.
"My name is Rylee and I am a Tracker." When children go missing, and the Humans have no leads, I'm the one they call. I am their last hope in bringing home the lost ones. I salvage what they cannot.The clock is ticking and I can feel the weight of the final battle with the demon hordes looming over my head. The puzzle pieces are becoming clearer, but the casualty list is growing. And with each name that is added to those we've lost, my confidence cracks a little more. Yet there is hope. A child saved. A life lost. A prophecy fulfilled
“You don’t think that all of the disasters that humanity has faced were all natural, do you? The bubonic
plague is a good example. It was blamed on a number of things. Rats, the Jewish people, punishment
from God. It all led to a cleansing of anything unusual. Mostly supernaturals, who were trying to blend in,
and in that process the humans wiped out many of their best defenders against the demon population,
which then went on to spread the plague across the world. But that is just one example.”
“What was the point though, wouldn’t the demons have wanted people to be alive so they could
possess them?” Liam asked.
Erik gave a ruthful smile. “Yes and no. The bubonic plague wasn’t so much about killing people off, as
it was infecting them. Making them weak and easier to possess. The plague compromised their immune
systems, allowing them to be taken over. Especially the young.”
Something about what Erik said sent a twang through my brain. I struggled to put the pieces together
that floated just out of reach. Damn it. Liam touched my arm. “What?”
I closed my eyes and pressed my palms into them, blocking out any light. “Just let me think for a
minute.”
The feel of the night air and the sound of the fountain filled my ears as I looked at the pieces one by
one.
Demons escaped in London who bred fast.
Minor supernaturals were being possessed by lesser demons and evil spirits.
Packs of Orion’s demons were free to cause chaos.
The only thing we were missing was a plague and then Orion would have access to all the young
people he wanted. The urge to vomit swelled up through my stomach and burned the back of my throat.
“Children are normally hard to possess, aren’t they?” That was why it had taken a full pentagram
when the black coven was trying to have India possessed so many months ago. At least, that was what I
understood.
Bert bobbed his head. “Yes, it can be very difficult to possess a child. There is a natural protection
over the young when it comes to demons, something the elementals put into play.” He grimaced as he
said ‘elemental’ and again I wondered at these particular supernaturals that I’d only just been hearing
about. “But when the small humans are ill, that protection goes into keeping them alive, rather than
keeping them from being possessed.”
Feeling like a bully, but not really caring, I leaned in to Bert. “How did the bubonic plague really start?”
An interesting thing happened. Bert paled and shook his head. “I can’t tell you.”
My eyebrows shot up and I glanced at Erik. “You want to make him talk, or do you want me to make
him talk?”
Erik shrugged. “Either way is fine. I haven’t interrogated a demon in years. I’ve missed it.”Bert paled even more and his lower lip trembled. “I can’t tell you. I can’t. Tracker, Slayer both of you
have to trust me. Please.”
“Begging will get you nowhere, little demon.” Erik growled. He had a short, serrated knife in his hand
that he’d pulled from somewhere within his robes. It was curved, like a skinning knife, and if it hadn’t
been for the rough edges that’s what I would have called it.
“Track demons and evil spirits.” Bert blurted out as he fell to his knees. “Proof I am on your side. Track
them; you’ll see it isn’t me fooling you.”
Erik paused and looked over at me. “Up to you. Personally, I’d just as soon dice him up.”
“Fuck, why not, Tracking will take me two seconds.” I grumbled.
I send out a thread to Track demons as a whole, paired with a thread for evil spirits, just to satisfy—
Holy. Fucking. Hell.
I swayed on my feet and went to one knee, the overwhelming wash of pings I got back seriously
making me re-think getting out of bed the day before.
We were surrounded by Orion’s minions.
Hundreds of them.
Rylee Adamson Interview
My name is Rylee. I don’t like it when people use my last name, it reminds me of where I’m
from and the people who turned on me. I was adopted as a baby into a family where they
couldn’t have children naturally. But when I was ten, my parents got a surprise. A miracle baby, a
little girl with golden hair and bright blue eyes.
When I was sixteen, I was accused of killing her; our parents believed the police. But I don’t
really want to talk about that as it was over ten years ago. I’m trying to let it go.
I’m a Tracker, a supernatural who can trace anyone’s life threads finding them regardless of
whether they’re dead or alive. I prefer alive, dead is messy, but so often that is the case. I’m
also an Immune, magic slides off me as if I don’t exist. That is handy.
Gods, I’m sweating here trying not to swear. Are you sure I can’t use at least one four letter
word? No, of course not.
I never Track adults. They can bloody well take care of themselves. I only ever Track kids.
Probably I’m trying to make up for not saving my sister. But I’ll leave that up to the
psychologists out there to decipher my motives.
Alex is my buddy, a werewolf trapped between forms; half man, half wolf. Submissive, goofy and
loyal to the bone he is the one spot of bright light in my life. I think you’d like him the best of
the two of us. I know I can be a hard ass, I can’t seem to help it. But Alex has never met
someone he couldn’t win over with a floppy wave of his oversized paws. He might not be the
best back-up, but he makes me smile and in my world, that is enough.
Someone once asked me what it was like to Track kids for parents who had no one else to turn
to, for parents who’d lost hope that their child would ever be returned to them.
This was my answer: It’s a weight and a responsibility that sits on me, I took an oath that I
would never stop Tracking lost children. That I would put my life on the line for those who can’t
save themselves, and that I would fight to my last breath to keep a child alive.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Shannon Mayer Author Interview
Rather than have a list of Q & A as I’ve seen oh-so-many-times-and-looks-rather-dry (similar to
a succession of popcorn farts), I thought I’d do something a little different.
I thought I’d tell you a story about a girl who loved horses and believed in magic. She grew up in
a family of mixed nuts, seven kids in total from a variety of marriages, and to date none of the
kids would be deemed ‘normal’, herself included. As she got older, she told people that she
believed in magic and they shushed her and said that magic wasn’t real, to stop being silly. They
told her, that she needed to get her head out of the clouds, and out of the books. So she told
them she loved horses and everyone thought she should pursue a career with animals.
Soon, she stopped telling anyone about the magic she saw and dreamed about, and everyone
just thought she loved horses. I mean, that’s even what she went to school for, working with
horses. The girl became a farrier (and if you ask her clients they all think she did a smashingly
good job), shoeing horses for a living. Hell, she even met a cute boy at college (something
she’d previously not managed to do regardless of her raging hormones and batting of her
eyelashes). They fell in love, and got married. Now this is where things get interesting. The twist
in the story if you will.
The boy she married, he was pretty smart. He could see that there was something more to her
than just loving horses.
He could see the magic she kept so carefully hidden; and he believed in her magic.
And he told her to use it.
Now that was a scary time for her, learning to use that magic. She made mistakes, people
laughed at her, and at times she almost gave up. But that cute boy kept cheering her on, and
now . . .well, now the story is pretty simple.
She makes magic every day, for a living, with the words she writes, spinning stories and creating
worlds out of nothing but the belief she has in her heart. The cute boy still cheers her on, and
she still loves horses, but now . . . .now the people around her realize that magic isn’t that far
away. Not if you know what you’re looking for.
Buy on
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes | Smashwords
All of the books in The Rylee Adamson Novels series will be on sale from September 9-15th at $0.99 down from $3.99 regular price.
Books 1-7 will be on sale for $0.99 at the following links September 9th- 15th
Buy on:
Priceless: Amazon | iTunes | Smashwords | B&N | Kobo
Immune: Amazon | iTunes | Smashwords | B&N | Kobo
Raising Innocence: Amazon | iTunes | Smashwords | B&N | Kobo
Shadowed Threads: Amazon
Blind Savage: Amazon
Alex (A Rylee Adamson Novella): Amazon
Tracker (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 6): Amazon | iTunes | Smashwords | B&N
Guardian (A Rylee Adamson Novella, Book 6.5): Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Smashwords | B&N | Kobo
Veiled Threat (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 7): Amazon
For the first time EVER Shannon's books will be on multiple platforms!!
About the author:
Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, dog, cats, horse, and cows. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her.
She is the author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and several contemporary romances. Please visit her website at http://www.shannonmayer.com for more information on her novels.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.