Darkness Brutal (The Dark Cycle #1)
July 1st 2015
Summary from Goodreads:
Aidan O’Linn’s childhood ended the night he saw a demon kill his mother and mark his sister, Ava, with Darkness. Since then, every three years the demons have returned to try to claim her. Living in the gritty, forgotten corners of Los Angeles, Aidan has managed to protect his sister, but he knows that even his powers to fight demons and speak dead languages won’t keep her safe for much longer.
In desperation, Aidan seeks out the help of Sid, the enigmatic leader of a group of teens who run LA Paranormal, an Internet reality show that fights demons and ghosts. In their company, Aidan believes he’s finally found a haven for Ava. But when he meets Kara, a broken girl who can spin a hypnotic web of passionate energy, he awakens powers he didn’t know he had―and unleashes a new era of war between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness.
With the fate of humanity in his hands, can Aidan keep the Darkness at bay and accept his brilliant, terrifying destiny?
Darkness Fair (The Dark Cycle #2)
Release Date: February 2nd 2016
Summary from Goodreads:
Against the backdrop of an ancient battle between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness, Aidan struggles to control the newly awakened powers that seem to be his only hope for rescuing his little sister Ava, who is now trapped somewhere beyond the Veil. As he gravitates to Kara, the beguiling and dangerously unstable girl who helped him realize his abilities, a terrible mistake of fate is revealed that points him back toward Rebecca, whose role is becoming more critical to the battle. And no matter what his heart wants, it might be too late to stop the pieces already in motion.
Without knowing the sacrifices that will be required of them, Aidan and his motley crew of friends—each with their own role to play—must face the demon threat head-on. They’re the only ones keeping the growing army of Darkness at bay, and if they fail, the future of humanity could be lost.
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DARKNESS BRUTAL - Excerpt
I let the pulse of the music coat me and mute my surroundings. A
mass of people crowd the dance floor of the club, and I sit on an abandoned
couch in the corner. The lights beat at the air in blues and greens, and bodies
twist and merge to the thunder. I lean back, close my eyes, and try to get lost
in it, the smells and sounds of people and their collective high.
Something moves next to me.
I look over to find a girl sprawled on the seat beside me, trying to catch her
breath. She’s not dressed in the usual club gear, more like a girl who got lost
on her way to a beach party: Hurley T-shirt, jean skirt, and red Converse. Her
cheeks are flushed pink; her throat and forehead glitter with sweat. She
glances at me like she didn’t know I was there. She licks her upper lip, her
eyes not leaving mine. Then she says something I can’t hear.
I point to my ear and shake
my head.
She smiles and laughs,
lighting up the space around her. She rests her hand on my arm, like we’re
friends and I just told her the most hilarious joke, and then she gets up and
disappears into the mass of bodies again.
My arm tingles, my body
reacting to the moment of contact in a sudden and disconcerting way. I think
I’ve had my fill of watching people indulge their baser instincts. I need to
get out of here.
The beat of the music
speeds up, vibrating faster as I move through the crowd. I try not to touch
anyone, which is nearly impossible. All the emotions and appetites are
overwhelming, as if the rising rhythm of the music makes their yearnings rise,
too. Lust buzzes in the air. A hunger stirs in me, a gaping hole, needing to be
filled. With touch.
The touch of female
fingers. A hand on my arm, taking my wrist, pulling me into the fray, into the
pressing bodies. And I don’t try to escape. I let her take me.
Because I’m tired.
Because I’m a dumbass.
A girl moves in front of
me—not the Hurley girl, not the one I was hoping for. She presses closer, so
close I can almost taste the salty perspiration on her skin. She has thin,
birdlike shoulders, a swan neck, a heart-shaped face, and black hair, long and
tangled, turning blue and green with the light. Her hands slide up my chest.
She wraps her arms around my neck and tilts her head to look up at me.
Her lips are full and painted
dark purple. There’s a dimple in her left cheek that gets deeper with her
growing smile. And her eyes . . .
Fog fills my head for a
second, interrupting my thoughts.
“Hi,” she mouths, calling
attention to her lips again.
And then she’s rising up on
her toes, pulling me down to her, twisting her fingers in my hair, her lips
smashing against mine.
My body buzzes from her
touch, and my hands react, drawing her into me. I drink her in. She tastes like
the air around me, hunger and urgency, and—
Green apple Jolly Ranchers?
I grip her sides, her ribs
so delicate beneath my fingers. The sweet tang of her teases me, the hunger
becoming a monster deep inside. I have to press her closer, tighter, try to
feed it, as I feel the fire of her need link with mine.
She pulls back a little and
looks at me with wide eyes, like she’s shocked. That’s when I see the mark, a
glowing, blue-inked line of what looks like Chinese symbols, trailing down the
nape of her neck to her shoulder blade. Symbols that I’m suddenly sure mean: touch this girl at your own risk.
It’s the only thing I see
for a second: Beware. Beware.
Until her energy reaches
for me, wispy tendrils of blue light wrapping their way around my wrists and
snaking up my chest.
I jerk away, into the guy
behind me, stepping on his girlfriend’s toes. I get shoved— thankfully farther
from the hypnotic girl—through a space in the crowd, saying a hundred
excuse-me’s even though I know no one can hear them. I find my way out of the
press of bodies to the edge of the room again where it’s safe.
It’s time to leave. I
should’ve left an hour ago.
About the Author
Rachel A. Marks is an award-winning author and professional artist, a cancer survivor, a surfer and dirt-bike rider, chocolate lover and keeper of faerie secrets. She was voted: Most Likely to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse, but hopes she'll never have to test the theory. Her debut novel is DARKNESS BRUTAL, the 1st installment in The Dark Cycle. Book 2 releases February 2nd, 2016 and is titled, DARKNESS FAIR.
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