I am so excited to be participating in the cover reveal of Nathan Squiers re-launch of his book Crimson Shadow: Noir but before I post it let's read the awesome excerpt that Nathan has provided for us.
Excerpt:
The cab ride home was an
unpleasant one; reeking of stale farts that the driver replaced with new ones
without the slightest sign of embarrassment. Xander, ignoring the gross driver
as best he could, checked behind them several times for anything that could be
following. When he was certain there was no immediate threat, he faced forward
and tried to relax; catching sight of a hanging section of fat that hung from
the driver’s neck that rippled with each imperfection in the road and stifled a
dry heave.
Finally, the cab pulled
up at the address that Xander had specified and he opened the door and stepped
out.
"Th’ fare’s
twen'ee-eight fort’five." the cabby called out.
"I haven’t got
it." Xander muttered.
"Sonababitch!"
the cabby yelled as he threw open the door and hoisted himself out, his gut snagging
the steering wheel and giving birth to a new wave of obscenities, "Im’a
kill ya’, ya’ robbing b’stard!"
"Disgusting!"
Xander muttered as he started across the lawn.
No argument here. Trepis chimed in.
The address he’d given
the driver was several blocks away from his own home. He had known from the
start that he didn’t have the money to pay the fare but felt that he needed a
safer way to get home than walking. Running around the back of the house, he
hopped the fence and cut through several bushes that separated the one house
from another. From there, he crossed through the yard on the opposite side and
slowed to a walk, leaving the cursing cabby several houses back.
He was a block away when
he first saw the smoke.
As he got closer, his
fears were confirmed: the roof of his house collapsing in a violent greeting of
his return. Standing in front of the smoldering wreckage were three figures,
all wearing black sweatshirts and long, black pants. Two of the three had black
baseball caps on while the third wore a black bowler. Xander watched,
horrified, from a distance as the last of his life burned to the ground,
wondering why nobody else had seemed to notice or bothered to call the fire
department.
It's time. The small boy's voice echoed in his head. It
was the first time he’d ever heard a voice besides Trepis’ and he wondered if
he was finally going insane.
Having seen enough of
his burning home, he turned his attention to the three, who had noticed his
arrival and were now approaching. The closest—a younger-looking man—cracked his
knuckles. As he neared, Xander noticed a pinkish stain on his chin and a
shudder forced its way up his spine. The other cap-wearer was a dark-skinned
woman with a tattoo of a snake that breached her collar and ended on her cheek.
The figure in the bowler was a man whose black hair hung from under the hat in
front of his left eye.
Too much. . .
It was all too much for
him.
Too much pain. Too much
suffering. Too much anguish and guilt and doubt.
Too much to hold back.
Too much to keep it all
locked in. . .
As an unbearable
itch—carrying with it an infernal heat that seemed to cook him from the
inside-out—crept over Xander’s body, the young man in front of him crouched
down like an angry cat then and launched himself several stories into the air.
Squinting, Xander fought to keep his eyes focused on the unnatural spectacle as
it was lost in the sun; after all that had happened, he once again began to
question his sanity and begged reality to return the stranger’s feet back to
the ground where they belonged. Still gawking into the sky, he was caught off
guard by a powerful force and thrown down the length of the street, skipping
like a stone over the concrete surface several times before finally rolling to
a stop against the curb.
Too much. . .
It was too—
His eyes rolled in his
skull as he wrestled to get his bearings; the world spinning beneath him and
keeping him off balance. Getting his left foot centered beneath him, he
adjusted his right and tried to stand, only to feel the ground roll under him
and drop him all over again.
Behind him there was a
soft thud, and Xander gave up on the
effort to stand up in the hopes of coaxing his blurred vision to focus.
Distortion. . .
A kaleidoscope of
fractured light and rolling shadows. . .
Xander groaned and
blinked, watching as the previously airborne young man step towards him.
The familiar sensation
of a foot being driven into his ribs; harder and more sudden than he’d
expected. As a dry heave ripped the oxygen from his lungs, Xander found himself
once again crashing to the unforgiving street.
. . . too much.
Head still reeling,
Xander fought to fill his empty lungs as he was lifted from the ground in an
iron grip and shaken before being thrown. . .
Xander could feel the
impending heat growing as he hurdled towards the inferno that was consuming his
home.
Consuming his life!
The brittle remains of
the house proved too frail to stop Xander as he careened through the
sidewall—an avalanche of ash and memories crashing down around him—and slammed
into a flaming support beam. No longer able to support the burden of its
purpose, the structure crumbled with a fiery hiss and he found himself trapped
beneath the mass. Pinned under the scalding pressure and seeing every stolen
moment of happiness he’d ever had go up in smoke, he began to succumb.
"JUST FUCKING LET
ME DIE!" He roared at the flames.
Dammit, Xander! Fight!
Xander blinked, feeling
his tears evaporate before they could fall. "Mom. . ."
Nothing can be done about that! Now get up! Get the fuck up!
"Grandma. . ."
Stop it! Sadness fixes nothing! Anger motivates change! USE
YOUR ANGER AND FIGHT! FIGHT, GOD DAMN YOU!
The sudden wave of
intense heat overwhelmed everything else, and Xander did nothing to stop it
from consuming him. Though he could feel the burning remains of the beam
holding him down—could smell the burning denim and flesh that had begun to feed
it—he knew this new fire had nothing to do with his surroundings. Crying
against everything that had befallen him, he pushed up and shook off the
offending piece of wood and pulled himself to his feet. He saw his mother, her
sweet smile and her slightly curled strawberry-blonde hair. Her green eyes,
long since closed, burned in his mind. He saw his Grandmother, with all her
wisdom and calmness.
Gone.
All gone.
He closed his eyes and
let the visions of those he loved burned in his mind.
And then he imagined
Kyle. . .
Use his anger? Up until
then all his magical rages had been done by instinct—chaotic events that had
turned themselves on.
But what if he could
control it?
Though his eyes remained
closed he could sense the strangers as they approached; the young man taking up
the lead again. Inside his mind, Xander could practically see the extended
snarl stretching the jaws of each his attackers; could feel their determination
and hatred roll off of them in waves.
Hatred?
What could they know
about hatred?
“He’s still alive!”
Xander felt a swell of disgust roll from the snake-woman—could practically see her thin lips curl in a sneer from
the other side of the collapsed wall—and he felt another wave of energy
rocketing towards him.
Frantic to hold his
ground, Xander threw his arms out in an attempt to hold himself up. The swell
of energy he’d come to recognize as his own kicked up, then, and the ash and
debris around him scattered in a momentary gust as his attackers’ wave collided
with the house. As the dividing barricade burst towards him, the gust shifted
and pushed back; the burning chunks of wood and furniture parting around Xander
and splaying out in either direction. Growling against the whipping hair in his
eyes, Xander fought to maintain his footing as his shoe dragged across the
ashes of his home until the force finally died down around him.
The three stopped in
mid-stride as the dense cloud between them settled.
Xander felt a swell of
excitement at the sight of their confusion.
They had power; there
was no doubt about that.
But he did, too.
And now they saw it.
“He got lucky,” the
snake-woman growled; her words nearly inaudible to Xander, “Kill him!”
The three started toward
him again, and the swell of their emotions once again grew; the force becoming
so strong that their bodies seemed to radiate with it.
But it was too much.
Xander was too angry to
be afraid.
Too eager to see them
suffer for everything that had
happened.
Do it! Trepis urged him.
“It… it can’t be,” the
snake-woman’s eyes widened then, her purposeful advance ceasing as she stared
at Xander in disbelief. The analytic gaze melted to one of concern, and the
woman took a step back, followed soon after by another, “S-Stryker?”
The other two, unaware
of their companion’s retreat, continued to stride forward.
Trepis’ voice echoed in
Xander’s head: DO IT!
“Oh no. . .” the woman
held out her hand, “Get back!”
But the warning came too
late. The excruciating heat in Xander’s body churned about in him like a
boiling whirlpool; a new purpose driving it to spread. As he concentrated on
the sensation, he felt the gust pick up and swirl around him, growing in
intensity. When the force became too much for him to contain—too much for him
to hold back any longer—he shut his eyes and unleashed it on them.
There was a series of
snapping and crunching sounds followed by panicked screams. Driven by this, he
increased the intensity of his attack. Even when the screams were silenced, he
continued to let the energy whip around him; let it rip and tear until there
was nothing left to feed the destructive force.
Until there was no
energy left in him, and, feeling drained, he stumbled and collapsed into the
dying embers.
When he finally looked
up, the little boy was standing over him, his hand outstretched. As he watched
through blurred vision, a man and a woman appeared behind the boy, who faded
away and disappeared.
You will come with us now?
As the effort to keep
himself conscious became too much, Xander finally offered a weak nod.
Nathan
Squiers (The Literary Dark Emperor and the author formally known as “Prince”)
is a resident of Upstate New York. Living with his loving fiancé/fellow author,
Megan J. Parker, and two incredibly demanding and out-of-control demon-cats,
Nathan lives day-by-day on a steady diet of potentially lethal doses of
caffeine. When he isn’t immersed in his writing, he often escapes reality
through horror and/or action movie marathons, comic books & graphic novels,
Japanese anime & manga, and gnarly tunes. While out-and-about, The Literary
Dark Emperor can be found in the chair of a piercing studio/tattoo parlor or
simply loving life with friends & loved ones.
Learn more
about Nathan’s work and join The Legion at www.nathansquiers.com
Stalker Links:
Now for the cover reveal of Crimson Shadow: Noir
When all hope is lost,
what drives you?
When all those you love are dead, who do you
turn to?
When there’s nothing left to strive for, what do
you stay alive for?
Xander
Stryker wants to die.
Ever since
witnessing his mother's murder at the hands of his abusive stepfather when he
was a boy, he has spent every day trying to reach that goal. But every night he's
denied the death he craves.
As his
eighteenth birthday approaches, a chance for change is offered when his life is
plunged into a supernatural world of vampires and other creatures of darkness.
Caught in the depths of this new reality, mysteries of his vampiric lineage
begin to unravel and he’s offered the ultimate choice:
Continue
on with his wretched human life or begin a new one as the vampire prodigy he
was always meant to be.
Unfortunately,
the supernatural world can be just as unforgiving and brutal as any other and
Xander's choice is met with disastrous consequences. Now, with a little support
and even less hope, the chaos of his new world collides with his torturous past
and threatens to crush him once and for all.
Will
Xander be able to use his new strength to conquer his fears, or will he succumb
to his own darkness. . .
. . .
and allow it to finally destroy him.
There is no going back now.
No more running.
It’s time for a bloody change!
How EPIC is that cover and excerpt?! I for one can not wait to buy this book and have it sitting on my shelf.
Thank you to Nathan for letting me participate in his cover reveal.
~Sabrina
.jpg)