Hi friends! I have so many things to share with you. I was going to send my newsletter out on Saturday, but since most of the US is under a freezing cold winter advisory today (Friday), I thought I’d send this out a day early.
First of all, Aura of the Chameleon will come out in March! I know, I’m excited to. There are some options available for you. You can read the first chapter, the link is below. If you are feeling lucky, you could also just pre-order the book, I have that link available as well.
How can a person hide when their magical abilities are visible to the world? Stamped on the back of their hands by the government to ensure a life of peace and happiness?
When Ivy was barely old enough to understand the greater world, her parents were eliminated. She ends up on the streets, alone, not trusting anyone. Luckily, she has a magick that allows her to blend into her surroundings. When Petra enters her life, Ivy has to decide if she can push past her wall of solitude to let someone in or if this is another person to hold at arm’s length.
Petra’s life changed abruptly when the government labeled her mother a traitor. After taking her away and reprogramming her father to love and abide the King’s every command, she knows toeing the line is her only option. After graduation, she gets a job and meets Ivy. She recognizes right away she found someone worthy of calling a friend. Now all she has to do is convince the prickly teen she’s worthy of befriending.
Can the two of them figure out how to trust each other in a world where their secrets coveted by the leaders?
Join Ivy and Petra as they learn to work together to determine who is the enemy, when running is the right move, and if trust is worth the risk. Read Aura of the Chameleon today, book one of the Hidden Magic Series.
Read the first chapter HERE! https://dl.bookfunnel.com/sqw5qcd34o
Pre-order HERE! https://mybook.to/AuraoftheChameleon
Next piece of news. Veiled Phoenix’s cover ended up on a goodread’s list. I don’t know MUCH about goodread’s lists, but who knows. If you’d like to go and vote for my book as having a pretty cover, that would be amazing! https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7433.Prettiest_Covers
FYI -> I know that for some of my friends that link worked, others couldn’t see the vote button. I’m not sure why. Maybe you have to be logged in? Maybe you need super special pixy powers? I’m really not entirely sure.
Last, but certainly not least, I’m going to put the first short story below. Warning, this come after all seven of the Jade Stone Chronicles. (It also come after the Pebble Stone Chronicles, but at this point, that doesn’t matter…)
Last chance to not be spoiled …
A Decade of Secrets Unraveled
Jade
“Faster! You can do it! Run!”
I beat my fist in the air, shimmying as I watched Bevin cross the finish line ahead of Owen and all the other agents. He’d been training for years, but this was his first win. His smile shone, and I knew nothing could snuff out his excitement.
Sweaty and breathing hard, he ran over to sweep me up in a hug. “I can’t believe I did it!”
On his heels, Owen, my brother, and the head of the training for this secret branch of the government that worked with werewolves, slammed into us. His vanilla scent of excitement enveloped me just as much as Bevins. “That was fantastic, boss! I knew you’d do it eventually with Jade training you.” He stepped back, an evil grin on his face. “Now all you need to do is repeat that act.” He sauntered off, laughing, as Bev’s mouth dropped open in shock.
An hour later, we pulled into Were House. We didn’t go to the SSLD – secret service lupine division, or at least that’s what we assumed it meant–often but a couple of times a month, they asked us to help out. Owen was a permanent fixture.
Inside, dinner was almost done. The scent of lasagna permeated the air, and my belly grumbled its approval. Before I could step towards the dining room, a stampede of kids descended on me and Bevin. Of the gaggle of kiddos, three were ours, the rest belonged to other pack members.
“Whoa!” I chuckled, unable to help myself as I hugged as many bodies as I could. “You’d think we’d been away for more than a day.”
Esperanza, one of the trio of demons Bevin, José, Brooke, and I called our very own, jabbed her hands onto her hips and sighed dramatically. “Mom, you worked all week, and both of you had to stay late, coming home after our bedtimes. None of us has seen you in over a week!”
Bevin pulled his look-alike daughter into a hug. She may look like him with brilliant blue eyes and light brown hair, but her attitude was all Brooke, somehow. “Very true, sweetheart. And we missed all of you terribly. Now, can we get to the table before your mom starts nibbling on all of you?”
Binium, or Bini for short, giggled and led us to our seats. With the growing size of the pack, we’d arranged the dining room to have two tables. There was a third just outside the glass doors that opened to the back patio. We often opened them wide and filled the third as well.
Owen came in after us to much less commotion. Sarah, my best friend and his wife, came from their room and gave him a hug. “The kids all tried to drown your sister and Bev when they arrived. I hid in the rooms for my own safety!”
Owen smiled wide. “That tracks.”
It didn’t take long for everyone to pile around the table. There was a kids’ table with our three, Owen and Sarah’s two, and after ten years, seven more pack kids … though the two-year-old still sat with her mom.
As we ate, we tried to monitor the kids’ conversation as much as we could. We were discussing our week, Esperanza wasn’t wrong that we hadn’t been around, and Brooke and José wanted to hear about our week, as well as we wanted to know about theirs.
From behind me, I heard the repeated argument from the kids. “But it’s not fair!” The high-pitched tone Esperanza reached tickled the back of my jaw. “Why do you get to shift into a swan and fly with Mom, and neither Bini nor I get anything?”
I sighed, debating if I needed to intervene. José rubbed my leg, telling me he thought I should let the kids handle it for now.
Calista, my doppelganger in looks and in having a shifter swan, glared at her twin. “None of us got to choose what animals we have. And according to Dad, we’re not even supposed to discuss it until we do shift.”
“So, you’re the only one who gets to know?” Esperanza just won’t let it drop.
“Only because I shifted. You’ll know when you’re older.” Calista shot back.
“Yeah, like twenty, we’re only halfway there.” She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
Sarah leaned in and whispered. “You know, Bevin, if you weren’t so picky about this, Jade could just tell them, like all of them.”
He rolled his eyes. “Have any of them asked her? That was the only rule I gave.”
“Annie,” Bini turned to his sister and used his nickname for her, “you, me, and Soren only have to wait until three more months for our wolves to come out.”
A stunned silence descended on the room. Though I knew Bini was an epsilon wolf, no one else did. I didn’t know he’d figured out so much.
Soren, who was used to ignoring the drama, turned to Bini. “Really? Three months?”
“Yeah, our three wolves have been playing. I think it’s because we all have two animals that our wolves will come early. I’m not really sure, though, since our second animal isn’t ready.”
Facing Bevin, he looked both pained and amused. Across from him, Sarah began to laugh.
Huckleberry Rahr - Author 