The Seven Wicked Series: Book 1 of 7 (Books 2, 3, and 4 available now!) - Young Adult Paranormal Romance
“That's just the First," Caleb said, pausing to worry at his lower lip. “And it's only one of seven, Seven Wicked; we can't destroy any of the others until we destroy the First.”
When reincarnated goddess, Eevee Marx, sees the necklace at her local thrift store, she just has to have it. But Eevee has no idea that when she drapes the delicate, silver links over her fingers, she is continuing a legend her spirit had started centuries ago. That when she unhooks the tiny clasp and lays the black and silver pendant against her chest, she will spend the night of her seventeenth birthday holding the dying body of the boy she loves.
The Seven Wicked have been sleeping, preparing for Eevee to touch the necklace and reawaken the powers inside of her. Now, the only thing that stands between them is Caleb, the golden haired boy who will sacrifice himself to save her.
EXCERPT:
I spent the night of my seventeenth birthday holding the dying body of the boy I loved. I watched in helpless horror as the light in his gentle eyes faded slowly, brushing my fingers through the golden halo of his hair as I tried not to cry. “You can't go yet,” I whispered in the sudden silence. Either the First was already dead or it had crawled off into some dank, dirty hole in the ground to finish dying. I could only hope it was suffering half as much as we were.
Caleb tried to smile at me, blood trickling down the sides of his face in warm, crimson rivulets. He was trying to make me feel better when he was the one who was dying. Tears prickled at the corners of my eyes. “Please,” I begged, hugging him close to me. As I shifted his body, he grunted in pain, and I was forced to release him back into the confines of my lap. “I'm so sorry.” Caleb smiled again and reached a quaking hand up to my lips. This is all my fault. I did this. I killed my guardian angel.
“Don't be sorry, Eevee. I'm not.” A rumble shook the dirt beneath us and rattled the corrugated steel walls around us. The broken lamps swung violently overhead, the rusty chains snapping as glass and metal exploded into the ground and burst like bombs, shrapnel nicking my face and neck.
“Caleb,” I whispered, hunching over to protect him from the debris. “What's going on? I thought you killed it?” Across the warehouse, a mound of dirt was rising like an anthill, black oozing from the openings on its side, glistening and thick like oil. Caleb didn't respond at first, his eyelids fluttering like frantic butterflies as he struggled to maintain consciousness. I tore my gaze from his pale lashes and bloody lips, checking carefully to make sure we weren't going to be swallowed whole by the ever widening pool of sludge.
The shaking had stopped suddenly, leaving us in eerie quiet that sent chills down my spine. I had to get him out of there, but I didn't know how. Think of something. Caleb was there for you, be there for him. I couldn't let fear and panic cripple me. I had to be as brave, as strong, as the boy that I held motionless in my arms. I clutched for the necklace with my right hand, hoping there was enough magic left to save us both.
A whisper drew my attention back to my guardian's pallid features. His cracked lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. “What is it?” I sobbed, taking his face in one hand and tilting my head so that my ear was pressed as close to him as I could get without touching the bruises on his cheeks.
“The Second,” he gasped, pink bubbles sputtering as he tried to enunciate beyond the red liquid in his mouth. And then he fell still. His eyes emptied of anything and everything that had ever made Caleb, Caleb. The necklace fell from my grasp, swinging back and forth like a noose.
