Friday, April 26, 2013

Sample Saturday - Preview END OF THE NIGHT, Emerald Seer IV

The END is near!  The long anticipated conclusion to the EMERALD SEER series will be released this Wednesday, May 1st, and I have your sneak peek right here!!



This final installment includes an Emerald Seer short story and is the longest of all the Emerald Seer books.  To that END, I am unveiling the prologue.


Prologue – The tragedy of Morrigan
His hands roved over her bare flesh with such familiarity.  His lips found her neck sending shivers down her spine.  Long black hair fell in his face and hid his piercing eyes from her.  She brushed the hair away and stared into them, the swirling greenish-blue.  He was beautiful. 

 “Morrigan.”  His voice came out breathless followed by a guttural moan as she ran her nails up his back and over his shoulder blades.  She pressed into him with the length of her naked form wrapping a leg around his waist in an effort to pull him deeper.  They moved in rhythm as he pressed deeper, holding her hips and thrusting harder until she screamed his name.  He groaned deep in his chest and collapsed on top of her, tracing kisses along her jawline.   “You are divine.”  His whisper tickled her earlobe and she laughed lightly.  
Sliding out from beneath him, Morrigan pulled her robe from the floor and covered herself. 

A soft breeze rippled in through the cave’s only entrance.  Like many of their kin, Morrigan loved the cool recesses of this world’s caves.  There was much to be seen in their crevices and hidden pools while affording them protection and privacy.  Especially now that she had taken a lover.  Morrigan looked over her shoulder at her lover, one of the finest of her kind.  He loved her.  He chose her.

“We chose each other, Morrigan.”  His arms wrapped casually around her waist and he laid a head on her shoulder.  “What shall we do this day?  What realm shall we travel to?”

“Let us stay here.  I wish to watch the growing of the world.”  Morrigan sighed as she looked out through the entrance to the vast flatlands that would soon become so much more.

“I do not care to see this world any longer, Morrigan.  Let us go.”  He tugged at her playfully but his voice betrayed him.

“I am not leaving today.”  Morrigan turned to face her lover.  “I will not be leaving for several months.”
He looked at her, confusion etched in his features.  “But why?”

“I am with child.”  Morrigan grinned, waiting for her lover to mirror her own joy.  He did not.

“It is not possible.”  He backed away from her, his facing changing. 

“But it is.”  Morrigan’s heart sank.  “We are fortunate.  She will be born to this world with a purpose.”

“No.  It is not possible.”  He backpedaled to the entrance of the cave.  “I cannot have a child.  How could you do this to me?”

Morrigan frowned.  Tears burned at her eyes.  “What are you saying?”

“I am leaving.  Get rid of the child and I may return.  I cannot be a father.”  His eyes were cold, his tone cruel and he spun away from her to disappear into nothingness. 

Morrigan fell to the floor, the chill of the smooth stones seeping into her frame.  He was gone.  How would she choose?  Was there even a choice?

“There is always a choice.”  The voice emerged from the small, clear pool at the back of her cave.  It was followed by a tall, thin male with glowing sapphire eyes and shimmering, almost iridescent skin stretched taut over flawless bone structure.  “The Tuatha De have sent me forth with a proposition for you.”
Morrigan wiped at her eyes, “Yes, my lord.”

“We wish to alter your purpose, Morrigan.”  The male moved toward her and offered his hand to help her up.  “I am known as the Angel of Death to your people and I wish to tap you as my Priestess in this realm.  Your child shall be raised here and given a destiny to fulfill.  She will be instrumental in many things that must come to pass in this realm.  Do you accept?”

“What happens if I follow him instead?”  Morrigan thought she knew the answer but wanted to know for sure. 

“His choice has been made.   He allowed something in, something that gnaws away at his beauty from within, something that darkens his true purpose.   Either way he will go down a destructive road.  That cannot be helped now.”  A frown crept across the beautiful male’s face.  “If you follow him, your light will be extinguished as well as your child’s.”

“Then there really is no choice, is there?”  Morrigan sighed hopelessly. 

“There is always a choice.  It is just a matter of your desired outcome.”  The male looked toward the entrance of the cave, “He is returning.  I will return for your answer.”  Her visitor fell back into the shadows as her lover appeared at the mouth of the cave. 

“Morrigan?”  He was wet.  His long hair dripped as it hung against his still bare chest.  “I – I’m sorry.”  He walked toward her, hands outstretched and pulled her into his arms.  His chest was cold and wet as though he’d been in the rain.  “Please just come with me.  Let us forget about this for a while.”

“No.  I do not think so.”  Morrigan withdrew and met her lover’s eye, seeking the truth.  Was there really a darkness in him?  She stared into his eyes, the pools of turquoise and sea foam.  There it was.  In the center of his pupil Morrigan saw the small red dot whirling against the stillness.  The mark of true darkness.  She gasped and backed further away.

“Why do you recoil?”  He reached out to her again.

“You must leave.  I am having this child.”  Morrigan turned from him but did not get far.  His hands snaked out and grabbed her wrists.  He turned her to face him, eyes blazing with fury.  Before she could react, he dealt a staggering blow to her right cheek and threw her onto the bed. 

“You do not leave me.  Nobody leaves me.”  He appeared possessed.  The small red dot overtook his entire pupil and was multiplying as he beat her.  Everything went blurry and the last thing Morrigan saw was a pair of blood red eyes glaring at her.

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