The
Lake Of Shadows
Chastity
Point Series
Book1
M.E.
Yildirim
Genre:
Paranormal Romance
ASIN:
B00GN94XYG
Number
of pages: 383
Word
Count: 111651
Cover
Artist: Gözdem Perrichet
Book
Description:
Keegan
Callaghan knows the taste of loss. Fate has severely tried him; first
by taking away his parents when he was but a child, then destiny
didn't spare him the heartache of losing the woman he loved, when she
fell victim to vicious killers who were after him.
He
is a man, but not human.
At
least that's not all there is to him.
There
is a savage side to his nature, a werewolf like creature that most
would attribute with folklore or a myth. Troubled by his own
animalistic tendencies he has a hard time accepting and haunted by
vicious memories, he decides to leave his home in Ireland and move to
the US, where his mother was from.
But
the quiet town of Chastity Point, Connecticut is not what it seems.
Jade
Thorton is trying to lead the life she always dreamed of having. She
owns a bakery, has friends, and a loyal dog, which seems to be fully
satisfying after the traumatic experience of her childhood that casts
a long shadow on her whole life.
The
last thing she expects is to find herself thrown back into the past
by the events taking part in the small town when blood is being
spilled in rural Chastity Point.
The
fascination she feels for the mysterious man with eyes full of
painful secrets could be her chance for happiness, or her final
downfall…
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CHAPTER
25
When
the light breeze ruffled her hair she breathed deeply, and looked
around. This place was peaceful, and seemed untouched by
civilization, which was surprising, considering how often people were
visiting this area. Jade looked at the weeping willow, planted on the
shore to prevent erosion. Its pleasing to the eye long and thin
branches were hanging gracefully, and swaying gently on the slightest
wind as if dancing to the music created by the nature itself.
She
turned to Keegan, and a smile froze on her face. Tension was
radiating from his whole being. His head was tilted at a strange
angle, and he seemed to be sniffing the air in a way that made goose
bumps appear on her naked arms.
“Keegan?”
she asked, feeling as if her mouth was suddenly too dry, and filled
with cotton candy.
Keegan
felt his beast's inborn instinct race to the fore at the first whiff
of the light breeze. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck were
raised in warning. There was some putrid smell in the air, and he had
a sudden urge to snarl in response to the menace hanging in the
stilled emptiness surrounding them.
In
the blink of an eye his senses became keener, even more accurate, and
he knew. Death smells always the same, he thought.
“Stay
here,” he said absently to Jade, at the same moment when Felix
whimpered.
Keegan
issued a growl, inaudible to human ears, and Felix sat next to Jade's
form, his hairy body trembling.
Keegan's
feet carried him as if on their own volition, and soon he was
running. In no time that felt like forever, he came close to
something that could be called a pier only by somebody with a vivid
imagination.
He
was not sure what he was looking for or expecting even, but what he
found was hundred times worse, he thought, barely stifling roar of
fury.
There
was a body drifting in the water, down below, touching the wooden
post with one hand as if trying to reach it in a vain attempt to grab
a chance at already lost life.
Thickets
and reeds tried to cover the corpse as if nature itself wanted to
give her a burial that was her due.
Her,
he thought again with a powerless rage, looking down at the mutilated
body, and into the wide open, unseeing eyes of a woman he knew.
He was
so absorbed with trying to stop the changes happening within him,
that he heard Jade's approach when she started to scream.
Excerpt
Chapter 14
He
sat on his porch, listening to the sounds that approaching night was
bringing up to him. It was like a lullaby, to which he get used to
surprisingly fast.
Opened
bottle of chilled beer stood on the wooden table, next to his elbow.
Condensation was dripping slowly down along the glass in an essence
reminiscent of the sand in an hourglass.
He
propped his ankles comfortably on the balustrade, letting peace of
the moment to seep inside of his skin. A light breeze played with his
hair, like a teasing hand of a lover, carrying memories within that
were fighting with a present.
Too
many memories he tried to resist.
But
they were stripping his will away, pulling him under. Taking him back
to the times when he had been a mere shadow passing by, living on the
outskirts of the real world.
Riona
was dead, and with her death all the light went out from his life.
One careless incident, and he was spiraling down, down, down …
At
first, vengeance was the only thing that kept him going, kept the
blood pumping in his veins, kept his heart beating in his chest.
After
all was said and done, he was left with memories alone.
Memories
that taunted him.
Then
even they were too much and started to elude his grieving mind.
During the first year he was so close to the edge. He let his animal
side come to the fore, trying to bury himself in the most basic
survival mode. He became vicious beast walking on two legs, ready to
strike at the slightest provocation, or even without.
He
didn't care if he would bring death upon the others or himself. No,
he prayed for the end, because only in death they could be together
again. Then one sober thought slashed brightly through his half mad
mind.
He
didn't deserve the blessing of the death.
He
needed to take in the suffering with every breathe, with every step
of his way...
Then
all the other women followed. Nameless fucks. That's what they were.
He made sure, he has never had a hard time walking away from any
woman, after not being able to reach the only one he wanted.
All
these years females had come to him easily, and then disappeared even
faster. Names and faces turned into blur, not letting one of them
become too important to him. It was a simple matter he based his
survival on.
They
were all blonde and tall, but they were mere shadows of the only
female he could never touch again. Didn't deserve from the beginning,
but couldn't resist. And she paid dearly for his weakness.
Not any other has ever came close to touching precious memories he
carried within. These other females were wrecks, just like him.
Castaways left for scavengers to pray.
Incomplete.
Undone.
Trying
to lose themselves in one of the most primal acts. In order to dream,
to forget, to die, and reborn as someone else. Trying to … feel
something, anything. But nothing helped. Not to him.
Never
to him.
Grief
and rage became like a third entity living under his skin.
Until
one day he opened up his eyes, and saw all that he had brought upon
himself. He became what he despised the most.
Riona
would despise him as well.
Not
for failing in protecting her, never that. But for what he allowed
her death to turn him into. This bitter, violent shell of the man she
used to love, nothing but a husk of his former self, on a sloppy road
to hell.
He
shook his head like an animal that lived inside of him, shrugging off
the trance like state. There was no peace in the evening breeze,
soothing lullaby snapped in the midway. Broken sound of it
reverberating in his jagged soul.
He
leaned against the back of his chair, balancing it precariously on
two legs. Precarious balance was a good analogy to his current
situation, he thought, and blew out the harsh breath, swearing
eloquently.
Jade.
All
in him wanted to get back to her, to bury himself in her body, to
slip under her skin. All in him tightened in possession at the mere
memory of the hungry intensity between them.
He
would like nothing more, than to blame it all on his primal, animal
part, but deep down he knew human male felt exactly the same way.
He
didn't want to feel this way about any woman.
Not
after the lesson of the past. He knew dangers hidden in it,
remembered gut wrenching emotions. They were nothing more than a
weakness, which could lead a man to a downfall.
And
now Jade threatened all his memories, deepening his guilt, and
self–loathing. Because she was making him break the vows he made a
long time ago, forget his own rules he tried to live by. And she
didn't even have to try, he thought bitterly.
The
smart thing to do would be walking away now, but he was afraid it was
already too late for that.
He
took Jade, just like he wanted, but it didn't appease his craving. If
anything the craving became even sharper, than before. If he had any
hopes of moving on after having her, now he could finally stop
deluding himself about it.
She
was his, and some feral part of him refused to consider any other
possibility.
He
finally couldn't take standstill of the moment and went inside,
closing the solid lid on his memories, and pretending his present
doesn't bother him at all...
About
the Author:
M.E.
Yildirim is a Public Relations specialist from Poland who is
confident Satan himself created math and that the world needs more
bookworms to balance the evil out. Her mother is the one who had
inculcated in her respect and love for written stories and taught her
not to judge a book by its cover. She lives with head full of voices
which won't be silenced until she lets them out to live and spin
their tales on paper. That's right-their tales, since they seem to
have a mind and will of their own. Walking through life to the beat
of her own drum, she has worked in a PR Agency, small companies, a
big consortium and even in the Military. But none of it could ever
compare to the adventures of creating and building up her characters
and stories. M.E. believes that books are for smoothing out
everyone's feathers and reminding people all the things they've
already forgotten. She is happily married, oftentimes engaging her
husband in her writing, with or without his consent. Tenacious as
much as the characters she creates, she loves challenges, letting her
own creations to take advantage of that fact.
Thank you for hosting me! :)
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