Read an exclusive early excerpt from Darkness Rising!

© 2017 Sarah L. Blair

Once the door closed, Dimitrius pressed his back against the solid stone wall, pulling in deep breaths through his nose and blowing them out through parted lips as he searched his mind to figure out why he suddenly had the urge to wrap his fist around his trusted sword Caledfwlch and send some heads rolling.
Something wasn’t right.
“Sir.” Quick feet on the stairs drew his eyes open and his assistant Beatrice rushed toward him. “The crowd is getting restless. We need to get Ms. Stone on stage as quickly as possible.”
He’d always rather enjoyed the phrase no shit, Sherlock, but he refrained from using it now.
“The urgent nature of the situation isn’t lost on me, Beatrice.” He pushed away from the wall and moved down the stairs two levels into the quiet cellar with his assistant at his heels. “However, I’m not quite sure what remedy you expect from me. If Ms. Stone isn’t ready to perform, they’ll simply have to wait.”
“It’s not that she’s not ready, sir.” He held the door for her as she followed him down the maze of secret passageways toward the front of the building where his office was located. “It’s that no one can find her.”
Dimitrius paused. “This little impromptu concert was her idea in the first place. Tell her people they’d better track her down and get her on that stage in the next five minutes, or Ms. Stone will be buying everyone’s drinks for the rest of the evening.”
“Yes, sir. Also, the Fire Marshal is here. He’s informed us we’re over capacity.”
“Fine. Have Dag and Dave handle it.”
“Right away.” Beatrice turned on her kitten heel and marched in the direction of the dressing room.
Dimitrius jogged up the stairwell and pushed through the door disguised as a bookcase, relieved to finally be in the privacy of his own office. He poured himself a tumbler-full of Malcolm’s powerful honey mead and swallowed it down in a few gulps, then poured a refill which he drank slower, hoping it would help him quell this mysterious feeling of unease.
He moved to the one-way mirror and gazed down over the crowd below. The soundproofing was impeccable, and on any given night there was complete silence within the walls of his office.
But not this night. The crowd was quickly building a fervor that rocked the very rafters. Though there were many modern updates to the structure, it didn’t change the fact that a crowd of this magnitude could likely get rowdy enough to literally bring the house down.
At the same moment he turned to go back downstairs the lights flicked off and the club was shrouded in darkness. Amber Stone appeared on stage, dressed in a flowing black gown. Her platinum blonde hair and pale white skin glowed in the light from a single spotlight. If Dimitrius didn’t know better, he’d have thought she was lit from within. The ethereal effect was impeccable. A good part of the reason her concerts drew millions of fans from around the world was her sense of showmanship.
The crowd fell silent.
Waiting.
The girl’s voice rose out of her, a slow and mournful sound. It was a vast difference to the upbeat single she was supposed to be promoting. Perhaps this was only theatrics. Dimitrius waited for the musical accompaniment to join her, but it didn’t come.
Her voice grew louder and he found himself captivated by her song. He stilled, trying to decipher the words of her keening, but it didn’t sound like any sort of intelligible modern English. It was a dialect he hadn’t heard spoken in centuries except occasionally by himself and his men. His breath caught in his chest as he listened.
“I am the Lady of Death. Embrace me. I come for you all. None will escape my touch. I bring darkness. The glory of your deeds is void. I will consume you. Everything you once were shall cease to be. Darkness approaches and I will reign.”
The light faded along with her voice. The entire club was plunged into blackness once more. Dimitrius pressed his palm to the window to maintain his balance. A sudden illness washed over him, a terrible hangover with a touch of vertigo; the vestiges of dark magic.
A spell had been cast.
Was it only for him, or had the entire club been caught up in it? It would take immense power to hold hundreds under a spell like that. Surely it was impossible. He struggled to remain upright as the emergency lights washed the darkness away and flooded the club in a harsh bright white.
Chaos erupted.

About the book

Dimitrius Roman doesn’t have time for murder. When America’s pop princess Amber Stone winds up exsanguinated in the alley behind his goth-themed New York club, all eyes turn to him as the prime suspect. While Amber’s fans swarm at his doorstep, Dimitrius must figure out why her last performance was meant only for him.

Still reeling from the loss of her mentor, Sidney Lake isn’t ready to face the traumatic memories waiting for her back in Manhattan. However, her serene lakeside retreat is violated when two vampires break in and nearly drain her dry, forcing Sidney to learn there’s no escaping the reach of darkness. The only way she can beat the shadows within her is to face them head on.

Dimitrius realizes he needs help, and calls on Sidney to return to the city they both call home. Upon arriving, Sidney must confront the person she was, the pain she left behind…and the goddess she knows she must become. Dimitrius is torn between craving the comfort of the goddess at his side, and wanting to protect the human woman he’s come to cherish.

Together, Sidney and Dimitrius discover the darkness rising to claim them is an ancient power more insidious than anything Sidney has ever encountered…and an evil Dimitrius knows all too well.

Darkness Rising, Tides of Darkness Book 2 will be available Summer 2017

In the meantime, you can find Darkness Shifting, Tides of Darkness Book 1, here:

Amazon* | iBooks | B&N | GoodReads

Read the GraveTells review of Darkness Shifting here!

About the author

Sarah Lee Blair earned a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and now resides in Georgia. She enjoys writing paranormal stories that weave her favorite things: history, fantasy, and steamy romance all into one place. When she’s not busy writing the books she wants to read, you can probably find her chasing down her two kids or working on something fun for The X-Cast podcast and blog.

Find Sarah online at her website | Twitter | Facebook

Giveaway (US/Int)

Win a copy of Sarah L. Blair’s Darkness Shifting, a GraveTells March 2017 Top Pick! A US winner can choose either a signed physical copy or ebook. International mailing addresses will receive the ebook. Leave a comment for Sarah, then enter the prize widget below! <3

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