Team Nightly by Kate Porter Book Tour and Giveaway :)
**books
can be read as standalones in any order!**
Chase Nightly, L'Uccisore
Team
Nightly Book 1
by
Kate Porter
Genre:
Urban Fantasy
Chase
Nightly is a born and bred Georgia boy from Savannah, who loves his
job as a social studies teacher, his bachelorhood and his widowed
mother.
Rae
Chandler is a contemporary big city woman with no desire to change
that fact; as different from Chase as night and day with one
important exception: They are both leaders of elite teams of vampire
slayers called Uccisore, but with very different territories. When
Rae shows up in Savannah for reasons other than visiting family,
Chase demands to know her true motives. Sparks fly the moment they
meet and past life memories surface, memories that keep Rae off
balance and terrified that destiny will claim her heart once
more.
When
Gordon Charles, Vampire King, kidnaps Chase’s mother, the two
leaders must join forces and put their chaotic feelings aside to save
her from becoming the Vampire Queen.
A
heavy pulse throbbed beneath the scar he carried high on the right
side of his chest. The deep, five-inch long mark served as a
fundamental reminder of where, at the age of seventeen, he’d taken
a blade from one of their brethren. In that same attack he’d lost
the father he all but worshiped. Now, the memento of that vicious
battle served as a warning. It would start with a light tingle, more
of a tickle really. Then, as the enemy closed in, the tickle became a
pulse, then a deep, aching throb. The
darkness was as thick and heavy as the sultry night air. He knew they
were there slithering around in the shadows. The stench of them
hovered around him like a tangible thing clawing with razor sharp
talons at his senses. The rotting garbage and human waste overflowing
the rusted green dumpster did nothing to hinder the fetid stink of
death they carried with them. The
languid half-moon hung high in the cloudless black sky casting its
silvery light over those who stood to face the evil. His team spanned
the entrance of the alleyway peering into the dense black. All faces
a mask of determination. No sign of fear or dread crept into a single
pair of eyes, eyes already accustomed to the dark. They were a team
of linea
di sangue uccisore di vampiri—bloodline
slayers of the vampires—trained from the cradle to end that which
preyed on the humans who refused to believe vampires were real and
not a figment of Hollywood’s twisted, macabre imagination. But
the vampires were as real as the people they’d once been when their
hearts beat. They slunk among the shadows. They hid. They watched as
the uccisore watched.
Team
Nightly: seven elite warriors all armed with steel swords, wooden
stakes and enhanced senses of l’uccisore. The team stood in silent
sentry . . . watching . . . waiting. The anticipation of the coming
battle set their blood humming and their hearts pounding heavily in
their chests.
Chuck,
Simon, and Sheila held to their leader’s right flank as Michael,
Gabe, and Tony held to his left waiting for Chase Nightly, team
leader, to give them the order to attack. Their purpose, their
spirits were as one as Chase took the first step, slowly moving into
the darkness with only one objective: to end the vampires. With
a barely perceptible nod the silent command was given. A single step
behind their leader, swords held at the ready, the team was dressed
in black to blend with the night. Chase
saw the red eyes blazing at him through the shadows like burning
embers; sharp fangs glistened wetly in the slanted beam of moonlight.
Without warning and with a speed endemic to the undead two of them
flew at Chase. With the deadly accurate speed of a blood-line
uccisore, he raised his sword to strike but the vampire sprang high
into the air above him, slipping past Chase’s blade and out of his
reach. Like striking lightening, the vamp came at him again. Behind
him, Chase heard the clashing swords and grunts from landed blows of
his team as they took up the battle around him. One
vampire came from his left as another came from his right, with the
practiced precision of a well-choreographed dance he took the
first one’s head. In less than a heartbeat the vampire exploded
into a cloud of gray ash, drifting to the ground to mingle with dirt
and refuse. He took the head of the second before the dust of the
first had settled. “Not as fast as you should have been, were you?”
he asked the two, now ended vampires. A
trickle of sweat slid down Chase’s brow to drip into a pair of
clear, green eyes. He swiped the back of his left hand across his
forehead, spinning around simultaneously to block with his right arm
a lethal fist as it swung at Chase’s head. The pain sang through
muscle and bone to his shoulder, numbing his whole arm and nearly
causing him to release his grip on his sword. The
hot Savannah night air was still, not a whisper of a breeze could be
felt as the living battled the walking dead. The sweat soaked through
the material of the uccisori clothing plastering it to their powerful
bodies. The intense heat wasn’t a problem for those they fought:
the dead did not perspire. Chase
kept his mind and concentration on the battle at hand but never lost
sight of his team. He watched as Gabe swung his sword with the
enthusiasm of a boy playing a favorite video game only three feet
away. With a hearty laugh and a sarcastic, “You fight like a girl,”
to his opponent, Gabe dodged to the left, barely evading the bunched
fist. If the blow had landed it could very well have taken off Gabe’s
head. The
vamps didn’t usually use man made weapons, preferring to rip their
opponent apart with fangs and fists. But should a weapon come to
hand, they had no compunction about using it. Their only thought was
to feed their insatiable hunger and to do what their king ordered.
One compulsion was as strong as the other. “Don’t
get cocky,” Chase called out. “Sheila could whip your ass, and
you know it.” He slashed his sword at another vampire severing its
hand but doing little to slow it down. The fallen appendage turned to
ash before it hit the filth strewn ground. “Hey,
now that would be an ass kicking I could get into,” Gabe said with
another laugh as he took the head off a vamp. Gabe’s golden blond
hair took on a snowy sheen in the moonlight as he dodged and parried
with another vampire. His antics were ignored by the vampires he
fought.
“You’re
still an arrogant ass, Gabe,” Sheila said between thrusting her
sword and letting a stake fly. “And kicking yours wouldn’t be as
much fun for you as it would be for me.” When her stake met its
mark and a vamp exploded into dust, Sheila let out a victorious laugh
of her own. “You would be in too much pain when I tie a knot in
your dick and stake your balls to your ass,” she promised. She
dropped low to the ground knees bent, then swung her right leg to
catch another vampire behind the knee bringing him to the ground with
a hard thump. Before the vampire could regain his feet she had
another stake in her hand from the supply she had looped in her thick
leather belt, and plunged it into its chest. Barely a second
later and covered in vamp dust she bounded to her feet to take on two
more that advanced on her.
Hunter's Sword
Team
Nightly Book 2
Armed
with family legends and a blessed sword dating back to the first
crusades, Hunter Blackfox leaves the reservation in Cherokee, North
Carolina to replace a fallen member of Team Nightly and help protect
the city of Savannah, Georgia.
His
life is about to change…
When
he first lays eyes on Sheila Maxson, he likens her to Aphrodite,
Helen of Troy, and Jackie Onassis—sex, beauty, and class—all
rolled into one, long, luscious package just for him.
Sheila
Maxson is a seasoned member of Team Nightly and a bloodline uccisore
gifted with exceptional speed and agility on the battlefield. But
she’s battling more than the rising number of vampires. The
horrific memories of an event that took place only days after 9/11
when she, her brother Michael, and their aging grandfather tried to
protect first responders from frenzied vampires, as they searched for
survivors at ground zero, are slowly chipping away at Sheila’s
emotional armor. With the added guilt of losing a friend and uccisore
brother in battle, the short fuse of her control is burning
fast.
Each
time she and Hunter are in the same vicinity, Sheila goes on the
attack and Hunter has no option but to fight back. Until the night
Chase and Rae’s daughter is born and the vampire king breaches the
hospital nursery. The bickering teammates must team up to protect the
innocent newborn.
Hunter
must find a way to bring down the walls that Sheila has erected
around herself in order to save not just Chase and Rae’s baby, but
the woman of his dreams as well.
As
word comes to them that Hunter’s Sword is coveted by Gordon
Charles, Vampire King, the entire team must find a way to keep it out
of vampire clutches.
Gordon
Charles will do whatever he must to corrupt the powers of the sword
and sway its magic to benefit his cause. To do that he must spill
Luccisore blood…Sheila’s blood.
The
heat of rage radiated off of Hunter Blackfox in rippling waves as he
stormed through the door. It flew open with such force that it
slammed against the wall with a resounding boom. “Did
you or did you not bring me in as your Second?” he said with a
guttural growl as his boots thundered across the threshold. Hunter
wasn’t so far over the edge with his anger that he didn’t see the
momentary confusion cross Chase Nightly’s face. A too long lock of
black hair fell across Chase’s forehead before he brushed it back,
piercing Hunter with his bottle green eyes. It only took a moment for
Hunter to see when realization had sunk into his boss. “Aw
shit. What has Sheila done now?” A mixture of frustration and
resignation brewed in Chase’s voice like bitter, day-old coffee as
Hunter watched Team Nightly’s leader fall back in his chair and
throw the pen he’d been writing with on the desk. “What’s
she done? I’ll tell you what she’s done!” Hunter bellowed, as
fury turned his dark eyes almost black. “That woman is a menace.
She needs to be locked up for the safety of the human race before she
has a chance to breed.” “Hunter,”
Chase said wearily, as he rubbed his red-rimmed eyes. “I haven’t
had a lot of sleep the past three nights. Subtlety is not working
here. What happened?” Hunter could see the unspoken end of his
question, “this time,” in Chase’s face. “Every
time we get within sight of each other, she tries to stake my ass,”
he said as he began pacing the small area. “Then she does this,
‘oops, my bad’ lame-assed apology.” He
pulled off the remains of his tattered, blood streaked shirt and let
it drop to the floor at his feet. “Look at this, Chase. She tried
to kill me. Again!”
Blood oozed from a long jagged slash from his left shoulder to his
elbow and tracks of red trickled down his forearm. A matching wound
marred the skin of his right side from his collarbone to the joint of
his shoulder. “Okay,”
Chase said as he blew out a breath. He rubbed the back of his neck.
“That doesn’t look so bad. Was it a training accident?” “You
wish, Boss. And that’s not the damn point. For God’s sake, she
tried to freaking kill me!” Hunter
placed his large hands on the desk and leaned in to face his uccisore
team leader. “I was minding my own business, standing in the
kitchen at The Blue Mermaid talking to Carly and Tony before they
opened for the lunch crowd. The next thing I know, Xena, Warrior
Lunatic barges through the back door, grabs up a butcher’s knife
and comes at me like I’m a vamp ready to sink my fangs into
someone. A move like that would have killed a normal person.” He
pushed off the desk and resumed his marching pace back and forth
across the carpet, before stopping and dropping his six foot three
inch, two hundred pound frame, into a chair. His body deflated just a
bit with the release of some of the steam his anger and frustration
had built up inside of him. His bare shoulders slumped and his head
fell forward in defeat. Hunter’s
ebony hair was pulled back into a thick tail that fell between his
shoulder blades, and tied with a hand beaded, leather strap, a gift
from his Aunt Lucy. She and Uncle Been had raised him and his brother
Lucas, after their parents were killed in a tragic accident in Peru
while exploring an ancient ruin. His Native American heritage showed
proudly in his high, sculpted cheekbones, straight, thin nose and
dark copper-toned skin. The birthmark he carried over his heart in
the shape of a soaring bird was as much a point of pride to him as
the two bloodlines that flowed in his veins. “What
the hell is up with that woman, Chase?” he asked in a lower voice.
“I’ve never done a thing to her that I know of, but since the
moment we met she has been the bane of my existence. Why does she
hate me like that? Did I wrong her in a past life or something?” “I
don’t know, Hunter,” Chase said. “In all the years I’ve known
Sheila Maxson, I have never seen her take an instant dislike to
someone like she has to you. She’s never been the overly friendly
sort but this is out of character even for her.”
“I
have been in Savannah for six months and from day one that woman has
treated me like her mortal enemy. I just don’t get it.” Hunter’s
wide, full lips drooped into a frown like a little boy who’s had
his favorite toy taken away from him. He
remembered the first day he’d met Sheila. He had walked into The
Blue Mermaid for his first meeting of Team Nightly. He’d arrived in
town two days before and Chase had told him to get settled into his
new home first and he would introduce the team at the next meeting.
The condo that Chase had found for Hunter before he’d left North
Carolina, was perfect for him. Two bedrooms and two baths on the
first floor of a brand new development. It didn’t take Hunter long
to unpack, since he’d had most of his things shipped down ahead of
time and, apparently, Chase had the whole team getting the condo
ready for his
arrival. Hunter was impressed and warmed by the act and felt at home
almost immediately. Still, he wasn’t sure how the team would accept
him as their new second in command since the man he was replacing had
been loved like a brother by all. He
had walked into the restaurant with the intention of giving them his
gratitude and wanted to extend a hand in friendship and camaraderie.
His first reaction to the sight of Sheila, however, had been a primal
one. Hunter
was a large man and when he saw the leggy, blond amazon with her back
to him, his libido had gone into overdrive and he hadn’t even seen
her face yet. His first thought had been, “Her mouth would come
almost even with mine. I won’t even have to stoop much to kiss
her.” When
everyone at the table stopped talking at his approach, she turned
around to face him. His breath caught and his step hitched ever so
slightly. She was Aphrodite, Helen of Troy, and Jackie Onassis rolled
into the perfect woman. Sex, beauty, and class melded into one long,
luscious package just for Hunter Blackfox. He
couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He could see his reaction to her
reflected in Sheila’s astonished eyes and parted lips, and his
heart fluttered as though it were ready to take flight on the wings
of the dove that graced his broad chest. By
the time Chase had introduced him to the team, including Chase’s
wife Rae, Sheila’s entire demeanor had changed to one of intense,
unprovoked animosity. It
had shocked him and, if truth be told, hurt him. “I
know Hunter.” Chase’s words brought him back to the troubles of
his most recent encounter with his soul mate/mortal enemy. “I don’t
understand her reaction to you either. I’ll see what I can find
out.”
“When
I left the rez, I thought my life would get a little more exciting
but, damn Boss, I’d rather fight a dozen vamps unarmed and
bleeding, than deal with her one more day.” Hunter’s resignation
vibrated through him, replacing the anger that he’d carried when he
barreled into Chase’s office. “Have
you tried talking to her? Have you asked her what was going on?”
Chase asked, sounding slightly distracted. Dumbfounded
at the obviously ridiculous question, Hunter gave Chase a “get
real” smirk. “Well, gee whiz, Boss. Why didn’t I think of that
the first time she tried to take my head off?” “Hunter,
for the love of God and my own sanity, cut me some damn slack here.”
The plea that came out of his team leader caused a moment of guilt to
flash across Hunter’s mind. “Rae has had me up for three fucking
nights. This heat has her miserable and the baby is due in two weeks.
Between Rae’s moods, my mother’s constant sniping, dealing with
my students, and your and Sheila’s piddly-assed squabbles, I am
ready to walk into a nest of feeding vamps and open a vein for them.” Chase
was right. Hunter’s problems with the woman weren’t his boss’s
jurisdiction. “Okay. I’m sorry to drop this on you, too.” He
lifted his hands and dropped them back into his lap as though at a
loss for words. “Of course I tried to talk to her. More than once,
in fact, and all I get is a ‘what do you mean?’ response like she
treats everyone the same. I know better. Her brother is my best
friend and he’s even baffled by her attitude.Seeing
the fatigue etched in Chase’s face, Hunter felt ashamed that he’d
piled one more issue onto Chase’s already overloaded shoulders. It
was Hunter’s job as Second to ease the burden on the team leader.
His ongoing battle with the only active female on the team had kept
him from focusing on his duties, something that had never happened
before. Hunter
Blackfox never let his responsibilities slide. His emotions were held
in rigid check and no one had ever shaken that control before. His
last girlfriend had asked, as she was walking out the door, if he was
due back at the robot shop for his annual upgrade and reboot. She had
called him a cold, emotionless, bastard with no idea of what the word
intimacy really meant. He knew she wasn’t talking sex. He had no
problems functioning in that respect. “Look,
don’t worry about it,” he continued. “You have enough to deal
with. I’ll handle Sheila and whatever else comes up. I was just
blowing off steam and I shouldn’t have bothered you with my
personal issues. I came in here spoiling for a fight and since I
can’t beat the shit out of a woman I figured I’d . . . hell, I
don’t know what I wanted to do.” Chase
chuckled and said, “First of all, I can empathize with you on a few
of those points. When Rae and I first met, we tore into each other in
front of her eleven-year-old niece who happened to be one of my
students at the time.” Hunter
had to laugh at the mention of Chandra Chandler. That pint-sized
uccisore in training, thought she could take on Gordon Charles,
vampire king, all by herself. “Chandra
probably instigated it,” Hunter joked. “Nah,”
Chase said with a smile. “Rae did. Believe me, we had some shit
between us back then. The point is, buddy, we worked through it.
You and Sheila need to find some common ground and at least try to
build an amicable working relationship. I need you both in top form
and working as a team.” Chase
was silent for a moment, and Hunter knew there was more that his team
leader needed to tell him. “There’s been some stirrings in the
wind, Hunter.” Hunter
leaned closer, narrowing his eyes. “What’s happened?” he asked,
suddenly all business. “They
found another floater last night. That’s three in a week. Dalton
told me this morning that he’s gotten half a dozen reports on
missing persons from here, Hilton Head, and even up in Beaufort.
That’s not counting tourists in transit and unreported runaways.” “Shit.
Any news on Gordon Charles’ whereabouts yet?” Hunter asked. “Not
a whisper. But we know he’s still building his army even after
closing down his lair last year. He’s found someplace else to nest. “I
got word from a friend in Charleston a few minutes before you stormed
in here that a couple of bodies have gone missing from their morgue a
few nights ago,” Chase informed his second in command. “They’ll
keep me posted. They’ve also had an increase in vamp activity. I
was going to tell everyone about all of this at the meeting tonight.”
“It
doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, Boss. There hasn’t been much
movement since I joined the team. And I was beginning to wonder if
maybe you didn’t really need the extra help. Why now, after so much
time?” “That’s
a good question. We need to find out the answer and fast. The last
time my team went up against Gordon, Rae put a hurting on his
ass we’d all hoped would be fatal to the son of a bitch. It may
have taken him all this time to recover from his wounds.” Chase
rubbed his hands over his face, his rough palms rasping against a
day’s growth of beard. “My first responsibility should be to my
team . . .” Chase let his words fade away. Hunter
caught the flash of emotion that crossed the other man’s face and
another wave of guilt washed over him. “No, Chase. Your first
responsibility is to your wife and child. It’s my job to take up
the slack and I’ve been letting myself get side tracked. “No
more,” Hunter vowed as he stood up. “Why don’t you get some
rest? I’ll handle whatever comes up. You have a few hours before
the meeting and if you want, I’ll fill in the team on what we
discussed.” He
headed for the door and stooped to pick up the remains of his
bloodied shirt and shook his head in disgust. “I can’t believe I
let this happen.”
“We
all have issues, Hunter. Deal with it and move on. You should have
Simon look at those cuts for you,” Chase suggested. “They may not
be deep but they’re probably painful.” “Will
do, Boss.”
Before
Hunter walked through the door, Chase said, “And Hunter, a word of
advice.” Hunter turned back with a questioning quirk of his dark
brow. “Sheila can be a button pusher. Yours, where she’s
concerned at least, are bright neon and easily accessed.” Sheila
was the only person—man or woman—that pushed said buttons with
ease and relish, and it pissed Hunter off that he rose to her bait
each time she dangled it. “What’s your point?” “Stop
reacting to her.” “Yeah.
I’ll get right on that,” Hunter grunted as he disappeared down
the hall, grumbling to himself about some women needing to be locked
up in a padded cell. “My
goodness, Hunter, you look like a man on a mission,” Rae Nightly’s
voice broke into his tirade from the other end of the hall. When he
saw her waddle toward him a gentle smile crossed his face, easing
away the tension. Her short dark hair accentuated her pixie face,
making her blue eyes seem bigger and her dimpled cheeks a little more
obvious. “Hi,
Rae. How are you feeling?” Hunter asked, watching mesmerized as she
caressed her hugely rounded belly. “As
well as can be expected for a woman in her fifteenth month of
pregnancy on the hottest day of summer.” She grimaced slightly
before looking past him toward the office. “Were you just in to see
Chase?” “Yes,
ma’am. He’s in his office. Anything I can help you with? I’d be
happy to help out and give the boss a break.” “That’s
so sweet of you, but I just wanted to tell Chase that I’m heading
over to my brother’s place,” she said as she started to waddle
around him in search of her husband. “Shouldn’t
you be resting or something?” he asked, concerned. “Oh,
pooh. I’m fine. I feel wonderful as a matter of fact. I feel like I
could take on a horde of vamps then vacuum up the dust.” “Well,”
he replied, not knowing what to say to that. Hunter’s eyes darted
from Rae’s face to protruding abdomen then back into her big blue
eyes, alight with humor at his obvious discomfort in the presence of
a woman in her condition. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll, uh, I’ll
just let myself out.” “You
do that. I’ll see you later at The Blue Mermaid.” She turned to
go and Hunter could hear her soft laughter behind him. There
were very few things that frightened Hunter Blackfox. The second
scariest thing on his list of horrifying events was extremely
pregnant women. Specifically, not knowing what to do should they go
into labor and he was required to deliver the baby. His Aunt Lucy in
a fury topped the list.
Keys to the Mermaid's Heart
Team
Nightly Book 3
A
mythical sapphire, a family legend, and a lost treasure, could lead
Carly Harden to her fondest dreams . . . or her worst nightmare.
Now
that Carly has revealed her secret, that she knows who and what Team
Nightly is, Tony Sargento, chef of the Blue Mermaid restaurant,
empath, and Carly’s boss, is furious with her. His jealousy at
Carly’s close friendship with Rhett James, the newest team member,
isn’t helping him calm his anger.
That
she’s been in love with Tony since the day they’d met, is one
thing she would never disclose. His anger at her is breaking her
heart and her past is preventing her from trusting him fully.
In
order to help the team locate an artifact that Gordon Charles, King
of the Vampires, is after, Carly digs a little deeper into the family
lore behind the key that she’s worn on a chain since she was a
little girl. She soon comes to believe that it is one of three needed
to open a lost treasure chest. One that is said to hold the Mermaid’s
Heart: a massive sapphire that is said to hold mystical powers and
created by Zeus himself.
The
powers that legend has attached to the Mermaid’s Heart, are said to
be boundless, granting the one who holds it their fondest wishes.
But
when Gordon Charles gets word that Carly is the owner of one of the
fabled keys to the Heart, he sends his minions to retrieve it, no
matter the cost.
After
Carly is attacked and nearly killed, Tony and Rhett must try to set
aside their ongoing battle, to win her heart, in order to protect
her. Even with the help of Team Nightly, it may not be enough to save
her . . . unless they find the Keys to the Mermaid’s Heart.
“Oh,
my God! You still have that? Do you still collect keys, Carly?”
Scarlett asked, the wicked humor in her eyes replaced by curiosity. “Of
course I still have it. And yes, I still collect keys. As a matter of
fact, this key is the reason I had to work at the Blue Mermaid.” “A
key made you want to work at the Mermaid?” Sheila asked, as she
began wiping up the mess she’d made. “How on earth does that
little gold key link you to a restaurant in Savannah, where you’d
never been before?” “This
key absolutely made me want to work at the restaurant. You see,
Sheila, when Grammy gave this key to me she told me the story of The
Mermaid’s Heart. When
I saw the sign outside The Blue Mermaid, I knew I had to go inside
and see if they were hiring.” “What
is The
Mermaid’s Heart?”
Sheila asked. A
light of exhilaration gleamed in Carly’s dark eyes, causing the
dimples in her cheeks to deepen as her smile widened. “Oh,
no, Sheila! Please don’t get her started?” Scarlett pleaded, then
groaned when she saw Carly’s face. “Well, crap. Too late, she’s
got that ‘it’s story time’ look on her face.” Scarlett
pushed herself from her chair and grabbed her empty glass. “I need
more alcohol if I have to listen to that story again.” “Ooo,
me too!” Carly said, holding her glass out to Scarlett, playfully.
Sheila drained the last sip from hers as well and held it out,
munching on another cube of cheese. “Hell,
I might as well just bring another bottle in here,” Scarlett said
and set her glass back down before heading to the kitchen. “So
tell me,” Sheila said, sitting back in her chair and tucking her
mile long legs beneath her as she focused her attention on Carly. “This
key,” Carly said, swinging it a little as she spoke. “Was given
to me by my maternal grandmother when I was nine years old.” The
soft light from the lamp sent dazzling sparks of gold light dancing
off of it and onto her face. Scarlett
returned with the bottle and refilled all three glasses. She set the
bottle on the table, next to the empty one, with a soft clunk. “Do
you still have that old cigar box full of keys?” “Yes
and it’s held together with duct tape and rubber bands. I really
need to find something else to keep them in.” “Get
back to the story, Carly.” Sheila insisted, narrowing her eyes at
Scarlett who groaned and flopped back on the couch. “The key?” “Right.
Anyway, when Grammy gave this to me she told me the story behind it.”
Carly picked up her glass and took a sip before continuing with the
family legend. She told Sheila of how her third—or was it her
fourth?—great-grandmother Charlotte’s older brother, Jacob, and
two of his friends had been visiting family in Savannah, in the
spring of 1861. The boys had been playing in the woods and stumbled
upon a hidden cave where they’d found three keys and a treasure
chest. When
they opened the chest they’d found it filled with gold and jewels.
A pirate’s treasure to be sure. But, the chest had been too big and
too heavy for the boys to carry out of the cave. So, they each took a
key and made a pact that they would all return together the next day
with a wagon to haul away their treasure and they would never tell a
living soul what they’d found. “They
were supposed to meet the next afternoon,” Carly continued. “But
when Jacob returned home he was forced to leave for California, along
with his mother and baby sister. Fort Sumter had been fired upon and
the Civil War had begun.” “You
mean, ‘The War of Northern Aggression’ had begun, Carly. Get your
facts straight, girl,” Scarlett teased. Carly
ignored the jibe, rolling her eyes at Scarlett. “As I was saying,
Jacob’s father was going to join the Confederate army and made
plans to meet them in San Francisco after the war. This key has been
passed down in my family ever since.” “So
did Jacob tell anyone about the treasure?” “Nope.
None except for Charlotte, that is, but that wasn’t until about
seven years later. Right after their mother had died. Charlotte
was…let me think.” She paused for a moment. “She was nine at
the time and Jacob was around sixteen, I think Grammy said. He told
the story to Charlotte and gave her the key, with the promise to
never tell a soul. After their mother died, they’d been evicted,
and lived homeless and hungry for nearly a year.” “Holy
crap!”
Carly yelled, sitting bolt upright as a realization struck her, the
sudden curse jolting the other women out of the story. “Damn
it, Carly, don’t do that!” Sheila groused as she wiped more
spilled wine from her denim clad leg. “I spilled my wine all over
me, again.” “Sorry.
I just can’t believe I never made the connection before,” Carly
explained. “What
connection?” Scarlett asked. “Charlotte
was given the key when she was nine years old. Jacob and his friends
found the key when Jacob was nine years old and Grammy gave me this
key when I was nine years old.” “You
know, Carly,” Scarlett said, her face taking on what Carly knew to
be her serious look. “Nine is a magical number. You say that all
the women who possessed the key passed it on to their daughters when
they were nine. It has to mean something. Female power, maybe.” “Actually,
Jacob found the key, not Charlotte,” Carly pointed out. “Yes,
but he was nine at the time and Charlotte was what? Two? He could
have been the key’s protector until Charlotte was old enough to
take possession of it.” “That
could be a possibility,” Carly agreed, nodding thoughtfully. “Okay.
Cute story, Carly, Sheila interjected. “But I still don’t get the
connection to The Blue Mermaid.” “One
of the jewels they’d found in the treasure chest when Jacob and his
friends opened it was a huge blue sapphire called The Mermaid’s
Heart. Get it? Blue sapphire? Mermaid’s heart?” At
Sheila’s still confused face, Carly huffed out, “Geez, Sheila,
really?” “No,
I get that part of it,” Sheila said. “I’m just amazed at how
everything came together to bring you here to Savannah. You were on
your way to Florida to find your sister, but first you stopped in
Atlanta where you met Scarlett. The two of you hit it off,
apparently, as though you’d been friends forever. Not to mention
her twin brother is bloodline. That’s where you were indoctrinated
into the world of vampires and uccisori.” Carly
bit into a cracker, her focus on Sheila as she plowed on. “When you
left Atlanta, you landed here and got a job at a restaurant that, low
and behold, is owned and operated by the Second to the local uccisore
team leader.”
“Now,”
Sheila looked at Scarlett as she continued to speak. “Scarlett, you
and your brother, have also landed smack in the middle of that very
same town and working at The Blue Mermaid. Sounds like way too much
coincidence for my peace of mind.” “Are
you suggesting that we planned all of this, Sheila?” Scarlett
asked, the insult rippling off of her like a heat wave. “Because if
you are, I’m more than happy to face your ass on the sparring mat.” “Oh,
God no!” Sheila said, almost apologetically. Almost, Carly thought
as she tried to hide a smile. “I didn’t mean that at all. I’m
just saying that maybe it was destiny, or fate, or karma, or whatever
you want to call it that brought us all together in the same place,” “Okay,”
Scarlett said as she picked up her wine to take a sip. “I get that,
too, now that you’ve mentioned it. But, what I don’t get is where
you’re going with that link,” “I’m
not going anywhere with it. I’m just highlighting some of the finer
points of Carly’s story.” Sheila stretched her arms over her
head. “Where the hell is Hunter? He’s supposed to be picking me
up and I’m so tired I could fall asleep right here in this chair.”
“Maybe
we should see if we can find the other two keys, Carly,” Scarlett
suggested, ignoring Sheila’s scowl. “I
could do some research,” Carly offered. “Try to find out if there
really is such a gem as The Mermaid’s Heart. See if there are any
records of current owners, that kind of thing.”
“And
maybe we can locate the other two keys while you’re at it.”
Scarlett’s excitement had started to bubble over as she leaned
closer to Carly. “Sounds
like loads of fun, ladies,” Sheila said, stretching her back. “On
second thought, no it doesn’t. I’ll pass on the treasure hunting,
I’d rather go out staking vampires. More fun and less chance of
failure. Besides, my hands are full enough just keeping Hunter from
getting himself killed.” “Party
pooper,” Carly said, then stuck out her tongue at her friend. “Right,
and all that sex has nothing to do with it either. Right Sheila?”
Scarlett said. “What
can I say?” Sheila asked with a glimmer in her eyes and a huge
smirk on her face. “The man loves me and wants to keep me happy.
I’m not a stupid woman. When it comes to a choice between treasure
hunting and multiple orgasms, what would you choose?”
“She’s
got us there, Scarlett,” Carly said, with a deep sigh. “But she
doesn’t have to rub it in with such relish.” “Oh,
sweetie, don’t worry. Tony will be back next week and he can clean
out the cobwebs for you,” Scarlett said, in an overly sympathetic
tone that caused a crimson flush to flood over Carly’s face. “That’s
it, Scarlett, you are officially off the treasure hunting team.”
“Like
hell!” Scarlett chortled. “Besides, Rhett can help with the
research on the other two boys. He’s a whiz at genealogy and nearly
as good with hacking as you are. He’s followed our line all the way
back to the fifteenth century.” “I’m
not a hacker, I’m just better with computers than most people, but
that’s still a great idea. I’ll ask him tomorrow.” Carly
started to give Scarlett the beginnings of her plan to find the
missing keys when a knock at the front door halted all conversation. “That
must be Hunter,” Sheila said as she unfolded herself from her seat
and stood up. “I’ll catch you guys later. Have fun with your
treasure hunting.” As
the door closed behind Sheila, Carly and Scarlett put their heads
together to plan their strategy. As the hours passed and notebooks
filled with ideas of where to look for the elusive keys, Carly
couldn’t help wondering if maybe Sheila hadn’t hit on a very
solid point about Carly being lead to Savannah, via Atlanta, for a
reason. She fingered the key again as she often did while deep in
thought.
Redemption Stone
Team
Nightly Book 4
The
only thing keeping the beast at bay is THE REDEMPTION STONE.
Chuck
Logan fled Ireland fourteen years ago, letting his family believe him
dead, like his brother, Matty. When he landed on America’s shores
he was a feral werewolf, but everything changed when a special boy
and his father found him and gave him the gift of redemption.
Now,
Chuck has found his true mate in Scarlett James, and he is terrified
that he has now put her life in danger. Walking away after only one
night with Scarlett is the only way to keep her safe. Ashley Connor,
a wolf with an agenda, has set her sights on mating with Chuck and
building an invincible pack that will rule the entire region. She
will do whatever it takes to have her way, including partnering with
Gordon Charles, the Vampire King.
After
Chuck and Scarlett are attacked by a vampire who miraculously morphs
into a wolf, the reality of this new, and seemingly indestructible,
threat must be eradicated before Ashely Connor and Gordon Charles
have the chance to build their army…It may already be too late!
Charlie
Logan couldn’t believe his father had allowed him to bring Mattie
on patrol without another teammate along. Da had always been
protective of Mattie, being the youngest of his three children, never
allowing him to come along on a hunt. This
night, however, Da had told him Mattie was ready to take his place on
Team Logan. Charlie had trained hard and their father trusted that he
was strong enough and wise enough to keep his little brother out of
trouble.
After
all, they were bloodline uccisori; a bold and powerful lineage of
vampire slayers dating back to the First Crusades. No
vamps had been seen in their assigned patrol area and Charlie was
looking for an easy night ahead. That was alright, though. It would
give his little brother a bit of learning but he’d still be safe
enough to appease their parents’ worries. There’d
been attacks bordering near the northern edge of the village but
those had been more animal than vamp attacks, from what Charlie had
heard at the pub. There had been one report of a vamp attack in the
southernmost sector where he and Mattie now patrolled, but that one
had been ended by their father two nights before. Charlie
looked over at his brother and grinned at the intensity that set the
boy’s face in a grim mask. Mattie
may be a pain in the arse, but he was still his brother and Charlie
loved him. The
silvery glow of the full moon gave the night a surreal feeling as the
brothers strode across the meadow, armed with swords strapped to
their backs and wooden stakes shoved into their boots and belts. “You
look like you’re ready to jump out of your skin, Mattie. Try to
relax your grip on your sword. You’ll have more control if we’re
set upon by vamps.” “Did
you hear that, Charlie?” Mattie asked softly as he halted his
steps. Charlie
tilted his head and scanned the edge of the woods, searching the
shadows for any movement. “I
didn’t hear anything. Probably just the wind,” he told Mattie,
after a long moment of quiet. “It
was a rustling in the bush.” Mattie pointed directly in front of
them. “There. In the verge of the tree line. I think we should see
what it was. I’d love to end the bastards that hurt Uncle Stephen.” “That
was to the west of here, Mattie. Besides, Uncle Stephen said he’d
ended the vamps that jumped him. Remember?” “Right,”
Mattie said with a nervous laugh. “But they move around fast, you
know. As quick as lightning. They’ll sink their fangs into you
before you know what’s happening. I remember what both Da and Uncle
Stephen taught us . . . and you’d best remember, too, Charlie.” Charlie
gave his brother a nod as he, too, remembered the story. A chill ran
through him as he scanned the shadows, once more. News
had come to the team, earlier that week, that vamps had been seen
killing sheep at a local farm. Stephen McGinnis, their father’s
Second in Command, and a man Charlie and Mattie had known the whole
of their lives, had gone with stake and sword in hand to find the
vamps that terrorized that area. He’d been attacked and, though no
one truly knew what happened, they’d torn at him like animals; bite
and claw marks covering his body, before he finally ended them. Or,
so the story was told. When Guinness was flowing, the stories tended
to grow to unbelievable ends. Charlie
knew his little brother wanted to prove himself on his first mission
and show their father, that he was just as capable of ending vamps as
any other member of Team Logan. It was, after all, his birthright. “Lead
the way, little brother. This is your night.”
“No,
wait. I’m wrong,” he corrected as his dimples flashed. “That
would be this weekend coming. I hear you’re taking pretty Brenna
Muldoon to the pub for dancing Saturday. You can regale her with your
tales of heroism and retribution. Perhaps she’ll bestow more than a
kiss on you.”
Heat
climbed up the back of Mattie’s neck as Charlie laughed. Mattie had
been trying to get Brenna to go to the pub with him for weeks and
she’d finally said yes. “You’re
just jealous,” Mattie stuttered. “Because you can’t find a
woman that would be seen in public with you. They can’t abide that
ugly mug of yours. Brenna can’t wait to feel my arms around her and
. . . There it is again.” Mattie
put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder to halt their advance. “Did
you hear it that time?” “Aye,
I heard it. It came from over there.” Charlie pointed to his left
and slowly moved in that direction. “We
need to go check it out.” Simultaneously,
they pulled a stake from their belts and took a firmer grip on their
swords. They took several steps apart before advancing into the
woods, and stooped low to make themselves less of a target. They’d
gone no more than ten feet into the trees when a low, guttural growl
sounded, bringing goosebumps to their skin. Charlie
crouched into a fighting stance, preparing for attack. They were
being stalked, but the scent was all wrong. He didn’t smell the
stench of rotted flesh and death that always accompanied a vampire.
This was no vamp. It was something worse. He had to get Mattie out of
the woods. Now.
“This
is wrong, Mattie,” Charlie whispered. “Go! Get back to the house
and tell Da to bring help.”
“No!
I’ll not leave you here alone.” “Run,
Mattie! Now!” Charlie demanded as the growl grew into a roar and
the sound of something huge broke through the undergrowth, launching
itself at him. He spun to face his attacker, but he was too slow. A
mountain of foul smelling fur slammed into his side. The
next moment was pure chaos as he battled something that he’d only
seen in a horror movie at the cinema. In his periphery, he saw Mattie
standing only a few paces away, frozen with fear. Time
slowed to a snail’s pace as the beast latched razor sharp fangs
onto Charlie’s left shoulder. The pain was like nothing he’d ever
experienced as his knees buckled under the weight of the animal. His
sword flew from his right hand, the stake all but useless in his
left. As
the beast opened its maw for the kill, Charlie shoved his arm into
its mouth, buying him time to scream a warning. “Run,
Mattie! Run!”
He roared, knowing that once the beast had finished him off, his baby
brother would be killed too. His
shouts finally brought Mattie out of his unresponsive state.
“No!
Leave my brother be, you bloody bastard!” Mattie bellowed, his
sword held high. He brought the honed edge down on the shoulder of
the beast, doing nothing more than enraging it further.
It
released its downed prey, turning to the newest threat. With
Charlie’s blood dripping from the wolf-like snout, its glowing
amber eyes locked onto Mattie. An angry howl emanated from it seconds
before it leapt. Mattie’s
cries of pain and terror did more to drag Charlie to his feet than
fear for his own life. He moved on shaky legs as he picked up his
sword and stumbled to the mass of blood-matted fur as it feasted on
Mattie, ripping at his stomach and chest. Charlie
screamed out his brother’s name as he ran the blade of his sword
through the skull of the beast. A
deathly quiet settled around him as Charlie stared down at the giant
wolf. When his sword pierced the skull, it had fallen to its side.
He’d never seen one so large. Or
so deformed. Charlie
knelt beside Mattie, “Oh, Mattie,” he cried. “Why didn’t you
run like I told you to?” He
lifted his hand to try to stop the bleeding, not sure what to do
first as Mattie’s entrails spilled out. Blood pooled around him,
drenching the grass as moonlight glistened off the exposed bones of
his ribcage. There
was a hole where his heart should have been and his stomach lay in
pieces next to his lifeless hand.
“Why
didn’t you fucking run?” he screamed at his dead brother. Charlie
howled in agony as a cloud passed over the moon, casting him in total
darkness and he wept over his baby brother’s body.
His
rage came as the tears dried on his blood-streaked face. He pushed
himself to his feet, ignoring the pain raging through his own body as
he picked up Mattie’s sword. He was hell-bent on chopping the beast
into pieces so tiny not even the buzzards would find enough to eat.
As
he turned with sword raised over his head, however, he saw the
beast’s body was gone. In its place was a naked man, the back of
his head a bloody hole where Charlie’s sword had cut it away.
“Uncle
Stephen?” No,
Charlie thought to himself. It
can’t be. “How
could you do this to us? You were one of us! You murdered Mattie, you
son of a bitch.” He
raged at the dead man, hacking at him with his brother’s sword,
until he was too weak to stand upright. He
let his body fall, reaching for Mattie’s hand and waited to die. At
least death will keep me from having to face Ma’s grief at the loss
of her sons,
Charlie thought. He
stared up at the full moon as the cloud passed by. As its glow washed
over him, he closed his eyes and prayed that God would have mercy and
bring him a quick death. God
wasn’t listening.
Kate Porter has had one true passion, even as a young girl: writing. Poetry and short stories were her pleasure and her escape while growing up on a small farm approximately fifty miles south of Indianapolis. From her first short story printed in her high school newspaper at the age of fifteen, until the publication of her first full length novel, SECRETS IN BETHLEHEM, in the summer of 2012 she has dreamed of being an author. As a two-time winner of the Indie Book of the Day award, Kate has explored different genres in her writing career and has an eclectic collection of works to her credit consisting of romantic suspense, mystery, and an urban fantasy series. She has studied fiction writing at Greenville Tech, in Greenville, SC and traveled to Georgia for a writing workshop. Kate was featured in WOMAN'S DAY magazine and again in the Greenville News and her hometown newspaper in Spencer, IN. She has been profiled in her hometown newspaper, in Spencer, Indiana and in August 2013, News.
Kate's
novel, BLACK HARVEST, has not only received 5 stars from Reader's
Favorite, but has been awarded the 2014 NEW APPLE BOOK AWARD MEDAL
for the MYSTERY.
Website
* Facebook *
Facebook *
Twitter * Amazon
* Goodreads
Q: How did you come up with the
concept and characters for the book and series?
A: The characters in TEAM
NIGHTLY are extremely diverse. They come from every walk of life. I
wanted them to be normal, everyday Joes and Janes. Everyone has the
potential to be a hero inside of them. But, everyone is also human
and they have human flaws. Each book focuses on a specific team
member; digging deep into their characters and bringing out the best
and the worst in each of them. For instance; you have Chase, he’s
the team leader. He’s a born and bred Georgia boy who has no
intention of letting his widowed mother know what he does with his
evenings. By day he’s a sixth-grade social studies teacher, by
night, he leads a team of bloodline uccisore who’s destiny is to
fight vampires and protect innocents. He’s so focused on his own
destiny, he doesn’t’ realize that his life is about to change
drastically when he meets Rae Chandler. Rae is a contemporary city
girl from NYC and has not intention of staying in Savannah any longer
than she absolutely has to. Two characters who are completely
opposite in both thought and design yet, when they join forces
against a common foe, are practically undefeatable.
Q: What did you enjoy most about
writing this book series?
A: Getting to know each
of the characters. I fell in love with some of them and hated others.
Some of the characters I could empathize with because of the pain
they had gone through to get to where they were in the book. Other’s
I couldn’t help but admire their inner strength for that same
reason.
Q: If your book was made into a
film, who would you like to play the lead?
A: That’s a really good
question. I think Chris Pine would be a great CHASE NIGHTLY.
Q: How long have you been
writing?
A: I started writing
songs and poetry when I was very young. Twelve, thirteen, maybe even
younger than that, I really don’t remember. The first time I had
something published, I was fifteen years old and I had a short, short
story printed in our high school newspaper, titled THE
LAKE. I still have the original clipping
dated Dec. 1972. I think I’m telling my age here!
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
Comments
Post a Comment