Cruxim (Paranormal Fallen Angel/Vampire Series)
Page 20
The skin was pale and smooth as white marble, and for a moment, I cursed. I cannot deal with another of them right now. I stayed as I was, facedown on the sand, until I felt a gentle hand stroke my wings.
My wings!
Immediately, I spun over, flipping onto my back to conceal them. The sun shone through the silver hair of the woman who stood over me and illuminated the argent tips of her own wings. I put a hand up to my eyes to see her better.
Her eyes were as pale and shining as a waxing moon, and I recognized her even without the red cape.
“It is time,” she said.
I rubbed at my salt-stung eyes. “Are you real? What are you?” I stammered, sure in my soul that I already knew the answer.
“I am real.” She answered with a smile. “I am Cruxim.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you for reading Cruxim; I hope you enjoyed it. Amedeo, Sabine and more of his mythological brethren will return in the second book of the series in 2013. This time vengeance will be closer at hand, and more will be revealed about Amedeo and Sabine’s origins and the ongoing battle between the undead and the guardians.
If you enjoyed the novel, please consider leaving a review on Goodreads, Amazon or elsewhere. I would very much appreciate your feedback. You can also join my mailing list at http://eepurl.com/vk_bP to be the first to hear about new releases and special offers.
You can follow me, Karin Cox, on twitter at @Authorandeditor or http://www.karincox.wordpress.com or on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/KarinCox.Author or email me at cruxim@hotmail.com. I would love to know your thoughts.
ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR
As well as more than thirty works of children’s fiction, non-fiction natural history, social history, and many ghost-written works of creative non-fiction, Karin Cox is the author of:
Cage Life, a collection of short stories;
Hey, Little Sister, an illustrated children’s picture book; and
Pancakes on Sunday, an illustrated children’s picture book.
Her essays also appear in the Indie Chicks Anthologies: Memories of Mom and Dad and Ms. Adventures in Travel.
She lives in Brisbane, Australia, and writes and edits full time while caring for her daughter—undoubtedly Karin’s most important and precious work.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My sincerest thanks to Michele Perry and Cheryl Shireman, both of whom acted as early readers of sections of Cruxim and as sources of unending encouragement. Thanks also to Sarah Billington, who introduced me to a little program called Write or Die, which revolutionized my writing time, and to Tara West and Greg James for serving as insightful beta readers.
To Jessica Meigs, who weeded out my peccadilloes, I am extremely grateful. Thanks also to my secretive but wonderful online writing group, without their encouragement, humor, and support I am sure I would be quite insane by now.
Thanks are also due to Paul Beely from Create Imaginations. To Athanasios Galanis for his advice and assistance, and to Christine DeMaio-Rice, whose lovely cover with biceps graced the original version. And, of course, to Eden from Eden Crane Designs for the current, gorgeous cover. To Danielle Blanchard Benson, for being ever positive and helpful when it comes to formatting, I thank you.
Lastly, my gratitude goes to my wonderful girlfriends, many of whom gave their opinion on sections of the story, the cover, and the characters. This book would not exist without their friendship, and my life would be so much poorer without them.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
AUTHOR’S NOTE
ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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