GATES OF RAPTURE
by Caris Roane
St. Martin’s Press
Release DATE: 12-24-12
The great battle has finally arrived, where love will be tested…and a world will be won.
A BATTLE FOR THE AGES
As a vampire and a warrior, Leto Distra is deadly. But after years of being forced to drink dying blood, he is now part beast – a wild savage thing lurking beneath the surface. With war on the horizon, Leto is determined to help the Guardians of Ascension destroy the enemy who turned him into a monster. And there’s only one woman who can help him.
A LOVE FOR ALL TIME
Grace Albion is certain that she’s meant to be with Leto, but their future may be cut short by the impending battle. Now Grace must embrace her obsidian flame powers – and bind her powers with Leto’s – if they’re ever going to survive. With the fate of the world at stake, they must tap into powers they never knew they had…and unlock their deepest passions.
The opening poem…
My beloved held me in his arms
He whispered tender words
He spun golden thoughts through my mind
He moved quickly, his weight a beautiful anchor
I approached the gates of rapture trembling
The world exploded in a flash of brilliant light
And I was changed forever
Grace of Albion, the Convent Years
A taste of chapter one…
Chapter One
Leto Distra, out of the eastern European tribes over three thousand years ago, was no longer just vampire, but something more, something he despised.
He was now part beast, a form that he couldn’t control and which made a mockery of his life, his philosophies, and his civilized mind. At least he had a warning when the beast was about to emerge, a vibration that travelled down his left leg.
Sonofabitch, there it was. Very faint, which meant he had time, but not a lot before he had to remove himself from everyone he knew.
He was dangerous in his beast-state, uncontrolled.
As he walked near the warrior contest grounds in the Seattle One hidden colony, he held a child in his arms. The toddler had his arm hooked around Leto’s neck, a great comfort. He kept his right hand free for his sword. He’d been a warrior too many centuries not to sustain the basics and for days now he’d been on edge. Something was in the wind, as though a decision had been made about the future of Second Earth and the war with Darian Greaves.
He glanced up at the blue sky. Early September in the Cascade Mountains was a beautiful time of year and perfect for the games.
A cluster of children, mostly under the age of seven, dogged his heels as he took one last tour of the warrior games contest ground. For some reason, kids liked him and the truth was he enjoyed their attention. They eased him. Not much did these days, not with Grace gone from his life these past five months. He missed her and he needed her. He was a beast clawing to break out of his cage.
Adjacent to the event grounds was a fair-like atmosphere that resembled something from medieval days, lots of colorful tents bearing hand-crafted objects ready for sale. Other booths would soon become aromatic with food grown, slaughtered, steamed, and barbequed by the locals.
His stomach growled at the thought.
Hundreds of feet overhead, an innovative mist created a protective veil over the land that only the most powerful could see and which always confused the human mind. Anyone drawing near the dome of mist would experience disorientation and would turn to head in the opposite direction. In this manner, all the hidden colonies of Mortal Earth had escaped detection for three millennia, from the time the first colony was created.
The leader of the Seattle colony, Diallo, had spent centuries perfecting his mossy-mist creation. He also checked the viability of the veil several times a day especially since, only a few months ago, the colony had been breached by the enemy for the first time in its long history.
That breach, unfortunately, meant that a second attack wasn’t so much a probability as an eventuality. One day, Greaves and his merry band of death vampires would find a way in and then what?
I hope you enjoyed the excerpt! I’ve had an extraordinary time creating and writing this series! Let Guardians of Ascension be a new journey for you.
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To Find Caris Roane On The Web:
Website Home Page: www.carisroane.com
Twitter handle: @carisroane
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/caris.roane
Email: carisroane@gmail.com
Caris Roane has published over fifty Regency romance novels and novellas under the pen name, Valerie King. In 2005, Romantic Times gave her a Career Achievement award in Regency Romance. Having had a long-time love affair with vampires, Caris tackled the paranormal genre and built a unique vampire world based on ascending dimensional earths. Her series is called Guardians of Ascension.
Her most recent self-published project, The Blood Rose Novella Series, launched in May of 2012 with the first title: Embrace the Dark.
Currently, Caris is working on a new vampire series set to launch in the Fall of 2013: WARRIORS IN CHAINS with the first novel, BORN IN CHAINS. Caris lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her two cats, Sebastien and Gizzy.
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