Excerpt: Trick or Treat 🧡🖤

Teaser Day! 🖤🧡

In the spirit of Halloween, here’s a scene (from The Reign of Darkness) with our favorite trickster, Kara, and her villainous ex-lover, Alana. 🎃🖤🧡

Excerpt:

The glass shattered in Alana’s hand, the scent of her blood filling the air.

Kara looked down, her eyes darkening with hunger, as she watched the blood flow from Alana’s hand, sliding down her wrist in a steady, crimson stream.

With a shriek of rage, Alana gripped the largest shard of glass and swung it at Kara.

Kara caught her wrist easily. “Careful, love,” she said, ripping the shard of glass from Alana’s hand. “You wouldn’t want to scar your pretty hands.”

Alana jerked her wrist from Kara’s grasp. “You lied to me!” she growled.

Kara took a step backward, a cocky smirk tilting at the edges of her lips. “It’s what I do,” she said, spreading out her arms. “Try not to act so surprised.”

She spun on her heels and headed toward the door, feeling quite proud of herself, to be honest. But as she placed her hand on the doorknob, she heard a sound that made her heart stop—Alana. Not the shrieking, rage-filled Alana she’d faced a moment before…

No, she sounded calm now.

Amused, even.

Manipulative.

“But it’s more fun when I act.”

Kara froze, a cold rush of dread pouring over her. She turned, watching as Alana cleaned the blood from her hand with a cloth. “What are you saying?”

Alana smiled. “It’s oddly satisfying to trick a trickster, don’t you think?”

“You knew,” Kara realized, her brows furrowing, “that I was using you.”

Alana giggled, “I’ve been with you for a thousand years.” She took a step closer to Kara. “You didn’t think I’d learned nothing in all of that time, did you?”

Kara sighed irritably. “If you knew, why did you tell me the truth?”

“Do you think this is the first time you’ve gotten this close to the truth?” Alana scoffed. When she noticed Kara’s worried frown, her smile widened. “Oh, you did,” she giggled. Her dark blue eyes sparkled. “That’s kind of sweet, actually.”

Kara wanted to run—to get out of reach before Alana came any closer to her—but a pulsing, painful fog had already begun to spread through her mind.

“When you talk to Aaron, you won’t remember any of this,” Alana said.

Kara pressed her hand against her face, as if she could push away the fog, as if she could stop the mind-control. Her hair fell around her face, and her head spun violently. She almost fell, but Alana caught her. “Please, stop,” Kara gasped.

Alana pushed Kara’s hair out of her face, so that Kara could see the smile on Alana’s face. “And hundreds of years from now, you’ll play right into his plan.”

Everything suddenly stopped spinning. Kara straightened—the dizziness and pain gone. She looked down at Alana, her brows furrowing. “Whose plan?”

“See?” Alana said with a laugh. “You’ve already forgotten.” When Kara’s frown deepened, Alana smiled. “It’s you who is being used this time, darling.”

Kara stared at the glass in the floor, trying to remember what happened.

“Come back to bed,” Alana called, as she headed back to the bedroom.

Kara glanced toward their bedroom, her eyebrows lifting, as she noticed Alana’s dress already in the floor. She knew she must’ve been going somewhere, but it suddenly didn’t feel so important. She stepped away from the door. “Okay.”

from my upcoming book, The Reign of Darkness,

Book Four of the Creatures of Darkness Series

©️Britney Jackson

🖤🧡 Coming Soon(ish) 🖤🧡

Oh, and this is a flashback scene, so “hundreds of years from now”…is now. 😉🖤

Kara Aesthetic

It’s Teaser Day again! 🖤🖤🖤🖤

Side-note: I meant to post this earlier in the day, but I was in the hospital all night, which, of course, wasn’t planned. It turns out…my platelet count is very low, and I have to see a hemotologist. So, of course, my mind is in all the wrong places right now, focusing on every scary possibility. So…if you want to send any good thoughts or prayers my way, I’d definitely appreciate it. 🖤🖤🖤

Anyway, back to happy book stuff:

Look! It’s a Kara Aesthetic! 😍🖤🖤🖤

I think most everyone knows Rose’s crazy, battle-axe-wielding girlfriend, by now, but just in case you don’t…

KARA UNNARSDÓTTIR:

– Viking Warrior

– Second-in-command of the most powerful vampire colony in the world

– Spymaster

– Aaron’s Personal Assassin

– Lies. A lot.

– Flirty is NOT a strong enough word for her.

– 100% absolutely WILL dismember you, if you insult Rose.

– Loyal to no one but herself…

– …and Rose. 🖤

…Oh, and that quote’s from my upcoming book, The Reign of Darkness (Book 4 of the Creatures of Darkness Series), by the way. 😉🖤

Excerpt: An Ode to Audrey’s Weak Stomach 😂

It’s Teaser Day! (Thursday is Teaser Day now. Shhh…just go with it. 😁)

It’s also my oldest son’s birthday! 💚 He’s seven now. (Holy crap. 😳)

Anyway, I have a new teaser (and excerpt) for you today. 💚 I call this one “An Ode to Audrey’s Weak Stomach.” 😂

(Please, excuse my dorkiness. I’m very sleep-deprived. 😂)

Excerpt:

Audrey met them at the door. “What happened to Gun-Dude?”

Rose gave her a bewildered look. “Who?”

“The dude with the guns,” Audrey said impatiently. “Where did he go?”

“Depends on which part of him you mean,” Kara said with a smug smirk.

“What?” Audrey said. She felt Owen tap her shoulder, and then, she saw him point to something in Kara’s hand. Her gaze shifted down, toward the battle-axe that Kara held by her side. Audrey paled at the sight of the blood that coated the blade. “I’m going to be sick,” she whined—before darting off, down the hall.

Owen raised an eyebrow at Kara. “You know…the Assassins of Light had all sorts of words for you. Dangerous. Crazy. Savage. Unpredictable. Wild…”

“Aww,” Kara said, clasping her free hand—which was also stained with blood—over her chest. She looked at Rose—who seemed pretty distracted, at the moment. “Did you hear that, love? The Nazi-wannabes gave me affectionate nicknames! I should give them some, too. Headless. Crushed Skull. Disemboweled…”

Owen’s eyes widened. “Rose, how do you sleep next to this woman?”

“On my side, usually,” Rose said. “Where’s Kallias?”

from my upcoming book, The Reign of Darkness

Book Four of the Creatures of Darkness Series

Coming Soon(ish) 🖤

©️ Britney Jackson

Update on THE REIGN OF DARKNESS

Guess what? I’m almost at the halfway point of The Reign of Darkness (Book Four of the Creatures of Darkness series)!

I’m not the fastest writer (the kids keep me busy 😊), but it’s getting there!

Soon!

And…

To celebrate,

Here’s our favorite Viking warrior being kind of sweet. 🖤

Kara’s fingers were still cold and wet when they found Rose’s. “If the world ends tomorrow, at least I’ll have spent my last night with you.”

Rose smiled. “You can’t use a line like that and not kiss me afterward.”

_____________________________________

from The Reign of Darkness

Creatures of Darkness: Book Four

©️ Britney Jackson

_____________________________________

Translation: Apocalypses suck and all, but… 😍

P.S. — In case you can’t tell, I wrote this scene while we were at the beach. 😂

Character Preview (And Excerpt!)

Some of you have been asking a lot of questions about a certain unnamed character in the last scene of The Assassins of Light, so…

Character Preview! 😊❤️

Meet Princess Myrinne!

(Well, technically, if you’ve finished The Assassins of Light, you’ve already met her. You just didn’t know her name. 😁)

Princess Myrinne is a very important character in The Reign of Darkness, and I can’t share a whole lot of the why because…spoilers…but…

What I can tell you is that she’s very concerned about Rose (for some reason).

And she’s definitely not Kara’s biggest fan. But…Kara’s not entirely innocent in that. (Of course she isn’t. When is Kara ever innocent? 😂)

And…well…there’s much more to her than meets the eye…

Excerpt! ❤️

Princess Myrinne stared at Kara, her nose wrinkling at Kara’s clear lack of manners. “Uh,” she muttered, “people don’t usually lie down in my presence.”

Kara folded her arm behind her head and lifted her eyebrows. “Really?” she said, a wry grin tilting at her lips. “Do you have sex standing up, then?”

Rose stared at a random flower vase, her eyes wide. “Oh my word.”

The princess offered Rose a very forced smile. “This…is your lover?”

Rose shrugged sheepishly. “She’s…umm…an acquired taste?”

Kara snorted at that.

Princess Myrinne shot another glare at Kara—who simply smiled back at her. “I don’t see how,” she muttered. She turned to Rose. “Is the room okay?”

Rose stared blankly at her. “It could be bigger.”

“Oh,” Princess Myrinne said, straightening. “Well, I could try to find…”

“That was sarcasm,” Rose interrupted, her eyebrows high. She waved her hands at the massive bedroom. “It’s like four times the size of my apartment.”

Princess Myrinne frowned. “Oh. Then, I assume…you’re comfortable?”

Rose glanced at Kara, who was currently stretched out lazily on the bed, flipping through that strange, illegible book—that Galenos had just asked her not to touch. “Well, she’s comfortable.”

An amused smile curved at the edges of Kara’s lips, but she said nothing.

“I’m not concerned with her,” the princess said. “Are you comfortable?”

“I’m surrounded by people I don’t know, and I don’t even know where I am,” Rose said slowly, “and people keep bowing to me.” She threw up her hands. “How am I supposed to feel comfortable when everyone keeps bowing to me?!”

The vampire shrugged. “People bow to me all the time. I’m a princess.”

“Really?” Rose said, her voice thick with sarcasm. “I thought Princess was just your first name. And the tiara was some kind of new fashion or something.”

Princess Myrinne shot a wary look in Kara’s direction. “Is she joking?”

“Usually,” Kara said, flipping to the next page of the Book of Gibberish.

Princess Myrinne turned back toward Rose. “Bowing is merely a sign of respect, my Eklektos,” she said with a polite smile, “and a sign of reverence.”

“Reverence?” Rose repeated suspiciously. “Reverence for what?”

The princess turned to leave. “You’ll understand. Soon enough.”

“Oh, great. More vagueness,” Rose said. She flashed her sassiest smile. “You wouldn’t happen to be related to Erastos, by any chance, would you?”

Rose had meant it as a joke, but as soon as she mentioned the name Erastos, the strange, tiara-wearing vampire froze, her slender shoulders stiffening.

Kara must have noticed it, too, because at that moment, her intense, blue gaze darted toward the princess—but only briefly. Rose noticed Kara smooth her hand over her shirt—in the exact spot where she usually hid her throwing knives.

But when Princess Myrinne turned back toward Rose, she looked completely at ease again, as if nothing had ever happened. “He’s my uncle.”

Rose blinked in shock. “Oh,” she sputtered. It took her a few moments to regain her composure enough to respond. “Then, does that mean he’s…here?”

Princess Myrinne frowned at the strange question. “His memorial is.”

“His…memorial?” Rose repeated bewilderedly.

“He died,” Princess Myrinne told her, “ten thousand years ago.”

From my upcoming book, The Reign of Darkness,

Book Four of the Creatures of Darkness Series.

©️ Britney Jackson

Aesthetic: Rose Foster

“She’s Darkness in the flesh, and you thought it’d be a good idea to piss her off?”

I made this a couple of weeks ago for the Thursday Aesthetic thing on Twitter, and I forgot to share it here. The theme for that week was “protagonist,” so I made this one for Rose. ❤️

Some of you already know Rose pretty well, either because: 1) you’ve been reading the series ❤️, or 2) you see me ramble obsessively about my books all of the time. 😂

But just in case you don’t…

Here’s your basic introduction to the protagonist of the Creatures of Darkness Series: ❤️

She’s brilliant, bisexual, and perpetually sarcastic.

She’s shy and awkward.

She loves books, comics, and…well, she used to love coffee…until she died. Now, all she drinks is blood.

On the surface, she’s kind and gentle. Beneath the surface, however, she’s something much…Darker…

…Oh, and the quote in the aesthetic is from The Reign of Darkness, by the way… 😉

A Fourth of July Surprise!

Well, not a surprise, exactly, because I kind of warned everyone on Facebook about it a few days ago. (Shhh. 😂) But…Fourth-of-July-themed-teaser!

AND…an excerpt! ❤️

Happy Fourth of July, and I hope you enjoy the teaser/excerpt! ❤️❤️❤️

Excerpt:

“Have you ever experienced that?”

The sudden question startled Rose so much that she dropped the book in the floor. Rose winced as Zosime’s dark gaze shifted toward the leather-bound book—that didn’t belong to Rose. “I wasn’t snooping!” Rose said quickly. “I was just,” she paused, her voice lowering to a mumble, “looking through your things.”

Zosime knelt and picked up the book.

“Which is the definition of…snooping,” Rose added under her breath.

One corner of Zosime’s lips quirked up. “These are just my notes for the garden,” she said, holding up the book. “It isn’t the book you were looking for.”

Rose’s mouth fell open. “You’ve known all along,” she realized, “haven’t you?” When Zosime smiled, Rose rolled her eyes. “Of course you have. I’m an idiot.”

“Not really,” Zosime said. “You were looking in the right place, after all.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “I was?” she said, glancing at the shelf. She didn’t see another book that fit the description, but it didn’t matter, anyway. She knew that Zosime would never let her take it. “I assume you’ll call the princess now?”

“You assume wrong,” Zosime said with a smile. She set her notes on the desk and turned toward Rose. “If you answer my question, I’ll give you the book.”

“You’ll give me something that no one wants me to have,” Rose said, “in exchange for a…conversation?” She frowned suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”

“There isn’t one,” Zosime said, curiosity burning in her brown eyes. “So, tell me: have you ever experienced that,” she asked, “with anyone you’ve dated?”

Rose lifted her eyebrows. “I think you’re overestimating the amount of people I’ve dated.”

“With Kara, then,” Zosime said. “Have you ever felt like that with her?”

“Kara?” Rose said. Her brows furrowed, as she thought about it. “No.”

“Really?” Zosime said, her brows high. “Never?”

“My feelings for Kara have never been that…simple,” Rose explained. She felt a sudden urge to smile, as she shrugged shyly. “With Kara, everything always feels so…bright and explosive.”

Zosime smiled. “You mean like…fireworks?”

“Well, I was thinking more like an exploding star,” Rose muttered, frowning, “but yours sounds sweeter.”

from my upcoming book, The Reign of Darkness

Book Four of the Creatures of Darkness Series

©️Britney Jackson

Rainbow Aesthetic

“When I think about her, I’m immensely happy.” – Rose

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

There’s this Thursday Aesthetic thing that writers do on Twitter… (I’m always like seventeen years behind on everything, so you probably know more about it than I do. 😂)

Anyway, the theme for this last week was rainbow (which is kind of perfect). So, I made this one for Rose and Kara. ❤️

And I figured I’d share it with you guys, too. 😊❤️

P.S. – If you’ve read The Assassins of Light, you probably recognize that quote. 😉

Rollercoaster-y

 

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Just a forewarning: The Reign of Darkness (Book 4 of the Creatures of Darkness  series) is going to be an emotional-rollercoaster. And this teaser is from one of the rollercoasteriest (I’m allowed to invent words, right?) scenes of the book.

That’s all I can tell you without giving away any spoilers. But I sincerely love this moment of the book, and I hope you do, too. ❤️

I hope you all have an awesome weekend! ❤️❤️❤️

New Teaser/Excerpt for THE REIGN OF DARKNESS

I tried to resist. But then, I had good writing days, and I got excited and…oops! Teaser! 😂 I hope you like it! ❤️

Talulah stormed into the room, her long coat swaying around her figure. “Could someone explain to me why there are dismembered bodies outside my colony?” She froze as soon as she saw Rose and Kara. She glanced at the blood-soaked battle-axe in Kara’s hands and rolled her eyes. “Oh. I should’ve known.”

Kara flashed a cocky smirk at her. “You’re welcome.”

“Since we killed their scouts, they’ll probably send an army,” Rose warned Talulah.

“Hopefully just one army,” Kara muttered, “and not…all of them.”

“So, we should probably get everyone into the tunnels,” Rose added.

Talulah sighed, “I can’t tell whether you two CAUSE trouble or just attract it.”

“I think,” Rose said with a thoughtful frown, “I attract it. She causes it.”

Talulah lifted her eyebrows. “Please, tell me you AT LEAST have a plan.”

Rose smiled. “I do, actually.”

“She also brought an army,” Kara added.

Talulah glanced back and forth between them. “Wait. What?”

from my upcoming book, The Reign of Darkness

Book Four of the Creatures of Darkness Series

©️ Britney Jackson

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