by Sarah Piper
Gray’s eyes were wide in a pale face as she looked him over. Then, she turned to me again and nodded, locking her gaze on mine. Instead of the hopelessness I’d feared, I saw the exact opposite. Hope, so much of it, it made me dizzy. She was pinning it all on me, and I felt the weight of it on my heart. The importance of it.
“I won’t let him die,” I said. “I swear to you, Gray. I will get us out of here. All of us.” My promises weren’t worth much in her eyes these days, but it was all I had to give, and I gave it honestly. Emilio would survive this. He was the best of us, and he needed to be there on the other side when we got out.
Gray got to her knees and leaned forward, still holding Emilio’s hand. She pressed her mouth to mine, her kiss fiery and all-consuming, hotter than the flames behind us. She tasted like smoke and ash and everything—everything—I’d ever loved. Everything I’d ever lived for.
When she pulled back, her mouth was red and swollen, her lips blistered.
“Don’t you let go, Ronan Vacarro.”
Asher hauled her up to her feet, and they followed Darius and Jael and the hell hounds, leading the witches out the front entrance, leaving a trail of bloody footprints in their wake.
Emilio’s blood.
Elena gasped, and I turned back to feel a strange wind on my face that had nothing to do with the fire.
A majestic black raven flapped its giant wings before us, alighting on Emilio’s chest as softly as a curl of smoke.
Emilio stopped breathing.
And there, from the space between his lips, the thin silver mist of his soul floated out.
“Colebrook!” I shouted at the raven, terrifying in its darkness. “Liam! Don’t you dare take him from me. Don’t you dare.”
I screamed at him until my throat was raw, until I was coughing up ash, until I could no longer make a sound.
And still the soul floated out, perfect and beautiful, made of pure silver-white light.
I lunged for the raven, but he opened his massive black beak, releasing a howling wind that blasted me and Elena onto our backs.
The flames behind us receded, the air immediately cooling.
When I got back on my feet and the dust finally cleared, Elena was still on the ground, unconscious. The few remaining hunters had scattered. The flames were out, leaving black, roiling smoke in their place.
In the space where Emilio had fallen, where the great black raven had sat upon his chest and ignored my desperate pleas, there was nothing more than a single black feather, floating in a glossy pool of blood.
Thank you so much for reading Blood Cursed! I hope you’re looking forward to the rest of The Witch’s Rebels series, starting with the next book, Death Untold.
If you loved reading this story as much as I loved writing it, please help a girl out and leave a review on Amazon! Even a quick sentence or two about your favorite part can help other readers discover the book, and that makes me super happy!
If you really, really loved it, come hang out at our Facebook group, Sarah Piper’s Sassy Witches. I’d love to see you there.
Finally, if you’d like to stay up to date on all the witchy book news, plus get insider access to exclusive content and advanced review opportunities, sign up for the VIP Readers Club.
XOXO
Sarah
Origins of The Witch’s Rebels
Thank you so much for checking out Shadow Kissed!
I was primarily inspired to write this series by three things: my fascination with Tarot, my love of all things witchy, and my desire to see more kickass women telling stories for and about other kickass women.
I’ve always enjoyed books, movies, and TV shows about witches, monsters, and magic, but I never found exactly the right mix. I wanted a darker, grittier Charmed, an older Buffy, and most of all—as much as I love the brothers Winchester (who doesn’t?)—I really wanted a Supernatural with badass bitches at the helm, hunting monsters, battling their inner demons, and of course, sexytimes. Lots and lots of sexytimes.
(Side note: there’s not enough romance on Supernatural. Why is that? Give me five minutes in that writers’ studio…)
Anyway, back to The Witch’s Rebels. We were talking about badass bitches getting the sexytimes they deserve.
Right.
So I started plotting my own story and fleshing out the character who would eventually become our girl Gray, thinking I had it all figured out. But as I dove deeper into the writing, and I really got to know Gray, Darius, Ronan, Asher, Emilio, and Liam, I discovered a problem. A big one.
With so many strong, sexy guys in the mix, I couldn’t decide which one would be the hero to win Gray’s heart. I loved them all as much as she did!
I agonized over this.
It felt like the worst kind of love triangle. Er, love rhombus? Love—wait. What’s the word for five of them? Pentagon! Yes, a love pentagon.
Pure torture!
But then I had my lightbulb moment. In the face of so much tragedy and danger, Gray fights hard to open herself up to love, to trust people, to earn those hard-won friendships. Her capacity for giving and receiving love expands infinitely throughout the story, so why the hell shouldn’t she be able to share that with more than one man?
There was no reason to force her to choose.
So, she doesn’t. And her story will continue!
You, dear reader, don’t have to choose either—that’s part of the fun of reverse harem stories like this. But if you happen to have a soft spot for a particular guy, I’d love to hear about it!
Drop me a line anytime at [email protected] and tell me who’s winning your heart so far! I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours! *wink wink*
About Sarah Piper
Hi! I'm the author of The Witch's Rebels series and other sexy, swoony urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels-in-progress. I live with my adorable husband in New York City, but I'm secretly (okay, not-so-secretly) longing for a little cottage in the woods. Or maybe by the sea. Or in the mountains? Pretty much anywhere we can escape from all this craziness!
In the meantime, I spend my days sleeping like a vampire and my nights making inappropriate jokes and innuendos, writing witchy stories, playing with my ever-expanding collection of Tarot cards, reading way too many books, binge-watching Supernatural (Team Dean, in case you're wondering), and obsessing over the best way to brew a cup of tea.
You can find me online at SarahPiperBooks.com and hanging out in my Facebook readers group, Sarah Piper's Sassy Witches! If you're sassy, or if you need a little more sass in your life, or if you need more Dean Winchester gifs in your life (who doesn't?), join us!
