Ronnie Massey is the author of Crimson Dawn – Book One of the Darklife Saga.

Merry Christmas one and all.  I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday!  I’m dropping by to give everyone a sneak peek at the next book in the DarkLife Saga, Black Moon Rising.  While I still have a good bit of rewriting and editing to do, the first draft is finished.  So what you are about to read is subject to change a little before it finally makes it to publication.  But it will give readers an idea as to what direction I am taking with the second story.

Black Moon Rising picks up a few months after the events in Crimson Dawn and will find not only Valeria, but the entire Trumaine family coming under fire because of Val and her actions in the Faelands.  Not only are the Trumaine’s facing the toughest challenge they’ve ever had to face, Valerian, Val’s twin brother, has tasked Val and Irulan with finding a killer, or the innocent man he’s been asked to defend is going to die.

One of the challenges I’ve had with writing Black Moon Rising, is coming up with an antagonist strong enough to give Valeria a run for her money.  She gets a huge power boost in Crimson Dawn, so I couldn’t have her going up against just anyone and expect it to fly.  I think I’ve done a pretty good job with coming up with a suitable villain, but I’ll let the readers be the judge of that in time.

Black Moon Rising also marks the return of someone from Irulan’s past.  I won’t say who, but I will give you a hint that will make it really easy to guess… read my DarkLife Short, Never Again: An Irulan Short.  The past is coming back to bite everyone in the behind in the second installment and it won’t be pretty.

Crimson Dawn: Darklife Saga Bk 1, is available now from Copperhill Media in paperback and ebook format at Amazon, All Romance EBooks.com, Barnes and Nobles.com, and other places books are sold.

Never Again: An Irulan Short, UnSpoken: A Val and Irulan Short, and Faerie Wishes and Jaguar Kisses: A DarkWorld Novella, are all available on Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Nobles.com

You can read more about all my DarkLife/DarkWorld titles and my other works at my website http://www.ronniemassey.com/, or by checking out my post here at http://frogenyozurt.com/.

So without further ado, here is the first chapter of Black Moon Rising: Darklife Saga Book 2

Black Moon Rising

Chapter 1

“Valeria, would you quit whining,” my older brother Tamerlane huffed, his blue eyes so like my own blazing. He leaned past me to adjust the vertical hold on one of the small grey monitors that I was staring at.

“I still can’t believe the Vampire Council placed an impressionable youth in your care.” He reached over and began clicking away at a keyboard, adjusting camera angles.

I frowned and poked my tongue out at him. “I’ll stop when you actually give me something challenging to do. And complaining doesn‘t make me a bad parent.” So far, in the two months that I’ve been an official employee for my family’s company, watching a humongous wall of monitors has been the highlight of my days.

That wasn’t saying much. It wouldn’t have been so much of a bore if the monitors came complete with sound. There were camera’s covering every inch of the grounds except for the bathroom stalls. I mean, in a building with over six hundred employees, there’s bound to be talk. I like gossip as much as the next girl. At least I would have been privy to said gossip, but alas, no audio.

The small black and white pictures took up an entire wall of the glorified closet that housed the video surveillance equipment, and I was stuck here for four hours until I rotated out.  “If I would have known joining the security detail here was so much fun and excitement I would have done it years ago…NOT!”

My brother growled and pointed an angry finger at my nose. “Don’t knock my team Valeria. The Trumaine Enterprises Security and Risk Management Team is the best in the industry. You’d know that if you’d give the job half a chance.”

Blah, blah, blah…Seriously, that’s all I heard. “Oh please,” I snorted as I leaned back in my chair and threw a handful of popcorn at his head. “I’m the best thing to happen to your merry bunch of flashlight bandits since rechargeable batteries and you know it.”

Before I knew it, my brothers ham sized fist was flying at my head at mach speed. I easily ducked it and spun around in my chair to face him.  “You know, one wouldn’t think that steroids would be compatible with our physiology, but you seem to have no problem using them. “Roid rage much,” I teased as I threw another handful at him.

For a moment I thought my brother was going to dump my ass out of my chair, but no, he just stood there with an exasperated ‘why me’ look on his mocha face. Tamerlane sucked his teeth and ran his fingers through his tightly corn-rolled hair. After a few seconds, his face erupted in a smile and he ran through the side door that led to his office.

When I followed him, he was standing at his desk, holding a clipboard and mumbling to himself. He rifled through the papers until he found what he was looking for.  “Oh, yes, how could I forget,” he said under his breath. Tamerlane pulled a pen from the holder on his desk and scrawled something across whatever he was looking at, before tearing it free and holding it out in my direction.

“Here,” he said, with a satisfied smirk plastered to his face. “You want out of here, you’ve got it. Valerian is interviewing a client today and has requested an escort. You’re Vedo’s baby now.”

“What?” Although I was elated to be getting out of the building, I was pissed at being handed off like an annoying little sister. I felt like I was twelve years old all over again.

As I tried to decipher my brother’s chicken scratch, he grabbed me by the shoulders turned me to towards the door. “Go to Requisitions on the third floor and give the form to Mike. You’ll need to sign out a car, so go.”

I crammed the thin yellow paper into my back pocket and folded my arms across my chest. “This isn’t fair Tamerlane.”

My brother looked at me and laughed. “Are you serious? One minute you’re whining about how bored you are, and then when I give you something to do, you complain about that.” He threw his hands into the air, his pecan brown skin became flush with anger. “I knew this was a bad idea when father came to me. But no I ignored my gut and this is what I get.”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic Tam. All I’m saying is Valerian going to do a client interview. How much danger is he going to be in, I mean really? Odds are the interrogation room is going to be full of guards anyway…unless…oh wait.”  I leaned back and threw my hands up into the air. “I can see tomorrows headline now. Lawyer attacked by briefcase. Details after the break.”

This time when Tamerlane growled there was strength behind it. “Valerian’s job is full of danger Val. He represents our kind, remember.” He walked over the to hall door and pulled it open. “Third floor Requisitions.”

I stomped my foot in defeat and headed for the door. “What room?”

“Three twelve and hurry. His meeting is scheduled for nine. It’s already eight.”

I huffed and headed towards the hallway.  Tamerlane’s booming laugh followed me out the door.  I knew the need for an escort was a legitimate one for the lawyers on staff. Who knew what kind of situation might arise when you were dealing with a locked up Extra. Not many of us take too kindly to being confined.

I must have been wearing a ‘fuck off’ look on my face, because every person that I passed in the hall, either dropped their heads and refused to make eye contact, or just turn around and headed in the opposite direction all together. But the time I made it to the third floor, my slight aggravation had morphed into blown out pissed. I stalked into room three twelve, walked up the shielded counter and slapped the form down.

“Hello is anyone here? I’m looking for Mike.”

“That’s me,” a voice called. A mousy looking life born made his way through a maze of boxes and crates to come stand at the counter.

His face lit up in a smile when he saw who was on the other side of the glass. “Oh! Ms. Trumaine. I was wondering when I was going to meet you.”

I scowled. “Yeah, yeah, it’s me.” I leaned forward onto my elbows so I could look him in the eye. “Would you like my autograph?” My tone was sarcastic as hell, but I didn’t care at the moment.

Mike’s expression did a three-sixty. His smile fell as he shook his red greasy hair and cast a nervous look at me. “Um, no, I was just surprised to see you, that’s all. And you kind of have the same eyes as Tamerlane, it’s cool.”

I leaned on the counter and slid the form through the small opening. “Yeah sure whatever. Can you handle this? I‘m escorting today and need a vehicle.”

His hand shook as he reached out and took the paper. Damn it all to hell. My pissed off mood was spilling over onto Mike. I took a small step backwards and tried my best to focus on happy thoughts before I started feeding on his sorrow. As a result of my newly discovered, mixed Vampire-Sidhe heritage, I’m able to feed from darker emotions. A nifty ability to have, but one I haven‘t quite gotten the hang of.

I thought about Irulan, my mate and hit jackpot. All the aggravation I felt began to disappear. As my mood headed towards warmer waters, so did Mike’s. His tense face began to relax as he smoothed out the crumpled paper to read it. By the time he was finished reading it, he was outright perky.

“Sure thing Ms. Trumaine,” he said. “But I’m afraid your choices are going to be slim. We’ve only got two vehicles to suit your needs.”

I walked over to a window and gazed across the grounds to look at the eleven story parking garage. “What are you taking about? We have at three stories full of vehicles. How can there only be two available?”

Mike came out and stood beside me. “Yeah, we have an awesome fleet of vehicles,” he said with his face full of pride. He shook his lopsided smile away and turned to face me, “But only two fit Tamerlane’s instructions.”

“What are you talking about?”

He held out the paper for me but I waved it away. “I can’t decipher Tamerlane’s scribble. Read it to me.”

“Well it pretty much say’s what you did, except for here.” He pointed to the last line and smiled. “You must be guarding someone pretty important because this says to make sure you’re loaded for elephant.”

“And what does that mean?”

“Loaded for elephant is code for armored vehicle.” He held up two sets of keys. Take your pick. The Expedition or the Navigator.”

Tamerlane was sending me on a routine escort in an armored truck. “This is my brothers’ idea of a joke Mike. I don’t need an armored car.”

He shrugged his shoulders and held out the keys. “Sorry. Joke or no joke, Tamerlane is head of security and I have to follow his orders.”

“Fine then,” I muttered. I grabbed a set of keys and flashed out of the door, not bothering to sign for them. I moved so fast through the building that when I breezed through the entrance to the parking deck, the sentries posted there were never the wiser. The only thing that marked my passing was the ruffle of a few papers tapped to a pillar. The guards were going to hear from me once I got back.

I slowed my pace once I reached the first level of company cars. I walked past rows and rows of sedans and came to a dead stop, this had to be another one of Tam‘s jokes. I looked out at the expanse of SUV’s and felt my sour attitude returning full force. There were at least eight rows of Expeditions and Navigators. Hell, it would be easier to find a car that wasn’t a Ford or Lincoln.

“Ha Ha Tam,” I hissed.  Just when I was ready to begin tossing cars over the edge of the parking deck, Valerian came up behind me and rest his hand on my shoulder.

“Jeez Val. Calm down. You’re giving me a headache.”

“What in the hell are you talking about Vedo?”

He flinched as he rubbed his temple. “Your shielding has been for shit since you got back from the FaeLands a few months ago.”

“Sorry. I wonder how many people…”

“Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure it’s just me. The whole twin thing you know.”

I knew alright. Aside from the bond I’d formed with Irulan due to our mating, the only other mind I had trouble blocking and keeping stuff from was Valerian. The same went for him also. I can’t count the times we’d popped inside each others heads at completely the wrong moments. I‘m surprised I made it through my teen years without serious sexual hang-ups.

“What’s got you so pissed off anyway?” Valerian asked me.

“Tamerlane and his idea of a joke.” I directed my thoughts towards my twin so he could witness my injustice at the hands of our older brother himself. Instead of the stalwart confidant my twin should have been, the traitorous leech burst out laughing.

“Alright Tam,” he exclaimed as he dodged my fist. “I would have never thought to send you out in one of those tanks.”

“Benedict Arnold,” I spat. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

“Oh come on Val. Look at it from Tam’s side. All you’ve done is moan and complain since you’ve been here. Always comparing Trumaine Enterprises security team to Sentinels. To him, it’s like you’re putting him and his work down.”

I paled. “No, I never did. It just gets boring looking at monitors and walking the halls all night.”

“Maybe if you lighten up and give the job a chance, Tam will let you into more of the heavy stuff.”

I held up my hand, the key right swinging in circles around my finger. “You mean like babysitting company lawyers.”

“Escorting is serious Val.” He took the keys from me. “Let’s go.”

I planted my hands on my hips and frowned. “Easier said than done. I have no idea which car it is. They’re all the same.”

Valerian laughed and pressed the alarm button. A blaring horn began echoing through the garage from a few rows over. “Seriously Val. You need to lighten up.

I snatched the keys from him and made my way to the SUV. Once we were safely inside, I stared the engine and eased the hulking vehicle out of the garage.

Valerian pulled a red folder from his briefcase and began going over its contents. He was so deep in thought; he never noticed we were on the way to the CMS, until we got within three blocks of the building.

“Val, where are you taking me?”

“The CMS. Tamerlane said you were going to interview a client.”

Valerian shook his head. “Sorry, I thought you already knew,” he said, tapping the side of his head. “My client isn’t at the CMS. We need to go the Billy Graham Memorial Hospital over off Sugarcreek Rd. My client is being held in the psychiatric unit there.”

“Thanks for telling me,” I muttered as I swung the SUV in a wide U-turn.

Our destination was odd. Valerian handles corporate law. Not many white collar criminals ended up in the psych ward. “Um Vedo, what kind of case is this?”

“Without going into too many details, I can tell you that my client is being charged with murder.”

What?! They had my brother interviewing some psycho Extra outside of the safety of the secured units of the CMS. No wonder he needed and escort.

“He’s not an Extra Val,” Valerian said softly.

Say what, say huh? This had to be another joke on Tamerlane’s part. Valerian may be a lawyer, but he trained with Yosh right alongside me as we grew up. My brother was more that capable of protecting himself from a few humans. “Why in the hell do you need protection from a human client?”

“It’s for the humans’ piece of mind. They implied that they’ll feel better knowing the vampire lawyer was going to have a watchdog while on the premises.”

“Did they not realize they were going to end up with two vampires instead of one?”

Valerian shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “They didn’t, but I did.”

I laughed and began slowing the car down. When we came to a complete stop, waiting for a red light to change, my curiosity got the better of me and I tried to take a peek at Valerians folder.

He huffed and quietly closed it. “Oh come on Vedo,” I protested. “Just a little peek. This is the most excitement I’ve had in weeks. Let me live vicariously through my twin, please.”

Valerian’s right thumb began to twitch and I knew I had him. “Alright, but you can’t utter a word of this to anyone.”

“I can’t hide things from Irulan anymore than I can hide them from you. It might not slip now, but…”

“Fine, Irulan is the exception.”

“Agreed.”

Valerian re-opened his file and flipped through the pages. “What do you want to know?”

“Why are you taking on a human murder case to start?”

“The client is a friend of Constantine’s. He asked me to do this as a favor to him.”

“So who’s the guy accused of murdering?”

“His wife of thirty-five years.”

Whoa. Didn’t expect that. “So this guy goes crazy and offs his wife. What is he claiming temporary insanity? Is that why he’s in the loony bin?”

“No. He’s in the psychiatric unit under a suicide watch. The human police reports say he‘s so distraught over her death that he wants to join her.”

That didn’t make sense. “What did he off her then suddenly grow a conscious or something?”

Valerian punched me in the leg. “That was in poor taste Val, even for you.

“I was just asking a legitimate question.” I took another glance at the papers in his lap. “So what do our reports say?”

“They don’t say anything because there aren’t any.”

“There aren’t any? Why not? If you’re taking the case, the first step would be to have risk management perform their own investigation. You don’t seriously trust the humans’ judgment do you?”

“In some instances I do Val. And I told you, this is a special case. I’m not using Trumaine resources for this.”

I looked around the car and raised an eyebrow at my brother. “Come again.”

“Ok, so maybe a few. But not anything that will draw fathers’ attention. And pulling a team from Tam’s unit will do that. Father gets direct reports at the same time Tam does. I wouldn’t be able to keep that from him.”

I sucked in a huge burst of air. This had to be someone important to Constantine to have asked Valerian for a favor that would have him sneaking around behind our fathers back.  Out of all my father’s kids, Valerian was the poster boy for ‘Mr. Goody Two Shoes’. He almost never went against our father for anything.

“Who is this person Vedo, and how much evidence do they have against him?”

“All I know is Constantine begged me to represent him. As for evidence. As far as the police are concerned, it’s an open and shut case.”

“How so?”

“The client went to sleep one night with his wife safe and sound beside him. When he woke up the next morning, she was dead beside him. He doesn’t remember a thing.”

That didn’t sound good. “How dead is dead? What did the autopsy say? How do they know it wasn’t natural causes?”

“ They’ve ruled out any natural causes Val. When my client woke for the day, he was covered in the victim’s blood. She was ripped apart Val. There wasn’t much left to autopsy.”

Damn, damn and triple damn. I pulled into a visitor parking space and we hopped out of the SUV. Valerian straightened his collar and pulled me to a stop before I got too far ahead of him.

“Val. Please keep your mouth in check and your opinions to yourself o.k.”

I turned, “Are you serious. Do you think that I would cause you trouble Valerian?”

“No, just reminding you that this isn’t the CMS, I take the lead. We need to be careful around the human staff.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Why are you talking to me like I live under a rock and have never been around people before?”

Valerian popped his knuckles and the lawyer veil slid into place. My brothers’ entire demeanor changed like a switch was flipped. “Just do as I ask,” he said as he led the way to the hospital entrance.

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CRIMSON DAWN
Book One of the Darklife Saga by Ronnie Massey

Two Women Hunting A Rogue Vampire

Vampire Valeria Trumaine must confront old demons and face new possibilities as she struggles to bring a rogue vampire to justice. Her best friend and powerful Sidhe princess, Irulan, joins the hunt. Valeria will find that Irulan’s motives for keeping her safe are not what she thinks. And soon she is faced with an undeniable attraction that makes her question everything she knew about herself. [Read More...]

Available at Amazon.Com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, and any other good bookstore.