so with this new
knowledge it brings in the Pack’s hunter, James.
James
and Aria are very good friends. I think James would like their relationship to go
little further than just mere friends but unfortunately Aria is not ready for
something of that nature. You see Aria doesn’t trust people very much at all.
She does trust James to an extent with him being one of the two people that know
her darkest secret she still doesn’t trust him with her heart.
When
Daniel’s body is found it looks as if he was killed by vampires. With this new
knowledge it is feared that there will be war between the vampires and the shifters.
Aria is working very hard at playing mediator between the vampires and shifters
to keep this from happening.
I loved the world
that the author has created in Cursed by Fire with the vampires and shifters
coming out of hiding and letting the whole world know that they are indeed
real. I loved that Aria can kick butt with the best of them but has a heart of
gold. I do wish that her heart was not so hard though and she would have let
James in just a little bit more though. I love reading books with all the paranormal
creatures and humans live in the same world together. If you love a good story
with paranormal creatures then you are going to love Cursed by fire.
Kissed by Fire
(Blood & Magic 2)
by Danielle Annett
Release Date: September
13, 2015
Genre: Urban Fantasy,
Paranormal
As Friend of the Pack, Aria Naveed should be untouchable, protected by
the most influential group in the Pacific Northwest. But someone is unleashing
rogue vampires to hunt her down, and she is determined to find out why.
When Aria gains command of Sanborn Place and takes on a case involving a
mysterious paranormal, her life is put in more peril than ever as she finds
herself bound to an influential power player. She doesn’t want to be anyone’s
puppet, but must tread carefully as she traverses the streets of Spokane, WA,
or risk being overwhelmed by the forces moving against her.
As the only known pyrokinetic in the area, Aria is in high demand, but
not for her services. It seems that to those in power, she’s worth more dead
than alive, and if a mysterious enemy has their way, she won’t live long enough
to find out why.
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Excerpt:
Fire called to me,
tempting me to bring it forth, to destroy my foe in one quick and easy strike.
It would be too easy. There was something very wrong about this, about a newly
made vampire walking the streets of downtown Spokane as if he were on a
leisurely stroll. The change had to have been recent. Blood soaked his
light-blue shirt, leaving a large stain over his chest and the left side of his
body. If I’d had to guess, he’d been changed within the last few hours. His
skin hadn’t turned the pale milky white associated with the undead yet.
Before I could think
further, he struck. In a split second, his once jerky movements morphed into a
flash of speed as he launched himself at me. I twisted out of the way but was
too slow to avoid his second strike. He grabbed me by the back of the neck,
flinging me across the road like a rag doll. My body collided with a parking
meter, the near frozen metal splitting my cheek and knocking the air from my
lungs.
I exhaled a vicious
curse before drawing my twin daggers from the thigh sheath beneath my dress and
jumping to my feet. My dress rode up, but I couldn’t have cared less at the
moment. I was just grateful that despite the dress, I’d managed to wear the
blades. Warm blood seeped from my cheek and my ribs ached with my movements.
He charged again, and
this time I was ready. I allowed my attacker to get close, his hands brushing
my shoulders right before I sank my first blade into the soft flesh of his
stomach. My second pierced his chest, but I missed the heart. With my blades still
imbedded, he squeezed my shoulder, the pain explosive. I heard a distinct pop
before my left arm went limp.
Shit!
My brain took a
backseat as adrenaline flowed through my muscles. I kicked out with my left
foot, the heel in my shoe sinking into his calf. His leg buckled under the
assault and I pulled free, losing my heel in the process but retaining one of
my blades. The other remained in his chest.
My left arm hung loose
at my side. My right lifted and was ready with my dagger, dark-red blood dripping
from its point. His eyes glowed an even deeper red, fangs descending farther to
cover his bottom lip. You might as well
put those back, mister. You won’t be making a meal out of me. Hot blood
surged through my veins. I hastily kicked off my remaining heel, ignoring the
discomfort of the snow and gravel beneath my feet. I needed to move faster.
When he struck again, I
threw myself to the left, my right arm coming up and slashing his throat in a
swift motion. A gurgling sound emanated from his throat, but I knew it wouldn’t
last. He would begin healing almost immediately.
Damn vampire. I needed
to disable him somehow without killing him. My fire was calling to me and I
shoved it down with everything I had. I could not light him on fire. I was
determined to find out who had turned him and why he’d been set loose. I moved
to deliver another blow, a deep stab to his stomach once more, but just as I
moved to strike, a deep growl echoed through the streets. Another predator
making itself known. Like an idiot, I turned, and the moment of distraction
cost me as I felt the vampire sink his teeth into my raised forearm. A scream
escaped me, and then the growl turned into a thundering roar.
I watched in suspended
silence as Declan tackled the fledging vampire, bringing him to the ground, the
crunch of bone loud to my ears as his body hit the pavement. He’d taken a
mouthful of my flesh with him when he’d gone down, and blood flowed freely from
the wound, staining the ground red. I tried without success to staunch the bleeding
with my left hand but couldn’t get my arm to corporate.
Before I could stop
him, Declan brought his hands to the vampire’s neck and, in one quick movement,
snapped it. The sound made me cringe. He rose from the body and kicked it once.
He grunted in satisfaction when the body didn’t respond.
As though a switch had
been flicked, I snapped out of my daze, fury and so much frustration rising to
the surface. “What the hell did you just do?” I yelled at him. Don’t light the Alpha on fire. Don’t light
the Alpha on fire. I repeated the mantra over and over in my head. It would
not bode well for me to attack him right now. No matter how much he deserved
it.
Declan looked taken
aback for a moment. “I saved your life,” he said.
Urgh. Moron! “No, you didn’t. You
ruined it. I cannot believe you just snapped his neck like that, without any
thought.” My temperature rose and I had to take a calming breath to contain
myself. It didn’t help much.
“Why would I think
about it? He had his fangs buried in your arm. I’d expect a little gratitude
here.”
I stormed past him and
crouched beside the vampire, tearing my blade from his chest. I wiped the blade
on the edge of my dress before sheathing it. It was already ruined so a little
more blood couldn't hurt it. I needed something else to focus on aside from
Declan’s stupidity or I was going to lose what little control I had. I skimmed
my hands over the now cold body, checking the pockets of his shirt and pants to
find anything that may provide me with some sort of clue.
“What are you doing?”
Declan asked, obviously annoyed.
Join the club, buddy. I was pretty damn annoyed myself.
“I’m looking for
information,” I bit out. “It would have been much easier to just question the
vampire but no, you had to go and snap his neck and be all ‘I am tiger, hear me
roar.’” I threw my hands in the air in frustration.
He snarled beside me.
“I saved your life.”
“No. You interfered. I’m a pyrokinetic. Don’t you
think if I’d wanted him dead, I’d have lit his ass on fire as soon as he got
close? I wasn’t trying to kill him. I was trying to disable him, and then you
had to come out here all hot-headed and kill him.”
My
Review:
As
we delve into Kissed by Fire book two in the Blood & Magic series we find
Aria trying to come to terms with the fact that she has inherited Sanborn Place
from her friend and father figure Mike. She feels guilt over the fact that he
died because someone was looking for her. She was supposed to be the one who
died not Mike after all she is the one that they want dead.
Someone
wants her dead very badly and is sending vampires that are not ready to be on
their own as of yet they are too young. While Aria is fighting one of these
vampires Declan the Pack’s alpha just happens to be in the area and he kills the
vampire to keep him from killing Aria but she is furious with him for doing so
and tells him in not a very quiet manner either I might add. She lets him have
it with both feet. She didn’t want the vampire dead she was trying to subdue
him so she could find out what ever she could about whom and why someone is
trying to kill her.
With
someone wanting her dead Declan offers her a place to stay at the compound
where the shifters live. Aria has been on her own for a long time now and
thinks she is very capable of taking care of herself. But when she is attacked
by a very big monster she realizes she needs help and calls James for backup.
She hopes he makes it in time before this monster kills her.
By
the time James, Declan and other pack members make it to where Aria is fighting
the monster she is very serious trouble. Aria is almost dead and so that leaves
James and Declan with a decision to make to keep her alive. Declan mates with
Aria to keep her alive and when she finds out she is furious. Aria doesn’t like
this idea of being mated to a shifter and being in need of a babysitter besides
she still has a job to do and is determined to do it. She will find out who is
trying to kill her. She doesn’t need any babysitter. Even though she ends up in
trouble on more than one occasion that probably could have been avoid if she
would have just listened to Declan or James and not been so stubborn. But Aria
is one tough cookie and very independent. She has been taking care of herself
since her parents were killed several years ago.
I
have loved following along with Aria, James, Declan and all of the other
characters on their journeys. I love the world that the author has created for
the vampires, shifter and all of the paranormal creatures. If you have not read
Kissed by Fire then I suggest you do but I would like to suggest that you read
the first book Cursed by Fire first so that you will know what is going on with
Aria and how it all started. I am very anxiously awaiting the next book in the
series.
About the Author:
Danielle Annett
is a reader, writer, photographer, and the blogger behind Coffee and
Characters. Born in the SF Bay area, she now resides in Spokane, WA, the
primary location for her Blood & Magic series.
Addicted to
coffee at an early age, she spends her restless nights putting pen to paper as
she tries to get all of the stories out of her head before the dogs wake up the
rest of the house and vye for her attention.
Giveaway Information: Contest
ends August 12, 2016
·
One (1) winner will receive
a print copy of books 1 and 2, and a $10 Amazon GC (INT)
1 comments:
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! This made my night :)
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