These Vengeful Souls
Kelly Zekas & Tarun Shanker
(These Vicious Masks #3)
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: February 20th 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
England, 1883. On the run with the grieving Sebastian Braddock, Evelyn wants two things: to be reunited with her friends, and to get revenge on the evil Captain Goode. Not only has he misused his and Sebastian’s powers to rack up a terrible death toll, but he’s also completely destroyed any hope of Evelyn or her friends regaining the life they once knew.
Evelyn is determined to make Captain Goode pay for what he’s done, but is her revenge worth risking the lives of Sebastian and her friends? Or is it better to flee the city and focus on staying alive? And with the Captain spreading lies about Sebastian in an attempt to flush them out of hiding and turn the populace against them, does she even have a choice at all?

Excerpt
The rear carriage door slammed behind me. Oh no.
We were afforded the briefest glimpse of our new enemy, gray-haired, sinewy, his right eye covered by a white kerchief wrapped around his head. He lifted the fabric, setting his eye upon us, and I was struck with an excruciating pain. Everyone around me cried out in agony as it brought us writhing to the ground. It was like every bit of pain I’d ever experienced combined and yet unlike anything I’d ever felt before. It was every burn, every cut, every break, every ache, striking a match against every nerve. It was every body on the ground at the Belgrave Ball, every life I couldn’t save, every shred of guilt, horror, devastation burning like a tattoo on my brain. It was torture in every possible form, random and relentless.
“Captain Goode wanted you to know he picked this pain personally,” the torturer said above me.
My breath left me. I choked and coughed and gasped for air, but there was never enough. The tight passage seemed to close in even tighter. It was like being smothered, suffocated, drowned, and then given just enough air to experience it again.
“Who first, Miss Quinn?” Through the blur of panic, I could only make out the torturer’s boots approaching.
“The healer,” the ice guard said. “I get the one with the big mouth.”
I felt my head lifted up and my neck bared, somewhere distant between all the pain. Tears streamed down my face and my body twitched uncontrollably. I wondered if this would, at least, put an end to my torture.
And then I heard Rose’s voice. “Evelyn!”
Startled, our torturer looked up at my sister emerging from her compartment. She cried out in pain from his attack and collapsed to the ground next to me.
“Oh no, no, I’m sorry.”
Did I say that?
No, the torturer had. All of a sudden I could think clearly again. The pain had stopped.
I seized the moment of hesitation, taking advantage of his guilt from hurting Rose. I charged straight at him. The pain hit me again, but I had the momentum. I tackled him, low and hard, straight out the hole in the side of the train.
 


Author Bio:
Tarun and Kelly met in a freshman year writing class at NYU and started writing These Vicious Masks a few years later.
Tarun is a writer living in Los Angeles whose idea of paradise consists of kung-fu movies, David Bowie and chai tea. Since completing his first horrible screenplay in high school, he’s written everything from one-act plays and film criticism to humor pieces and strongly-worded emails. He’s also magnetized, crushed and burned the hard drive where that first screenplay can be found.
Kelly is a writer and actor living in NYC. YA is her absolute favorite thing on earth other than cupcakes and she has spent many hours crying over fictional deaths. She also started reading Harlequin romances at a possibly too early age (12?), and still loves a good paperback romance.

Links (Tarun):
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Links (Kelly):
Website / Goodreads / Twitter

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