Fridays at Ofelia’s | Bring Him Back, Jack

July 9, 2021June 30, 2021 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

Guest-Post

Hi, Holly here, stealing a spot again! I wanted to tell you about a story I’ve written for (National) Different Coloured Eyes Day. It’s called Bring Him Back, Jack and it’s about Ivan and Malik.

Ivan is a shadow walker, which means he can melt into walls and stuff. That’s the cool part. The not so cool part is that there are a lot of evil wizards who believe he’s a bridge between the living and the dead and that by using his blood in a special kind of rite they can gain immortality.

Ivan has different colours on his eyes, something all shadow walkers have, so he’s hiding it by always wearing coloured lenses.

Malik is a vampire, and in this alternative universe, vampires are treated like slaves. They have a stake attached to their chests ready to shoot through their hearts at any given moment, and Malik’s master insists on them wearing chains as soon as they leave the cage they live in.

When Ivan has to do a job for Malik’s master to pay off a debt, he insists on Ivan bringing Malik along – as a guard. The problem is that Ivan is to steal a diamond, and being stealthy is not easy when you have a massive vampire in rattling chains shadowing your every step.

Chopstick

Excerpt:

Ivan left the bathroom without cursing. Malik had never been in a shower. It was hard to tell how old a vampire was, but Ivan would guess Malik was close to forty, maybe a couple of years past forty, and he’d never been in a shower. Ivan would turn thirty-four in October if they survived this mission, and he’d always assumed Malik was a few years older than him.

How did they wash in the basement? He wanted to strangle Remington Redwood.

He hadn’t seen many vamps living happy lives, but few were as miserable as those Remi kept.

The chain rattled against the shower stall wall, and Ivan winced. Perhaps he should have stayed in there. “Everything all right?” He stood right outside the door, not wanting to barge in unless Malik wanted him there.

“Hot.”

Ivan grinned. “Turn the temperature down.”

“I have.”

“Well, there you go. Enjoy!” He went to inspect Raina’s cleaning cabinet. Last he’d checked, she kept a hammer and some nails there. He didn’t hold much hope to her having something able to cut metal, but you never knew. Raina had a tendency to surprise him.

When he couldn’t find anything, he pulled out his phone.

Only one signal rang through. “What?” Her bark made him wince.

“Erm… is this a bad time?”

“Crawling with people.”

Ivan nodded; he’d assumed as much. “Do you own a hacksaw or something?”

“No, if I need something I always go to Zev on the ground floor.”

Ivan had no idea who Zev was, and he wasn’t sure it was a good thing to involve someone else. “Who is he?”

“A super-hot werewolf. I don’t think he’d like you, so better wait until I get there.”

Yeah, super-hot werewolves were normally bigoted assholes with an alpha male complex—Ivan didn’t do those. “He can’t know what it’s for.”

“I’ll handle it. A hacksaw?”

“Something to cut metal.”

“You’re sawing through the chains? I don’t think that’ll work. Hang on, I’ll call Ibine and ask how she removed them the first time.”

Ivan nodded. Calling Ibine would be good, but she didn’t remove the chains, she removed the cuffs. “I’m not cutting the chains, it’s for the stake. We’ll need some nuts to screw on and then tape some shit over so he doesn’t catch on anything. It must hurt like hell.”

“Aww, are you worried about your pet?”

“Stop it.”

“I think we should keep him. You’re cute together, and you know what they say about vamps.”

He didn’t, and he wouldn’t ask. Raina chuckled as if she knew what he was thinking.

The bathroom door opened, and Malik stepped out buck naked and dripping wet. “I have to go, Raina. Call Ibine and pick up a hacksaw and nuts in different sizes.”

“I’ll be there soon.” She hung up, but Ivan kept on holding the phone to his ear as he studied Malik.

“I left a towel out for you.”

Malik turned and looked into the bathroom, goosebumps covering his skin.

“Come on.” Ivan put the phone away and walked past him into the steaming bathroom. He must have half-boiled himself. He grabbed the towel and shook it. When Malik raised a hand to grab it, drops fell from his chains and Ivan cursed. “I’ll…” He quickly dried off Malik’s shoulders and arms. When he reached the chain, he ran the towel over it, too. “You can… eh…” He gestured at his middle, not looking despite wanting to.

For the first time, he noted a spark of amusement in Malik’s eyes and rolled his in return. “Did you do it to embarrass me?”

“No. But I like you touching me.”

Ivan froze. “You do?” Heat washed over him and Malik grinned, fangs peeking out from underneath his upper lip.

“I do.”

Ivan huffed. “I believe you’re yanking my chain, Mr. Malik.” He changed his hold on the towel, ducked in under Malik’s arm, and reached around him to wrap the towel around his middle. Those strong arms wrapped around him, and for a moment an alarm went off in Ivan’s mind, then he became aware of the hard length pushing against his belly when Malik hugged him.

“You don’t have any chains to yank.”

Blurb:

bringhimbackjack Once every century, a shadow walker is born. Ivan Charna is that shadow walker, and he and his sister Raina are on the run from wizards who want to sacrifice their blood in some crazy rite. They never stay long in one place, and they do their best not to stand out. When Raina loses a bet, Ivan is forced to work off her debt, and they have to stay put. As long as no wizard figures out what they are, Ivan doesn’t mind all that much since he gets to work with his favorite vampire.

Malik lives in a cell in a basement. He’s never allowed to go anywhere without chains around his wrists and ankles, and there is a stake hovering over his heart at all times. Master can trigger the stake with a push of a button. He doesn’t even have to be in the same room to do it. Malik dreams of a different life, a life with Ivan, but he’s a vampire, and vampires have to do what their masters tell them.

Ivan only has to steal one last diamond, then the debt is paid, and he and Raina can leave town. It should be easy, but when Remington Redwood, the man Raina owes money, insists on having Malik shadow his every step, it complicates things. Malik might dream about making Ivan his, but getting him away from Master alive has to be enough. Ivan knows it’s a stupid risk to take, but if he’s stealing a diamond, what’s to say he can’t steal a giant vampire too?

Buy links:

Paranormal M/M Romance: 32,159 words

JMS Books :: Amazon :: books2read.com/BringHimBackJack

Release Day | Mind Scrambler

January 30, 2021January 23, 2021 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

Release-Day
It’s release day!!! Mind Scrambler is here!

I find it really hard to know what to write about a book 2 in a series. Mind Scrambler is about a new case without any connection to the one in Soul Eater. There are different main characters too, here we get to follow Kol Jaecar and Elijah Long, and Soul Eater was about Thaddeus Ezax and Sandulf Hunter. And yet, I think it’s best you read book 1 before you read this one.

I plan for one more, so it’ll be a Rockshade’s Paranormal Investigations Department trilogy.

In Mind Scrambler, we get to meet Elijah Long who is Elora’s brother. He’s gone missing, and Elora wants time off to look for him. The problem is that everyone but Jaecar and her is off since they got called in during their vacation time in Soul Eater, and Thaddeus is still on sick leave.

Jaecar, who hates sitting in the office, sees Elijah’s disappearance as a chance to do something, so he goes with Elora to search. Soon they find that he’s been abducted, and the main suspect is Elijah’s abusive wolf-shifter of an ex.

Excerpt:

Before long, Elora was back with a canoe strapped to the roof of the car.
“That was fast.” He grinned at her as she hopped out of the car.
“Yeah, old man Frank lives up the road.” She gestured at the woods. Kol nodded, inhaled, and stiffened.
“And he’s a leopard?” He didn’t want to get into any fights while they were here looking for Elijah, but he couldn’t come unannounced into a leopard’s territory and expect to be welcomed.
“What? No. Frank is an old man.”
Kol studied her for a few seconds. “Shifters grow old too.”
“Yes, but… He’s Frank.”
Kol nodded. “Yes.”
“He would never harm Eli.” Her dark brown eyes pleaded with him.
“I never said he would, I said he’s a shifter.” Kol frowned. “I’d never harm you, but I’m still a shifter.”
“Yes, but…” She looked across the lake. “We need to get going.” She went to unstrap the canoe, and Kol helped her get it into the water.
“Does Elijah have any medical conditions?”
“Other than being an empath, no.”
Kol stared at her. “What? It’s a medical condition?” How could it be a medical condition?
“No more than turning into a giant cat is.”
He nodded. She could have answered with a no.
“Except, he can’t be around too many people.”
Too many? How many was too many? “Will he attack us when we arrive?” Kol scanned the island as best he could from this distance. There were several places where a sniper could hide.
“Attack?” Elora gave a reluctant chuckle and shook her head. “He’s an empath.”
“I know, but he lives on an island. He could have put land mines all around it, have snipers in good places.” He gestured at some trees growing larger by each oar stroke.
Elora turned to stare at him. “He’s an empath! What about that don’t you understand?”
“He’d still want to defend his home, wouldn’t he?” Any sane person would want to defend his or her home. Kol relied a lot on his senses, but lately he’d been thinking about putting some things in place for his cabin. Nothing too crazy, only a few…things.
“He moved to an island.”
“And all you need is a canoe to get there.”
Elora steered them toward a small jetty with a tiny motorboat tied to it. “He’s here.”
Kol sniffed the air, scenting wolves, but it was faint which told him it had been a couple of days since they’d been there. “Does Elijah have wolf friends?”
Elora froze. “No.”
“Are you sure? You didn’t know Frank was a leopard.”
“Eli doesn’t have friends.” She climbed out of the canoe and more or less jogged up the slope toward the small house. “Be calm.”
Kol gave her a blank look. “I’m always calm.”
“I meant emotionally, not what you portray. I know you have a calm facade, but be calm.” She patted her chest.
Kol stared at her. What the hell did she mean?
The door was unlocked, which had Kol frowning. Perhaps it was normal to leave the door unlocked if you were at home, but not if you couldn’t defend yourself.
“Eli? Are you here?” Elora walked into the house, and Kol followed. The scents of the wolves were here too, but no one had been in the house for two days at least.
“There’s no one here.”
Elora looked at him. “You’re sure?” She swallowed audibly. “And no one…dead?”
Kol took a deep breath, scenting the air. “I can’t scent anyone from here, no.”
Elora stared at him, her eyes so wide Kol wanted to hug her.
She took a deep breath. “We’ll go through the house, see if anything is out of place. We’ll find him.”
A simple enough plan and Kol nodded his reply.
The house was clean, everything in order, but when Kol walked into the laundry room a sense of unease crept up his spine. He couldn’t say it was the scent, there was none, but it was…something. There had been a wolf shifter in the laundry room, but it wasn’t what had him pausing. “Elora?” He raised his voice to make sure she heard him while she was in the bedroom at the other end of the house.
Fast steps approached. “Yes?”
“Is Elijah on any drugs?”
“He doesn’t do drugs.” She glared at him.
“I meant medicine.”
She shook her head. “No, nothing.
“I think he was drugged. There is no distinct scent, but there is…something. And a wolf has been in here.”
“Fuck.” Elora slumped against the door frame. “We need to check his sock drawer.” She turned and walked back toward the bedroom.
“What?”
“Eli and I, when we were kids, we always wore mismatching socks.”
“Why?” Kol only bought black socks, so they’d always match.
“So one was left behind.”
So one could be found. Kol nodded. “You want to do it in the bedroom?”
“I never thought you’d ask.” She snorted, and he could tell she was scared.
He took her hand in his. “I’ll keep you safe.”

Mind Scrambler in the JMS shop

books2read.com/MindScrambler

Giveaway:

I’ve set up a giveaway over at kingsumo to celebrate. I’m giving away an ebook copy of Soul Eater + an ebook copy of Mind Scrambler to one lucky winner, so hop on over there and enter!

mindscrambler Years ago, empath Elijah Long made a bad decision, and he is still paying for it. He’s kept hidden from his abusive werewolf ex for years, but when he wakes in a dark room, cuffed to a wall, he knows he’s out of luck. Elora, his psychic sister, will come for him, he just has to endure long enough to give her a chance to find him.

Captain Kol Jaecar of Rockshade’s Paranormal Investigations Department detests slow times at work, so when Elora wants time off to search for her brother, Kol treats it as if it’s a real case and starts an investigation. What he assumed was a brother not picking up when his sister called turns out to be something else.

Elijah experiences people’s emotions so strongly, it prohibits him from living a normal life. Spending time in the city is out of the question, yet it’s where Elora takes him once she finds him. Elijah does his best to keep his distance, especially from the growling man Elora brought to his rescue. Elijah will never make the mistake of getting close to a shifter again.

The moment Kol smells Elijah, he knows he’s his mate, but how to get close to someone who doesn’t want to be near you? The man who abused Elijah is still on the loose, and Kol calls in the entire team to hunt him down. But how are they to keep Elijah safe when he can’t be around people? And how will Kol stay sane if he can’t touch his mate?

January Giveaway

January 1, 2021January 2, 2021 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 18 Comments

Giveaway!

Happy New Year!

I thought we’d start the year with a giveaway. I had this idea of having monthly giveaways throughout the year.

That’s actually a lie. If you follow my Facebook page, you might have noticed that I shared a snippet from a book every Tuesday during 2020 except for a few weeks toward the end of the year when I ran out of books. I planned to do something similar this year, but post my books on their birthday.

Then, when I started making lists of when every book was published, I change my mind. Isn’t giveaways more fun? I think so.

How does it work?

At the beginning of each month, I’ll publish a post with the books having been released that month in the past. A week later, I’ll randomly pick a winner from the comments below who gets ebook copies of that month’s books.

January only has two books. Apparently, I haven’t released a lot at the beginning of the year. But we have Worth His Salt and Scary Gary, so two paranormal short stories.

Worth His Salt is a tattooed corpse story which is a series I’ve been writing with Amy Spector. It’s a series, and yet the books have nothing in common. The only thing binding them together is that in each book, a body will appear, and that body is the same in every story.

Worth His Salt is about Eldred Henstare. He’s a not so powerful witch, who’s in charge of keeping spirits away from his city – something he isn’t very good at. It’s the call of a spirit that leads him to meet Mo.

Energy more intense than anything he’d experienced before smashed into him and he stumbled backwards. He’d heard tales of spirits trying to incapacitate the guardian to be able to roam freely in a region, but those were no ordinary spirits.

“Shit.” Eldred rubbed his heart. The area between his eyebrows burned despite the cold, and he flung out whatever energy he had stored to protect his aura.

Something was trying to force itself into his mind.

“Who are you?”

Eldred yelped, there was no better word for it. To his right, a dark, towering figure had appeared out of nowhere. He dug his hand into his pocket and threw a handful of salt at the fucker. “Into the white light!”

“Excuse me?” The figure spat on the ground. “I think it’s best if you leave my property.”

Eldred was sucking in breath after breath. He needed to cast a circle. He never should’ve gone alone.

“Are you all right, kid?”

“All right? Kid? Why are you here?”

The silence went on for a couple of seconds. “Because you’re on my lawn.”

Eldred looked down on the ground. The grass was neatly cut around him. When had he stepped off the meadow? The rain and wind were stinging his face, and he had a hard time thinking. He peered at the man, and it looked like a real, living, breathing man—exactly the way Eldred wanted his men.

And then we have Scary Gary. I’m in love with Scary Gary. It’s a super short story, only around 5k (and it’s free everywhere but on Amazon, because Amazon! *growl*) and I wrote it in a few days after having seen a writing prompt saying: There’s a reason I’m afraid of my own shadow.

Poor Micah has a murderous shadow. On days when he’s not careful, it gets the better of him. But, the good news is that when he dies, Gary the Grim Reaper shows up. And we all want Gary to show up LOL

“Micah. Time to wake up.”

A cold hand lightly slapped Micah’s cheek, and he sucked in a breath. “Stop it.” The croak was a surprise. Though, considering he’d been strangled, it shouldn’t have been.

“Oh, it talks.” Gary’s unimpressed huff would have made Micah smile if he’d had the energy. Squinting at Gary, he noticed they were in his apartment. His small, safe, apartment.

“Are you okay?” The worry in Gary’s voice had hot and cold clashing in Micah’s chest. Those unnaturally blue eyes skidded over his face and he wondered how many scrapes and cuts there were this time.

“Of course. I just missed your cheerful company and was wondering if maybe you’d be up for a nightcap.”

Gary groaned and rubbed his eyes, his shoulders slumping as if Micah had stolen what little energy he had. Guilt, and maybe a little worry, had Micah struggling to sit. There were bloody scrapes on his forearms. Bruises encircled his wrists—that was new. He frowned at them and glanced at Gary.

Gary flew to his feet, pointing a pale finger at him. “Do I need to remind you—” His black cloak billowed around him, blue smoke wafting from around his ankles, and his face etched in stern lines. Had this been the first time Micah had seen him, he’d have been petrified.

“Oh, shut up, Scary Gary. Do you want a drink or not?” Micah refused to acknowledge the way his hands shook and how he wished Gary would sit on the sofa next to him.

So to join the giveaway, I want you to comment below and tell us about your favourite paranormal creature to read about. Is it wizards, shifters, or perhaps Grim Reapers?

I read everything. I’m a bit hesitant when it comes to gods and demons, but some of my favourite stories have gods and demons in them, and I tend to avoid dragon shifters, but a few always end up in the read pile anyway.

Eldred Henstare is a not so powerful witch who’s been left in charge of helping the city’s lingering spirits to move on. He usually handles it pretty well, but something’s wrong with the spirit leading him to the abandoned lighthouse.

Mo Vin likes his quiet life in the cottage next to the lighthouse, at least it’s quiet until one night when Eldred Henstare—young, beautiful and crazy—arrives. After that night things aren’t the same. A man is found dead on the beach outside Mo’s cottage, and he’s almost sure he’s the one who killed him, except it doesn’t make sense. Why would he kill anyone?

Eldred needs to get rid of the ghost haunting Mo. If he doesn’t Mo’s life is in danger, but to do it he needs both Mo and his brother Lachtin to help out.

Micah Thaxter has a problem—one scary, inconvenient problem. His shadow wants him dead and isn’t shy about it.

On the plus side, it’s not his time to die and Scary Gary is always there to carry him back to the land of the living. Gary is far too pale, his black cloak a bit out of fashion, and his scythe quite terrifying, but he’s still one of the most beautiful men Micah has ever seen.

Micah may be stuck with a homicidal shadow, but perhaps there’s a way to keep Gary around too. His job escorting souls keeps him busy, but since Micah has already died once today, Gary’s there. So what’s the harm in offering him a cup of tea?