The
Devil’s Liege
The
Mathias Saga
Book
2
Danielle
DeVor
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Eirelander Publishing
Date of Publication: September
25, 2014
ASIN: B00NYB4CZG
Number of pages: 162
Word Count: 52, 534
Cover Artist: Buffi BeCraft
Book Description:
Being a vampire isn't all it's
cracked up to be- in fact, it kind of sucks.
After surviving his duel with
Lilith, Mathias thought that he could relax. That is until he discovers that,
Nossy, the new king, has been kidnapped.
When the investigating vampires
seem to have no clue how to rescue Nosferatu, Mathias must step in. Everything
is peachy until Mathias is named the next new king in order to stop the man
behind Nossy’s kidnapping from taking over the throne.
Suddenly, his life is not his own
again, and Mathias must make a choice: risk his life to find his friend, or sit
back and watch disaster unfold.
Excerpt:
“Thias.”
The voice was
near to his ear and seemed breathy. Sleep was his friend. He hunkered down
further into his pillow. The darkness was a comfort to him. Safe.
“Thias.” It was
closer this time—right next to his ear. He didn’t want for this to be real,
prayed that it wouldn’t be.
Snick. Snick.
Mathias jerked
awake. His heart hammered in his chest. He looked around the room. Everything
was where it was supposed to be. It was still too fancy for Mathias with the
polished wood, the gold brocade curtains and the velvet chair next to the
window with his stack of books beside it. Nothing was wrong. There was no
insane woman about to cut him with a pair of rusty shears. With his eyes the
way they were now, with his vampire’s ability to see in the dark, he didn’t
need to reach over and turn on the light. He could see everything perfectly. It
must have been a dream. At least, Mathias hoped that’s what it was.
There was no one
was in his room but himself. “Fuck.”
He closed his
eyes for a minute and sighed. Ever since he’d killed Nic, the sorcerer who had
caused him to become a vampire, Mathias had been dreaming about her and the
past. It honestly was something he wished he could forget.
Lilith, the
former Queen, had tried to kill him just so he couldn’t tell the vampire world
about the horrible things she’d done to him in a past life. She’d cultivated
this kind and generous persona that wasn’t really like her at all. It wasn’t
Mathias’ fault that Vlad had chosen to cross him over into a vampire. Being a
vampire hadn’t been his choice. Hell, he would have rather had his parents
back, but he guessed fate was just one of those things.
He wiped the
sweat from his forehead with his hand. Along with the dreams, he’d been
breaking out in cold clammy sweats. Why the dreams were happening now, he
didn’t know. It would have made more sense for them to happen after Nossy had
killed Lilith, his mother, but maybe his brain was still being stupid. It
wouldn’t surprise him.
He got up,
walked across the room to the window, and pushed the plush red brocade curtain
out of the way. Staying with Vlad again was weird. The room was just too fancy.
He preferred Nossy’s clutter. It felt more homey somehow. But, with Nossy being
king, it was easier for Mathias to stay with Vlad. He understood that. He just
wished things were less complicated.
Outside, the
frost on the ground was so thick that it made the grass look almost white. That
was Siberia. Winter came early here.
Snow had been hitting the ground in intervals since October, with it now being
November, well, the frost was a little bit of an improvement. That meant it
wasn’t as cold today.
He wrapped his
wings around himself and sat down in the chair next to the window. It was still
weird to have wings. They were longer than he was in order to support him in
the air. They weren’t unlike the wings of a fruit bat, sort of. The glass
reflected what Mathias still viewed as his new face. His brown hair was still
long, his blue eyes were still jaded, but he was big now.
Part of him
still expected to see that fifteen-year-old kid in the mirror. Needless to say,
the last year had been one hell of an experience. He looked at the bookcase
opposite his chair, but nothing sparked his interest enough. Still, no sense in
trying to go back to sleep now. The dreams would just start again. Mathias just
wanted to rest, but his mind had other ideas.
He leaned over
the side of the chair and picked up the book he’d left on the floor. It wasn’t
a fun read, but necessary. It was an old tome about ancient fighting
techniques. Mathias thought that if he could learn about how the old techniques
were taught, then maybe, he could rectify everything he remembered from the
past with that things were like now. He sighed. His plan wasn’t working very
well if his dreams were any indication. He didn’t want to remember more of her.
It was getting to the point that when he saw a woman with long black hair, he’d
have to suppress a shudder. Not normal at all.
He let the book
fall into his lap and stared out the window again. The frigid scenery was
something better to focus on.
I’m tired of
being alive.
Are vampires a type of demon? by Danielle DeVor
Certain churches would sure have you think so. Of course,
these are the same religious figures that declare that Disney is a corporation
full of the devil’s minions, but that’s beside the point. Early churches tended
to think that anything that they could not understand was demonic in nature.
So, for them, it made sense to declare vampires demons.
They, of course, didn’t count on savvy writer’s coming up
with grotesqueries such as Frankenstein’s Monster.
Be that as it may, there is the fact that demons and
vampires are pretty damn different. One: vampires are not sent by the devil to
create havoc on Earth. I guess you could make the argument that some vampires
could be made by way of a satanic rite, if you believed the movies anyway, so
in that instance, they would be spawn of Satan. But, folklorically? No. Two:
Vampires cannot be exorcised. You might be able to harm them with a cross.
(Well, I tend to believe it depends on the religion kind of. If a vampire
didn’t know what a Christian cross was, would it even work? I omitted that
issue with my vampires, but that’s another story.) But, saying the exorcism
ritual over a vampire will not dispatch it. And, Three: Demons don’t need blood
to survive.
But, would it be possible for vampires and demons to work
together? Sure. Vampires are mostly once human. (Barring vampire pregnancy.)
So, there are both good and evil vampires. Granted, evil is sometimes in the
eye of the beholder, but for this post’s sake, good and evil are what they are.
So, could you have a power hungry vampire who joins forces with a demon to get
what it wants out of the world? In my mind, definitely.
Could there also be a demon who, for some reason, chooses to
work with vampires to accomplish certain things. Why not?
These ideas lead me toward the creation of Azazel and Xiao
in The Devil’s Liege. Demons and vampires working together. It makes for
interesting bedfellows.
About
the Author:
Named one of the Examiner's 2014
Women in Horror: 93 Horror Authors You Need to Read Right Now, Danielle DeVor
has been spinning the spider webs, or rather, the keyboard for more frights and
oddities. She spent her early years fantasizing about vampires and watching
"Salem's Lot" way too many times. When not writing and reading about
weird things, you will find her hanging out at the nearest coffee shop,
enjoying a mocha frappuccino.
Visit her at
danielledevor.wordpress.com
Review Blog: http://ddevor.weebly.com
Twitter: @sammyig
Booklikes: http://danielledevor.booklikes.com/
2 comments:
Thank you so much for hosting!
I love vampire stories! And thanks for the chance!
Post a Comment