Besieged by Rain
(Book One – Son of Rain series)
Michelle Irwin
Blog Tour
April 7-14, 2015
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Bottom Drawer Publications is proud to present Besieged by Rain, book one in the New Adult Paranormal series, Son of Rain, by Michelle Irwin.
The Son of Rain series is a companion series (of sorts) to the Daughter of Fire series featuring Evie Meyers. We say of sorts because Clay’s story, albeit partly told in Evie’s books, is so much bigger. This is not simply a retelling of the story from Clay’s perspective. Clay lives a whole other life that Evie only gets a glimpse of when their story unfolds.
Book Details: Novel
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance
206 pages - 89,000 words
BLURB
Clay Jacobs is a soldier. His family—elite members of a secret organization—are tasked with washing the world clean of all supernatural threats. Each new day brings the opportunity to fight at their side for a cause that he’s never doubted is just.
But Clay harbors a dangerous secret. The object of his teenage obsession was not human, and he failed to detect the truth until it was too late to destroy her. Even after she fled, he couldn't bring himself to report her. Now, the memory of the one who got away not only haunts him, it holds him captive and assaults him nightly. Unable to escape her hold on his mind, he races across the country to locate her and restore his sanity. Only instead of the monster he expects, he finds a woman who ensnares him with her charms. In her embrace, Clay dares to imagine a different life.
When his family discovers his betrayal, and threaten to destroy his dreams in the worst way imaginable, Clay has no option but to return to their side and convince them he’s back on the right track. Will he be able to play his part convincingly when the cause he’s spent most of his life fighting for is the very thing that will end his lover’s life?
“Let’s do this,” I said to Lou as we both prepared our guns for the mission ahead.
We caught up with Dad and Eth, who’d managed to make it there before us—no doubt largely in part due to Eth’s crazy driving—and had already scoped out the area.
“We haven’t seen anything yet,” Dad said. “But the buildings are all centered around a courtyard. We can start there and fan out. Clay, can you get a copy of the photo that triggered the alert?”
I nodded. “Give me a sec.”
I pulled out my cell and logged into the Rain interface. A minute and a half later, I showed them the picture that had caused both alerts to signal me. In it, the doppelganger Ben had a steel grip around the bound arms of another, captive, Ben. It was clear the real Ben was being guided toward one of the buildings. Despite the fact that only one of them was the true Ben, they looked identical. Even the typical fae arrogance on the captor’s face didn’t look out of place on Ben’s features—in fact, it was remarkably similar to the expression he wore when he knew he was getting lucky.
“It’s obviously a doppelganger,” Eth said, stating the blatant fact. “At least that explains the bodies.”
It didn’t take us long to work out the exact location the CCTV footage was from based on the background in the still.
We headed into the building, unsure of whether or not we were walking into a trap but ready to put our complete trust in each other. A thud and crash sounded upstairs. Although the sounds weren’t exactly uncommon, or unexpected, considering the area, the timing was far too coincidental to be ignored. With a few hand gestures, Dad indicated for Eth and me to take the lead. Silently, we moved in formation until we had the door to the apartment with the noises surrounded. A muffled shout within seemed to confirm it was the right room.
With a nod, Dad signaled for Eth—the strongest of us—to kick in the door. It swung open wildly to reveal two Bens, each a perfect replica of the other, both staring at us in surprise. Neither of them was bound, but both bore rope burns around their wrists.
“Shoot him. He’s the doppelganger!” They both cried in unison, their voices almost perfectly in sync.
I looked between them, wondering whether there was some easy test to distinguish the real Ben from his fae doppelganger. I turned to Dad for guidance, but before I could even open my mouth, Lou’s gun went off, and one of the Bens—I wasn’t sure which—fell to the floor.
“Holy shit!” Eth exclaimed; both he and I had leaped backward in shock at the sudden gunshot.
Crimson fluid flooded from the gaping hole where the back of his head used to be, and with the doppelganger no longer alive, the body instantly looked a little less like the real Ben. The skin was already paler, fading to a darkened tan.
The Ben that remained standing blinked at Lou. “How’d you know that he was . . . that I was . . .”
He seemed to be in shock, and I couldn’t blame him. I was barely understanding it myself, and I was long used to Lou’s snap decisions.
“I had a hunch, so I followed it,” Lou said with a shrug.
Ben’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he keeled over next to the doppelganger. The three of us had practically grown up with him—albeit in small doses—but I knew he had a strong constitution and could kick some serious ass when he needed to. It was testament to his ordeal with his doppelganger that he’d succumbed to unconsciousness—or maybe it was the possibility that Lou could have easily killed him if her hunch had been wrong.
“We need to get him out of here,” Dad said.
“I’ll take him. I might be able to help him,” Lou said with genuine empathy in her voice. Even though we had no way of knowing what he might have endured—or whether he’d escaped relatively unscathed—none of us were willing to argue with Lou about her being involved in his debriefing. Of the four of us, she had the most experience with the fear of capture and the reality of torture.
“Fine. Louise and I will take the Chevelle and drive Ben to Abe’s place,” Dad agreed. “I’ll call him on the way so that he can meet us there. Ethan, you and Clay clean up here. I’ll meet you back at Bayview to debrief with the Assessors in an hour. Remember, this wasn’t just any case. This was a direct attack on one of our leaders, and we need to be prepared to ensure it can’t happen again.”
After Dad and Lou had left, Eth and I wrapped the body and carried it downstairs before throwing it into the trunk. We’d find a quiet spot by the river and burn the dead fae—it was the easiest way to dispose of these creatures for good. Just as I was climbing into the car, my cell chimed again.
Assuming it was Dad letting us know something about Ben, I checked it. It was another alert, which I almost dismissed. I assumed it was probably just a new sighting of Ben, from when Lou and Dad helped him out of the building, because I hadn’t had an opportunity to turn off the search. But then . . . then the details of the alert caught my eye. Once they had, I couldn’t do anything more than stare at it in disbelief.
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT
“Let’s do this,” I said to Lou as we both prepared our guns for the mission ahead.
We caught up with Dad and Eth, who’d managed to make it there before us—no doubt largely in part due to Eth’s crazy driving—and had already scoped out the area.
“We haven’t seen anything yet,” Dad said. “But the buildings are all centered around a courtyard. We can start there and fan out. Clay, can you get a copy of the photo that triggered the alert?”
I nodded. “Give me a sec.”
I pulled out my cell and logged into the Rain interface. A minute and a half later, I showed them the picture that had caused both alerts to signal me. In it, the doppelganger Ben had a steel grip around the bound arms of another, captive, Ben. It was clear the real Ben was being guided toward one of the buildings. Despite the fact that only one of them was the true Ben, they looked identical. Even the typical fae arrogance on the captor’s face didn’t look out of place on Ben’s features—in fact, it was remarkably similar to the expression he wore when he knew he was getting lucky.
“It’s obviously a doppelganger,” Eth said, stating the blatant fact. “At least that explains the bodies.”
It didn’t take us long to work out the exact location the CCTV footage was from based on the background in the still.
We headed into the building, unsure of whether or not we were walking into a trap but ready to put our complete trust in each other. A thud and crash sounded upstairs. Although the sounds weren’t exactly uncommon, or unexpected, considering the area, the timing was far too coincidental to be ignored. With a few hand gestures, Dad indicated for Eth and me to take the lead. Silently, we moved in formation until we had the door to the apartment with the noises surrounded. A muffled shout within seemed to confirm it was the right room.
With a nod, Dad signaled for Eth—the strongest of us—to kick in the door. It swung open wildly to reveal two Bens, each a perfect replica of the other, both staring at us in surprise. Neither of them was bound, but both bore rope burns around their wrists.
“Shoot him. He’s the doppelganger!” They both cried in unison, their voices almost perfectly in sync.
I looked between them, wondering whether there was some easy test to distinguish the real Ben from his fae doppelganger. I turned to Dad for guidance, but before I could even open my mouth, Lou’s gun went off, and one of the Bens—I wasn’t sure which—fell to the floor.
“Holy shit!” Eth exclaimed; both he and I had leaped backward in shock at the sudden gunshot.
Crimson fluid flooded from the gaping hole where the back of his head used to be, and with the doppelganger no longer alive, the body instantly looked a little less like the real Ben. The skin was already paler, fading to a darkened tan.
The Ben that remained standing blinked at Lou. “How’d you know that he was . . . that I was . . .”
He seemed to be in shock, and I couldn’t blame him. I was barely understanding it myself, and I was long used to Lou’s snap decisions.
“I had a hunch, so I followed it,” Lou said with a shrug.
Ben’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he keeled over next to the doppelganger. The three of us had practically grown up with him—albeit in small doses—but I knew he had a strong constitution and could kick some serious ass when he needed to. It was testament to his ordeal with his doppelganger that he’d succumbed to unconsciousness—or maybe it was the possibility that Lou could have easily killed him if her hunch had been wrong.
“We need to get him out of here,” Dad said.
“I’ll take him. I might be able to help him,” Lou said with genuine empathy in her voice. Even though we had no way of knowing what he might have endured—or whether he’d escaped relatively unscathed—none of us were willing to argue with Lou about her being involved in his debriefing. Of the four of us, she had the most experience with the fear of capture and the reality of torture.
“Fine. Louise and I will take the Chevelle and drive Ben to Abe’s place,” Dad agreed. “I’ll call him on the way so that he can meet us there. Ethan, you and Clay clean up here. I’ll meet you back at Bayview to debrief with the Assessors in an hour. Remember, this wasn’t just any case. This was a direct attack on one of our leaders, and we need to be prepared to ensure it can’t happen again.”
After Dad and Lou had left, Eth and I wrapped the body and carried it downstairs before throwing it into the trunk. We’d find a quiet spot by the river and burn the dead fae—it was the easiest way to dispose of these creatures for good. Just as I was climbing into the car, my cell chimed again.
Assuming it was Dad letting us know something about Ben, I checked it. It was another alert, which I almost dismissed. I assumed it was probably just a new sighting of Ben, from when Lou and Dad helped him out of the building, because I hadn’t had an opportunity to turn off the search. But then . . . then the details of the alert caught my eye. Once they had, I couldn’t do anything more than stare at it in disbelief.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Irwin has been many things in her life: a hobbit taking a precious item to a fiery mountain; a young child stepping through the back of a wardrobe into another land; the last human stranded not-quite-alone in space three million years in the future; a young girl willing to fight for the love of a vampire; and a time-travelling madman in a box. She achieved all of these feats and many more through her voracious reading habit. Eventually, so much reading had to have an effect and the cast of characters inside her mind took over and spilled out onto the page.
Michelle lives in sunny Queensland in the land down under with her surprisingly patient husband and ever-intriguing daughter, carving out precious moments of writing and reading time around her accounts-based day job. A lover of love and overcoming the odds, she primarily writes paranormal and fantasy romance.
Find Michelle at:
http://blog.michelle-irwin.com/
Michelle Irwin has been many things in her life: a hobbit taking a precious item to a fiery mountain; a young child stepping through the back of a wardrobe into another land; the last human stranded not-quite-alone in space three million years in the future; a young girl willing to fight for the love of a vampire; and a time-travelling madman in a box. She achieved all of these feats and many more through her voracious reading habit. Eventually, so much reading had to have an effect and the cast of characters inside her mind took over and spilled out onto the page.
Michelle lives in sunny Queensland in the land down under with her surprisingly patient husband and ever-intriguing daughter, carving out precious moments of writing and reading time around her accounts-based day job. A lover of love and overcoming the odds, she primarily writes paranormal and fantasy romance.
Find Michelle at:
http://blog.michelle-irwin.com/
Hi Jacky, thanks so much for hosting Michelle and "Besieged by Rain" on your blog for the book tour ;-) BDP
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