Welcome to the release tour of Lucius; The Fallen! The first in a hotly-anticipated series, it follows the leader of a band of hard-living, hard-drinking angels after their fall to earth. The series will span six books, each one more enticing than the last! Keep reading to find out more, and check out our giveaway at the end……AND a special surprise if you've ever wanted to ask the authors a question!
The Book
Lucius: The Fallen
by Tara S. Wood & Lorecia Goings
Published: April 1st 2013
Publisher: Moon Rose Publishing
Add to Goodreads
Published: April 1st 2013
Publisher: Moon Rose Publishing
Add to Goodreads
“Relish this moment in My favor. It is your last.”
Six angels once sat at the right hand of The Almighty, but an ill-fated decision cast them out of Heaven. Now they serve Him on Earth, slaying demons for their redemption. They are…The Fallen.
Lucius, once revered at the side of God, fell to Earth with his brothers to pay penance and atone for his lapse in leadership. Wingless and forsaken, they have all paid a price for their complicity. Lucius’ hubris is now a curse, and he cannot rest until they carry out the last of The Almighty’s orders...and stop a war that has been millennia in the making.
Persephone Roberts is always in the right place at the right time, the serendipity allowing her to help people on her travels. When it leads her to cross paths with the band of hard-living fallen angels, she sets her sights on their leader, and is determined to restore Lucius’ faith in their quest. And in himself.
But the ancient evil the angels strive to fight has put Persephone in its crosshairs. It will be up to Lucius and his brothers to save her and destroy the minions of the dark. Can the amber-eyed beauty with her accepting heart heal wounds that cut soul deep, and force him to reclaim a glory he once tossed aside? Is he strong enough to realize the path back to Heaven begins with her, or will he be forever...fallen?
Excerpt {18+}
The subtle whoosh of air from the doorway ahead made all five angels turn as one.
“Is there another one?” Lucius muttered. Turning to Domniel, he said, “Can you smell another one?”
Domniel lifted his head and walked toward the doorway. “Hard to tell. That smell's everywhere. I'll follow it and see what I find.”
“Good. Elijah, go with him,” Lucius said as he bent toward the pool of goo to begin purifying the remains. From the corner of his eye, Lucius watched Elijah nod and jog off to catch up with Domniel.
Task finished, he placed the vial of holy water in his pocket, and called after the blind angel. “Dom?”
“Yeah, man, out here.”
He motioned to Jude and Mordecai, and they ran across the street to another parking lot. He paused as he realized Domniel and Elijah weren’t alone.
A woman stared at them from across the lot. She looked calm. A dark halo of thick curls was pulled back tight, emphasizing an oval face and high cheekbones. The assassin-chic ensemble she sported could not detract from the feminine perfection she represented.
She laid smoldering eyes on them and growled, her voice smoky and rich, “Figures I would find pigeons here. It is the gutter, after all.”
Domniel’s head tilted and Lucius knew he was trying to locate her. He caught a whiff of sand and something exotic and ancient. He knew the blind angel had found her when he turned, putting his shades on her.
“Where the fuck did you come from?” Domniel snarled.
She laughed, the sultry sound designed to stir men’s loins. “A higher plane of existence, you useless bird.”
His dark sunglasses looked her up and down. “No shit, you a Jersey girl? That explains a lot.”
She glared at him before bringing her arm forward to reveal a flaming scimitar. “You pigeons always have to crap on somebody else's sidewalk, don’t you?”
Lucius stepped forward and laid a hand on Domniel's shoulder, urging him to stand down. Apprehension collided with recognition like a shot to his gut, and he gave the deposed goddess a slow, tight smile, hoping that this encounter would leave them with all their limbs.
“Hello, Khemrhy.”
“Do you have any idea what you just screwed up?” Khemrhy laid the scimitar across her back, the fire dying and sword disappearing before she leaned against an old Chevy pickup, one foot planted squarely on the front bumper.
Before anyone could slap a hand over his mouth, Domniel spouted, “Could it be your hot date for this century?”
Khemrhy smiled and stood back up. “No, you fool. You messed with my hunt. He was leading me back to something important. Not that you could ever understand that.”
Always cautious in his dealings with Khemrhy, Lucius put a hand over Domniel's mouth and said, “We think there's a second one. Did you see anything?”
“Of course. The other one went that way,” she said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to indicate the alley behind her. Something about it seemed too simple, but a gust of wind brought the stench of brimstone strong enough that they could all smell it.
As Lucius, Jude, and Mordecai began to head past Khemrhy, they instinctively gave her a wide berth. From behind them, Domniel said, “I'll stay here and keep an eye on her. I still don't trust the bitch.”
“Little hard to keep an eye on someone when you're blind, pigeon,” she quipped. “Maybe you should get a dog.”
Lucius heard Domniel mouthing off in the distance and rolled his eyes, hoping she didn't remove any limbs. This time.
“A dog, huh? You’ll do. Let me see if I can find a leash and a muzzle,” Domniel snapped back. “Though you might be a little front end heavy to be running around on hands and knees, fetching shit for me.”
As the wind picked up, Lucius could see Domniel’s head swivel as he struggled to locate Khemrhy’s dissipating scent. Elijah signed to him in a panic, the fluttering of his fingers reaching through to the blind angel.
“Shit! Shit! Shit! I lost her! Where is she? I don't speak finger-fuck!”
Lucius whirled in a circle, hoping that even he could get a quick scent to target the goddess.
Ten feet in front of his sightless brother, Khemrhy growled, “I’ve got a front end for you.” And then the truck came crashing down on Domniel.
From his viewpoint behind Domniel, Lucius watched as Khemrhy planted her boot on the truck's bumper and pushed down hard to lever it upward. When she started pushing down with her foot, Elijah began frantically signing the word, “Chevy” to no avail. As the truck stood on end, she reached down, grabbed the bumper, and swung the entire vehicle over her head.
The pickup came down in a barrage of creaking steel, slamming Domniel hard into the pavement. He gave a loud, anguished grunt as Elijah ran to his side. Twisted metal groaned as Elijah tried to maneuver chunks of the vehicle up off him.
“Get…off me… fucking bitch!” he gurgled. Khemrhy laughed as she made her way to a Triumph motorbike parked beneath one of the street lights.
Lucius and Jude ran to assist. “What the fuck happened? Dom?”
“Chevy half-ton pickup,” Elijah signed to Lucius.
Lucius winced, reaching for parts of the vehicle. “Ouch.”
The sound of the Triumph's throttle rumbling got their attention and they turned. Khemrhy smiled back, flipping them her middle finger before roaring off down the street.
Domniel lay on his back, his chest caved in, laboring for enough breath to groan.
Lucius shook his head. “You know better than to piss her off. She could've killed you, dumbass.”
Domniel wheezed, turned his head and spat out two bloody teeth. “Get 'Magic Fingers' over here - good to go.”
Elijah tapped Lucius on the shoulder and gestured to Domniel.
“Yeah,” Lucius nodded. “Do your thing. And get him to walk. I'm not fucking carrying his wiseass back.”
They came forward and closed ranks, making a circle around him. Elijah knelt down next to the blind angel, stretched out his hands and cracked his knuckles.
“Just fucking get to it, mute. My balls are wedged up in my ribcage.” Domniel's eyes fluttered closed in between gasps.
Jude snorted. “Why can't you be the mute?”
Lucius held a hand up, silencing them.
Elijah rubbed his hands together and closed his eyes. The silent angel’s hands trembled for a moment and then glowed with a soft, white light. He placed both of them, palms down, on what was left of Domniel's chest and took a deep breath.
Domniel lit up, his chest echoing the glow from Elijah’s hands, and he let out a deep, relaxing sigh. “Fuck, yeah. I bet the chicks love that shit.”
“Shut up,” Lucius warned.
Domniel sighed again and gave into the healing.
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Guest Post
by Lorecia Goings
Tonight, late at night, I’m going to talk about procrastination. Yeah, it’s rather a shameless topic that no writer wants to look at; sort of like that piece of furniture with the mold on its leg? Yeah, I don’t want to point that out either. Now, as a writer, I put things off. I put off writing until I can’t get out of it, I put off typing under MANY extremes and I, well, I pretty much put everything off (which can cause some interesting stories of jail time – What? Don’t judge).
Now procrastinating is a relatively painless process for the most part. It’s easy to do, doesn’t cost anything except precious awake hours of your life that you could/should spend on writing. Wow. For example, it’s 12:00 at night, and currently I have this document, 5 separate webpages and a youtube video open. Shameless amounts of distraction. Terrible isn’t it? Where’s that incredible dedication to the craft?
Oh, It’s still in there. It’s just buried somewhere between Farmville 2, the eternal question of why, and the simplistic answer (just because. Now shut up and get back to work dammit). You’re just putting it off for another five minutes, really.
Ok. So, not really. I can seriously blow some hours goofing off, chatting/messaging/texting with friends. I’ve done all that. When it really comes down to it all, I love to write. I love that need in me to tell a story that will last. I love to hear someone tell me “That was really awesome Lorecia. Thanks for sharing that story with me.” That’s the coolest part of the writing to me – sharing.
Regretfully, I’ll to finish this up in the morning…as it’s now too late. Bedtime folks. *sighs*
I’m back…three days later. See? I kept putting off finishing this until it was crunch time. And I hear some crunching. Right. So I consistently procrastinate much to my co writer’s irritation. I love my co writer; she’s my best friend so of course I love her. She has the patience of a saint and the tenacity of a pit bull when it comes to goading me to quit putting some writing off.
“But Lorecia” you might ask, “How do you ever get anything done if you’re always putting it off?” The simple answer is I don’t. Sad but true, I hate typing. I hate being so slow with one hand while my other hand can go faster. Often, it does. If I’m in a hurry though I put up with it. However, my point is this: Quit wasting your time. Don’t push it off to the last minute and DON’T hate typing as much as I do. You have a really hard time in the front of the keyboard? Take a class, learn from friends or simply get your kids to show you the electronic ropes.
The point is to do it. Like the tennis shoe slogan we’ll never forget, “Just do it.”
Tara Wood divides her time between creating domestic bliss and creating hot paranormal romance with the occasional side of kink. When not playing June Cleaver for her hubby and daughter, she can be found at the local Starbucks slamming back Frappuccinos and plotting out her next idea. Or she’s watching the BBC. Tara resides with her wonderful and tolerant family in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. She is currently at work on several projects, one of them being the next book in her In Blood series.
Lorecia is a native Houstonian who did not escape in her adulthood. So she camps out in NW Houston concocting her own special variety of chaos but rarely finishes it without the continual prodding of best friend Tara. She loves to laugh, bead, write, eat and hug kitties. She also loves to have fun and can usually be found on any given Friday night off chatting her head off at Denny’s with her bestie.
About the Authors
Tara S. Wood
Lorecia Goings
Author Links
Tara
Lorecia
LIVE Question-and-Answer session with the authors!
And now for the giveaway—and that special surprise! As part of the tour, the author will be answering your questions about Lucius and writing LIVE on April 29th, via Google+ Hangouts! To take part, all you need to do is go to the event page here at http://www.moonrosepublishing.com/#!author-questions--lucius-the-fallen/cfzv and post the question that you would like to be answered. The best ones will be chosen, and as many as possible answered within a 30 minute session. The address to watch and take part in the Hangout will be posted a week before, and you must follow Moon Rose Publishing on Google+ at https://plus.google.com/114000878667510243231/posts Have fun!
And….the awesome giveaway!
