Trail of Dead (Incarnate #2)
Cristy Rey
GoodreadsThe Pastophori of Iset has set a trap for the Incarnate…only she doesn’t know it.
Burned out from being on the road again, a directionless Sunday finds herself inexplicably drawn to Salt Lake City. There she finds herself in a curious state. For the first time in her life, Sunday feels normal. She can walk around free of anxiety that she will be set-off by her inhuman sensitivity. She can be intimate without overheating. Are the days of the Incarnate finally behind her?
Cyrus has not handled losing Sunday well. For eight months, the werewolf has been a shadow of himself. His pack is concerned and his closest friend, Marcus, believes that Cyrus is in danger of being lost to his humanity. When their Alpha confesses that the Pastophori of Iset has set a trap for Sunday, Cyrus goes into full-gear trying to get her out of it…but he has to find her first.
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Excerpt #1With a sharp nod to Cyrus, Stephen took a step back and again made his way to his seat. Cyrus claimed the seat Marcus vacated, muscles taut and ready to spring into action. It took everything to abate the firestorm that brewed in him. The loss of Sunday, a threat to Marcus, and the rising wolf that threatened to take over if Cyrus didn’t get himself in check.
“I think Marcus appreciates the situation.”
“Do you, Marcus?” Stephen asked. The younger wolf now stood with his hands in his pockets and his head lowered, refusing to direct his gaze to his leader.
“I do, Stephen, but, respectfully, I think it doesn’t matter.”
“What makes you think you can find her and, even if you did, the Incarnate would go with you willingly?”
“She came with us willingly before.”
“But she didn’t come with you willingly the last time, and correct me if I’m remembering things wrong, but you statedthat time she put you on your ass and turned the lights out on you for an entire day to prove just how unwilling she was to be recaptured.” Stephen leaned up on his elbows and shifted forward in his chair. “You think you cannot only find her this time, but get her to agree to going with you? Because, Cyrus, I want to be clear on this. She’s going to have to come with you for this to work.”
Cyrus nodded, and Stephen asked Marcus the same question.
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” Marcus admitted. “But I think it’s worth attempting. At the very least, it gives Cyrus another shot with her, and I’m not sure he’ll stay with us long unless he gets at least that.”
The situation was clear. He’d been volatile since she’d absconded and left him behind, and only by confronting her could the situation be resolved. Cyrus wouldn’t be the first werewolf to leave behind humanity and choose to live out his days in wolf form. Once he made that fateful decision, his humanity would be lost forever. He wouldn’t come back. No one did. He would live out his days in the wild and he would do so in misery, alone.
“Is that accurate?” Stephen asked. There was no mistaking to whom he directed the question.
“Yes,” Cyrus answered.
The word stewed in the room while the three men quietly considered what it meant. Cyrus’s admission was deeply felt, and Stephen sighed heavily and brought his hands to cover his face, shaking his head and mumbling unintelligibly into them.
“So what do you want me to do?”
“I want a meeting with the cult leaders,” Cyrus replied.
Dropping back against the chair, he tucked his chin, beard brushing over chest. All the possible consequences of this action played out in his mind. He might not have admitted it to Marcus, even after Marcus had made his intentions known, but he’d fantasized about the millions of ways he could find Sunday again. Finally, he was opening up about them with Stephen, possibly the only person who could enable their reality.
“The cult has ceased all contracts regarding the capture and retrieval of the Incarnate.”
“Why?” Marcus asked, now inching closer to the table where the two men sat.
“Like I said earlier, Cyrus is the best and everyone knows it. He was the most dedicated to the Incarnate’s case and he is the one with the most experience with her. Since the witch’s flock was all but exterminated when she destroyed the main house, information about her is in short supply.”
“What does the cult know about Sunday that we don’t?” Cyrus interjected.
“Good question,” Stephen admitted with a nod. “It is my understanding that the Pastophori has found another way of trapping her.”
1. If I Had a Tail, Queens of the Stone Age
2. 1000 Dreams, Dead Meadow
3. S.O.F.T., Elastica
4. I Need My Girl, The National
5. Alone Again Or, Calexico
6. Witching Stone, The Black Heart Procession
7. No One Knows, Queens of the Stone Age
8. Shit Luck, Modest Mouse
9. A/B Machines, Sleigh Bells
10. Will You Smile Again for Me?, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
11. TKO, Le Tigre
12. If the World Ends, Guillemots
13. Blah Blah Blah, Say Hi to Your Mom
14. The Last One Standing, Ladytron
Playlist
1. If I Had a Tail, Queens of the Stone Age
2. 1000 Dreams, Dead Meadow
3. S.O.F.T., Elastica
4. I Need My Girl, The National
5. Alone Again Or, Calexico
6. Witching Stone, The Black Heart Procession
7. No One Knows, Queens of the Stone Age
8. Shit Luck, Modest Mouse
9. A/B Machines, Sleigh Bells
10. Will You Smile Again for Me?, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
11. TKO, Le Tigre
12. If the World Ends, Guillemots
13. Blah Blah Blah, Say Hi to Your Mom
14. The Last One Standing, Ladytron
Excerpt #2
Despite the dark sunglasses, Sunday squinted into the glare as she pulled off the highway, heading into the Salt Lake City limits.
Through the years, Sunday’s frequent stops along the map of the continental United States had been little more than happenstance. She’d drive aimlessly in any given direction and perchance spot a skyline along the way that she wanted to investigate further. If it suited her interests, she would stay on a little longer wherever it was she found herself. Generally, she’d remain for no more than a few months at a time. Until she stumbled into Columbia, where she thought, so stupidly, that she could retire from her endless journeying.
After a couple of days in a no-name Kansas town, getting to SLC became Sunday’s sole ambition. There had been no guiding light or neon sign goading her. For some reason or no reason at all, the notion popped into Sunday’s mind over a mediocre breakfast at a random roadside diner.
Reason or not, Sunday took some comfort in, for the first time in a long time, having a direction. As soon as the signs started reading this many miles to Salt Lake City, she started humming the mantra: There are so few miles left. I’ll get there soon. Her rest stops became less frequent, and excitement acted as her body’s own stimulant. No need for sleep; she would rest when she got there. Another roadside sign and the miles to Salt Lake were fewer than they’d been before, three digits knocked down to two.
There are so few miles left. I’ll get there soon.
Each time, the smile on her face grew larger. SLC was her future, and the closer she got, the further her past became until it was a hardly a flicker on her subconscious.
Goodreads
After five years on the run, Sunday has finally settled into a seemingly normal life in Columbia, South Carolina. What her two best friends don’t know is that Sunday has a secret past. She is the Incarnate, a conduit of mystical energy transcendent of the mundane and the divine. For most of her life, she served under Bernadette, the most powerful witch in the Northwest. Her power is terrifying, and what she remembers of her past—and what she doesn’t—haunts her. In the year that she’s been attempting to be anything but the Incarnate, Sunday has fought her abilities tooth and nail, but it’s been worth it. When Sunday joins her friends’ coven for an innocent gathering, Sunday discovers a darkness hidden beneath the blanket of the coven’s magic and she is determined to find out who is behind it and what she has planned.
For the last four years, Cyrus has been the point man on the contract to recapture the Incarnate and deliver her to the Pastophori of Iset. A gifted tracker and a fearless werewolf, he harbors a wild, inexplicable passion for the Incarnate that has driven him to hunt her. He was one of the original captors that brought her to Bernadette when his obsession with her began. Having found her, Cyrus and his pack find themselves torn between two objectives: take her by force and deliver her to yet another group of fanatics, or help her uncover the traitor among her coven.
Amazon US | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo
Cristy Rey is the author of the romantic urban fantasy Incarnate series. Taking Back Sunday, Trail of Dead, and the prequel novelette, Edge of Seventeen, were released in 2014. The third full-length installment, Wolf Parade, will be released in 2015. She also writes and publishes unconventional romantic women’s fiction. Her first standalone, Weeping Angels, is available now, and her second, Heart Grow Fonder, will be out in winter 2014/2015.
Cristy lives in Miami, FL where she is a reader and writer most of the time, and a knitter much less of the time than she was six months before she took up writing again. She writes the books that she likes to read. She describes her writing style as riot grrrl Jane Austen sprinkled with a little magic. There’s always a killer soundtrack running in the background of her novels – all you need to do is turn to the playlist to know what’s up.
Find Cristy Rey Online
Cristy’s website | Sign up for Cristy’s monthly updates | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Signed Paperbacks | Google + | Youtube
Despite the dark sunglasses, Sunday squinted into the glare as she pulled off the highway, heading into the Salt Lake City limits.
Through the years, Sunday’s frequent stops along the map of the continental United States had been little more than happenstance. She’d drive aimlessly in any given direction and perchance spot a skyline along the way that she wanted to investigate further. If it suited her interests, she would stay on a little longer wherever it was she found herself. Generally, she’d remain for no more than a few months at a time. Until she stumbled into Columbia, where she thought, so stupidly, that she could retire from her endless journeying.
After a couple of days in a no-name Kansas town, getting to SLC became Sunday’s sole ambition. There had been no guiding light or neon sign goading her. For some reason or no reason at all, the notion popped into Sunday’s mind over a mediocre breakfast at a random roadside diner.
Reason or not, Sunday took some comfort in, for the first time in a long time, having a direction. As soon as the signs started reading this many miles to Salt Lake City, she started humming the mantra: There are so few miles left. I’ll get there soon. Her rest stops became less frequent, and excitement acted as her body’s own stimulant. No need for sleep; she would rest when she got there. Another roadside sign and the miles to Salt Lake were fewer than they’d been before, three digits knocked down to two.
There are so few miles left. I’ll get there soon.
Each time, the smile on her face grew larger. SLC was her future, and the closer she got, the further her past became until it was a hardly a flicker on her subconscious.
Meet the Cast
Cyrus & Sunday
Alex & Dani
Marcus & Angel
Taking Back Sunday (Incarnate #1)
Goodreads
After five years on the run, Sunday has finally settled into a seemingly normal life in Columbia, South Carolina. What her two best friends don’t know is that Sunday has a secret past. She is the Incarnate, a conduit of mystical energy transcendent of the mundane and the divine. For most of her life, she served under Bernadette, the most powerful witch in the Northwest. Her power is terrifying, and what she remembers of her past—and what she doesn’t—haunts her. In the year that she’s been attempting to be anything but the Incarnate, Sunday has fought her abilities tooth and nail, but it’s been worth it. When Sunday joins her friends’ coven for an innocent gathering, Sunday discovers a darkness hidden beneath the blanket of the coven’s magic and she is determined to find out who is behind it and what she has planned.
For the last four years, Cyrus has been the point man on the contract to recapture the Incarnate and deliver her to the Pastophori of Iset. A gifted tracker and a fearless werewolf, he harbors a wild, inexplicable passion for the Incarnate that has driven him to hunt her. He was one of the original captors that brought her to Bernadette when his obsession with her began. Having found her, Cyrus and his pack find themselves torn between two objectives: take her by force and deliver her to yet another group of fanatics, or help her uncover the traitor among her coven.
Purchase Links
Amazon US | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo
About this author
Cristy Rey is the author of the romantic urban fantasy Incarnate series. Taking Back Sunday, Trail of Dead, and the prequel novelette, Edge of Seventeen, were released in 2014. The third full-length installment, Wolf Parade, will be released in 2015. She also writes and publishes unconventional romantic women’s fiction. Her first standalone, Weeping Angels, is available now, and her second, Heart Grow Fonder, will be out in winter 2014/2015.
Cristy lives in Miami, FL where she is a reader and writer most of the time, and a knitter much less of the time than she was six months before she took up writing again. She writes the books that she likes to read. She describes her writing style as riot grrrl Jane Austen sprinkled with a little magic. There’s always a killer soundtrack running in the background of her novels – all you need to do is turn to the playlist to know what’s up.
Find Cristy Rey Online
Cristy’s website | Sign up for Cristy’s monthly updates | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Signed Paperbacks | Google + | Youtube
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