It has been six years since the Awakening and
peace in Spokane, Washington is still tenuous at best. The vampires and
shifters are all vying for control of the city and the humans seem to be the
ones suffering the consequences, or so it seems.
Aria Naveed has spent the last two years of her
life fighting to make the many wrongs of the world right, but soon finds out
that the humans aren’t as weak as they appear and may be a more terrifying foe
than any of the other races combined.
When a stranger rolls into town with trouble on
his heels, Aria finds herself trapped in the middle of a battle that could cost
her more than she has bargained for as a fight for justice turns into an
unexpected fight for her life.
Title: Cursed by Fire
Series: Blood and Magic #1
Author: Danielle Annett
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: January 2015
Danielle Annett is a reader, writer,
photographer, and the blogger behind Coffee and Characters. Born in the SF Bay
area, she now resides in Spokane, WA, the primary location for her Blood &
Magic series.
Addicted to coffee at an early age, she spends
her restless nights putting pen to paper as she tries to get all of the stories
out of her head before the dogs wake up the rest of the house and vye for her
attention.
“Mike
you and I both know that that isn’t going to happen so why don’t you just tell
me what fur ball they’re going to saddle me with.” I said as I collected my
stack of papers and organized them into a semi-neat pile.
Mike
noisily cleared his voice, “Uh hey Ari…”
“God
I hope that whoever it is that he isn’t a complete moron. If I’m going to be
stuck with a pack partner, the least they can do is send me someone competent.”
Mike noisily cleared his throat again.
“What?”
I asked, looking up from my desk.
I
was greeted by a tall man standing just inside the office, casually leaning
against the doorframe. He had tousled brown hair and steely grey colored eyes.
High cheekbones and a strong jaw formed his masculine face and a hint of
stubble dusted his jaw line, not enough to appear unkempt but just enough to
give a roguish impression. Dressed in black jeans, a black T, and a black
leather jacket, he oozed tall, dark and handsome with deadly intent.
“That
would be this fur ball right here.” He said, an arrogant grin lifting the
corner of his mouth. I let my head fall to the surface of my desk, then for
good measure I gently knocked my forehead on its smooth surface, one, two,
three times. Dammit I couldn’t believe I had just called him a freaking fur
ball! I could feel my cheeks warm in embarrassment and did my best to hide it.
“You
all done with the show?” He asked as I lifted my head from the desk. I glared
at him for good measure and then allowed my head to connect with the desk’s
surface once more before sitting up. rubbing the slight sting away “Yea, I’m
done.” I told him. Well, at least this wouldn’t be as bad as I had thought.
James was the only shifter that I actually personally knew and was one of the
few individuals I considered a friend. I met James about six months ago at a
shifter bar downtown, though at the time I didn’t actually know that it was a
shifter bar.
A
group of coyotes had decided I was easy prey and were giving me a pretty hard
time. James had intervened before things got out of hand which basically meant
that he stopped me from wiping the floor with their coyote asses and burning
the entire building to ash. It was
probably a good thing that he had stepped in but I remember being furious with
him at the time, I had really wanted to give those bastards a piece of my mind
and show them that I wasn’t just some naive little girl. That was back when I
was still cocky over my abilities. Things had changed since then and the
thought was sobering. Now being a pyrokinetic was something I had to hide and
honestly, that just plain sucked.
“So,
you’re my partner?”
James
nodded, his face going serious, “Yea I’m you’re partner, ready to do something
reckless?”
I
smiled at that, James knew me all to well.
“Absolutely.”
Grabbing
my messenger bag I followed James out of the office, aware of Mike’s
unapproving gaze on my every step.
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