Coming Soon: February 11th 2014
Dissension
Chronicles of the Uprising: Book 1
The great
cataclysm wiped almost all life from the face of planet Earth, but tiny pockets
of survivors crawled from the ashes, with only one thought: survival, at any
cost.
But not all
survivors were human.
In the dark,
militant society that has risen in the aftermath, vampires, once thought to be
mythical, have been assimilated and enslaved. Used for blood sport their lives
are allowed to continue only for the entertainment of the masses. Reviled as
savages, they are destined to serve out their immortal lives in the arena, as
gladiators.
And there is
no greater gladiator than Mira: undefeated, uncompromising...and seemingly
unbreakable. When an escape attempt leads Mira into the path of Lucian Stavros,
the city’s Regent, her destiny is changed forever.
Lucian,
raised in a culture which both reviles and celebrates the savagery and
inhumanity of vampires, finds Mira as intriguing as she is brash. An impulsive
decision - to become Mira’s patron – changes more than just Lucian’s perception
about vampire kind. The course of his
life is altered in ways he could never have predicted – a life that is suddenly
as expendable as hers.
Can Mira
prove to Lucian that all is not as it seems? Can Lucian escape centuries of
lies, bloodshed, and propaganda to see the truth? Or will the supreme power of
the human overlords destroy them both?
How About A Sample?
©Katie Salidas 2014
Rising Sign Books LLC
the hair on the back of Mira's neck prickled. An
uncomfortable weight of unseen eyes settled on her. Dread sank to the pit of
her stomach. Busted...and so close to escaping. Someone else was there,
watching her. She felt it, but what was more unsettling was the fact they had
yet to announce themselves. Guards would shoot first and ask questions later.
Someone lurking in the shadows… there was no telling what game they’d be
playing.
Mira turned around and stood next to the guard she had just
felled. It didn’t take much for her to find the source of her unease. A pair of
mossy green eyes scrutinized her from the opposite end of the hall.
Heart pounding, she stared back at the man attached to those
quizzical eyes. Human, no doubt. But he didn’t carry a weapon. Nor was there
any fear in those green eyes of his. On the contrary, alone in a dark corridor,
he stood his ground, lifting his head, and stared Mira down like an alpha from
some long lost wolf pack.
The strangeness of his manner caught Mira by surprise. For a
few moments too long, she stood dumbfounded, trying to process who he was and
what her next move should be. His face seemed oddly familiar, though at the
moment she couldn’t place where she’d seen him before.
The strange man was tall and well built, but that really
didn’t matter much. Mira could take down vampires larger than she with no
problem. But that wasn’t the thing stopping her from making a move. Judging by
the deep plum of his suit, he was a man of some power. Only the Elite – those
in the ruling class – were ever permitted to wear such an audacious color. As
desperate as Mira was at that moment, she needed to tread carefully. Being
caught escaping—again—would earn her more time in the light box, but injuring
an Elite could have her staked out in the middle of town square awaiting the
dawn.
“Aren't you going to finish him?” the man asked, his tone
calm, soothing, as if he genuinely wanted to know the answer.
“Why don’t I finish you instead?” She hoped the warning in
her voice would be enough to deter him, but still the man remained unfazed,
like some stoic statue across the hallway. What was he playing at? And why was
he just standing there, calmly, giving her every opportunity to strike? Did he
really place so little value on his life?
“You could kill me, sure, but ask yourself how that is going
to help your situation.” Spoken like a true Elite. He had to be up to
something.
She didn’t like the smugness in tone, but felt at a loss as
to how to continue. She could be on him in a fraction of a second. Crush his
windpipe, and maybe buy herself a few more minutes to find the exit, but she
was lost and had already wasted too much time. However, her inaction was almost
certain to earn her some additional reprisal as well.
The corner of his lip quirked up. “I take it by your lack of
response, that you’ve decided against harming me?”
Damn him! He knew she couldn’t take the risk. “For the
moment, I guess.” Mira did not let her own uncertainty leach out into her
voice. She attempted to sound self-assured, as if she were the one in charge at
that moment.
“Well.” He let out a little sigh. “I’m pleased to hear
that.” The strange man smiled congenially. “But, we will have to sort out what
to do with you. It appears you’re out of bounds here.”
Check back here for more updates. Dissension is currently set to release February 11th 2014