I am
a HUGE fan of the Protector series
by M.R. Merrick so I’m thrilled to be able to participate in his promotional
tour hosted by the wonderful Valerie at StuckinBooks
Power Will
Flourish
Lives Will be
Lost
Nothing, Will be
Forgotten
Author: M.R. Merrick
Series: Protector
Genre: Young Adult – Fantasy
Publisher: Self
Chase Williams is a demon hunter in the
Circle, or at least he was supposed to be. On his fifteenth birthday, Chase
stepped up to the altar to claim his elemental power, but it never came.
Elemental magic is passed down to a hunter through the bloodline, but on
Chase's birthday, the bloodline stopped.
Exiled without the Circle's protection, Chase has spent two years trying to survive
a world riddled with half-demons and magic. When he has a run in with a
frightened and seemingly innocent demon, he learns the Circle's agenda has
changed: the Circle plans to unlock a portal and unleash pure-blood demons into
the world.
Vowing to stop them, and knowing he can't do it alone, Chase forms a reluctant
alliance with Rayna - a sexy witch with an attitude and a secret. In their
attempt to stop them however, Chase and Rayna find themselves in the middle of
the Circle's plan, leaving one of them to decide what their friendship is
worth, and the other's life depending on it.
Excerpt
I’d had several jobs in
the past year. This one I’d managed to keep for a few months. Most of my
employers frowned on me coming to work with cuts and bruises all the time. It
made for “poor presentation,” they’d say. I was thankful it hadn’t interfered with
this job, yet.
I finished up my shift
and had started my walk home from the burger joint when I felt it. A hunter
doesn’t mistake the feeling that demons are around. It moves down your spine
and chills your bones. Feeling it proved I was indeed a hunter, even without an
element.
The August air was warm
for the late hour, and a thick layer of sweat made my white shirt cling to me.
I stopped and unzipped my duffle bag, locating the silver dagger inside. Silver
was great no matter what you were fighting; it could do serious damage to
anything of the Underworld.
The tingle shot down my
spine again. If I focused, I could feel each hair on my neck rise. I saw a blur
of movement across the street and watched it disappear into a shadowy alley. I
moved across the street in a low crouch, resting my weight on the balls of my
feet. I slowed my breathing and pulled the dagger from my bag before I slipped
around the corner.
My senses were alive
and strained to see movement, or hear the sound of feet shuffling against loose
rocks. As a hunter, I could see well in the dark, though the only light came
from a single flickering street lamp.
I was almost to the end
of the alley when it hit. I couldn’t tell what “it” was, but it struck my back
and launched me forward. My feet tumbled over my head and my back smashed hard
into the concrete wall at the end of the alley. Hands grabbed me and lifted me
to my feet, dragging me a few steps before throwing me back the other way. I
flew through the air, hit the ground and rolled out into the street.
I used my momentum and
came up on one knee to recover. My back burned where pavement had grated the
skin off, but I pushed the pain aside as the figure stalked towards me.
“Your death will bring
me great glory, hunter. Killing the son of Riley Williams will make me a legend
among the Underworld,” the low voice gloated.
“That’s really great,
good luck with that,” I said.
He smiled and the fangs
that slid down from his gums were long and sharp. His pale skin started to thin
as the vampire changed into his demon form.
Milky skin faded into
transparent flesh, revealing the moving muscles beneath. Veins ran black
through the vampire’s face and limbs, pushing against the thinning clear skin.
Strange muscles in his hands pushed bony talons out over his finger nails, and
the whites of his eyes disappeared, filling with an inky blackness. The dark
orbs stared at me as his fanged mouth curled into a smile, and in a blur he
sprang forward, talons swinging.
I ducked as they sliced
through the air over my head. I brought the knife up into his stomach and
twisted the blade before I pulled it out. Blood spilled onto the ground, but I
knew the wound wasn’t enough to kill him. Cut off his head or pierce his black
heart – those were my options. I could light him on fire, but I was fresh out
of matches.
I brought my foot up
and kicked the vampire back to give myself some room. I steadied myself,
waiting for him to charge, but his body jerked and the point of a silver blade
appeared in his chest before he could move.
The vamp’s body went
limp and collapsed, then exploded in a flash of orange light. It burned away
into a cloud of ash and littered the pavement, revealing the girl – of all
things – who had beaten me to the kill.
Raven hair spilled over
her pale shoulders with hints of red highlighting the occasional strand. A
tight leather top revealed a sliver of toned stomach and a tease of cleavage.
Black pants hugged her hips and long slender legs and met knee-high boots. Her
skin glistened in the light, but the most noticeable of her features were her
eyes.
Bright green orbs
sparkled with an odd glow: demon’s eyes. They had the slit pupils of a cat that
I’d never seen on anything other than a house pet or a shifter in animal form.
I slipped back into fight mode. I’d never watched one demon kill another, but I
suppose for the fame of killing me, why not?
I lunged and threw a
punch at her face, but she dodged it with ease.
“You almost messed up
my kill,” she snarled, and I had barely enough time to dodge her powerful kick.
“Your kill? You stole
it from me!” I swung my fist and hit her stomach. She bent over, winded, before
she stepped back and caught her breath, regaining her stance and composure.
“Stole it? Please, I’d
been tracking him for blocks.” She spun and caught my chin with the heel of her
boot, snapping my head to the side. I rubbed my jaw where she’d hit me and
smiled.
“Well then, I guess
it’s a good thing I was here to slow him down. Who knows if you would have been
able to catch him?”
She moved in for
another kick but I was ready. I grabbed her foot and pushed her back. She fell
to the ground but quickly came to her feet. “I would have gotten him just fine
on my own. Hunting is an art. It would’ve gone on as long as I deemed
necessary.”
“Call it hunting if you
want, but a filthy demon killing her own kind is still just that: a filthy
demon.” I could tell I’d offended her even before she hit me.
My eyes watered when
her fist smashed into my nose and her foot connected with my stomach in quick
succession. I jerked back to avoid the knee that flew towards my face and
pushed it to the side, but she was already moving towards me. Her hands hit my chest
hard and I soared through the air for a long moment before I hit the ground. I
felt a sharp pain shoot up through my spine and I could hear her laughter as I
struggled to my feet.
“I have to admit I
expected more from you, Chase, being the infamous son of Riley Williams and
all.”
I gripped my dagger
until my knuckles turned white and spoke through gritted teeth. “I’ll try not
to disappoint.”
My fist hit her jawbone
and made a loud crack. I came back with my other hand and wrapped it around her
throat. I stepped into the movement and threw her forward in a burst of
hunter’s strength. She slammed into the ground but recovered faster than I
anticipated. Before I could brace myself she was on top of me.
I pulled her body down
and we rolled over each other against the cold concrete until I was on top. I
kept a handful of her hair wound tight in my fist and pushed my blade against
her throat. “More what you expected?”
“Not really.” She
smirked.
I felt the point of a
knife pushing against my stomach. Before I could react, a commanding male voice
came from behind us.
“Enough!” it boomed.
I didn’t take the knife
or my eyes off the demon beneath me.
“But we were just
starting to have fun,” she complained. The smile on her face was anything but
threatening. If this was her idea of fun, I didn’t want to know what she
considered boring.
“Rayna, enough,” the
man repeated.
She sighed, sticking
out her bottom lip in a pout before the knife left my skin. “Truce?” she said
with an innocent face.
“Not a chance,” I
replied, pushing the knife harder against her throat.
I was pulled away from
Rayna and pressed against a wall, thick hands around my throat. I raised my
blade but my opponent blocked and twisted my arm at an awkward angle. The man
ripped the blade from my hand and I squirmed.
“Calm down, Chase. We
are not here to hurt you,” the voice said. A complete shadow hung around the
figure, moving as he moved.
“So she attacked me for
fun?” I snapped.
“If we wanted you dead,
you would be,” he said, releasing his grip, and I fell to the sidewalk. He
stepped back slowly and the shadow peeled itself from his body. As it faded, it
revealed a large man whose magic I’d never sensed before.
“If you don’t want to
kill me, what do you want?” I asked.
The man reached
forward, a large dark arm holding out my dagger. I wrapped my hand around it in
confusion. The contrast of our skin was drastic; my pale flesh glowed against
his midnight color and the size of his hand alone made me feel small.
“What Rayna told you
was true. We were tracking the vampire, not you. Although I’m happy to finally
meet you, I’d imagined this moment under different circumstances,” he said.
“There are ways to meet
people besides attacking them.”
“I agree. You must
forgive us; Rayna is quick to lash out when insulted.” My eyes met his and I
couldn’t read his expression. I knew I hadn’t been polite, but I wasn’t about
to apologize to a demon. “You know, your father would not have hesitated to kill
her, no matter his position.”
“Congratulations,
you’ve discovered I’m not my father. What the hell would you know about him
anyways?”
He turned his head to
the side and as the light hit his neck it revealed a tattoo. It was the one
every hunter received after their ceremony. The one I never got.
The tattoo made me
realize why he could bend the shadows; he was an air elemental and a powerful
one at that. I had heard stories of hunters being able to work with shadows,
but I’d never seen it done firsthand.
I looked him over, not
sure what to think of a hunter working with a demon. He was taller than me by
an inch, around six-foot three. His head was smooth shaven, though there was a
small patch of hair under his lower lip. His skin seemed like a smooth dark
chocolate. His body was large and square, broad shoulders making him a massive
column of strength and power. He filled out a sharp black suit jacket and wore
black loafers, leaving the only color on him a flash of bright blue dress
shirt.
“You’re a hunter.”
“Once upon a time, yes
I was.”
He broke eye contact
and cleared his throat, extending his massive hand towards me. “Look at my manners.
Let me introduce myself. I am Marcus Starkraven.”
My eyebrows shot up; I
knew that name! “You’re supposed to be dead.”
“Is that what you
heard?”
“You used to hunt with
my father.”
He nodded slightly, but
otherwise ignored the comment. “You already met Rayna,” he said, taking his
unshaken hand back.
I looked at Rayna and
got caught in the depths of her green, slit eyes.
“What are you doing
with a demon?” I said, spitting out the last word like a curse.
“How’s your nose?”
Rayna asked.
I touched it and looked
at the blood on my fingers. “Lucky shot.”
She chuckled and
stepped towards me. “Care to go again?” Marcus put an arm in front of her.
“Not what we’re doing
right now,” he said.
“You didn’t answer my
question.”
“She is my student. And
my friend.”
I couldn’t respond. I
didn’t believe it. A hunter being friends with a demon was unfathomable.
“I would have thought,
being out in the real world, you’d have come to understand, Chase. Some
Underworlders don’t fit the Circle’s black and white image of good and evil,”
he said.
“The only Underworlders
I’ve come across have tried to kill me.”
“Your name is feared by
many in the Underworld. Your father has created quite the reputation for
himself, so they fear you as well,” Marcus said.
I smirked. “As they
should.”
He shook his head.
“That wasn’t a compliment.
About the Author:
M.R. Merrick is a Canadian writer and
author of The Protector Series, a Young Adult mash-up between Urban and Epic
Fantasy. Having never traveled, he adventures to far off lands through his
imagination and in between cups of coffee. As a music lover and proud breakfast
enthusiast, he’s usually found at the computer between a pair of headphones and
in front of a large bowl of cereal.
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