Monday, December 13, 2010

1st Draft Sneak Peek - The Devil's Apprentice


Rough copy of an excerpt of the first draft of the sequel to The Devil's Angel... but I love sharing bits and pieces with you guys so here it is...

I knew this man, somehow even though I couldn’t place him at the moment. I watched with keen eyes as the mere presence of him felt familiar to me and he stepped only a foot out of the shadows. He moved lithely, almost like a cat stalking its prey and I was frozen where I stood amid all the chaos that had just happened around me. 
Liam lay on the ground at my feet and my eyes, hardly able to be taken from the being approaching me, glanced at his lifeless form, my necklace still entwined with his pale fingers. 
“He sleeps, that is all,” the figure spoke from his dark cover and I cocked a brow. 
“You did this?” I looked around at the carnage that laid around us. Various members of the Order lay broken and unmoving, blood soaked the hem of my dress and I could feel the stickiness of it as it coated my barren feet. 
“You had doubts?” he questioned back, still not clear enough from the darkness for me to fully make him out, he head bent as he surveyed his damage. 
“I demand to know who you are and what you have done here!” I growled feeling that inane sense of defense creep up inside of me. 
“Timaeus has very different desires for you than I, we had a slight difference of opinion,” he said softly, almost nonchalantly. 
“Timaeus wants nothing more than to see me dead,” I said flatly. 
“Ah yes, but only because you betrayed him.” 
“I didn’t betray him, I simply didn’t bow and kiss his ass as he wished.” My words brought a chuckle from the figure, one that rippled through the air light soft whispers. 
“Well Timaeus has never been one to let a woman get the better of him, let alone one he is so in love with.” I snorted at his words. 
“And your part in all of this is what, to come here and slaughter them all? Sure, that’ll get on his good side,” I said folding my arms over my chest. 
“No, I came to exert authority in a way Timaeus never could.” I saw a flash of red flame, two eyes staring at me and then his face came into view as he stepped into the light to where I could see him. I couldn’t fight the gasp as I looked at the man before me. 
Nearly six and a half feet tall, his skin was dark almost as if silken mousse encompassed him. He wore a crème suit, impeccable, squared jaw and a slight scar over his left eye. But it was his eyes that drew me to him. His eyes, once calmed turned the shade of honey, amber and fire all at once that seemed to draw you in and swallow you whole. The silver symbols became visible across his forehead as if someone were painting him with silver. They flashed and were gone almost as if I’d imagined they were there in the first place. 
“You’re one of the inceptives!” I exclaimed. 
“Ah, good girl. You’ve done your homework,” he grinned, bright white pearls quite the contrast from his chocolate colored skin. His fangs glinted as he smiled and watched me with a growing curiosity. 
“Y-you… it’s j-just… y-you can’t be…” I stammered, the smile not wavering from his face. 
“Oh, I assure you I can.” He moved, so quick even my eyes couldn’t follow him and I froze as he was mere inches from me. His foot moved and Liam’s lifeless body went flying away as he pulled me to him and inhaled against my neck.  
“What do you want?” I whispered, his hands feeling like burning vices around my arms where they held me and he pulled back to look at me. “Are you here to kill me?” 
“So that is what you believe? Just because no one dares to cross your handler doesn’t mean that they don’t want to.” 
“So this is about Luc?” 
“No, this is about you.”
“What about me?” I glared at him and he didn’t move. 
“You’ve done the research, since you know of the Inceptives, you tell me.” His grin widened. 
“All I know about the inceptives are that they are a myth, told by those within the Order that wish to hang onto a semblance of control. Every law enforcement group of any kind needs a higher power to keep the inmates in check. I thought it was Luc’s job and the Inceptives were the vampires version of a bedtime story.” 
“Yes and no. We are very real, I am the first. Conrad Gauthier, the creator,” he leaned in as he spoke and inhaled again against my neck causing me to stiffen.  “Lucifer has failed to keep his subjects fearful of him, mainly because he has fallen to the whim of a woman.” His smirk was knowing, as if he had a secret he wished to tell, but was having too much fun toying with me. 
“So?” 
“So…” his voice drawled out with a sigh. “Lucifer has failed and now it is time for me to keep a better eye on my investments.” He moved, his hand gripping my abdomen and searing pain riddled me causing me to scream in agony. I was dropped to the floor as he moved away from me and I stumbled on all fours trying to catch my breath. 
He stopped long enough to look at me, his mouth opening and the words he spoke were Latin, words I had heard before but didn’t recognize their significance. 
“You have been marked. The eve of the awakening I shall return and claim what is mine.” He vanished as silver fog that materialized and then disappeared like it had never been there. I struggled to my feet and made my way through the hall to the study. My eyes scanned the books upon the shelves and I started towards one case pulling several books down flipping through their aged pages. 
“DEVRYNNE!” Ava shrieked but it didn’t deter me. I could feel her searching for me and heard the door to the study slam open as she entered, her heart racing in the confines of her slender chest. “What happened?” she asked frantically coming to me, and I shrugged out of her hold collapsing to the ground with the book in my lap. 
“And so it is written, the downfall of the King was found to be not the one of his affections, but the birth of his affection’s love for another. Through the Awakening of her soul, so it shall be set in motion. The end begins like a burning fury…” my voice trailed off as I looked up at Ava finally realizing what Conrad has said as he spoke before he left.  “As the blood of an Angel shall be sacrificed by the blood of the damned.” 
“What does that mean? What happened Dev, what’s going on?” Ava asked looking at me with panic in her eyes. 
“It means I think I have bigger problems than Luc.” 


Wanna read more? Check out the first book in the Devrynne Kaine series, The Devil's Angel:

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