“A unique blending of medieval romance and action adventure set this story apart.” —The Grove
“A book you will not be able to put down once you get started… One of the best novels I have read in a long time.” —Writer’s Club Romance Group
COPYRIGHT
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2011 Laurel O’Donnell
www.laurel-odonnell.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Published by ODONNELL BOOKS
Cover art by Hot Damn Designs!
ISBN# 978-0-9848895-3-2
TITLES BY
LAUREL O’DONNELL
Medieval Romance Novels
My Noble Knight
Layne Fletcher desires to joust in a real tournament, using the skills she has been taught by her brothers. Griffin Wolfe, an honorable knight discovers her facade and demands restitution. Will he be able to teach her how to behave like a lady and hide his attraction to her while keeping his focus on the jousting tournament?
Angel's Assassin
Damien is an assassin, a man with no home and a tortured past. Sold into slavery as a young boy, he is trained to kill with cold calculation, without remorse. Lady Aurora of Acquitaine is the epitome of purity and goodness, beloved by all her people. When Damien enters Aurora’s life, tempting her with promises of dark passion and forbidden lust, he threatens to tear her peaceful world apart.
Cherished Protector of Her Heart
Aurora, the honored lady of Acquitaine prepares for her upcoming marriage. Damien, her betrothed battles the unwanted visitors that have come for more than just celebration. Will his past catch up to him and ruin all he has fought so hard to protect? This is a new novella which features characters from Angel's Assassin!
Champion of the Heart
Captivating from the very first page, readers will have a hard time putting Champion of the Heart down. The characters emotional turmoil coupled with the sensuality and delightful cast of characters adds a special, unique depth… and elevated this to another level.”
- RT Book Reviews
Champion of the Heart is an exciting medieval romance filled with dark secrets and haunted castles, villainous betrayal and heartbreaking tragedy, honor and family loyalty—and a love that conquers all.
The Lady and The Falconer
“Medieval readers will find The Lady and the Falconer a highly satisfying, well crafted story that fills their craving for a tale of medieval intrigue and passion.”
- Romantic Times Magazine
A mysterious Falconer. A ravishing green-eyed Lady. A castle under siege. A killer hiding among them. Traitors are revealed. Family loyalties are betrayed. Can hated enemies find common ground in each other's arms? The Lady and the Falconer is an exciting medieval romance filled with action, intrigue, suspense and a desire that defies every sinister obstacle put in its path.
A Knight of Honor
Winner of the Holt Medallion for Best Medieval Novel
Taylor Sullivan is a raven-haired hellion fleeing the flames that destroyed her family. She arms herself with a quick sword and a sharp tongue, hiring herself out as a mercenary, willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Slane Donovan is a knight of honor, sworn to uphold his oath and his word. He seeks the woman who wears the Sullivan ring, determined to bring her back to Castle Donovan.
The Angel and The Prince
Nominated for the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart award
In this exciting medieval romance, the French lady knight known as the Angel of Death wages a battle of wills and desires against her dreaded enemy — the English warrior known as the Prince of Darkness. Forced to choose between love and honor, the Angel and the Prince wage a battle of wills that challenges everything they have ever believed in.
FREE The Bride and The Brute Novella
Jayce Cullen has been fighting her fear of thunder and lightning ever since she was a child, but nothing could have prepared her for the fury of her new husband. Feeling deceived and betrayed into a loveless marriage, Lord Reese Harrington wants nothing to do with his new wife. Trapped in a marriage with no escape, the beautiful young bride must battle the demons of her husband’s past and hope that she can weather the storm his brutish behavior unleashes.
Paranormal Romance Novels
Immortal Death
Jade Smith’s supernaturally fast ability to heal has made her a freak. After years of fearful reactions from others, she stays hidden in the shadows of life. The one thing that keeps her sane is her writing — and her wonderful hero Demetrius, an imaginary character she created in her online stories. But when Demetrius suddenly appears in her apartment demanding answers, her life changes forever…
— Winner of the Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest
Urban Fantasy
Lost Souls: Resurrection - Episode 1
Christian Thompson is killed but refuses to pass into the afterlife because of his need to shelter his daughter from her cruel mother. He soon discovers there are others like him, other spirits trapped between the world of the living and the dead. He joins the Lost Souls in their struggle against a dark evil that threatens them all.
Lost Souls: Imperfection - Episode 2
Sam and her brother Ben, along with their new friend Christian, have just defied the leader of the Lost Souls. Outcast from their former group, the three of them battle the dark forces of the Changed on their own. With the help of their old friend, Eugene, they investigate the mysterious disappearance of one of their Lost Soul brethren. As the investigation deepens, they come to the chilling realization that their nemesis, Scala, has escaped his centuries-old prison with revenge on his twisted mind. A demonic possession leads to grave consequences and the Lost Souls must make a difficult choice between life and death for an innocent victim.
Lost Souls: Deception - Episode 3
Sam, Ben and Christian continue to battle the dark forces of the Changed, the inhuman monsters who feed on the energy of their Lost Soul brethren. After receiving surprising news about the whereabouts of Sam and Ben’s sister Cora, they arrive at a friend’s to investigate. As their search deepens, Ben becomes consumed with trying to save Cora, taking a very dangerous path that puts himself and everyone around him in jeopardy. Treachery and deception threaten their group as they discover nothing is as it seems…
Lost Souls: Altercation - Episode 4
Sam and Christian have mysteriously disappeared. An unlikely group of allies is formed as Damien, Ben and Eugene search for their missing friends. With the calming presence of Sam gone from his life, the urge to make the Jump into a human grows dangerously strong inside of Damien. To add to their anguish, a powerful new menace threatens destruction for both Souls and humans alike.
Can they find Sam in time to stop Damien from making the Jump? Can they stop this new foe from gaining strength and building a deadly following? Read Lost Souls – Altercation to find out!
For more information on any of these books or other novels, please visit my webpage
MIDNIGHT SHADOW
PROLOGUE
England 1415
“And he brandished his sword above his head, declaring, ‘Tyranny will not be tolerated! All people will be treated fairly!’ With that, the Midnight Shadow whirled away on his horse and disappeared over the horizon.”
Bria Delaney sat on her grandfather’s lap listening to the beloved tale of her favorite hero, but it couldn’t erase her heartache. She glanced down at her lap and folded her hands. “I wish Father was here,” Bria grumbled.
“Every man must fight against tyranny in his own way, child.” Harry held Bria close to
him. “Your father didn’t want to leave you, but he had to fight beside the King. He is duty bound to the wishes of the crown.” His old, wrinkled hand wiped a tear from her smooth cheek. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and brushed back her curly brown locks.
“I want to go with him,” Bria said. “I want to fight against tyranny, too.”
The timbre of her grandfather’s laughter made Bria scowl fiercely. “They are armed men, Bria. What can a child do against an army? No. War is no place for you.”
Bria crossed her arms and jutted out her lower lip. “I hate the French.”
Harry chuckled, his entire body shaking. “Most of England does, my dear.” He pulled her against him, hugging her. Then Harry set her on the ground, patting her bottom lightly. “Go. Mary and Garret are waiting for you.”
“I don’t feel like playing today,” Bria said glumly.
“Ah, but who knows what grand adventure awaits you? If you brood all day in the castle, you might miss it,” Harry reminded her.
Bria glanced up at her grandfather’s warm, smiling face. Adventure. That word always seemed to stir her senses and rouse her imagination. The wet smear of tears on her cheeks was quickly forgotten.
Bria nodded and ran out of the room. She raced through the corridors of her father’s castle, practically flying down a set of spiraling stone steps. As she burst from the stairway, a woman carrying an armful of laundry stepped into her path. Bria twisted her body with the agility of an eight year old and barely missed knocking into her. “Sorry!” she called over her shoulder as she charged down a corridor to a large set of open double doors. She raced through the doors, leaping down over the last two steps to land in the dust of the inner ward.
The warm sun washed over her, forcing her to squint. She dashed through the inner ward, slowing long enough to leap over a puddle, then hurried through the outer ward, sprinting past the blacksmith’s workshop, oblivious to the loud clang of metal against metal.
“Bria!”
A man standing near the outer gatehouse waved her over. It was Jason of Victors. She recognized him by his red beard and carrot-colored hair. His chainmail coif shone in the bright sunlight as if he had just polished it. His white tunic bore a flying falcon over a red cross, the crest of the Delaneys.
She hurried over to him.
“Good morn, child,” Jason greeted warmly with a slight bow.
Bria smiled at him.
“I’m to deliver you a message,” Jason added softly, almost conspiratorially. He glanced around the area, then motioned for Bria to come closer.
Bria anxiously stepped closer. “What message?” she wondered.
“Garret and Mary have pursued the French dogs onto Knowles’ lands in the east woods. They are in desperate need of your assistance.” Jason pulled back from her, nodding with a knowing look.
A grin burst upon Bria’s face, bringing a happy sparkle to her eyes.
“Hurry now,” Jason urged. “They may already be vastly outnumbered.”
Bria wasted no time in darting beneath the outer gatehouse, remembering to turn and wave good-bye to Jason just as her slippered feet slapped against the wooden planks of the lowered drawbridge. She ran toward the meadows that surrounded Castle Delaney, her smile making her entire face radiant.
The sounds of horses’ hooves, chickens clucking, and the distant sound of swords clanging grew farther and farther away as she left the castle and the village behind to enter the relative quiet of the grassy fields surrounding Castle Delaney. As she bounded through the grass that rose almost to her neck, her mind replayed the story of the Midnight Shadow -- the way he fought against tyranny and protected the weak. His generosity and his courage were unequaled. She wanted to be just like him.
She thrust at an imaginary foe, cutting down a stalk of grass with her hand. “Take that, you insufferable French cur,” she growled. She spun and chopped at another stalk. “For England!” she cried.
Bria bounded through the stalks and into the forest separating her family’s lands from the Knowles’ lands. She raced headlong into the brush, knowing the way well, having traveled it often to Mary’s farm. Mary and Garret would be fighting the French somewhere in these woods, probably near the pond by Mary’s house.
“Garret!” Bria called, halting to listen as she reached the edge of a small clearing. “Mary!” But there was no response, only the caw of a distant bird. Bria picked up her brown velvet skirt and raced deeper into the woods toward Mary’s house.
After a minute she halted again, breathing hard. “Garret!” she called. “Mary! Where are you?”
She bit her lip lightly. Maybe she should go back. She looked over her shoulder in the direction of Castle Delaney.
The Midnight Shadow would never leave his friends alone in the woods at the mercy of the French. The thought pierced her mind and bolstered her courage.
As she moved slowly through the woods, the dried twigs and leaves crunched beneath her feet. She paused again to call out for her friends. “Mary! Garret!”
An eerie silence answered her. She looked around the quiet forest, her instincts telling her to flee. But how could she leave her friends?
Then she heard the crunch of approaching footsteps. “Mary?” she called hesitantly.
A figure emerged from behind one of the trees in front of her, but it wasn’t Mary. As the shape neared, Bria recognized the boy and gasped silently. Randolph Kenric. He was bigger than she was and four years older. His brown hair hung loose around his shoulders. He looked like a wild animal.
The silence around her grew even more thick and ominous. Kenric once skinned a kitten just to see how loud it could howl.
Bria stepped back. Her foot landed on a branch and snapped it in half. He turned his head and his brown hair fell into his eyes. He swiped the strands away to glare at her.
Bria took another step back.
Kenric smiled. “Ahhh,” he said. “The heir to Castle Delaney. You’re a little off your lands, aren’t you?”
“I’m looking for my friends,” she admitted.
“Which one? The peasant girl I shoved in the mud or the sniveling little boy?”
Anger pierced her, and her small fingers clenched into a fist. What gave him the right to treat her friends like that? Her eyes raked him with rage. “You’re a mean cur, Randolph Kenric,” she told him and turned to march toward Castle Delaney.
“Hey,” Kenric called. “Didn’t your father just leave to fight some war?”
Bria didn’t answer him. She swatted aside a branch, continuing to move through the forest back toward her lands, her home.
Suddenly, she was yanked to a halt by biting fingers digging into her arm. Kenric wrenched her around to face him. “Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you,” he commanded. “What kind of manners were you brought up with?”
“Let go of me,” Bria ordered.
“Is that a command, your ladyship?”
She tried to pull her arm free, but he held her wrist tightly.
“I just asked you a question,” he said innocently. “But you’re too good for the likes of me, eh?” He chuckled low in his throat. “I’m not nobility like yourself, after all, just a poor cousin of the Knowles. Shall I grovel before you, my lady?”
Bria twisted her arm. “Let me go,” she said again, trying to sound commanding. But her voice caught in her throat as tears of fear stung her eyes.
“You need a lesson in humility.” He began dragging her through the forest.
Bria dug in her heels, but her slippered feet were no help on the leaf-carpeted forest floor, nor against Kenric’s strength. She tried to pull his fingers from her wrist, but he held her tight. He pulled her deeper into the woods, into the darkness. “Stop it!” Bria called.
“You know, running through the forest alone isn’t such a good idea,” Kenric said. “You might fall into a bramble patch.”
Bramble patch! Horror consumed Bria. She twisted and turned, trying to free herself, pushing a
t his hand with her free one. But his laughter rang out, as strong and vicious as his hold.
Kenric reached the edge of the bramble patch and stopped. Bria stared at the dangerous growth, the thorns looking like millions of miniature daggers. Some were long and straight like blades, others curved like hooks. All of them were sharp. She struggled against his hold, pulling at his grip, crying, “Why are you doing this?”
Kenric turned his dark smile from the spiked plants to her face. “Because I want to.”
“Let her go!” a male voice commanded.
Bria looked up to see a man cloaked in black, a black mask on his face, a black cape on his shoulders. The Midnight Shadow! He stood at the edge of the woods, his hands on his hips, his back tall and straight.
Kenric turned to look... and then broke out in a grin. “You must be joking!”
“I said let her go!” the Midnight Shadow repeated.
Kenric tightened his grip on Bria’s hand. “Come and get her.”
The Midnight Shadow moved forward, pulling a wooden sword from his belt.
Kenric tossed Bria aside. She landed hard on her hands and knees, the cluttered mass of branches and rocks of the forest floor scraping her flesh. Bria lifted her gaze in time to see Kenric pull a dagger from his belt as he approached the Midnight Shadow -- a real dagger, made of hardened steel. Kenric advanced upon the Midnight Shadow, waving the metal before him.
Bria climbed to her feet, dread constricting her chest as the Midnight Shadow took a brave step toward Kenric. They faced each other for a long moment. Then the Midnight Shadow swung at Kenric. Kenric ducked the blow, but the Midnight Shadow swung back, glancing a blow off Kenric’s head, the wooden sword clunking against his skull.
Tall, Dark, and Medieval Page 74
