Something Wicked Comes : Shannon Dermott, Cambion series

Today I'm really excited to be taking part in the Something Wicked Comes blog tour hosted by Rainy Day Ramblings and Babbling About Books. For my stop, I want to highlight one of my favourite authors, Shannon Dermott and her amazing Cambion series, and give you the chance to win the first two books in the series, Beg for Mercy and Waiting for Mercy. This is one of my all time favourite series, and I just want to share it with you all.

First up, an excerpt from Beg for Mercy which I hope you all enjoy. 

Before any one of us could say anything, a tall girl, clad in a taupe leather vest and animal print painted-on pants with golden tones of blond hair hastily pulled back in a braid, materialized in front of us. She was a vision to behold, appearing out of thin air.

“Where is he?” she demanded.

I’m sure my eyes were wide because she focused on me. Her golden eyes burned into me like fire. I had a moment of choice, to fight or flee. “Who?” I asked boldly, surprising myself.

Her eyes narrowed into slits when she spoke, mimicking the shifters with her stance. She gave no notice to my tone with her arms folded across her chest. “The rat fink who cheated on me with my sister,” she said coolly.

“Bernadette,” a voice said behind me.

I whirled around as did Flynn who’d been standing beside me. Sebastian was poised directly behind me. He was gorgeous, dressed in a charcoal shirt and dark wash jeans. He stole my breath away just by the sight of him. My heart rate leaped more than it had when the mysterious girl appeared in our path.

I turned back around when the girl, Bernadette, began to speak again. Her arms were no longer folded in front of her. Instead they were extended in front of her. “Rat,” she said sternly. Her eyes were on fire. “How could you kill my sister?”

Lightning fast, her hands were a glow in fiery orange orbs. Revving up, like a pitcher in a baseball game, I noticed Flynn move for the first time. He began moving forward with timid steps. Even though things were moving quickly now, I caught every detail that happened. I felt arms come around my waist and darkness begin to invade my eyes. I knew what was about to happen. Before the obscurity overtook my vision, Bernadette’s attention was on Flynn. I had a moment to see her blast him back with a fiery ball before I’d been transported elsewhere. I had no way of knowing if he was okay.

I didn’t even let Sebastian speak, “What the hell? Take me back!” I yelled. With the trees still surrounding us, I knew we were still in the woods but that wasn’t my concern.

“I just wanted to make sure you’re safe,” he said calmly holding out his hands in a gesture of peace from my wrath.

“Flynn could be hurt,” I exclaimed.

He nodded and a moment later he was gone. I hoped he was going to get Flynn because if he wasn’t he wouldn’t have to worry about Bernadette. He would have to worry about me. With life and death an issue, I’d found who I was. I was a fighter not a flighter.

If the events of the evening weren’t scary, I might have laughed when Flynn and Sebastian reappeared in an embrace. They looked at each other for a second before separating rapidly. I scrutinized Flynn. He appeared to be okay so, I had to assume he was.

“What the,” Flynn began to say when a voice boomed out from not far away.

“I know you’re there Rat. You can’t hide from me.” I recognized that voice even though I’d only heard it once. Bernadette had found us just that quickly. I saw the glowing balls of fire in the distance. Sebastian came to me at that moment.

“I don’t want to leave you, but I think if I do I will draw her away. I’m sorry for this. I’ll be back to check on you as soon as I can,” he said in a whisper before disappearing from my existence.

His assumption was wrong. “So you’re the girl he’s with now,” Bernadette said from about thirty feet away looking at me.

Yes, he’d most assuredly been wrong. She hadn’t left. Crap. So, I answered her with an emphatic, “No.”

She hadn’t waited for my answer and it was too late for me to react. I stared like a deer in headlights. A glowing ball of heat was already headed my way. Flynn saw it before I did and his reflexes had been better than mine. I was on the ground with him on top of me when the orbs soared passed. The burning ball of flame narrowly missed him with the slight exception of a burn on his right arm. The orbs blasted bark off the tree they hit that was behind us.

Bernadette was closing in on us now. This time it would be impossible for her aim to miss. Bleakly, I thought it would be a great time for Sebastian to make a reappearance. A bright light like a car’s headlights shined through the trees casting a white glow onto her. For whatever reason her face grew pale, then she dissipated.

I shifted under Flynn’s weight turning to see what made the illumination, but it was gone. Besides being in the woods, I wasn’t even sure where we were. There must have been a road nearby and the beam of car lights somehow frightened her away. I wasn’t sure why car lights would frighten her but I wasn’t going to knock the gift horse that saved us. What I hadn’t expected was the figure to appear through the trees.

“If you weren’t my best friend, I would have to question why you are lying on top of my girlfriend in the middle of the woods,” Luke said.

Flynn turned around then lifted himself up with his forearms getting to his feet. “Luke, you made it,” he said. Luke clasped Flynn’s arm helping him up. There was something I caught in his eyes before he turned away. Before I could think about it, Luke was at my side.

Luke asked, “Are you okay?”

Looking into the pools of his warm blue eyes I said, “Yes.” And frankly, I was a whole lot better with him here.

So, what do you think??


And now, an interview with the amazing Flynn *swoon*

Hi Flynn, I cannot tell you how happy I am to have you here at my blog today to answer a few questions.

I smile, giving my host the best grin I can give. I can only hope her questions won’t be too hard.

Q. How long have you and Luke known each other, where did you meet, and how did you each find out what the other was?

Not too bad, I thought when I heard the question. I should expect worse. Luke, he was like a brother to me. How did I explain? Smiling, I said, “I’ve known him all my life. My dad and his know each other and have dealings with each other. It was just kind of natural for us to become friends.”

Q. How did you feel when you realized you were going to kiss Mercy in the game of spin the bottle?

What to say? “She’s a bit uptight. I thought kissing her might lighten her up a bit. It was all in good fun. She knew what she was getting into when she came in that room.” I tried not to sound defensive. But thinking back on that day, she’d acted self righteous like I was the bad guy.

Q. When did you realize that Mercy was a succubus?

“Thinking about it now, maybe on some level, I’ve always know. When my dad told me, it wasn’t really a shock,” I confess.

Q. How did you feel when you found out that your dad was dating Mercy's mom and that you were going to be living together?

“I was shocked. My dad wasn't one to settle down. So something had to be up. I couldn't imagine sharing a roof with two women especially if one of them was Mercy.”

Q. You've had a crush on Mercy for a long time, how did you feel when your best friend made a move on her?

Raising my hands, I had to squash this. “Who said I had a crush on Mercy? She’s cute and all but there are other girls, easier girls. And you hit the nail on the head. Luke’s my best friend. I couldn’t be happier for the guy if he’s happy.” 

Q. Do you honestly think that a relationship between you and Mercy would work?

“Mercy has a boyfriend, so that isn’t really possible,” I say. I can tell my host isn’t buying my answer. “Okay, if, and that is a big if, there was the remote possibility that we could be together, then yes. I think it could work.” What I don’t say is that there are things that only me, my dad and maybe Mercy’s mom know that would say most definitely it could work between Mercy and I. That is one secret that I hope to take to my grave. Luke would be furious if he knew. And Mercy, well who knows how she would handle it. 

Q. How does it feel to know that you can have practically every girl you see, but not the one you really want?

I laugh and laugh. How do you answer that? “I don’t know that I could have any girl. Maybe I’m just lucky.” Then, it hits me, the full weight of my host’s question. ‘The one I really want.’ I sober, my face losing the grin I had moments ago. The one I really want was off limits.

Q. You're known for being a bit of a womanizer, going from one human girl to another and feeding on their lust. But would it be possible for you to actually settle down with a human if you met the right one?

“A human,” I choke out, ignoring the womanizer comment. “No way. A long term permanent relationship isn’t possible with a human, period. That is if they want to live.”

A lot of these questions weren’t something I’d like to talk about. So I nod to my host and say, “Thanks for having me.” I give her a wink because my words are flat. But I knew coming in, she would be curious. And she’s cute. Maybe I should ask her out to lunch.

Books in the Cambion series

Prelude to Mercy (Cambion 0.5)(Part of anthology)

Beg for Mercy (Cambion #1)

Waiting for Mercy (Cambion #2)

No Mercy (Cambion #2.5)

Angel of Mercy (Cambion #3)(Coming 31st December 2012)

And now for the giveaway

You have two chances to win the first two books in this series, Beg for Mercy and Waiting for Mercy. Shannon is giving away a paperback copy of each and I'm giving away an ebook copy of each. This giveaway is international, so long as you can receive an ebook from Amazon etc. So good luck to you all.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

OUT TO LUNCH :)