New York Times best-selling paranormal romance author Felicity Heaton is here today for the book tour of her new paranormal romance release, MAREK, the latest novel in her epic Guardians of Hades series.
If you love dark, alpha Greek gods and strong heroines who bring them to their knees, together with epic action, sizzling passion and high stakes drama, then this series is definitely for you. Plus, each book has a happily forever after and there are no cliff-hangers, because there’s nothing worse than a cliff-hanger!
Marek (Guardians of Hades Paranormal Romance Series Book 4)
by Felicity Heaton
Prince of the Underworld and Lord of Earth, Marek was banished from his home by his father, Hades, two centuries ago and given a new duty and purpose—to keep our world and his from colliding in a calamity foreseen by the Moirai. Together with his six brothers, he fights to defend the gates to the Underworld from daemons bent on breaching them and gaining entrance to that forbidden land, striving to protect his home from their dark influence.
Haunted by a betrayal that shattered him and set him on a dark path of vengeance, Marek closely guards his heart, as determined to keep it safe as he is to wipe the scourge of vampires from the world.
Until a hunt lands him in the presence of a beautiful woman who threatens to steal that heart as she battles his sworn enemy, her graceful moves igniting a passion so fierce and hunger so deep it consumes him.
Caterina’s sole purpose for the last decade has been freeing her brother of the curse of being turned into a vampire. When an alluring dark warrior steps in to help her battle a nest of bloodsuckers, her entire life is tipped off balance. She knows deep in her heart the warrior can help her save her brother, but can she trust a man who is driven to slay every vampire he meets?
When Marek’s enemy emerges from the shadows, and Caterina is pulled down a dark rabbit hole into a dangerous world, will they be strong enough to overcome their pride and their prejudices or will a dark turn of events shatter both their hearts?
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Enter the grand tour-wide giveaway to win one of a $75, $50 or $25 Amazon Gift Card at the Marek book page. This giveaway is international and open to everyone, and ends at midnight on June 14th. Enter now: http://www.felicityheaton.com/guardians-of-hades-marek-paranormal-romance-book.php
Disgust rolled through Caterina and not for the first time that night. She stalked the streets, her blood on fire as she tailed two men, keeping her distance so she didn’t rouse suspicion. She blended with the tourists whenever they stopped, snapped pictures with her phone and played the innocent, admiring the cathedral that towered at the edge of the gothic quarter in her city.
Barcelona.
Out of the corner of her eye, the men moved on. She broke away from the group of twittering tourists gathered on the broad paved pedestrian area and headed towards the trees that lined the buildings opposite the cathedral, where there were fewer people. She reached the intersection with one of the main shopping avenues and paused to seek her prey, ignoring the street vendors as they tried to sell her everything from things that squeaked when you blew air through them to illuminated mini-helicopters launched into the air using rubber bands.
The two men took a left, heading deeper into the gothic quarter.
She glared at their backs.
Vampires.
In her city.
She couldn’t let that pass.
It was her mission to free Barcelona of their clutches.
Her heart ached as she thought about her older brother, Guillem. How many innocents in her city had fallen victim of these fiends, murdered or worse—turned as Guillem had been and left to face an eternity of suffering?
Rage burned in her veins, as fierce as the day it had ignited nine years ago when her brother had been turned, and condensed into a fire as eternal as her brother’s suffering. She readied herself, harnessing that anger as she tracked the vampires up the sloping alley to the right of the cathedral, a path many tourists took.
She wouldn’t let these two vampires hurt any of them.
Their reign of terror ended tonight.
She slipped her hand beneath the back of her black leather jacket and stroked the hilt of the short blade strapped to her back. The feel of it comforted her as she followed the men deeper into the warren of alleyways that branched off from the Carrer del Bisbe.
The streets grew darker, the lamps mounted on the walls of the old sandstone buildings spaced further apart as she left the more popular part of the quarter behind. She paused at a junction, flattening her back against the wall as she listened. Male voices carried along the street. More than two of them.
She peeked around the corner, a quick glance before she darted into cover again. There were four of them now, loitering outside one of the gothic buildings. She risked another peek and frowned. They were gone. She peered into the darkness at the other end of the alley and then looked both ways along the street where she stood. They couldn’t have disappeared. They must have gone into the building at her back.
Caterina emerged from her hiding spot and studied the building. The lower windows were barred to protect them. She moved a few feet along the alley. An arched entrance stood where the vampires had been, the dark wooden door sealed shut. She doubled back and did a lap of the building, trying to spot another exit. None that she could tell belonged to the building where the vampires were hiding.
One exit and barred windows didn’t bode well for her.
She cursed low.
Her stomach churned but she pressed her hand to it and breathed through the nerves as she walked back towards the front of the building. She wouldn’t let it stop her. She couldn’t.
One of the vampires inside the nest might be her brother’s sire. Killing that vampire would free Guillem, she was sure of it. Her chest throbbed as she thought about him, about how pale and gaunt he was now, a shadow of the man she had once known. All because of a vampire.
She would free him of his curse, before it consumed him.
That need, that desire, kept her strong as she readied herself. Killing the vampire who had sired Guillem had to be the answer. She was sure of it. Everything else she had tried had done nothing to help him. This was her last hope. Their last hope. If she had to slay every vampire on the planet to save her brother, she would do it.
If she had to give her life for this cause, she wouldn’t hesitate. Her brother meant everything to her, and he deserved to live again, without the sickness that plagued him.
Caterina pushed her leather jacket off her left shoulder and drew her blade from beneath it. She sucked down a deep breath, steeling herself for what she was about to do. Vampires had sharp senses, which meant she needed the element of surprise, and the only way to get that was to disarm them with the scent of blood. It was dangerous when she wasn’t sure how many vampires were inside the building, but it was far less dangerous than just breaking in and attacking them. She might be able to cut down a few of them before they realised what was happening.
She drew the edge of the blade across her upper arm and hissed through her teeth as fire blazed in its wake. The scent of her blood was swift to permeate the humid air, turning her stomach as she sheathed her sword. She rubbed her arm, encouraging it to bleed, and pulled her jacket back up. Not wearing it so the vampires could get a good look at her wound would be better, but she couldn’t risk them seeing her weapon. She had to keep it hidden until she was ready to strike.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out. A message from Guillem. She opened it and stared at his picture, at the man he used to be, and tears filled her eyes, hot and stinging. She fired back a reply, telling him that she would be home soon, and continued to stare at his photograph, using the anger and pain the sight of it stirred to bring more tears.
Tears she intended to use against the bastard vampires.
This was going to be the performance of her life.
They wouldn’t know it was all an act until it was too late for them.
She clutched her left arm and sniffled as she shuffled towards the arched entrance, keeping her head bent and bumping against the wall from time to time, in case they were aware of her. The weaker she looked, the better this would go for her. The vampires wouldn’t think she was a threat if she looked close to passing out from blood loss and fear.
More tears came as her phone vibrated, no doubt with a reply from Guillem. He was weakening more each day now, running out of time.
She frantically banged on the wooden door, letting her desperate need to save Guillem get the better of her and colour her actions. The voices on the other side grew hushed and she waited, heart hammering in her throat as adrenaline surged, anticipation pushing her right to the edge. She breathed through it, calming her nerves and focusing on her act. She had to make it convincing.
She banged again. “Help me. Please. I heard voices in there. Please, help me!”
Footsteps echoed on the other side of the door and she tensed as it creaked open, revealing a handsome fair-haired man. He frowned at her, his eyebrows pinching hard above his dark eyes, and looked her over.
“What do you want?” he said in her tongue, his accent telling her that he was Catalan like she was.
A local.
How many other citizens of her city were vampires? They multiplied so fast she struggled to keep up with them. For every one she killed, another two were made.
“Please.” She leaned towards him and peeled her right hand away from her arm, her brow furrowing as she revealed it to him. His nostrils flared, and crimson ringed his irises. She pretended not to notice his reaction, swayed a little and pressed the back of her hand to her forehead as she slurred, “I was attacked. A man… I think he’s still after me. I heard voices and thought you could help me. Please, help me. I’m afraid he’s going to find me.”
The vampire’s dark gaze drifted down to her arm as she wrapped her hand back around it, squeezing the wound beneath her leather jacket to tease more blood from it. That fiery corona rimmed his irises again, brighter this time as he stared, seemingly transfixed.
Completely under her spell.
“What’s going on?” Another male voice came from behind him, tugging him out of his reverie, and he looked over his wide shoulders at his comrades.
She peered past him while he was distracted, quickly scanning the elegant courtyard and the arches that surrounded it on the ground floor where the building was set back a few feet on all sides, forming a covered walkway. The trio of vampires standing there eyed her, a flicker of hunger in their gazes as they took her in.
The blond nudged the dark-haired man and slid him a look, one that sent a shiver of disgust rolling down her spine. He thought her easy prey. He was going to find out how wrong he was about that soon enough.
“I’m sorry to have bothered you.” She went to turn away but the vampire at the door grabbed her arm, the pressure of his grip firm enough to have the nerves she had tamped down rising back up again.
She shook it off. All vampires were strong. They were fast too.
But they had a vulnerability that evened the playing field.
They were highly allergic to silver.
It had sickened her the first time she had killed one with her sword and watched as the silver it contained had corroded flesh and bone, causing it to fizz and hiss as it melted.
Now, she was used to it.
“Come in. Until the danger passes. You’ll be safe here.” He smiled, revealing straight white teeth with no hint of fangs.
She wasn’t the only one who was good at acting.
The shimmer of red in his eyes said that he wanted her blood, and the way he cast a black look at his comrades warned he didn’t want to share. If provoked, would he fight his own friends so he could be the only one to taste her vein?
She filed it away as a back-up plan.
One she wasn’t going to need.
He ushered her inside, all charm and warmth as he continued to smile at her. He shut the door, the heavy thud of it closing an ominous sound she tried not to interpret as a death knell.
She shuffled along beside him, casting fearful glances back over her shoulder from time to time for good measure. The door was closed, but it didn’t look as if he had locked it. That was good. If things went south, escape might be possible.
A fifth vampire strode from a corridor off to her left and paused, his gaze immediately settling on her. “What do we have here?”
“I was hurt—” she started.
“We’re going to take good care of her.” The man holding her arm smoothed his hand along it, upwards towards her wound, a faint crimson glow lighting his eyes as he looked down into hers. “You will feel better before you know it.”
She nodded, certain that she would as she casually slipped her right hand behind her and under her jacket.
The blond moved a step forwards, shadowed by the dark-haired man and the brunet. She shivered under the intensity of their gazes, sickened by the hunger that blazed in their eyes as they looked at her as if she was a five-course meal they couldn’t wait to devour.
The fair-haired man edged closer.
Caterina pulled her sword from her sheath and had it buried in his gut before he could react, ramming it up into his heart. He hissed and shrieked, his fangs long white daggers as she yanked her blade free and leaped back a step, placing some distance between her and the others.
The vampire went down, clawing at his chest as blood soaked his T-shirt. She didn’t watch as he crumpled into a heap, kept her eyes on the others as she circled them, tightly clutching her silver sword.
She ditched her black leather jacket, tossing it as she assessed her enemies. It was easier to fight in just her black tank, and she had the feeling she was going to need the freedom of movement it gave her.
The sound of footsteps on stones filled the thick silence, alerting her to the fact that there were more than these five vampires in the nest. She braced herself, expecting them to come join the fight. Seconds stretched into what felt like hours as she faced off against the remaining four vampires.
The others didn’t appear.
Things were looking up.
The blond and the brunet vampire moved to flank her and she did her best to keep her focus split between all of them, aware that even a slip in it would be her downfall. The dark-haired male remained in front of her together with the other one.
He licked his fangs.
Caterina narrowed her eyes on him, silently showing him that this wasn’t going to go down the way he thought it was—the smouldering pile of vampire remains on the flagstones to her left was testament to that.
She yelled to unleash the pent-up rage inside her and spun, digging the heel of her thick-soled leather boots into the paving as she brought her blade around in a low arc. She grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands as she came to face the vampire nearest the exit and shoved forwards, burying the point of the silver blade deep into his chest before he could stop her.
Caterina dropped hard as the air moved behind her, years of fighting honing her reflexes until they acted as an early warning system. The blond vampire’s fist arced where her head had been and she swung her leg out, bringing it around in a low sweeping kick. Her calf connected with the vampire’s ankles and she followed through, sending him slamming onto his back. She didn’t stop. She used the momentum to propel herself upwards and brought her sword around at the same time, aiming it at the neck of the vampire she had stabbed in the chest.
She hid her grimace as it sliced through his throat and scraped across bone, and she didn’t pause to watch as the vampire slumped into a heap near the remains of the fair-haired one.
Caterina twisted and ducked as the dark-haired vampire attempted to grab her, hurled herself forwards into a roll and came to her feet near the blond. She kicked him to keep him down and faced off against the brunet.
He snarled and flashed fangs, and she was quick to dodge when he slashed at her with his claws, ducking backwards and then to her right. His growls deepened, anger lacing them as she continued to evade him and jabbed at him with her sword, seeking an opening. He knocked her blade away each time. She lunged at him, determined to land a blow. He leaped back a step, brought his hand up to his mouth and ran it across his fangs. What was he doing? Blood rolled down his hand and he flicked it at her. She flinched away as it hit her in the face, and cursed herself for letting him distract her.
The blond made the mistake of getting up.
Caterina whirled to face him and stuck her blade in his gut. Excitement trickled through her as the number of foes dwindled to only two and she meant to leave the blond to die from silver exposure, but couldn’t stop herself from lashing out at him again, pulling her blade from his stomach and slashing across his thigh to deal another fatal blow.
She knew it was a mistake the second she did it.
The air shifted behind her, the dark-haired vampire little more than a blur even to her trained eyes as he moved like lightning. She tried to turn, her movements sluggish compared with his, time seeming to slow as panic spiked in her veins, sending another sharp burst of adrenaline into her blood.
The vampire grabbed her hair, balling it in his fist, and yanked her head back so hard she saw stars. A cry burst from her lips as she bowed forwards, afraid he would break her neck, and the fear she had been denying roared up on her as he bent his head.
A vicious growl pealed around the courtyard.
She froze as ice skittered down her spine in response to that feral sound, the fear she had felt of the vampire growing tenfold as the man stilled behind her and the other vampire looked towards the arched exit.
Caterina looked there too.
Another vampire returned to join in the fight?
The darkness itself seemed to shift before her eyes, the ground quaking beneath her boots as the shadows suddenly parted to reveal the dark visage of a formidable warrior as he barrelled towards her and the vampire. Silver flashed in his hand as his eyes narrowed on the man holding her and the vampire came to his senses.
He spun with her, using her as a shield.
Her eyes widened as the newcomer threw his hand forwards, letting the silver knife he held fly. It came right at her as she flinched, sure this was it and her life was over.
The vampire behind her shrieked and staggered backwards, tugging her with him as he tripped across the courtyard. Heat bloomed on her neck and shoulder, the sickening stench of blood filling her nostrils and the bubbling hiss telling her what had happened.
The warrior had better aim than she had expected.
She wrenched free of the vampire and spared him a glance as he went down, clutching the knife protruding from his forehead.
The dark-haired warrior grabbed her arm and shoved her backwards, behind him. He planted a heavy boot against the fallen vampire’s chest, gripped the hilt of his weapon and pulled it free, the sucking sound sending bile blazing up Caterina’s throat.
“Keep back.” The warrior’s gravelly voice rolled over her, a pleasant belly-heating timbre to it as he moved to face the final vampire.
It distracted her enough that it took her a moment to realise something.
He was shielding her from the vampire, and he meant to fight the bastard alone.
She rallied and shirked his grip, because she was damned if that was happening. This was her nest of vampires.
The final kill was hers to make.
And if he stood in her way, she would cut him down too.
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Book 1: Ares
Book 2: Valen
Book 3: Esher
Book 4: Marek
Book 5: Calistos – Coming July 28th
Book 6: Daimon – Coming Fall 2020
Book 7: Keras – Coming Fall 2020
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you’re a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling London Vampires series. Seven sexy and sinful Greek god brothers can be your new addiction in the Guardians of Hades series. Or how about four hot alpha shifter brothers in her Cougar Creek Mates series? Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the Eternal Mates series.
If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:
WEBSITE | BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS | INSTAGRAM
Musings From An Addicted Reader 