Revelations by Jennifer Carole Lewis
Publication date: January 30th 2015
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal Romance
Synopsis:
For millennia, the lalassu have existed at the fringes of society, hiding in the shadows. But someone is determined to drag them into the light.
Dani has spent years fighting against her family’s urges to take on the mantle of High Priestess for the lalassu. Stronger and faster than any ordinary human, she has no interest in being a guide for her people. She likes being independent and enjoys her night-job as a burlesque dancer. But a darker secret lurks inside of her, one which threatens everyone around her.
Isolated and idealistic, Michael works as a developmental therapist for children, using his psychometric gifts to discover the secrets they can’t share with anyone else. When one of his clients is kidnapped, he will do almost anything to rescue her. The investigation leads him to a seedy little performance club where he is shocked and thrilled to discover a genuine live superhero.
Michael and Dani must join forces to save those they care about from becoming the latest victims of a decades-long hunt. But the fiery chemistry between them threatens to unlock a millennia-old secret which could devour them both.
The clock is ticking and they will be faced with the ultimate hero’s choice: save the world or save each other?
Dani has spent years fighting against her family’s urges to take on the mantle of High Priestess for the lalassu. Stronger and faster than any ordinary human, she has no interest in being a guide for her people. She likes being independent and enjoys her night-job as a burlesque dancer. But a darker secret lurks inside of her, one which threatens everyone around her.
Isolated and idealistic, Michael works as a developmental therapist for children, using his psychometric gifts to discover the secrets they can’t share with anyone else. When one of his clients is kidnapped, he will do almost anything to rescue her. The investigation leads him to a seedy little performance club where he is shocked and thrilled to discover a genuine live superhero.
Michael and Dani must join forces to save those they care about from becoming the latest victims of a decades-long hunt. But the fiery chemistry between them threatens to unlock a millennia-old secret which could devour them both.
The clock is ticking and they will be faced with the ultimate hero’s choice: save the world or save each other?
Rick’s
Gas and Go was a blemish of light squatting in rural darkness. The GT
convertible screamed into the empty lot, laying down rubber as Dani spun to a
halt. Jumping out, she shouted. “Eric? Vincent?”
No
answer. Only faint whispers of the wind moving across empty fields. The station
was long closed for the night with no one to question or ask for help. Her
mouth and lips were dry as she scanned the area, and her hands kept tightening
into fists. She pushed aside the fear threatening to lock her in place and
began to search.
To
Dani’s eyes, the deep shadows of night were easy to pierce—a world washed in
blue and indigo. Blocking out the harsh lights of the station, she studied the
sparse weeds struggling to survive in the thin soil, nothing higher than her
ankle. No ditches.
“Vincent!
Eric!” she shouted again.
Nothing
stirred.
Dammit. Spinning back, the light from
the station blinded her. The phone. It
was just outside the deserted convenience store, a relic from the days before
cellphones. The heavy receiver swung from its silver cord. Squatting down
beside it, she inhaled deeply, running the air through her nose and across her
tongue. Beneath the stench of oil and gasoline, she caught the coppery tang of
fresh blood.
Fuckshitcrap. Despair hammered at her. She
and her brothers had always stuck together, taking care of each other when no
one else bothered. In a flurry of constant relocating and hiding, her brothers
were the only ones she could rely on. Their parents had certainly been too
preoccupied with their own challenges to notice what their children were going
through. She’d come as fast as she could when they’d called. But it hadn’t been
enough—another failure.
Moving
slowly over the ground, disturbing the air as little as possible, she swung her
head back and forth, trying to track where the blood scent came from. Her
artfully disheveled coiffure and two inch heels were a nuisance now, so she
kicked off her shoes and whipped her hair back into a practical ponytail as she
skimmed back and forth close to the ground, inhaling deeply like a bloodhound. There. Off to the side and partially in
shadow, a pile of old pumps and fragments of broken machinery was the only
cover available near the cold bright lights. With Vincent hurt, they would have
hidden rather than fight.
Studying
the jumbled bits of metal, Dani noticed something that didn’t belong. Fresh
flakes of rust and scratches dotting the concrete in a six foot swath in front
of the pile. Picking up a cracked alternator, she found fresh marks in the
metal. The pile had been disturbed and then put back to avoid leaving obvious
signs of a struggle. She shoved the junk aside and revealed something she’d
hoped not to find.
Fresh
blood smeared on the ground.
Dipping
her fingers, she brought it close to her nose. At this range, there could be no
doubt. It was Vincent’s: an unmistakable blend of liquor, old smoke, and
leather. After years of living in the next room, she knew his scent better than
her own. Fury blazed, tightening her arms, back, and teeth. The alternator
clenched in her fist groaned as her fingers dented the pitted metal.
Rising,
she was about to stalk back to the car when she noticed a stray cat staring at
her from the edge of the weedy field. Its eyes were glowing green and its fur was
a patchwork of colors. Above it, a slim crescent of moon rose over the fields.
Chill
curled over her skin as she remembered seeing this exact scene before—almost a
month ago, with her sister.
Gwen
had been drawing by candlelight, curled in the corner of her room, looking more
like a little girl than the young woman she was. Dani set the basin full of
warm water down on the irregular flagstone floor and knelt beside her. The
stale odor of old sweat couldn’t completely hide the delicate hints of
lily-of-the-valley. It was her sister’s smell, and couldn’t be completely
smothered, no matter what—just like Gwen.
Part
of her hated these visits, hated how Gwen was locked up in their family’s farm
house, unable to step outside for even a few minutes. But the larger part of
Dani treasured them: brief moments of lucidity, hints of the little sister who might
have been. Dani always stood between her sister and the dangers of the world,
standing over her bed when they were little and beating up anyone who dared to
hint that her baby sister wasn’t normal.
But
Gwen wasn’t normal, and it couldn’t be hidden any more, no matter how much
she’d wanted to deny it and believe it wasn’t true. So Dani hid her
frustration, and came home to help her parents take care of her as often as
possible.
“It’s
important,” Gwen insisted, not looking up.
“I’m
sure it is. I brought the stuff for a bath. Maybe we could do your hair
tonight.” Dani touched her sister’s stiffened, close-cropped strands. The
darkness of her hair only emphasized the chalky pallor of Gwen’s skin. Blue
veins traced a net, as if trapping her determined spirit inside her fragile
body.
“Not
many pleasant images. Always remember the dark times best. Want to show me
witches burning or battlefields. Sometimes it’s like I’m drowning in blood.” Gwen’s
voice choked at the end and her bony fingers closed around her throat.
Dani
caught her sister’s hand in her own, hoping to distract her from the visions
and voices that tormented her. “Not today. Not here.”
“No.
Not here.” A small mercy, given the amount of effort they’d put into creating
this one safe haven. Gwen stared at the closed door, her huge eyes even wider
in fear. “Out there, they scream and beg. All of them lining up and shoving to
get inside—”
“They
can’t get in, Gwen. Not in here. I brought some food, too. Mom says you’re not
eating.” She showed Gwen the plate of fruit and gently steaming muffins.
Gwen’s
face lit up in a childlike, beaming smile, brightening her bruised eyes. “For
me?”
“Come
on, wash your hands and I’ll do your hair while you eat.”
Gwen
spread her thin fingers decorated with charcoal smudges. “Sometimes I can’t
tell if it’s dirt or shadow. Is it still winter?”
“It’s
spring now. The birds are building nests and there are flowers by the side of
the road.” Dani dipped a cloth in water and began to wipe down Gwen’s fingers. “Soon
it’ll be summer, and the sun will blaze hot in the sky, and the kids will play
in their swimming pools. The ice cream truck will drive through the streets.”
“Ice
cream. I’d forgotten about ice cream. Do you think you can bring me some?”
“Absolutely.
But for now, these are still nice and warm.” Dani broke off a piece of muffin
and put it in her sister’s cool hand. It was always chill and clammy in here,
no matter how they tried to heat it.
“It’s
so easy to lose track of time.” Gwen bit down on the soft pastry. “I forget so
many things. That’s why I have to tell you. When the patchwork cat stares at
Diana’s moon, you have to find the shadow that doesn’t belong. It’s important. I
put it down for you.”
Dani
froze in the middle of pouring warm water into a bowl, breathing harshly. Gwen’s
mind was constantly distracted and scattered. For this one message to stick
long enough to be communicated meant that it was important to her. But that
didn’t mean Dani was going to be in any position to do anything about it. She
finished pouring the water and brought the bowl to her sister’s side.
“Cat.
Moon. Shadow. Got it. Now eat.” Dani took a sponge and began to work water
through her sister’s grimy hair.
Gwen
continued to pick at the muffin on the plate. “There are so many stars. We
don’t even know all their names. We don’t notice when one goes missing.” She stared
up at the uneven stone ceiling as Dani carefully washed her hair. “The storm is
coming, blotting them out one by one. But we can’t see because we don’t know
their names. The darkness will swallow us all, because we’ve abandoned the
gods. Crumbling clay swept up in the trash.”
Gwen’s
ramblings were filled with more cryptic hints over the last year. No one was
sure if she was developing a true predictive gift or simply repeating what
she’d been told. This latest exhortation sparked shame and defiance inside
Dani. If she’d followed family tradition and sacrificed herself to the
Huntress, Dani would have become a conduit to the gods, receiving proper divine
warnings for the entire lalassu
people. But none of those warnings had done a bit of good in the past. They
hadn’t saved Gwen or her father.
Dani
took a deep breath, pushing her anger down. Gwen wasn’t taking sides, only
repeating garbled and confused messages. She knew about Dani’s struggles for
freedom, the hard-won balance with the Huntress. She knew about the guilt
gnawing at Dani’s core, the twin fears which competed for dominance: that she
would someday fail to contain the Huntress, and that she would disappear into
the alien predator. Gwen had only been seven when she encouraged Dani to flee,
telling her it wasn’t time and that if she stayed and completed the ritual, the
Huntress would swallow them all.
Dani
cupped her sister’s face with her hand, bringing Gwen’s focus back to the present,
although it was a visible struggle.
“You
don’t have to be afraid of the dark,” Dani whispered, the refrain familiar from
their childhood.
“Because
you’re nastier than anything else out there.” Gwen smiled, twisting around.
“Damn
fucking right.” Dani smoothed her sister’s wet hair against her skull, smiling
back.
“But
this is bigger than you. Old wounds come back to bleed again. I can hear his
footsteps echoing all around us, walking over our hiding hole. Too close to
chase away. If you hunt alone, you’ll fall,” Gwen insisted.
“I
don’t do partners.” The thought of being responsible for someone else turned
her stomach. She was failing enough people as it was.
Gwen
looked up with stricken eyes, muffin crumbs tumbling from her chin. Dani
immediately relented. She couldn’t bear seeing her sister hurt.
“I’ll
be careful,” she promised. Gwen’s gift gave her access to the past and present
with ease, along with occasional glimpses of the future. But she couldn’t
always tell one from the other. The visions had driven her mad long ago. Sometimes
her advice was right on target and other times she begged Dani to stop
atrocities which happened hundreds of years ago.
“If
you hunt alone, you’ll fall.” Gwen’s bony fingers cut into Dani’s wrist,
surprisingly strong. “Find the invisible man who sees the hidden truths. Find
him, Dani.” Gwen’s eyelids sagged, her spate of prescience exhausting her.
Dani
finished washing and rinsing her hair, combing it out and drying it with a
towel. The plate of food lay forgotten on the floor. She helped her sister into
bed—a thick, feather-stuffed mattress on a sturdy wooden frame. Plenty of heavy
quilts and duvets were heaped on top to keep Gwen warm. Her drawing materials
were scattered all over the uneven stone floor.
Tidying
the room, she’d gotten a better look at the sketchpad. A weedy field with a cat
sitting at the edge and a crescent moon rising above.
Exactly
what she saw now in the gas station’s parking lot.
“Damn.
I hate it when she’s right,” Dani whispered to the sky. Just when she thought
this day couldn’t get any worse.
Find the shadow. Gwen’s final warning
echoed through her head. Spinning on her heels, she went back to the rubbish
heap. She dug through the trash, searching.
Beneath
a rusted-out muffler was a patch of shadow slightly darker than those around it.
When she touched it, instead of cool concrete, she found smooth plasticized
fabric. Pulling it out, she discovered it was a torn fragment from a
lightweight jacket, dark blue nylon. The shadow was found. Now she supposed
she’d have to track down this invisible man. She sniffed at the nylon, catching
a hint of gun oil and cheap deodorant. Was the jacket his? Or another path of
investigation?
“You
could have be a little clearer, Gwen,” Dani muttered at the sky, tucking the
fabric away in her pocket. She’d hang on to it and search for this invisible
man. But meanwhile, she would check into other leads.
Whoever
took her brothers had made a serious mistake. Danielle Harris did not fuck
around with anyone who threatened her family.
The
Hunt was on.
AUTHOR BIO
Jennifer Carole Lewis is a full-time mom, a full-time administrator and a full-time writer, which means she is very much interested in speaking to anyone who comes up with any form of functional time-travel devices or practical cloning methods. Meanwhile, she spends her most of her time alternating between organizing and typing.
She is a devoted comic book geek and Marvel movie enthusiast. She spends far too much of her precious free time watching TV, especially police procedural dramas. Her enthusiasm outstrips her talent in karaoke, cross-stitch and jigsaw puzzles. She is a voracious reader of a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction and always enjoys seeking out new suggestions.
She is a devoted comic book geek and Marvel movie enthusiast. She spends far too much of her precious free time watching TV, especially police procedural dramas. Her enthusiasm outstrips her talent in karaoke, cross-stitch and jigsaw puzzles. She is a voracious reader of a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction and always enjoys seeking out new suggestions.
Author links:
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This book so intrigued me, I immediately went and put it on my amazon wish list. Thanks for the intro to it.
ReplyDeleteGreat excerpt! Sounds like a fantastic book, thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you liked it! The story has been in my head for some time so I'm glad to finally have a chance to share it. The excerpt above was actually the very first scene I wrote for the book.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fantastic book :D
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fantastic read, and thanks so much for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteGood luck to everyone in the giveaway! I'd like to keep my fingers crossed for all of you but then I wouldn't be able to type. :)
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