A World Apart (Shades Below, #1)

by Oliva, L. J. K.

  10. Phantom Limb- Alice In Chains

  11. Three Legged Dog- Firewater

  12. This Is Where You Can Reach Me Now- U2

  13. Run Devil Run- Jenny Lewis

  14. It Will Come Back- Hozier

  15. Drag The River- Kate Mann

  16. Too Old To Die Young- Brother Dege

  17. Adam Raised A Cain- The Jeff Healey Band

  18. Your Heart To Haunt- Glossary

  19. The Devil Within- Digital Daggers

  20. Heavy/Like A Witch- All Them Witches

  Glossary of Terms

  Babko - grandmother

  Gaje - a non-Roma person

  Gaji-kanó - the non-Romani world

  Kris - internal Romani court system

  Kumpania - a community of households, usually in business together

  Mamío - grandmother

  Mámo - mother

  Marime - "outside"; (ritually) polluted; unclean

  Papo - grandfather

  (O) Porajmos - lit. "The Devouring"; Romani genocide perpetrated by the Nazis during World War II

  Raklí - a non-Roma woman

  Rom Baro - "big man"; Romani chief/leader; is expected to act as a mediator and civil servant within his community

  Ves'tacha - my love; beloved

  Señora - ma'am

  Qué pena - too bad

  Start Reading Season Of The Witch (Shades Below, #1.5)...

  You met them in A World Apart. Now Georgia Clare and Darius deCompostela are back...and they're taking San Francisco's witching community by storm.

  By the pricking of my thumbs,

  Something wicked this way comes...

  - Macbeth, William Shakespeare

  Before

  It was not accustomed to being summoned.

  The night began like any other, not that it normally had much use for mundane notions of time. All nights bled together in the dark wasteland where it preferred to hunt. It was hot on some hapless creature's trail when it first felt the pull.

  IGNORE.

  A gust of unearthly wind carried the unmistakable scent of its prey. Fear was a potent stench; addictive, impossible to mistake. It lifted its nose and drank it in.

  Another pull, stronger this time. It snarled. No one, not even The Lady, had ever attempted anything so blatant, so invasive. Invisible coils wrapped around its insides and tightened painfully. CONFUSION. This was a magic it did not recognize.

  But then, no one in its long memory had ever tried to bind it before.

  Another gust of wind. Another whiff of fear. It shook itself and continued on, tried to ignore the increasingly sharp bite of this new magic. Surely no one in their right mind could actually be trying to capture it. The very idea was so foreign it barely registered; a distant, amusing flicker on the far horizon of its mindscape.

  But there it was again, not a tug this time but a yank. It dropped to its knees mid-stride with a yelp that echoed across the barren terrain. WRONG. This was wrong. It was free; it had always been free, and always would be. It would not bow to this invader, this tormentor who hid in the shadows like a coward.

  It growled as much.

  Searing pain filled its head. It howled. The surrounding landscape twisted, fragmented. FIGHT. It dug its claws into the ground. It would not allow itself to be ripped from here. REFUSE. The pain reached a deafening crescendo, accompanied by a single, terrible realization.

  It had no choice.

  When the agony subsided, it was someplace... else. It had heard enough stories to recognize the terrestrial realm. It looked around.

  The strangeness of the place set it off-balance. The ground was too hard, the air, too cold. It huffed anxiously. Steam puffed from its nostrils. FOUL. To think some of the others actually preferred it here. Its hackles raised.

  Give it heat. Give it brimstone. Give it the eternal fire.

  It waited for what felt like an age, but the pain didn't return. Neither did the magic. The panic in its chest began to subside. The anxiety and discomfort gave way to something else, something far sweeter.

  RAGE.

  There could be only one explanation for why it was here. Someone must have summoned it. Fool. Whoever they were, they would pay for this crime. There was no place they could run, no place they could hide. It would find them.

  Pain crested again inside its head. Then an unfamiliar voice flooded its thoughts.

  You belong to me.

  It snarled again. BLASPHEMY. It belonged to no one, not even the Lady it occasionally deigned to serve. It would shred this interloper; savor their screams and their blood and their sweet, ruined flesh—

  Enough.

  Pain and magic surged through it, deep enough to touch its very bones. This time, it couldn't even gather a breath to howl. It crumpled to the cold, hard ground, curled its paws under its body and whimpered.

  SURRENDER. Nobody summoned one of its kind without reason. If it had a purpose, perhaps it could bargain. Perhaps if it did its captor's bidding, it could go home.

  The increasingly familiar tug of the binding magic returned. Driven by thoughts of freedom, it followed without resistance. The voice returned.

  Good, creature. Now come. I have a job for you.

  It followed the magic's pull down a line of strange-looking boxes. Unnatural light glowed from some of them. Others were dark and still. Beyond the last one lay the black outline of a field. It lifted its nose and sniffed. The wilds here smelled different than at home, but they were still preferable to anything it had encountered thus far. It whined hopefully. Its tail waved.

  No. You are not here for that.

  Disappointment.

  Go to the gate next to the house. It is open for you.

  It hesitated. Gate? House? It did not know these things. But the magic was still leading the way. It padded along as it was directed, through a horrific-looking, prison-like contraption, down a set of steps that ran alongside the strange box.

  Its ears perked up as it neared the bottom. Sounds. It was not alone here. Strange odors drifted on the air. Mostly they were too strong, too sweet, but one in particular stood out.

  MEAT.

  As if on cue, the voice returned. Go to them.

  It hesitated again. It knew these creatures. HUMANS. It was not supposed to make contact with them unless The Lady ordered it to. FORBIDDEN. It tried to retreat.

  The binding tightened. The voice echoed angrily inside its head. Forget your past orders. You answer to me now. Only me. And I'm telling you to go to them.

  It cringed, and took an obedient step forward. Then another. Each felt like a betrayal. Spurred on by magic, it peered around the corner.

  The humans were distracted, engaged in some sort of ceremony. They wore loose coverings over their naked skin, but the smell of meat was strong nonetheless. It licked its lips without thinking. MEAT. Tender, fresh. It shook itself. NO. The Lady would be displeased.

  Go ahead.

  It blinked. Surely it had heard incorrectly.

  Go ahead. Take your fill. I know you want to.

  Its muscles quivered with restraint even as its pulse quickened. The humans were gathered in a cluster, chanting something in their strange human language. Easy prey, all of them so close together. Ripe for the taking.

  At that moment, one of them—a female—looked up. Their eyes locked, and it froze. It had never seen a creature so perfect. Her eyes were bright, her flesh creamy and flawless. She radiated warmth; the first warmth it had felt since arriving in this dreadful place. It stared, captivated.

  Go ahead. This is why you're here.

  The female's lips parted. Fear twisted her features.

  By the time she screamed, it was already ripping out her throat.

  Get your copy of Season Of The Witch (Shades Below, #1.5) now!

  If You Enjoyed This Book...

  NIKO

  by Kayti Nika Raet

  One can live for several weeks without food but only a few days without water, a fact sev
enteen year old Niko is only too aware of as she struggles to provide for her two younger brothers in a post apocalyptic landscape where the rain burns like acid, food grows increasingly scarce and any Slither that crosses her path is laid low before it can sink its teeth into her.

  Then one night everything she'd ever worked for and loved is consumed by a raging fire, leaving her with one brother missing, the other dead and herself gravely injured.

  She's rescued by the Rose Circle, a rogue group of Slither hunters. They sneak her into Amaryllis City, a decadent metropolis where those able to pay the exorbitant entrance fee live a life of relative ease.

  But for Niko, Amaryllis City is not the haven she grew up believing it would be and her unique abilities as a Slither hunter make her a particularly visible target to a city with hopes of experimentation, replication and other nasty bits.

  All Niko ever wanted to do was find her baby brother, but that's proving to be harder than expected.

  Excerpt

  She had a baseball bat, but she wasn't sure if that would work on the Slither.

  It followed her from a distance. She couldn't see it whenever she glanced over her shoulder. It clung to the shadows, its claws scraping against the concrete. She could hear its heavy, wet breathing, The sound seemed to caress the back of her neck, slipping under the collar of her jacket like an invasive hand. She shivered.

  Niko hunched deeper into her jacket, the zipper grazing her earlobe with hungry teeth. She resisted the urge to run, only prey ran; and no one could outrun a Slither. The remnant of that failure was a common sight Outside: twisted bodies with their chests cracked open and their hearts missing. Niko had no intention of becoming prey.

  She walked down the center of the street skirting potholes filled with water from a recent rain. The acid had slowly bored its way through the concrete leaving craters that reflected the moonlight in oily smears. Niko adjusted her grip on the bat; she could feel her heartbeat in the press of palm against wood. She shouldn't be out so late. She should have done like every other sensible person and stayed locked inside. But her brothers were hungry and she had promised them that this time, her third day of scavenging through corroded and abandoned buildings, she'd find them something to eat. It meant she had to go out further than usual and now shadow had fallen.

  She quickened her pace, not quite a run but there was no need to make it too easy for the thing. It was still following her, she didn't need to glance over her shoulder to confirm it. The Slither's persistent panting was confirmation enough. A sigh puffed past her lips. She had been hoping for an uneventful night.

  She turned around and faced the monster.

  What was most disturbing about the Slithers was not their glowing, multicolored eyes, or the razor-sharp claws that extended from the tips of their fingers, or even the way they stalked their prey. The most disturbing thing about Slithers was how human they looked; there were even some people who thought that they had been human once. Niko didn't bother theorizing about monsters, it made them easier to kill.

  The one she faced was a study of contrasts with pale skin and black hair. It pulled up short; its head tilted quizzically as it regarded her. She was not following the script long established between Slithers and humans. She was supposed to be running, perhaps while screaming ineffectively, and it was supposed to pursue her in a glorious chase.

  She grinned at it, lifting her hand in a wave. She let the bat slide free from her sleeve; a week ago she'd driven a large nail through the wood, giving it an extra kick.

  The further she diverged from the script the more puzzled the Slither looked, its mismatched eyes sliding between her and the weapon in her hand. Then it offered up a jerky shrug, food was food even if it was acting strange.

  It attacked.

  Detaching itself from the shadows, it ran toward her on all fours. Its claws tore up chunks of the sidewalk. An inhuman shriek blasted out of a mouth full of long, narrow teeth. It leapt over rain filled holes, its eyes only on her and the place where her ribs tried to shield her rapidly pounding heart.

  Niko stood her ground, eyes narrowed, bat raised. The thing came closer, its excited pants the only sound filling her ears.

  It rapidly closed the distance between them, getting nearer... and nearer... then just close enough. She swung, a scream of her own filling the night.

  Niko missed.

  Want more? Niko is available on Amazon!

  ←↑↓→

  BOOK I: THE GIRL (The Sanctum Trilogy)

  by Madhuri Blaylock

  The Sanctum, an all-powerful governing body founded by ten families, entrusted to maintain the peace amongst Magicals and ensure the ignorance of humans, has been corrupted by greed and savagery for generations, but is all Wyatt Clayworth has ever known.

  A descendant of one of the Founding Families and Class A Warrior, Wyatt has always believed in the ways of The Sanctum, having grown up in the system and thrived under their leadership. A golden boy, renowned for his prowess and skill in battle, Wyatt has never questioned a mission or kill order until the night he crosses paths with a brutally injured and mysterious girl.

  Scouring Central Park with his best friend and fellow Class A Warrior, Ryker Morrison, for the hybrid demon prophesied to bring an end to The Sanctum and destroy the world for Magicals and humans alike, Wyatt instead finds Dev and his whole life turns upside down. Told he was hunting a killing machine, hellbent on wreaking havoc and destruction upon all it encounters, Wyatt instead sees nothing more than a broken girl with haunted eyes and a bit of a death wish.

  All Dev wants is for Wyatt to either kill her or leave her alone. When he refuses to do either, she finds herself being pulled into his life while being hunted by warriors everywhere she turns. Drawn to one another for reasons they cannot begin to explain to themselves, much less anyone else, Wyatt is determined to protect Dev and help her realize her mission to avenge the deaths of her family at the hands of The Sanctum. His abdication of his duties and his outright rejection of his responsibilities to The Sanctum create a maelstrom of events beyond anyone’s imagination.

  Excerpt

  The road stretched as far as one could see, its lane dividers long faded, if they ever existed at all. The backwaters leading to Vembanad Kayal were on one side and miles of lush greenery on the other. The early morning air was thick, heavy enough to feel on one’s shoulders, in one’s hair. The only sounds at this hour were random birds calling to one another and Dev’s footsteps. She liked it this way--alone, quiet, still. Easier to think. And easier to hear anyone tracking her.

  Dev’s solitary figure cut a striking path: tall, thin and powerful. Full of magic, that was how many, friends and strangers alike, described her. She loved and hated it. It made her feel incredibly strong and wildly out of control. They also talked of her exquisite beauty: the prominent cheekbones, large eyes and full mouth, legs that went on forever and a killer smile. Dev hated that. Her physical appearance was a most annoying hindrance and she used to go out of her way to make herself plain, but such efforts only seemed to make her more beautiful. After a while, she simply gave up. There were worse things one could suffer. And she had more important matters to focus on, such as her training.

  Dev had spent her entire life exploring the limits of her powers and capabilities, training at the feet of her wizard parents, Philip and Maya, but for the last five months she had lived and trained with Qi, learning the ways of the Ramyan warrior under his roof. Going against the usual precepts of his people, a sect of Magicals renowned for their great feats of wizardry, unsurpassed healing powers and ferocious battle style, but unwilling to commingle with the living or the dead, Qi formed a bond with Philip and Maya centuries prior that he refused to break, despite much urging to do so by the Ramyan. Dev reaped the benefits of their generations-long friendship, becoming one of a few chosen to embark upon training as a Ramyan warrior. Rinshun Palace was an eye-opening experience, teaching Dev to harness the magic flowing through her veins and contro
l it rather than allow it to control her. She left Qi and the palace a more powerful girl but still full of unanswered questions. She hoped her parents would finally fill in the gaps.

  As she turned the bend in the road, her knives strapped to her back, and Daya, the sword gifted to her by her father, safely on her hip, a smile started to curve along her lips. Her home was in view.

  Finally.

  Dev had walked all night to make it home this morning, the deeply disturbing dream telling her it was time to return to her family. Qi had not even raised an eyebrow when she knocked on his bedroom door late at night to explain herself. He simply told her to trust her instincts, follow the river road and watch her back for tracking demons. He walked her to the front gate of the palace, gently kissed her forehead and bid her safe travels with a sad look in his eye.

  Dev spent much of her night trying to figure out the meaning of Qi’s sadness, but now, seeing her home after all this time, nothing mattered except her family. She jogged the last half mile to the house, stopping to catch her breath outside the compound gate. On any other day her father’s dogs would greet her, but this morning they must have been asleep, for there was not a single thing moving outside the house. While she stood at the gate contemplating her dilemma, knowing she shouldn’t use magic to open the doors, hearing her mother “tsk-tsk” at taking the easy way around a problem, Dev noticed all the windows of the house were open and the front door was ajar.

  Odd.

  She walked to the far left side of the gate to get a better view of the kitchen, where there was always plenty of activity and noise, since someone was always hungry or folks were constantly stopping by to visit and all of them needed to be fed. Again, she came face-to-face with eerie silence. No one banged a pot or dropped a spoon. No one yelled orders or cursed in irritation. No one moved. It was as if no one existed.