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Want exclusive access to a bonus CAGED WORLD SCENE?!?!?!?!

Greetings!

To celebrate the upcoming release of UNMADE, the fourth book in the Unborn series, I’m giving away an exclusive bonus scene featuring all your favorite characters from across the Caged universe.

Between now and June 24, 2020 @ 11:59pm EST, email your proof or purchase to ALNGiveaways@gmail.com. On June 25th, you’ll receive an email with the bonus scene link and password.

Thank you all and happy reading!

 

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When the Hallowed Gates prove not to be the safe haven Khara was promised, she flees to Detroit only to learn that not all is well there, either. The Dark Ones have taken their revenge for her broken promise and one of Khara’s many enemies has orchestrated her mother’s disappearance.

Khara must work quickly to find her, a difficult task with Phobos lurking in the shadows. And when a mysterious stranger offers a solution to both finding her mother and eliminating her greatest enemy, Khara isn’t certain she can—or should—pay his price.

Because deals with the devil only end one way.

Even for the princess of the Underworld.

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Sale! UNBORN & UNSEEN ~ Just $0.99 for a Limited Time!

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From UNBORN, the first installment in the series…

BORN INTO MYSTERY.  SHACKLED TO DARKNESS.

Khara has spent centuries discovering everything about the Underworld―except her place in it. But when she’s ripped from her home, solving the riddle of her origins becomes more important than ever. With evil stalking her through the dark alleys of Detroit, she finds salvation from an unlikely source: a group of immortal warriors sworn to protect the city. Khara needs their help to unravel the tangled secrets of who and what she is—secrets many seem willing to kill for. But time is running out, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer necessity binds her to an arrogant fallen angel.

Can their shaky alliance withstand that which threatens her, or will her soul fall victim to the unholy forces that hunt her―those that seek the Unborn?

 

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My friend & co-author Marty Mayberry has another new release today!

Nothing beats being locked up forever in supernatural juvie, right?

If only committing murder wasn’t my only way out.

I just wanted to find my father.

When I’m framed by the head of the Seeker’s Guild and sent to Darkwater Reformatory to serve a life sentence, I know I’m doomed. I’ll never see anyone I love again. And forget trying to escape. Darkwater is located in the fae world, on an island in the middle of a forbidding sea. Wizards sent there never return.

Yet my father’s also at the Reformatory, and I’ve been desperate to find him. But he’s using a fake name, so the odds of identifying him are slim. He could be the warden, a guard, or a fellow inmate…

While I track him down, I’ll have to blend in. Seekers are the cops of the fae world, and I was their most promising Seeker. If my identity is revealed, I’m dead. Other than escape, I have two ways out. One, survive the ever-changing, magical catacombs that are the training grounds for a secret Reformatory project. Pass all the tests, and I can leave Darkwater.

Or, I could go with the second option and fulfill the bond I made with the Head Seeker. It shouldn’t be that hard to eliminate a fellow inmate.

Except he’s the wizard I’m falling for.

Wicked Betrayal is Book 1 in the Darkwater Reformatory Series. Follow Tria as she hunts down her father, falls for a hot fae wizard, and saves the world. Or something like that…

 

 

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About the Book

Wicked Betrayal

by Marty Mayberry

Series

Darkwater Reformatory

Genre

Young Adult

Paranormal Prison Fantasy

Publisher

Independent

Publication Date

May 2, 2020

Purchase Your Copy Today!

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Excerpt

WICKED BETRAYAL

A Darkwater Reformatory Novel

© 2020 Marty Mayberry

CHAPTER ONE

 

The beady glass eyes of the stone wexal cat statue watched me as I fidgeted in the front lobby of the Seeker’s Guild Headquarters. 

At least, I thought it was a wexal cat, with its large, pointed ears, sleek face with luxurious silver whiskers, and a long, bushy tail. Three-feet tall and about the size of a bobcat, wexals had been extinct for over a thousand years. I’d only seen images of them in books. This one had an inky-ebony coat, as richly black as the magical threads my sister, Fleur, used to create power.

The cat sat on its haunches and whenever I glanced away from it, I swore it inched closer. But I didn’t catch it moving. Except for those damn glowing green eyes. They tracked my every movement. If I’d come across it in the wild, I would’ve turned and bolted in the opposite direction.

For now, I couldn’t run.

Almost an hour ago, an assistant had admitted me into the fortress and agreed—after some persuasion—to notify the Master Seeker I was here. I’d blurted out why I’d come, spilling my guts onto the floor like my boots shucked mud with every shift of my feet. 

Would the Seeker agree to see me?

A clang drew my attention to the back of the room where the assistant wheeled a small serving cart into the foyer from a door to the left of the enormous staircase. Steam wafted from the pot, and the pungent, spicy aroma of hornwit tea scented the air.

Bringing the cart to a halt in the middle of the two-story room, he studied me with one eyebrow lifted.

My stomach rumbled. Only the fae knew when I’d last eaten. 

His eyebrow rose higher, and his gaze dipped to my belly. Fingers tightening on the cart’s handle as if he thought I’d wrench it from his grip, his lips thinned even further. If he kept at it, they’d disappear.

Hornwit tasted nasty even if you dumped in a bunch of sweetener, so I’d beg water instead if I was offered a drink. But the cardamom pinta cookies arranged neatly on the pretty plate looked as yummy as the ones my stepdad made. Those, I’d happily devour, and then lick the crumbs off the plate.

“When can I see the Master Seeker?” I asked. No cringing in the corner for me. I needed the information, and I’d been told only the Master could deliver. I’d paid a stiff price for this location but coming here had put me one step closer to my goal. 

It hadn’t been easy to track down the Guild’s hidden stone fortress high in the Icean Mountains. With only one known flit transport center in the area, I’d had to walk here from the center. I’d hiked for nearly two days, only crashing in the small tent I’d carried on my back when I couldn’t make my feet take another step farther. I’d carried water but nowhere near enough food.

 “Ramseff will give you ten minutes,” the assistant intoned. Tall and skinny enough you might miss him if he stood sideways, he strode behind the cart toward the parlor on my right, his long robe brushing the floor. The solitary cup and porcelain teapot on the top of the cart clinked with the movement. Without saying anything else, he entered the parlor.

An expanse of polished tenet wood floor stretched between me and the parlor. My boots, coated with muck, would leave a mess, something my mom would’ve scowled at me for doing. It was one thing to hang out on the rug with clods of mud falling off my feet but another to mess with that pristine surface.

The weight of the cat’s gaze cut through me as I shucked my boots and, on stockinged feet, scurried after the assistant. I paused in the arched entry. The room was made up of one wall with a bank of curtained windows, another with a huge granite fireplace, and the final two with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

An older guy sat on a green sofa, squishing back on the cushions. Like the cat, he watched me; a common theme in this place.

The assistant settled the teapot, cookies, and single mug onto the low table in front of the man I assumed must be the Master Seeker—the most powerful Seeker of us all. 

What to do? Should I stride into the room or hover here and tell the assistant I’d made a mistake and I’d come back later? 

No. The assistant had said I had ten minutes. I’d be a fool to waste them. 

My shoulders collapsed when I contemplated how challenging it had been to get here only to be told I had mere minutes to plea my case. Weeks searching for any scrap of a clue had been followed by my deal with Katya then flitting to the base and hiking through dense woods to get to this location. In minutes, I’d be standing outside, dreading the long walk back to the flit center. Worrying about the eyes that had tracked me as I hurried up the forest path.

Need made my back stiffen. With a lift of my chin, I walked as calmly as possible over to a high-back wooden chair that had been placed opposite the sofa. I dropped down onto the hard surface and met the intense, milky blue gaze of the Master Seeker.

The assistant wheeled the cart from the room, leaving us alone in ticking silence.

“My assistant filled me in on why you’re here.” Ramseff scratched the side of his neck and then tugged on the hem of the black tunic down over his matching pants. The dark, seamless material was broken only by the white embroidered heron on his left pocket. “What can you—a lowly apprentice Seeker—offer me in exchange for this information?” 

So much for the social niceties like, how are you, let alone, would you like a cookie? The glare he shot me twisted his elderly face.

It looked like my odds of convincing him to help me were dropping by the second.

My body twitched, but I kept my face neutral. Yes, I needed the information. And yes, I’d pay almost any price to obtain it. But the last thing I needed was for him to catch a whiff of my desperation.

“I’m a Level Five Seeker, now,” I said, hoping only I heard the shake in my voice. “No longer an apprentice.”

“Tria, Tria, Tria.” His snort cut through my confidence, and he lowered his head and slowly shook it. “At best, you’re a Level Three, child.” Leaning forward, he poured hornwit tea into the mug and lifted it. His long gray hair brushed his shoulders as he pressed back into the sofa. Examining me over the mug’s rim, he sipped his drink. “Toying with a Level Five does not make you a full Seeker.” He lowered his cup back onto the table with a dull thud.

Dragging my gaze from the cookies and hoping I wasn’t drooling, I steadied my feet on the hardwood floor. “I’m close to a Level Five,” I offered reluctantly. Levels were fluid, meaning on one day I might generate a Level Five spell only to find it impossible to go higher than a Level Three after that. But I studied all the time and was determined to solidify the highest Level as soon as possible. Only with endless practice would I be able to consistently create a Level Five spell and be able to say I’d mastered the Level.

Movement out of the corner of my eye drew my attention. I jolted and couldn’t hold in my gasp.

The wexal cat sat on the granite slab in front of the fireplace, its green eyes trained on me.

I turned back to Ramseff to comment, and he stared past my shoulder blankly, as if his mind had left the room already. Another peek toward the fireplace showed the cat was gone. Had I imagined it being there?

“What are you looking at?” the Master Seeker growled. “You seem distracted. Is our conversation too boring for you?”

“No! It’s just…” 

Ramseff brushed my sputtering aside like a pesky nat. “Spit it out, girl. Just what?” His chest rose and fell as he heaved out a sigh.

“I need to find my birth father, Bastian Spires.” It felt odd to speak his name out loud, as if I revealed something I shouldn’t. For my entire life, I’d kept my true parentage a secret, claiming the sketar witch who’d raised me was my blood father. When I’d transferred to Crystal Wing Academy and met my grandfather and half-sister, I’d hoped my grandfather could tell me where Bastian might be hiding, but most believed he was dead.

I’d been unconvinced. If he was dead, I’d…know.

In exchange for a few rare trinkets, Katya had verified Bastian was alive. But the sorceress had been unable to reveal anything else, stating only the Master Seeker could pinpoint my birth father’s exact location.

“I must say, I admire your ingenuity,” Ramseff said. “Few are capable of locating our headquarters. Of those who find their way here, only one or two are able to get past my assistant’s wards. But you’re the first who dares come to beg a favor. Because you’ve impressed me with your efforts, and to prove how kindhearted I am, I’ll give you the information you seek at no cost.”

My spine perked up. “You will?” I’d thought I’d search for years before I got the chance to confront my father. 

“He’s at Darkwater Prison.”

“My father’s in jail?” Darkwater had been built on a remote island in the middle of a fathomless sea. In the fae kingdom. I stifled my groan. Only those with authorization or special magic were allowed to part the veil separating Earth from the fae kingdom. Ages ago, the fae had split rather than go to war, and many of them had come here to settle. They’d created the veil to keep the two groups from crossing over and killing each other. Sure, some Sídhe were allowed to travel to the fae kingdom—mostly for diplomatic missions—but the opportunity was rare.

I did not possess special magic. I was no diplomat. And it was doubtful anyone would authorize my passage.

“Your father is in the youth section of the prison, known as the Reformatory,” Ramseff said.

“Youth?” I wasn’t sure why I focused on that word alone. 

“Eighteen to twenty-year-olds are permitted to apply for admittance.”

“I see.” From what I’d heard, the Reformatory and main prison were located side-by-side on the island. The Reformatory was believed to be a school, though I didn’t know what they taught. Maybe the usual subjects like at the Academy. 

It couldn’t be for rehabilitation purposes. Criminals arrived to serve their sentences, but from what I’d heard, the only way off the island was in a coffin.

“He’s a teacher in the Reformatory?” I said. “Or is he the warden, the janitor, or a guard?” Maybe he worked in the kitchens. A prison would employ a large support staff like the Academy. 

“I’m afraid I’m not feeling generous enough to share further information with you.” Ramseff lifted his mug and calmly drank. “You asked for your father’s location, and I’ve given it to you.” His gaze flicked to the foyer. “You may leave now.”

“But, but,” I spat out. “How will I get there?” It was vital I talk with my dad.

He smirked. “Surely a Level Five Seeker such as you can arrange this on your own.”

It was impossible. I’d never get through the veil, let alone to the island. 

Anger and frustration dueled inside me. My hands clenched at my sides, and I gnawed on my tongue to keep from hurling the wrong words out. That would get me nowhere.

Hold on a sec.

I pulled my cointage from my pocket and dropped it onto the table with a clang. The disc didn’t grant unlimited spending, but I should have enough credit, courtesy of my generous parents, to satisfy Ramseff.

His low growl rumbled through the room, and florid color rose in his cheeks. He slammed his mug on the table and hornwit tea slopped over the sides. It sizzled when it hit the surface. “You hope to bribe me?” Clouds of rage arcing with lightning stormed around his head. Did he possess a weather skapti in addition to a Seeker’s? Skaptis were inherent skills we used magic to enhance. Few had more than one ability to develop.

“How else can I pay?” I asked with a shrug I hoped came out casual. Inside, I alternated between quivering and fuming. 

His head tilted as if he was unsure what to make of my response. Or maybe he was evaluating my worth. Would I come up lacking? “In order to reach the Reformatory, you’ll need to explore different options.”

In other words, there was no monetary price I could pay for transport. Despair rose inside me. I’d come so close. I’d found my birth father’s location but he was no closer to me than he’d been the moment I verified he was alive. Yet I’d come all this way…

My spine stiffened. “Isn’t there anything I can—?”

“Leave!”

I suppressed a growl. Snapping and snarling would get me nowhere. What could I do to convince him to—

He flicked his hand in the air and bellowed. “Seredon.”

The assistant stepped into the room. “Sir?”

Ramseff’s hand flicked to me. “Show her out.” 

“Of course, Sir.”

“Okay, then.” Standing, I swiped my palms on my thighs. “Thanks.” Not really, but I’d remain civil. He had shared where my dad was and that detail was important. I swallowed past the lump in anger my throat and strode toward the foyer, my stockinged feet swishing on the polished surface. My head remained high. I’d ask my grandfather. He might be able to—

“Perhaps we needn’t be hasty,” Ramseff said. “There might be a way. If…”

I turned and supported myself with my hand on the terat wood trim outlining the archway, to keep my shaky body from giving me away. “If what?”

“I need a small favor. In exchange I’ll arrange for your transportation to Darkwater.”

I could finally confront my father. 

My legs trembled, threatening to dump me on the floor. I returned to the chair and sank onto the hardwood surface. “What kind of favor are we talking about?”

In my experience, favors came at stiff prices.

His fingers tapped steadily on his leg, and he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I have a minor problem. It’s almost not worth mentioning. But someone with your unique set of skills might be able to help me bring about a solution.”

“What would I have to do?” There was no hiding the eagerness in my voice. Despite my reservations, excitement burst through me. Close. I was so close!

“You may leave, Seredon,” Ramseff told his assistant. 

“Very well, Sir.” Seredon backed from the room. 

Ramseff stared at me while a clock somewhere nearby ticked an entire minute. 

Despite my urge to push him to tell me what he needed, I remained patient. 

Ramseff cleared his throat. “Before we proceed further, I’ll need your bound promise you’ll do as I ask and not speak of this to anyone else.”

I reeled back, banging my shoulder on the upper edge of the chair hard enough I winced. “You need a bound promise before you’ll tell me what I need to do?” A bonded promise required blood. My blood. It could only be broken when the promise was fulfilled. Or the person making the promise died. It might be best not to think about that part of the clause.

“A favor for a favor, shall we say? Do this one little thing for me, and I’ll send you to your father.” His voice deepened. “I believe you need something from him.”

How had he found out? I’d told no one.

I was desperate to talk to my dad, but how high a price was I willing to pay?

“Decide,” he said, his fingers tightening on his legs. “A chance like this won’t come again. My offer will be gone in three, two, o—”

“I’ll do it.” Whatever he asked. I had to. Otherwise…I shook my head. Do not think about it here. He might somehow…know.

A conniving smile flittered across his face before it smoothed, making me wonder if I was already too late. 

“Hold out your hand,” he said.

I extended it forward, palm exposed. He mumbled a string of fae words too quickly for me to translate, and my blood pooled, forming a small circle in the depression of my hand. Ramseff suspended a triangular, silver pendant over the blood and it disappeared, sucked up by the cloudy stone in the center of the pendant.

“Lovely,” he said as he hung the pendant on a chain around his neck. “Your promise to complete this task is now unbreakable.” The slick satisfaction blooming on his wrinkly face sent fear bolting through me. I wanted to run but there would be nowhere to hide from a bond made with a Master Seeker. He’d be able to track me beyond death.

He’d own me until I’d fulfilled my part of the bargain.

A wave of his hand, and a large gold ball with a glossy, opaque surface appeared to hover between us.

“I’d like you to eliminate someone for me,” he said as if discussing the pinta cookies he’d consume with his mug of hornwit tea.

I blinked. “You said a small favor. You can’t mean murder.” I couldn’t do it!

“This person is essentially a criminal already. He’ll soon be slated for death.”

“Then why do I need to hasten that along?” This didn’t make sense. What wasn’t I seeing here? “He’ll die anyway.”

“I want it done as soon as possible, not after his relatives host multiple appeals.”

I held up my hand that still stung from the blood-letting. “Hold on. You’re saying he hasn’t committed a crime yet?”

“No more than you.”

The Master Seeker knew the crime this person would soon commit. Did he also possess a divination skapti? Only rare Sídhe could harness more than one ability. But this man was the leader of all the Seekers. No one rose to this high a position without considerable power and cunning.

If he could do divination—although no one could see everything—I didn’t stand a chance of outwitting him.

Unease prickled along my spine, making me itch, and a bitter flavor pooled in my mouth.

“Come,” he said, waving toward the ball. “See.”

A dark gray mist swirled inside the ball. The fog slowly cleared, and a picture formed of the Academy’s eastern pasture, with the forest behind. Someone walked there. Oh. Professor Trarion. My sister, Fleur, had taken Magical Creatures and How to Tame Them with the fae teacher. She was sweet and kind and a lot of fun. I liked her.

I leaned forward, watching as another person slunk behind the Professor, picking up speed. They…My breathing shuddered to a halt.

It wasn’t just any person—it was me. She’d removed the jacket I still wore and had knotted the sleeves around her waist, but otherwise, she was even dressed the same, right down to my Seekers do it better t-shirt.

My jaw dropped, and I turned to Ramseff. “How…?”

“Careful,” he said in a cheery voice, but his eyes… They were sharp enough to slice open a vein. “Watch or you’ll miss the best part. It’s about to happen.”

The person following Professor Trarion—no, I—pulled a knife from a sheath on her calf. She rushed toward the Professor and sunk the knife deeply into the Professor’s back. No sound was released into this room, but I felt the Professor’s death shriek as if I stood right behind her. In some ways I did stand behind her.

Dread splintered my bones, and I moaned.

Professor Trarion collapsed onto the ground, and the person—me—fled toward the woods.

“No,” I wailed, my fingers knotted together on my lap. “What have you done?”

“Me?” Ramseff asked with a low chuckle. “I haven’t done anything. You have.”

“But I didn’t.” I cupped my cheeks as pain rushed through me. “It’s not me. I’d never… Who is that?”

“A wizard who needed a favor. Much like you.”

He couldn’t have known I was coming here, yet he seemed to have arranged for this…assassination while I sat across from him, salivating about cookies. Forget hunger. I wanted to throw up.

“This wizard’s payment came due,” he said casually. “And now they’ve fulfilled their side of our blood bargain.”

Waves of horror roared over me, drowning me. “I…I…”

“The favor I need?” His words pierced the flit-space yanking me away from the Guild’s headquarters. “I’d like you to kill a young man. His name is Brodin. Complete this task and I’ll arrange for your extraction from the Reformatory.” He stood. “It’s time for you to leave, child. Darkwater waits.”

I gaped up at him, barely hearing his words. Professor Trarion! She needed help.

Who was this man, this Master of all Seekers? Seekers were cops, always the good guys. They delivered justice.

Not murder.

Yet…I’d promised—blood promised—to commit the same crime.

“Monster!” Jumping up from the chair, I ran at him, my hands lifting.

Ramseff flicked his fingers toward me, and I froze. 

The room compressed. Wavered.

I landed with a jarring thud, my knees biting into the ground on the edge of the eastern pasture of Crystal Wing Academy. My gaze blurred as I rose and spun around.

The Professor lay unmoving, the blade still sticking up from her back. Slick blood pooled around her, glossy and dark. Lifeblood.

The person warded to look like me was nowhere to be seen. I stood in their place after what must’ve been a seamless switch.

“Her!” someone shouted. “She did it. Tria stabbed Professor Trarion!”

Run.

I raced into the forest, my stockinged feet pounding the path, and my heart slamming against my rib cage. Darting around bushes and trees, I leaped over logs and aimed for the mountains. If I was lucky, I could—

They were on me in a flash.

Whimpering, my breathing grew ragged. I was shoved from behind, and I tumbled forward. The earth slammed up to meet me.

Stupid to think I’d never outdistance centaur Seekers. Their hooves ground into the soil as they surrounded me and, when I peered up, fury blazed on their faces.

“Gotcha,” Roark said. “Caught in the act. Your Council trial will be swift.”

One of the other Seekers—Harline and a former mentor—laughed. The harsh sound grated across my skin. “Darkwater’s the only place that’ll claim you now.”

Of course. Ramseff’s favor. I’d committed a crime and would now be sent to the Prison. Once I found a way to the Reformatory, I’d be able to confront my birth father. But in exchange for my freedom, I had to kill Brodin.

Hauling me to my feet, Roark and Harline secured my wrists and ankles with unbreakable, magical binds. Tenna devices. I’d learned about the fiery, magic-suppression bands in my Seeker’s classes. 

The bindings tightened as the embedded spells bit deeply, severing through my flesh and drawing blood. 

It dripped on the white snow like a massacre in progress.

CONTINUE READING…

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Tour Wide Giveaway

To celebrate the release of WICKED BETRAYAL by Marty Mayberry, we’re giving away a paperback copy of the book to one lucky winner!

GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS:   Open to US shipping addresses only.  One winner will receive a paperback copy of Wicked Betrayal by Marty Mayberry. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Marty Mayberry.  Giveaway ends 5/31/2020 @ 11:59pm EST.  CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

 

About Marty Mayberry

MARTY MAYBERRY writes young adult fiction and infuses it with suspense, romance, and a touch of humor. When she’s not dreaming up ways to mess with her character’s lives, she works as an RN/Clinical Documentation Specialist. She lives in New England with her husband, three children, three geriatric cats, and a spunky Yorkie pup who keeps her on her toes.

Marty is a member of YARWA and a PAN member of RWA, as well a four-year PitchWars mentor.

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Rogue Reformatory: Busted is NOW LIVE!

BESTSELLING AUTHORS AMBER LYNN NATUSCH & MARTY MAYBERRY PRESENT SUPERNATURAL MISFITS ACADEMY, A BRAND NEW PARANORMAL PRISON SERIES.

Teenage witches Maddy and Celine are as close as two sisters can be. So when Maddy’s power goes haywire and she’s dragged away to Wadsworth Reformatory for magical rehabilitation, overprotective Cece gets herself sent there to bust her out. Escape was the plan from the moment they reunited, but Wadsworth’s headmaster and the hostile supernatural student hierarchy prove to be a dangerous hurdle.

To break free, the girls enlist the help of two unlikely allies: a sorcerer with a mysterious past and an elite bad boy who cannot be trusted. Together, the four work to unravel the reformatory’s secrets and find a way out. But when Maddy is accused of murdering a classmate and Cece is nearly killed by a mind-splitting power, they know time is running out. 

Can Maddy and Cece survive long enough to escape Wadsworth—or will they die trying?

 

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About the Book

Rogue Reformatory: Busted

by Amber Lynn Natusch & Marty Mayberry

Series

Supernatural Misfits Academy

Genre

Young Adult

Supernatural Suspense

Publisher

Independent

Publication Date

May 1, 2020

Purchase Your Copy Today!

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Add It To Your Bookshelf!

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Tour Wide Giveaway

To celebrate the release of ROGUE REFORMATORY: BUSTED by Amber Lynn Natusch & Marty Mayberry, we’re giving away a first-in-series paperback set! One winner will receive a paperback copy of Outling by Marty Mayberry (Crystal Wing Academy Book One) and a paperback copy of Caged by Amber Lynn Natusch (Caged Book One)!

GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS:  Open to US shipping addresses only. One winner will each receive a paperback copy of Outling by Marty Mayberry and Caged by Amber Lynn Natusch. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of the authors.  Giveaway ends 6/30/2020 @ 11:59pm EST.  CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

 

 

Excerpt

ROGUE REFORMATORY: BUSTED

A Supernatural Misfits Academy Novel

© 2020 Amber Lynn Natusch & Marty Mayberry

CHAPTER ONE

Maddy

My sister was going to get us killed. Not six-feet-under dead, but definitely on-house-arrest-for-the-rest-of-our-lives dead.

At least I’d be on house arrest. Mom would freak out if she found out what I was doing. Dad? He was happy as long as I stayed out of his life.

Stomping my feet to keep them from turning into blocks of ice, I scrunched my fingers deep inside my pockets. Only during a New England summer could it get this cold at night. Not quite what I’d envisioned when my sister asked me to spend the weekend—hanging around outside a 7-11. If Cece didn’t hurry, she’d come out and find nothing but a half-witch popsicle waiting for her, propped up against the brick wall.

I stared through the window, watching as my older half-sister strolled around inside the store. Older by only three months, that is. Well done, Dad. My mom had been a momentary blip on his radar. I wasn’t sure I registered at all.

Cece caught my attention through the glass and winked. Ass. I shook my head, struggling not to smile, to act casual. I needed to pretend this sort of thing happened every Saturday night.

More confident than I’d ever be, though I could tell she was nervous by the subtle twitch of her hands, Cece strode over to the glass refrigerator section, behaving like the twenty-one-year-old she was supposed to be, per her fake ID. In reality, she was seventeen, like me.

She paused and studied the choices, then selected a twelve-pack of what looked like a fancy craft beer. Not that I knew much about it. I’d only had a few sips of a Bud Lite Lime once at a party. After that, I totally got why some people called that stuff dog pee.

Cece told me I’d love whatever she bought for us. I sure hoped so, since it looked like I’d be drinking six of them.

As if she bought beer every day, she strolled up to the counter, flashing a mischievous smile at the two guys dressed in black leather and ripped jeans she passed on the way. Shifters. Being a half-shifter myself, I could tell.

They stared after her as she flicked her long, newly-dyed-blue hair over her shoulder. Then she reached back and snagged the bag of chips one of the guys was holding. With a smirk, she placed it on the counter next to the beer. The guy said something to her that I couldn’t make out, but by his easy smile, I could tell he wasn’t pissed. Probably wanted her number.

That was my Cece. Bad-boy magnet extraordinaire.

About our age or maybe a year or two older, the guys were cute in that rebellious way that made you ache to jump onto their motorcycles if they offered you a ride. Even though we—or I, at least—would never dare.

Cece directed her attention to the tall guy working the register and smiled, but this was not flirting. Dude had to be at least forty. Old. Nope, she was just providing a distraction, making sure he didn’t look too closely at her fake ID.

After pocketing her change, she side-eyed the guys, then strolled out of the store with the twelve-pack in one hand, the chips in the other. I shivered, and not just from the cold. Like predators watching prey, the guys’ intent gazes followed her as she walked boldly through the door.

Eyes wide with excitement, she hurried over to me. Her cheeks were pinker than they ought to be, considering that I was the one standing out in the cold. She held up her victory beers and smiled. “Did I tell you I’d deliver or what?”

“Yeah, but we should probably get out of here.” Leaning around her, I noticed the guys coming our way. “The man at the register might decide you aren’t old enough after all and call the cops.”

“Nah.” Grinning, she bumped my shoulder with her own. “He’d get in more trouble than I would for selling it to me in the first place. We’re good.”

“He should’ve spent more time checking your ID than staring at your boobs.”

One corner of her mouth quirked up. “Nothing like a little distraction.”

“Gross!” But my uneasy laughter spurted out.

“Not gross. Effective. Now, let’s go.” She stuffed the beer into her backpack, then tossed it over her shoulder and stepped off the curb into the parking lot.

My neck tingled, and I paused as the guys left the store empty-handed. They watched as we walked away, and I tried not to let the weight of their eyes on my back freak me out. I mean, Cece was pretty, and I was cute in a different way; it made sense that they would stare. Maybe they thought Cece had shown interest in the store? Or maybe they were just curious about what we were up to…

Unease razored down my spine as I rushed to catch up to my sister, who’d already reached the sidewalk and was striding down East Main. We’d walked here, since her mom needed the car to take her younger brother somewhere.

Once we got to Cece’s house, we’d easily sneak the beer past our dad, who’d be sitting in the living room with his feet up, enjoying some sports thing on TV. At most, he’d say hi to her. Me, he wouldn’t notice. We’d slink up the stairs, then hang out in her room. He’d never know what we were up to.

At least that’s what Cece had said.

A streetlight flickered and buzzed overhead, threatening to go out. My skin prickled, and I peeked over my shoulder, but I didn’t see anything unusual. Someone could be hiding, I thought. Watching.

Get a grip, Maddy. Everything’s fine…

I shook my head and jogged to catch up to Cece.

Though an icy breeze cut through my coat and made goosebumps ripple across my flesh, I took a deep breath and sucked in the crisp air, but it didn’t calm me. A quarter moon hovered on the horizon, creating barely enough light to see where we were going. Murky shadows chased us.

“In the morning,” Cece said, “if we’re not hung over and half dead, you’re gonna teach me that spell that makes people burst into hysterical laughter in the middle of a test. That shit could come in really handy.”

“We’re not supposed to do spells outside the coven.” Our lessons were held at a local church, where witches under the age of eighteen got together once a month to practice. Ironic to do witchcraft in a church, but it was a central location, and they let us use the basement room for free. But then, they’d bought the story that we got together for prayer sessions.

“No witchcraft outside the coven?” Cece mocked. “That didn’t stop you from using it on Gianna Barber. I heard all about it.”

I shuddered. “Yeah, and you know how that turned out.”

“We’re all learning how to control our power.”

“And I need more lessons.” A lot more lessons.

Our sneakers smack-smacked on the pavement as we turned off East Main and onto Sutter Street. I tried to ignore the steady sound of footfalls that suggested someone paced behind us. We weren’t the only ones out tonight. We’d already passed a guy on a bike, plus a couple strolling arm-in-arm. If we needed help, surely someone would come running.

And then they did.

My heart leaped against my ribs when someone rushed up behind us. I nearly screamed, but my throat was too tight with fear for that. As I whirled around to see who it was, Cece laughed. But it wasn’t her playful laugh—she was just playing along.

Not a good sign.

One of the guys from the store slid his arm around her waist. “Hey, sweetheart. Where you two goin’?”

“Nowhere,” Cece said, her voice neutral yet pleasant. She wasn’t into him or his sweetheart talk. It would’ve been a pleasure to watch her shut him down if it weren’t for the niggling sense of terror pulsing in the back of my head.

His friend slunk about ten feet back on the sidewalk, keeping to the shadows. Wearing jeans and a black coat, he blended with the night around us. I would’ve missed him if the white swoosh on his sneakers hadn’t reflected the moonlight.

I didn’t like anything about our situation. The guys. This part of town. The way the one looked at my sister like he was hungry and she was dinner. And I really didn’t like the fact that we were way too far from home to make a break for it. My breathing sped up, as if I’d been running, and my muscles cramped as adrenaline pushed through them. I wanted to run, but I tried to calm myself instead.

Cece would tell them to leave us alone, and they’d listen. Everyone always did what Cece wanted.

“So, what about going to that movie with me tonight?” the guy said, bending down close to Cece’s ear.

Cece wiggled out from underneath his heavy embrace. “Can’t, Brandon. I told you, Maddy and I already have plans.” The heavy look she threw me made my breath catch.

How did she know these guys? Sweat trickled down my spine, and I couldn’t hold back my shiver. “Yeah, we have plans already,” I said, wishing my voice didn’t shake. That I didn’t shake.

“Maybe another time,” Cece said, her voice like a honey-coated blade. Sweet, but deadly.

“Yeah, see, I’m not so sure I feel like waiting,” he said, his grip on her tightening.

She shot me a sideward glance and mouthed, ‘on three.’

“Move your arm or I tear it off,” she said, the familiar press of magic in her tone.

Brandon did as she said, but the crease in his brow showed his suspicion. He knew she was using her empath ability on him.

“Three!” Cece shouted as her backpack full of beer dropped from her hand and crashed onto Brandon’s foot. While he bellowed and hopped around, we bolted.

“Can you keep them from following?” I asked as we ran, trying to maintain our minimal head start.

“I don’t think so,” she yelled back. “I have to be calm for it to work, and I am not fucking calm right now!”

The guys quickly gave chase, hooting and swearing and gaining on us much too fast.

We ducked down a side street to try and lose them. It turned out to be an unlit alley. Just what we needed.

“We’ll hide,” Cece panted out in a hissing whisper from beside me. “Maybe they’ll give up and go away.”

Abandoned and dilapidated buildings rose around us, and we searched for somewhere to hide. Maybe if Cece could calm herself, she could use her magic to make them go away. Or maybe not…

Until I learned some control, I didn’t dare use my power.

Our sneakers hit the road and we splashed through puddles as we wove around cars and a dumpster in search of a hiding spot. Or a cracked doorway we could shove open. Or a random cop walking a beat.

“No!” Cece’s voice echoed defeat as she came to a shuddering halt. “Dead end.”

A solid stone wall stood in front of us, buildings encroaching on either side. “We’ll go back, and they’ll—”

“Lost?” Brandon asked from much too close behind us.

His friend snickered and dug his elbow into Brandon’s side. “Not too lost. Looks like we found them, huh?”

We turned and Cece stepped in front of me, as if to protect me from harm, like she’d done since I was little. My sister took her three months of seniority to me seriously. But until she could center herself, there wasn’t much she could do to make them go away—at least not magically. If they’d been human, she probably could’ve kicked their asses MMA-style, but shifters were far too strong for that, even in human form. Not me, but I wasn’t like other shifters. Or other witches, for that matter.

A gust of wind swept through the alley. It caught her hair and whipped it around her face like blue threads of power. Unlike my sister, I had more power than I knew what to do with. ‘Endless potential’, our coven leader called it. ‘Untrained and unpredictable’, another had hissed when she’d thought I wasn’t listening.

“Leave,” Cece ground out, but they didn’t obey. Brandon advanced on Cece, stalking her until his hands were on her shoulders, forcing her toward the wall. She kneed him, but he barely even grunted from the blow. Her back smacked against the run-down brick building with a thud, and she cringed at the impact. Above her, a twisted, rusty metal fire escape scissored back and forth, from about eight feet up all the way to the roof. It swayed with the wind, and the structure creaked and groaned.

I nudged my head toward it. A quick boost up from me, and she could get away.

“Maddy, run!” she yelled at me as Brandon held her tight.

“No,” I cried, my voice wavering with fear. But there was anger building inside me, begging to be let out. If I could channel it, maybe I could drop that ladder on Brandon, and Cece and I could make a break for it. Two of us against the other guy would work.

It had to.

“If you don’t want to go to the movies, we could just go back to my house. No one’s home tonight. We’d have all the privacy in the world…” He nudged his chin toward his friend looming a few feet away, ready to strike at any moment. “I bet Jason here would be happy to keep your friend occupied.”

Jason studied me like I was a slab of meat hanging in a market. “Too lanky.” His gaze drifted across Cece, and he grinned. “But I’m happy to share the blue-haired one.”

The fear on Cece’s face heightened the tension growing inside me to the bursting point. As Jason strode toward Cece, I felt power ripple inside me, fueled by fear and panic and an overwhelming urge to do something. Cece had always been the one to protect me, to take on the world if it hurt me. It was my turn to do whatever I could to help her.

The power surged into my hands like a kettle about to boil over.

“Run!” Cece shouted as she tried to wriggle free of Brandon. Jason sneered.

The sight sent me over the edge.

Something forbidden and ferocious churned inside me. It begged me to unleash it, to let the rage free. In our coven classes, I’d been aware that I hadn’t been tapping my full potential, but I’d been too scared to give in to the demands of my inner beast, worried that if I did, I’d level the world around me.

The shadow surged up into my throat, a panting, writhing mass of fury. It hungered. I’d never tasted magic like this before. It was lovely. Gruesome. Frightening.

As Brandon pressed his body against Cece’s and she cried out in pain, the restraints I’d learned how to place on the power snapped. Magic burst out of me in a shockwave that shoved me backward. My body smacked into a dumpster, and I slumped to the ground.

Everything around me exploded, as if a category-five hurricane was roaring through the alley on a rampage. It wouldn’t stop until it found satisfaction.

A huge crash resounded as the fire escape and part of the building broke free and plunged down onto Jason and Brandon.

And Cece.

“No!” A guttural cry erupting from me, I staggered to my feet and raced toward my sister.

She lay beneath the concrete and metal structure, unmoving. Her arm was extended, her palm facing the sky. Her hand didn’t move.

“Cece?” I whispered, straining to reach her. I tried to lift the frame, but it wouldn’t budge. “Help! Somebody help me!”

But no one heard. No one came running.

With horror spreading like a plague through me, deadening me, I yanked my phone from my pocket and dialed.

“Yeah?” Dad’s controlled voice came through the line. In the background, a whistle blew and people shouted. Damn, he had the TV too loud.

“Dad!” I sobbed out. “Cece. I need help. She needs help. Please come.”

I killed her!

Terror combined with guilt inside me, taking away my will to go on.

Dad cut the TV and his voice shot through the line. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“We’re in an alley off Sutter Street. Please. I need you,” I gulped out. Tears poured down my face as the realization of what I’d done filled me. My knees gave out, and I collapsed on the ground.

“I’ll be right there,” Dad said grimly. “Don’t go anywhere, and don’t call the police.”

Jason and Brandon hobbled by, heading for the street, but Cece remained motionless.

Dropping my phone, I crumpled into a ball and sobbed.

I stayed like that even as Dad’s car screeched into the alley and he got out. He ran to the fire escape, and his gut-wrenching cry echoed around us.

I’d done this. I’d killed my sister.

As I rose to lean against the wall, a black, unmarked car pulled in behind Dad’s, and two men got out, a blond and a redhead. They paused beside me and stared down, saying nothing, before walking over to Dad. Heated whispers swirled around me as I slowly died inside.

Cece, I’m so, so sorry.

“You sure you want us to take her?” one of the men asked.

“Do it,” Dad grated out. “Make sure she doesn’t return.”

The men walked over, grabbed my arms, and hauled me away from the wall.

“What are you doing? Help my sister!”

They strapped a band of cold, hard metal around my neck.

“Please,” I said, my voice hoarse. “Cece!”

They guided me toward the car. “You need to come with us.”

“But Cece.” I strained to break away, to reach my sister. I needed to touch her one last time. “Please. I need to go to her.”

The blond man placed his finger on my temple, and the alley disappeared.

CONTINUE READING…

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About Amber Lynn Natusch

AMBER LYNN NATUSCH is the author of the bestselling Caged series for adults. She was born and raised in Winnipeg, and is still deeply attached to her Canadian roots. She loves to dance and practice Muay Thai―but spends most of her time running a chiropractic practice with her husband, raising two young children, and attempting to write when she can lock herself in the bathroom for ten minutes of peace. Dare You to Lie is her debut YA novel with Tor Teen.

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About Marty Mayberry

MARTY MAYBERRY writes young adult fiction and infuses it with suspense, romance, and a touch of humor. When she’s not dreaming up ways to mess with her character’s lives, she works as an RN/Clinical Documentation Specialist. She lives in New England with her husband, three children, three geriatric cats, and a spunky Yorkie pup who keeps her on her toes.

Marty is a member of YARWA and a PAN member of RWA, as well a four-year PitchWars mentor.

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Kylene Danners’ ex-FBI agent father is in prison for murder and she’s hell-bent on getting him out. But trying to investigate in the small town where a defensive lineman is a hero no matter who he tries to kill and the girl who gets him locked up is public enemy number one is dangerous. Dark secrets are everywhere in Jasperville—the kind Ky can’t walk away from.

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Beneath the Dust is NOW LIVE!

The fourth installment in the Force of Nature series by USA Today bestselling author Amber Lynn Natusch…

Piper Jones is in a real jam. Her dangerous journey from powerless orphan to the Princess of Faerie has brought her to a perilous crossroads. The fey king’s minions are stealing witches from right under her nose, and her mother, the fey queen, has come to collect on her favor—one with potentially devastating consequences for everyone she loves. Piper’s next move could be her last, and whatever her decision, one thing is clear: 

The fey king and queen must die.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About the Book

Beneath the Dust

by Amber Lynn Natusch

Series

Force of Nature

Genre

Adult

Urban Fantasy

Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance

Publisher

Independent

Publication Date

December 12, 2019

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Excerpt

BENEATH THE DUST

A Force of Nature Novel

© 2019 Amber Lynn Natusch

 

PROLOGUE

The rancid smell of burning and death was everywhere, and I struggled to stand against the ringing in my ears. Fire was burning brightly, the only light cutting through the smoke in the yard. I screamed for the others, the memory of the attack at the lodge so clear in my mind that I almost wondered if I was dreaming.

And then I heard the cries of the wounded and knew that I wasn’t.

“Piper!” a voice called. I struggled to hear it over the din, but I did—and it sounded hurt. I followed it through the wall of thick grey around me, tripping on the wounded and dead along the way.

I couldn’t get my bearings—had no clue which way I was headed—but I knew I had to get there. The sense of urgency and need drove my every step.

“Piper! I’m over here!”

I rushed toward that voice, colliding with others in the melee. I shoved them aside, rushing toward my target like I was tethered to it. Like nothing else mattered. Because it didn’t.

Only him.

“I’m coming!” I yelled, picking up my pace. I could hear shouting in the background—shouting that seemed directed at me—but I ignored it. I was almost there. I could save him.

Suddenly, a figure took shape in the smoke before me, standing straight and strong.

Thank God he’s okay…

I reached my hand for him, my heart in my throat, but before I could touch him, I was ripped away by a brutal, painful force. I flew through the air, crashing to the ground hard. Anger like I’d never known tore through me. I wanted to see who had dared to interfere.

I wanted to rip him limb from limb.

With a muttered order, the smoke cleared, swirling up into the air until it was nothing at all. Hovering over me was someone unexpected, his brown eyes murderous. But they weren’t for me. They were for the man off in the distance. The one I’d been searching for.

And he wasn’t at all who I’d been trying to save.

CHAPTER ONE

Grizz stood outside the shower with a towel in his hands, waiting for me to get out. In the twenty-four hours since we’d returned from the fey king’s land, he hadn’t let me out of his sight. Apparently, even bathing was too risky without an escort.

“Thanks,” I said as I took the towel from him and wrapped it around me. I moved to walk past, but he stepped into my path and stared. The concern in his eyes was evident. “I know, buddy, but there’s no other way. I don’t think Knox will rest until he knows whether Liam survived.” The man-bear huffed at my words. “Do you think I want to go back to Faerie?” He frowned at my rhetorical question and folded his arms across his chest. “Exactly, but I don’t think we have a choice. Liam could be our best chance to gain inside information on the fey king and what he wants. We have to do this—even if we don’t want to.”

He glared at me for a minute longer before stepping aside to let me pass. It was almost seven, which meant the others were likely gathering in the meeting room to discuss the plan. The enforcers would not be aiding us, which left only the werewolves, Merc, Jase, and Dean. I’d asked Merc if he’d ordered his vampires to stay behind, and he had avoided the question diplomatically. I wondered how he was fitting into his new role as vampire king. I also wondered how the others were acclimating to having a notoriously unstable leader. Though the reputation wasn’t totally warranted, it remained nonetheless. I prayed it wouldn’t undermine his authority when it counted most.

I slipped on my clothes and made my way downstairs through the kitchen, hoping to grab a snack on the way. I knew the meeting would surely get heated; we were about to drop some major bombs on everyone. Royal-sized ones, in fact.

Kat, who apparently shared my need for sustenance, was in the fridge when I arrived. She popped her head up over the door and smiled.

“So, rumor has it we’re going back to Faerie. Are we testing out the ‘third time’s a charm’ theory, or are you just that hot for the fey king?” She closed the fridge and leaned against it, taking a bite of the peach she’d found.

“Definitely not the latter,” I said as I walked past her to the pantry. There was a protein bar in there with my name on it.

“Wanna tell me why, then?”

I let out a sigh. “Liam…”

Her hand stopped halfway to her mouth. “The psycho who tried to kill me? The fey king’s pet? You want to go back there for him?”

“I don’t want to—”

“But you are?” she said, interrupting me. She turned her attention to Grizz, who was hovering near the island. “And you’re good with this—going back there?”

The man-bear shrugged.

“I’m doing it for Knox—”

“The Liam he knew is long gone, Piper. I don’t care how you think he’s changed—what shred of humanity you saw in him before you escaped—he’s tainted. You can’t bring him back here.”

“I’m doing it for Knox,” I repeated, my hands balling into fists at my sides.

She shook her head and took another bite of her peach.

“You two…you’ve lost your fucking minds. It’s one thing to go there for Merc, but it’s another to go there for the memory of a being Knox once knew, who’s probably dead anyway. What if this is exactly what the fey king is counting on? Have you considered that?”

“That is what the meeting is for,” Merc said, entering the room from the hallway. His dark presence carried a weight with it that I didn’t remember him having until he became the vampire king; a power he hadn’t previously possessed. Kat stared at him for a moment before heading toward the door he’d just come through.

“You need to talk some fucking sense into her,” she said as she passed.

“I plan to,” he replied.

Kat disappeared, leaving the three of us alone in the kitchen.

“Are we ready to start?” I asked. I picked at the wrapper in my hand nervously, its crinkling the only sound in the room.

“This will not go well,” he said. “This meeting—this plan. Neither will end as you hope, especially not once they all know who you truly are.”

“I was hoping to shock them all with that and then follow up with the plan. Hit them while they’re stunned.”

He smiled at my idea, knowing I wasn’t kidding at all. “A solid tactic, my love, but not foolproof.”

I shrugged. “It’s all I’ve got.”

“No,” he said, heading my way, “you have me. And you have Knox and Jase and Dean and Grizz—Kat, too, once she calms down. You have the pack—though I fear this decision may divide them. I do not envy Knox’s predicament in this.”

I didn’t either. Liam had killed many of his boys. To risk others to save the one who’d murdered their brothers was a big ask at best. At worst, it was a total slap in the face.

“Shall we?” he asked, giving me his arm. I took it, and he led me down the hall to the room where the others had congregated. I could hear the ruckus growing as we neared, and I wondered if the discussion had started without us. The second I set foot in the room, I knew it had. Liam’s name was being flung around like an insult, and I could see Knox struggling to keep his composure. It seemed like it was him, Foust, and Brunton against everyone else. Jagger was uncharacteristically silent.

I hated seeing the pack at odds. It hurt my heart. They’d been through so much already. They didn’t need another obstacle to overcome.

“I’m the princess of Faerie!” I shouted over the din. The room went silent in an instant; so quiet I could hear Kat take a bite of her peach and chew it methodically, like she was trying to figure out how best to strangle me for not telling her that detail before that moment.

“I guess we’ll have to get you a Fairy Princess mug now,” Dean said with a smile as the rest of the room gawked at me in silence.

“Well that’d be great since the other one broke. Again.” Since I had the floor, I went ahead and told them everything I’d learned from my time with the fey king in Faerie. How he wanted to use me against the queen. How he’d turned against Liam when Liam had attempted to help us escape. How absolutely batshit insane he was at his very core. And how he’d dropped the ‘mom’ bomb on me. By the time I was finished, most of their mouths were hanging open while they stared. “So…I’m going to go back there because we need information about how to undo this magical spell or curse or whatever it is that prohibits me from killing the bitch.”

“Well when you put it that way,” Kat said, smiling with a cheekful of peach, “it seems far more appealing. I’m in.”

“And we’re also going to bring Liam back,” I added, wincing as I said it. The room went deathly quiet again.

“I’m not asking any of you to go,” Knox said to the pack. “I understand your anger and frustration with this situation, and if I were you, I’d feel the same way. But this is bigger than what Liam did to our family—it’s about what the fey king plans to do to us all, and I can assure you, that outcome will be far worse if he succeeds. He’s coming for Piper. He admitted as much. If he gets her, shit will get ugly.”

“Then why go to him?” one of the wolves asked.

“Because if Liam is alive, we have to save him from his fate in Faerie. The king will never send him here now that he knows he’s been compromised. Liam helped us escape—helped Piper get me out of there. I wouldn’t leave any of you behind. I can’t leave him, either.”

“He was pack before there was a pack,” Foust added. “I won’t leave him there. We did that once. Never again.”

Brunton merely grunted in response.

The discord in the room lessened, but the murmurings of the pack still weren’t all favorable. A rift was growing among them. We couldn’t afford to be divided with a war in the city and two fey royals after us.

“Those of you not coming will be charged with protecting the mansion, as well as aiding the enforcers in whatever capacity they deem necessary,” I said. “The rest of us leave in an hour.”

I got up to exit before the arguing could begin again. Grizz filed out behind me, as did Kat. I headed back to the kitchen, needing some space from the pressure cooker we’d just been in. I splayed my hands across the marble countertop of the island and hung my head.

“They’re right, you know,” I said to no one in particular. “I’m delivering myself right back into the hands of the very being that threatened to come for me.”

“Glad to hear you’re finally making some sense, your highness,” Kat replied.

“About that—”

“Don’t bother. It’s not really important.”

“Not important?” I asked.

She shrugged. “We already knew you were descended from her. How closely descended seems insignificant-ish.” I turned to find her smiling at me wickedly, her blue eyes full of mischief. “Guess it’s a good thing the fey king isn’t your daddy since you made out with him the other night.”

I felt my eyes go wide before I burst out laughing, the tension of everything that had happened over the last twenty-four hours finally breaking. I slid to the floor, clutching my stomach as it seized from my hysterics. Kat soon joined me, her hand on my knee.

“For the record, I think this is a shitty idea, but I’m going because I have a bone to pick with Liam,” she said, shooting me a knowing look, “and more importantly, I won’t be left behind like that ever again.” She gave me a squeeze, and I looked over at her tight expression. It lacked any hint of humor. “I’ve lost a lot in my lifetime, Piper. I can’t afford to lose you, too.”

I leaned my head on her shoulder. “You won’t, Kat. We fey royals are a pain in the ass to kill…”

She choked on a laugh. “You really are.”

We sat like that for a minute, sharing a silent moment while Grizz kept watch, as though the fey king or queen might show up to whisk me out of the kitchen. The quiet was so peaceful, a feeling I barely remembered. It was almost foreign. In an hour, we would leave to find the portal back to the fey king’s realm and Liam—and possibly the king as well. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer that we would be safe. That we would find Liam and get out of there before anything could go wrong.

But I knew my prayer wouldn’t help.

My power didn’t work so well in the fey king’s land.

***

A little over an hour later, Merc and his brothers, three of the four Originals, Kat, and I stood in the same alley where we’d encountered Liam, looking for the portal to Faerie. Jagger and Grizz had been made to stay behind, much to their chagrin. The thought of returning there made me sick to my stomach; nothing good ever came of our journeys there. I looked at Kat, Merc, and Knox, all of whom had lost so much to that vile place, and wondered if going after Liam was worth it.

Or if we were making a terrible mistake.

The alley was dark and narrow and seemed to taper as we walked along. Around the bend, I could hear a struggle. Knox and Merc took off in a flash, and the rest of us followed suit, racing toward God only knew what. The war among the breeds was still raging; the likelihood of walking into a battle seemed high.

When silhouettes finally came into view, I stopped dead in my tracks. Beings like nothing I’d ever seen before—bulky, shapeless, earthy-looking monsters—had four females in their awkward, wet grasps. The captives’ bodies were being absorbed into the creatures that held them like they were sinking into quicksand. I knew I’d never forget the look of terror on their faces as they disappeared.

Knox and Merc were already attacking the monstrous things when we arrived, but every blow they landed seemed to slip right through the creatures with a sucking sound, leaving little to no damage in their wake. The beings continued to swallow the girls whole, their screams dying off as their mouths disappeared behind the dirt and clay. Kat, Foust, Brunton, Jase, and Dean joined in, trying to pull the females free to no avail.

Time was running out.

“Release the girls!” I shouted at the grotesque creatures. They paused and looked at me, their flat, unanimated faces giving nothing away. Then they continued on their mission.

I sent the wind after them, hoping to pull the girls from their soon-to-be earthen deathbeds, but it did nothing more than encircle the creatures in a funnel of debris that did little to hinder them. I sent fire next, but it was dangerous with the victims inside and still slightly exposed. Water would have drowned the girls, whose mouths gasped for breath as the clay sucked them in deeper.

As my frustration grew, I reached out with my power, trying to connect with the matter the attackers were constructed from, and found only the slightest connection. They were not born of this land, or the fey queen’s, either. That left only one other option.

The fey king had sent new minions.

With little control over them, I instead reached out toward the magicals they had swallowed up and pulled them toward me. They were witches, and their power spoke to mine—the warlock DNA in my veins. I watched as hands re-emerged, clawing for anything they could grasp; anything that could help free them from their fate.

Knox was soon at my side, helping fuel my pull on the witches, while the others fought the earthen enemies and extracted the girls. Once they were free, I again focused my energy on their attackers.

“Get out of my realm,” I seethed. Wind gusted down the alley, blasting against the fey king’s nightmares. This time, they staggered backward toward the portal, featureless faces staring at me in warning. The fey king wasn’t done in NYC. Not yet.

One by one, they disappeared through the portal, and the alley went still. The witches’ cries were all that could be heard.

“What in the actual fuck was that?” Kat asked, wiping red clay from her face with her shirt.

Knox and Merc shared an uneasy look. “Golems,” they said in unison.

“Golems?” I asked.

They nodded.

“They’re inanimate creatures made of earth and controlled by magic,” Knox said. “I haven’t seen one in a very long time.”

I turned to Foust and Brunton and found their faces paler than before, their eyes wider. The witches they held in their arms clutched them like lifelines. I walked over to the one in Foust’s arms and laid my hand on her.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice soft and gentle.

She turned her clay-covered face to me, the reddish shade contrasting the deep umber of her skin but mimicking the warmth in her wide caramel-colored eyes.

“We were attacked…I don’t know why. They just came out of nowhere and started dragging us toward the wall.” She pointed to where the golems had disappeared through the portal. I tried to hide my disappointment. Her story didn’t give us much to work with.

“The coven queen must be informed,” Merc said, taking out his phone. “I will be right back.” He walked away from the group.

“Thank you,” the girl said to me. “I owe you a life debt.”

“We all do,” the one next to her said. She pushed her soiled blonde hair out of her face and squared her shoulders. “So many have gone missing already—I guess we know what happened now.”

“How many?” I asked.

Her expression was grim. “Ten in the last twenty-four hours.”

A jolt of fear shot through me, and I looked back to Knox. “Why would the fey king want them?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” he replied, “but we damn sure need to figure it out.”

“Do their powers work in his lands?”

“I don’t know. Yours didn’t—not well, anyway.”

“But I’m not a witch…”

“I heard him,” the third girl said from where she stood near Jase. “The fey king…I heard him when I was inside that…that thing.”

“What did he say?” Jase asked. He looped his arm around her thin shoulders, and she leaned into his touch.

“I…I don’t remember exactly. It’s like I felt his words more than heard them, if that makes any sense at all.”

“It does,” I said, trying to shake the memory of his voice caressing my skin in Mack’s apartment the night it had tried to coax me into joining him in Faerie. “Just tell us what you can.”

“It was something about sacrifice…about doing our part?” She shook her head in frustration. “That’s the best I can do. My mind feels so fuzzy right now…I can’t think clearly.”

“You’ve been through a lot,” Jase said. Then he looked at me. “We should take them home.”

“No,” the blonde said, finding the strength in her voice. It contrasted her petite build, which made it clear that she was powerful enough to command those around her in other ways. “We will go to the coven queen. Alone.”

“The fey king may send them again—”

“Then take us to Central Park. We will risk the rest of the journey on our own.”

“Suit yourselves,” Brunton muttered under his breath.

Jase and Dean shared a silent conversation, then a nod. Moments later, they took two of the witches and disappeared with them. The remaining two looked concerned at first, but when the boys returned not covered in their sisters’ blood, relief washed over their faces.

Just before the brothers could take them away, the blonde turned to me and gave a tight nod.

“I don’t understand why you came to our aid this evening or what you stood to gain from it, but I will honor that life debt, Magical.”

Before I could reply, the four of them disappeared, leaving the rest of us with nothing but questions and no way to find answers.

“If the fey king has dispatched golems to do his dirty work…” Foust said, his words drifting off.

“…then Liam is likely dead.” Brunton, never afraid to spell things out, said what I, and apparently the others, had already been thinking. That our mission to retrieve the final Original was over. It was too late to save their brother.

“Maybe, maybe not,“ Knox said, anger growing in his tone, “but we are not giving up without knowing first—”

“The coven queen has requested a meeting with us,” Merc announced as he approached the group. “I told her I would arrange something, but due to how poorly things went the last time we met, I would be in charge of all the details.”

“And?” Knox pressed.

“She agreed without hesitation because her daughter was one of the girls we saved this evening.”

“Like that bitch has a heart for family,” Kat said with a scoff.

“Even the coldest of beings has a soft spot,” Merc countered. “You, Kat, are no exception.”

She turned away and swore under her breath.

“So when do we meet?” I asked.

His pale face turned to me, the moon’s eerie light highlighting the sharp angle of his jaw as it clenched.

“When I deem it safe to do so. For now, we return to the mansion.”

“What about Liam?”

Merc’s eyes narrowed. “I agreed to this rescue mission only because I thought there was a chance it could succeed. Given what we’ve witnessed tonight, one of two things has happened: the first is that Liam is, in fact, dead; the second is that he’s been imprisoned. Either way, we cannot help him.”

“We can’t leave him—”

“We can and we will,” Merc said, silencing my argument. “I am sorry for this, I truly am, but we have more pressing matters to deal with now that don’t involve Liam.” Without another word, he walked over and grabbed my hand; seconds later, we were standing outside the front entrance to the mansion. “I fear the war is spilling over into Faerie,” he said, pulling me into his arms. “Though I cannot understand it, the signs are there. Neither fey ruler has had much interest in this realm for centuries.”

“So why now?” I asked, nuzzling his chest.

“Why indeed?” he mused. “I think it has something to do with a particular magical I happen to love.”

“But I have nothing to do with the war,” I argued.

His silence drew out for too long, and I pulled away just enough to find his dark expression staring down at me.

“I fear that might not be true.”

CONTINUE READING…

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To celebrate the release of BENEATH THE DUST by Amber Lynn Natusch, we’re giving away three paperback copies of From the Ashes, the first book in the Force of Nature series!

GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS:  Open to US shipping addresses only. Three winners will each receive a paperback copy of From the Ashes by Amber Lynn Natusch. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Amber Lynn Natusch.  Giveaway ends 12/31/2019 @ 11:59pm EST.   CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

 

 

About Amber Lynn Natusch

AMBER LYNN NATUSCH is the author of the bestselling Caged series for adults. She was born and raised in Winnipeg, and is still deeply attached to her Canadian roots. She loves to dance and practice Muay Thai―but spends most of her time running a chiropractic practice with her husband, raising two young children, and attempting to write when she can lock herself in the bathroom for ten minutes of peace. Dare You to Lie is her debut YA novel with Tor Teen.

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You can now preorder BENEATH THE DUST!

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Piper Jones is in a real jam. Her dangerous journey from powerless orphan to the Princess of Faerie has brought her to a perilous crossroads. The fey king’s minions are stealing witches from right under her nose, and her mother, the fey queen, has come to collect on her favor—one with potentially devastating consequences for everyone she loves. Piper’s next move could be her last, and whatever her decision, one thing is clear: 

The fey king and queen must die.

BENEATH THE DUST is the fourth installment in the Force of Nature series.

 

COMING DECEMBER 12, 2019

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Warhead is now live! Plus, a Paperback Giveaway!

VOLATILE UNDER PRESSURE. HANDLE WITH CARE.

The death of Chicago’s Northside alpha is the kind of thing Sapphira has to cover up every day. But before she can calm the brewing discord in the city’s supernatural community, another body drops into her lap—or more specifically, the lap of her best friend, Jenkins. When the only neutral territory in the city starts racking up a body count, it’s never a good thing. Especially when her ex-boyfriend is still trying to kill her and a creepy new ghost with an ancient book won’t leave her alone.

Just another day in the life of the blue-eyed bomb—whose lies are about to bite her in the ass.

 

 

 

 

 

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About the Book

Warhead

by Amber Lynn Natusch

Series

Blue-Eyed Bomb Book Four

Genre

Adult

Urban Fantasy

Paranormal Romance

Publisher

Independent

Publication Date

November 14, 2019

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Excerpt

WARHEAD

A Blue-Eyed Bomb Novel

© 2019 Amber Lynn Natusch

PROLOGUE

 

The ruckus above shook the building, casting dust down upon the prisoner until his black hair turned grey. Shackled to the wall with iron manacles and magic, he stared across the dark room to the staircase at the far end. The one from which the sound of footfalls approached.

Weak from lack of food and sun, he stood on shaking legs, doing all he could to appear strong in the face of an unknown enemy that had undoubtedly come to either kill or claim him. Neither was a fate he relished, but without a weapon to defend himself, either was likely if not inevitable.

As the footsteps grew louder, the pounding of boots on stone echoing through the room, a flicker of light from a torch illuminated his dank prison. Just before his would-be attacker rounded the wall, he saw the thing he cherished most sitting on a plain wooden table next to the stairs.

If he could somehow get to it, perhaps he could escape.

The shadow of a large figure fell deep into the room before the being himself strode in. He knew the intruder instantly, as well he should. That being was a warrior and the leader of the Patronus Ceteri, the sons of Ares, who policed his kind—policed all supernaturals alike.

The intruder stepped closer. “Do you know who I am?” he asked.

“You are Aniketos, leader of the PC.”

The dark-eyed man nodded his confirmation, amusement ghosting his expression. “I go by Sean now, but yes.”

“Do you know who I am?” the prisoner asked.

Another nod. “I have my suspicions.”

“Have you come here to kill me?”

Sean’s eyebrow quirked. “Should I kill you?”

The shackled one looked down at the state of his fading body. “Yes.”

“What if I were to sever the ties that bind you instead?” the leader of the PC asked, those dark eyes twinkling with a hue of emerald green.

“So you plan to kill the one who holds me captive?”

“Yes—if he’s not already dead.”

“What will you do with me once he meets that fate?”

Sean eyed the prisoner with interest. “I could use someone like you—someone with your particular gifts.”

The man strained against his restraints, a renewed sense of strength and hope coursing through him. “Free me and I am yours.”

Sean smiled. “But then you won’t really be free, will you?”

The prisoner’s eyes narrowed. “I will never be truly free.”

“True. However, I can offer you the closest thing to it. It will either be me or someone else—someone who won’t give you a choice in the matter. Someone unwilling to ever let you go.”

“Would you?” the prisoner asked, staring him down with suspicion in his hazel eyes. “Would you ever let me go?”

“If that was your wish, then yes, I would. But you will not want to. What I’m willing to offer, you would never receive from another.” 

“No,” he said under his breath, “I would not.”

“I ask only for your allegiance to the PC—to serve it in all capacities without question—and nothing else.” Before the prisoner could answer, shouting erupted somewhere above them; the desperate cries of someone trying to escape slicing through the silence. Sean looked to the stairs then back, any shred of amusement in his eyes gone. “What do you choose?” he asked, his tone demanding. It was clear this offer that would not be extended again. The prisoner knew what would become of him if he refused—death was his only other option.

“Free me from this,” he said, lifting his shackled wrists, “and I am yours to command.”

A wicked smile crept across the dark-eyed one’s face. “I need your name first.”

“Atesh,” the prisoner said as the wails of a tortured soul rang out above. “My name is Atesh.”

 

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To celebrate the release of WARHEAD by Amber Lynn Natusch, we’re giving away three paperback copies of Live Wire, the first book in the Blue-Eyed Bomb series.

GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS:  Open to US shipping addresses only. Three winners will each receive a paperback copy of Live Wire by Amber Lynn Natusch. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR. Giveaway ends 11/30/2019 @ 11:59pm EST.  CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

 

 

About Amber Lynn Natusch

AMBER LYNN NATUSCH is the author of the bestselling Caged series for adults. She was born and raised in Winnipeg, and is still deeply attached to her Canadian roots. She loves to dance and practice Muay Thai―but spends most of her time running a chiropractic practice with her husband, raising two young children, and attempting to write when she can lock herself in the bathroom for ten minutes of peace. Dare You to Lie is her debut YA novel with Tor Teen.

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DON’T SAY A WORD is now live!! Read an excerpt here!

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SILENCE ISN’T GOLDEN━IT’S DEADLY. 

Kylene Danners’ ex-FBI agent father is in prison for murder and she’s hell-bent on getting him out. But trying to investigate in the small town where a defensive lineman is a hero no matter who he tries to kill and the girl who gets him locked up is public enemy number one is dangerous. Dark secrets are everywhere in Jasperville—the kind Ky can’t walk away from.

When rookie FBI agent Cedric Dawson returns to town to finish an open investigation, he goes undercover at her high school—as her ex. Determined to keep her from interfering, Dawson’s plan backfires after Ky gets an anonymous call about missing girls officially labeled as runaways—runaways that didn’t really run away at all.

Because dead girls can’t run.

And they don’t say a word.

 

About the Book

Series Hometown Antihero Book Two |  Genre Young Adult Mystery & Romantic Suspense

Publisher Tor Teen  |  Publication Date  September 17, 2019

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Read an Excerpt

© 2019 Amber Lynn Natusch

PROLOGUE

When I was eight, I learned what evil was.

Not the generic kind of evil that people use to describe bad things, but real and true evil of the most biblical sense. The kind that defies explanation. The kind that you can never scrub from your mind once you encounter it.

Dad and Gramps had taken me to Matthew’s Ice Cream Shop after a baseball game that day. I’d finally won after a six-game losing streak. Dad thought that win was worthy of celebrating, so the three of us crammed into the two-person booth in the back of the shop with an ice cream sundae, equipped with spoons longer than my forearm. I was three bites in when Dad’s phone rang. I watched his proud expression fall to one of horror before he masked it with his official FBI face. The one that gave nothing away. But it was too late. I’d already seen the truth behind the lie.

“Where is she?”  he’d asked, staring off past where Gramps and I sat. “I understand. I’ll be right in.” He hung up the phone, then slid out of the booth. “I’m so sorry, Kylene. You and Gramps will have to celebrate without me. It’s work . . . I have to go.”

He turned to walk away, but Gramps stopped him in his tracks.

“They found that Woodley girl, didn’t they, Bruce?”

My father looked over his shoulder to Gramps, his lips pressed into a thin, grim line. He nodded once, and I could feel Gramps go tense beside me. That nod had meant far more to him than it had to me. I mean, finding the girl who had been missing from one town over was a good thing, right? She’d been gone for a long time; shouldn’t they have looked happier? Wasn’t that something worth celebrating?

I would find out later that it wasn’t something to celebrate at all.

Gramps and I watched as my father’s pace hastened on his way to the car. I turned to Gramps and started my interrogation. I’d always been my father’s daughter.

“Is Daddy going to bring her home? Is that why he had to leave?”

Gramps’ expression softened, and he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close to him.

“No, Junebug. That’s not why he had to go.”

“Then why?”

“Well, I reckon your daddy’s gonna go find the person that took that girl away. He’s gonna keep him from ever doin’ that to anyone else ever again.”

“Because Daddy stops the bad guys, right?”

“He sure does, Junebug. He sure does.”

“Okay. . . .”

“Now, eat your ice cream before it makes a big ’ole mess of this table.”

He scooped some onto his spoon and took a bite, smiling as he swallowed it. But that smile never reached his eyes, and even at that young age, I knew something was wrong. I sat up on my knees and grabbed his face in my hands. It was then that I saw the unshed tears still welled in the corners of his eyes.

“Gramps, what’s wrong?” He forced a laugh and kissed me on my forehead to dismiss my concerns. But even at eight, I was not so easily derailed. “Tell me why you’re sad, Gramps.”

When he realized I had no intention of dropping it, he sighed.

“Because every time your father gets one of those calls, it reminds me that there are people in this world—truly evil people that don’t belong.”

“You see those people, right? In the prison?”

He nodded. “I sure do. And your daddy helps put ’em there.”

“Gramps, how do you know someone is a bad guy?”

He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

“You don’t, Junebug. Ain’t no way to know for sure ’til it’s too late.”

I remember letting those words soak into my mind—trying to give them context when I had none for them. They sank to the bottom of my consciousness until later that night when I sat at the top of the stairs and eavesdropped on my parents’ conversation. I heard my father recount the vivid details of what had happened to Sarah Woodley. How she’d been taken after school never to be seen alive again. How her body showed that she’d been tortured and beaten before she died. He used  words I didn’t recognize at the time. Words I didn’t understand fully until I was older.

When I learned them, I remembered what my father said that night and my stomach roiled with realization.

At the tender age of eight, I learned that a monster could be lurking behind every passing smile, every friendly neighbor, every pillar of the community. It cast the world in a much darker light. Made me question everything.

It was those suspicious traits that had made my father an amazing investigator, but even he’d fallen victim to a faceless evil. And that truth was a wake-up call. It wasn’t enough for me to be as smart as my father—I needed to be smarter. If I wasn’t, he would rot in prison—or die long before his murder sentence was served.

And I could end up as dead as Sarah Woodley.

 

CHAPTER ONE

I shot awake in an uncomfortable hospital chair, my neck throbbing. With a jolt, my hand went to my throat, visions of being stabbed with a needle rampant in my mind. My heart pounded against my fractured ribs—the soundtrack from the night I’d been attacked. The same as the day my father’s verdict had been handed down. Apparently, some memories don’t fade with time.

The pain brought me back to the present, and I realized it was just a nightmare—the same one I’d been having ever since Donovan Shipman and Luke Clark tried to kill me. Two attempted homicides in one night; a stretch by even Jasperville standards.

My best friend, Garrett, lay in the hospital bed with wires and machines attached to him. I could finally hear the beeping and chirping over the blood pounding in my ears. It had been only a few days since his surgery, but he had already been downgraded from the ICU, which meant I could visit him. Finally.

Those few days had felt like a lifetime.

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