Martinis with the Devil
A. Chamberlynn
When offered a job on the Holy Representative’s special security team,
bounty hunter Zyan Star couldn’t be less interested – until she
finds out it’s her most hated of exes that they’re trying to
track down. He broke her heart and dumped her, which in turn led to
the loss of her soul at the hands of an immortal soul thief. Now she
too exists on a diet of souls, with the occasional martini thrown in
for good measure, and she’s had over two hundred years to fantasize
about revenge. She just didn’t quite imagine it playing out
alongside the emissaries of Heaven.
just about as much fun as Zy expects. He of course wants her vampire
ex brought to justice through legal avenues, which is very
inconvenient and incredibly boring. As she dives into the case,
however, she realizes there’s more at stake than her plot for
payback. Like, the free will of mankind, and preventing the minions
of hell from taking over the sovereign dimensions.
just a slight problem with that: the powers she’s suppressed for
centuries after losing control of them are exactly the powers she’s
going to need to save the HR, end her millennia-old ex and stop
Lucifer’s little plot to join the party and invade Earth.
Whiskey and Angelfire
avert the war that’s brewing before her past catches up to
her, quite literally?
Dublin to join the search. As soon as they arrive, they’re swept into
rising tensions between the angelic forces and the other supernatural
races. As more supernaturals go missing, Archangel Michael will stop
at nothing to put the perpetrator behind bars, even if it means
placing the city under martial law.
Lucifer is only a step behind. Not to mention Alexander, Zyan’s sworn
enemy. Zyan has more than a sneaking suspicion they’re at the heart
of a spree of recent demon invasions. But something is odd about
these demons, and if she doesn’t figure it out before Lucifer
reveals his ultimate plan, the price could be catastrophic.
turned immortal has dredged up the worst from her past. Including her
maker, Olga, who’s none too pleased that Zyan’s come back.
Vengeance and Vermouth
itself. But first she needs to amass a force that can challenge
Lucifer on his home turf.
criss-crosses the globe, gathering a supernatural team of epic
proportions. She’s calling in all her favors this time, summoning
figures from her past both dangerous and deadly.
who murdered her friend in the first place. Zy will have to put aside
her burning need for revenge to pull off the biggest mission of her
life, but that may prove to be the one thing she can’t do.
Alexia is the author of the Amazon bestselling Zyan Star urban fantasy
series and The Timekeeper’s War contemporary fantasy series. She
lives in Florida with her son, two cats, and a bearded dragon. When
she’s not writing or reading, she can be found playing with horses,
drinking wine, traveling to the next place on her global wish list,
or maybe doing yoga. Dr. Who, unicorns, and katanas make her very
happy. She is represented by Sandy Lu of the L. Perkins Agency.
Excerpt – Martinis with the Devil (Zyan Star Book One)
The spawn turned to look at me with their orange goat eyes. They were ugly little buggers,
similar in appearance to goblins, but with tiny wings on their backs. Five of them stood between
me and Eli, whose arms were folded neatly over his chest, the veins popping out along his skin.
“None of your concern,” croaked the largest one, who stood only five feet tall, almost a foot
shorter than me.
I smiled. “Actually this is very much my concern, as this fine gentlemen is a patron of my bar.
I don’t appreciate my customers being harassed.”
“I didn’t buy anything,” Eli said.
I rolled my eyes. Gotta love the appreciation. “Be that as it may, I’m here now, and I’m not
about to let a bunch of underworld offspring lurk around my establishment.” I pinned my hazel
eyes on the leader. “That’s me asking nicely. I’ll only do it once.”
A slight twitch of a muscle was the only warning the first one gave before launching himself
at my face. I brought my blade up before me and watched as his body sliced in half from
forehead to groin. Two pieces of black flesh fell to the ground and sizzled into ash.
“Next?”
Two more of the spawn leaped towards me, and the other two at Eli. My sword blurred
silver in the night, decapitating the first and taking the arms off the second. Eli dispatched his
with a blast of white energy. They poofed into the air, little gray clouds that floated off into the
sky.
I leaned down over the armless spawn, who grinned at me like a mental patient. “What’s so
funny about bleeding out while your appendages lay beside you?” The tip of my sword pointed
under his chin.
“You can’t stop it,” he laughed. His green blood oozed onto the pavement.
“Stop what?” Eli commanded.
“He’s coming. He’s coming! And then we will roam freely.” His smile widened, then he
abruptly threw his weight forward, piercing his neck on the blade. “You can’t stop it,” he
gurgled through his own blood. A moment later he dissolved into ash.
“What a drama queen,” I muttered.
Eli watched me, his eyes unguarded for just a moment before he lapsed back into what
seemed his usual scowl. “That sword’s an interesting choice. Not a fan of hand-to-hand
combat?”
“And ruin my nails? Don’t think so.”
“Why’d you even come down here? Did you seriously think I couldn’t handle five tiny demon
spawn?”
“My turf, my business. Like I said earlier, I didn’t need them hanging around here anyways.” I
ran a wash of magic over my blade to clean it and then caught sight of my boots. “Oh, God
damn it!”
“Would you watch your mouth?” Eli snapped. “What’s wrong?”
“Look at my boots!” I lifted one off the ground and pointed my toe so he could see all the
green gooey blood soaked into the black leather. “Now I’m gonna have to throw them away.”
“You just fought off a pack of demon spawn that spouted cryptic doomsday messages and all
you can think about is your boots?” His voice was hard. Like his abs. Not that I’d been looking
while we were in the middle of a battle.
“Come on, you didn’t take that guy seriously, did you?”
Eli’s jaw tightened. “It is my duty to take threats to the sovereignty of humankind very
seriously.”
I laughed. “Well, you have fun with that.”
“You know, some of us actually have unselfish reasons for our existence. I’m sorry it isn’t as
glamorous as your life.” He lifted his chin, golden hair falling against his jaw line.
“Yes, you should be.” I turned and strode away, leaving him on the street. “Oh, and by the
way, you’re welcome,” I called over my shoulder.
