Light of the Moon Excerpt *Indie Author of the Month*

It's excerpt week! *bounces around the blog* The dashing David James is giving us a glimpse into Light of the Moon! Yay! But before I give you the goods, take a gander at this....

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One night long ago, a constellation disappeared and fell from the sky in the form of a boy...

 

Secrets are being kept in the sleepy town of Lakewood Hollow, Colorado. Life unfolds in shades of red for Calum, until a mysterious girl named Kate Black enrolls at his school and everything changes. Suddenly a dangerous world of demons, enchanters, and witches unfurls before Calum. He learns that the stars have forever held his destiny, and that the constellations above are much more than what they seem. But life is not so easy for Calum, and he can feel his heart beat faster whenever Kate is close. Worse, Kate's blood holds a dark secret even more dangerous than the war between the demons and enchanters. Soon the two find that there are worse things than loving someone you shouldn't. For Calum and Kate, even love and the fiery power of stars may not be enough to break a curse as dark as the blood that binds their destiny.

 

Sometimes being brave just means falling in love.

 

Sounds freaking awesome right? Well it is! I've read it and can completely vouch for how amazing it is! Wanna sneak peek? Here you go!

 

            "First, the sound hit me; water crashing so angrily it screamed. The sound was a hundred waterfalls falling at once. It must have been. It was nothing and everything, so loud it became quiet in an instant, shattering into something so beautiful I thought maybe I was actually dead.

            But I breathed deeply-

            and I was so, so alive.

            I wrinkled my nose against the humidity and the cold breeze that cut through it. I closed my eyes for just a second, and gulped in the raw, clean air. It was sweet and frigid, filling my lungs with so much life they felt as icy as death inside me. This air reminded me of rain, of the way it fell from the tops of the Rocky Mountains down to towns below in sheets and storms.

            Of rain so alive it killed.

            When I opened my eyes I felt the breath I'd taken live and die on an exhale.

            The cave was enormous, lit by a thousand tiny lanterns and filled with hundreds of people as if an entire city had been hidden in this hollow mountain. Jagged stone walls rose up toward a ceiling that wasn't there, trapping the place in an angry cage of gray. Everything, including the floor, seemed to be made of stone. Four fast moving waterfalls, shimmering green and blue and white, ran quickly down the high walls as if pretending to be the four points of a compass. They jumped over misplaced stones and onto the tops of buildings and houses, draping them in curtains of blue-green water, frothing white where they hit gray, and flowed gently into a rapid river that circled the edge of the cave. The river must have drained out somewhere, but there was no end in sight. There was only water and stone, the two mixing together, one.

            Amidst the water and stone were people, all dressed in the same black pants but different colored shirts: Blue, red, green, yellow, white, and gray. Each person had determination in their eyes, the same burning purpose I saw in Kate. They moved with grace, and the ones in gray ran like birds against the river. None of them seemed to have realized we had stepped out of the mist and through the stone as if it were nothing.

            As if everything was normal.

            Tiny flecks of what looked like mirrored snowflakes floated through the air like fragmented thoughts from a thousand angels. Each fleck shone a rainbow of whites, not colors, reflecting everything and nothing at all; it was as if they were made of pure light, white as the center of the sun.

            And then belief hit me: Lake Iris.

            It had to be.

            The lake stretched wide, resting in the very center of the cave. It was a vast black thing, still as death and as placid as if ice had formed on top. The lake, so still and dark with the swirling white flakes reflecting off its surface, became the night and the stars.

            "We have to hurry." Kate's voice brought me back to reality. "Let's go. Move. Now!" She pulled me forward and, without meaning to, I found myself falling into her, touching her, holding her, and it was like the first time all over again.

            "Sorry," I mumbled. I pushed away and blinked and the moment was just a lost memory I wanted to remember but didn't know why.

            Kate backed up slowly, her eyes wide, turned-

            and ran.

            I was left behind, broken and alone.

            I wondered if that's how it always would be.

            Desperate, needing, wanting: I ran as fast as I could to catch up to Kate. My legs moved under me as if I was a magnet and so was she.

            I screamed, "Kate!" but it was nothing more than a lost breath; as I ran my voice flew behind me. "Wait!"

            She stopped.

            Then, opposite to opposite, we stood in front of each other, unable to move closer.

            I asked, "What were those words you said back there?"

            "Just words," she said. "But words have power when they have purpose. Basically, it was a passcode to get through the wards that protect this place."

            "What does it mean?"

            "Praecipio vim virtutum luce. Sum fortitudine. Ego sum lux. Hac virtute lucis intus, aperta ianua mando secretum," she repeated. "I was told it means 'I command the power of virtue, of light. I am strength. I am light. With this power of light inside me, I command this secret door to open.'"

            "Can anyone say the words?"

            "Sure," a voice like thunder said behind me. "But not everyone can use their magic."

            A boy stepped beside me, and I felt my breath catch. With his thick arms crossed over his gray shirt, and eyes popping green against his dark skin, he made me think of Tyler.

            "What do you want, Zack?" Kate asked, leaning back on one foot.

            He smiled and rolled on the heels of his feet. "Nothing. Just wanted to see who you had with you and why you're sharing our secrets with him. Who is he?"

            "He's no one."

            Zack raised an eyebrow. "Is this him?"

            "Go away, Zack."

            "What if I don't want to?"

            Kate stepped closer to him. "Then I'll make you leave. You don't think I could?"

            Zack just grinned and ran a hand over his dark, short hair. "Oh, I know you could. I'm not stupid."

            I could see Kate almost smile. "No, you're not. An idiot, maybe, but not stupid."

            "You gonna show him around?" Zack asked, looking me up and down. The veins in his neck burst with every movement.

            "No," she said. "I have orders."

            Zack's eyes went wide, and his dusky skin blotched with pale light. "Oh, sorry. Go. Didn't mean to keep you."

            Kate nodded, her eyes almost sad. "Talk to you later."

            Zack turned to leave, and Kate grabbed my arm to pull.

            "Wait!" I called to Zack. "Hold on."

            Slowly, he turned around to face me. His eyes were bright, shining with a quiet sadness that reflected the light in the cave. "What?"

            "Who do you think I am?" I asked, and held my breath.

            Zack's eyes turned to Kate, and then slowly back to me.

            "I think," he said, "that you're someone who has no idea what's about to happen to him, and that makes you afraid of what's to come."

            My voice caught in my throat. "Do you know what's going to happen?"

            His smile was sad. "That's the problem, isn't it? No one does."

            And then, "We need to go. Now!" Kate backed away from me, and then turned to run. Her eyes were wide, darting left and right as if she were scared of someone I couldn't see.  She snapped, "Move, Calum! Why are you so slow? Follow me. Let's go!"

I ran as fast as I could to catch up to Kate, and as soon as I was close enough to feel the brush of her long hair blowing back against my face, I slowed enough to pretend I was standing still.

            I couldn't fool myself, though.

            My heart, beating faster than I ran, gave me away.

            All around us the men and woman gave us curious looks as we passed, though I had a feeling their eyes only saw me. The stranger. The one that didn't belong. The ones in gray shirts looked especially angry, their eyes slanted down, lips curled in my direction. I could feel sweat dripping down my face already, while everyone else seemed to move so gracefully swift like Kate.

            I saw a woman in red, her hair like embers burning, touch her hand to a cold lantern and light the flame with a snap of her fingers.

            Closer now, I could see that their skin seemed iridescent, the same glow I had noticed in Kate that first day, almost lit from the inside out.

            I wanted to ask about it, but I couldn't find my breath.

            Part of me felt I might be dreaming.

            The other part of me knew I wasn't.

 

 *claps* Pretty amazing, huh? Now are you ready for this week's giveaway?! Okay good! In this week's pot is a David James Kindle e-book and some Share The Love swag!

 

Check out the rafflecopter below and be sure to answer the bonus trivia question to earn yourself an extra entry for the GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY which will consist of :

David James Kindle e-book 

Name a character in one of David's books

Share The Love Swag

e-book of MY book Soul Survivor--if you want it ;)

 

Good luck my lovelies!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway