“Yeah, but I’m sure she’d love to cut off your little boy parts,” Sierra quipped.
Kaylan bit back a smile and heard a warm chuckle that made her heart skip a beat.
“Enough, you two. We have a job to do,” Elijah told them through the crystals attached to all their ears, thanks to a communication spell.
Kaylan turned her attention back to the window as a figure moved into view. “He’s here,” she whispered.
“Damn, I wish I could fly,” Geth murmured.
She hissed at him to be quiet and watched as the man turned around. His grey hair rose in faint wisps over his balding head and he wore the grey robes of the Chief Alchemist.
“Kaylan, can you see what he’s doing?” Elijah asked.
She leant forward, careful not to put her full weight on the branch and squinted. Norbert Helswick had been rumoured to be selling illegal potions on the black market. She’d had an earful from Geth when he’d heard they were investigating his boss. But it was the job of the Amaranthine to go after those who corrupted their city and protect its inhabitants.
Kaylan wished she could fly closer, but knew a cloaking spell wouldn’t be enough to stop the heavy wards surrounding the house from alerting Norbert to their presence. “He looks like he’s mixing something,” she told the others.
“Can you see what it is?” Sierra asked.
“You just work on getting us in there,” she replied. “I’m too far away to see clearly.”
Sierra stood in the doorway trying to break through the magic protecting the house. She was skilled at inventing things and could break through any security made by magic or technology. “Elijah, a little help here,” Sierra muttered.
Elijah stalked out of the shadows and Kaylan continued to watch Norbert as he poured a bottle of blue liquid into a container and shook it. Blue smoke and gold sparks shot out as he stirred the brew.
Kaylan’s heart beat faster as she let out a low squeal. “That’s it. He’s using Stardust. Sorry, Geth, I know you liked the guy.”
The dangerous drug gave its users unnatural strength and agility before its victims suffered a slow painful death.
“Never mind,” remarked Geth. “But I need a sample to prove what he’s doing.”
“Then what?” asked Elijah. “It’s not like we can hand him over to the city guard. They’re just as corrupt as the rest of the Order.”
“We’ll give him our usual warning,” Kaylan replied, “but first we need to find and destroy his supply.” She heard Sierra mutter an oath. “The fucking door won’t open!” Sierra cursed.
Kaylan bit her lip to stifle a laugh, keeping her gaze on Norbert. Damn it! They were running out of time.
If they didn’t get inside the house soon they might lose any chance they had of stopping Norbert. Pulling her cloaking spell tight around herself, she sprang from the tree and landed squarely on the roof. The heels of her boots dug into the tiles and she had to use her power to keep her balance on the sloping roof line.
“Kaylan, what are you doing?” Elijah’s concerned voice echoed in her ear.
She didn’t respond.
Excerpt from Denai Touch
Bethany Turner knelt within the spell circle, the wind whipping her long, dark hair and making the flames from surrounding candles dance and cast eerie shadows around her. Blood dripped from her palm onto the large pillar candle in front of her.
“Is it working?”
She glared at Colbane, her second-in-command. His nostrils flared at the scent of her blood.
Bethany didn’t like vampires, one of the few Magickind immune to the power of compulsion of a Denai witch. She couldn’t force him to do anything like the others in her coven, but he had proven his loyalty.
“Hush! I need to concentrate.”
“I don’t know why you bother. Even if they hear your call, we are nothing to the Covenant.”
“That’s why we need to get back in Raven’s favour again. Now be silent!”
She chanted again, calling her magic. She felt a static charge in the air and the candle flames rose higher as her spell took effect.
The wind roared around them like a tornado; she closed her eyes, letting the darkness claim her.
The grounds around her compound faded as she appeared in another place. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the blackness. “Mistress?” she called out. “It’s Bethany Turner from Thorn Coven, your loyal servant.”
“Why have you come here?” a cold voice demanded. “You must be desperate, witch.” A short, slim woman with the face of a weasel and short, red hair emerged from the shadows. It wasn’t Raven, the Covenant’s leader, but Tasha Phelps, her right hand.
Bethany’s jaw tightened; she loathed Tasha, everyone did. But she bowed her head in respect, as if she were Raven herself. “I want to serve the Covenant again.”
“Why? You failed last time and Raven isn’t happy with you. I warned her you’d outlived your usefulness, but she thought you would succeed. Of course, I was right.” Tasha smirked and her chin jutted out.
“If you would just let me talk to her, I can explain…” She reached forward with one hand.
Tasha glared down at her. “Raven doesn’t want to listen to you whine. You’re lucky you’re only projecting yourself here or I would hit you for your insolence.”
“But – but I’ve seen something. A vision…” Her hand unconsciously went up to touch her forehead.
“Your visions are weak, even for a Denai. You have no real active power.”
At least I have powers, unlike you, Null, she thought.
Something moved in the shadows as a silhouette of smoke appeared. She recognised the feel of another Denai witch. No, surely this couldn’t be Raven?
She’d rarely seen the Mistress of the Covenant in person. How could the most powerful and darkest witch of all time have been reduced to this?
So, there was some truth to the rumours after all.
“My lady.” She bowed down low, face touching the floor.
“You were once useful to me, Bethany.”
“I can be again, Dark One. Just give me a chance. Did I not spread plagues throughout the lands at your bidding?” she asked. “I have been loyal for two centuries.”
“Indeed, you once brought me many recruits, but those days have passed. The Covenant is diminishing – my followers are no longer faithful as they once were. Times are changing and the enforcers do their best to thwart everything we do.” She sighed.
“That’s not true, Mistress. The Covenant can be great again. You will rule the Homelands and the Middle Kingdoms just as you did before.”
“Stop trying to suck up to her!” Tasha snarled. “Don’t listen to her, my love. She only seeks to make herself more powerful.”
The smoke began to take on a more solid form, revealing a woman wearing a long, black velvet dress that covered her from neck to foot. Bethany gasped; some of the hair on Raven’s scalp was burnt away and half her face was covered in hideous scar tissue that left craters across her cheek and neck.
“Look at me!” Raven cried. “I’m weakened, my power wanes.”
“Who did this to you, Mistress?”
“Who do you think?” Tasha asked.
“The Goddess Marked? The witch the prophecy speaks of?” Bethany asked, brow furrowing in confusion.
“In the time of great need shall come the chosen one. A daughter of my blood will possess all my gifts and more, shall destroy the dark raven and all evils that threaten clan and coven,” Raven recited the prophecy foretold thousands of years before. “All will know her, for she shall bear my Mark.”
“Just because the Marked Witch has been born and grown up doesn’t mean she will fulfil the prophecy,” Tasha said. “I don’t hold much faith in it.”
“She is powerful!”
“But she hasn’t reached her full power yet, not until she ascends.”
“We must kill her – she’s twenty-eight now. Her ascension draws near, I can se
nse it,” Raven snapped.
Bethany stood up. “I could...”
Tasha cackled with laughter. “You? Kill the Goddess Marked? Ha! You’re no match for her. She may be young, but she has power and is well protected. You’d never stand a chance.”
“But you could prove useful,” Raven said. “Tasha, why not let the Thorn serve by spreading your new experiment around the city?”
Tasha opened her mouth to protest just as Raven doubled over, clutching her head.
“What is it, my love?” she asked and squeezed Raven’s hand. “Do you need to feed?”
“No. I see – Tasha, I see! My sight isn’t gone. The Goddess Marked…”
Images flashed before Raven’s eyes.
Bethany could only imagine what she saw. Tasha was right; she had no true active powers of her own. She wasn’t a seer, empath, telepath, healer, conduit or medium as other Denai witches were.
“I see the key to my salvation – the Goddess Marked.” Raven smiled triumphantly and her eyes sparkled. “She can restore me to my former self. Damn the prophecy! I want that witch brought to me. I can use her to find the book and through her I will be restored, then she shall die before she has the chance to ascend.”
“That doesn’t give us much time. If she’s started, we'll only have a few weeks before it takes place.” Tasha put an arm around her.
“Then gather the Covenant and spread the word among our allies. The Goddess Marked must not ascend!”
Also by Tiffany Shand
THE ALPHA’S DAUGHTER: SHIFTER CLANS SERIES BOOK 1
After being kidnapped as a child, Christy Daine was sent away from her shifter clan to live among humans. For over a decade she has lived in fear of the people who tried to kill her. Living with her bodyguard, Ronan, the two embark on a secret relationship that could get them both killed.
When her father, the alpha of all the clans demands she return home to marry a man he’s chosen for her, Christy will finally have to face her past and her true nature. Danger lurks around every corner and even Ronan might not be the man she thought he was.
As the alpha’s daughter, can she really choose between the man she loves and the man she is supposed to be with? And who can she really trust?
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
ALPHA ASCENDING: SHIFTER CLANS SERIES BOOK 3
After watching her family be slaughtered by the man chosen to be the next alpha, Christy has to turn to the only people left on the island for help. The outsiders are considered outcasts by the shifter clans and were blamed for her mother’s death years earlier.
With Ronan imprisoned, no allies and nowhere else to turn, Christy must learn to trust the people she once viewed as enemies and discover who is really friend or foe. To do that Christy must learn to accept who and what she and discover secrets long buried among the clans if she’s to save Ronan and their future.
Only she can become the true alpha and bring the clans together before it’s too late.
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
DENAI TOUCH: EXCALIBAR INVESTIGATIONS SERIES BOOK 1
Cate McCray is no ordinary witch.
Prophesied to be the one to destroy the Covenant, an age-old organisation who seeks to enslave all Magickind, the race is on for them to kill her before she receives immortality.
But before receiving the phenomenal power that comes with it, she must first survive the ascension and the only person who can help her is her elemental partner, Jason Talbot. But when the time comes, her forbidden love for Jason threatens to destroy them both.
As leader of Excalibar, an elite team of enforcers, they work to infiltrate the Covenant leading Cate into life-threatening situations. Can she outwit them before it’s too late?
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
DENAI BOUND: EXCALIBAR INVESTIGATIONS SERIES BOOK 2
Denai witch, Cate McCray should be enjoying married life with her new elemental husband, Jason. But their arrival in a new city soon has them stumbling headlong into a new case with dangerous connections to the very people that govern their world.
Cate and Jason face opposition from those they once considered allies. Together with their team of enforcers, they must find the killer before anyone else dies.
With danger from all sides and the threat of ancient, dangerous magic, the team must pull together and use all their strength to find their enemy before disaster strikes.
AVAILIABLE ON AMAZON
BETRAYED BY BLOOD: THE AMARANTHINE CHRONCICLES BOOK 1
In a city of lies and deception, only one thing stands between chaos and justice. For centuries, a band of outlaws called the Amaranthine has kept the peace in Ormere and hidden in plain sight whilst the Order of Sorcerers spreads their deadly magic among the city’s inhabitants.
After losing her fiancé in bust gone wrong, Amaranthine Agent Kaylan Avilion returns home to discover that Elijah didn’t die but instead was changed by the twisted guards of the Order, who seek to find a dangerous artefact tied to Kaylan’s past and the murder of her family. When her sister goes missing and a foe from their past remerges, Kaylan knows she must save Freya before she’s poisoned by the very people who took Elijah away from her. But how will Kaylan react when she learns Elijah’s secret and can they come together to stop the Order’s plan in time?
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
DARK REVENGE: THE AMARANTHINE CHRONCICLES BOOK 2
Darkness is sweeping through the city of Ormere as unnatural creatures stalk through the streets. People are dying and time is running out as a new evil threatens to take control of everything. The Amaranthine Order has been decimated leaving only a few of its people left to fight the coming terror.
Stunned by her sister Freya’s betrayal and plot to take over the city, Kaylan must do everything she can to find out what Freya plans to do when she finds an infamous book linked to the murder of their family. A book considered so dangerous that the last High Lord erased its location from history, the Amaranthine Chronicles are said to contain the darkest of all magics.
Kaylan is happy to finally have her ex-fiancé, Elijah, back in her life but he’s not the man she once knew and loved. After being turned into a shapeshifter, Elijah struggles to control his inner beast and his lingering feelings for Kaylan.
Can Elijah and Kaylan come together to stop Freya and uncover the secrets of the book before it’s too late?
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
THE FINAL BATTLE THE AMARANTHINE CHRONCICLES BOOK 3
Darkness has claimed the city of Ormere and death has become a certainty for anyone stalking its empty streets. The government is in ruins and lawlessness ensues.
After their last encounter, Kaylan and Elijah barely managed to thwart her sister, Freya’s, latest attempts to find and use the elusive Amaranthine Chronicles. But in her desperation to receive ultimate power, Freya will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Even if it means destroying the last of her family.
Kaylan and Elijah must work on their fragile relationship and put their personal feelings aside to find the book and stop Freya before it’s too late. But with their allies growing thin, and a gang of ruthless shapeshifters close on their trail, will they finally find the book and stop Freya before time runs out? And will Kaylan have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save her city and the man she loves?
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
Other Works
Magic, Mystery & Mayhem by Writebulb Writers Group in aid of Farleigh Hospice
“The rich cast of characters will gradually draw you into their extraordinary lives.” Immerse yourself in a collection of stories that blur the lines between fantasy and reality. What hides beneath the ocean, or lurks inside the forest? Is there such a thing as guardian angels, and what mystery awaits you at the lighthouse? Explore legends of alchemy and witchcraft; step into vivid new worlds, whilst also discovering what dangers can exist within our own. Prepare to be kidnapped on the street, trapped at the circus, and pursued by halflings. You won't regret it . . . or will you?
A
VALIABLE ON AMAZON
BUILDING YOUR AUTHOR PLATFORM
Becoming an author in today’s world has never been easier with the self-publishing revolution. But how does an author stand out in a crowded market?
Setting up and building your author platform before you even publish your first book is the best way for building a solid platform that will last and help you grow your tribe of fans. This book contains all the fundamentals from creating your author website, to choosing your route of publishing and much more!
AVAILIABLE ON AMAZON
About the author
Tiffany Shand was born in Essex and started writing short stories when she was a child.
She started writing novels in her early teens and discovered her love for fantasy and paranormal romance during this time.
She writes both non-fiction books for writers and fiction, but mostly fantasy and paranormal romance.
After doing a creative writing course in her early 20s, she is now a freelance copywriter and professional editor.
Tiffany lives in Essex with her family, two spoiled cats and a hamster.
Tiffany can be found:
Author website: tiffanyshand.com
Blog: The Creative Authorpreneur
Business site: Eclipse Editing
Twitter: @tiffanyshand
Facebook page: Tiffany Shand Author Page
Google+: Google+ page
The Alpha's Curse: Shifter Clans Series Book 3 Page 6
