Crimson Shadow: NOIR - FREE

 

CRIMSON SHADOW: NOIR

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Xander Stryker's legacy is only beginning...

Xander Stryker wants to die.
Ever since witnessing his mother's murder at the hands of his abusive stepfather when he was a boy, he has spent every day trying to reach that goal. But every night he's denied the death he craves. As his eighteenth birthday approaches, a chance for change is offered when his life is plunged into a supernatural world of vampires and other creatures of darkness.

Caught in the depths of this new reality, mysteries of his vampiric lineage begin to unravel and he's offered the ultimate choice:
Continue on with his wretched human life or begin a new one as the vampire prodigy he was always meant to be.

Unfortunately, the supernatural world can be just as unforgiving and brutal as any other and Xander's choice is met with disastrous consequences.

Now, with little support and even less hope, the chaos of his new world collides with his torturous past and threatens to crush him once and for all. 

**Blue Moon Excerpt**

BLUE MOON EXCERPT

✰✯✰NEW RELEASE EXCERPT✰✯✰

Blue Moon: A Scarlet Night Novel (Behind the Vail Book 4)

 Nathan Squiers (Author) & Megan J. Parker (Author)

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2eekyAv

 ✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯✰✰✯

THE VIOLIN’S CHORDS ROLLED through the melody like warm honey, and Zoey started towards the lulling notes.

She needed to know where that music was coming from.

She needed to know who was playing it.

Somehow she knew that she needed to see the musician.

As her feet followed her ears through the forest, the canopy of trees and shrubs parted like a gateway to some other world and revealed a tall, handsome stranger. He stood, either unaware of Zoey’s arrival or simply unhindered by it, leaning on a tree and drawing a worn-out bow across a beat-up violin. He wasn’t singing—he didn’t need to—but the lyrics sounded all the same in Zoey’s head as she drew closer with bated breath. Closer: the music—his music—beckoned her closer, revealing more of him as she advanced. His hair, the same rich brown as the earth around him, was long and unkempt; falling over his brow and eyes, which danced to his own tune behind a pair of lazy lids. She needed to see those eyes. A tug of longing and need hastened her step as impatience washed over her body, and she pressed her hands over her chest, unsure what to do with the new sensation.

She watched him lift his head from the chin rest, and the curtain of chestnut hair parted to reveal a bestial gaze that locked on his fingers as they prowled across the neck of his violin. As the lyrics continued to echo inside Zoey’s head, she watched as his mouth silently reflected the words; she couldn't help herself as she continued towards him, needing to be closer to this man. She felt as if she would die if she couldn't close the distance separating them.

Only then, once she was close enough to touch him, could she sense what he truly was:

A theriomorph!

A savage!

Or so she’d been taught…

She knew the rules. Her clan wouldn’t allow her to pursue such thoughts. Lusting after one of his kind was an act of abandonment; of betrayal. She’d be siding with a creature that was more animal than not! They were simply too dangerous to be trusted; too dangerous to love.

But at that moment she couldn't seem to bring herself to care.

She was in a dangerous sort of mood.

The kind of mood that led to trouble.

Nothing that played music like that could be her enemy—no savage, cold, uncaring monster could create such beauty—and she was prepared to risk her life to prove it. There was such sincerity in the melody; such a loneliness in the sound that she wanted to reach out to him. She wanted to be the one to end his loneliness, to be the one to adore him. Her eyes followed his nimble fingers as they caressed the strings before they finally came to meet his own…

A beam of moonlight cut through the trees as a gentle breeze parted their branches and cast the two of them in its glow. She couldn't look away; couldn't break their stare even as his eyes narrowed. His dark-green aura rippled and then violently flared around his body, and she realized that he wasn't feeling at all like she was.

“Who are you?” he growled.

Recognition and panic burned in Zoey’s mind. She’d been here before—done this all before!—but it wasn’t supposed to be this way!

“Isa-Isaac!” she gasped around his grip, “It’s… it’s me! It’s Zoey! S-stop…”

Malice burned in the therion’s eyes as Isaac sneered up at her, tightening his grip.

“Zoey…” he said the name like it was a bad punchline to an unspoken joke, “Who will save you now that it’s my hands around your neck?” 
“Isaac…” Zoey felt her heart shatter as her windpipe collapsed.

 

L.M.EVANS : Nathan Squiers

L.M.EVANS : Nathan Squiers: Author Interview with Nathan Squiers Hi, Nathan, how are you today?             Doing pretty well. In the midst of planning my ...

Have You Been Stupid Today?

As rare and stupendous TRUE intelligence is in this day and age, I can't help but feel that those that pride themselves as intellectuals rob themselves of the pleasures and memories to be had in good, old-fashioned stupid fun.

Now, I'm not advocating that the masses go play in the middle of the highway (though I certainly won't stop those that get that from this; world will certainly not stutter on its axis at their becoming a stain in a plucky trucker's grill), but I am saying that the laughter to be elicited from putting double-sided tape on a cat's paws or the childish giggles to be had from contorting one's genitals to resemble a stern billy-goat is, to apply a culinary twist on the act, quite delicious. These moments, when shared with somebody who one can feel truly comfortable sharing a moment of euphoric stupidity with, are undeniably irreplaceable, as well.

So many consider--and so many more will preach--how the actions of their life will be reflected upon when one is on their death bed. The number of times that some existential prude with an infected ass-hair has spat at me the parroted nonsense of "What will you think of [this piercing]//[that tattoo]//[this action]/[that person]//[whatever piece of my life they feel worked-up about to demand immediate long-term reflection for] when you're old and dying??" has driven me less to dwell on their pontifications and more on a raw curiosity of how empty their own reflections will be when their own mortality comes creeping up on them.

Personally, I can only hope to have lived a life so rich in both glee and regret that, when the time for reflection comes, I'd have but only a moment to spare on any one act/event. In short: I'd sooner know a lifetime of regret and failure than one of mediocrity and boredom.

And, that being the basis for my personal pride on the day the Reaper's scythe swings for me, I can say with all sincerity--and as a tried-and-true intellectual--that I cherish everything I've done with my life thus far; both brilliant and blatantly stupid.

Now there is but one question to dwell upon: have you done something stupid today that you'll cherish for the rest of your days?

Author Blog Hop: Meet Xander Stryker of the Crimson Shadow Series

I was tagged by the truly gnarly Anabelle Bryant for this author blog hop discussing our main characters. Anabelle writes historical romance, and you can meet her own character and learn about her work HERE.

For this blog hop, I’ve chosen to spotlight the tortured & gun-toting vampire badass, Xander Stryker, from the CRIMSON SHADOW series (get your copy of book #1, “Noir”, on Amazon Kindle HERE or your favorite ePub platform for FREE).

“Noir” cover

1) What is the name of your character?

Xander Stryker (known begrudgingly by his fellow vampires & non-humans as the “Crimson Shadow”).

2) When and where is the story set?

Here and now (could be your own town).

3) What should we know about him/her?

He’s had a very painful life, and he’s not yet accustomed to being liked/loved (even less accustomed to the adoration he receives from the non-human community; the hatred, however, he’s more than used to).

4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?

While Xander is frequently pitted against a great number of enemies, the greatest conflict he continues to face is with himself. An abusive upbringing and witnessing the assault and murder of his mother as a young boy has never ceased to draw out the worst in him.

Book #1 is now FREE on all major ePub platforms!

5) What is the personal goal of the character?

To survive… even if he sometimes doesn’t want to.

6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

The fourth book in the Crimson Shadow series will be titled, “Dance with the Devil”. News on that title (and others by yours truly) can be seen on my Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/Nathan.Squiers, and readers who have yet to experience the series can get their FREE copy of book #1, “Noir”, on all major platforms. On Kindle athttp://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Shadow-Noir-Nathan-Squiers-ebook/dp/B00HFKJ6US/ (or simply search “Nathan Squiers Noir” wherever you like to get your eBooks).

The Crimson Shadow series

7) When can we expect the book to be published?

“Crimson Shadow: Dance with the Devil” will be available later this year from Tiger Dynasty Publishing.

Megan J. Parker - http://scarletempresslair.blogspot.com/MiMi Paris – http://parismusings.blogspot.comAV Scott – http://belowseelevel.comAnton T. Russell – http://atrussell.com/Blog/Kendra Hale – http://thewestcountryishome.wordpress.com/