by W. J. May
Strength
Omega Queen Series, Volume 5
W.J. May
Published by Dark Shadow Publishing, 2020.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
STRENGTH
First edition. July 15, 2020.
Copyright © 2020 W.J. May.
ISBN: 978-1393674689
Written by W.J. May.
Also by W.J. May
Bit-Lit Series
Lost Vampire
Cost of Blood
Price of Death
Blood Red Series
Courage Runs Red
The Night Watch
Marked by Courage
Forever Night
The Other Side of Fear
Blood Red Box Set Books #1-5
Daughters of Darkness: Victoria's Journey
Victoria
Huntress
Coveted (A Vampire & Paranormal Romance)
Twisted
Daughter of Darkness - Victoria - Box Set
Great Temptation Series
The Devil's Footsteps
Heaven's Command
Mortals Surrender
Hidden Secrets Saga
Seventh Mark - Part 1
Seventh Mark - Part 2
Marked By Destiny
Compelled
Fate's Intervention
Chosen Three
The Hidden Secrets Saga:The Complete Series
Kerrigan Chronicles
Stopping Time
A Passage of Time
Ticking Clock
Secrets in Time
Time in the City
Ultimate Future
Mending Magic Series
Lost Souls
Illusion of Power
Challenging the Dark
Castle of Power
Limits of Magic
Protectors of Light
Omega Queen Series
Discipline
Bravery
Courage
Conquer
Strength
Validation
Approval (Coming Soon)
Blessing (Coming Soon)
Paranormal Huntress Series
Never Look Back
Coven Master
Alpha's Permission
Blood Bonding
Oracle of Nightmares
Shadows in the Night
Paranormal Huntress BOX SET
Prophecy Series
Only the Beginning
White Winter
Secrets of Destiny
Revamped Series
Hidden
Banished
Converted
Royal Factions
The Price For Peace
The Cost for Surviving
The Punishment For Deception
Faking Perfection (Coming Soon)
The Most Cherished (Coming Soon)
The Strength to Endure (Coming Soon)
The Chronicles of Kerrigan
Rae of Hope
Dark Nebula
House of Cards
Royal Tea
Under Fire
End in Sight
Hidden Darkness
Twisted Together
Mark of Fate
Strength & Power
Last One Standing
Rae of Light
The Chronicles of Kerrigan Box Set Books # 1 - 6
The Chronicles of Kerrigan: Gabriel
Living in the Past
Present For Today
Staring at the Future
The Chronicles of Kerrigan Prequel
Christmas Before the Magic
Question the Darkness
Into the Darkness
Fight the Darkness
Alone in the Darkness
Lost in Darkness
The Chronicles of Kerrigan Prequel Series Books #1-3
The Chronicles of Kerrigan Sequel
A Matter of Time
Time Piece
Second Chance
Glitch in Time
Our Time
Precious Time
The Hidden Secrets Saga
Seventh Mark (part 1 & 2)
The Kerrigan Kids
School of Potential
Myths & Magic
Kith & Kin
Playing With Power
Line of Ancestry
Descent of Hope
Illusion of Shadows
Frozen by the Future (Coming Soon)
The Queen's Alpha Series
Eternal
Everlasting
Unceasing
Evermore
Forever
Boundless
Prophecy
Protected
Foretelling
Revelation
Betrayal
Resolved
The Queen's Alpha Box Set
The Senseless Series
Radium Halos - Part 1
Radium Halos - Part 2
Nonsense
Perception
The Senseless - Box Set Books #1-4
Standalone
Shadow of Doubt (Part 1 & 2)
Five Shades of Fantasy
Zwarte Nevel
Shadow of Doubt - Part 1
Shadow of Doubt - Part 2
Four and a Half Shades of Fantasy
Dream Fighter
What Creeps in the Night
Forest of the Forbidden
Arcane Forest: A Fantasy Anthology
The First Fantasy Box Set
Watch for more at W.J. May’s site.
Copyright 2020 by W.J. May
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2020 by W.J. May
Strength, Book 5 of the Omega Queen Series
Cover design by: Book Cover by Design
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.
Have You Read the C.o.K Series?
The Chronicles of Kerrigan
Book I - Rae of Hope is FREE!
BOOK TRAILER:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gILAwXxx8MU
How hard do you ha
ve to shake the family tree to find the truth about the past?
Fifteen year-old Rae Kerrigan never really knew her family's history. Her mother and father died when she was young and it is only when she accepts a scholarship to the prestigious Guilder Boarding School in England that a mysterious family secret is revealed.
Will the sins of the father be the sins of the daughter?
As Rae struggles with new friends, a new school and a star-struck forbidden love, she must also face the ultimate challenge: receive a tattoo on her sixteenth birthday with specific powers that may bind her to an unspeakable darkness. It's up to Rae to undo the dark evil in her family's past and have a ray of hope for her future.
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Strength Blurb:
USA Today Bestselling author, W.J. May, continues the highly anticipated bestselling YA/NA series about love, betrayal, magic and fantasy.
Be prepared to fight... it’s the only option.
Time is running out...
As an insidious darkness sweeps across the land, Evie and her friends find themselves in a race to fulfill the prophecy. They acquire a ship and make haste for the Dunes. But, as usual, fate has other plans...
Instead of arriving at their destination, the friends find themselves stranded on the shores of a distant land. A land where the rules don’t matter and nothing is as it seems. In the quest to band together, powers are tested and relationships are strained. No matter how hard they try to move forward, it always seems like they’re falling several steps behind.
A change is coming, but can the friends rise to meet the challenge? Will they find the stone and stop the darkness in time?
Or do Evie’s dreams tell a fateful warning... that they’re already too late?
Be careful who you trust. Even the devil was once an angel.
The Queen’s Alpha Series
Eternal
Everlasting
Unceasing
Evermore
Forever
Boundless
Prophecy
Protected
Foretelling
Revelation
Betrayal
Resolved
The Omega Queen Series
Discipline
Bravery
Courage
Conquer
Strength
Validation
Approval
Blessing
Balance
Grievance
Enchanted
Gratified
Contents
Have You Read the C.o.K Series?
Find W.J. May
Strength Blurb:
The Queen’s Alpha Series
The Omega Queen Series
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
VALIDATION – Book 6 blurb
The Queen’s Alpha Series
The Omega Queen Series
Find W.J. May
More books by W.J. May
Chapter 1
There are a few things one might think when encountering a Carpathian horde...
I wish I’d put my affairs in order.
I wonder how many arrows are in my quiver.
I should have taken the long way around.
A thought that would never cross a person’s mind?
I’d really love to rob these guys.
Evie and the others crept out of the woods and into the Carpathian encampment.
As far as infiltration went, it was the easiest incursion ever. There were no gates, no guards, no perimeter sweeps. Most of the dwellings didn’t even have doors. Entering the settlement was literally as simple as stepping off one road and stepping onto the next.
Probably because no one in their right mind would be stupid enough to come here by choice.
“Come on,” Ellanden urged quietly, “keep moving.”
The friends stayed close together, keeping their heads down and sticking to the shadows.
It hadn’t been their choice to come either. Their initial hope had been to bypass the settlement altogether and make their way straight to the docks. But while the Carpathians might be rather lax in terms of security, they weren’t foolish. They’d scattered their ships along stretches of beach within the camp itself. Short of approaching by water and climbing in from the sea—a tactical nightmare—anyone who hoped to gain entry would have to get there on foot.
It was a level of proximity no one was comfortable with and, as if that wasn’t bad enough, the lateness of the hour didn’t seem to have any effect on the encampment whatsoever. If anything, more and more people kept pouring onto the streets the further the six friends ventured inside.
“Incoming!”
The princess glanced up just a body plummeted to the ground in front of her, spraying the hem of her cloak with ribbons of greenish-grey blood. It was impossible to know what kind of creature it had been. All that remained were a few dented tentacles, oozing slowly into the dirt.
Eight tiny shoes landed on top.
Seven hells.
The friends lifted their heads in unison, but the window above them was dark—nothing but a tattered curtain blowing in the breeze. Not that it would have mattered. As soon as the beast fell, a chorus of dark laughter echoed from a tavern across the street. The princess cast a swift glance, only to see it wasn’t just the patrons doing the laughing. A table of what looked like off-duty soldiers, armed to the teeth, reveled in the grisly homicide just like everyone else.
So much for the rule of law...
“Don’t stop—we don’t want to be standing here.”
This time, it was Seth who ushered them along. His bright eyes flashed to the table of men as well before he ducked his head and kept walking, an oddly blank expression on his face.
Evie glanced once more at the eight-legged corpse before hurrying after him.
Just keep your head down, she told herself. Just keep walking.
Strangely enough, it wasn’t the murder that had unsettled her as much as the soldiers. They were a far different breed than the ones they’d fought in the forest. Not just in size and stature; it was something about the way they held themselves. Like they wouldn’t hold themselves back.
Those Carpathians hunted animals.
These ones hunted men.
Not surprisingly, she wasn’t the only one rattled by the scene. The second they rounded the corner Freya quickened her pace, falling into step by Seth’s side.
“Did you ever fight a Carpathian?” she whispered. “In the arena?”
There was no need to make the distinction. They were all thinking the same thing.
“Twice.”
Without looking away from the street, he lifted a finger to his neck and temple. Even in the shadowy moonlight, Evie could see the silver imprint of a faded scar. She stifled a shudder. Scars didn’t come easy to a shifter. And she’d recently seen exactly what that particular shifter could do.
“There’s no one watching the village,” he continued quietly, glancing back at the rest of them. “The villagers themselves are defense enough. But there are soldiers patrolling the dock.”
Ellanden and Asher nodded slowly. If they were doubting their plan, they didn’t show it. But there was a quickness to their step and a tension to their shoulders that wasn’t there a moment ago.
“It’ll be fine,” the fae said quickly when he felt
the eyes of the group. Unseen behind him, a succubus plunged a dagger into a potential suitor before getting shot in the head. “This place isn’t much worse than Tarnaq and we survived that, didn’t we?”
...barely...
“There might be soldiers patrolling the docks, but the crew is most likely getting drunk in one of these taverns. As long as we can slip aboard, there’s every chance we can...” He trailed off, glancing over his shoulder as the vampire came to a sudden stop. “Ash? What’s the matter?”
Asher was frozen in the middle of the street, staring up at one of the store fronts with a peculiar expression on his face. The princess followed his gaze, then froze as well when she saw the skeleton dangling from beneath the sign. Her mouth fell open when she saw the fangs.
Holy crap.
There weren’t many things that could kill a vampire. Even a young vampire. Even a vampire as young as the one standing by her side. She shot him a sideways glance, then laced her fingers through his. No effect. Not until she gave a sharp squeeze did he snap out of his trance.
“We should, uh...we should keep moving.”
The others nodded silently, but their eyes were still glued to the sign. Staring in morbid fascination as the bones started swaying in the breeze.
“Ellanden.”
The prince jumped with a guilty flush, then snapped back into action—leading the rest of them deliberately to the other side of the street. In truth, he didn’t know what disturbed him more: the skeleton itself, or the fact that it had been inexplicably dangling from the apothecary.
Can’t believe they even have an apothecary. If something got infected, you’d think they’d just cut it off.
With as much speed as possible, the six friends continued making their way to the docks. It wasn’t easy. As the moon climbed high above them, the entire encampment was coming to life.
At first, the princess had thought the settlement was reserved exclusively for Carpathians. But as they continued making their way down to the water, she saw many other creatures as well.