The first two books in the series, Eleventh Elementum and Hollowed Humusara, will both be FREE for a short time and throughout the blitz!
The purchase link to the series:
Previous Books in the Series (click on images for Goodreads links):
Excerpt
An
hour and a half later, Skylee, Chrism, and Vangie were creeping along a dark
corridor. The three girls were dressed from head to toe in dark clothing. They
didn’t speak a word as they zigzagged across the broken cement, snuck past a
line of empty transport-gliders, and entered the chemical plant. As it turned
out, following an Arcamentum was a lot harder than it sounded. In fact, Vangie
had transported them halfway around the globe to get to their current location
in Houston, Texas.
The
factory reminded Skylee of a spooky virtual game Will and Airon used to play
with killer zombies and lots of blood and guts. She led her Helpmates farther
into the structure, gazing around at the grey concrete walls, which surrounded
them like a grim tomb. Above, a maze of corroded pipes rumbled and hissed
loudly. Bare light bulbs dangled from the ceiling, casting a dull yellow glow
on what seemed like an endless row of rusty metal doors. She suddenly realized
the noisy pipes and working lights meant Brinfrost could be near since his
control over manmade objects probably included electrical power.
“Stay
on your toes,” Skylee told the other girls. “Things could get hairy.”
She
took a deep breath to steady herself and a horrible odor invaded her senses.
The smell of toxic chemicals mingled with the unmistakable stench of death. Her
eyes watered, and she fought back an urge to gag. As if that wasn’t enough,
heavy tension hung in the air.
To
Skylee’s dismay, animosity was festering between her Helpmates. She had been
told all about Chrism and Archer’s squabble. At first, she tried to downplay it
and smooth things over, hoping the girls could settle their differences. But
neither was in the mood to bury the hatchet. Unless it’s in each other’s back. So, she decided to distract them
and set out following the Arcamentum. Bringing Archer along was out of the
question.
“Hey,”
said Skylee, glancing down at the silver arrow. “It’s pointing that way.” She
turned left into a darker hallway. “I have a feeling we’re getting close.”
“Close
to what?” Chrism scoffed. “I can’t believe that thing has led us to another
stinking cesspool.”
“Quit
complaining and just keep moving,” ordered Vangie. She hooked her thumbs under
the straps of her backpack and picked up her pace.
Chrism
shot her a fiery look and turned to Skylee. “Who died and left the dork in charge?”
“Okay,
you two, be sweet,” she replied, trying to keep things from escalating. Sheesh, of all times my Helpmates had to
pick tonight to have a meltdown.
To
be perfectly honest, she understood why Vangie was upset with her sister.
Threatening Archer was crossing the line as was him brandishing his bow and
arrow. Still, Skylee couldn’t help but remember how cruel Chrism had been in
the beginning. Everything changed when she became a Shifter. But lately, her
sister had been reverting to her old ways. A result of having her heart handed
to her on a platter. If I ever find Airon, I’m gonna thank
him…with a punch in the gut.
Vangie, who was walking slightly ahead, stopped short and
shuddered. “Whoa, do you see that?” She pointed up at the concrete wall. It was
covered in graffiti. A line of large exaggerated letters spelled out Haunted
Smokestacks. Below that in smaller crudely scrawled letters, it said:
Death is Coming
Turn Back
“Well, that’s not creepy at all,” said
Chrism.
“Is that blood?” Skylee asked. She
immediately thought of Brinfrost’s obsession with it.
Her sister let out a small gulp. “If you get
me killed in this terrible dump, I’m gonna haunt you for the rest of your
life.”
“Shhh…listen,” said Vangie.
“Don’t shush me,” Chrism snapped back.
“But I...I think I heard something,” she
replied, gazing around cautiously. “Did you guys?”
Skylee cocked her head to the side,
listening. “Someone’s whistling.”
“Not good,” whispered Chrism as her eyes
went wide.
A chill ran down Skylee’s spine, but she refused to give in
to her fears. “Well, it is kind of
good.” She looked down at the arrow, which was aimed in the direction of the
high-pitched tune. “I think this thing actually found Brinfrost.” Her heart
thumped wildly in her chest.
“Okay, now we know it works,” Chrism muttered. “Let’s go get
more help.”
Skylee shook her head. “First, we need to be sure it’s really
him, then we’ll gather the troops.” Neither Chrism nor Vangie spoke, so she
crept forward with her Helpmates slinking slowly after her. Of course, she knew
it wasn’t the brightest thing to do, but the Arcamentum had once belonged to
her father. It wouldn’t lead us into
danger…would it? She wanted to have faith it in.
All of a sudden, the whistling stopped.
The three girls froze. The pipes sputtered and creaked above
them, but there were no other sounds. They finally moved on with the arrow
pointing them through a labyrinth of passageways. A few minutes later, it
brought them to a set of dilapidated elevators.
“Yikes,” whispered Chrism. “I feel like I’m in a horror
movie. We’re not gonna get in one of those…are we?”
“Course not,” Vangie calmly replied. “We can take the
stairs—I mean, if we need to go to a different floor.”
Chrism furrowed her brows. “That arrow
doesn’t point up or down. So, how will we know?”
“Yeah, it’s a challenge,” Skylee replied as
she rounded the corner in search of the stairway. “We’ll just have to try a
floor at a time.”
As the girls entered another hallway, they came
upon a row of hover-gurneys. Ghostly white body parts, partly draped in dingy
sheets, were piled on top.
Chrism recoiled in shock. “Are those real?”
“No, no way,” murmured Skylee, inching
forward guardedly. “They can’t be.” Holding her breath, she reached out and
touched an arm sticking out from the covers. “Whoa...it’s hard and cold. Could
these be android parts?”
“Don’t think so.” Vangie stepped up and
pulled back the sheet. “There aren’t any wires or cables or anything.”
“Ewww,” said Chrism as she wrinkled her nose.
“So, this is where that smell is coming from. Why are they all cut up?”
“I don’t know,” replied Skylee, feeling a
little queasy. “There’s no blood...”
Vangie picked up a severed hand. “It sure
looks human—skin, muscles, and bones. Only, it’s like something has fused it
all together.” She studied the exposed wrist carefully. “What would cause
this?”
“Would you stop touching it!” Chrism exclaimed in a whisper. “It’s so gross.”
“Fine.” Vangie turned away from her. She
slipped off her backpack, unzipped it, and looked inside.
Skylee watched her drop the severed hand
into her bag. What is she planning to do
with that? Before she could ask, Vangie held up her finger, gesturing to
keep it secret.
Skylee nodded. One thing she knew about her
Reaper—she always had a plan. Whether it was due to her Spiritus abilities or
because of her loss on The Day, Vangie had a logical way of looking at life…and
death for that matter.
Maybe because Vangie parents were killed
when she was just four. Their remains were found, holding hands, beneath the
rubble of the Lodge at Yosemite National Park. Her father, Evan Graves, had
been Lee Porter’s Seer.
Thankfully, Vangie survived The Day because
she was with her grandparents in Oregon. But a year later, her grandmother died
in the aftermath. So, her grandpa, who she lovingly called Gramps, raised her
alone. He passed away a month ago at the age of eighty-seven, leaving Vangie
with no living relatives.
“Can we please just get out of here?” asked
Chrism, interrupting Skylee’s thoughts. “I don’t like the idea of hanging
around a place called Haunted Smokestacks.”
Skylee lifted her brows. “You know, we might
find Airon.” As soon as she said it, she felt awful about using her sister’s
feelings against her.
Chrism let out a huff. “Okay…okay.”
Just then, a faint male voice called out,
“Help me...”
All three girls turned and stared down the
dark corridor.
About the Authors
J.L. Bond grew up in a military family and developed her love for adventurous travel early in life. She has lived in five states and internationally in Germany and Hong Kong. After writing a few plays and musical lyrics, J. L. began blogging in 2005 while on an “around the world” trip, visiting twenty-one countries. Contrary to popular belief, she is not related to that other J. Bond, nor is she in the witness protection program. Currently, she finds inspiration for her adventure stories from the tropical setting of her home in Florida.
Val Richards is an author, administrative assistant, mother, teacher without a classroom, and a space traveler wanna be. Because of her busy lifestyle, Val just cannot find the time to become an astronaut. Hence, she travels to other worlds through her imagination. She lived most of her life in the rolling hills of Tennessee but decided she needed majestic oceans to fuel her inspiration. She now resides in sunny Florida where creativity abounds.
