by R. L. Perez
“It’s wonderful to have you back, Little Nightmare,” I murmured against her skin. It still felt hot to the touch, and her saltwater scent overwhelmed me. The hunger within me rumbled, but I squashed it down, focusing instead on the relief of having her here—feeling her breathe, smelling her scent, and hearing her speak.
I expected her to draw away from me. To shove me or glare at me as she usually did. But instead she watched me, and something unreadable stirred in her eyes. Her breathing was shallow, and the blood rising in her cheeks made me roar inside.
Our gazes held for a moment longer before she answered. Her voice was a shaky whisper, but her eyes were warm as they regarded me. “It’s good to be back, Leo.”
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Acknowledgments
I am grateful and humbled to have so many wonderful people in my life to support and encourage me. Without their help, none of this story would’ve come to life.
First of all, thank you Kaitlin for your incredible editing skills and your support and encouragement. You’ve been a wonderful friend to me during my writing journey.
A huge thank you to my critique partners: Jenni, Tori, Melanie, Kari, Melissa, Katherine, and Heather. Thank you so much for your feedback. Your comments and suggestions helped shape this into such a fantastic story.
I am so lucky to have such an amazing and huge ARC team! Thank you Janete, Darcy, Darian, Scarolet, Bianca, Jodee, Asreen, Devika, Tyler, Cheryl, Pamela, Andrea, Rachael, Jamie, Lillian, Sara, Olivia, Jennah, Kirstey, Amelia, Jess, Virág, Sam, Nicole, Joanna, Roxanne, Elizabeth, Erica, Oliver, Liz, and Nicole! I’m so grateful for your willingness to read my story and give me helpful feedback.
And lastly, thank you to my amazing husband and children. For your patience and encouragement. For your endless support and love.
Check out Book 2, The Fallen Demon!
Darkness brews. A new threat emerges. A deadly bargain is struck.
Leo Serrano, shape-shifting vampire and coven leader, knows something dark is approaching his city. To uncover the threat, he works alongside Brielle, a frustratingly stubborn witch who plays by her own rules. As his feelings for Brielle burn hotter, Leo discovers Brielle holds a fiery new power that threatens to consume them both.
A pack of werewolves arrives, intent on taking down the coven. But as Leo digs deeper, he finds a darker presence is pulling the strings. And he becomes the target of Lilith, queen of the Underworld.
War breaks out. Lives are at stake. And Leo will do anything to protect his coven.
Even if it means paying the ultimate price.
Continue reading for a sneak peek!
Brielle
I DREW THE HOOD OF my cloak over my head, eager to avoid being recognized. My boots clacked against the cobblestone street. The city was lit only by moonlight and a few lanterns.
In the daytime, the village of Coca, Spain was vibrant and full of life—merchants selling spices and trinkets, children laughing and playing, villagers bustling about. The village was small, but the Castillo de Coca made it seem so much bigger—even though the castle was completely vacant now that Count Antonio de Silva and his mages were dead.
It wasn’t necessarily a tragedy. The Count had been a monster who had tortured me, among many others. But it saddened me to know this giant castle, which could house hundreds, was just gathering dust. I’d been told the castle was now in the hands of the Duke—the Count’s brother. So it was off-limits.
But just because one monster was dead didn’t mean the city was safe. I drew my athame from my belt and kept it hidden in the folds of my dark cloak as I crept farther down the street. After several villagers had gone missing and rumors spread of vicious creatures skulking in the night, I’d taken it upon myself to go Demonhunting again.
Just like old times.
Or rather, new times? It made my head spin to think about it. I’d come from Miami in the year 2020 and had fallen through a time portal, winding up in 1735 Spain. Though I had been here for a year, it still felt foreign to me.
Especially since I was a light witch living among a coven of dark vampires.
Leo, the coven leader, had assured me he had the demon attacks under control. But I didn’t believe him. And I wasn’t about to let more innocent people die.
A sharp smell tickled the air, and I stiffened. My cloak swished as I hurried to the other side of the street. I melted into the shadows and gripped my athame tightly. Then, I waited.
The smell swirled, filling my nostrils. I closed my eyes, focusing on the subtle tinge of the demon lurking nearby.
It wasn’t a vampire. I’d lived among them long enough to know what they smelled like.
I inhaled deeply. The scent vaguely reminded me of . . . fish.
My blood chilled. A shapeshifter. I hadn’t come across one in years. Though Leo’s coven technically descended from shapeshifters, they couldn’t change forms as easily as a normal shapeshifter could.
In my time, shapeshifters could turn invisible. Which meant I had to be careful.
I kept my eyes closed, focusing instead on the smell as it drew nearer and nearer. When it was so close it nearly suffocated me, I lunged and sliced my blade.
A deep hiss filled the air, and blood coated my knife. But I couldn’t see the creature. Raising my free hand, I muttered a spell,
“Magic above and powers that be,
Reveal this enemy in front of me.”
A blue glow surrounded my hands and then burst forward. In a flash, a tall, lanky creature appeared, surrounded by my magic. Its skin was slimy and moist as if it belonged in the water.
It glanced down at its glowing body. Its all black eyes narrowed when they rested on me.
I knew what it was thinking. It was the same thing every demon thought when they came across me.
I was a witch. But I didn’t smell like one because I didn’t have powers like a normal witch.
Taking advantage of the demon’s surprise, I lunged again, aiming a high kick at its chest. It staggered backward. I swiped my athame again, but the demon ducked to avoid getting cut. Its slimy hand snatched my throat and squeezed. Spots appeared in my eyes, and slices of pain tore through my throat. I hooked my foot under the shapeshifter’s leg and tugged, bringing us both to the ground. Gasping for breath, I crawled forward and shoved my blade into the shapeshifter’s stomach. The creature howled in pain. Blood blossomed from the wound.
I raised my bloody hands, prepared to cast the banishing spell, when a familiar spicy scent filled my nose. Shadows swirled around me, and I groaned.
A hand gripped my wrist, tugging me away from the demon. I whirled and faced Leo. His long, dark hair was pulled back, and his silver-rimmed eyes went from me to the demon writhing on the ground.
“Brielle,” Leo said. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Hunting,” I snapped, rising to my feet. I peered over my shoulder to ensure the demon didn’t escape.
Leo rubbed his forehead. “You can’t hunt demons when you live with them.”
“Haven’t you heard the villagers? Demons are attacking them. I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”
“Yes, you can. I’m the leader of the demons in this city. The attacks are my responsibility.”
“And yet they keep happening,” I spat. “I’m not just going to let more innocent people die while they wait for you to fix the problem.”
Leo’s eyes flashed, but that infuriating smirk rose to his face. “My dear little nightmare,” he said in a soft voice, drawing closer to me. “If you wanted to be part of the investigation, all you had to do was ask.”
I clenched my teeth. “I don’t want to be part of it.”
“But you’re taking it upon yourself to execute men under my jurisdiction,” Leo said, waving a hand toward the
shapeshifter. “And you said so yourself, you cannot sit and do nothing. So make yourself useful and work with me. Help me track down these demons and find out where they’re coming from.”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“No,” Leo said, his voice sharpening. “You’re going rogue just like them. Your motives might be valiant, but you are undermining me.” He drew even closer, his face only a breath away. My blood thrummed in response, and an undeniable yearning swept over me. “My men have noticed, Brielle.”
I swallowed. I hadn’t considered that. “What exactly do you want me to do?” I couldn’t meet his gaze—not with the hunger roaring inside me, begging for him to come even closer. Ever since he’d forced me to exchange blood with him, we’d shared a connection. I was now technically his Donor. Ordinarily, we would feed off each other at regular intervals, but I’d been fighting it.
“Track down demons, just like you did tonight. But do it with my men. And don’t banish or kill. We want to give these demons a fair trial and figure out what’s caused them to stray from their own covens.”
I rolled my eyes. “Leo—”
“You were about to banish this demon, weren’t you?”
“It was self defense!”
Leo raised an eyebrow and glanced at the shapeshifter on the ground. “You don’t seem that defenseless to me.”
I sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, Leo was right. When the attacks first started and Leo assured me he had it under control, I’d wanted to believe him. But then people kept disappearing and dying.
I was so used to Demonhunting on my own. Back in Miami, I’d been forbidden from attending coven meetings because I wasn’t technically a “witch.” At least, not in their eyes. So I had to Demonhunt on my own terms because I was a fighter and a skilled Demonhunter. I couldn’t let those talents go to waste. Not when I could save people’s lives.
Leo had been kind enough to offer his home to me when I’d fled from the Count’s dungeon. And even after the Count was killed, Leo still hadn’t thrown me out, though he had every right to. By the laws of magic, I was a light witch and could only belong to a coven that practiced light magic. But still Leo let me and my family stay.
I had to let him take care of this, though my chest tightened at the thought. “Fine,” I muttered, wiping my athame on my cloak before sheathing the blade.
When I straightened, Leo smirked again and offered me his arm. I responded with a stony stare, my gaze flicking back to the shapeshifter on the ground. The creature was now gurgling on his own blood.
“What about the shapeshifter?” I asked.
“Jorge will take care of him.” Leo steered me away from the demon struggling on the ground. After looping his arm through mine, Leo strode casually down the street as if we were on a romantic, moonlit stroll. As if I weren’t covered in the shapeshifter’s blood.
I swallowed down the warmth in my throat from being so close to him. “So Jorge’s with you?”
“He isn’t far.”
I clenched my teeth. I didn’t like Jorge. He’d hated me from the moment we met, and his opinion had never changed.
Leo laughed as if sensing my thoughts. “He’s my most loyal comrade, Brielle.”
“Every time I look at him, I think he wants to kill me.”
“He probably does. He thinks you’re a threat.”
I scoffed. “I’m surrounded by vampires, and I have no magic.”
Leo arched an eyebrow. “No magic? Hardly.”
I had nothing to say to that. He was referring to Nix, the phoenix living inside me. She came to life when I slept and had the power to destroy an entire village. I’d seen it happen.
“Besides, you and I have more important things to worry about than Jorge,” Leo said quietly.
“You mean this demon problem you have?”
“No. I mean Lilith.”
My blood chilled at his words, and fire stirred in my chest. I sensed Nix awakening within me, jolted from hearing Lilith’s name. The queen of demons who possessed witches throughout time.
But she only targeted Nightcasters—witches with phoenixes. Like me.
I shook my head. “She’s gone.” For now.
I felt Leo’s eyes on me, but I couldn’t meet his gaze. “You know she’ll return. And you told me you’d be ready for her. So, Little Nightmare, how exactly are you preparing?”
I bristled at his nickname and the accusation that I wasn’t doing anything about the situation. Truth be told, anytime I even thought about Lilith, the fire within me roared to life, and Nix’s power surged. I was afraid. If something triggered Nix’s power and she burst free on her own, I had no idea what destruction she would cause.
I knew Leo was waiting for an answer. And he had a point. Lilith would try again. She would try to claim another witch for her own, and I had to stop her before she took more lives.
I sighed. “I have to research first. If we want to stop her before she curses another witch, we’ll have to find a way to summon her.” Which will be dangerous as hell.
Leo nodded. “You’re right.”
I looked at him. “Any chance we could steal into the Count’s library?”
Leo looked at me, his eyes glinting with mischief. “Why Brielle, you surprise me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Will you help me or not?”
Leo grinned widely, exposing his fangs. Just the sight of them made my head spin. “Breaking into my old foe’s castle? I’d be happy to help.”
Want to keep reading? Grab your copy of The Fallen Demon here!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PDRQFWY
Also by R.L. Perez
Timecaster Chronicles
Twisted by Time
Devoured by Darkness
Bound by Blood
Nightcaster Chronicles
The Cursed Witch
The Fallen Demon
The Lost Phoenix
Bloodcaster Chronicles
The Demon's Kiss
About the Author
R.L. Perez is a fantasy author who lives in Florida with her husband and two children. She has published the Timecaster Chronicles and hopes to publish many more series. She loves the outdoors, music, reading, watching way too much television, and playing with her kids.
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