The Powers

The Powers

A Novel by: S. Durham

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release: August 26, 2011

Editor: Nancy Bell

Line Editor: Penny Ehrenkranz

Cover artist: Delilah K. Stephans

Words: 126397

Pages: 350

ISBN: 978-1-927085-59-2

Warning: Adult Content: Language, graphic violence and sexual content.

Blurb:

When Angela Sullivan, an ER nurse with a tragic past, receives a cryptic warning from a homeless street prophet, and one of her patients is found dead in the Willamette River, her reality begins to take on inexplicable changes as she is propelled toward a destiny meted out eons before the age of man...

Camael is one of seven ancient warriors known as 'The Powers,' incarnated to earth thousands of years ago to lead, guide, and affect outcomes in battles and wars throughout history.

When Camael is summoned to Portland, Oregon to awaken the latent warrior in Angela Sullivan, he finds his very soul is torn as he struggles with his duty to mentor and protect the chosen warrior and the profound attraction he has to her as a woman.

As Angela is plagued by increasing visions, surreal dreams, and physical changes, she begins to question her own sanity.

But when a very real demon from Camael’s past, threatens all that Angela holds dear, she is forced to accept her fate and attempt to destroy him before the pivotal governor's election takes place...

Excerpt:

The morgue despite being well lit, felt cold and dark to Angela. Even though she was an ER nurse and seen her share of death, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the dead. Especially in a place like the morgue.

David signed them in with the morgue clerk, a beefy thirty-something man, who looked like a bouncer in a lab coat. He directed them to wait in the “cold room,” as the ME was currently in the middle of performing an autopsy.

Angela scanned the wall of pullouts. The drawers contained the recently deceased and were the original drawers, with old-fashioned porcelain paint and metal hand latches.

The opposite wall bore the original small white tiles from floor to ceiling. The remaining two walls had since been sheet rocked and painted a sickly gray color. The color made her think of patients she’d taken care of—patients near death.

David stood quietly next to Angela and appeared deep in his own thoughts.

The door to the autopsy suite clicked open, and Josh Stephens, or ‘Goth Boy’ as Theresa dubbed him, walked into the cold room. He was tall and slender with shoulder length jet-black hair, which was currently tied back. He wore a white lab coat over his black jeans and black AC/ DC T-shirt. Angela thought he had one of those innocent faces even his eyebrow ring and multiple ear piercings couldn’t mar.

Josh gave them an easy nod but retained a professional air as he walked over and set two large formalin containers in a stainless steel tray.

Following Josh into the room was Patty Lindor, St. Andrew’s resident pathologist, and John Zuman, Portland’s chief medical examiner.

John Zuman gripped David’s hand. “David, how have you been?”

“Well, thank you.” David smiled and gave Patty a nod. “Hey, thanks for taking some time for us this morning.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” she replied. Then noticing Angela, she extended her hand. “You must be Angela, David’s sister? You work in the ER right?”

“Yes,” Angela took the woman’s hand and shook it, hoping to hide the nervousness she felt as the pleasantries were exchanged.

“Okay, Josh, let’s get this over with.” The pathologist seemed to sense Angela’s discomfort.

The group followed Josh over to the drawer marked number three. He pulled it open easily; as if the occupant weighed very little, Angela thought. Watching the young man, Angela saw a wave of grief pass over his face as he turned his eyes to the dead woman lying in the drawer. She took a deep breath and braved a glimpse at the deceased herself. The young woman’s pale face was like blue-hued china. Her black hair, still damp, and the piercings in her lip, nose, and ears, made her instantly familiar.

Angela could feel the tingling working its way up her spine. Her throat tightened as she gazed down at the young woman in the steel-lined drawer. Angela was amazed when her vision started to close in, she’d be damned if she’d faint.

David put his hand under Angela’s elbow. “Are you okay, Angi?”

Angela nodded. “I know her,” she whispered.  “Her name was Lizzi…Lizzi Piper.”

David nodded. “Okay.”

She felt the pallor shadow her face as she looked at David. “Are we done here?”

“Yes, we’re done.” He gestured to Josh to close the drawer as he watched his sister turn and walk toward the exit door.

Outside the morgue, Angela took long deep breaths, the cool October air calming her shaky limbs. The nausea she felt dissipated—but the vision in her mind remained.

It wasn’t she, who’d been drowning in her vivid nightmare last night. It was Lizzi... In her dream, or whatever you could call it, a premonition maybe, she watched helplessly while Lizzi Piper ran from something... Something that was...well evil.

That was it, wasn’t it? she thought with dawning revelation. Something truly evil had been pursuing Lizzi, a sensation of such cold blackness, Angela could hardly describe it, but she’d felt it—because she had been there...

A soft breeze from the south made Angela look up from the crack in the concrete she’d been staring at while deep in her thoughts. A tall man stood where the hospital drive met the sidewalk. It wasn’t the fact he was staring at her in an unabashed familiar way, even though he was an obvious stranger, it was his eyes that caught her attention. Even from thirty yards away, his eyes had an intensity that drove straight into her. She took in a sharp breath, blinked, and he was gone.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Also by S. Durham:

Customer Reviews:

Be warned, there are a number of characters, but like a well-greased machine, each cog has a place in order for the machine to run smoothly – each of S. Durham’s characters have a similar purpose and slide right into the maze for the perfect twist and turn of events, like puzzle pieces placed in at the perfect moment to complete the whole picture/story, I am completely yanked in by her creative story-telling. rnI spent a weekend reading it whenever my husband turned his back *grins*rnMs. Durham dazzled me with her paranormal shifters, but this book offers something new and different as her plot thickens with potential and she most definitely delivers. Her love scenes make me melt…so sensual, involving all senses.rnThe last chapter ends with excellence (I favor HEA) although I don’t want to give up any of S. Durham’s story-stars I’ve come to know and love, the ending leaves me smiling and satisfies. rn

Excellent writing - I'm a non-fiction reader, but a friend suggested & I found this book to be a real page turner. Highly recommend

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