Title: The Beast of Callaire
Author: Saruuh Kelsey
Published: May 20th, 2014
Genre: YA Fantasy/Mythology
Synopsis:
Yasmin is a descendant of the Manticore. A creature of Persian mythology. A Legendary.
But she doesn’t want to be. Unlike the Legendaries in The Red, Yasmin wants nothing more than an ordinary life. She tries to fool herself into believing that she doesn’t change into a beast every full moon and savagely kill innocent people.
But when Yasmin starts hearing a voice in her head and is drawn into dreams that aren’t her own, she is led to Fray—a girl who once saved Yasmin from hunters, who has shadowy memories that hint at her having Legendary magic—and Yasmin is catapulted into a life of Majick and malevolence.
Despite the danger around her and Fray, Yasmin might finally have a chance at being a normal girl with a normal girlfriend. But with Legendaries being killed, a war between the Gods brewing, and the beast inside Yasmin becoming stronger each moon, her mundane life is little more than a dream.
Buy Links:
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-beast-of-callaire-saruuh-kelsey/1119059310?ean=9781291790603
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424300
Excerpt:
The
wood is beautiful through these eyes, but I wish I could choose what
they looked at. The edges of the leaves are crisp, the flat green my
human eyes would see is brought into bright relief. But I only see
what the beast wants to see, so I can’t focus on each brilliant new
thing because I’m wary and paranoid of what the beast will be drawn
to next. A squirrel—a rabbit—a stray human wandering along the
trail.
I could kill someone and I wouldn’t be able
to stop it. My jaws would rip flesh from bone and I’d be paralysed
in my mind, watching the horror as it happens. I know because it’s
happened. Six times. Thankfully, four of those people got away with
only claw welts or bite marks. But two of them are dead because of
me.
One was a girl no older than nine. I killed her
when I was fourteen, before I’d become used to the Change, before
the beast had settled into its control of my body. Now it only kills
for sport, not by accident, and mostly it hunts small animals. Easy
prey. Even in Manticore form, I’m a coward. I’m glad of it.
The second person I killed was a middle aged
man last year. He had a gun pointed at my friend Willa as she lounged
in the pool of Almery Wood. I’m not sure whether he meant to kill
her for spoils or just for the hell of it, but I don’t regret
killing him as much as the young girl. It still haunts my nightmares
sometimes, though, his glazed green eyes and slack, wrinkled face.
I still don’t know why the beast killed to
save my friend. Maybe there’s the smallest connection between the
two of us, between girl and monster. But as the leaves are ripped
beneath large, golden paws I’m not so sure. The Manticore is a
creature made of bloodlust and vicious intentions. I doubt there’s
any part of it that cares about anyone other than itself.
The beast steps into a clearing lit by
moonlight and shakes out its fur, the feathers of its wings tickling
my ears—its ears. I shake my head instinctively to get rid of the
irritation but the beast’s head stays still. It doesn’t care
about what aggravates me. I doubt it even knows what aggravates me. I
might have thoughts but this creature is mindless.
The beast turns suddenly, my head spinning with
the motion, and it regards the trees, all tall and close together,
their braches reaching out and speckled with leaves. My hearing
strains for a noise—I’m not sure what startled the beast.
A low, guttural growl comes from the depths of
the beast’s stomach and I finally see what the Manticore heard. A
middle aged man comes from behind a wide trunked service tree, the
vibrant leaves contrasting against the intentionally dark brown of
his jacket. He meant to blend in, whoever this man is. I futilely try
to urge the beast away, to turn and run, but the Manticore will never
back down.
I can tell by the rumble coming from its
mouth—my mouth—and the way its claws are ripping up the earth
that it’s going to attack. I’m going to kill another person. The
terror and dread wants to churn my stomach but my body is no longer
mine. It poisons my mind instead, fills me with visions of bloody
limbs and skin torn open.
By the time the man has produced a gun from
behind his back it’s too late for me to realise he’s a hunter and
too late for the beast to react to the threat. The hunter fires his
shotgun and absolute, blinding agony shocks through me, uniting
Yasmin and the Manticore for one second in merciless pain.
But then the beat is lumbering to its feet,
paws gripping for purchase, and I’m reminded that I don’t decide
what happens with my body. It’s a detached, lonely feeling, and at
the same time the worst terror imaginable. For something to decide
where you go, what you do, what you see …
The beast races out of the clearing and around
tree trunks, its usual speed affected by the gunshot wound in its
shoulder. The pain seems to pulse louder in my head, becoming
something dark and large and demanding. I’m not sure how much
longer I can stand this.
I’m sure, suddenly, that I’m going to die.
And in this moment, dying as the beast is the worst thing I can think
of.
The beast’s ears prick to the sound of
footsteps but by now it can’t move at all. All it can do is raise
its large head, pull downy wings around itself as a flimsy, useless
shield, and watch as the owner of the footsteps nears us.
Wide, green eyes are right in front of my eyes,
bushy brown eyebrows drawn low and accompanied by a frown. A girl. A
girl in the woods. Thank you, I think at this stranger but I
have no Majick in this form so she doesn’t hear my gratitude. This
is an angel come to deliver me a swift death, to save me from this
excruciating feeling.
I relinquish my grip on consciousness and let
the waiting blackness swallow me.
Playlist:
About The Author:
Saruuh Kelsey is the author of the Lux Guardians series. Her debut and the first in series, THE FORGOTTEN, a YA science fiction set in Victorian London and London 25 years in the future, is out now for free. Book two, THE REVELATION, releases October 7th. THE BEAST OF CALLAIRE, the first novel of a new YA fantasy series, with a same sex paranormal romance, is out May 20th.
Website: http://saruuhkelsey.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/luxguardians
Giveaway:
2 Beast of Callaire paperbacks and one swag pack consisting of a paperback, postcards, stickers, and a tote bag open Internationally.
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