Prophecy of Gods and Crows
Clan of Shadows, #1
by C.D. Britt
Date of Publication: June 6th 2023
Publisher: C.D. Britt
Cover Artist: GermanCreative
Genre: Fantasy/ Dystopian/ Celtic Mythology
ISBN: 978-1-7372652-8-3
ASIN: B0BRDHTFZX
Number of pages: 362
Word Count: 98,220
Tagline: Bryndis Kenneally is an anomaly, which is saying something when you live in a place once called Hell.
BLURB
Welcome to Ifreann.... once known as Hell's Gate.
Bryndis Kenneally is an anomaly, which is saying something when you live in a place once called Hell.
Despite being born into a family of healers, she is unable to follow in their footsteps since disturbing visions overwhelm her with almost every human touch.
With few allies at her back, she keeps her head down… until a freak sandstorm brings more than she bargained for—a man of shadows who seeks retribution, a crow that follows her everywhere, and two strangers who appear inside the locked gates of Ifreann.
Two strangers with a message for Bryndis and her friends.
But will these strangers be her end? Or will they be her salvation?
Either way, she knows one thing is for certain.
She can no longer pretend to be a normal woman among a town looking for witches to burn.
Book one in the Clan of Shadows series, a dystopian Celtic mythology paranormal (slow burn) romance series. It has elements of cli-fi and quiet a few morally gray characters.
TW: religious trauma, sexual content, abuse (past and present by family member), scenes of war
Book Trailer:
Available at Amazon
Excerpt
Bryn swayed her body to the last of the music, the night ending slowly as people stumbled and laughed after having allowed themselves the pleasure of being human one night of the year.
Soon enough, only the light of the torches were left aside from the fires that burned only once a year along the street. The shadows took over the celebration as they danced along the buildings.
The feeling in her gut, the warning, grew at a rapid rate and she found herself standing and looking around.
“What’s wrong?” Niamh asked, standing as well, looking for a threat.
“I’m not sure. I’ve had this bad feeling…” Bryn whispered as her system flooded with adrenaline.
The warning horns split open the joyous atmosphere of the night like a knife. The screams of the people matching the horns as they ran from the streets to take cover from the unknown danger.
Bryn and Niamh both turned as one toward the gate as small dust devils made their way along the street, trailing the panicked townspeople as they ran, shoving at each other like wild, mindless animals.
“Sandstorm,” Niamh whispered, her eyes focused on something past the gates. Words in another language Bryn had never heard soon left Niamh’s lips.
In her own panicked state, Bryn tried to calm her nerves, debating on if she could make it back to her apartment or if she needed to take cover with Niamh. The fact that Niamh was in a trance, staring intensely at the gate, made her hand twitch with the urge to slap Niamh out of it.
“Sandstorm!” Justin yelled as he ran down the road toward them. “Get inside and take cover!”
They’d never had a sandstorm bad enough to cause such panic before. The walls usually took the brunt of the weather for them.
“Now!” Justin was suddenly in her face, shoving at her shoulder and pushing her and Niamh into The Sanctuary. A horrifying cloud of red dust enveloped the town right as Justin slammed the door shut behind them. The entire road engulfed in tornadic sand was the last visual she had of Saint’s road.
“Away from the windows!” He herded them to an inner room in The Sanctuary, yelling for the others in brothel to do the same. Bryn didn’t look to see what men from town were here.
She didn’t want that on her conscience and since she was a horrible poker player, she didn’t want to pretend in public when she watched them walking with their families to church service before she turned in for the day.
Settling down in one of the supply rooms, Bryn put her head to her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs. Focusing on her breathing and not the glass breaking, Bryn worked to calm her heart rate, trying to ignore the sobs of the other women in the dark room as the glass broke and the wind howled.
Finian whined, having moved back to Justin’s side.
The only light was from the cracked door Justin looked through, flinching every once in a while as he watched the storm bear down on their little town.
“Calm yourselves. Your yelling isn’t going to change the course of this storm,” Niamh chided, her voice barely audible over the furniture breaking outside of their little room. Bryn was surprised by the calmness in Niamh’s voice as her business was being torn apart. Her whole life was in The Sanctuary.
A tingling started in her fingers and toes, as well as the all too familiar feeling of ants under her skin. Bryn rubbed along her arms at the same time as Justin, their movements mirroring each other.
Looking to Niamh, her eyes focused on the wall as if she could see through it, as if her focus could stop the destruction, Bryn patted the woman on the shoulder before she pulled back.
Her skin was growing more sensitive and the anxiety building up inside her was becoming a raging inferno.
“I am here, come to me, my child,” Bryn heard the whispered words, and looked for who was speaking. No one else looked around for the voice, as if they hadn’t heard it.
Bryn was sure her heart stopped. Was this a vision? It didn’t feel like one.
When Justin looked at her, his eyes confused, she realized it wasn’t just her who had heard the whispered plea.
The distraction of Justin kept her from noticing one of the men in the room sitting too close to her, his fingers brushing hers and she knew before it happened she was going into a vision.
Feeling it come upon her, she scooted away from him, further into the corner of the room right as the black stole over her vision.
Author Info
C.D. Britt began her writing journey when her husband told her she needed to use her excessive imagination to write stories as opposed to creating a daily narrative for him. Ever since she penned her first words, life has been a lot more peaceful for him.
She currently resides in Texas where she has yet to adapt to the heat. Her husband thrives in it, so unfortunately, they will not be relocating to colder climates anytime soon.
Their two young children would honestly complain either way.
When she is not in her writing cave (hiding from the sun), she enjoys ignoring the world as much as her children will allow with a good book, music, and vast amounts of coffee (until it’s time for wine).
C.D. Britt is the author of the Reign of Goddesses series and Prophecy of Gods and Crows (coming 6/6/23).
The Book Junkie Reads . . . a Question for C.D. Britt . . .
Have you found yourself bonding with any particular character(s)? If so, which one(s)?
I would say Hera from my Reign of Goddesses series. I found myself relating to her more and more as I wrote her story.
The way she used sarcasm as armor, and her relationship with the MMC was very closely related to the beginning of my relationship with my husband.
She has trauma in her past, which was the cause of the abrasive behavior that made her unlikeable for some people in the first two book. I feel like with her own story having been told, people now knowing the why of how she behaves, she became my most relatable character and the one I am fondest of.
Website: https://authorcdbritt.com/
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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/C.D.-Britt/author/B095PWMBYH
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