A
Symphony of Starlight
Abby Sinclair, #4
by
Allison Pang
Date of Publication: October 8th 2019
Cover Artist: Ravven
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Tagline: Sometimes you have to go to Hell to give the Devil His due…
BLURB
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions . . . and sometimes unicorn puke.
In the span of a few months, mortal TouchStone Abby Sinclair has been trapped in a painting, had her memories stolen, and been Tithed to Hell, killed, and brought back to life by the OtherFolk. Now she’s pregnant and torn between her incubus lover, Brystion, and her elven king of a husband, Talivar. Otherworldly love triangles notwithstanding, she’s more than content to set the political drama of magic and mayhem aside and quietly settle into motherhood. But nothing is ever that easy . . .
Years ago, Abby’s best friend, Melanie St. James, virtuoso violinist and DoorMaker to the CrossRoads, lost her soul to the Devil in return for an enchanted violin. Now the magic of her violin is fading, and the Devil is calling in her debt to serve Him as His TouchStone. In an effort to escape the terms of this reckless bargain, she flees to the CrossRoads with her lover, Nobu.
But reneging on a deal with the Devil isn’t the wisest of moves, especially when He knows Abby is the only one who can bring Him what He wants. And when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Abby and her friends to find a way to stop the violin from consuming Melanie’s soul before it’s too late, even if the journey takes them straight into Hell itself.
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Excerpt:
“Well, I’m running out of ideas.
What about the thread?” I asked Kitsune. “You gave me a spool of red thread
once to help me find Talivar or my destiny or something like that.”
Ion
and Talivar blinked at me. “Destiny, is it?” Talivar said wryly.
“It
led me to the tent with your horses,” I explained. “I’m not sure it worked the
way it was supposed to, but you did show up afterward, so who knows?”
Kitsune
brightened. “Ah yes. The red thread of Fate. A useful spell at times, though I
don’t know if it will work for us here. Depends on how entwined you and Melanie
are. It might not even lead you through the Gate at all.”
She
paced, her fur seeming to shimmer slightly, and then one of her tails somehow
plucked a spool from the air and deposited it at my feet. I picked it up,
Brystion craning to see it curiously.
“And
what is that all about?” His eyes narrowed. “I don’t like the way it feels.”
Kitsune
cackled. “Mortals are bound by Fate more so than OtherFolk. It’s often wrapped
so tightly around them they don’t even notice it. You were never one for such
things, aye?”
He
grunted at her and rolled his eyes. For a heartbeat, I could see his natural
form, the dark skin, the antlers, the hooves . . . the bells braided in his
hair with red thread. My mouth quirked, but I said nothing. Perhaps the incubus
was bound more by Fate than he liked.
I
rolled the spool in my hands, taking one end of the thread. It shivered between
my fingers, almost like touching a live wire, jolts of power zipping beneath my
skin.
“Focus,”
Kitsune snapped. “What is it you really want? Where do you want to go?”
I
shut my eyes. Melanie, I thought. I need to find her. I need to fix this. I
need to save her.
The
thoughts repeated over and over in my head, and as before, the spool jumped
from my hand and rolled across the ground toward the Gate. Talivar skirted out
of the way as it hurtled toward him, swearing softly.
The
Gate lit up in an instant, the spool shunting through and disappearing in a
splash of silver and gold, the red thread trailing like a tail behind it.
The
fox limped over to the Gate, sniffing at the corner. The corruption on her side
grew more pronounced, but her three tails lashed wildly, coating her fur with a
silver light. “Abby! Let’s go! Before it closes!”
She
shifted slightly, her paws becoming humanoid, and she snatched at the hand
holding the thread and pulled me hard, the pair of us tumbling through the
Gate. “Wait!” We swept through the entrance, but my voice was enveloped in some
sort of film, a quiet I couldn’t seem to break through.
I
reached for the others, but it was as though I was looking through water, a
barrier stretched between us that I couldn’t quite reach.
The
thread. I clenched my fist. I was still holding the goddamned thread. What
happens when the thread keeping the Gate open goes through, Abby? What?
“It
fucking closes,” I said. “That’s what.”
I
struggled against Kitsune’s clawed grip. “We have to go back . . . The others .
. .”
“There
is no time.” Her voice was hollow and empty as she staggered beside me. Her
tails dragged limply across the ground, the dark magic beginning to move along
her fur again. “Must make it . . . Inari.”
And
then she was tumbling forward, the track we were on abruptly disintegrating
beneath our feet. I snatched at her, and the two of us fell, fell, fell, the
red thread wrapping around us.
Author Info
Allison is the author of the Urban Fantasy Abby Sinclair series, the IronHeart Chronicles and the writer for the webcomic Fox and Willow. She likes LEGOS, elves, LEGO elves…and bacon.
She spends her days in Northern Virginia working as a cube grunt and her nights waiting on her kids, cat, and an obnoxious northern breed dog, punctuated by the occasional husbandly serenade. Sometimes she even manages to write. Mostly she just makes it up as she goes.
The Book Junkie
Reads . . . Interview with . . . Allison Pang . . .
Do you feel that
writing is an ingrained process or just something that flows naturally for you?
It’s a process. If
I’m lucky or particularly inspired, it can flow, but usually I have to sit down
and just do the work and it’s much easier if I make it a habit to do it at a
certain time, etc.
Do you have a
character that you have been working on for a long time that still isn't quite
ready, but fills you with excitement to work on the story?
I’ve been working
off and on with a particular fantasy story. It’s one of those books I’m still
trying to feel out. I wrote about 55k on it last year and ended up tossing most
of it to start over again because I wasn’t entirely feeling it. But the main
character does keep showing up and demanding to be written, so I need to get
back to it. She’s an older woman and I’m rather excited to see how she turns
out!
Where would you
spend one full year, if you could go ANYWhere? What would you do with this
time?
Japan of course! I
visited Japan for a few weeks back in 2018 and it wasn’t nearly long enough. An
entire year would be wonderful. My last trip was so rushed trying to get to
everything – if I could do it slower, it would be so much better. I’d spend a
month or so in all the cities I could and just take in all the sights and
culture. 😊
Can you share you
next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
I’m working on the
third book in my Steampunk Series (The IronHeart Chronicles). I’m also working
on a standalone fantasy novel, a few short stories and my long running webcomic
Fox & Willow with my co-creator Irma ‘Aimo’ Ahmed. (We also have a short
comic in an upcoming comic book entitled Gothic Tales of Haunted Futures!)
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<3 the book. <3 the cover. <3 characters (how could I not?)
ReplyDelete<3 the author!
I love this series!
ReplyDelete