In yesterday’s post about Guardians of Hades, I asked if you would like to read a super sneak peek excerpt of the book, and it got a few comments, so I grabbed the first 1000 words of the book to share with you. Here’s an update on my progress with the book first. I wrote 10,000 words today and we passed the 100,000 word mark. How awesome is that? I was really excited when I saw that figure at the bottom of my screen when writing. It felt like a real achievement. I have another couple of chapters to write and then the book is finished in first draft. Strange how it’s gone from seeming as though I would never get it finished to suddenly almost done!
I had a great time writing today. It started out with a rather unconventional love scene and then the hero’s parents made an appearance due to something he said to his heroine. Since I’ll be sharing an excerpt, I’ll tell you now that the hero is called Ares. No, he’s not the god of war, but he’s named for him and that particular god has an interest in his life. He is a god in his own right though, the second eldest son of Hades and Persephone. It was fun writing Hades for the first time today and introducing him. He can’t leave the Underworld, so he only appeared at a distance and basically set the heroine, Megan, on edge. She met his mum though. I really enjoy writing Persephone. She’s all light to Hades’ darkness, but at the same time she’s got a dark side of her own. She’s not the sort of woman you mess with, and you certainly commit to her sons when you steal their hearts or face the dire consequences.
You’ll probably pick up on another of the heroes in this series’ names in the following sneak peek at the book. I’ll have the book wrapped up by the end of the week, which is great as I need to do the final proofread for Her Demonic Angel.
Anyway, I’m sure you’ve all skipped this to hit the goodies, and I hope you’ll leave a comment with any questions or feedback about the excerpt! Don’t be shy now. Oh, and forgive any mishaps and terrible writing. This is straight from the first draft so it’ll improve exponentially during edits!
GUARDIANS OF HADES: ARES – EXCERPT
Ares hoofed it through Central Park, pursuing the daemon who had made a break for it. The man accelerated, cutting through the patchy darkness ahead of him, and Ares pushed harder, ignoring the burn in his legs, his focus locked on his target. The lamps illuminating the path at intervals flickered over him as he sprinted, intent on running down the daemon before he escaped. The lights flashed over the daemon’s back, dull as they hit the dark hood of his sweatshirt but bright on the back of his short leather jacket.
The slim male veered left, crashed through the undergrowth and broke out onto one of the park’s dark open fields. Ares swore under his breath in the mortal tongue and followed him. He wasn’t in the mood to play tag, not tonight. While he enjoyed playing with his prey, he had already done that once tonight with two daemons. Blood slid down his chest and dripped from the gashes on his forearms, tainting his senses with the metallic scent. He had also had a damn good scrap with another daemon.
Number four here wasn’t going to get off so lightly. When Ares got his hands on the man, he was going to rip him apart.
Four daemons.
The bastards were getting cocky and persistent.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had fought so many in a single night.
Keras’s observations were wrong. The daemons were up to something and tonight proved it, and he was going to enjoy rubbing his older brother’s nose in it when he next saw him.
Ares grinned, ignored the way a thousand white-hot needles pricked his left arm with each stride, and sprinted after the remaining daemon. The man switched tactics and zigzagged towards a lake in the distance. Was he a water type? Ares hadn’t fought one of those in a while and he didn’t want to fight one tonight. He hated water. It really messed with his fire.
Every instinct he had screamed to pin the daemon down before he could reach the water. Ares knew he shouldn’t listen to it and should conserve his energy and keep running instead. That was the sensible course of action, the one a seasoned warrior like himself should take. He needed the rest of his strength in case these weren’t the only daemons looking to pick a fight with him tonight. His mission to protect the city and the gate took priority, and he shouldn’t need to use the full extent of his powers to eliminate a single daemon. The man began to pull away. Ares huffed. Keras would tear him a new one about this, pointing out that he was still rash despite his years, but he was damned if he was going to let the bastard douse him.
Ares focused on a point near the lake and the world whirled into darkness. When it came back, he stood between the dark water and his opponent.
He caught a glimpse of his face, enough to clock a small goatee and the irritated twist of his lips as he spotted him ahead.
The daemon skidded into a turn. The swift action caused his hood to fall back and reveal messy short pale hair. He lost his footing, his right hand hit the damp grass and he pushed off, shooting away from Ares. Ares cursed him again. He should have used his ability to step closer to him rather than going for the lake. As much as he wanted to teleport on top of the bastard and slam him into the ground, the last one had left him shaky and he knew his body. He couldn’t waste any more of his energy.
A twinge of pain shot down his left arm and Ares grabbed it and rolled his shoulder. It cracked back into place. He spat blood out onto the grass, huffed and focused on the pitch-black park. Clouds boiled above it, dark and foreboding, and the wind carried the scent of rain. East. The slippery little bastard was heading towards the gate.
Ares kicked off and bolted in that direction, his insides swirling with the weird burning sensation he had whenever a full-blooded daemon was nearby. He followed the feeling as it grew stronger, leading him towards his prey. He was closing in. Had the daemon stopped running?
Rocks rose ahead of him, silhouetted by the lights from a path that ran behind them. Perhaps the daemon was trying to hide from him in the shadows. Or was he waiting to attack?
Another blast of heat ricocheted down the length of his arm and he ground his teeth against it. He could rest up and heal soon enough. Eliminating this daemon took priority.
Ares rounded the rocks and the swirling sensation inside him disappeared.
He frowned and quietly moved forwards, not trusting his senses. The daemon couldn’t be gone. He had to be here somewhere. Ares scoured the darkness, squinting to see into the shadows. Thunder rumbled in the distance. He lapped the rocks three times, even scaled them and walked between them. No trace of the daemon.
It wasn’t possible.
Unwilling to give up, Ares did one more lap of the rocks. Nothing. The male was gone. He sat on one of the lower boulders and spat more blood out onto the path under his boots. Keras was really going to rip him a new one now. Ares couldn’t remember the last time he had failed to eliminate a daemon and the taste of defeat was bitter on his tongue.
How had the daemon escaped? The only logical conclusion was teleportation.
A daemon that could teleport? Coupled with the strength the man had displayed during their brief tangle, it set Ares on edge. He had witnessed the carnage that a single strong daemon was capable of and it wasn’t pretty. He drew in a slow breath to settle the growing rage in his blood. That sort of violence wasn’t about to hit his city. He wouldn’t allow any mortal to fall prey to this daemon.
Did you enjoy the sneaky peek?
Is this book about Hades and Persphone? I seached on them and did get her…?