Excerpt: Seeker - Vilma Iris | Lifestyle Blogger

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Excerpt: Seeker

In Veronica Rossi’s Seeker—the follow-up to the apocalyptic fantasy adventure Riders—Gideon and team search for their fourth rider, Sebastian, who is trapped in another dimension with a demon. Seeker is out next week on the 16th, but I’m so excited to give you a sneak peek at what awaits! Plus, head to my Instagram to get the scoop on how to win a print copy of the book and some cool Seeker bracelets!

Pre-order now: Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble ✦

Chapter 4

GIDEON

Twenty minutes out. Probably less,” Travis Low says as he peels out of the tiny airport that serves Jackson Hole. The SUV fishtails on the soaked road but Low regains control and pushes past eighty miles an hour in a matter of seconds.

I look through my window. Rain clouds hide the tops of the mountains in the distance. The Grand Tetons. I flew over them in the fall. On the back of a demon that had taken the form of a dragon. I also lost Bas here and got my left hand cut off.

Lots of fun memories in Wyoming.

It’s hard to believe that roughly three hours ago we were still in Georgia. Moving a team this fast takes money but if there’s a limit to the unit’s budget, I haven’t seen it yet.

In the passenger seat, Jared Suarez checks his GPS. “Thirty minutes is probably closer. Traffic a mile up.”

Between swipes of the windshield wipers, a string of red brake lights appear up ahead. “Drive around it, Low,” I say, thumping the back of his seat for emphasis.

Suarez shoots me a dark look. “This is the United States, Low. Don’t drive around it.”

“Drive around it, Low,” I repeat. “That’s an order.”

He laughs. “Blake’s full of it today, ain’t he?” he says to Suarez, loading his Texas drawl with all the sarcasm it’ll hold, which is plenty. He meets my eyes in the rearview mirror, chewing his gum in slow motion. “Yes sir, Blake sir.”

We’re all on equal footing under Cordero so I shouldn’t be giving orders to anyone, least of all a commando thirteen years older than me. Travis Low has a hell of a lot more relevant experience than I do. Life experience, in general. Fortunately, Low and I go way back. Jared Suarez, too.

Last fall they were “Texas” and “Beretta” to me, respectively. The guys who stood guard while I was interrogated by a demon disguised as Cordero. They saved my life from that demon.

Low’s a six-foot-five, two-hundred-fifty-pound lethal giant. Like Bas, he’s always looking for his next laugh. Low doesn’t take anything seriously except missions and his three-year-old son, back in Texas. The guy drops everything when his kid calls and gets this heartbroken, happy look on his face. I’ve wondered if my dad felt that kind of pain when talked to Anna and me back home while he was deployed.

Jared Suarez is ninja-quiet and calculating. He was a bluechip high school baseball recruit—a catcher like I was. In a way, it’s still Suarez’s vibe. When Cordero’s not calling the shots, Suarez steps in with the strategy and manages things. With the exception of Jode, who needs to question air before he breathes it, the rest of us pretty much follow Suarez’s lead.

After fighting the Kindred with them and spending the past months in Cordero’s unit, I have solid history with these guys. Marcus and Jode do, too. The respect and smack talk flow in equal measure in all directions.

As we approach the stalled traffic, Low doesn’t slow down. He pulls onto the gravel shoulder and bears down on the gas, sending a hail of rocks and rain into the windshield. Low passes car after car with an expression on his face like he’s supremely bored as Marcus and I bounce around like popcorn in the backseat.

When we’re past the stalled car that caused the slowdown, I turn around. The other Suburbans with Jode, Cordero, Ben, and the rest of the team are obeying the law and have fallen behind.

“Jode,” Marcus says, a smile tugging at his mouth. He won’t like being left with the slowpokes.

“That’s what he gets for sucking up,” I say. But Jode doesn’t really suck up. He just happens to be Cordero’s favorite because they’re extremely compatible. I mean, I’m Cordero’s real favorite for sentimental reasons, but Jode’s her favorite intellectually. They nerd out regularly by discussing the latest studies in science, technology, medicine. Et cetera. It all sounds the same to me. Like Wikipedia talking to itself.

The phone in Suarez’s hand rings. He answers on speaker. “Suarez.”

“Hold at a staging location off property,” Cordero says. “Ben’s sending you the address now. We’ll regroup before we approach.”

“Yes, ma’am. We were going to wait.”

I don’t want to wait. I’ve been waiting months for this already.

“Is that so?” Cordero says. “Then why roar past that traffic like your brakes don’t work?”

Suarez looks at Low, who does a bad job of laughing silently. “We wanted to wait at the property.”

“Tell Low we’re discussing his driving later,” Cordero says.

“Yes, ma’am.” Suarez hangs up. “Morons,” he says, addressing all of us. Then he checks the GPS again, inputting the address Ben sent. “Fifteen minutes out.”

I settle back in my seat, trying to relax.

I’ve thought about Daryn a lot these past months. Pretty constantly. But I didn’t focus on how to handle seeing her again. I spent my mental energy imagining that things were good between us instead.

I approached it like a math calculation.

Take away all the times she told you she just wants to be friends because she’s afraid she might like you too much. I mean, what? How is that a reason? But it doesn’t matter when you’re imagining. Minus one confusing excuse— check.

Take away the memory of the look on her face when she saw you with one less hand. Maimed. Incomplete. Don’t need that either, so. Get rid of it, too.

Take away the fact that she left one of your best friends to die in a realm with your nemesis. Tougher to delete. More brainpower required but I could get there. I could imagine it never happened.

Take all that out of the equation and what was left was good.

Without it, Daryn and I are incredible in my imagination. Tons of chemistry of all kinds. Physical. Mental. Emotional. Physical. Straight-up chemistry lab. Highly combustible.

I thought it would get old to picture us that way. Didn’t happen. Wasn’t able to get into hanging out with other girls, either. Anna brought her friends over. Marcus made an effort not to monopolize female attention. But being around other girls felt like killing time before the real deal. Before this.

“G?” Marcus says.

“Yeah, I’m cool,” I say automatically. I look at my hands. They’re in fists. Flesh and bone on the right, and magnesium alloy on the left. I open them. “Suarez, how close?”

“Five minutes.”

Reading Order

About Seeker

When Daryn claimed she was seeing “visions” during her sophomore year of high school, no one believed the truth. She wasn’t losing her mind, she was gaining the Sight—the ability to see the future. If she just paid attention to the visions, they’d provide her with clues and show her how she could help people. Really help them. Daryn embraced her role as a Seeker. The work she did was important. She saved lives.

Until Sebastian.

Sebastian was her first—and worst—mistake.

Since the moment she inadvertently sealed him in a dark dimension with Samrael—the last surviving demon in the Kindred—guilt has plagued her. Daryn knows Sebastian is alive and waiting for help. It’s up to her to rescue him. But now that she needs the Sight more than ever to guide her, the visions have stopped.

Daryn must rely on her instincts, her intelligence, and on blind faith to lead the riders who are counting on her in search of Sebastian. As they delve into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems and where Samrael is steadily amassing power, Daryn faces the ultimate test. Will she have to become evil to destroy evil? The very fate of humankind rests in the answer.

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2 Comments:


  1. Katrina Ariel said:

    I am so excited about this series. Thanks for the sneak peek into Seeker!

    Reply

  2. Ken C said:

    I did not see the giveaway entry?

    Reply

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