Book Spotlight - Deceived by Stephanie Nelson

The vampire drug, brew, nearly ruined Gwen Sparks’ life. Just when things started to get back to normal between her and Aiden, she is summoned by the North American Witches Council to their central city of Moon.

A war is imminent between vampires and witches, and Gwen’s experiences with brew are being used to fuel the fire. She is about to discover just how powerful she is with the help of the ruggedly handsome Angel of Death and just how far some people will go to get what they want.

Gwen is going to learn exactly what it means to be Deceived.

 Excerpt

“Close your eyes.” Dorian instructed, ignoring my cynicism. My eyes snapped shut, and I waited for him to tell me what to do next. I heard the squeak of vinyl, and his body press along the side of me. Dorian slipped his hand underneath mine and made me to jump.  “Keep your eyes closed.” I did as told, but my heart beat faster at our closeness. It seemed too intimate for a lesson.

“Now,” Dorian began, his lips entirely too close to my ear. I could feel his cool breath on my skin and it caused goose bumps to erupt along my body. “Do you feel it, Gwen? The cold darkness?” His lips touched my ear, and I almost jumped away, but his grasp on my hand tightened and stopped me. “Connect with the darkness, Gwen. Feel their souls calling to you.” His voice was low and soothing like a steady hum that relaxed me. The air around us dropped a few degrees and a slow breeze stirred my hair. A symphony of voices whispered on the wind and called to me. Although my eyes were closed, I could see the owners of the voices. Gray figures stood against the darkness of my eyelids and walked towards me. I bit my lip to stop my teeth from chattering when one of the spirits touched me. His hand rested on my shoulder and traveled down the length of my arm. Icy pinpricks danced in his finger’s wake and caused me to shiver.

Dorian released my hand and the spirits turned and walked back into the darkness. When my eyes opened everything came rushing back at once, the people talking in the bar, the music, the smokiness, and Dorian. It was so drastically different from the place I’d just been it took me a moment to get my bearings. “What happened?” My voice was a mere whisper. I looked over at Dorian, who still had his arm around my shoulders.

“What did you feel?”

 I looked away because our faces were too close for comfort and focused on my hands. Visions of the gray figures occupied my mind as I tried to understand what had happened.

“It got cold and then I saw a crowd of gray figures,” I said simply and paused. “It was…peaceful almost, like a dream.” I glanced at Dorian and he smiled.