Good morning, All. Happy 2014!
2013 was a crazy, amazing, life-changing year for me. I published my first novel, for one, but even bigger than that...my husband and I welcomed our daughter into the world! These last 10 months or so have been an absolute whirlwind...but the best, most exciting whirlwind ever. Getting ready for and then actually becoming a mother (to the most beautiful little girl on the planet - not that I'm biased or anything) obviously took priority in my life during this time, but I want to take a moment to assure you, my readers, that I have no intention of abandoning or even grossly postponing progress on the Nightfire trilogy. I know that many of you are anxiously (yet very patiently) awaiting the next installment of the series, and I want you to know - so am I! I can't wait to share the rest of the Nightfire story with you.
I have an announcement for you AND a little treat to boot (surprise!). While I'm still working on the second novel in the trilogy, I will be releasing a companion novella next month! The novella, titled Forsaken, is written from Sam's point of view, and starts immediately after Nightfire left off.
Forsaken will be available on Kindle and paperback in a few short weeks. Keep your eyes peeled for the official announcement and publication date!
In the meantime, to thank you for your patience and give you a taste of what to expect in Sam's story, I'm including an excerpt of the novella below. Give it a read, and let me know what you think...and check back in on the blog next week for another surprise! And remember...if you haven't read Nightfire yet, go grab your copy now by clicking HERE. It's available on Kindle for just $2.99!
In the distance,
the sun slides across the very tips of the city, the skyscrapers gleaming in
the light of the day. The warmth
spreads, spilling over roads and trees, waking up the world and bringing it
back to life.
The magic in my veins recedes, the curse that flows within me not so insistent
now. The venom inside of me is always there,
but during the day I almost feel like me again. I almost feel human.
Almost.
Each morning is a little harder than the last, but I am always glad to see the sun.
It’s been three months and six days – exactly 96 sunrises - since I walked out of the Nyiathan mansion and into this life. I wasn’t always this person. I was kind, caring…good. Those days are gone. And some way, somehow, I’m doing my best to piece together what’s left of myself and move on.
For me, becoming Siek was heartbreaking at best. I lost someone I truly loved in the process, someone who had come to mean the world to me. And when I say lose, I don’t mean it in the way you might think – she didn’t die. In fact, I think it might be even worse than that. She lives, breathes, walks the same earth as I do. But I cannot have her, not now, not ever.
Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that I held her in my arms, measuring what I thought were her last breaths, speaking of feelings that were unthinkable, even then. The pain is that fresh, that encumbering. I don’t know how it hasn’t swallowed me whole.
There are other times when I feel like an eternity has passed. Even still, the pain doesn’t wane. It just sits in the back of my mind like a virus that relentlessly plagues me, killing me slowly.
I remember the first time I saw Kaida without her human mask, her true form fantastic and terrifying at the same time. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before in my life: a lithe, pixie-like creature with wings easily spanning thirty feet from tip to tip, glowing with fire. Her skin was like stone, unbelievably pale in color, and her eyes shimmered in the darkness. I knew I should have been frightened, but I was stunned by her. She was beautiful.
It was more than just her physical appearance, though; somehow, she turned off all of the negativity in my life, made it fade away as if it was never there in the first place. With her, I was my best.
I couldn’t help falling in love with her. I can’t help but love her still.
Even though I shouldn’t.
It takes all of my strength to keep myself away from my former life, to stay as far away as possible, to spare the people I love from the monster I’ve become.
The truth is, Siek blood always ran through me, even when I thought I was fully human. Even before I knew what a Siek was. It lived in hibernation, growing and strengthening with each moment, biding its time….until everything exploded.
I lived close to nineteen years of a life just like that of any other human being, with parents I thought were mine and friends and, hell, even a girl I thought I loved. Everything was simple, easy. The way it should have been.
And then it all changed, swept up as if in a tornado, swirling completely out of control. I felt like Dorothy, dropped right smack dab in the middle of Oz with no direction or idea of how to get home. Even in the land of color, all she wanted was to find her way back. I get it. Now, more than ever. There’s a part of me that wants nothing more but to go back to the black-and-white life that I once called my own. But where Dorothy had a yellow brick road and ruby red slippers to lead her home, I have nothing. My black-and-white life wasn’t real. Not one day of it. I was always meant to be Siek. And now, I am.
The magic is alive and well within me. I am filled with a power greater than I ever imagined, a darkness I’ll never be able to outrun. I know that it’s only a matter of time before it takes over completely, before the last shreds of my humanity are extinguished. I’m not sure how much time I have left, but I will fight against the darkness for as long as possible. I will hold on as tightly as I can.
Until the old Sam is lost for good.
Copyright © 2014 Laura E. Taylor
