Synopsis
~Prequel to the
Witch-Hunter trilogy~
James Bennett is a
Yorkshire lad, making the big move to Oxford
to start university.
His ambitions
involve getting a good education; impressing the
Rugby Club; and not
throttling his roommate. All perfectly normal
drama, until
Hallowe'en.
A girl's murder
throws James into the dangerous world of witches,
and those that hunt
them.
After playing a
sidekick in the Witch-Hunter trilogy, it's only
fair that James gets
to be centre stage in his own prequel.
This can be read
as a stand-alone, and does not contain any
spoilers. It may contain
witches, bad jokes and cringe-worthy
scenes; but definitely no
spoilers.
About the Author:
Kelly S. Marsden
grew up in Yorkshire, and there were two
constants in her life -
books and horses.
Graduating with an
equine degree from Aberystwyth University,
she has spent most of her
life since trying to experience everything
the horse world has to
offer. She is currently settled into a
Nutritionist role for a horse
feed company in Doncaster, South
Yorkshire.
She writes Fantasy
stories part-time. Her first book, The Shadow
Rises (Witch-Hunter
#1), was published in January 2013, and she
now has two successful
series under her belt.
Excerpt:
Charlotte had just
made her second coffee of the day, when she
heard a very insistent
banging at the front door. Not in the mood for
visitors, she
reluctantly opened it.
And was met by the
sight of James.
In a dress.
“I'll never get
used to your humour, James.” She said, stepping
aside and letting
him in. “Fancy some fresh coffee? And when I say
fresh, I mean
instant stuff I've only boiled once.”
James closed the
door behind him, and made his way through the
narrow corridor to
Charlotte's tiny kitchen.
Charlotte promptly
poured an extra coffee and added sugar, her
normally bright eyes were
red, and it was clear she'd been crying.
“I broke up with
Nathan.” She said, looking embarrassed that he
had to see her like
this.
“I think my
roommate's a murderer.” James countered.
Charlotte handed
him a mug of coffee, shaking her head. “When a
girl says she's
broken up with her boyfriend, most people would
offer... never mind.
You win. Why is Hunter a murderer?”
James gently
lowered himself down onto Charlotte's rickety sofa.
“I followed him
last night. He was bein' weird, and I have a tracker
on his phone-”
“What?!”
“And he went to
this warehouse, where...” James trailed off, his
throat closing
around the words.
Charlotte misread
his inability to speak, and gently rubbed his
shoulder. “It's
alright, you're safe here. Who do you think he
killed?”
“Bea.” James
gasped out. “You remember the blonde, Scottish lass?
They hooked up
at start of term; then the other night she was
looking for him; next
thing you know, she's dead!”
Charlotte put down
her coffee cup, her hand shaking too much to
hold it. She looked at
James in all seriousness, “And you saw
Hunter kill her?”
James shook his
head, thinking back to last night, and the hooded
figures. He was
sure it was Hunter, “I couldn't clearly see who it
was, but why
would Hunter be there? It's one hell of a coincidence,
that he bails
on the Hallowe'en party and ends up at the same
warehouse where the
girl he was shagging ends up getting sta-”
“Did you
physically see him there?” Charlotte asked.
“No, I was
following a tracker.” James admitted.
“An illegal
tracker, that'll never hold in court, James.”
James snorted,
“Trust the trainee-lawyer to say that.”
“Hey, I'm just
trying to see every angle.” Charlotte said, punching
his arm.
“There could be another, perfectly normal explanation.
Maybe
someone mugged Hunter and stole his phone – that sort of
person
would be more likely to head to the dodgy side of town.”
“Ha, it'd have
to be the king of muggers to get the better of
Hunter.” James
argued. “He's super-fast, super-strong, and has
anger issues. Which
all adds up to someone very capable of
murder.”
“How-”
“Do you not
remember how we first met? It's not often I get thrown
against a
wall, instead of the usual handshake. And I do rugby
training with
him – trust me, it's like getting hit by a car-”
“James, you're
exaggerating.” Charlotte sighed.
“And I've seen
him run – I forgot to show you.” James dug out his
phone from the
flowery handbag, and quickly found the video he'd
taken weeks ago.
“Look – look how fast he is! And don't you find it
weird that
he's never that fast in rugby games? It's almost like he's
holding
back.”
Charlotte looked
at the video, and when the brief clip was over, she
shrugged, “It
doesn't look that fast to me.”
“Well, it seemed
it when I was watching with my own two eyes.”
James tucked his
phone away. “He's not normal.”
“Yes, but
there's a huge leap between what's not normal, and a
killer.”
Charlotte said, exasperated. “Don't get me wrong; I want to
help
you James, I really do... have you been to the police?”
“Yes, I stayed
there overnight.” James answered. “I got knocked
out, and some
cop must'a found me. Next thing I know, I'm waking
up in a cell.”
“Oh no, what
happened? Did someone attack you?”
James opened his
mouth the speak, but he didn't even know what to say.
He remembered
getting knocked off his feet by some powerful
force, but that didn't
make sense.
“What did the
police say?” Charlotte asked, when it was clear
James wasn't giving
her an answer.
He shrugged, “Not
much, just that Bea had died. They were
dodging a lot of my
questions.”
“That's normal
police protocol for an ongoing investigation.”
Charlotte said,
knowledgably.
James shook his
head. “There was summat not right about the
whole thing. It just
felt shady.”
K.S Marsden's books are available through most online stores.
Check them out now at:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
Google Play
Kobo Books
Smashwords
iTunes
Waterstones
https://www.amazon.com/James-Witch-Hunter-K-S-Marsden-ebook/dp/B075MN4LR7
Check K.S Marden's website for more details about her and her
books.
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