Rising Darkness (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 9) (22 page)
Read Rising Darkness (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 9) Online
Authors: Shannon Mayer
Faris let him go. “Erik, Coyote, and the two children on their way here. Three days and they’ll be here.”
Three days. A part of me soared at the mere thought of seeing Marcella, of holding her in my arms. The other part of me sunk to the depths. She would be in the midst of this, after all we’d done to keep her safe. After all that had been sacrificed.
From the doorway of the house, the light dimmed. “Cactus, causing problems again, prick?”
He spun and his mouth dropped open. “Lark? You’re alive?” He ran to her and caught her up in his arms, spinning her around until she smacked him.
“Put me down, fool.” Her eyes lifted to mine. “Rylee, you’d better come see this.”
We followed her into the house. The TV had been left on and the picture on it made my guts clench. Orion was speaking to the camera in a body that looked very much like he’d come through the veil in the flesh. Maybe a part of me hoped he still would be held back, but the truth of it was in front of me. He was here.
Behind him stood two men and two women. I would have laid money they were the four horsemen. Fucking hell.
I didn’t get too close, just watched from the doorway as Orion handed something to the President of the United States.
“This cure is now available for everyone,” Orion said, lifting his hands above his head.
The crowd cheered and the camera panned their faces. Adoring was the only word that fit. I would give him one thing, the fucker moved fast. The veil had been open less than a few hours and he was already on TV.
Lark glanced at me. “He always had a flare for the dramatic.”
“You know him?” I goggled at her.
“Couple of times, I had to deal with him. If I’d known how bad he truly was . . . hell, I wish I’d killed him then. Would have saved us all a lot of heartache and loss.”
The President was saying something about Marshal Law. “This country needs to protect itself against terrorists who would steal this gift of a cure from us. The ring leader is this woman.”
Yeah, my face popped up on the screen. I snorted. “Surprise, surprise.” The President’s voice droned on, but I didn’t really hear him. The camera panned back to Orion shaking people’s hands, hugging little old ladies. Kissing babies.
A dark-haired child was lifted to him and my guts clenched. “No.” I breathed the word as he turned the baby to the camera and mouthed one word with a raised eyebrow.
“Marcella?”
“Not her, asshat,” I whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear me. Didn’t matter. The child he held was not my daughter, thought they looked similar enough that is scared the shit out of me.
Lark flicked off the TV. “The final battle is here. Rylee, are you ready for this showdown?”
I nodded. “Let’s get this done.”
Alex leaned forward, a wide grin on his face and for a moment I saw the wolf he had been for so long. “To the bitter end.”
I took his hand. “To the bitter fucking end.”
Coming Fall 2015
The epic conclusion to The Rylee Adamson Novels …
“Blood of the Lost”
A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 10
Sign up for Shannon's Newsletter to be notified of new releases!
AUTHORS NOTE
Thanks for reading “Rising Darkness”. I truly hope you enjoyed the continuation of Rylee’s story, her friends, and the world I’ve created for them. If you loved this book, one of the best things you can do is leave a review for it. Again, thank you for coming on this ride with me, I hope we’ll take many more together. The rest of The Rylee Adamson series, along with my other novels, are available online. Enjoy!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, dog, cats, horse, and cows. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her.
She is the USA Today Bestselling author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Elemental Series, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and several contemporary romances. Please visit her website for more information on her novels.
Website:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ShannonMayerAuthor
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TheShannonMayer
ALSO BY SHANNON MAYER
The Rylee Adamson Series
Priceless (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 1)
Immune (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 2)
Raising Innocence (A Rylee Adamson Novel Book 3)
Shadowed Threads (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 4)
Blind Salvage (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 5)
Tracker (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 6)
Veiled Threat (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book
7)
Wounded (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 8)
Rising Darkness (A Rylee Adamson Novel, Book 9)
Alex (A Rylee Adamson Short Story)
Tracking Magic (A Rylee Adamson Novella, 0.25)
Elementally Priceless (A Rylee Adamson Novella 0.5)
Guardian (A Rylee Adamson Novella 6.5)
Stitched (A Rylee Adamson Novella 8.5)
The Elemental Series
Recurve
(The Elemental Series, Book 1)
Contemporary Romances (Written as S.J. Mayer)
High Risk Love (The Risk Series, Book 1)
Of The Heart
Paranormal Romantic Suspense
The Nevermore Trilogy
Sundered (The Nevermore Trilogy, Book 1)
Bound (The Nevermore Trilogy, Book 2)
Dauntless (The Nevermore Trilogy, Book 3)
Urban Fantasy
A Celtic Legacy Trilogy
Dark Waters (A Celtic Legacy, Book 1)
Dark Isle (A Celtic Legacy, Book 2)
Dark
Fae
(A Celtic Legacy, Book 3)
Copyright
Rising Darkness, A Rylee Adamson Novel #9
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © Shannon Mayer 2015
Copyright © Hijinks Ink LTD 2015
All rights reserved
Published by HiJinks Ink LTD.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a database and retrieval system or transmitted in any form or any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the owner of the copyright and the above publishers.
Please do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. Or deliberately on purpose, depending on whether or not you have been nice to the author.
Original Cover Art by Damonza.com
Mayer, Shannon
Table of Contents
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Rylee Adamson
:
Tracker and Immune who has dedicated her life to finding lost children. Based near Bismarck, North Dakota.
Liam O’Shea
:
PreviouslLiamy an FBI agent. Now he is a werewolf/Guardian as well as lover to Rylee.
Deceased
Giselle
:
Mentored Rylee and Milly; Giselle is a Reader but cannot use her abilities on Rylee due to Rylee’s Immunity. She died in “Raising Innocence”.
Millicent
:
AKA Milly; Witch who was best friend to Rylee. Now is actively working against Rylee for reasons not yet clear.
India:
A spirit seeker that Rylee Tracked in “Priceless”.
Kyle Jacobs
:
Rylee’s personal teenage hacker—human.
Doran
:
Daywalker and Shaman that helps Rylee from time to time. Located near Roswell, New Mexico.
Alex
:
A werewolf trapped in between human and wolf. He is Rylee’s unofficial sidekick and loyal companion. Submissive.
Berget
:
Rylee’s little sister who went missing 10 years prior to “Priceless”. In “Raising Innocence” Rylee found out that Berget is still alive. In “Shadowed Threads” Rylee discovers Berget is the “Child Empress” and a vampire.
Dox
:
Large pale blue-skinned ogre. Friend of Rylee. Owns “The Landing Pad” near Roswell, New Mexico.
Deceased.
William Gossard
:
AKA, Will. Panther shape shifter and officer with SOCA in London. Friend to Rylee.
Deanna Gossard
:
Druid, sister to William. Friend and help to Rylee.
Louisa:
Tribal Shaman located near Roswell, New Mexico.
Eve
:
Harpy that is now under Rylee’s tutelage as per the Harpy rule of conduct.
Faris
:
Vampire and general pain in the ass to Rylee. He is in contention for the vampire “throne” against Rylee’s little sister, Berget.
Jack Feen
:
Only other Tracker in existence. He lives in London and is dying.
Deceased
Agent Valley:
Senior in command in the Arcane Division of the FBI.
Deceased
Blaz
:
Dragon who bonded (reluctantly) with Rylee in “Shadowed Threads”.
Pamela
:
Young, powerful witch that Rylee saved in “Raising Innocence”. She is now one of Rylee’s wards.
Charlie
:
Brownie who acts as Rylee’s go between when working with parents on all of her salvages. Based in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Dr. Daniels:
aka “Daniels” is a child services worker and a druid Rylee met up with in “Raising Innocence”. Rylee and Daniels do not like one another.
Deceased.
Calliope
: Future leader of the Tamoskin Crush. Rylee rescued her in Blind Salvage.
Sla, Dev, Tin and Lop:
Ogres and friends to both Rylee and Dox who were killed by Orion’s thugs.
Deceased.
Orion
:
Demon that is prophesied to take over the world.
Peter
: Old werewolf from northern Russia who met Rylee and Liam in “Shadowed Threads”.
Eagle
: A guardian from New Mexico. First met in “Immune”. Mentor to Eve.
Deceased
Sas
: Violet skinned female ogre who was mated to Dox and the triplets. Met in “Blind Salvage”.
Frank
: Young necromancer who helped Liam in “Tracker”.
Erik
:
Rylee’s uncle and trained demon slayer.
Ophelia
:
Red female dragon.
Nikko:
Unicorn stallion and leader of the Tamoskin Crush herd; father of Calliope.
Deceased
Mer
:
Green skinned female ogre who is mated to Raw.
Bert:
Doppelganger demon who took Erik’s image in “Veiled Threat” in an attempt to get close to Rylee. Now bound to Erik and is working for Rylee.
Deceased
Thomas:
Necromancer who helped Rylee rescue Pamela from the deep veil.
Deceased
Raw:
Red Ogre leading the ogres who believe in Rylee.
Talia:
Necromancer who works for Orion; first appeared in “Veiled Threat”.
Bear:
Guardian of the shaman Louisa; first appeared in “Immune”. He also was the guardian who infected Liam.
Deceased
Crystal:
Youngest of all the shamans residing in New Mexico; first appeared in “Immune”.