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The Concealed by Sarah Kleck
Release Date: November 1st 2015 by AmazonCrossing
Series: The Lakewood Series #1
Pages: 335
Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
After her parents died in a car accident when she was just a child, Evelyn Lakewood was left alone in the world. Now grown up, she enrolls at Oxford University, where she begins to create a new, stable life.
But when she encounters Jared Calmburry, who she later discovers is an orphan with his own tragic history, the equilibrium she was striving for is thrown off. Instantly drawn to this mysterious stranger with the incredible blue eyes, and confounded by the unusual events that occur whenever they meet, Evelyn resolves to investigate further. What she finds will startle her beyond measure: an ancient legacy of magic, a centuries-old secret society, and a foreboding legend with her and Jared at its center. As she follows a cryptic trail, Evelyn will discover clues to her own painful past, answers she hadn’t even been looking for—and a passionate love she cannot resist despite the dangers it brings.
{EXCERPT}
Chapter 20
It was dark and cold. Dreadfully cold. I had no idea how far I’d run and knew even less about where I was. All I could make out in the dark forest was the faint light of the moon high above the treetops. I’d have to admit it sooner or later: I was lost. There was no point in going on. I’d probably only get lost deeper in the forest. The best thing I could do in this situation was find shelter and wait for sunrise.
While I collected fir branches to make a shelter under two trees, I shrank in fright from every sound the nocturnal forest and its inhabitants made. For someone as afraid of darkness as I was, this was the worst conceivable spot for spending the night—even the snapping of twigs under my own steps caused me tremendous fright. When I’d finally finished building my emergency shelter, I sat under the provisional moss roof, pulled my knees to my body, and tried to block out the recurring thoughts of the past day. In vain. Tears ran down my cheeks and dripped onto my pants and the damp forest floor.
I must have fallen asleep somehow, for when I opened my eyes, I’d rolled over on my side. I couldn’t have slept for long, at most an hour or two, because it was still pitch black and bitterly cold—so cold I shivered all over, and my teeth were chattering.
“I can smell her.” I startled. Who the hell had said that? I clasped my hands over my mouth to suppress a cry. I hastily looked around, but my eyes were still heavy with sleep and hadn’t become accustomed to the dark yet, so I couldn’t see anything through the branches of my shelter.
“The slut can’t be far,” another croaking voice said from the same direction, but this time I was able to identify the sound: damnati. I tried to breathe as silently as possible. The horrible memory of the scarfaced monster that had lain in wait for me in my room flared up in my thoughts. There was no doubt—they were after me! How many were there? Just these two? Or more? What should I do? Panic and desperation overcame me as I feverishly thought of how I might escape the clutches of these hideous creatures. My muscles tensed, ready to flee . . . or fight—depending on what happened. I slowly raised myself and, like a sprinter before the starting gun, squatted on my haunches when a thin twig broke with a crack under my left foot. I held my breath.
“Did you hear that?” one of the scarfaces said.
“What?”
“There was a noise, a cracking—from there,” said the first.
“Have you found anything?” another, deeper croak asked.
Shit! There were three of them—at least!
“I heard something,” the first said, somewhat subdued.
“Well, then go take a look and see what it is, you idiot,” the third one said. “Or do you want to try Her patience any longer?”
“No, of course not,” the first said.
“If we don’t find the brat soon, She’ll pluck our eyes out.”
Suddenly, I heard steps coming straight for me. I was running out of time. What should I do? Flee or fight, flee or fight, flee or . . . flee!
With one bound I was up. I pushed aside the branches I’d so painstakingly piled and ran for it.
“There!” cried the first one. “There she is!”
“Grab her, you numbskulls!” yelled the third croaking voice.
I ran as fast as I could in a blind panic. My lungs ached from the cold air as I drove my legs relentlessly forward. My steps were uncoordinated, and I could only guess where I was going in the darkness. I dove under a low branch at the very last second—otherwise it probably would have knocked me out—and stumbled when a wide tree trunk appeared before me. My lungs burned with every breath; it felt like a thousand pinpricks. I angled away fast—a desperate attempt to shake my pursuers—but tripped on a protruding root and fell down.
Shit!
AUTHOR BIO:
Sarah Kleck, born in 1984, studied Education, Psychology and Sociology at the University of Augsburg.Currently, she’s working as a human resources officer and lives with her husband and a newborn in Germany near Lake Constance. “The Concealed” is her first novel.
