I was on the floor laughing. When I managed to control the laughter, I told him that I bought two pairs of the same shoes in different colors. Mind you I had said that I bought two pairs of shoes before I said, “I’ll show you my new shoes.” For fun I wrote to New Idea, a women’s magazine in Australia that has a section for funny stories. I won $25 for that entry. It was just one of those moments.
by Efthalia
May 19, 2020
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy Romance
ISBN: 978-0648785422 (print)
ISBN: 9780648785408 (e-book)
ASIN: B083TBWNPH
Number of pages: 327
Cover Artist: Lee Hyat
She’s following Zeus’ orders. He’s struggling to protect her. Is love their biggest weakness or their best hope for saving the world?
Torn apart by separate missions, can their love survive an impending apocalypse?
Demigod ex-cop Carissa Alkippes is hellbent on clearing her father’s name. But when she’s sidetracked into saving Zeus’ life, she’s forced into a dangerous mission to locate missing deities. To find them, she must face a horde of bloodthirsty demons.
Xen Lyson shouldn’t dwell on Carissa when he’s supposed to be stopping demons from feasting on humanity. But the sexy vampire worries her solitary journey to Olympus will put her in grave danger. And with absent gods causing devastating natural disasters, he must trust her father, Ares, to keep her safe.
With every mortal sphere at risk, Carissa races to retrieve a magical codex believed to hold the key to defeating her enemy. And when Xen discovers the true source of the threat, saving both humans and gods will put his own immortality in jeopardy.
In between battling Titans, gods, missing keys, and baklava can Carissa and Xen summon the power to conquer the sinister foe and return to each other’s arms?
About the Author:
May 19, 2020
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy Romance
ISBN: 978-0648785422 (print)
ISBN: 9780648785408 (e-book)
ASIN: B083TBWNPH
Number of pages: 327
Cover Artist: Lee Hyat
She’s following Zeus’ orders. He’s struggling to protect her. Is love their biggest weakness or their best hope for saving the world?
Torn apart by separate missions, can their love survive an impending apocalypse?
Demigod ex-cop Carissa Alkippes is hellbent on clearing her father’s name. But when she’s sidetracked into saving Zeus’ life, she’s forced into a dangerous mission to locate missing deities. To find them, she must face a horde of bloodthirsty demons.
Xen Lyson shouldn’t dwell on Carissa when he’s supposed to be stopping demons from feasting on humanity. But the sexy vampire worries her solitary journey to Olympus will put her in grave danger. And with absent gods causing devastating natural disasters, he must trust her father, Ares, to keep her safe.
With every mortal sphere at risk, Carissa races to retrieve a magical codex believed to hold the key to defeating her enemy. And when Xen discovers the true source of the threat, saving both humans and gods will put his own immortality in jeopardy.
In between battling Titans, gods, missing keys, and baklava can Carissa and Xen summon the power to conquer the sinister foe and return to each other’s arms?
Excerpt:
Xen’s personal gymnasium had been designed to take the brunt of rough exercise. His Phi Athanatoi, a warrior group of vampires and werewolves who protected mankind, usually trained there. Tonight, though, this space belonged to Carissa and her father - Ares. She rubbed her ass for the twentieth time, the exact number of times she’d been thrown in their kung fu practice. Each time she hit the mat like a piece of tangled spaghetti. Her father had appeared when they returned from her visit with her yiayia. Perfect timing or coincidence? She couldn’t decide. She had yet to fill in her father on what she had discussed with Yiayia. It would have to wait until after they finished his so-called test of her ability to fight and use her power of compulsion. Yes, she had power but she had no idea how to control it.
“Focus, kori mou.” Ares brushed a few sweaty locks from his forehead.
“It’s a little tough to do that if you are in the air every minute.” She pushed up to her elbows from her current starfish landing. Her energy would be depleted soon; her fuel gauge pointed to empty.
“Your mind controls the power.” Ares held out his hand. Her fingers closed around his. A flow of energy danced between them. Recognition. Daughter to Father.
“I thought you said when you returned, we’d be paying Olympus a visit.”
“I need to know that you can call forth your power in a crisis situation.” He pulled her up to her feet. “You’ll be walking into the lion’s den. All they will see is a tasty morsel.”
“How is tossing me around like pasta training me?”
“Now, use your power of compulsion.” His hands darted to her neck, “Stop me.” He commanded, his fingers tightening, tightening, tightening around her throat.
Time froze, expanded, flipped to a moment in a warehouse where a demon had his claws around her throat. Her life’s essence slowly extinguishing. Death had been close. Now it was her father’s hold that choked her.
She spotted Kane, Xen’s trusted right-hand man and wolf, holding Xen back. A roar cracked and vibrated through the air. She had to summon her power.
Her gaze collided with her father’s. In the depth of his chocolate-colored eyes, she saw flares of fire. Fire spiked and tingled through her body. Somewhere in a deep chamber of her mind, she took control. “Release me.” The words a soft command.
His grip loosened, his hands falling away.
She coughed to stabilize her breathing. The air around her shifted, and Xen had her in his arms before she could swallow her next bit of air.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t pierce my xiphos through your heart, Ares?”
“Relax, vampire. I wasn’t going to harm my daughter.”
“Your practice sessions leave my woman battered and bruised every time.” Xen inspected Carissa’s throat. “I’ve been patient enough with all your methods. It ends here. There will be no more.”
“Xen, it’s okay. I’m okay.” Carissa tried to defuse the argument between god and immortal before it got messy.
“My daughter is right. If you weren’t in such a fit of rage, you would have seen that she compelled me to stop with a whisper.
“Whether she stopped you or not, that was going too far.” He removed his hands from around Carissa and closed the distance to Ares in two strides.
Carissa watched the nose to nose scene in slow-mo. She could see only one outcome in this - Xen hurt.
Xen’s personal gymnasium had been designed to take the brunt of rough exercise. His Phi Athanatoi, a warrior group of vampires and werewolves who protected mankind, usually trained there. Tonight, though, this space belonged to Carissa and her father - Ares. She rubbed her ass for the twentieth time, the exact number of times she’d been thrown in their kung fu practice. Each time she hit the mat like a piece of tangled spaghetti. Her father had appeared when they returned from her visit with her yiayia. Perfect timing or coincidence? She couldn’t decide. She had yet to fill in her father on what she had discussed with Yiayia. It would have to wait until after they finished his so-called test of her ability to fight and use her power of compulsion. Yes, she had power but she had no idea how to control it.
“Focus, kori mou.” Ares brushed a few sweaty locks from his forehead.
“It’s a little tough to do that if you are in the air every minute.” She pushed up to her elbows from her current starfish landing. Her energy would be depleted soon; her fuel gauge pointed to empty.
“Your mind controls the power.” Ares held out his hand. Her fingers closed around his. A flow of energy danced between them. Recognition. Daughter to Father.
“I thought you said when you returned, we’d be paying Olympus a visit.”
“I need to know that you can call forth your power in a crisis situation.” He pulled her up to her feet. “You’ll be walking into the lion’s den. All they will see is a tasty morsel.”
“How is tossing me around like pasta training me?”
“Now, use your power of compulsion.” His hands darted to her neck, “Stop me.” He commanded, his fingers tightening, tightening, tightening around her throat.
Time froze, expanded, flipped to a moment in a warehouse where a demon had his claws around her throat. Her life’s essence slowly extinguishing. Death had been close. Now it was her father’s hold that choked her.
She spotted Kane, Xen’s trusted right-hand man and wolf, holding Xen back. A roar cracked and vibrated through the air. She had to summon her power.
Her gaze collided with her father’s. In the depth of his chocolate-colored eyes, she saw flares of fire. Fire spiked and tingled through her body. Somewhere in a deep chamber of her mind, she took control. “Release me.” The words a soft command.
His grip loosened, his hands falling away.
She coughed to stabilize her breathing. The air around her shifted, and Xen had her in his arms before she could swallow her next bit of air.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t pierce my xiphos through your heart, Ares?”
“Relax, vampire. I wasn’t going to harm my daughter.”
“Your practice sessions leave my woman battered and bruised every time.” Xen inspected Carissa’s throat. “I’ve been patient enough with all your methods. It ends here. There will be no more.”
“Xen, it’s okay. I’m okay.” Carissa tried to defuse the argument between god and immortal before it got messy.
“My daughter is right. If you weren’t in such a fit of rage, you would have seen that she compelled me to stop with a whisper.
“Whether she stopped you or not, that was going too far.” He removed his hands from around Carissa and closed the distance to Ares in two strides.
Carissa watched the nose to nose scene in slow-mo. She could see only one outcome in this - Xen hurt.
Her passion for writing was cultivated by the stories her mother told her as a child. At school she often day-dreamt of exciting new worlds where the heroine had super-powers and would save the day. Her teachers told her on a regular basis to stop making up her own words. That flaw is now her super-power. Making up words, characters and worlds is all part of fiction writing and something she loves doing.
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