Rise of the Demon

Informationen zum Autor Diana Rowland Klappentext The long-awaited ninth book in the Demon series returns to the adventures of Kara Gillian and the supernatural threats that surround her Kara's drastic ceasefire deal with the formidable demon Imperator Dekkak slowed the attacks on Earth to a trickle, but her troubles are far from over. The god-like demahnk are desperate to return to their own kind, but unless they can stabilize the demon realm, they'll be forever exiledand they've subjugated Kara's beloved Mzatal to further their hellacious cause. One faction of demonic lords and demahnk has a plan to fix their world, yet their salvation would come at the expense of Earth. Meanwhile, Kara is wrestling with government bureaucracy, backstabbing allies, enemy lords, as well as the powerful young demonic lord Ashava, who's packing the drama, angst, and rebellion of the terrible teen years into just a few months. Kara's in a race to stop an apocalypse, but in order to prevail she'll have to make a terrible sacrifice or risk losing everything she holds dear. Leseprobe Chapter 1 Mzatal stood facing away from me, hands clasped behind his back, and framed by the glass wall of his solarium. Beyond, demons wheeled and sparred above the restless, sunlit sea, their bellows clear and resonant. Surely if I didn't move, didn't breathe, I could hold on to this moment. "Zharkat," he murmured. Beloved. My resolve evaporated. I wrapped my arms around him, rested my cheek against his back, breathed in his familiar scent-like petrichor with the faintest whiff of sulfur. I would take whatever moments I could get. "Boss." My term of affection for him, our private joke-one I thought I might never have a chance to speak again. He turned in my arms and cradled me to his chest. I sighed into the comfort of the embrace, relaxed for the first time in ages. The deep thud of his heart amplified into a rumble of thunder, a perfect complement to our communion. After a time, he eased back and laid his palm against my cheek. The demons were gone, and lightning streaked through roiling clouds. Warmth filled eyes the color of the storm, and a flicker of a smile touched his lips. "I miss you." My throat tightened. "Miss you, too." I wiped a trickle of blood from his temple. "I'm so worried about you. About what Ilana has done to-" He held a finger to his lips. With his shushing exhale, the solarium phosphoresced, flowed away. Stars shimmered in a moonless sky, crickets rasped, and a soft breeze carried the fragrance of rain and pines. We sat on the back steps of my house, his arm around me. Weedy grass stretched unbroken to the surrounding trees, and deer grazed near a trail leading into the woods. Home. My haven and retreat. Like it used to be. Before it became a militarized compound. Mzatal tightened his arm around me. "Do not worry for me, beloved." "How can I not?" I tugged his braid and found it bound so tightly it felt like steel cable. "I just wish I knew how to fix the worlds. How to free you." "It would seem impossible." "Doing the impossible is in our job description. Together we can do anything." "Even if we aren't together." A smile I felt to my core lit his eyes as he echoed my thought from what seemed like an age ago. "I'm just so tired of it all." I buried my face against his neck, sensed the arcane flare of my sigil on his chest-the scar he had sculpted to remind him of our connection. Of himself. "Oh! I have a ring for you. Made from-" "Not here. Not yet." The intensity in his voice set the earth shaking. A reyza bellowed, and an icy vortex sucked away the peace of home and deposited us back in the solarium. Mzatal gripped my shoulders, eyes flint-hard on mine. "Worlds are breaking." The demon-glass wall shattered into a billion iridesc...

Autorentext

Diana Rowland

Klappentext

**The long-awaited ninth book in the Demon series returns to the adventures of Kara Gillian and the supernatural threats that surround her

**Kara’s drastic ceasefire deal with the formidable demon Imperator Dekkak slowed the attacks on Earth to a trickle, but her troubles are far from over. The god-like demahnk are desperate to return to their own kind, but unless they can stabilize the demon realm, they’ll be forever exiled—and they’ve subjugated Kara’s beloved Mzatal to further their hellacious cause. One faction of demonic lords and demahnk has a plan to fix their world, yet their salvation would come at the expense of Earth.
 
Meanwhile, Kara is wrestling with government bureaucracy, backstabbing allies, enemy lords, as well as the powerful young demonic lord Ashava, who’s packing the drama, angst, and rebellion of the terrible teen years into just a few months.
 
Kara’s in a race to stop an apocalypse, but in order to prevail she’ll have to make a terrible sacrifice or risk losing everything she holds dear.

Leseprobe
Chapter 1

Mzatal stood facing away from me, hands clasped behind his back, and framed by the glass wall of his solarium. Beyond, demons wheeled and sparred above the restless, sunlit sea, their bellows clear and resonant.

Surely if I didn't move, didn't breathe, I could hold on to this moment.

"Zharkat," he murmured. Beloved.

My resolve evaporated. I wrapped my arms around him, rested my cheek against his back, breathed in his familiar scent-like petrichor with the faintest whiff of sulfur. I would take whatever moments I could get.

"Boss." My term of affection for him, our private joke-one I thought I might never have a chance to speak again.

He turned in my arms and cradled me to his chest. I sighed into the comfort of the embrace, relaxed for the first time in ages. The deep thud of his heart amplified into a rumble of thunder, a perfect complement to our communion. After a time, he eased back and laid his palm against my cheek. The demons were gone, and lightning streaked through roiling clouds. Warmth filled eyes the color of the storm, and a flicker of a smile touched his lips. "I miss you."

My throat tightened. "Miss you, too." I wiped a trickle of blood from his temple. "I'm so worried about you. About what Ilana has done to-"

He held a finger to his lips. With his shushing exhale, the solarium phosphoresced, flowed away. Stars shimmered in a moonless sky, crickets rasped, and a soft breeze carried the fragrance of rain and pines. We sat on the back steps of my house, his arm around me. Weedy grass stretched unbroken to the surrounding trees, and deer grazed near a trail leading into the woods.

Home. My haven and retreat. Like it used to be. Before it became a militarized compound.

Mzatal tightened his arm around me. "Do not worry for me, beloved."

"How can I not?" I tugged his braid and found it bound so tightly it felt like steel cable. "I just wish I knew how to fix the worlds. How to free you."

"It would seem impossible."

"Doing the impossible is in our job description. Together we can do anything."

"Even if we aren't together." A smile I felt to my core lit his eyes as he echoed my thought from what seemed like an age ago.

"I'm just so tired of it all." I buried my face against his neck, sensed the arcane flare of my sigil on his chest-the scar he had sculpted to remind him of our connection. Of himself. "Oh! I have a ring for you. Made from-"

"Not here. Not yet." The intensity in his voice set the earth shaking.

A reyza bellowed, and an icy vortex sucked away the peace of home and deposited us back in the solarium.

Mzatal gripped my shoulders, eyes flint-hard on mine. "Worlds are breaking." The demon-glass wall shattered into a billion iridescent shards that reminded me of someth…