After a few months as a vampire, Alyssa thought she’d learned all she needed to know about the supernatural world. But her confidence is shattered by the delivery of a mysterious package – a Pandora’s Box.
Seemingly innocuous, the box is in reality an ancient prison, generated by a magic more powerful than anyone in her clan has ever known. But what manner of evil could need such force to contain it?
When the box is opened, the sinister creature within is released, and only supernatural blood will satiate its thirst. The clan soon learns how it feels when the hunter becomes the hunted.
Apparently powerless against the ancient evil, the clan flees Las Vegas for Boston, with only a slim hope for salvation. Could Lysander’s old journals hold the key? And what if they don’t?
And how welcome will they be in a city run by a whole different kind of supernatural being?
Werewolves…Excerpt
I felt a strange prickling sensation across my skin. The
hairs on my neck stood on end as if electrically charged. The air around me
felt as if it were growing colder, like someone had set the thermostat to zero.
A shiver danced its way up my spine, causing gooseflesh to erupt and spread
down my arm.
My kind can always feel another vampire’s presence. This
eerily cold hair-raising sensation felt very similar, yet somehow amplified.
I turned to find Nicholas looking over my shoulder. It was
if he had appeared out of nowhere. I jumped in place, startled by his sudden
appearance, and bit back a curse. His scruffy face was mere inches from my
neck, though his blue-gray eyes, a trademark of the vampire race, were locked
on the box in Fallon’s hand.
“What have we here?” he asked. “Been ordering junk from
those websites again, little human?” He folded his arms in front of his chest.
Nicholas wasn’t a tall man, but he was muscular and looked very formidable and
menacing when he wanted to.
Fallon finished sweeping the ash back into the box and
replaced the lid. “No, the human has not been ordering junk.” She shot him a
taunting glare.
Human or not, Fallon didn’t take Nicholas’s crap. Once she
learned he wasn’t going to kill her, it became almost a game between those two:
an ongoing battle to see who could annoy whom the most. It was fun to watch the
two of them go at it, though somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered if it
might one day go too far.
“Someone dropped this
on our doorstep.” Fallon set the wooden box on the futon and picked up the
corner of the cardboard box it came in, showing Nicholas the big red symbol on
the bottom. “You’re older than dirt, right? Maybe you can read this.”
He opened his mouth as if to make another snarky comment and
then closed it immediately. His eyes narrowed and his brows pulled together in
deep concentration.
That startled me more than the odd chill in the air.
Nicholas was always quick with an answer or some kind of quip. For him to be
silent meant that this, whatever it was, was not the innocuous present I had
hoped it would be, and further confirmed my feelings of unease.
“Thanatos?” Nicholas whispered under his breath, as if
asking a question rather than making a statement.
Fallon and I exchanged confused looks. I shrugged at her and
after a moment of awkward silence, decided to ask the obvious question. “Who is
Thanatos?”
“When did you receive this?” he asked curtly.
“It was on the doorstep when I got home from the store,”
Fallon replied. “I dunno, probably about seven o’clock or so.”
“What was inside the package?”
“Just this.” Fallon dropped the cardboard box and handed the
smaller wooden one to Nicholas.
He took it gingerly, as if he feared to touch the
ancient-looking thing.
“Who is Thanatos?” I asked a bit louder this time.
“Death personified.”
Nicholas’s voice warbled, hinting at his own worry.
Katie Salidas is a Super Woman! Endowed with special powers and abilities, beyond those of mortal women, She can get the munchkins off to gymnastics, cheerleading, Girl Scouts, and swim lessons. She can put hot food on the table for dinner while assisting with homework, baths, and bedtime… And, she still finds the time to keep the hubby happy (nudge nudge wink wink). She can do all of this and still have time to write.
And if you can believe all of those lies, there is some beautiful swamp land in Florida for sale…
Katie Salidas resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mother, wife, and author, she does try to do it all, often causing sleep deprivation and many nights passed out at the computer. Writing books is her passion, and she hopes that her passion will bring you hours of entertainment. 