Tempest by C.J. Campbell (The Veil Chronicles, #1)- excerpt plus giveaway

Tempest
C.J. Campbell
(The Veil Chronicles, #1)
Publication date: August 31st 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

To unearth the truth, she must embrace the legend within.

For eighteen-year-old Lexi, freedom is a luxury. She’s spent her life evading capture for a genetic gift that feels more like a curse. Her bulletproof immunity and monstrous disfigurement is of great interest to a secret organization, but they aren’t the only ones. A cryptic tip alerts Lexi that something else hunts her–something darker.

Desperate to enjoy her life before it’s too late, Lexi leaves the protective cocoon her parents created for her and signs up for art classes at her local college. There she meets Conner, who is confined to a wheelchair, and they become friends who are willing to share each other’s secrets. But a chance encounter with Connor’s foster brother Killian changes everything.

Killian shares the same mysterious secret within his blood as Lexi. Their fateful meeting sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic events that exposes the terrifying truth–Lexi is a celestial queen of a bygone race. Connor is their last royal heir, and Killian is a half-breed abomination hated for his very existence. With Connor kidnapped by an ancient god determined to rid the world of the stain of humanity, Lexi and Killian find themselves under the protection of the secretive Order of Kings.

Lexi believes she’s been thrown into a world of myths and legends, but things are not as they seem. Lexi becomes convinced the Order is keeping dangerous secrets that threaten not just her but all of mankind.

Goodreads / Amazon

Excerpt

A sound like a cannon boom follows.

The house rattles.

I jump and spin to face the window. A thrill of fear races up my spine. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Scared of a little thunder and lightning?” Connor cocks a brow.

“No.” I wring my sweaty palms. “It just caught me off guard.”

Connor sniggers as his fingers brush the keys. A whisper of notes lull together, an eerie contrast to the brattle. But I can’t focus on the music. Something doesn’t feel right. Shadows loom on the lake from beyond the window. A familiar fear snakes its way into my heart, and I start to tremble. A memory of a shadow in the garden enters my mind, and with it, the whisper of other shadows and memories that’ve long evaded me. It’s like my heart remembers something my head forgot. Whatever it is, I now understand the fear etched in my parent’s faces. It isn’t a good feeling.

Another strike of lightening and a bang of thunder sounds. I step closer to Connor. My fingers dig into the back of his wheelchair. He plays on, not even noticing that I don’t follow his soft, melodious tune.

Killian appears on the other side of the room. His eyes wide and focused on the lake beyond the glass. He starts to walk toward me. He opens his mouth, but before he speaks, an impatient tapping echoes. I twist in its direction. It’s the front door.

“Dang, that’ll be the pizza delivery guy,” Connor says and ceases his playing. “Guess my one-man concert will continue after dinner.”

I don’t answer, I just watch Killian. He frowns, following the direction of the sound too. Nothing about his manner comforts me.

More tapping.

“Dad!” Connor throws both arms up in exasperation and starts to swivel the wheels of his chair. “Dad, get the door. We’re starving.”

“It’s okay, I’ve got it,” my mother’s voice calls.

“Mother.” I breathe her name and notice the urgency in Killian’s face. He doesn’t need to say another word. “No! Stop!”

Both Killian and I move in tandem. I’m faster though, as I race the length of the conservatory, back through the lounge and aim for the entrance hall.

Mother pauses, palm reaching for the door handle, when she stops to glance toward me. She frowns. I open my mouth to warn her, but father shouts something that distracts her, and she turns away, putting her back to the door.

The lock clicks, and cold air blasts into the front hall.

The room turns blue with another crack of lightening. I lift my arm to cover my eyes.

“Lexi!” Mother screams.

“Mother?” I try to blink vision back into my eyes.

A howl answers. A horrible, bone-shattering, menacing, wrong sound. Like a wolf’s cry, but guttural—wrong—monstrous.

More screams.

My eyes refocus.

There, in the doorway, Mother stares at me, clutching a length of metal skewering her blood-soaked belly—a sword, not dissimilar from the ones my father owns.

Crimson spouts from her lips.

Frozen in fear, I watch as Mother’s body slips off the blade, like hot butter falling off a knife. With a deafening thud, she hits the ground.

The creature wielding the bloody sword howls again. A long-limbed humanoid with gray skin and a dark, tattered hood.

My eyes fall back to Mother. I can’t look away. My heart is dying—it aches with each beat, threatening to give out.

My knees buckle. I brace myself for the fall. But I never hit the ground.

An arm circles my waist.

My captor forces me down, their weight pinning me to the floor.

I should struggle, but I’m frozen. Instead, I look up into gray-green eyes that lock onto mine, willing me to remember.

Author Bio:

Clare is a successful and highly popular author of award winning Fanfiction, with thousands of online fans and over 2 million reads on her Lord of the Rings Fanfic epic. Clare has also won several writing awards within the Fantasy, Inspirational, and Short Story genres. Her story Refuge was a top prize winner and as a direct result published in Faith & Freedom anthology by EA books. She has recently been shortlisted for Writer of the Year 2019.

As well as writing, Clare is an experienced Occupational Therapist, with a passion for enabling people. She has contributed articles for online organizations aimed at highlighting disability as a positive influence in modern literature. Her love of storytelling, merged with her positive messages inspires her to create meaningful narratives that represent diversity, and promote unity.

You can learn more about Clare by visiting www.CJCampbellOfficial.com

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