Guardian of Angel by Lanie Mores - Book Tour + Giveaway
Book 2 of the Father of Contention series
Science Fiction and Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
Date Published: July 29, 2019
When evil finds a way, man becomes beast.
In the small town of Thunder Bay, 2002, Angelika Juris becomes unexpectedly linked to her guardian angel, Gavin, after a suspicious near-death experience. While trying to figure out the complicated nature of their connection, they uncover a plot so disturbing, it threatens to shift the delicate balance between life and death and eradicate the precious human gift of free will.
When her sister goes missing, Angelika must search the unforgiving terrain of the Rocky Mountains, with her guardian angel as her guide. But they find more than just her sister—a familiar face, Renner Scholz—and a secret lab teeming with his ongoing, unhindered experiments, including the most powerful of his offspring—the triplets.
Now, Angelika must find a way to free her sister from her evil captors, along with a newfound love interest—Anthony—Renner's only normal son. Will they be able to thwart Renner's malevolent schemes and escape with their lives, or will they suffer the same fate as so many of his previous victims?
Veronica
unlatched the chain and unlocked the deadbolt from
her
apartment door, opening it to a gust of fresh air with the slight
undertone
of rotten foliage from the cool, autumn night. Her loft,
a few
blocks off campus, was part of an independent apartment
complex
with four separate units in the building, each having its
own
external entrance. The wind gusted once more loosening
orange and
gold tinged leaves from a nearby oak tree, sending
them on a
wild dance through the darkened sky.
The man
turned towards her. “Hello, ma’am. How are you
this
evening?” he said in a hollow, flat voice, each word overarticulated,
the s’s
prolonged. His eyes were small holes in a puttylike
face,
devoid of all warmth and emotion.
Veronica
immediately felt on edge. Did people actually sell
door to
door anymore? He didn’t strike her as the salesman type
either.
Thick shoulders and biceps bulged beneath his brown
corduroy
coat, and his tight blue jeans left little to the imagination.
The deep
baritone of his lifeless voice was anything but personable
and
convincing.
And his
face. She couldn’t stop looking at his face. It was all
wrong, the
way the light from her apartment lay flat against his
skin, the
lack of wrinkling around the eyes and mouth as he spoke.
A puckering
around the dense moustache and beard coating his lip
and chin.
The way the skin tone didn’t quite match up with that
on his
hairline and neck. The contacts he wore were dark green.
The man
continued with his spiel, despite the lack of response
from
Veronica.
“The Red
Deer Book Club offers a collection of books to
meet the
needs and tastes of its members. We include fiction,
non-fiction,
documentaries and encyclopedias. We also have a
magazine
subscription list at prices far below the store prices.” The
rehearsed
speech was paused for a moment, no doubt the blank
space in
his memorized dialogue sheet where the customer can
respond,
but Veronica felt temporarily unable to speak. Tongue
glued to
the roof of her mouth that had gone completely dry, she
stood there
frozen. She hoped her mind was overreacting, but she
couldn’t
shake the feeling that there was something wrong with
this man.
He was creepy, and her internal instincts were on high
alert.
Never open the door to strangers, she heard her
grandmother’s voice
in her
mind, a rule she had taught her a thousand times. Why
hadn’t she
listened?
“Sorry, I’m
not interested,” Veronica finally croaked as her
tongue came
unglued, but she could hear how feeble the words
sounded.
The man continued
in a monotone, ignoring her statement.
“For as low
as $9.99 per month, you will be shipped a different
selection
each month and can review it for seven days. If you do
not wish to
keep the selection, you can return it at no cost to
you.” He
took a giant step towards Veronica, causing her to step
backwards
while handing the clipboard to her as if she was going
to sign the
form. The door softly clicked shut behind him.
He was
inside her apartment.
Her scalp
tightened and prickled in fear. A hot sweat crept up
her back
and neck, dampened her armpits. Still, the man droned
on as if
his behaviour were perfectly normal, now talking about
methods of
accepted payment, but Veronica paid no attention. Her
mind was
reeling, trying to figure out how she would get out of
her place
if the man chose to attack, seeing that his massive form
now blocked
her only exit.
“I’m sorry,
sir, but I said I’m not interested. I would like you
to leave
now,” she spoke in her most assertive tone, thrusting the
clipboard
back at him, but a slight waver belied her fear.
Without
breaking his dialogue, he reached behind his back,
withdrawing
something from his jeans pocket.
Oh God, he has a gun, she silently assumed. In a full-blown
panic,
realizing her fears were founded, she threw the clipboard at
the
salesman’s head, lunged sideways and tried to squeeze behind
him in
hopes of opening the door and escaping, but he was too
quick. With
Goliath-like strength, he grabbed her by the throat
with his
free hand and pinned her like a rag doll against the door.
The item
from his back pocket materialized in front of her—not a
gun but a
soaked rag—which was thrust firmly over her nose and
mouth. The
pungent odour from the unknown liquid had warned
her to hold
her breath before her clean oxygen supply was cut off,
and she
began thrashing her body violently to dislodge the hold
he had on
her, but his vice-like grip held firm.
A large
Oriental vase teetered and then crashed onto the floor
in jagged
pieces, a victim of the struggle as Veronica’s leg kicked
out,
missing the attacker and connecting, instead, with a small
wooden
table in her foyer. Desperate to escape his steel hold, she
reached up
and raked her nails across the man’s face. In horror,
she felt a
large chunk of it tear free into her hand. The top part of
his beard
now hung down in a f lap over his cheek. Pink, mottled
skin was
exposed beneath the fake epidermis, most likely from a
severe
burn. The scarred skin cracked open, and tendrils of smoke
escaped the
fissures, along with a hint of orange hiding beneath
like magma
peeking through the Earth’s crust.
In shock,
she inadvertently gasped, accidentally inhaling the
fumes from
the toxic rag. Unable to hold her breath any longer, she
took a few
more ragged breaths, choking as her throat tightened
in
resistance.
She gaped
at him, wide-eyed, his face still completely devoid
of emotion,
despite their struggle.
Her vision
started to swim, threatening to consume her
consciousness,
black spots floating like waves in a turbulent ocean.
A rush of
nausea overwhelmed her. Then everything was hot, and
spinning—she
felt like she was falling, her body suspending on
nothing.
And then he
smiled.
Her world
went dark.
About the Author
Lanie Mores enjoys travelling to alternate realities, often found with her head buried in a book, binge watching Netflix, or playing video games. Although fantasy and science fiction are her obsession, she enjoys most forms of literature, and has been writing poetry since she was a wee bairn.
She has worn many hats throughout her life: cashier, medical records secretary, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, personal trainer, and most importantly, mom. Her son is the moon of her life, her sun and stars, and she would do anything for him…destroy Terminators sent from a future realm, deflect an Unforgivable curse with her motherly love, and travel through the Upside Down to find him, even if she had to face the Demogorgon himself.
Inspired to write by Stephen King, Diana Gabaldon, Jean M. Auel and Margaret Atwood, she has big shoes to fill, but has always been a huge dreamer and has the determination to aim higher than the stars. GUARDIAN OF ANGEL is the second novel she has written and published, book 2 in the FATHER OF CONTENTION series.
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