•••••••••••••••••••••

White light surrounded her and rushing air roared in her
ears. Distantly, she heard Lily screaming. And then something soft crushed into
her.

Gasping, Ashley sat up. She was in the vegetable garden,
Lily clutching her hand. Frantically, she scrambled to her feet, searching for
her father.

Masked men surrounded him.

With a cry, she tried to run to him. Lily hauled on her arm,
holding her back with terror in her eyes.

Through the circle, another man approached. Amid the ski
masks and rifles, his business suit and uncovered face stood in sharp contrast.
Firelight played off his dark hair, turning his eyes into shadowed pits and
chiseling his face in strange relief. Several inches taller than anyone around
him, he towered like a giant over her father on the ground.

In spite of everything, Patrick tried to stand. Fury surged
past the pain on his face, and his hand rose as if to strike the man.

The giant scoffed, and his fingers twitched as though
flicking away a fly. Patrick gasped. His back arched sharply. And then he
crashed to the ground and didn’t move again.

Ashley couldn’t breathe.

This wasn’t happening.

A smile curled the giant’s mouth as he looked toward the girls
in the vegetable garden.

“Get them,” he ordered.

Like unleashed hunting dogs, the men charged.

The sight shattered her paralysis. Ripping her gaze from her
father, Ashley spun. Yanking Lily behind her, she tore across the tilled soil,
choking back a sob as the soft earth sucked at her feet, slowing her down.

She reached the edge of the garden and took off across the
field with no idea of where to go. Lily clung to her, and she could hear the
girl crying. Thelma’s house was an eternity away, and she couldn’t see the
woman’s porch light. The farmhands’ house was dark. No one had emerged this
whole time.

Tears burned her eyes.

She kept running.

Headlights surged over the rise at the edge of the property.
With a shriek, Ashley tried to turn, her feet sliding from beneath her on the
grass. Lily slammed into her and frantically, Ashley grabbed the girl and
shoved her to the side.

Lily rolled away.

Ashley didn’t have time to move.

The car roared straight at her.

————————————————————————————

The war isn’t over. And new enemies await.

Life on the
run hasn’t been easy, but so far, Ashe has survived. But now Carter has ordered
her away from the Hunters to find her family’s people – an order she can’t
refuse, no matter how much she wants to stay.

Following his command will bring her into an unknown world, however – a
world filled with new enemies and old prejudices that will demand more of her
than she can imagine, at a cost higher than she’ll ever be willing to pay.

“Taliesin Ascendant is equally as pulse-pounding as The
Children and the Blood. I felt there was fantastic character development
combined with the spine-tingling suspense and action. Oh, all the intrigue!” – Brandee
‘Bookworm Brandee’

“Things unfold but you still know there’s more to the story
that you don’t know. It’s very unique writing and an absolute high speed,
action packed adventure that you’re traveling on with the main characters.” – Carey
‘Toot’s Book Reviews’

The stakes of the war have never
been higher. But what will be the cost to win? 

Ashe knows loss, knows sacrifice and pain. Her allies are scattered and
too many lie dead. The Blood are stronger than ever and more connected than she
could have imagined.
But the worst is yet to come. The war has taken so many people she loves.

Now it just might take everyone who’s left.