Are you prepping your bookish wishlist for the rest of the year? Well, we’ve got an excerpt of Rise of the Chosen by Anna Kopp to help you shape your list.
In Rise of the Chosen, there are two rules. Rule #1: Nobody dies. Protect the living at all costs. Rule #2: Everybody dies. At least once.
Newly appointed Watch Guard Samantha Shields has a legacy to uphold. Her father died a hero defending their city and now she wants to follow in his footsteps. Except for the dying part, of course. Unfortunately, fate has other plans as she discovers deep dark secrets that make her choose between her loyalties and the lives of everyone in her city. Both rules are in play as Sam is forced to make hard decisions that could cost her everything – including the person she cares about most.
Rise of the Chosen releases on October 4 from Blue Moon Publishers.
“Thank you,” Sam said after a few minutes, “for coming along.” David didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. She pressed.
“I mean it. She’s the only person left who cares about me. I can’t let her down.”
Something stirred inside him. A burning trickle of Lifeblood began to make its way out of some black hole and into his heart. He tensed at the familiar pain, trying not to show it.
It was back.
Gone for hours, and now it was coming back.
“So who is she? It’s the same girl from our first call, right?” he asked, trying to get his mind away from the Lifeblood.
“Yes. She’s… we’ve been together for a while. I didn’t realize how much she cared until I got my assignment. Hell, I didn’t realize how much I cared.”
He didn’t say anything.
“She told me she loved me. I think. It was an accident, but I think she really meant it.”
The poison was now a stream instead of a trickle. It roiled inside him, like breaking through a dam.
What the hell.
“Do you?” he asked, trying to focus on the conversation.
“I didn’t really think about it before. Love is kind of a distant concept to me. I don’t know if it’s one of those ‘you just know’ things, and if it is, I haven’t had that revelation moment yet. I know I care about her. I get jealous and possessive. I don’t want to be without her. She makes me feel loved.”
She trailed off, lost in thought. David drove quietly, using every ounce of his control to stop the flood. It seemed to be working, but he didn’t want to ease off. Just in case.
He wanted to ask her what she had done to him. Before and now. He wanted her to touch his skin again and make the pain go away. If that was what it was. He had no idea, and he knew she didn’t either. A conversation for another day.
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