Dark Flight
The Shadow Slayers, Book 3
Cassi Carver
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date of Publication: May 21, 2013
Number of pages: 263
Word Count: 83,000
Cover Artist: Angela Waters
In a world of shadows, a pure heart can be the most dangerous weapon of all.
Kara has been training for months to help take down Brakken—the merciless black-wing who is making life hell for the Demiáre. But when Julian discovers a scout has been tracking Kara, he wants her out of the fight—even if it means breaking her heart in the process.
Gavin isn’t much better. He’s already lost so much to Brakken and has no intention of allowing the woman he loves to be the next sacrifice. He and Julian have their hands full trying to fight Brakken’s army and keep Kara safe, especially after her recent visit to the mythical white-wings. Since her return, she’s been acting decidedly…strange.
With a terrible battle looming, Kara doesn’t have time to think about her conflicted feelings for Gavin and Julian—or the fact that she’s developed an unnatural taste for Gavin’s blood. But if she thought it was complicated evading mysterious scouts and fending off vicious black-wings, she’s learning that’s nothing compared to loving two strong-willed men.
Product Warnings:
This book contains angels that aren’t what they seem, a heroine with mad midwifery skills, and a metamorphosis that will change life as we knew it.
Excerpt:
Kara dropped into a crouch behind the leaves of a giant bird of paradise as her claws silently pushed through the tips of her fingers. Her thigh muscles burned from the continued strain, but they could catch fire for all she cared. He wasn’t going to get her. Not this time.
When the sound of furtive footsteps approached, crunching softly through the thick, tropical undergrowth, Kara grabbed onto a low-lying branch and swung herself up, then quickly scaled the side of the tree. Her heart beat full-throttle, hammering so hard she hoped he couldn’t hear it. But if his hearing was that good, even the shallow breaths she took might give her away.
The buckskin-clad shape came closer. Head to toe, he wore a suit made of animal skin with a leaf pattern hand-drawn on the material. It was a hunting suit. But Kara didn’t feel like being hunted tonight.
She waited until he was directly under the tree where she hid. His chest and back were strapped with weapons that slowed him just enough to put him at a disadvantage. With a silent, decisive breath, Kara leapt.
Claws extended, she pounced on his back from above, flattening him to the ground under her, crushing a mass of fern fronds under his thick chest. She pulled a knife from his back strap and held it to his throat.
Smiling, she leaned down to whisper above his hooded ear, “Give up, big guy?” If it came out a little throaty and seductive, she couldn’t help it. Victory was a major turn-on. But then again, when it came to Gavin Cross, just breathing the same air was enough to get her hot and bothered.
He shifted under her, and his hulking body had no problem moving her with him. With her knees straddling his hips, she lifted up to allow him to roll onto his back.
“Lady Kara…” the man began, “you have need of me?”
Kara dropped the knife and jumped off, falling to one knee and clobbering a sprig of wild orchids in the clumsy maneuver. “Who the hell are you?”
“Patrick. You don’t remember me?” The warrior sat up and searched her eyes for a moment, but then his confusion cleared, as though he’d finally caught on to what was afoot. “Ah, you really don’t remember me, do you? You simply have need of a man. I don’t mind, my lady. I would be honored to service you.”
It still bothered Kara that his offer lit fuses all up and down her body. If she hadn’t grown up as a regular gal, she probably would have taken him up on his offer. Right here. Right now. Already, his substantial interest was growing.
She stood and brushed the debris from her black jeans. “I’m so sorry, Patrick. I really didn’t intend to…jump you. Lord Gavin and I are doing training exercises out here, and I thought you were him. You may want to hunt somewhere else until we’re finished.” When his brows rose, she added, “Finished training.”
Patrick stood, assessing her with a wry smile, then he retrieved his knife and returned it to its sheath. “Lord Gavin, you say? But he was the one who ordered the hunt.”
“He did what?” But just as she said it, something slammed into her from behind, carrying her blindingly fast through the maze of trees and vines until the blurred image of a clearing appeared.
In the next instant, she crashed into the tall grass face first and rolled onto her back—or was flipped, more like it. The hulking form above her blocked out the light of the moon with his massive silver wings. Her back pushed into the soggy soil, the moisture soaking through her shirt, and a root of some sort pressed against her ribs.
She glared up at Gavin, but with only an inch separating them, his hazel eyes were huge, eclipsing everything else in her vision, and his grin seemed to stretch as wide as his wings. “Gotcha.”
“What was that?” she demanded, but it was hard to yell at him with his lips so close to hers.
He brought a hand to her neck and ran his finger slowly across her throat. “If I had a knife, you’d be dead. I win again.”
Kara’s hands found his waist of their own volition. “No you don’t. You cheated. You sent a horny hunter into our training ground. I thought he was you!”
His breath was sweet and spicy, and the corners of his eyes crinkled with soft lines as he smiled. “Cheating is irrelevant when it comes to life and death, princess. Don’t expect integrity from those who want you dead.”
Her hands raked over the bare skin covering his ribs, until she curled her fingers into her palms to keep from touching him again. “Okay, that one doesn’t count.”
Gavin laughed and pulled her to her feet. “It counts. That’s three hundred sixteen for me and seven for you.”
“Shit,” she ground out. “Let’s try again.”
He reached out and adjusted her damp black T-shirt so that it lay smoothly against her chest. “You’re not ready, Kara.”
She batted his hand away. “So I can’t flash like a silver-wing. That doesn’t mean I’m defenseless.” She’d killed his brother, who was incredibly strong for a silver-winged fallen angel—but she didn’t think there would ever be a right moment to throw that in Gavin’s face. Besides, he’d just tell her that his brother hadn’t been an almost invincible black-wing like the beast they were planning to bring down now.
“We’ve done enough for one night. Let me take you home. It must be almost three pm in San Diego, and you said you had to work tonight.”
Now that Kara was officially part of the Mercury Clan—a band of more than three hundred fallen angel hybrids—Gavin had finally confided that Mercury Island was located in the Seychelles chain of islands. Albeit, with all the wards and defenses, there wasn’t a good chance of a fisherman or passing cruise ship catching on to that fact.
Being halfway around the world from San Diego, it was almost twelve hours off from where she called home. Three pm in San Diego meant she’d kept Gavin up all night here on Mercury Island.
“Yeah, I do have to work. And you need to get some rest.”
He wrapped his arms around her, preparing to flash. “Have you thought about my offer?” As he asked, they began to dissolve. He carried her through the inky tar, and a moment later, they were standing on the balcony off her living room overlooking downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.
She let the nausea and the boneless feeling pass before she answered. “I can’t.”
He growled and released her. “No lady of the Mercury Clan needs to work. I have enough resources to keep you comfortable from now until the Armageddon. Did I ever mention that Teras’s daughter working at a bar for minimum wage and paltry tips is just plain absurd?”
“Only about a dozen times. Don’t you ever get tired of this subject, Daddy Warbucks? I know I do.”
“Your father was my king, Kara. How can I hold my head high when I’m not caring for his only daughter?”
Kara reached up—way up, given Gavin’s six-foot-seven-inch frame—and patted his cheek. The dark blond stubble along his jaw was just starting to poke through and it tickled her palm. “You’re so cute when you go all protect-and-provide on me, but I gotta get ready for work now. Bye.” When she wiggled her fingers in farewell and turned to enter the apartment, Gavin slapped her on the rump. She yelped and dashed into the living room.
“Brat!” he called after her, and then he flashed.
And with the sting his hand left on her ass, he was lucky he did.
She growled and swallowed down her body’s reaction to her golden-haired protector. Since her lover, Julian, had called things off three weeks ago, bringing Kara’s sex life to a screeching halt, her starving body couldn’t handle even grappling or sparring with Gavin without her wanting to unstrap his weapons belt to unsheathe his broadsword.
She sat hard on the edge of the sofa and ran a hand over the side of her throbbing backside. What if she did quit her job? What if she took her place on the island as a lady of the clan? What would it be like to trade her boots and jeans for island wear and an ever-present supply of men eager to do her bidding?
As it was, she wondered how long could she pine for Julian, hoping he’d reconsider—and not just for the sake of her broken, humiliated heart, but also for how effective his attention was at helping her control her raging libido.
Truth was, females of Kara’s kind didn’t do well with abstinence once they’d reached her age. Hell, they didn’t even attempt it. And now more than ever Kara could see why.
She began to pull off her boots, but her face was angled toward the balcony window, pointing towards Mercury Island however many thousands of miles away. “Celibacy sucks!” she shouted.
But unfortunately, rolling around with Gavin Cross in a totally different exercise couldn’t happen until they’d accomplished their primary objective—sending that black-wing bastard Brakken to the Abyss before he got hold of Gavin’s only child.
Review:
This is the third book in the Shadow Slayers series by Cassi Carver. I just can't get over how great this world and the characters are. Just about the time I think I have a handle on how things are going to go, the author flips or twists things around. It certainly is keeping me on my toes and very interested.
This story opens a few months after the close of book 2, Shadow Rising. Kara is training hard with Gavin, although with a score of only 17 to Gavin's 316 it feels like she is never going to get the hang of things. Kara has finally accepted that she is a part of Mercury Clan, but she continues to live in and work in San Diego. Much to Gavin's chagrin.
Gavin is working to get Julian's assistance in helping to take out his father, Brakken. Gavin truly believes that Kara won't be safe until Brakken has been sent to the Abyss. But Julian is still having trouble using his powers. So Gavin is trying to get another black wing, Mazeki, to help Julian, but he also must convince Julian to allow the training. Mazeki was the blackwing that assisted Kara's father before she was even born and they hope will come to her aid once again.
Unbeknownst to Gavin and Julian, who are busy plotting to keep Kara safe and out of the Shadowlands, Aiden visits Kara with an invitation from Mazeki. Aiden tells Kara that Mazeki has promised to help train Julian, but only if he can have a meeting with Kara. Gavin refused and never told Kara. So of course, Kara has Aiden take her to meet with Mazeki. And meet with him she does. Alone. No Adian, no Gavin and no Julian. Not surprising Kara finds out some disturbing news and is given a task to complete in order to aid Julian.
Boy oh boy, the twisty and turny mind of Ms. Carver is amazing. Just when I thought I knew where we were headed, the unexpected would surprise me. I don't think this will be the last book in the series. (I really, really, hope it's not!) We are left with yet another surprise at the very end, giving us a nice set up for the next book. I have to go 4 stars on Goodreads and hope that book 4 comes soon.
Giveaway:
Bewitching Book Tours is giving away 1 digital copy of Dark Flight per stop! How awesome is that?! So leave the author some comment love and don't forget to make sure to include your email address or other way to contact you. Then on June 15th, 1 random commenter will win a copy of Dark Flight in their choice of format.
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Book Tour Info:
Don't forget to check out the other stops on the Book Tour:
May 15 Urban Fantasy Investigations - Guest Blog
May 16 Bookin It Reviews - Guest Blog
May 16 Kristy Centeno - Spotlight
May 17 Booked & Loaded - Guest Blog
May 17 Demons do it Better - Spotlight
May 20 Ramblings From A Chaotic Mind - Guest Blog
May 21 Regina May Ross's - Guest Blog
May 21 Christine McKnight - Spotlight
May 23 Butterfly-o-Meter Books - Guest Blog
May 23 Share My Destiny - Spotlight
May 24 Books & Other Spells - Interview
May 24 Gimme The Scoop Reviews - Review
May 27 Jessica Loves Books - Review & Spotlight
May 28 Erotica For All - Guest Blog
May 28 Readaholic's Reviews - Review & Spotlight
May 29 All I Want and More - Interview
May 29 Paranormal Romance and Beyond - Spotlight
May 30 Love in a Book - Interview
May 30 The LUV'NV - Spotlight
May 31 Provocative Pages - Spotlight
June 3 A Bibliophiles Thoughts on Books - Guest Blog
June 3 Musings & Ramblings - Review
June 4 Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance - Spotlight
June 5 Fae Books - Spotlight
June 5 Welcome to Larissa's Life - Review
June 6 Simply Infatuated - Guest Blog
June 7 Faerie Tale Books - Review & Spotlight
June 10 I know that Book - Interview
June 10 Bookgirl Knitting - Spotlight
June 11 JeanzBookReadNReview - Interview & Spotlight
June 12 Ramblings From This Chick - Guest Blog
June 13 Bianca2b - Spotlight
June 14 Spiced Latte Reads - Guest Blog
June 14 Cloey's Book Reviews and Other Stuff - Review
June 15 Offbeat Vagabond - Interview
June 15 Musings of Mistress of the Dark Path - Review
Author Bio:
When Cassi isn’t busy plotting or writing, she enjoys reading, spending time with family and friends, caring for pets, getting outdoors, and watching sappy movies that deliver reliably happy endings.
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