Influential Magic
(Crescent City Fae)
Author: Deanna Chase
Release Date: March 6th 2013
ISBN: 978-0983797876
ASIN: B00BQ3C9PO
Pages: 318
Genre: Fantasy, Romance,
Paranormal
Series: Crescent City Fae
Summary
It’s tough being a faery
in New Orleans, a city fraught with vampires… especially when their
very existence drains your life-force.
Willow Rhoswen, owner of
The Fated Cupcake and part-time vampire hunter for the Void is having a
rough week. Four years after her twin brother’s mysterious death,
Willow’s life is threatened and the director saddles her with a new
partner—her ex-boyfriend, David. To her horror, he’s turned vamp, which
causes her physical pain whenever she touches him… and any other
specimen of the undead.
In order to save Willow’s life, David
agrees to turn double agent against the most powerful vampire
organization in New Orleans. Or so he says. And she’s convinced they
know something about her brother’s death. Unsure where David’s loyalties
lie, she turns to Talisen, her childhood crush, to help her solve the
mystery.
Caught between two gorgeous men and a director who’ll
stop at nothing to control Willow’s gifts, she’ll have to follow her
instincts and learn who to trust. Otherwise, she risks losing more than
just her life.
Excerpt
A low chuckle rumbled
from the branch.
“Wil, I think our friend
finds us amusing.” Phoebe gripped her black agate crystal.
“Just you,” the vamp
replied, his voice as deep and gritty as a thirty-year chain-smoker. “She’s
interesting, as well as that dog of hers, but I’ve been looking forward to this
matchup for some time.”
A grin broke on Phoebe’s
profile and her eyes glittered. “Oh, good. A challenge.”
The hooded figure leapt
from the branch a second before Phoebe blasted the spot with her sunlight-infused
agate. The branch sizzled and, with a deafening crack, landed inches from where
Phoebe had been standing.
“Holy fae,” I breathed and took off
after Phoebe, who was now sprinting to catch the vampire. She sped up,
periodically flashing her agate, trying to stun him. His reflexes proved to be
far superior to the average vampire’s, and I suspected this one had been around
much longer than most. He alternated back and forth from the tree limbs to the
cemetery wall in smooth, graceful movements, deliberately waiting for Phoebe to
make a move before leaping.
He was playing with her.
At the end of the
cemetery, the vampire turned and looked Phoebe in the eye. “What else you got,
witch?”
Phoebe stopped yards ahead of me, her
tiny, lithe body seeming to grow a few inches. She lifted her left hand
straight out, palm up and shouted, “Siste!”
Her long, glossy black
hair fell from its bun, whipping straight back in the windless night.
The power behind the
spell rooted me to the path, frozen in a running pose. Link was a few yards
ahead of her, suspended in midair, his face scrunched up in a snarl. The
vampire’s laughter rang clear as he bounded onto a nearby rooftop and
disappeared.
“Fuck!” Phoebe shouted
as the power dissipated.
With the spell broken, I
lost my balance and fell face-first on the hard brick sidewalk.
Link shot ahead, his
little legs never breaking the run. His body shimmered gold before his limbs
gave way, expanding until he’d grown to ten times his normal size. Once again
in wolf form, he shot out of sight, sprinting after the vampire.
I groaned and rolled
over, staring into Phoebe’s exhausted face. “You all right?”
She offered me a hand.
“Yeah, but shit. I lost him.”
“How’d he do that?” I’d
never seen a vampire manipulate her magic before. “It’s like he blocked it.”
“He deflected the spell,
and it hit you and Link instead.” She rubbed her temple. “I don’t know how.
I’ll need to do some research.”
I nodded. “I can’t sense
him anymore, he must be long gone. We better go find Link before animal control
gets him again.” The last time they’d picked him up as a wolf, he’d turned back
into a Shih Tzu before I could claim him. The paperwork confusion had been a
nightmare.
“You go ahead. I’ll grab
the car and catch up.”
“Okay. Be safe. I’ll
keep an eye out for you.” Smiling, I flew to the nearest rooftop.
I spotted Link within
moments. He was racing around the corner at the end of the street, his white
coat gleaming in the moonlight. Had he picked up the vamp’s trail or had
Phoebe’s magic sent him into a frenzy? I couldn’t feel the vampire, so it must
have been the magic.
Or could I? My limbs
were weighted as if the air was heavy, and my lungs had to work harder for
oxygen. Something was off, though. It didn’t feel the same as the sticky,
swimming death I’d experienced earlier. The sensation pressed lightly and then
all at once clung to me.
A vampire was close.
Really, really close. But why did it feel so different?
My heart picked up as
panic set in. Link was blocks away. Phoebe was in the car somewhere, and I was
alone on a roof.
Why had I taken off by
myself? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I glanced around at the
half-deserted neighborhood. A stone settled in my gut as recognition dawned. I
was on vampire property. In the years after hurricane Katrina, the city had
swelled with vampires. Drawn to the despair and lawlessness, the vampire
population had more than tripled.
At first, they helped
the struggling economy by buying up blocks of decimated homes. Unfortunately,
they only rebuilt the one they lived in and left the others to rot. The perfect
way to discourage neighbors. Vamps had been known to do a lot worse for
privacy.
I scanned the streets
for Phoebe’s car or a glimpse of Link. If I could find either of them I’d be
fine. The silence grated. Alone on a roof with no cell phone and a vampire
lying in wait. Now what?
I stretched my wings,
fluttering a few feet off the rooftop. Flying always gave me a sense of
control. I couldn’t cover a lot of ground, but I could move pretty quickly if I
needed to. Faster than sprinting, anyway.
The sticky sensation
stayed with me, but as I flew, the intensity lessened. Maybe he was in the
building.
The thought didn’t put
me at ease one little bit. Vamps were impossibly fast. If one had spotted me…
Link reappeared at the end of the block.
“Finally.” I flexed my
wings and shot toward the edge of the building.
“Willow?”
I spun. My wings stilled
mid-flutter as pleasure heated my insides. I knew that voice and missed it more
than I cared to admit. Managing to land gracefully on shaky legs, I peered
through the moonlight. “David?”
He nodded.
Relief washed through my
body at the sight of him, uncurling the knot I’d forgotten existed in my
stomach. I took a step closer and froze.
Thick honey vampire
energy clung to me and it was coming from my ex.
Author
Deanna is a native Californian, transplanted to
the slower paced lifestyle of southeastern Louisiana.
When she isn't writing, she is often goofing off
with her husband in New Orleans, playing with her two shih tzu dogs, making
glass beads, or out hocking her wares at various bead shows across the country.
For more information and updates on newest
releases visit her website at www.deannachase.com
http://www.facebook.com/DeannaChaseAuthor
https://twitter.com/writerdeanna
http://deannachase.com/
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Summary
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Season 11 is a comic book series published by DC Comics that maintains
the continuity of the Smallville
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