The Black Parade
By Kyoko M.
Genre: Urban fantasy/Paranormal/Supernatural
ISBN: 1490911502
ASIN: B00E3HLHIK
Number of pages: 346
Word Count: 103,169
Cover Artist: Gunjan Kumar
Description:
Jordan accidentally shot and killed a Seer: a person who can communicate with ghosts, angels, and demons. Worse still, she did so on the eve of her own awakening, making her the last Seer on Earth with no one to guide her. As penance, God gives her two years to help one hundred souls with unfinished business cross over from Earth to the afterlife or she will go to Hell. Just as she approaches the deadline, Jordan finds her hundredth soul: a smart-mouthed poltergeist named Michael whose ability to physically touch things makes him distinct from her usual encounters with the dead. However, the deeper she delves solving his sudden death, the more she realizes something sinister is on the horizon.
With time running short, Jordan stumbles across a plot that may unravel the fragile balance among Heaven, Hell, and Earth. Her life is plunged into chaos as she is hunted by demons that want to use her valuable Seer blood to bring about the end of the world and discovers that these creatures have a frightening connection to her family bloodline. Plus, the budding romance between Jordan and Michael makes it harder for them to let go of each other so he can become part of the eternal black parade.
The Black Parade 1000 Word excerpt
My head throbbed. It felt like my
brain was trying to hammer its way through my skull and into the outside world.
A pained groan crawled out of my throat and escaped my dry lips. As I regained
consciousness, I realized I was lying on a bed of some kind. The mattress had
way too many springs in it so they poked my spine like needles. My eyelids
fluttered for a second and a wave of nausea hit. I pressed my palm to my
forehead as if it would help. That was when I realized the necklace around my
wrist was gone.
“Sleep well?”
I heard a purring baritone voice
from the corner of the white room. My eyes shot open. Ignoring the nausea and
dizziness, I frantically pushed myself up to a sitting position. There stood
the longhaired man who came to unlock Jacob’s files. He leaned his lanky frame
against the far wall, smoking a cigarette. The black suit stood out stark
against the pristine paint behind him.
I swallowed hard and tried to get a
bearing on where I was. No windows. The door didn’t have a knob, either. From what
I could tell, this was either an operating room or somewhere they put the
patients who were a threat to themselves or the hospital staff. It was also
rather small—no more than an eight by eight foot room, not much bigger than the
bathroom in my apartment.
The man continued to watch me with
a cool expression. The eerie patience on his face made me realize I hadn’t
replied to his comment. As if I really knew what to say to the man who had just
kidnapped me. I went for the casual approach.
“You’re not allowed to smoke in
hospitals.”
He chuckled deeply enough to shake
his broad shoulders. I took a moment to analyze his weight and strength. Could
I take him? Most likely, no. Would I try it anyway? Hell yeah.
“You’re right, I suppose. Still, I
can’t help loving these things.” He flicked the cancer stick to the linoleum
floor and stomped it out.
“Humans come up with the most
wonderful things to destroy themselves with.”
A red flag popped up in my mind.
Please God, no. “Pardon?”
The man walked towards me and fear
wormed its way up my stomach, settling in my chest. He had a heavy presence
about him that confirmed my suspicion.
“I’m hurt, Jordan. You don’t
recognize me?”
My whole body tensed. He leaned
over the bed until our faces were level, placing his arms on either side of me.
I had to ball my hands into fists to keep them from trembling. I looked into
his eyes. They were a chillingly blue hue with reptilian pupils. I’d seen them
before.
“Belial.”
He tilted his head to the side, and
a sheet of that fine black hair slid across the side of his face. It brushed my
cheek and made me flinch. “Did you miss me?”
“Not particularly.” I hated how
afraid my voice sounded.
The demon smiled in a way I imagine
a snake would at a mouse. “I suppose not. There’s no need for you to be scared
of me this time. If I was going to kill you, I’d have done it while you slept.”
I licked my lips, mind racing to
think rationally. “Like I believe that. Killing me while I was unconscious
wouldn’t be any fun. You’d want to do it while I was awake and screaming,
right?”
His sadistic smile widened. “My,
my. We are getting to know each other, aren’t we?”
“If you’re not going to kill me,
then would you mind getting the hell out of my personal space?”
“Why? Am I making you
uncomfortable?” He tilted his head so that our lips were almost touching.
I took a deep breath, preparing to
deck him if he dared kiss me. “No, I just hate that cologne you’re wearing. My
ex-boyfriend used to wear it.”
Belial’s eyes widened like I’d
surprised him. He stood to his full height, letting out another one of those
creepy chuckles. “You really are an interesting girl.”
Now that I had my personal space
back, the tension slid out of my rigid spine. I rested my feet on the floor.
Whatever happened, I needed to be off this bed. It was clear that the demon had
designs on my soul, but my body was a whole different issue. Better to play it
safe. Or as safe as I could with a creature from Hell that wanted me to be his
pet for all eternity.
“I aim to please,” I said. “Now get
to the point. If you’re not going to kill me, what do you want?”
The smile remained intact,
unnerving the hell out of me. He could give the Joker a run for his money with
that thing. “The same thing I wanted before, my dear. Your soul.”
I glanced around the bare room. “I
don’t see another spear lying around. How are you going to pull that off?”
“Persuasion.” To my surprise, he
began unbuttoning his suit jacket, revealing a cobalt blue dress shirt beneath
it.
I lifted an eyebrow. “No offense,
but nudity is not going to win me over.”
Belial let out an amused snort
after he tossed the jacket aside, rolling up the sleeves to the shirt. “As
appealing as that sounds, that’s not what I’m going to do. I thought I’d give
you a fair chance to fight for your soul. If you win, I’ll let you go. If I
win, you agree to go through a ceremony that will bind us together for all
eternity.”
There it was. He had a trap, a
plan, and I’d played right into it by coming to this hospital.
I stood and crossed my arms
underneath my chest. “Do you honestly expect me to believe a demon would keep
his word? What makes you think I’d agree to something like this?”
“Because, dear Jordan, you are running out of time.”
About the author:
One bullet is all it took to transform eighteen-year-old New Yorker Jordan Amador into the last hope for souls of the dead. However, it also transformed her into a cantankerous asocial waitress with a drinking problem.
Jordan accidentally shot and killed a Seer: a person who can communicate with ghosts, angels, and demons. Worse still, she did so on the eve of her own awakening, making her the last Seer on Earth with no one to guide her. As penance, God gives her two years to help one hundred souls with unfinished business cross over from Earth to the afterlife or she will go to Hell. Just as she approaches the deadline, Jordan finds her hundredth soul: a smart-mouthed poltergeist named Michael whose ability to physically touch things makes him distinct from her usual encounters with the dead. However, the deeper she delves solving his sudden death, the more she realizes something sinister is on the horizon.
With time running short, Jordan stumbles across a plot that may unravel the fragile balance among Heaven, Hell, and Earth. Her life is plunged into chaos as she is hunted by demons that want to use her valuable Seer blood to bring about the end of the world and discovers that these creatures have a frightening connection to her family bloodline. Plus, the budding romance between Jordan and Michael makes it harder for them to let go of each other so he can become part of the eternal black parade.
website: http://www.shewhowritesmonsters.com
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I just wanted to take a moment to thank you profusely for featuring my novel, The Black Parade, on your blog. I had a wonderful tour with you and Bewitching Book Tours, and I hope to see you in the future for my next novels. I would also like to let you know that I will be linking to you on my own blog and I would be glad to do a guest post with you if you'd like as a show of thanks.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day and thank you again,
Kyoko M.