Excerpt;
Blood pooling.
Seeping.
Merging.
Swirling together to form a detailed map of carnage.
“Tsk,
tsk, tsk.” The Countess pursed her full lips in a mock pout. “And to
think he was trying to save you. You must feel simply dreadful right
now.”
Anger quickened my breath making each word come out a breathless gasp. “Shut … up.”
“Why’s
that?” She rested her palms on her ample hips and let her head fall to
the side in a flowing curtain of scarlet. “Don’t feel like talking about
it? Can’t say that I blame you. Here he was marching over here so
gallantly to protect you while you called him names and berated him.
That’s evil even by my standards and I make a viable vocation out of this.”
One
stride into a forward charge toward certain death, I froze. My shocked
heart lurched into an awkward stutter beat. The cause of my surprise?
Rowan, rolling to his side and yanking the dagger from his gut. The
Countess’s painted lips pulled back in a sneer.
Heels
clicked across the floor with sharp snaps as she strode straight for
him. “I hate it when people don’t have the courtesy to die the first time you kill them.”
With
the stiletto heel of her boot, she pinned Rowan’s wrist to the floor …
then stomped. Rowan howled and writhed as blood spurted from his wound.
His injured hand loosened around the hilt. Before the blade could clank
to the ground, the vile enchantress scooped it up. Flipping it in her
hand, she arched back for the death blow.
“Nooooo!!”
I channeled everything inside me. Pulling every emotion that ravaged
me throughout this god-awful day into my core, I raised both hands and
hit her with the full force of my telepathic fury.
The dagger flew from her hand as she pin-wheeled into the darkness.
I rushed to Rowan’s side and eased him to a sitting position. “Row? Rowan?”
It took a minute for his
sleepy gaze to find me. Even then his dilated pupils hinted
consciousness would be fleeting. In the distance came a soft thud. The
Countess must’ve found the other side of this massive hall. My little
stunt bought us seconds only.
“Row?”
My fingers dug into his shoulders as I attempted to shake him awake.
“Can you teleport? I don’t know any other way out of here and we need to
go now!”
In place of an answer, his eyes rolled back and his head lulled to the side.
Like rapid-fire gunshots, her heels clicked closer, building around us in an ominous echo.
I slapped Rowan softly
once, then a second time with more vigor. “Rowan! Come on! One little
poof then you can pass out! I promise! Just get us out of here!”
He
woke with a jerk, a protective passion rising on his face. His tensed
features sharpened. Turquoise eyes blazed as his injured hand weaved
into my hair and pulled me to him. Blood dripped down the back of my
neck and dampened my hair, yet pulling away never occurred to me. His
lips brushed mine with a tentative question—a plea for acceptance. I
hesitated for a fraction of a second before consenting with a resounding
mutual urgency. Locked in each other’s embrace, we disappeared in a
cloud of smoke.
ABOUT STACEY:
There is nothing worse than being put
on the spot and asked to talk about yourself. For me it brings back
that inevitable moment in a new school when the teacher would ask me
to stand up, introduce myself and tell the class something about
myself. I was always worried I would blurt out something stupid that
I would get teased for. Something like, “My name’s Stacey and I
like pickles!” Then for the rest of the school year I’d be known
as the Pickle Girl and let’s be honest, no one wants that. So to
avoid such a faux pas I will simply say that I love to write. It
allows me to get my crazy out just enough that I can function as a
normal member of society.
Best selling award winning author of
the Laugh-out Loud Gryphon Series and the nonfiction book I'm Not
Crazy I'm on Lupron; a Journey Through Infertility. Learn more about
Stacey's books at www.staceyrourke.com
or diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com. If you are a blogger or
reviewer interested in reviewing any of Mrs. Rourke's work please
contact her publicist Sara O’Connor at info(AT)
gliterarygirlmedia(DOT)com
ABOUT ASCENSION:
From best selling and award
winning author Stacey Rourke comes the heart-pounding continuation of
the acclaimed Gryphon Series.
The turning point of the Gryphon saga
is at hand …
Battle looms. Three unstoppable forces
prepare to clash in a colossal explosion that could wipe Gainesboro
off the map. Fate and sacred calling have landed nineteen year old
Celeste Garrett in the middle with nowhere to run.
Her trust wavers as she uncovers dark
secrets of the Council, powerful enough to test her loyalty and turn
her against those she swore to protect. Playing to the longing of her
heart, a malevolent enemy uses her weakness against her to form an
alliance.
With the trumpets of war about to
sound, which side will the Conduit choose, and who will be left
standing?
LINKS:
Website: http://Staceyrourke.com
With the release of Ascension comes the
newest edition of the entire series, complete with amazing
illustrations of these dynamic characters. Here’s a sample:
Illustrator
Crystal Ord will be bringing some of your favorite Gryphon Series
characters to life!
Crystal
Smalls Ord is a freelance illustrator and writer who resides in the
rainy Pacific Northwest. Her art and stories have appeared in the
macabre children's lit magazine, Underneath the Juniper Tree. Last
year she illustrated her first children's book, Ethan's Story; My
Life with Autism which can be found on Amazon.com. Her art has also
appeared in hitRECord.com's musical short, Madamoiselle Noir.
In
her free time Crystal plays with her kids, cleans house, teaches
music in Sunday School, and lingers in the geekery corner of
Pinterest.
Contact
her at:
Website: wix.com/fynn47/author-website.com
Facebook: facebook.com/smallsord
The
demonic and fantasy elements of the Conduit’s journey will jump off
the page thanks to Robert Immings;
In
2000 Robert Immings graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta with
a BFA in graphic design. Since then he’s done work in package
design, web development and designed training applications and
software interfaces. These days he’s a mild-mannered operations
technician with an electronic trading firm in Alpharetta Georgia.
Earlier this.year he had a chance to enter Sony's "Treasures of
Middle Earth" design contest which was a promotion for the
hobbit movie. He came in as a runner-up. More recently he had the
opportunity to do some sketches and collaborate on the cover for
Emily Fogel's wonderful fantasy novel Dragon Wars and created the
cover for her soon to be released book "Chasing Flames".
Right now he’s excited to be working on a collection of
illustrations for Stacey Rourke's Gryphon Series.
He’s
always interested in illustration and graphic design projects and can
be contacted at robertimmings@hotmail.com.
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