Welcome to the tour kickoff to this amazing book!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and can't wait for the second book!! Before we dive into the tour specifics, lets look at the book details:
TITLE: The Strix (Bag of Tricks)
AUTHOR(S):
Katalina Leon and Amber Skyze
PUBLISHER: Loose Id LLC
LENGTH: 234
Pages
SUBGENRES:
Vampire, Shapeshifter, Fantasy
BLURB:
A cursed amber amulet unearthed in Pompeii flings Arcona into a
past life of witchcraft, bloodshed, revenge and sexual slavery to the cruel
Master of a gladiatorial school. This violent parallel world is populated with
“Slayers,” blood-drinking immortals devoted to the gods of war and mayhem.
As a Strix, or malignant witch, Arcona once used sex and
blood rituals to create a race of immortal warriors to unleash on Rome. Now
it’s time to pay.
The gladiator Tyr was one desperately lonely lover she betrayed.
Against his will, she turned him into Upir Likhyi, a foul vampire. For two
millennia he’s lived a grim existence as a Slayer, in constant sexual arousal
yet denied release; now, he's pissed off and wants revenge. He kidnaps Arcona
planning to drink her dry and break the curse.
Along the way Arcona and Tyr relive their sexual slavery at the
hands of Rome and blood sport in the arena, but the real magic is they forgive
and fall in love.
Too bad another Slayer wants them dead.
EXCERPT:
This
excerpt (rated R) takes place on a densely wooded sacred island on the Rhine.
Arcona has just taken a vow of chastity and completed a lonely vigil and
initiation to the Goddess Nerthus, when she is discovered by Roman soldiers and
taken captive.
78
AD
Arcona crouched on the gravel beach. The
wet river stones left her soaked and shivering. She carefully concealed her
empty hands in the folds of her tunic and tried to stare the Roman soldiers
down, knowing it was only a matter of moments before they realized she wasn’t
armed and rushed in on her.
Why did she leave her knife by the
campfire? It was foolish. At least with a weapon in her hand she could die
fighting.
The soldiers stealthily fanned in a half
circle around her. Their intense gazes never broke. She had the feeling she was
an exotic animal trapped in a snare. The icy river and
Hedron’s dead body were at her back. She refused to glance
behind her and look at them. Her heart couldn’t bear it.
Several of the Romans appeared to be her
age or younger. She guessed these men were scouts and not seasoned centurions.
They had a light dusting of black whiskers on the sides of their jaws and
muscular, compact bodies. Their breath came quickly, and despite the cold
morning, perspiration glistened on their sun-browned skin. The youngest men
possessed a feral, undisciplined look in their dark eyes. Those men scared her
the most.
The legate wore a deep crimson cloak and
an ornate sword belt and appeared to be the most mature man in the group. “Come
here.” He coaxed her forward with the wave of his hand. “I want to look at
you.”
“By Jupiter, their women are dirty,” one
of the soldiers said in disgust. “Look at the filthy rags wrapped around her
arms.”
“She’s been injured.” The legate hissed a
warning at the man to be silent.
The man sheepishly shut his mouth.
Another soldier darted forward, threw his
arms around Arcona, and knocked her to the ground.
Arcona hit the gravel beach with a thud. The soldier landed hard on top of her and pinned her. His
weight pushed down on her until it was difficult to draw breath.
The soldier snarled in her face. “The
legate wants to look at you; don’t ignore him!”
“There’s no need to shout in her face. She
can’t understand you.” The legate strode toward Arcona. His cool gazed poured over
her. A slight smile lit his lips. “She certainly is dirty, but a simple bath
will solve that problem.” He leaned closer. “Her eyes are a stunning shade of
green, very earthy. They look a bit crazed, but that’s probably because she’s
scared.” He knelt and rubbed his fingers against a few strands of her hair. “I
can’t tell beneath the layers of sooty ash, but I think her hair has a touch of
scarlet in it. Lift her tunic,” he demanded. “Let’s see if the other thatch of
hair matches.”
The soldier lying on top of her pushed her
tunic higher. “I’m hard as stone,” he muttered. “Can we take turns with her?”
“No,” the legate said coldly. “We don’t
know what we have yet.”
Arcona spit in the soldier’s face and
wildly kicked him.
“She’s hurting me!” the soldier complained.
He wrestled Arcona into submission. “Get over here and help me!” he barked to
his younger companion.
A mean-looking young man approached.
“Draw your knife,” the legate ordered.
“Cut these rags off so we can look at her.”
The young man drew a dagger from his hip
belt, took hold of the hem of Arcona’s tunic, and sawed the blade against the
cloth. The threads popped and tore as the fabric ripped higher.
The young man parted the frayed cloth and
gasped. “Look at her; she’s beautiful. Wide hips, big tits, milky skin.” His
gaze locked on her. “I’m certain a woman like this has had a man. What fools
would let something this tempting walk around and not put their cocks in it?”
The soldier pinning her to the ground
looked up at the legate with pleading eyes. “Can I just rub my cock between her
thighs?”
Fear swept over her. Arcona fought like a
she-bear. She remembered a horrible insult the old scout had dared to teach
her. She opened her mouth and screamed, “Vestri Deus Jupiter combibo spurcus gallo of sulum
pauper in vicus!”
The legate reeled in shock. “What did you
say?”
“You heard me!” Arcona sneered at the
Romans. “Your god Jupiter sucks the filthy cocks of every beggar on the
street.” She didn’t really know what a street was, but the scout had assured
her such a thing was the wrong place for sex.
“Who taught you that?” The legate looked
scandalized.
“Ego narro vestri lingua. Volo veneration.” She spoke slowly with as much authority as she
could muster. “I speak your tongue. I want respect. Who is your leader?”
The legate looked flummoxed, as if a bird
in the treetops had just spoken to him. “Gaius Julius Civilis is our
commander.”
“I have a message for Gaius. Unless you
want me to scratch your eyes out with my dirty fingernails, take me to him!”
“All right.” The legate appeared stunned.
“I will.”
BUY LINKS:
You can follow the tour along here:
There will be a tour wide giveaway for comments!! Two lucky commenters will win one of two $15 Amazon Cards to be given away!! So comment, comment, comment!!! Good Luck!!!
4 comments:
This looks very intriguing!
vitajex(at)aol(dot)com
Thank you Nikki! Amber and I are looking forward to this book tour!
XXOO Kat
Thanks Nikki! Hope you follow us til the end! :)
I love the Cover and the book looks great!!
susanmplatt AT hotmail DOT com
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