Want to know more about the upcoming book? Then check out Hot Off the Presses Episode 99! I’m featured with a bunch of other cool authors, so if you’re curious about more details related to Of Wings and Shadows, then look no further!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C26L3JY8
All other retailers: https://books2read.com/u/4X0yVN
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128625909-of-wings-and-shadows
Release date: 7/22/23
Ready to catch dragons with the Knight Division? If so, please enjoy the first excerpt from my upcoming novella, Of Wings and Shadows (Of Cinder and Bone #5.5).
–
Agent Okamura then used the clicker for the projector to get the slide started. “I thought it best to show you one of the group hunts by the Knight Division. This is their capture of a crystal dragon that was discovered near the Wegner Quartz Crystal Mines in Arkansas last spring. Crystal dragons have the second hardest scales next to the Highlander dragon, hence the name, and they’re among the rarest dragons in history. As you can imagine, it made subduing it quite a challenge.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Beowulf said. “How the hell did something called a crystal dragon end up in a place full of crystals?”
“The working theory is that when it’s not the illegal dragon cloning farms, it might be conservationists who clone and release them not only to repopulate the Earth, but also to study the effects they have on the environment. This one is specific enough that it’s likely a conservationist released it into a habitat where it would have naturally lived had dragons not been hunted to extinction. Crystal dragons lived in quartz mines. That’s how they evolved to have their eponymous crystalline scales.”
Yusuke hit Play. The footage had been taken from the bodycam of one Dr. Rhett “Jack” Jackson—the MIT scientist responsible for the dragon resurrection project that had later kickstarted the resurgence of the reptiles into modern society. He stood at 6’2’’, dressed in an armored suit similar to theirs, but it was gunmetal grey. The visored helmet provided a heads-up display with different kinds of information like the area’s temperature, the distance to target, and the vital signs of his three other team members. The small plaque built into the armor had his codename, Gawain, embossed upon it.
Jack had just stepped out of the Knight Division van and turned to help his fellow hunter and girlfriend, Dr. Kamala Anjali. She was a petite but curvy woman at 5’4’’, her long jet-black hair pulled back in a bun at the base of her neck, her helmet tucked under one arm. She had a gold stud in her nose and her suit’s plaque read Parvati.
She was followed by a slightly taller, slender, tattooed black girl in her early twenties, Libby Calloway, and her older brother, Bruce Calloway, who was near Jack’s height and muscular with a beard neatly trimmed into a goatee. Their plaques read Bast and Sobek respectively. The last person out of the van was a tall, dark-haired man in a black suit, black tie, and crisp white dress shirt with a gun on his hip.
“Quite a day for a hunt,” Agent John Shannon said as he tucked his aviators into the front pocket of his suit jacket. He walked around to the back of the van and pulled open the double doors. Their equipment was neatly stored in the rear, either bolted to the walls or in large reinforced cases. There was already a shatterproof cage in the parking spot beside them that had been provided by the Arkansas Department of Natural Resources. “Libby, can you get an eye in the sky for us?”
“Yep, I’m on it.” She opened one of the smaller cases and retrieved a fairly small drone and the tablet that controlled it. She held the drone flat on her palm and then switched it on. The four rotors began to spin and the drone took off into the air. “What’s the last known location?”
“There should be a burrow near the Phantom Mine according to the dragon tracker,” Shannon answered, handing her brother one of the net launchers. “The park rangers said it’s been collecting quartz pieces for its lair, so they’ve cleared the area and set up security cameras to track its movements.”
“Got it. Let’s see…” She guided the drone away from the parking lot and onto the premises of the Tailings Pile—a huge open area with blasted soil from the mines where visitors could dig to find different types of crystals. The soil had a reddish-brown hue and it was easily walkable as it had been set in a field. There were trees and picnic tables surrounding the pile and the whole area was inside of a valley in Ouachita National Forest, giving them a rather breathtaking view. “I’m seeing tracks towards the bottom edge of the Pile. They look fresh.”
“Crystal dragons are sensitive to light,” Kamala said as she pulled on her helmet as Libby and Calloway did the same. “It’s possible it went searching for quartz to bring to its lair last night and it’s resting right now.”
“Good call,” Calloway said as he shouldered the net launcher onto his back. “After all, it’s not exactly the most inconspicuous dragon there is and it probably wouldn’t want to draw too much attention to itself. From what I’ve read, it’s not one of the more aggressive breeds.”
“Which is a blessing and a curse.” Jack shut the doors to the van. “That means it might opt for flight instead of a fight, which could drag this hunt out for a while if we’re not careful.”
“Agreed. Your main focus is to try and keep it on the ground. Once Libby locates it, we’ll use the drone to lure it out into the open. Jack and Calloway will flank and Kamala will run point. I’ll keep an eye on the perimeter to make sure we don’t have some meddling kids interfering.”
Jack snorted softly. “I’d say that was a Scooby Doo reference, but there is no way in hell you’ve seen a single episode of that, even as old as you are. You were probably alive when Hanna Barbera was first created. Hell, they probably based Captain Caveman off of you, didn’t they?”
Shannon didn’t even blink at the insult. “Who?”
Jack shook his head. “Heathen.”
“Aha!” Libby said, perking up a bit as she watched the drone footage. “There. We’ve got some movement. Looks like it’s digging to expand its burrow. Sending the coordinates to your HUDs now.”
She tapped a few keys. A moment later, the digital panels on their right forearms chimed and then the coordinates loaded into their helmets’ displays. The team left the parking lot and entered the grounds. Once they were several yards out, they split up. Jack and Calloway stayed upwind of the dragon’s nest and settled above the entrance to the burrow, which had an outcropping of a few feet. Calloway prepared the net launcher while Jack switched his HUD to X-ray so he could examine the tunneling that the crystal dragon had completed so far. The burrow went into the hill horizontally for about ten feet, then expanded down twenty feet into the earth. They weren’t directly above it, so the dragon hadn’t noticed anything yet. Often, the element surprise was the best way to capture a dragon safely, after all.
“Alright, crew, the early reports appear to be accurate,” Jack said quietly as he knelt beside Calloway. “It looks to be about nine feet long from snout to tail. It’s not as dense as, say, a Hercules dragon, so it’s probably very agile. If we don’t get it with the first shot of the net launcher, I’ll try and keep it from going back into the burrow while Kam and Libby intercept. Ready, little bit?”
“Ready,” Libby said.
“Hit it.”
Kitty Kallen’s “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” began to play from a small speaker built into the drone.
Jack held his breath as the shuffling dirt inside the burrow stilled. Then, a moment later, the crystal dragon emerged.
It was a long, slender creature with sharp spines down its back and a few horns along either side of its jaws. Its unique scales gleamed under the sunlight, nearly transparent, and colors of the rainbow reflected off of them. Its eyes were pale blue and its claws were blacked and hooked much like a bird of prey with webbed skin in between each one for digging. Its wings were tucked against its back as it walked outside of its den and focused its gaze on the drone hovering twenty feet overhead.
The dragon cocked its head as it listened to the song, which was part of the Knight Division’s strategies for catching dragons. They had discovered that there was an underlying tone embedded in the song that could sooth certain wild dragons. It appeared curious, its tail lashing back and forth in the rust-colored dirt as it observed the device.
After thirty seconds, Kamala emerged from the forest and approached the dragon slowly, her tone friendly as she held out a hand. “Hello there.”
The dragon shifted its body weight, its nostrils flaring as it drew in her scent. Kamala continued forward until she stood within arms’ length of the reptile, allowing it to smell her. It gave her an uncertain look as her gloved fingertips grazed its snout.
“That’s it,” she cooed as she gently stroked between its brow. “I’m not going to hurt you. It’s alright.”
“The dragon whisperer,” Calloway murmured to Jack. “Never ceases to amaze me.”
“Right?”
Just then, Shannon spoke over the comm-link. “Shit. We’ve got incoming.”
“What is it?” Kamala asked.
“Someone must’ve seen Libby’s drone,” Shannon said. “We’ve got a second one that just appeared out of the tree line to your ten o’clock.”
“I thought the park rangers cleared this place,” Jack said as he adjusted the helmet’s field of view to zoom in on the second drone. It was larger than Libby’s and had a camera on front, likely recording the capture for whomever was controlling it.
“They did, but sometimes these little punks skirt the rules by parking outside of the area and then send their drones in so they can sell the footage. I’m concerned shooting it out of the air is gonna spook the dragon. Calloway, do you have a clear shot?”
Calloway lined up the sights on the net launcher. “If Kam steps to her right, I should.”
“Alright, we’ll try to do this simultaneously. On three.”
“Got it.”
“One…two…thr—”
The second drone’s top compartment burst open with a tiny explosion of brightly-colored confetti and the strobe lights on its hull began flashing.
The crystal dragon roared and leapt into the air after it.
“Dammit!” Calloway pulled the trigger on the net launcher. The net shot out from the barrel and expanded in the air, but missed the dragon by a scarce inch.
“Jack!” Kamala called out as she raced uphill towards him. “Spring board!”
“On it!” Jack cupped his hands together and dug in his heels as she ran towards him, then jumped. She landed with her feet in his grip and he then launched her up. She spun backwards, twisted her body, and then landed on the dragon’s back in mid-air. The dragon screeched and went into a spin, trying to get her off. Kamala planted her feet on its hindquarters and held on for dear life, dragging herself up so she’d be straddling it as one would a horse.
“Madarchod!” Kamala exclaimed. “I did not think this through!”
She wrapped both arms around the dragon’s neck and pulled its head back towards the ground, which was quickly getting farther below them.
“We’ve got you, girl!” Libby hurried over to Jack and Calloway, who were quickly unraveling the diamond wire net and spreading it out. Kamala craned her neck to look at the dragon’s wings as they flapped up and down trying to keep the two of them aloft, then placed her feet onto its shoulder appendages and pressed hard. The dragon’s wings then extended outward into a glide and its body pitched towards the ground.
“Incoming!” Kamala waited until they were just a couple of feet from the net and then launched herself from the dragon’s back. The crystal dragon landed in the center of the net as she rolled across the dirt and skidded to a halt in a crouch. Jack, Calloway, and Libby twisted the net around the creature so its limbs and wings were pinned to its sides, then lowered it to the ground carefully. The dragon wriggled, but ultimately stilled when it realized it couldn’t move.
“Jesus, Kam,” Jack said with a sigh. “They ought to have you as a guest acrobat on Cirque du Soleil.”
“Not my smartest moment, I admit, but at least it worked.”
Jack snorted. “Now you sound like me.”
“Yes, recklessness is usually your department, isn’t it?” she teased as she grabbed one corner of the tangled net and helped lift the struggling reptile between the four of them.
“Hey! You’re not wrong, but hey.”
“I’d thank you to leave it to him next time,” Agent Shannon said as he descended the hill. “My blood pressure’s high enough as it is.”
Then, without even blinking, he pulled out his gun and shot the second drone out of the air. It exploded into a shower of sparks and metal scraps as it tumbled to the ground. “Now let’s get this show on the road.”
The video stopped playing.
–
Release date: July 22nd, 2023
Pre-order now for only .99 cents on Amazon and all major retailers. The price will go up July 23rd. Don’t forget it to add it to your Goodreads TBR shelf as well. Excerpt 2 is here for your viewing pleasure as well.
IT’S FINALLY HERE, Y’ALL.
In a modern-day world teeming with marauding dragons, there is only one solution: The Wild Hunt.
The United States government has decided to hold a tournament called The Wild Hunt to determine who will be responsible for the capture of wild dragons by the Knight Division. The four challengers Noah Wilson, Charlie Howard, Su Jin Han, and Beowulf have to catch five deadly dragons alive if they want to win the tournament and become the new Knight Division dragon hunters. Their journey will take them through the mountains of South Carolina, the seas of Key West, the caverns of Ruby Falls, the Redwood forest, and finally, the murky bayous of Louisiana. Will they succeed against their competition, or will the dragons of the Wild Hunt be too wild to tame?
Of Wings and Shadows is the sixth book in the Of Cinder and Bone series. It takes place in medias res of Book Five, Of Claws and Inferno. It follows Of Cinder and Bone, Of Blood and Ashes, Of Dawn and Embers, and Of Fury and Fangs.
Release date: July 22nd, 2023
Pre-order now for only .99 cents! The price will go up on July 23rd. Add it to your Goodreads To Be Read shelf and stay tuned for the upcoming excerpt. The book will be available in paperback as well in the coming months. There is also a Facebook event you can add to your calendars to remember.
Looking for low cost ways to market your book? Or know someone who is? Then tune in to this free podcast interview where I discuss the best and most cost-effective ways to market your book.
Episode 61 – Book Launch on a Budget: Low/No-Cost Tips and Resources
Pirates and kraken, boats and submarines, deadly sirens, mermaids, and the women who face them all. These are our heroes.
High seas adventure, fantasy, and magic weave together in this sapphic anthology focusing on the joy of the unbounded oceans.
If you like diverse stories with lesbian and sapphic heroines exploring oceans, battling sea monsters, and seducing pirates, buy Farther Reefs today!
Pre-order a copy today! Release date is October 18th, 2022.
Ready for a brand new preview from the sequel to Terminus? Get ready to catch up with Cassandra the werewolf and Vladmir Tepes, the Father of All Vampires in “Hunted”: an excerpt from Terminus II.
Someone was stalking me.
And anyone stalking a werewolf was either batshit crazy or had balls of titanium.
Don’t get me wrong–I’ve been stalked before, for serious and for playtime. The latter I honestly found a bit of a turn on if done properly by a fellow wolf of the opposite sex. Still, the few times it had happened had been playful, flirtatious, and reciprocated. A game of wits.
This was an entirely different game.
To his credit, the stalker was quite good. He stayed downwind of me so I couldn’t smell him. He kept out of my peripherals. He moved slowly, gradually, his paws light on the grass and the leaves of the forest. It was late, past any good girl’s bedtime, but I hadn’t been a good girl since I was probably about fourteen years old. Bad girls stayed out late and played in the moonlight. I’d been a bit restless lately, so I’d gone out for a midnight run through Fernbank Forest to clear my head. Sometimes I’d play tag with any local wildlife I could find. Deer were excellent sport, but rabbits were even better–they were faster and harder to catch. Still, in the city of Atlanta, deer weren’t exactly in massive supply, especially the closer you got to downtown. You had to go to the peripheral suburbs for proper fauna.
“Well,” you ask. “If you didn’t see him and didn’t smell him, Cassandra, how did you know he was there in the first place?”
Instinct.
Werewolves are sort of odd. A lot of folks think we’re wolves in human form or humans in wolf form, but it’s honestly both. When I changed into my wolf form, part of my human brain rested and the wolf stepped into the control room. All animals had a sense of when they were being watched. It was a survival tactic. Humans have it too, but it’s just not as acutely as animals, and especially apex predators. Wolves were at the top of their food chains wherever they were that didn’t have men with guns. Wolves knew their surroundings as if it was a part of them, and in some ways, it was. Nature breathed life into us, supernatural as it was, and so we always knew on a subconscious level what was around us, in the wind, in the trees, in the sky.
So what did my stalker want?
I had a few theories as I merrily strolled through the woods, pretending like I didn’t know better. I was trotting down a hill with a sharp decline, and I’d done it on purpose. He couldn’t stay low if he had to cross the hill at some point to keep tailing me.
Theories formed in my head. I was third in line for pack leadership here in the southeast. My father was the original Wolfman. My mother was the lupa, his mate. We had a pack of seventy or so raggedy miscreants who took care of each other and made nice with other packs who came through town for a good time. Every so often, I’d get some admirer trying to suck up to me with the scheme to be next in line for the throne. If he married me, he’d become royalty, effectively. Not that my family flaunted anything. We were well off, not rich, and most of what we made went back into the pack anyhow. Foolish men had tried and failed one by one over the last decade. If they stepped up, I swatted them down. However, none of them ever stalked me beforehand. Typically, they’d show up to pack meetings and introduce themselves, flirt with me, butter up my folks, only to be told a very firm no. So theory one was out the window.
I reached about ten yards from the top of the hill and then dug myself a nice shallow ditch before flumping down into it. My fur was a rich medium brown with black streaks over my spine and at the tuft of my tail, which effectively made me invisible in the dark of the forest. I shut my eyes and considered Theory Two: a rogue werewolf. They were rare, but they happened sometimes. Every so often, someone who had never had a pack, usually the survivor of an attack, traveled around making trouble for others to prove themselves. That wouldn’t go well for him. I’d killed before in self-defense, and as much as I didn’t like it, I could do it again.
I concentrated. A few minutes into my wait, I felt him. I waited until clouds slid over the full moon and took a peek.
He was all black. Rare. He kept as low to the ground as possible, but I could see him from here since I’d forced him over the hill. The forest cast shadows over him. He was a big fella, bigger than me, probably a good bit stronger too. He sniffed the air, hoping to catch my scent, but I was downwind this time. The clouds shifted again and just before I shut my eyes, I saw the color of his: bright, arctic blue, like a sparkling iceberg floating through the ocean at night. Interesting. Where had I seen eyes like that before?
The stalker determined that I was nowhere in the vicinity and eased his way down the hill, still soundless as a shadow. He was an impressive predator. He’d done this before. Maybe he was just curious. Theory Number Three was simple enough: some wolves were simply lonely and looking for connection, even if they knew they could have that if they joined the pack. I could sympathize. I was basically an introvert who could fake being an extrovert when needed. I valued my time alone. But even I got lonely.
The black wolf still hadn’t spotted me. By the time he did, it was too late.
I pounced up from my hidden spot and slammed all four of my paws into his side. Not hard enough to crack any ribs, but he’d damn well know he was in a fight. He yelped and hit the bottom of a thick oak tree beside us, landing in a heap at the roots. I planted my paws as I landed neatly in front of him and bared my fangs in my meanest, scariest growl.
“Why are you following me?”
The wolf shook his mane and then glanced up at me in surprise. He didn’t snap at me. He didn’t try to fight me.
Then I heard a familiar deep, baritone voice with just a hint of a Transylvanian accent in my head.
“My, my, Cassandra, dear. Are you always so rough on old men?”
I didn’t hesitate. I shifted back into my human form.
It always felt a little odd–not painful, but disorienting as the world shrank away from my ears and nose and my sense of sight and taste became the most prominent. I was tall for a girl, about 5’9’’, and I was built like a heavyweight female boxer–long, sturdy legs, wide hips, strong biceps. I’d let my hair get longer than I usually kept it simply because being a werewolf meant I was getting weekly cuts and I’d gotten tired of it. My bouncy brown curls hit the middle of my back and frankly, I sort of liked it. It reminded me of having fur.
“Fangface!” I cried, and I flung myself at him in the mother of all bear hugs.
Vladmir Tepes, the father of all vampires, Dracula, He Who Conquers, wrapped his own now-human arms around me as well and squeezed me to him just as tightly. “I’ve missed you, my dear.”
–
Hungry for more? Pick up this story and several other amazing ones written by black science fiction/fantasy authors in ebook and paperback from MV Media Publishing or from Amazon.
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My story is “The Predator” – a short story told from the perspective of everyone’s favorite evil archdemon, Belial. It takes place during the events of Book Two, She Who Fights Monsters.
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