Eddy Marks' life is pretty boring, even working for the
local newspaper lacks the excitement she is craving, though
her hometown is currently experiencing a strange phenomenon
involving yard art. Those occurrences remind her of the
crazy stories her father spins regarding the Lemurians, an
ancient myth of immortals living in Mount Shasta right
outside her hometown of Evergreen, California. One evening
while walking home, she hears her dog barking. As she
hurries to let the dog out, it goes straight to her shed.
When she opens the shed door, she comes face-to-face with a
gnarling, pitchfork-welding gnome stabbing a naked man. Not
exactly the excitement she was looking for.
Dax is a fallen Demon; not bad enough for the Abyss, but
not good enough for Paradise, so he resides in the void
until the Edenites decide what to do with him. He finally
receives his summons; he is given the task of destroying
the demons that have crossed through the vortex to wreak
havoc on earth. If he succeeds, he will be given passage to
Paradise. Dax accepts the challenge, but as he crosses the
threshold with his new human male body, he is attacked by a
very large Gargoyle shooting demonfire that flashes across
Dax's chest onto his snake tattoo rendering him immobile.
Dax wakes up to find a woman smashing a gnome housing a
demon in order to save him. What will she think after he
explains who he is and what is doing in her town?
Kate Douglas introduces a new series with intriguing
characters and a new world with amazing possibilities. A
great read!
Since time began, the Earth has served as a balance between
the world of darkness that is the Abyss, and the paradise
known as Eden. Now the battle between good and evil has
reached a tipping point, and survival depends on one fallen
demon— and the woman he can't resist...
A demon too good for hell, a pragmatic newspaper reporter, a
tiny will o'the wisp and a mongrel dog have seven days to
save the world -- or all hell breaks loose...
Excerpt
Sunday Night
He struggled out of the darkness, confused, disoriented...
recalling fire and pain and the soothing voices of men he
couldn’t see. Voices promising everlasting life, a chance
to move beyond hell, beyond all he’d ever known. He
remembered his final, fateful decision to take a chance, to
search for something else.
For life beyond the hell that was Abyss.
A search that brought him full-circle, back to a world of
pain—to this world, wherever it might be. He frowned and
tried to focus. This body was unfamiliar, the skin
unprotected by scales or bone. He’d never been so helpless,
so vulnerable.
His chest burned. The demon’s fireshot, while not
immediately fatal, would have deadly consequences. Hot
blood flowed sluggishly from wounds across his ribs and
spread over the filthy stone floor beneath his naked hip.
The burn on his chest felt as if it were filled with acid.
Struggling for each breath, he raised his head and stared
into the glaring yellow eyes of an impossible creature
holding him at bay.
Four sharp spears affixed to a long pole were aimed
directly at his chest. The thing had already stabbed him
once, and the bleeding holes in his side hurt like the
blazes. With a heartfelt groan, Dax tried to rise, but he
had no strength left.
He fell back against the cold stones and his world faded
once more to black.
“You’re effing kidding me! I leave for one frickin’ weekend
and all hell breaks loose. You’re positive? Old Mrs.
Abernathy really thinks it ate her cat?” Eddy Marks took
another sip of her iced caffé mocha whip and stared at
Ginny. “Lord, I hope my father hasn’t heard about it. He’ll
blame it on the Lemurians.”
Ginny laughed so hard she almost snorted her latte. “Your
dad’s not still hung up on that silly legend, is he? Like
there’s really an advanced society of humanoids living
inside Mount Shasta? I don’t think so.”
“Don’t try and tell Dad they don’t exist. He’s convinced he
actually saw one of their golden castles in the moonlight.
Of course, it was gone by morning.” Eddy frowned at Ginny
and changed the subject. She was admittedly touchy about
her dad’s gullible nature. “Mrs. Abernathy’s not serious,
is she?”
“I dunno.” Ginny shook her head. “She was really upset.
Enough that she called nine-one-one. I was on dispatch at
Shascom that shift and took the call. They sent an officer
out because she was hysterical, not because they actually
believed Mr. Pollard’s ceramic garden gnome ate Twinkles.”
Ginny ran her finger around the inside of her cup, chasing
the last drops of her iced latte. “I heard there was an
awful lot of blood on her back deck, along with tufts of
suspiciously Twinkles-colored hair.”
“Probably a coyote or a fox.” Eddy finished the last of her
drink and wished she’d had a shot of brandy to add to it.
It would have been the perfect finish to the first brief
vacation she’d had in months—two glorious days hiking and
camping on Mount Shasta with only her dog for company...and
not a single killer garden gnome in sight. She grinned at
Ginny. “Killer gnomes aren’t usually a major threat around
here.”
Ginny laughed. “Generally, no. Lemurians either, in spite
of what your dad and half the tourists think, but for once
Eddy, don’t be such a stick in the mud. Let your
imagination go a little.”
“What? And start spouting off about Lemurians? I don’t
think so. Someone has to be the grown-up! So what else
happened while I was out communing with nature?”
“Well...it might have been the full moon, but there was a
report that the one remaining stone gargoyle launched
itself off the northwest corner of the old library
building, circled the downtown area and flew away into the
night. And...” Ginny paused dramatically, “...another that
the bronze statue of General Humphreys and his horse
trotted out of the park. The statue is gone. I didn’t check
on the gargoyle, but I went down to see the statue. It’s
not there. Looks like it walked right off the pedestal.
That thing weighs over two tons.” She set her empty cup
down, folded her arms and, with one dark eyebrow raised,
stared at Eddy.
“A big bronze statue like that would bring in a pretty
penny at the recyclers. Somebody probably hauled it off
with a truck, but it’s a great visual, isn’t it?” Eddy
leaned back in her chair. “I can just see that big horse
with the general, sword held high and covered in pigeon
poop, trotting along Front Street. Maybe a little detour
through the cemetery.”
“Is it worth a story by ace reporter Edwina Marks?”
Eddy glared at her. “Do not call me Edwina.” She ran her
finger through the condensation on the scarred wooden table
top before looking up at Ginny and grinning. “Maybe a
column about weird rumors and how they get started. I’ll
cite you as Ground Zero, but I doubt it’s cutting edge
enough for the front page of the Record.”
Ginny grabbed her purse and pulled out a lipstick. “Yeah,
like that rag’s going to cover real news?”
“Hey, we do our best and we stay away from the tabloid
stuff...you know, the garbage you like to read?” Laughing,
Eddy stood up. “Well, I’m always complaining that nothing
exciting ever happens around here. I guess flying
gargoyles, runaway statues and killer gnomes are better
than nothing.” She tossed some change on the table for a
tip and waved at the girl working behind the
counter. “Gotta go, Gin. I need to get home. Have to let
Bumper out.”
“Bumper? Who’s that? Don’t tell me you brought home another
homeless mutt from the shelter.”
“And if I did?”
Ginny waved the lipstick at her like a pointer. “Eddy, the
last time you had to give up a fostered pup, you bawled for
a week. Why do you do this to yourself?”
She’d be lucky if she only bawled for a week when it was
time for Bumper to leave. They’d bonded almost immediately,
but she really didn’t want a dog. Not for keeps. “They were
gonna put her down if no one took her,” she mumbled.
Ginny shook her head. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. One of
these days you’re going to take in a stray that’ll really
break your heart.”
Eddy heard Bumper when she was still half a block from
home. She’d only left the dog inside the house while she
went to town for coffee, but it appeared the walls weren’t
thick enough to mute her deep-throated growling and barking.
Thank goodness it wasn’t nine yet. Any later and she’d
probably have one of the neighbors filing a complaint. Eddy
picked up her pace and ran the last hundred yards home,
digging for her house keys as she raced up the front
walk. “Bumper, you idiot. I only left you for an hour. I
hope you haven’t been going on like this the whole time
I’ve been gone.”
She got the key in the lock and swung the front door open.
Bumper didn’t even pause to greet her. Instead, she
practically knocked Eddy on her butt as she raced out the
front door, skidded through the open gate to the side yard
and disappeared around the back of the house.
“Shit. Stupid dog.” Eddy threw her keys in her bag, slung
her purse over her shoulder and took off after the dog. It
was almost completely dark away from the street light and
Eddy stumbled on one of the uneven paving stones by the
gate. Bumper’s deep bark turned absolutely frantic,
accompanied by the added racket from her clawing and
scratching at the wooden door to Eddy’s potting shed.
“If you’ve got a skunk cornered in there, you stupid dog, I
swear I’m taking you back to the shelter.”
Bumper stopped barking, now that she knew she had Eddy’s
attention. She whined and sniffed at the door, still
scratching at the rough wood. Eddy fumbled in her bag for
her keychain and the miniature flashlight hanging from the
ring. The beam was next to worthless, but better than
nothing.
She scooted Bumper out of the way with her leg and
unlatched the door just enough to peer in through a crack.
Bumper whapped her nose against Eddy’s leg. Shoving
frantically with her broad head, she tried to force her way
inside.
“Get back.” Eddy glared at the dog. Bumper flattened her
ears against her curly head and immediately backed off,
looking as pathetic as she had last week at the shelter
when Eddy’d realized she couldn’t leave a blond pit bull
crossed with a standard poodle to the whims of fate.
She aimed her tiny flashlight through the narrow opening.
Blinked. Told herself she was really glad she’d been
drinking coffee and not that brandy she’d wanted tonight,
because otherwise she wouldn’t believe what she saw.
Maybe Mrs. Abernathy wasn’t nuts after all. Eddy grabbed a
shovel leaning against the outside wall of the shed and
threw the door open wide.
The garden gnome that should have been stationed in the
rose garden out in front held a pitchfork in its stubby
little hands like a weapon, ready to stab what appeared to
be a person lying in the shadows. When the door creaked
open, the gnome turned its head, glared at Eddy through
yellow eyes, bared unbelievably sharp teeth, and screamed
at her like an avenging banshee.
Bumper’s claws scrabbled against the stone pathway. Eddy
swung the shovel. The crunch of metal connecting with
ceramic seemed unnaturally loud. The scream stopped as the
garden gnome shattered into a thousand pieces. The
pitchfork clattered to the ground and a dark, evil smelling
mist gathered in the air above the pile of dust. It swirled
a moment and then suddenly whooshed over Eddy’s shoulder
and out the open door.
A tiny blue light pulsed and flickered, followed the mist
as far as the doorway, and then returned to hover over the
figure in the shadows. Bumper paused long enough to sniff
the remnants of the garden gnome and growl, before turning
her attention to whatever lay on the stone floor. Eddy
stared at the shovel in her hands and took one deep breath
after another. This was not happening. She had not seen a
garden gnome in attack mode.
One with glowing yellow eyes and razor-sharp teeth.
Impossible.
Heart pounding, arms and legs shaking, she slowly pivoted
in place and focused on whoever it was that Bumper seemed
so pleased to see.
The mutt whined, but her curly tail was wagging a million
miles a minute. She’d been right about the gnome. Eddy
figured she’d have to trust the dog’s instincts about who
or whatever had found such dubious sanctuary in her potting
shed.
Eddy squinted and tried to focus on the flickering light
that flitted in the air over Bumper’s head, but it was
jerking around so quickly she couldn’t tell what it was.
She still had her key ring clutched in her fingers. She
wasn’t quite ready to put the shovel down, but she managed
to shine the narrow beam of light toward the lump on the
floor.
Green light reflected back from Bumper’s eyes. Eddy swung
wider with the flashlight. She saw a muscular arm, a thick
shoulder, and the broad expanse of a masculine chest. Blood
trickled from four perfectly spaced pitchfork-sized holes
across the man’s ribs and pooled beneath his body. There
appeared to be a deep wound on his chest, though it wasn’t
bleeding.
In fact, it looked almost as if it had been cauterized. A
burn? Eddy swept the light his full length. Her eyes grew
wider with each inch of skin she exposed. He was marked
with a colorful tattoo that ran from his thigh, across his
groin to his chest, but other than the art, he was naked.
Very naked, all the way from his long, narrow feet, up
those perfectly formed, hairy legs to... Eddy quickly
jerked the light back towards his head.
When she reached his face, the narrow beam glinted off dark
eyes looking directly into hers. Beautiful, soul-searching
dark brown eyes shrouded in thick, black lashes. He was
gorgeous. Even with a smear of dirt across one cheek and
several days’ growth of dark beard, he looked as if he
should be on the cover of People as the sexiest man alive.
Breathing hard, her body still shaking from the adrenaline
coursing through her system, Eddy dragged herself back to
the situation at hand. Whatever it was. He hadn’t said a
word. She’d thought he was unconscious. He wasn’t. He was
injured...not necessarily helpless. She squatted down
beside him, and reassured by Bumper’s acceptance and the
fact the man didn’t look strong enough to sit up, much less
harm her, Eddy set the shovel aside.
She touched his shoulder and grimaced at the deep wound on
his chest, the bloody stab wounds in his side. Made a point
not to look below his waist. “What happened? Are you okay?
Well, obviously not with all those injuries.” Rattled, she
took a deep breath. “Who are you?”
He blinked and turned his head. She quickly tilted the
light away from his eyes. “I’m sorry. I...”
He shook his head. His voice was deep and sort of
raspy. “No. It’s all right.” He glanced up at the
flickering light dancing overhead, frowned and then nodded.
She could tell he was in pain, but he took a deep breath
and turned his focus back to Eddy.
“I am Dax. Thank you.”
“I’m Eddy. Eddy Marks.” Why she’d felt compelled to give
her full name made no sense. None of this did. She couldn’t
place his accent and he wasn’t from around here. She would
have recognized any of the locals. She started to
rise. “I’ll call nine-one-one. You’re injured.”
His arm snaked out and he grabbed her forearm, trapping her
with surprising strength. “No. No one. Don’t call anyone.”
Eddy looked down at the broad hand, the powerful fingers
wrapped entirely around her arm, just below her elbow. She
should have been terrified. Should have been screaming in
fear, but something in those eyes, in the expression on his
face...
Immediately, he loosened his grasp. “I’m sorry. Please
forgive me, but no one must know I’m here. If you can’t
help me, please let me leave. I have so little time...” He
tried to prop himself up on one arm, but his body trembled
with the effort.
Eddy rubbed her arm. It tingled where he’d touched
her. “What’s going on? How’d you get here? Where are you
clothes?”
The flickering light came closer, hovered just in front of
his chest, pulsed with a brilliant blue glow that spread
out in a pale arc until it touched him, appeared to soak
into his flesh, and then dimmed. Before Eddy could figure
out what she was seeing, Dax took a deep breath. He seemed
to gather strength—from the blue light?
He shoved himself upright, glanced at the light and
nodded. “Thank you, Willow.”
Then he stood up, as if his injuries didn’t affect him at
all. Obviously, neither did the fact he wasn’t wearing a
stitch of clothes. Towering over Eddy, he held out his hand
to help her to her feet. “I will go now. I’m sorry to
have...”
Eddy swallowed. She looked up at him as he fumbled for
words, realized she was almost eye level with his...oh
crap! She jerked her head to one side and stared at his
hand for a moment. Shifted her eyes and blinked at the blue
light, now hovering in the air not six inches from her
face. What in the hell was going on?
Slowly, she looked back at Dax, placed her hand in his and,
with a slight tug from him, rose to her feet. The light
followed her. “What is that thing?” Tilting her head, she
focused on the bit of fluff glowing in the air between
them, and let out a whoosh of breath.
“Holy Moses.” It was a woman. A tiny, flickering fairy-like
woman with gossamer wings and long blond hair. “It’s
frickin’ Tinkerbelle!” Eddy turned and stared at
Dax. “That’s impossible.”
He shrugged. “So are garden gnomes armed with pitchforks.
At least in your world. So am I, for that matter.”
Eddy snapped her gaze away from the flickering fairy and
stared at Dax. “What do you mean, you’re impossible? Why?
Who are you? What are you?”
Again, he shrugged. “I’m a mercenary, now. A hired soldier,
if you will. However, before the Edenites found me, before
they gave me this body, I was a demon. Cast out of Abyss,
but a demon nonetheless.”
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