Gathering Storm
The Order of the Black Swan
Book Five
Victoria Danann
Victoria Danann
Genre: Paranormal
Romance
Publisher: 7th
House
ISBN:
978-1-933320-93-9
ASIN:
Number of pages:
320
Word Count: 85k
Cover Artist:
Victoria Danann
Book Description:
The fifth installment in the Black Swan serial saga.
READING IN ORDER STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. That’s why we have a
try-before-you-buy-program. The first book in the saga, My Familiar Stranger,
is PermaFREE everywhere.
THE NEWSLETTER: Z
Team, a.k.a Zed Company, is transferred to Jefferson Unit, which is being
temporarily retired as an active hunter facility and converted to a research /
training institution. Sol takes his first vacation – ever – leaving Glen in
charge with Storm supervising. Rosie is proving to be an extraordinary little
girl and Deliverance is in BIG trouble with her mother.
THE SURPRISES:
Storm is really not himself. Former members of B Team must reunite to preserve
his image and reputation. No one could
have prepared for the surprises Rosie delivers.
THE ADVENTURE: The
Ralengclan send a second wave assassination team to Jefferson Unit at the worst
possible time, when it’s been left defended by only Z Team, Glen, the Lady
Laiken and the trainees.
Excerpt:
PREFACE
Dunkilly, Ireland
Glendennon Catch caught the eye of the bartender who simply pointed
toward a back corner. He couldn't see what the man pointed to, but he nodded
and began making his way toward the rear.
He wound through a few layers of standing people who were holding glass
mugs and talking loudly to be heard over the music, until he could see a corner
snug in the back. It was close to a window so there was enough light to see,
even with the smoke, that the bartender had been right in surmising that he was
looking for Z Team.
There they were - the farthest thing from inconspicuous. Glen couldn't
begin to guess how they had managed to be successful vampire slayers when
everything about them drew attention and broadcasted vibes of
this-is-your-last-chance-to-run. It was a message that floated around them like
a diaphanous cloud of warning.
The four of them fit comfortably in a snug designed for eight. That was
partly because of their sheer size and partly because they had a casual way of
draping arms and legs so that they took up as much space as possible. It also
communicated disdain for established notions of propriety. Glen knew
instinctively that even the word "propriety" would make Black Swan's
infamous misfits laugh out loud.
One of them was wearing a sleeveless shirt that had once been a denim
jacket. His left arm had been transformed into a tattooed sleeve by an
intricately inked mural of muted colors. It was odd to see bare biceps when it
was brittle-dick cold outside, but Glen supposed that if he'd made that much of
an investment in ink he might want to show it off too.
Glen's initial impression of the guy sitting next to Sleeve was that he
should have the nickname, Dark, or Black. He wore black jeans, a black metal
band shirt that was probably a collectable, and his spiky hair was so blue
black it had to have been dyed that color. All that with eyes so pale he could
almost get away with going undercover as a vamp. He wasn't wearing eyeliner,
but the contrast between his ice-color irises and those thick ebony lashes made
his eyes pop in a dramatic way that probably drew interest from a lot of babes.
The Black Knight. Glen smiled a little to himself. He enjoyed his own company
and his own offbeat sense of humor.
The third wore a plain gray long sleeve tee that covered his upper body,
but Glen could see black ink climbing out of the neck of the guy's shirt,
stopping just below his pronounced jaw line. Either tribal pattern or angel
glyph. Hard to tell with just snake tails in view. He had a serious case of bed
head going, probably by design, and one eyebrow that was raised and had been
since he'd noticed Glen standing there watching them.
He said something to the others. Then the fourth, the one facing away
with one long arm draped over the back of the snug, turned to look at Glen,
revealing elfin ears. Those ears were outlined by light brown hair with titian
streaks. Same curl as Sir Hawking. Had to be Torrent Finngarick.
They looked exactly the way Glen had expected them to look. Hard.
Tough. And like they belonged together. He was thinking, So they're Black Swan
knights with a little bit of a nasty reputation. They put their pants on one
leg at a time just like me. Right?
It was an inadequate internal pep talk, but he just wasn't feeling it.
He decided to go with Plan A, which was taking life straight ahead, one step at
a time. Glen had a reputation of his own for being easy going, but he made an
exception for passive aggressive nonsense. He didn't like it, didn't like
people who habitually avoided the front door, and didn't mind letting his
irritation with bullshit bubble over.
Plan A meant walking straight up to them, stating his business, hoping
for the best, but being prepared for the worst. That was the thought bouncing
around in his mind as he observed their reactions to seeing him approach the
table.
When he was standing over them, he looked around the table and said,
"I'm Glendennon Catch." Then he zeroed in on Torn. "Sorry for
your loss, Sir Finngarick." He said "sir" quietly enough so that
only they heard him, but they got the message. It was as good as a secret
handshake. "The office sent me with a message from the HR
department."
They left him standing there for a minute without saying anything or
changing expression. It was a thinly disguised intimidation strategy to get him
to reveal nervousness, timidity, or some other weakness that would register as
a flaw in their eyes. That sort of thing didn't work on somebody who had
inherited the dominant werewolf gene. He could stand there all day without
flinching or looking away.
Finally, the big guy with the glyphs crawling up his neck grinned,
showing dimples which seemed entirely out of place against the persona he'd so
carefully crafted. "So go ahead and deliver your memo, Sweet Cheeks. We're
waiting."
The other three chuckled softly without taking their eyes off of him.
Glen laughed openly and good-naturedly, but let the sound trail off ending in a
low level growl, incongruent with the smile on his face. The growl wasn't loud
enough to draw attention from the wake-goers, but it was definitely heard by Z
Team. They all sat up a little straighter and took another look at the kid. He
had their interest, but that was worlds away from respect.
Looking at Glyphs, he said, "My briefing didn't mention that any
of you are hard of hearing. If you want to call me by a name, it's Glen."
Finngarick's blue eyes twinkled in a way that brought Ram to mind while
the other two laughed at Glyphs being put down by a kid who was years away from
growing into his big frame.
"Long way to deliver a message. Would you no' have a pint with us
then? Glen." He reached out with a long leg, put the toe of his scuffed
boot through the leg brace of an unoccupied chair, pulled it up to the snug,
and made a gesture of invitation. "You'll find we're no' much on
formality. Call me Torn."
Glen nodded then looked at the others. Torn pointed at the guy with the
sleeves and said, "This is Gunnar. That's Raif." He raised his chin
in the direction of 'black knight'. "The fella with the questionable
personality is Bob."
"Gunnar. Raif, Torn, And Bob. No way."
Finngarick's eyes twinkled with that special elvish sparkle. "Aye.
Make no mistake. Name's Bob."
Glen shook his head. "Let's rename him."
Finngarick looked at Bob and then back at Glen. "What we have here
gentlemen is a cool, gloomy Irish day with no place to go and no' a thin' to
do, but have another pint. So I say we'll play that game. What would you call
the man if it was up to you, young emissary?" Glen shrugged. "Come
now. No ideas?"
"Well, yeah, I sort of named him in my head on the walk across the
bar."
"Pub," Torn corrected.
"Yes. Pub. Sorry."
Bob raised both brows. "I, for one, cannot wait to hear what you
named me in your head on your walk across the... pub."
Glen looked at him with speculation trying to decide whether or not to
tell the truth. "Glyphs."
While Bob studied Glen, his three teammates studied Bob in turn, like
they were trying it on for size. Bob lowered his eyebrows and rolled his big
shoulders in approval.
Finally Torn nodded as if to say he'd reached a conclusion. "Right
you are. Now that you point it out, I can see he's no' a Bob. Glyphs suits him
fine. Congratulations, trainee. You just named yourself a knight."
Torn Finngarick called for a Guinness Extra Stout to be served to Glen,
who wasn't used to alcohol at all and certainly wasn't ready for Irish black
beer. He took a manly mouthful, thinking he had arrived, and promptly spewed it
all over Torn in a spectacular demonstration of human fountain power. The other
three members of Z Team laughed so hard they had to wipe tears.
"That was almost as funny as the night that Chokarzi stripper
puked half a gallon of half-digested Cuervo in your face in the middle of a lap
dance."
Glen borrowed a wet bar towel and offered it to Finngarick with a blush.
"I'd offer to clean you up, but your file says you prefer to get personal
with women."
Torn took the towel without a word, but with a glint of amusement in
his eyes. When he was as clean as was possible without a shower and fresh
clothes, he handed the towel to Glen. "Go get yourself somethin' else.
Drinks are on me. Milk maybe?" he teased.
When Glen returned with a mug of root beer, no one asked him what was
in the glass. Torn simply motioned to the chair. Glen sat.
"You're needed at Jefferson Unit. You're to accompany me to Fort
Dixon after the funeral. Your things are being gathered and moved as we
speak."
As Glen looked from one to another, he saw no discernible reaction.
They were a cool bunch. He'd give them that.
Glyphs shrugged. "New York's no worse than any other place. Maybe
better than some."
Finngarick looked at Glen like
he was a lab specimen on a microscopic slide. "Would you be happenin' to
know why we're needed so urgently?"
Glen thought about it for a minute and decided there was no reason to
withhold the truth. "Yes."
A ghost of a smile seemed to cross Finngarick's handsome elven face.
"And would you be sharin' with us then?"
"Sorry. No."
Torn glanced at his teammates as if the four could communicate
telepathically. "See. The thin' is, we're accustomed to hearin' The Order
needs to sweep us further under the rug. No' brin' us into the light. We would
no' be the least surprised if you came to say we're bein' transferred to
Antarctica. But this? Naturally we're curious, you understand."
"Of course I understand. But I'm not at liberty to say."
Torn nodded thoughtfully. "Well, then. Might you be at liberty to
say why you were sent to escort us?"
It took Glen less than a second to process whether it might be
problematic to divulge that information. "The Jefferson Unit sovereign is
retiring. I'm being given a try-out for his job. He sent me to get you." Z
Team stared at Glen as if they were waiting for the punch line. Finally, he
said, "No. Really."
Gunnar cleared his throat. "So. You're saying that, at some point,
we might be calling you boss?"
Glen responded with a shit-eating grin so big, it begged for
comeuppance. Gunnar swept his gaze around the snug before it came to light on
Glen with a chilling mix of challenge, mischief and amusement.
Torn leaned forward. "Seems we have limited time for the
application of a right proper hazin' then. Glen."
Four sets of eyes darted to the movement in Glen's throat when he
swallowed.
Interview
I would like to thanks Victoria Danann for dropping by to to tell us a little bit about herself and the Black Swan Series.
What is your favorite
part of the story, Gathering Storm
?
I SO wish I could tell you, but can’t tell you without
serious spoilers. I’ll just say it’s near the end.
Who is your favorite
character in the Order of the Black Swan Series and why?
Made no secret that it’s Sir Rammel Aelshelm Hawking, a.k.a.
Ram. He’s gorgeous, hotheaded, and
fun-loving. He’s BOTH lover and fighter. He’s sexually tireless and, most
importantly, he’s a one-woman elf.
What is your typical
day like?
Four hours on marketing and social media chores. Two hours
for jogging the dog and shower. Two hours for errands, chores, family biz. Half
an hour for lunch. Six hours for marketing, social media, writing. Dinner. Time
with spouse.
How do you overcome
writer’s block?
KNOCK ON WOOD I have never experienced it.
What book are you
reading now?
Gathering Storm.
Looking for last second editing escapees.
What do you prefer
paperback, hardcover, or ebooks?
I was an early adopter of Kindle. Had the first version way
before Oprah discovered it. Now I use the Fire. There was a time when I used to
travel with a sturdy backpack of full of heavy books. Now my access is
limitless and the device weight one pound.
About the Author:
If you're looking for something new and different
in PNR, you've come to the right place.
I write unapologetic romances with uniquely fresh
perspectives on paranormal creatures, characters, and themes. Add a dash of
scifi and a flourish of fantasy to enough humor to make you laugh out loud and
enough steam to make you squirm in your chair. My heroines are independent
femmes with flaws and minds of their own whether they are aliens, witches,
demonologists, psychics, or past life therapists. My heroes are hot and hunky,
but they also have brains, character, and good manners - usually - whether they
be elves, demons, berserkers, werewolves, or vampires.
My first book, My
Familiar Stranger, was nominated for Best Paranormal Romance of 2012 by the
Reviewers' Choice and Readers’ Choice
Awards. Each of my books has remained on the Amazon best seller list in
category every day since release. All four also earned the Night Owl Reviews
TOP PICK award and have remained on the Amazon Best Sellers list every day
since release.
My work has been compared to J R Ward, Karen Marie
Moning, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Lara Adrian. For example:
"I do see shades of Lara Adrian's Breed books
and shades of J R Wards Black Dagger books, but this story is unique enough
that it stands out all on its own and can stand up along side those other books
and I think given time will elbow them out of the way with the rich story
telling and deep emotional core that makes you want to know more." -
Kerry, Musings of a Bookworm
The Order of the Black Swan is a series that is
also a serial saga. Each book is an episodic installment in an ongoing story.
Join me for the adventure.
WEBSITE: http://www.VictoriaDanann.com
BLOG: http://VictoriaDanann.me
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/vdanann
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