Release Date: 04/30/13
Summary from Goodreads:
Not even a guardian angel is more
powerful than Death.
Always careful to watch out for others, Shayna put too much trust her abilities
to keep herself safe and has been cut down by crazed man. Now she is trapped in
the land of the dead, watching as her two best friends suffer the consequences
of her death; their powers are fading and soon they will too. Shayna is
desperate to return to the land of the living to save them from a similar, cold
fate. To save her friends Shayna must turn away from the Light and, in doing
so, sacrifice her wings.
But the longer Shayna stays among the dead, the further she slips from sanity.
If Shayna cannot find her way back she will be condemned and lost forever among
the restless souls of the dead. With nothing left to lose, she will do whatever
it takes to fight her way back, with or without her wings.
Here is an excerpt.....
In the distance, I heard something
echoing my screams. I had a moment of panic and looked right and left, but the
monstrous cries stopped. I held my breath to listen, not even daring to move.
In the sudden quiet, the snuffling breath and breaking twigs behind me sounded
like gunfire.
I was no longer alone.
My mouth was dry, and my hands were
suddenly shaking. I dared not breathe for fear of giving myself away before I
knew what the noisy thing was. Whatever it was, it was too close to be whatever
had roared in the distance. Great, two things to worry about. Slowly, I inched
around the tree, bracing myself with one hand, to try to see what was creeping
up on me. I kept my face pressed against the smooth trunk, trying to keep
myself as small as possible. Dead leaves crunched and twigs snapped as the
thing made its way through the dark forest. It finally came around another
group of trees, and by the weak moonlight, I made it out.
For one heart stopping moment, I thought
it was the Hell Hound Ian had set on me so long ago, but this thing had thick,
coarse fur, so white it nearly glowed. Its paws were as big as both my hands
put together, shoulders as high as mine, and its tail swished back and forth,
back and forth as it snuffled against the ground, looking for a scent to
follow. I might’ve thought it was beautiful until he picked up his head and
swung his face in my direction. It reminded me of a snow leopard after a bloody
battle.
His black lips stretched wide over a
mouth full of razor-like teeth, each one as long as my finger, and saliva
foamed and dripped from the corners of his mouth. His eyes were black and
beady, nearly lost in the ruff of fur around his squashed nose. His ears were
flattened against his head as he galumphed through the trees, snuffling the
ground. He got ever closer to me, and I knew my chances of escaping dwindled as
I stood frozen in place. I chewed the inside of my cheek, trying to think of
what to do. Yes, I could run, sure, but to where? The trees seemed to go on and
on, and I had no idea where I was. I would’ve climbed a tree, but all of the
branches were too high for me to reach, and the trunks were smooth in the winter
hibernation.
Laying the flat of my hand against the
tree, I tried to make contact with it, asking it to open up and take me in, to
hide me from the monster. But the tree remained quiet and firm against my hand.
I had hoped the pain returning meant I had some of my powers back, but if I
couldn’t get a tree to hear me, then I definitely had no Earth powers here. I
cursed silently before edging to stand up, keeping my body pressed tightly
against the tree.
Risking another glance around the trunk,
I saw the creature turn left, away from me, sniffling and snuffling as it went
like a pig looking for truffles. Just as I was about to turn and sneak away, my
foot slipped on some loose dirt, and the toe of my boot scraped against a root.
In the quiet, it sounded absurdly loud, but not so loud as the beast’s
surprised snort. Its ears shot straight up and turned toward the sound, toward
me.
Our eyes met, mine round and unblinking,
its narrowed and angry. It craned its head back, its neck lengthening as it
did, and howled so long and loud that I cringed away. Before it dropped its
head, I spun on the spot and ran.
Links to the rest of the books in this
series:
***GIVEAWAY***
1 – Signed
Paperback of winner’s choice of books 1-5 in the Elemental series. (US only)
1 – e-book of
winner’s choice of books 1-5 in the Elemental series. (INT)
I haven't read this series yet. I haven't been reading quite as many paranormal books as I used to. I'll have to keep this in mind for the future.
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