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Vigilante
of Shadows
Scarlet
Rain Series, Book One
Miranda Stork
Miranda Stork
Genre: Paranormal
Thriller/Romance
Publisher: Moon Rose Publishing
Number of pages: 267
Word Count: 88,487
Cover Artist: Miranda Stork
Aodhan
clutched uselessly at his head, groaning. He knew it was useless, because the
voice was not inside his head. It followed him, skimming across buildings and
land. It had followed him since he was sixteen, and it still followed him
today, like a memory too horrific to be forgotten…
Aodhan is a shadow-demon, hardened and cold after years of being alone, after his love, his Entwined, was cruelly taken away from him. He has closed his heart to the world, and now spends his life ridding the world of men like those who took his beloved away, an immortal hit-man…
Arianwen Harris is a young DCI, working for York City Police. When a known criminal is found viciously killed, she finds herself trailing a hit-man who has seemed to escape clutches again and again…but she begins to find herself drawn to his dark charms and roguish good looks…
As their two worlds collide, Aodhan and Arianwen find themselves coming together to escape a far greater enemy, one that threatens to create a world far worse than the one they live in. As they battle to hold back the oncoming forces, fate has another plan; one to draw them together and heal their broken pasts together…
Aodhan is a shadow-demon, hardened and cold after years of being alone, after his love, his Entwined, was cruelly taken away from him. He has closed his heart to the world, and now spends his life ridding the world of men like those who took his beloved away, an immortal hit-man…
Arianwen Harris is a young DCI, working for York City Police. When a known criminal is found viciously killed, she finds herself trailing a hit-man who has seemed to escape clutches again and again…but she begins to find herself drawn to his dark charms and roguish good looks…
As their two worlds collide, Aodhan and Arianwen find themselves coming together to escape a far greater enemy, one that threatens to create a world far worse than the one they live in. As they battle to hold back the oncoming forces, fate has another plan; one to draw them together and heal their broken pasts together…
EXCERPT:
Knocking his drink back,
feeling the rich liquid burning his throat, Aodhan wiped his mouth off with the
back of his hand, and slowly stood up from the vinyl bar stool. He waved his
hand to get the attention of the barmaid, but she was far too engrossed in the
attentions of her personal Adonis to notice Aodhan. Shrugging, he laid a
ten-pound note down on the bar, next to his empty glass.
He turned and walked out
of the bar door with long strides, feeling the cool night air on his face. The
bouncer outside the doors turned and stared at Aodhan’s six foot frame, no
emotion showing on his features. Aodhan returned the cool stare, and then began
walking off into the night.
He walked along speedily,
his hands shoved deep in his jean pockets. The sounds of the night surrounded
him-distant cat song, the steady hum of far-off cars, the soft sound of wind
whistling underneath people’s windows. He loved being out at night, not because
it was a time when his ‘kind’ were more active, but simply because it was so
much quieter than the day. The sounds of people rushing around disappeared, and
left a peaceful calm with the soothing darkness.
Of course, there were the
voices in his head, but that was another story.
He shrugged his shoulders
up, cutting off the wind whistling around his neck. He wasn’t particularly
cold, but the noise was annoying when your ears were so sensitive that a pin
dropping sounded like a two-ton weight.
Aodhan’s mind went back
to the girl from the bar. He hadn’t meant to be so brisk with her, but it was
really best that no-one got that close. It really wasn’t his style to be the
mysterious, dark, lone ranger, but it was for the best in this case. He had
begun to…kill people. People who wouldn’t die if they hadn’t found out about
them…
Aodhan was a demon.
A rare demon, as well, a
shadow demon. He had been born to a Scottish clan just over eight-hundred years
ago, to humans. Contrary to what he saw people believed in the media and books,
demons were actually born to humans. There was no line of them, like vampyres
or werewolves. They were simply…random.
When he had been born,
there were no noticeable signs of what he was. He just looked like any of the
other babies born to them, strong and healthy, but definitely human.
As he grew older, he had
shown great proficiency with all weapons, learning faster than any of the other
boys in the clan, becoming more powerful and stronger than most of them. Even
some of the boys older than himself had a hard time keeping up with him. He was
never big-headed about it though, simply fitting in with everyone else.
However, the clan talked about how the strange-eyed boy was so much quicker and
stronger than others twice his age, and whispered about ancient gods coming
back to the earth. His looks weren’t too odd for his clan, everyone having
black, brown, or auburn hair, but his eyes were odd. All others in his clan had
mostly blue eyes, some of them had brown eyes. But he had startling clear green
eyes, more like a cat, in the clan’s eyes, than a human.
When he was thirteen, he
suddenly began developing strange growths near his temples. After going to see
the clan’s wise woman about it, she simply cackled, and whispered, “Those who
are given the gift of darkness, should not fear the unknown.” He had shaken off
the wise women’s words, telling himself that she had finally gone crazy.
The growths had developed
further, until they started to look like small dark horns, about the length of
his thumb. They curled close to the curve of his head, smooth with small ridges
forming at each stage of their growth. Luckily, Aodhan’s hair grew wild and
long, allowing him to cover them up as much as he could.
When he became twenty, he
was a well-loved member of his clan. He was kind and helpful to all, and helped
to fight off their enemies more times than he could count on both hands. But he
was holding a dreadful secret from his family. Since his horns had grown, he
had also noticed many other things.
He had begun to...see
things. Shadows.
When he was out hunting
in the forest near to their home, he would think that he had seen someone
moving in the trees behind him, but when he swung around to face them, nothing.
Then he would hear a soft chuckle, his name being called on the wind. At night,
in his bed as he tried to sleep, he would see black figures running around the
walls.
He had tried to tell the
wise woman of the village again, thinking them to be spirits sent to drive him
mad, or something worse. She simply shook her head at him, and chuckled,
rocking herself to and fro. He had got used to them by now, drawing the blanket
up over his head so that he couldn’t hear their taunting murmurs....
Aodhan suddenly stopped
walking, snapping out of his daydreaming. He was sure he had seen one
of...them. Looking all around himself, he scanned the buildings around him with
his vivid eyes. The problem with them, was that they could hide anywhere they
chose-walls, buildings, floors, anywhere-especially at night.
The red brick buildings
around him looked empty, the few alleyways just leading alongside the backs of
houses, a few bins scattered about. No-one else was walking near him on the
pavement, no sound anywhere.
Just as he was about to
turn around and carry on walking, pulling his jacket up again, when he heard
something behind him. Something whispery and cold.
“Aodhan...”
About this Author:
I was born in Guisborough, North
Yorkshire in 1987 and have lived in various places around Britain, including
Newcastle and Glasgow.
My writing is inspired by various
writers, including the vivid characters of Charles Dickens, the imagination of
Stephen King, and the gothic imagery of Anne Rice.
My love of horror began at an
early age, when I was only three or four. I could read proficiently at the age
of three, and devoured fairy-stories, but I always had a bent towards the
darker stories, such as the Brother's Grimm's tales...Red Riding Hood was
always a firm favourite, although I always felt sorry for the wolf, despite him
having tried to eat everyone!
Amazon Author Page:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mirandastork
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/authormirandastork
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The book looks intriguing. Would love to read it.
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