Escaping Darkness


A novella to The Stone Legacy Series


To follow The Stone Guardian

She may have spent
years in an asylum, but that didn’t make her crazy–just fearless.


Dropped in Moscow with her friends on an impossible
mission against underworld forces, Tara is left to her feelings of overwhelming
inadequacy. Her boyfriend is a healer, her best friend is “the Guardian,” and
everyone else is a powerhouse of awesome strengths. The only thing she has been
able to contribute are her memories, which has left her with nightmares of her
time spent at the mercy of the evil Sarian–who everyone has gone to fight.


Alone with her emotions, Tara finds herself falling
into a city of depravity and corruption. And amidst all this evil is a young man
with an agenda of his own, who leads her down a road that will either prove she
is a hero at heart, or drag her into a world she’s always feared.


He wants revenge, she wants redemption. And in an
underground rings of missing girls and bloody sacrifices, only the fearless can
survive…


Excerpt:




Strolling through the streets, Tara watched the
locals browse the produce market in the food district. The first time she
visited this area, her and Peter were searching for Contessa. The red-haired
temptress lived just a block away, but if Tara never saw that woman again, it
would be too soon.


Mounds of colorful fruits sat piled on wooden
carts. Market workers weighed, priced, and handed over the merchandise before
waving goodbye.


Tara wished she could be one of those people.
Anyone. A young woman with a scarf covering her hair hovered her nose over a
peach, a warm smile spread across her lips while she counted several into a bag.
She would be fine. The woman looked so peaceful. Why couldn’t Tara just snap her
fingers and be the woman with the scarf? Have a completely different life.


She sighed.


The smell of cigarettes pulled her out of her
daydream. Tara coughed and waved her hand in front of her face. “You know that
habit will kill you.”


Malachi grinned. “I highly doubt that.”


She narrowed her eyes. “And you really have to stop
just appearing out of nowhere. You’re like a freaking phantom.”


His grin widened. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
He flicked the ash from his cigarette and took another drag. “So, are you better
today?”


She laced her fingers in front of her. “I guess I
owe you a thank you, don’t I?”


He shrugged.


“Well…” A nervous itch ate at her arm. She
scratched it, and glanced at him. “Thanks.” He stared into the crowds of people
while he took another drag.


It was time to get to the bottom of this. “Who are
you, Malachi?”


He glanced at her. “In what way are you
asking?”


“Is there more than one way?”


“Yes.”


She examined the lack of black under his eyes. “You
toned down the makeup today.”


He flicked the ashes from his cigarette. “It’s not
makeup.”


“Really? So all the black around your eyes is…” She
shrugged just one shoulder and waited for him to respond.


“A curse.”


“A curse,” she said, more as a statement than a
question. He stepped forward, his gaze locked with hers. In the light of midday,
she could see him more clearly. The black shadows were hardly noticeable. But
when she stared more closely, it didn’t seem like makeup at all. The darkness
was buried deep in his skin like tiny capillaries. Tara stepped away. Maybe she
should hear him out. “What kind of curse?”


Malachi gestured to the fruits stacked on the cart
beside them. “Did you come here to buy something?”


She glanced at the pears, and then gripped her
stomach. “I’m not hungry.” But the truth was she’d give anything to be able to
eat one of those pears. Just a bite.


He nodded. “Yeah, me either. Not anymore.”


Her eyes grew wide. There was something really,
really wrong with this guy. What he did to protect her that night was certainly
not normal. But she still had no idea why Mr. Green’s men went after her. If she
wanted to find out, she’d have to stick around this time. “What did those guys
want?”


“Let’s walk.” Tara followed when he turned and
strolled down the sidewalk. She didn’t have much choice if she wanted to know
why she was suddenly a target.


He hooked his thumbs in the front pockets of his
pants and cast his gaze to the cobblestone walkway. “That drug Andrei gave you
is called Drop5. It’s new, from some dealer in Japan.”


“And how do you know Mr. Green?”


“I used to work for him. The drug is supposed to
make the collection of offerings easier.”


She swallowed. “What do you mean offerings?”


He glanced over his shoulder, and slowed his pace.
“Those guys don’t just traffic drugs,” he said in a more hushed voice. “It took
me a while to find you. You’re here with the guardian, right?”


Tara nodded. “What do you want with Ashley?”


He suddenly spoke with more urgency. “Nothing. But
something is happening that she’s not aware of, and if we don’t stop it, Sarian
will have all the power he needs to not only control the book, but overthrow the
underworld, and then the middleworld. Nobody will be able to stop him. Not even
your little team.”


“How do you know about all of this? I thought only
Riyata knew about Sarian and the underworld.” Her lips parted as she stared at
him. “Wait. Are you Riyata?”


“Unfortunately, no.” The lines in his mouth
deepened with a frown. “Maybe if I were, I could have done something.”


“About what?”


He glanced up at her and rubbed the back of his
neck. “Nothing. Nevermind. The point is, Sarian is working hard to get enough
power to make sure nobody is able to take the throne from him once he has it.
But he wants something else—something more. The more human sacrifices that are
made in his name, the more power he’ll have to take whatever he wants—including
your friend.”


“But I don’t get how all of this works together.
Why is he using drugs?”


They turned a corner and continued into the
shopping district of the city. Fruit carts and the scent of earthy spices were
replaced with windows of boutiques selling clothes and purses.


“Sarian doesn’t care how he gets what he wants, and
even though the king would tear him apart if he knew, Sarian has resorted to
using humans to do his dirty work. He promised to give them certain powers once
he is strong enough to overthrow the king. Meanwhile, the drug is used to make
it easier to handle the girls until it’s their time. And the guys have their fun
with the girls meanwhile.”


Tara’s chest jumped. “What?”


“Nothing’s off limits. The girls are just toys for
them until—” He glanced up at her. “After five hours of high, it makes you
crash, and unless you’re lucky enough to have someone around to protect you,
they collect. Mr. Green is the one in charge of this district, but he’s not the
highest ranking.”


“So if you weren’t there that night…”


“You’d be gone.”


She rubbed her face, her cheeks clammy and cold to
the touch. With Ashley still on her rescue mission, and she and Peter on the
rocks, she would have to go to Renato for help. Until Ashley returned, he would
know what to do. They would figure it out together. “I need to get back to the
hotel.”


He stopped and pushed his palms on either side of
her, caging her against a brick wall. Tara pressed her hands against his chest
to keep him at a distance. “You can’t leave. I have unfinished business.”


“W-What do you mean?”


He slowly dropped his hands to his sides. “You owe
me a favor, and payoff starts now.”

http://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Darkness-Legacy-Series-Volume/dp/1484114930/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368228644&sr=8-2&keywords=theresa+mcclinton