“Three pointer for Nicole!” Chris called out, as if announcing a sports game. “Bullseye.” He threw a knife, and a breeze passed by my face as he used his power over the air to direct the weapon into another wolf’s heart. “These puppies are making this way too easy for us,” he said with a laugh.
At that moment, Blake and Danielle charged toward the remaining three wolves, holding their swords in front of them. They swung, and two more wolves were down, the swords were covered in blood.
Chris pumped his fist in the air, as if he were watching a game. “Blake and Danielle both go in for slam dunks, and they both score!” he said, still talking in his sports announcer voice. “This is getting good. There’s only one wolf left, and there’s five of us.” He rubbed his hands together, eyeing up the wolf. “He doesn’t stand a chance.”
The wolf must have agreed with him, because it backed itself into a corner, its tail down. I had my arrow strung, ready to shoot, but seeing the animal like that made me pause. Despite the unnatural yellow glow in its eyes, at that moment, it looked harmless. I didn’t doubt that it would attack if the odds were in its favor, but that wasn’t the case now. Without it going on the offense, it felt too much like killing in cold blood.
But that didn’t stop Danielle, who stormed up to it and ran her sword through its heart. The wolf let out a final whimper and collapsed at her feet.
“Danielle goes for the final point, and she takes the team in for a win!” Chris said, clapping and hollering in victory. “The wolves should’ve known that they had nothing on the Elementals.”
Within seconds, all five wolves flickered and disappeared, as if they had never been there in the first place. They’d been sent to limbo, where they would remain for the next year until being returned to Kerberos, thanks to the poisonous serum coating our weapons.
Danielle wiped the blood off her sword and held it up in the air, admiring the moonlight glinting off the metal. “Was that ridiculously easy, or are we just getting better?” she asked, slipping the sword back into its sheath.
“You’re getting better,” an unknown, female voice said from off in the shadows. The voice was soft, although it somehow managed to be clear and strong as well—as if I could hear the echo of it inside my own mind. “But that doesn’t mean that you have to be so full of yourselves. Especially given all of the challenges you have ahead.”
I turned toward the direction of the voice at the same time as a tall, ethereal woman stepped out into the clearing. Her black evening gown slithered around her like the shadows themselves, the fabric billowing around her and sparkling with the lights of the stars. Her long, black hair flowed all the way to her waist, her skin so pale that it seemed to glow with the light of the moon.
I blinked a few times, to make sure she was real and not a hallucination. She was there, but she was also slightly hazy, as if she wasn’t there at the same time. It was like she was a ghost, or a shadow.
“Who are you?” I asked softly, still transfixed by her otherworldly beauty.
“I am Nyx,” she answered with a smile, the stars on her dress twinkling as she spoke. “The primordial deity of night itself.”
* * *
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The second book of the Elementals series was so much fun to write! Thank you, as always, to my family and friends. You know who you are! You all always loved Elementals, even when it sat on my computer for years. It was your love for this story that convinced me to put it out there and complete the series!
Danielle Barclay—thank you for all of your great advice, and for the time spent getting word of this series out to readers. The graphics you create are beautiful!
Cameron Yeager—you do such a fantastic job handling the details of the marketing plans I create. I know how much time that takes and how much work it is, and I appreciate every single second of it.
Benjamin Alderson—I’m so glad you love the Elementals series! I was so excited when you first messaged me to let me know that you wanted to read it. Thank you for spreading word of it through your social media accounts! You’re amazing!
Kim Killion—thank you for bringing the series to life through your beautiful covers. They truly represent this series PERFECTLY!
Elise Kova—thank you for being an amazing listener whenever I need to vent about anything in this crazy world of publishing! I’m so grateful to have you as a friend.
Derek Murphy and the Young Adult Author Alliance—I’m SO happy I found this group! Thank you, Derek, for starting it. Everything we discuss is so helpful and encouraging. It’s wonderful to have found such like-minded, business-oriented authors out there. I’m constantly learning from the group, and it’s helped me reach so many more readers!
My Street Team—thank you for being amazing and supportive. It means so much to me every time you share something about my books on your social media accounts. I love hearing from you and talking with you in the Street Team Facebook group!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Madow writes fast-paced YA (young adult) fiction that will leave you turning the pages wanting more!
She's always loved writing stories, but the possibility of being an author used to feel more like a dream than a reality. She didn’t share her stories with anyone until her junior year of college, when she signed up for an Intro to Creative Writing course. Her teacher and classmates read the first chapter of a book idea she had, and they loved it so much that they told her she had to finish the book so they could find out what happened next. By the end of the school year, Michelle finished that book, which would later be published as her first novel.
Michelle grew up in Baltimore, and now lives in Boca Raton, Florida, where she writes books for young adults. Some of her favorite things are: reading, pizza, traveling, shopping, time travel, Broadway musicals, and spending time with friends and family. Michelle has toured across America to promote her books and to encourage high school students to embrace reading and writing. Someday, she hopes to travel the world for a year on a cruise ship.
Visit Michelle online at www.michellemadow.com
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Elementals 2: The Blood of the Hydra Page 22