Content from Blog Tour: Post #9 Meet Alani Kalei

Here is an excerpt from the first time Alani Kalei (Ava's best friend) shows up in Obsidian:

Ava’s cab arrived at Alani’s house after a short drive. Ava paid the cabby and tipped him before quickly going to the front door. It was twelve-thirty, but she had to knock anyways. She had nowhere else to go. After a few seconds, the window illuminated and Alani finally made it to the door.

“Ava! Oh my gosh!” Alani squealed. She gave Ava a big hug. “What happened to you? I’ve been trying to find you for days. I went to your house a few times but you weren’t there, and the Herrick-Peyton building is no longer Herrick-Peyton. At least that’s what the guy at the gate said.”

“It’s a long story. Can I come in and explain everything?”

“Of course! Get in here!” Alani pulled the door open wider.

Ava stepped inside and went to the couch. Alani started water for hot tea and then went to sit on the couch. She was already in her pajamas, which consisted of a bright green tank top and a pair of colorful printed shorts. Alani’s black hair hung just below her chin and flared out a little. She was thin like Ava but had much more tone to her build. Alani’s dark eyes were curious and weary.

“So, where were you?” Alani asked.

“Well, it all starts the day that the satellites went down. I went to dinner with one of my clients, Tom Walker. He’s the head of the Hawaiian branch of Psytech.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember him from when I worked at Herrick-Peyton.”

“The guy at the gate was telling the truth, Herrick-Peyton no longer exists. Psytech bought the building. I knew about it before everyone else because Tom told me when we were at dinner. I went on a date with him.”

Alani gasped, “You actually went on a date! I’m so happy for you!”

“Wait ‘til you hear the rest of it, you’ll wish I hadn’t gone on a date, at least not with him. There was a big meeting on Wednesday and that’s when Herrick-Peyton sold the building. Tom told me that I could work any position I wanted at Psytech and to meet him at the warehouse when the news broke.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Psytech had jobs for them too, but everyone was to be accessed and then place in a position that suited them if they wanted the job. But anyways, I went to the warehouse after a staff meeting with the shareholders, and this is where things get really crazy, Alani.”

“Okay, let me get the tea really quick and you can finish.” Alani got up and poured the hot tea into two cups. She handed a cup to Ava and sat down again. She looked at Ava, ready for her to begin, but she hesitated.

“You can tell me, Ava. I’ll believe anything you say,” Alani pressed.

Ava sighed. She took a minute to think about how she could tell this part of the story. “Well, I went to the warehouse and there were these corporate men there. They were video chatting, Alani. They had a device that made the internet work for them.”

“Wow, why haven’t they released it to the public?”

“Because Psytech is responsible for the satellite viruses.”

“Oh my gosh! Are you serious? Why haven’t you gone to the police?”

“They asked me to stay and work for them. They wanted me to be like them.”

“What do you mean ‘be like them'?”

Ava took a deep breath and prepared herself to tell the truth, even though Alani might just throw her in the nut house if she didn’t believe her, “They are vampires, Alani. The whole Psytech Corporation.”

“What? Like figuratively speaking?”

“No, I mean they are vampires. They drink blood and everything. They planted the virus in the satellite so that they could control humans and make us give them our blood in return for technology.”

“What? You can’t be serious. That’s impossible,” Alani said slowly.

“That’s what I thought, until Tom tried to change me. He was coming at me with fangs. I tried to get away. I stabbed him with my pocketknife but it only distracted him. I climbed up a ladder in the warehouse and I found these big crates with the all the shareholders in them. They were alive but they were just lying there. The vampires were feeding off them.”

“How did you get away?”

“I didn’t. Tom convinced me to come down. He said he’d wait three days to change me. He wanted me to see things his way. It bought me time, so I agreed. They put this wristband on me that would inject me with vampire venom if I tried to go too far from Tom. So I spent Thursday and today with him and his plan was to change me at midnight. I’d earned his trust, so when he took the wristband off I made up an excuse to go up to the room I was using and I slipped out the back.”

“And now you’re here. I’m so glad you got away!” Alani said giving Ava another hug. Then Alani pulled away and looked at Ava’s face. “You seem like something else is bothering you though.”

Content from Blog Tour: Post #8 A Jesse Sutton Teaser

Here is a little teaser from when Ava Tanner meets Jesse Sutton:

Ava noticed right away that Jesse’s appearance was superior. He was extremely handsome with dark hair that fell freely around his face. There were lighter highlights throughout the untidy mess of hair. It came to the middle of his cheek, and some of it was swept back out of the way. He had a small amount of facial hair that was well groomed and made him look somewhat rough. His eyes were dark green and deeply set, framed by eyelashes that no man should ever be allowed to flaunt.

She made herself take her concentration from him and tuned out a little after she learned who was who. After a while her eyes noticed Jesse Sutton again, sitting on the chaise lounge. He looked statuesque. He sat very still and she saw that his eyes were the only part of him that moved frequently. He had no nervous ticks, no itches, no moments of repositioning and he only said a few words—none of which were directed at Ava, although, she did feel his stare every once in a while, but when she would look over, his eyes darted elsewhere.

He seemed very bored with the conversation. His arrogance troubled Ava—she couldn’t see how he could be so nonchalant about the subjects they were discussing. Soon he stood up and announced that he was going to ‘retire’ even though the sun hadn’t even set. Although it was almost dark, it was only about eight o’clock. Ava thought it was an early bedtime for someone who didn’t even have to work a day in his life. It was obvious that Jesse was well off. His house was filled with things you’d see in a museum and the way he dressed was opulent.

Ava watched as Jesse left the room. The rest of them continued to talk. Making some plans but nothing concrete. They would have to wait until morning to finalize anything because Jesse had to approve. Apparently, Jesse governed the rules in the house. It was strange to Ava that he didn’t seem to care about anything that was going on, yet he was to make the decisions. Ava pushed the thoughts out of her mind. She had more to worry about than the business of a complete stranger. Soon, the conversation turned to lighter subjects and everyone was just trying to get to know each other.

Content from Blog Tour: Post #1 New Excerpt

I know I said I'd be posting the content from my recent blog tour and I've put it off for a while because I got really busy. Well, now I'm finally getting to it. Post number one is from the first day of the blog tour. I posted a never-before-posted-online excerpt. So . . .  here it is!

This excerpt is from chapter 10 of Obsidian:

“I suppose I should be glad your eyes looked at the ring on the night stand and not the dagger on the dresser,” he said. He practically spat the word dagger at her.

“I don’t want to kill you, Tom,” Ava said, backing away towards the bathroom.

“I don’t want to kill you either, Ava.”

“No, you just want to change me, which is pretty much the same thing.”

“I only wanted to protect you.”

“Well, I can protect myself. Your protection is not what I would consider convenient. Becoming a vampire is not in my five year plan.”

“And becoming a fugitive is?” Tom raised his voice a little. Ava backed up another step. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Go ahead and put your ring on if it will make you feel better. I’m only here to talk; I wouldn’t try to change you on the boat. I didn’t bring any blood with me and I’m sure you wouldn’t want your friends as a snack. Oh, and you guys should tie your feather pennant a little tighter next time,” he said.

Ava went for her ring. She thought it would push him away from her, but it didn’t. He still stood only a few feet away. She looked at him. He looked very calm.

“Why isn’t this ring pushing you away?”

“I have to mean you harm or you have to be afraid of me. I mean you no harm and you are a little afraid of me. I can feel its force, but you must trust me a little because it’s not pushing me through the window or anything.”

“What did you come to talk about? I’m not coming with you. You can’t change my mind.”

“I came to tell you that Hiu has been branded a slayer and as his accomplice you are in danger. The other two are in danger as well. I can protect you if you just let me change you, Ava.”

“We’re fine, we have rings and daggers. We’ll be fine.”

“You don’t understand, they will send the drudges after you. Those rings only protect you from vampires, not humans,” Tom said, raising his voice again.

“We can handle humans. I can’t just leave them, Tom. They are my friends. They are my family,” Ava corrected herself, “And I’m staying with them. I will not abandon them and if you succeed in changing me someday I will not drink one drop of human blood. I refuse to cause my kind harm.”

“If I change you, and you do not drink blood you will die. You will have to drink human blood at first in order to stay alive.”

“Then I guess I’ll die if you change me. That’s all there is to it,” Ava said stubbornly.

“You will drink blood. After a while you will get so weak that you won’t be able to think straight, you will drink blood thinking its water. I’ve seen it happen.”

“No, I won’t do it. I’m very strong willed and I’ll make sure of it. I’ll drive an obsidian blade through my own heart before I would drink human blood.”

“I’m not going to argue with you right now, Ava. I just wanted to tell you that they have yours and Hiu’s picture and they’ve already sent it out to all Psytech employees. I don’t know if the loners are aware of you yet, but they will be soon enough. Even the rogues might want to kill you just to get on the Emperor’s good side.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Ava said. “This is all gibberish to me.”

“All you need to know is that all vampires and their drudges are going to be after you. You must especially avoid all Psytech buildings,” Tom warned.

“Vampires can’t hurt us, not with these,” Ava said, gesturing to her ring.

“The human drudges can, and they will. This is just the sort of thing that could get them accepted into the guardianship.”

“What is that?”

“Drudges are humans that have had the guts to seek out vampires in determination to become one. The vampires see them as very brave and put them through a training period. If they pass the training period they become our guardians.”

“Oh, so, killing one of us would be like an initiation test.”

“Yes, I guess you could put it that way,” Tom replied, shrugging.

“Well, I’m still not worried. We can take care of ourselves.”

“Ava, I just want you to be safe. Please, come with me,” his eyes were pleading and he was leaning towards her. Her ring kept him from closing the short distance between them. Ava felt herself ache for his touch, but she pushed past the feeling. She broke her gaze on him and looked away.

“Why don’t you come with us? Leave the other vampires. Be with me.” Ava could feel her ring let up on Tom a little. He felt it too because he came even closer.

“I wish I could, but that would make things even more dangerous for you and I would be hunted as well. We can’t be together as long as you are human, Ava,” Tom’s voice was quiet. Ava’s heart sunk. Their forbidden love was too much for her emotions. She let down her guard completely and so did the ring. She now trusted him. She trusted him more than she probably should, but she didn’t care, she wanted to touch him. She wanted to be in his arms.

Tom opened his arms and she hugged him. She started to cry and he held her tighter. Then she looked up at him. She could tell that he was sad too. He was hurting. Ava wanted to take away his pain. She kissed his lips. First she kissed them tentatively, making sure that he wanted her kisses. Then, after she decided that he did, she kissed him more passionately. He kissed her back and his hands moved down her body. They went down to her lower back.

“This is our only night,” Ava said between kisses. Then, she looked at his eyes. They were staring right back. They wanted her. She wanted him. He pushed her down on the bed, gently but playfully aggressive at the same time. Ava’s ring put out a short burst of force field, but it ended and Tom kissed her again with a little chuckle. Ava pulled off Tom’s shirt with a little help from him. Then her robe opened with a little more help from him. She hadn’t put anything on underneath and Tom’s excitement grew. His kisses were more and more urgent and one of his hands ran down her ribcage.

Moonstone: Mystic Stones Series #2 Excerpt

Moonstone: Mystic Stones Series #2

Before the events of Obsidian, there were other incidents leading up to the satellite virus sent out on February 2, 2020. This love story is a behind-the-scenes look at what happened before the virus went live. It is a story of good and evil and the path to each. It begins about seven years before the virus was unleashed, on April 26, 2013.

Chapter 1

Dorin

Dorin stood in line at the upscale hotel while two very busy front desk clerks tried to check in the waiting guests. He was fourth in line, and the woman who was second in line had caught his eye. She was thin with long blond hair, which was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and she had bright blue eyes. She was here on business judging from her black skirt and blouse. Finally, the man in front of Dorin doing a funny little dance lost his patience and walked towards the bathrooms.

That’s when Dorin first caught the intoxicating scent of the woman in black. Now third in line, he knew he had a limited amount of time to make conversation. He noticed she wore only one piece of jewelry. How could he not when its force was strongly pushing him away from her. It was a ring that would make it hard for him to get to her—not a wedding ring, but something much more ominous. She acted as if she didn’t know what it did. If she did know then she would have noticed him. Enlightened people always notice him. They usually say nothing since people would only laugh and call them crazy if they did say something.

“That’s a very unique ring you are wearing,” he stated. He was testing the limits. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes and smiled.

“Thank you, my grandmother gave it to me. She carved it herself from a seashell,” she replied.

He could feel its force even stronger now. Pushing him away. Not because she was afraid, but because he wanted to taste her blood and the vampire spirit inside of the ring knew it. The spirit was warning his subconscious mind to stay away, therefore physically pushing Dorin away from her. The fact that he couldn’t harm her because of his curse was the only reason he’d gotten this close to her to begin with. Dorin knew he wouldn’t stay away for long, but the ring would have to come off. The curse was only a small problem. Once she kissed him, she would be his.

Obsidian Excerpt from Chapter Three

Excerpt from Chapter Three of Obsidian:

Tom was standing outside, waiting for her. When Ava neared him she could see his smile as it changed from happy to see her to his sly grin he used so often.

“Ava, I’m so glad you made it. Come on in, we’re discussing the companies’ new direction right now,” Tom said as he motioned for her to enter.

Ava wondered why they were discussing it out in the warehouse instead of the comfort of the office. As she crossed the threshold, she saw the group of men that had come to buy Herrick-Peyton—and succeeded. They were all gathered around a table with a laptop on it. Ava wasn’t sure why, it’s not like it could possibly work. But when she neared the table she saw that it was working and was connected to a live stream of some sort. On the screen, there was another business-looking man talking via video chat, and the laptop had a strange device connected to it. It looked like a flash drive, but much smaller.

“How did you get it to work?” Ava asked Tom, her eyes wide with surprise and confusion.

“Ava, we are the most technologically advanced company in the world. What good would we be if we couldn’t figure out something so simple?”

“But, why haven’t you told anyone that you have a solution?” she asked, still confused about what she was seeing.

“Because, sweet Ava, we caused it,” Tom said with a chuckle, as if it should have been obvious to her.

Ava was shocked, it made sense now; of course they caused it. They had so many experts that they were the most capable of doing something like this. “Why?” Ava asked, feeling a bit betrayed. He’d obviously known from the beginning and even before.

“In this day and age, technology is power. If you control technology, you control the world. Psytech has been planning this for a very long time and we are glad you’ve decided to join us. Now you can share the power.”

“I don’t think this is right Tom, how could you do this?”

“Ava, our kind has been waiting for power like this for centuries now, and you joining us in this great expedition will make us even stronger,” Tom explained.

“Our kind? I’m not in the corporate game, and I’m not sure I want to be in your company anymore. You are not the person I thought you were.” Ava turned to walk out of the warehouse, but Tom moved to block her way.

“You know very little of me, but soon, it will all make sense. When I said ‘our kind,’ I meant me—and my associates. You are not yet one of us, but we can make you like us, and once you are, you’ll want the power. The need for it will grow within you.”

The men in suits had finished their video chat and turned to Ava and Tom. “You can’t take away technology. What is the point? Turning everything back to the Middle Ages is just cruel, you’ll have no control over anyone, and they will run wild.”

“We don’t intend to turn the world to turmoil like that—at least, not for long.  We do intend to control everyone. In the end, everyone will make a choice; either submit to us or live without the luxuries.”

“Submit? I don’t understand. What is it you need from us?”

“Not from you, my dear, no. I want you to be with us. I want you on the side of power, with me. The need we have is from those who will become like slaves to us.”

“Slaves? You want everyone to work for free in return for technology?”

Tom and the other men laughed. Then, he showed his sly grin, once again, only this time he showed something more . . . fangs.

Ava’s mind raced. What on earth did she just see? Was it real? Was it even possible? Could he really be a . . . vampire? She could hardly even think it. It seemed so absurd. Then she looked around the room and realized they were all vampires, showing their fangs like they did in the movies. Ava’s heart beat faster, she prayed for it to slow down so she could get up the courage to get out of the warehouse, but she was frozen, her feet wouldn’t move.

She quickly tried to use her breathing to steady her heart and then slowly backed away towards the door. Tom could see what she was doing and walked towards her slowly, but faster than she was backing toward the door.

“My, you connect the dots very quickly don’t you?” he said, showing his fangs once more.

“What are you? You can’t be a . . .”

“Vampire? Yes, I can be, and you can be too.” Tom circled her, but kept a little distance between them, he was like a shark, circling and getting closer with every rotation.

“You see, we’re going to use technology to get the blood we need from humans. Their donations will ensure that their lives keep going relatively normal.”

He was very close to her now, and she was starting to panic. She stumbled over the words to say. “But—you were out in the sunlight; all the legends say you can’t go into the sun.”

“Oh, Ava, those legends are spread by us; to make humans think they are safe. We exaggerate things so that it seems we can’t possibly exist,” he was going for her hand now; she was frozen at the thought of him touching her. He held it very gently, just as he had before. He pulled her further into the warehouse, toward the other vampires. She knew she had to distract him, he wanted her to be one of them and she couldn’t let that happen. 

“But the time of hiding and keeping our secret will soon come to an end!” he shouted to the room full of vampires, as they all clapped.

“So, when you said you’d been working for this company for what seemed like a hundred years . . .”

“I meant it,” he finished for her. Ava looked around for a way to escape. She saw a ladder reaching up toward the upper level of the warehouse only ten feet away. She remembered that she had a pocketknife in her purse.

“Enough stalling, Ava, we must do this now. Trust me; it is our side you want to be on. You don’t want to be a slave to us. He motioned for one of the men to bring a chair. “You may want to sit down for this. At first, you will be weak, but when we get some blood in you, you’ll be stronger than you’ve ever imagined.”

Ava sat down on the swivel chair, but only because Tom was so close that he towered over her. He turned around for a moment, to address his associates. “And so begins a new era for the vampires, an era of prosperity.” When he turned back, Ava was waiting with her knife. His fangs came at her as she flipped open the knife and stabbed him in the chest. She turned in the chair and dashed for the ladder. She climbed, not looking down. As she reached the top, she heard Tom starting to laugh.

“Ava, there is nowhere to run!” he called out. “I’m not sure you want to be up there anyways, we’re keeping a few--uh, meals up there.” Ava looked around at the boxes she was hiding behind. She hadn’t noticed before, but they were more like coffins. The one she was hiding behind had a name on it: Joe Herrick. There was another that said: David Peyton. As she looked at the others she saw a few names she recognized to be shareholders’ names. “They should have read the fine print!” Tom laughed and the others laughed with him. Ava gasped. She wanted to burst into tears, but she knew that if she succumbed to her emotions she would not leave to warehouse alive, or at least human.

“The contract they signed also signed over their blood to us. They are no longer human, nor are they vampires. Once you sign a contract like the one they signed, you become a zombie. They will spend the rest of their existence doing our bidding and providing us with blood. But that’s not what I want from you. I want you to be a full-blooded vampire. Come down here now, and stop this foolishness. I could easily come up there, but things might get . . . violent. I’ll overlook the fact that you stabbed me if you come down on your own.”

Ava was scared. She didn’t know what to do. The ladder she’d come up was the only way up or down besides the hydraulic lift that was in the down position. She was trapped. “Please,” she pleaded, “Don’t do this to me. I can’t be like you; I’m not cut out for it.”

“I can change your mind. I know that it seems scary; I’ll make you a deal. I’ll wait three days to change you if you promise to keep an open mind. If you give me three days I know you’ll see things my way. You will stay with me at all times and see what your life could be like. I’m sure after the first day you’ll be begging me to change you.”

Ava had no choice, but at least she’d bought some time. She obviously couldn’t trust Tom anymore. How could she be sure he’d keep his word? She came over to the ladder and looked down at him. “Come, Ava, you don’t want me to come up there, do you?”

She turned around and lowered herself down the ladder. Tears came to her eyes. Before she reached the last few rungs she felt someone grab her around her waist. It was Tom, she struggled against his hold, but it was no use. His strength was too great. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” he whispered into her ear. He set her down, “Put a wristband on her,” he said as he held out her wrist to one of the men. She tried to resist but they locked it onto her anyway. “This device is a very handy little thing. You see, if you go too far from me, it will start to beep, if it beeps ten times it will deliver a dose of venom into your system and you will be changed whether you want it or not. I prefer you to be compliant because, well, I do still like you even though you stabbed me. Not to mention I want to be the one to change you, your blood smelled so good through your wrist and your neck the other night. It’s a wonder I didn’t change you then.”

Ava glanced at his chest where she’d stabbed him. There was no blood, just a hole in his shirt and no wound. The knife lay broken on the floor. She touched the wristband. “And, if you try to tamper with that wristband, it will inject you, so don’t bother trying to cut it off either,” he said with a smile. Ava was silent. She was scared and angry and a little confused. Things like this just didn’t exist—they didn’t happen. She did know one thing though; she had to get away and she had three days—or less, to do so.