At the critical moment of danger, will their talent save them?
Or will they lose it all in a fiery cataclysm that dooms their hearts—and their lives?
by Claire Davon
Genre: Paranormal Romance
When Katrina Paul is summoned to rescue an agent in the middle of the night, she does so without hesitation. The last thing she expects is her old flame Derek to come tumbling through her hasty portal. She’d left Toronto—and Derek—behind when she’d relocated to Richmond for good reason.
If not for Katrina’s ability, healing talent Derek Forester would have been trapped in a mission gone wrong. He hadn’t expected to see Katrina again, but he had never forgotten the way she made him feel. He’d done the right thing, but seeing her again made him question the wisdom of that choice.
Almost as soon as he arrives, mysterious entities begin plaguing them. Someone is trying to keep them together and engineered his rescue to Richmond. It has the touch of the mysterious new entity Whisper, but why?
Soon they are on the run, keeping one step ahead from energy beings that find them no matter where they go. When a crisis triggers a new, hidden talent between them, it becomes clear that this entire situation has been a setup. Right from the beginning.
As the truth about their power begins to emerge, Katrina realizes that she’s never stopped loving Derek. But when they learn that everything they understood about their past and their present is false, they wonder if anything between them is real.
At the critical moment of danger, will their talent save them? Or will they lose it all in a fiery cataclysm that dooms their hearts—and their lives?
**Find out about the rest of the series here!**
Excerpt
Derek caught Hannah raising her eyebrows, focusing her attention on his jeans pocket. He took out a slip of paper that read “Roberto Bagnoli. Middle management at Night Stars, though he thinks he’s higher than that. Quillan’s fiancée’s uncle. The guy with him is muscle. I’m not sure of his name.”
Nice. Hannah must have tucked that there when she froze time and checked out the new arrivals. He hadn’t even seen her move. Then again, that was the point of a chrono talent. Katrina checked her cell phone and glanced at Hannah.
Roberto stood over their table. The muscle who came in with him whispered something that had the occupant at the next table taking his plate and retreating to the counter. Roberto sat at the next table without waiting for it to be cleared, his attention still on Quillan. The head of Universe picked up his fork and began eating his breakfast burrito without conceding the man’s stare.
“This is the guy, eh? The one who stirred up things this morning.” Roberto said the words with a dismissive wave.
Derek shot Quillan a glance, but his new boss made no comment. “You say that like I had a choice.” He nodded to Roberto. Still Quillan did nothing. “I’m Derek.”
He flipped the paper over and read “shadow talent” and nodded at Hannah.
“Do you have a last name, Derek?”
Quillan’s beard twitched.
“I do.” Derek let the words stay there, also lapsing into silence.
Quillan cleared his throat. “This is Derek Forester. News travels fast.”
“It’s been hours since he ‘arrived’ here,” Roberto said with that same sneer on his face. “Plenty of time for me to find out what I needed to.”
“Lucinda let you off the leash?”
Both Katrina and Derek glanced at Quillan while Roberto glowered. “Local Night Stars head. Roberto works for her.” Quillan stopped talking and took a bite of his burrito while Roberto sputtered. The muscle still said nothing, but that was the job of an enforcer—to be intimidating.
Derek was not intimidated.
“I came to introduce myself,” Roberto said, the waver in his voice lending the lie little credence.
“You were sent to figure out what happened. Wouldn’t you like to learn the details?” Quillan stared Roberto down, his face hard.
Hannah’s too-friendly voice broke into the tableau. “The boss here doesn’t like Roberto, and it’s well deserved. He tried to kidnap Quillan’s fiancée when she decided she didn’t want to be a part of Night Stars anymore and defected to Universe. Roberto, and Night Stars, made it difficult.”
Roberto waved a hand over the table. The waiter came over to say something, but Roberto did something and the man froze. Perhaps he had more command over shadows than Derek had assumed. Derek couldn’t be sure. Nor did he care. Shadows couldn’t hurt him. Humanity did enough of that.
Derek caught Hannah raising her eyebrows, focusing her attention on his jeans pocket. He took out a slip of paper that read “Roberto Bagnoli. Middle management at Night Stars, though he thinks he’s higher than that. Quillan’s fiancée’s uncle. The guy with him is muscle. I’m not sure of his name.”
Nice. Hannah must have tucked that there when she froze time and checked out the new arrivals. He hadn’t even seen her move. Then again, that was the point of a chrono talent. Katrina checked her cell phone and glanced at Hannah.
Roberto stood over their table. The muscle who came in with him whispered something that had the occupant at the next table taking his plate and retreating to the counter. Roberto sat at the next table without waiting for it to be cleared, his attention still on Quillan. The head of Universe picked up his fork and began eating his breakfast burrito without conceding the man’s stare.
“This is the guy, eh? The one who stirred up things this morning.” Roberto said the words with a dismissive wave.
Derek shot Quillan a glance, but his new boss made no comment. “You say that like I had a choice.” He nodded to Roberto. Still Quillan did nothing. “I’m Derek.”
He flipped the paper over and read “shadow talent” and nodded at Hannah.
“Do you have a last name, Derek?”
Quillan’s beard twitched.
“I do.” Derek let the words stay there, also lapsing into silence.
Quillan cleared his throat. “This is Derek Forester. News travels fast.”
“It’s been hours since he ‘arrived’ here,” Roberto said with that same sneer on his face. “Plenty of time for me to find out what I needed to.”
“Lucinda let you off the leash?”
Both Katrina and Derek glanced at Quillan while Roberto glowered. “Local Night Stars head. Roberto works for her.” Quillan stopped talking and took a bite of his burrito while Roberto sputtered. The muscle still said nothing, but that was the job of an enforcer—to be intimidating.
Derek was not intimidated.
“I came to introduce myself,” Roberto said, the waver in his voice lending the lie little credence.
“You were sent to figure out what happened. Wouldn’t you like to learn the details?” Quillan stared Roberto down, his face hard.
Hannah’s too-friendly voice broke into the tableau. “The boss here doesn’t like Roberto, and it’s well deserved. He tried to kidnap Quillan’s fiancée when she decided she didn’t want to be a part of Night Stars anymore and defected to Universe. Roberto, and Night Stars, made it difficult.”
Roberto waved a hand over the table. The waiter came over to say something, but Roberto did something and the man froze. Perhaps he had more command over shadows than Derek had assumed. Derek couldn’t be sure. Nor did he care. Shadows couldn’t hurt him. Humanity did enough of that.
Website-FB-TwitterClaire can’t remember a time when writing wasn’t part of her life. Growing up, she used to write stories with her friends. As a teenager she started out reading fantasy and science fiction, but her diet quickly changed to romance and happily-ever-after’s. A native of Massachusetts and cold weather, she left all that behind to move to the sun and fun of California, but has always lived no more than twenty miles from the ocean.
In college she studied acting with a minor in creative writing. In hindsight she should have flipped course studies. Before she was published, she sold books on eBay and discovered some of her favorite authors by sampling the goods, which was the perfect solution. Claire has many book-irons in the fire, most notably her urban fantasy series, The Elementals’ Challenge series, but writes contemporary and shifter romances as well as.
While she’s not a movie mogul or actor, she does work in the film industry with her office firmly situated in the 90210 district of Hollywood. Prone to breaking out into song, she is quick on feet and just as quick with snappy dialogue. In addition to writing she does animal rescue, reads, and goes to movies. She loves to hear from fans, so feel free to drop her a line.
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