Hi everyone! My name is author Amanda Kimberley of Connecticut. I write both fiction and nonfiction and I’d like to share an excerpt of my paranormal urban fantasy Forever Friends along with two giveaways. One is for US residents and the other is for non-US residents. The rafflecopter link will appear after the cover.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/98fc5c364/?
Excerpt:
“You can’t leave me. We were supposed to do this together.” Alec whimpered as he stroked the dark hair of Obsidian Moore.
Her perfectly porcelain skin was being violated with a steady flowing stream of crimson from her forehead. The rounded face and button nose features that wooed him initially to her, seemed almost silly to him now, as he stood helpless watching her die in his arms. How he wished he could sway the gods to spare her, but shallowness comes with a price, just as any of the other mortal sins.
It seemed strange to compare himself to the mortals. His brown eyes, chiseled chin, and muscular build made him look every bit human, but his dead heart, the one that hadn’t beaten in centuries, made it clear that he was nothing more than a vampire. Damned from the heavens, and exiled from the
Underworld, he was punished to a sentence far worse than non-existence. He was dead among the living.
To him, humans had it easy. They possessed free will and could sin as much as they wanted to gain their desires, and it appeared they could do it without consequence. It seemed so effortless for them, it looked like an art.
Sin was something foreign to Alec. He never had a need to use it because his wants were always granted, the dark gift made this possible. As a vampire, he could have any of his material desires met by merely thinking it. His gifts even gave him powers over the humans. Their desires of lust made them easy prey.
All the powers he possessed, and all of the material desires on this Earth, couldn’t help him now. His reason for existence was dying in his arms. He was powerless to change the course of destiny. His only choice was to watch her die.
Ryback Moore, a gypsy witch of the Kersh Clan, cast a karma spell upon Alec long before The Were Rebellion had started. The irritant fool thought he could teach Alec a lesson on how to treat his daughter, a lesson that was now back firing on them both.
Alec could chant an incantation to the Mother Goddess, trying like hell to disregard Ryback’s spell, but he knew his desire to keep her on Earth would be met with disapproval. His asking to have Obsidian stay, denying her of the soul she should become, would be considered selfish to the Mother
Goddess. Even his meager offerings of himself would fall upon the Goddess’s deaf ears.
Alec wished it was all a myth. It was honestly unheard of to cast a spell on the undead. Alec had actually laughed off the spell at first. Until he found out what Ryback had done. The Sun God took pity on him and entertained his wishes.
Alec, having no light inside of himself to speak of, fell victim to the pact Ryback had made with the Sun God. Thanks to Ryback, Alec could no longer feed upon the humans.
This curse had definite karmic undertones, something humans took as law. Sadly, if Ryback had thought more clearly, and didn’t allow his emotions to get the better of him, the spell’s bark would not have been worse than the bite. In essence, Ryback sentenced his own daughter to her death by extinguishing the one chance she had at existence.
“I will always be by your side in spirit.” Obsidian said.
“No! You can’t die! I won’t allow it! You just can’t. If I have to, I will find a tribal elder and perform a resurrection spell. You just have to stay. You have no say in this matter.” He stated flatly.
Vampires had a selfish nature. They took what they wanted, when they wanted it. If that meant keeping someone from the destiny of dying, then so be it. Human law was of no concern to them. He’d do anything he could to keep her here. Existing without her was no existence he wanted to be a part of.
Vampires could not, as humans put it, commit suicide. It was forbidden. Alec could try, but it wouldn’t end well. Through legends, he knew a tale of a vampire named Aleister that tried the very same thing.
He purposely stayed up to watch the sun rise. Wanting it all to end because he lost his love. The sun rose, but he didn’t feel a singe of burning pain. The gods had apparently, as the legend states, made it snow. The clouds were thick enough where no sunlight could penetrate through, causing Aleister to have a fate far worse than non-existence.
Aleister did die that day. He proclaimed he’d never feel, taste, or touch anything again, and with that he buried himself deep within the earth. There was talk that he still resides in Transylvania, but it was just talk. The story never intrigued Alec enough to seek out its validity, until now.
“I must go. They are calling me.” Obsidian whispered as she loosely gripped Alec’s hand.
He could hear her heartbeat fading. The sound was deafening to him. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear his heart was stopping too. He kissed her weak hand. It was pure anguish for him to see her like this.
He had been walking among the living for centuries. A feat few vampires had accomplished. He was respected by many clans, in fact, some of them called him King of the Vampires. Alec was powerful and unlike some of his counterparts, he had a hand at magic when his heart was still beating, a practice that made his dark gifts all the more intriguing.
The King of the Vlad Clan was a powerful master magician indeed, bending the elements, slowing time, and could persuade the living to do as he saw fit. He had an immense amount of magical powers, but not one of which could heal the dying.
His dark gift, however, could. He could try and give that gift freely to her, despite the curse. He was told he’d suffer the worst headache in his life, a small price to pay to keep his love, but there were still no guaranties it would work.
All he had to do was take a taste. She was so weak, she would not know until it was too late. She wouldn’t have time to argue, she’d feel no pain. Her father, Ryback, would still be able to see his daughter, alive and well. He could keep her here with him for as many selfish reasons as he could dream up. He was desperate to keep her all to himself. Any reason would have been a good one to taste her and bestow upon her the dark gift, the blood of immortal life. Any reason, except a pious one.
He had absolutely no right to her. He knew that. Her soul was exceptional. A brighter one than he had ever seen in his dark existence. He couldn’t extinguish that light, no matter how much he wanted to. Her soul was just too pure a hue of white to taint it a color any darker. No, she belonged with the gods and he couldn’t deny that.
He gently kissed her hand again and put it to her chest as she took her last Earthly breath. He watched her essence leave the world he was in and he let out a cry that was so shrill, one would almost think that time momentarily stopped for his grief.
She was gone and there was now nothing he could physically do to bring her back. He was stuck in a world without her and he wasn’t sure if he could bare it. His breathing felt shallow which was a bit of a silly notion since his lungs hadn’t taken air for centuries. Yet, he could clearly feel an escape of something within him. Something from deep within, a weight, if you will, on his chest that wouldn’t lift.
He couldn’t escape the feeling and it seemed to grow worse. It was now inflicting his vision where he felt a tunnel forming around his corneas. Everything started to blur and then suddenly, the world turned as red as his pupils. His eyes became fixated on one person in the battle.
His rage grew towards Raine, a man he entrusted with his love. It should have been easy for Raine to protect his own flesh and blood. He was, after all, Obsidian’s cousin. A powerful man in his own right, the Rom Baro of the Kersh Gypsy Clan. He was standing clad in his black ceremonial robe, he looked determined and focused, trying to defeat the werewolves, but his attentions should have been on protecting Obsidian.
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