BooksChatter: ☀☄ Pretty Dark Sacrifice: Pretty Dark Nothing [2]

Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for Pretty Dark Sacrifice a Young Adult Horror novel by Heather L. Reid (28 July 2015, Month9Books, LLC, 267 pages).

This is the second book in the Pretty Dark Nothing series.

PREVIEW: Read the first three chapters with Nook for Web

Check out the book's synopsis and our Q&A with Heather Reid.

Author Heather L. Reid will be awarding a digital copy of Pretty Dark Sacrifice (Pretty Dark Nothing #2) to five (5) randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts, review, interviews and guest posts.

Synopsis | The Series | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

Synopsis

When the tears of Eve have turned to blood and her sins have turned to flesh, the key will fall. For love is bound by the power of the Trinity. Their destiny is written by chaos and betrayal and on the first eclipse of the eighteenth year, the voice of the sacrifice will break the lock, restoring darkness unto the light. By this promise, be compelled.

It’s been five weeks, two days, and eight hours since the demons forced Quinn to throw herself into the raging river, since Aaron sacrificed himself to save her, since his body disappeared without a trace.

Everyone wants Quinn to move on, but she can’t, not after a spirit appears to her at Aaron's memorial, convincing her he’s still alive.

When a mysterious box materializes on the very spot Aaron disappeared, Quinn finds she’s at the center of an ancient prophesy of betrayal, revenge, and sacrifice that takes her to the depths of the underworld to face Lilith—Adam’s first wife.

If Quinn can stop Lilith from unleashing the demon horde Eve, trapped inside the box during the Battle of Eden millennia ago, she will save the human realm and free Aaron from an eternity in torment.

All it will cost is her blood.

Teaser: Excerpt

Aaron shivered. Not a scrap of clothing covered his body. Whatever happened to him stripped him of every stitch, as well as his dignity. In a different situation, he might have been embarrassed, but he was too exhausted and frightened to care. He would worry about clothes later. For now, he had to get moving and get out.

His neck, stiff from lying in the same position for too long, tingled and ached as he scraped his cheek against the rough stone. A musty mix of rusted metal and salt filled his nostrils. The smell of mustiness and stale air reminded him of home, of his father lying on the couch after drinking all night, the curtains drawn tight. But he wasn’t home. The stone floor beneath his naked flesh proved that. Did his dad even miss him? Did Josh? Would he ever see home again?

You won’t if you don’t stay focused.

Giving up wasn’t an option. Panting, he struggled again to shift the lead weights of his arms splayed out over his head, but they wouldn’t budge. They remained stuck to the floor, heavy and useless. He might as well try to move a mountain.

Light flickered in the distance. He could make out the halo around a flame, an orange eye staring at him from the blackness.

“Hello?” Aaron’s voice was rough and low. “Is anyone there?”

Whispers hushed and shushed around him, soft and ominous, but he couldn’t tell exactly where they came from.

“Please, help me. I need help.”

If he didn’t get their attention, they might miss him. Determined, he gritted his teeth and concentrated his efforts. He stretched the fingers of his right hand, then the left. A moan escaped his lips, and he sucked in his breath as pins and needles danced across his nerves.

Metal scraped and clanged against stone as he dragged his right arm in toward his body. Panic knotted his empty belly, and he pushed himself up to a sitting position. Something bit into his wrists, weighing him down, restricting his movement. Something cold and wet scraped against his leg, a chain. Shackles bound each wrist and ankle. He grunted and tried to tug them free, but the more he fought against them, the tighter they held him.

A scream so raw with anger and despair surged up from his gut and exploded from his throat. He screamed and clawed at the ground in a red rage until he collapsed. Exhausted and defeated, he curled into a ball and stared at the flame winking in the distance, teasing him, taunting him. His stomach clenched in spasm after spasm, and he prayed for death to take him, to save him from this misery.

“Even death can’t save you now, Kaemon.” Aaron flinched as a finger traced his spine, ice-cold, dangerous. “It’s too late for that,” a voice whispered in his ear.

Pretty Dark Sacrifice - available NOW!

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The Series: Pretty Dark Nothing

It’s time to choose: Love or lies, faith or fear, darkness or destiny. Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.

Pretty Dark Nothing [1]

Quinn is a normal teenager, but for 23 days she has not slept for more than a few minutes at a time. Demons have invaded her dreams, stalking her and whispering of her death. The lack of sleep and crippling fear are ruining her life, and energy drinks and caffeine pills don't help. Then Quinn dozes off in the school hallway, and Aaron, an amnesiac with psychic ability, accidentally enters her nightmare. Aaron has a secret locked away in his memory that the demons are determined to keep him from discovering. Together, Quinn and Aaron can banish the darkness back to the underworld for good, but the demons will stop at nothing to drive the two apart. [Published 26 March 2014, 250 pages]

Excerpt from Quinn’s Point of View

The dark ring of fog surrounded Quinn, moonlight eerily absorbed by its gray green mist. Something cold and damp brushed her leg. It felt like a human hand, a dead human hand, the moistness of its earthen grave still clung to its rotting flesh. Bile rose in her throat, and she swallowed hard to keep from vomiting. She shuddered as the corporal mist found her palm, inched its way between fingers, and seized both of her wrists, binding them together. Jerking away from the smoke’s grasp only succeeded in it tightening the grip of living rope until pain danced across every nerve.

Before she could blink, two new wraith vines shot from the darkness, grabbing her legs and slamming her to the forest floor. She clawed at the ground as the tendrils dragged her into the fog. Dirt lodged under her fingernails. The earthy decay, disturbed from its winter slumber, filled her nostrils.

“We’re coming for you, Quinn,” the fog hissed.

Earth to earth. The image of her parents throwing a handful of dirt over her coffin as it was lowered into the ground came unbidden to her mind. Tears slid from her eyes. She didn’t want to die.

More tendrils slithered toward her, swirling and changing into dozens of dark shadow masses. They crowded around, their bodies blacker than the surrounding night.

“You can’t get away. He doesn’t protect you anymore.” The dark shadows reached for her. “There’s no escape, Quinn. Earth to earth. Everyone dies. Some sooner than others.”

About the Author

Heather L. Reid is both American and British and has called six different cities in three different countries, home.

Her strong sense of wanderlust and craving for a new adventure mean you might find her wandering the moors of her beloved Scotland, exploring haunted castles, or hiking through a magical forest in search of fairies and sprites.

When she’s not venturing into the unknown in her real life, she loves getting lost in the worlds of video games or curling up by the fire with good story.

For now, this native Texan is back in the Lone Star State, settling down with her Scottish husband and writing new tales of fantasy and horror.

Follow Heather L. Reid:

Giveaway and Tour Stops

Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of Pretty Dark Sacrifice (Pretty Dark Nothing #2) by Heather L. Reid (INT) – a Rafflecopter giveaway
Remember to comment to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway