Blog Tour: Shadowed (Fated #3) by Sarah Alderson

Published: 31st March 2013
By: Amazon

Blurb:
Fate has won. The realms have been severed...but the fight’s still far from over.

It’s been three months since the devastating battle that closed the way through between this world and the demon realms but Evie’s still reeling from all she's lost.

When news reaches her that a group of Originals is on the prowl in LA and growing in numbers, Evie must decide whether to join the rogue Hunters in a final battle or fight her fate one last time.

The way through might be closed. But that doesn’t mean Evie’s got closure.

Excerpt: (contains spoilers for previous books)

‘Why are you still here?’ Evie asked, rounding suddenly on Jocelyn. ‘I don’t need protecting anymore. There’s no reason for you to stay in Riverview.’ Jocelyn seemed taken aback by the question. She took  a while to compose herself, staring at ther hands, which were now clasped in her lap. ‘You’re still my responsibility,’ she finally answered, looking up. Evie rolled her eyes. ‘Oh please.’ ‘Your parents…..’ Jocelyn began. ‘Again, oh please,’ Evie shouted, cutting her off. ‘You betrayed them.  Don’t you dare talk about them.’ ‘I didn’t betray them,’ Jocelyn burst out, anger sparking like flint and flaming across her face. Evie grimaced. ‘Well, why didn’t you stop Victor from killing them then? You said they were your friends.’ Jocelyn took a deep breath. ‘Evie, you of all people should know that we can’t always protect the people we love. That sometimes despite our best efforts, we fail.’

Evie’s legs actually went from under her. One moment she’d been standing in front of Jocelyn and the next she was sitting on the sofa, staring at her knees, the room spinning wildly.  ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ Jocelyn said, pulling a blanket from off the back of the sofa and draping it over Evie’s shoulders.  ‘If you knew what Victor had done,’ Evie whispered, gripping hold of the sofa arm, ‘how could you let him take me when I was a baby, how could you let him come back and train me to be a Hunter?’

Jocelyn drew back. ‘Evie, please,’ she said. ‘I asked you once to try to understand. I’m asking you again. I was barely twenty-two. I’d seen what Victor was capable of. I was terrified of him.’ ‘And you also wanted the way through closed,’Evie reminded her. Jocelyn shrugged, her chin lifting. ‘Yes. I’m not going to lie. I wanted the way through to close. We all did! The realms needed to be severed – unhumans don’t belong in this realm. But believe me when I say I had no idea that it would involve you getting hurt. If I had known about the prophecy – if I had understood what it meant – I would never have let Victor near you, I swear.’

‘You let him get away though. When Lucas and I left him tied up in his store, you let him escape.’ ‘No,’ Jocelyn interrupted. ‘He was gone by the time I got there. I had to take care of Risper’s body before it could be found.’ Evie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish the image that arose of Risper lying in bloodied, scattered pieces across the alley. It didn’t make a jot of difference though. She could see it with her eyes open and with them shut.

‘I’m sorry,’ Jocelyn finally said. ‘I’m sorry for my part. For making you believe that the White Light was you. I thought it was true. And I’m sorry about Lucas – I know what he meant to you. And I know…’ Evie shot Jocelyn a look so fierce that she fell instantly silent. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Jocelyn finally worked up the courage to speak again. ‘I know’, she said, ‘that he loved you and that he wanted this.’ ‘Oh really?’ Evie shouted, leaping up from the sofa, unsteady on her feet. ‘He wanted this, did he? He wanted to be dead?’

Jocelyn winced as if Evie had kicked her. ‘No,’ she said quietly. ‘But he wanted you to live. And he was prepared to die for that.’ Evie’s shoulders  collapsed. Her vision blurred and she whipped around so that Jocelyn wouldn’t see the tears that were threatening to spill. For an instant, it was as if she could feel Lucas’s fingers biting into the flesh of her arms, holding her tight, trying to shake some strength back into her. She shuddered away the thought. He’d promised her that everything was going to be OK – that he wasn’t going to die. He’d lied. And now she was alone. She ground her teeth. There was no point dwelling on what happened. She couldn’t bring her parents back. But she could get revenge for their deaths. 

Evie squared her shoulders and blinked away the tears. Then she turned back to Jocelyn. This was why she’d come to see her after all.

Check back on Wednesday for my review :)

Purchase links: Amazon UK/Amazon US

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