The Book
Welcome to Adelheid
by Mia Darien
Series: Adelheid, Books One - Three
Genre: Paranormal Suspense
Number of pages: Approx 375
Word Count: Approx 160K
Cover Artist: Mia Darien
Book Description
Welcome to Adelheid, CT. Freak central. Unofficial capital of legal preternatural creatures in the Northeast. Focal point for anti-preternatural sentiments in the United States.
Who would ever guess that this otherwise sleepy New England town houses many of the most powerful beings known to exist?
* * *
In "Cameron's Law," meet Sadie Stanton, vampire poster girl for preternatural rights. She's just trying to start a business to help the community, but when vampires and werewolves start attacking each other, she gets thrust in the middle.
In "When Forever Died," Dakota is a rare shifter and hunter who has lived a long, hard life. But the past never sleeps and two simultaneous cases are going to test the personal defenses she's built over the centuries.
In "Voracious," the life D wants isn't what it seems. He certainly never planned on the fangs, but he's going to need a lot more than the pointy teeth to survive the first weeks of his new existence.
Excerpt
Call it what you want.
It was that untamable, undeniable, inescapable hunger that I had, and it grew with every passing hour. Some might compare it to the first time you heard the roar of a Camaro -- the only way it was meant to be heard, with eight cylinders and nothing holding it back from ripping itself right out of the car. Others might think of it as that unfed monster that dwells in your gut after the first time you've flown, that taste of the sky and the edge of the earth that leaves you wanting more and more. Voracious. That's it. The hunger I had was voracious and it grew worse by the day.
Little did I know exactly what that meant for me.
I suppose I had always been restless. I was the kid who couldn't sit still. I turned into the teenager who chased things in cyberspace when I wasn't earning speeding tickets or getting shot down by girls far out of my league. When my job offered the chance for a transfer up North, I packed up my Southern roots and replanted them in Connecticut, no matter who got left behind.
Despite trying to put a thousand miles between this feeling and me, it was still there. Every day, it seemed to grow a little more. The hunger was a black hole threatening to swallow the galaxy of my life. No matter what I tried, I couldn't seem to find what would fill it. I tried. Believe me, I tried, but the hunger was insatiable.
It was voracious.
The first night when that black hole seemed poised to suck everything into it at last, I woke up with the mother of all hangovers. It was so bad that it had swallowed much of the night before, which had been my goal in the first place. Anything to escape my life's monotony, though it usually didn't work.
I peeled my eyelids apart, but when the bright light assaulted me, I shut them again. After a few moments, I gave it another shot and managed to look around, learning that I'd fallen asleep on my sofa. That was unusual. I usually made it to the bed.
Last night careened through my mind in the briefest of flashes. Most of it was the same as always, but there was the occasional intrusion of a woman across the room. She stared with an intensity one didn't usually enjoy without either being fucked senseless or found cut up in the freezer two months later.
Pushing myself up to a seat, I realized the television was playing. In all the brief flashes of memory, I didn't have one that had me turning it on. If I'd had my choice, it definitely wouldn't have been the news, which was what was on.
"Senator Joshua Clancy has issued a statement regarding the disappearance of his daughter, fourteen year old Sandra, last January..." I half-listened. I remembered hearing about that a few times. The teenaged daughter of a state senator doesn't disappear without making some headlines. The newscaster continued. "The Connecticut senator was instrumental in the passing of the Preternatural Rights Act of 2010, also known as Cameron's Law, the controversial legislation making all preternatural creatures legal citizens. It's feared that the disappearance of Miss Clancy is retribution for his role..."
I started drowning the woman's voice out again, but couldn't help but think that sounded pretty shitty. I mean, I didn't like the idea of grocery shopping with werewolves any better than anyone else, but kidnapping a guy's kid? That just seemed low, if that was the case.
Turning off the television, I dragged myself to the bathroom and tried to brush the cotton out of my mouth. The shower was next, hoping to slough life off. That didn't work, but I got the dirt, sweat and oil. It was a start, though looking in the mirror afterward, I saw dark shadows under my eyes that were pronounced against my pale complexion. Though they matched my hair. Even so, I looked and felt like hammered shit.
Whatever the hell I had ended up drinking last night, I made a sober promise to never drink it again.
Buy the Book
About the Author
Mia Darien
Mia Darien is an indie author of speculative fiction, and a New England Yankee transplanted into Alabama clay. No matter her geography, she continues to stubbornly and rebelliously live the life of her choosing along with her family and pets. She doesn't miss the snow.
Author Links
Giveaway
