Sisters of the Moon
Alexandrea Weis
Published by: Vesuvian Books
Publication date: September 22nd 2020
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
** A Novella ***
A monstrous fate will turn a girl into a legend.
On an island in Lake Obersee, where The Sisters of St. Gertrude abide, a destitute Moor named Durra arrives. Sold for taxes, she and her two companions tend to the nuns and their collection of cats. At night, she combs the library for details on the order, the remote island, and the beasts howling outside her window.
But when a prank reveals the sisters’ gruesome secret, Durra is forced to accept a new fate. Bestowed an unearthly power, she must choose between life as a nun or living among the monsters beyond the convent walls.
Her path is about to change the tide in the ultimate war. The war between good and evil.
—
EXCERPT:
A click followed by a grinding noise sounded from behind the mantel.
She heard a low whoosh and then a door popped partially open to the right of where she stood.
Durra jumped back, grabbing her chest.
What in God’s name?
She took in a few deep breaths and glanced around the library to make sure she was still alone.
Tentatively, Durra put her hand on the hidden door, examining how its edges flushed perfectly with the paneled wall behind the mantel, making it impossible to detect.
When she eased the door open, a musty smell tickled her nose, and then the small space came to light.
It had rickety shelves set into the walls, which appeared haphazardly built. Crammed onto the shelves were an array of papers—some wrapped in tight scrolls and others neatly piled together and tied with leather strips.
Durra had heard of such secret chambers. These were places where the masters kept important papers hidden from robbers.
Durra checked the closed library doors before easing her shoulder into the hiding place. There was barely enough room for her in the tight space. With only the fading light in the library to guide her, she squinted to get a better look at the papers on the shelves. Yellowed, cracked, ripped, and fragile parchments lay everywhere. Their random arrangement on the shelves led Durra to believe they were much older and not as thoroughly categorized as the books in the library.
She could barely contain herself as she reached for the closest scroll. She pulled her hand back, afraid to remove the leather tie, lest the brittle parchment fell apart in her hands. Curiosity won her over, though, and she picked up the scroll.
Durra leaned toward the alcove door, anxious for better light to read the work.
The ink had faded, making it a challenge to decipher the words, but the few legible parts made no sense. The language was foreign. The letters were odd and nothing like the Latin and German she knew.
A memory came to her in the half-lit space. Something her father had shown her as a child. He’d kept scrolls with him, using the parchment to dispatch letters, and with the scraps, he had taught her words. He’d wanted her to write and read in the language of their homeland. Arabic. Only a few words remained with her. One was on the scroll—dhiib.
“Wolf,” slipped from her lips.
A chill enveloped her, and the evil she felt before coming to the convent returned.
Durra hurriedly returned the scroll to the shelf. She eyed the others, overcome by the sinking heaviness of her dismay.
What are scrolls in Arabic doing in a convent in Bavaria?
And as she mulled over the possibilities, the light in the cramped space petered out. Durra gasped. She dashed from the hidden room and checked the window.
Darkness covered every pane.
Her heart rose in her throat, cutting off her air.
Oh no!
Durra didn’t bother going back to the secret room to shut the door. There was no time. She scurried toward the entrance, desperate to get to her chamber before she ended up locked out for the night.
Author Bio:
Alexandrea Weis, RN-CS, PhD, is a multi-award-winning author, screenwriter, advanced practice registered nurse, and historian who was born and raised in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Having grown up in the motion picture industry as the daughter of a director, she learned to tell stories from a different perspective. Infusing the rich tapestry of her hometown into her novels, she believes that creating vivid characters makes a story moving and memorable.
Weis writes romance, mystery, suspense, thrillers, supernatural, and young adult fiction and has sold approximately one million books. She lives with her husband and pets in New Orleans where she is a permitted/certified wildlife rehabber with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries and rescues orphaned and injured animals.
She is a member of both the International Thriller Writers Association and the Horror Writers Association. www.AlexandreaWeis.com
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