The map of Cascadia (by Amanda at Eternal Geekery) appears at the beginning of Awry (Conduit 1) but (for now) the map of North America only appears in the back of the limited edition. I’m posting both here so I can add the link to the Extra and Freebies page. đ
Category: book art
Conduit Series: mythical creature shifters, part 1
*SPOILER ALERT FOR AWRY (CONDUIT 1)*
Because these absolutely gorgeous mythical creature illustrations by Jade Merien are spoilers for Awry (Conduit 1) I’m posting them here without any extra info. If you are interested, and haven’t already, please read Awry (Conduit 1) for more info (and, presumably, please avoid reading the comments on this post). đ
Conduit Series: Reck
RECK GUERRA
Aka Carlos Guerra. Cu-sith shifter (pronunciation: coo-shee from the old Gaelic). Agent of the Authority, Major Crimes Unit, sergeant. Dark eyes and hair. Olive skin. 6â2â tall. Runnerâs/swimmerâs build. Right hand crushed thirteen years before the events of Conduit 1. Bright green rims his eyes when his beast is present. DOB: April 1 (33 in book 1). Even in human form, Reck has a latent lie-detecting ability that doesnât work on the awry. Oldest brother of Rath, Rought, and Precious. Father is the Cataclysm. Mother (currently) unknown.
Other abilities: wields âterrorâ when in cu-sith form (also known as a grim reaper). According to legend, if the cu-sith barks three times, anyone who hears him dies from sheer terror.
Birthname and nicknames: Carlos and TBR
First appearance: Awry (Conduit 1).
Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Rought
The engine hasnât even died before the driverâs-side door is opening, and a male steps out â dark-blond hair, naturally tanned skin, and shoulders so broad Iâm surprised that he slips out of the car so agilely. Though he is clearly a shifter.
The moment his booted feet hit the ground and the energy underpinning the property rises to ghost his footsteps, I know that he is a ⌠presence, a power. Heâs in black jeans and a light-gray henley. He lays his hand on top of the Camaro, pivoting toward me â not bothering to look at the barn or the property or anything else as he reaches to shut the car door with his other hand.
He meets my gaze. His eyes are light colored, either blue or green, but I canât tell which at this distance.
Heâs still moving, hand running across the top of the car, then down the back window, then fingers only along the trunk.
He fucking caresses the fucking car as he crosses alongside it, then continues steadily toward me. And for a moment of utter insanity, I want it to be my curves under those fingertips.
The passenger-side door thunks closed. I feel Preshâs presence as well. But I canât tear my gaze away from the golden god in worn black jeans taking long, steady strides toward me. Iâm locked in his gaze.
The nearer he gets, the more I see ⌠in his expression, in his body language, in the way his essence entwines with that of the property.
Iâm not lightheaded.
Iâm not beguiled or enchanted.
The nearer he gets, the more anchored I feel.
Not frozen. Not overwhelmed.
Iâm in this moment. Breathing it. Savoring it. As if ⌠as if ⌠my very soul has been starved? And he is ⌠he is âŚ
â Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter 10 (slightly edited for spoilers)
RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024
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Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Presh
âI canât push you,â I say gently. âSome choices have to be your own. Not everything is determined by fate alone.â
Startled, her eyes flick up to meet mine. âCan you get me home?â
âIâll die trying,â I say, aware that Iâve uttered my own destiny â a single, short thread of it, at least â as the words fall from my lips.
Iâve never been great at keeping my mouth shut, even when Iâm trying. Or ignoring a knowing even when doing so was in my best interest.
I reach for her.
She steps closer to accept my hand.
The thin threads already connecting us solidify so suddenly and sharply that itâs like a punch to the gut. I lose my breath within the momentary onslaught of sensation. It settles into an unadulterated rightness. More than a simple thread of destiny.
Iâve never felt the like before. Even accepting my inheritance was less ⌠steady, less resolved. But most essence-wielding is like that. Most essence, most power, grows slowly, and not necessarily steadily.
âWhat ⌠what was that?â she asks in a whisper.
I meet her gaze, blinking and still feeling a little out of body. âFate,â I whisper back. âIt seems ⌠we are meant to be here, in this moment and beyond.â
She smiles. Itâs tentative, shaky. Her grip on my hand is almost punishing.
âWhatâs your name, sweetness?â
âPresh âŚâ She exhales hope along with the gift of her name, fortifying the connection between us further. Then she inhales strength â I can see it flooding through her â and gives me more. âPrecious Guerra.â
I lean into her, taller by a half-dozen inches. My necklace swings forward, drawing her attention again. âZaya Gage,â I say. Then I add, teasingly, âGranddaughter of Necessity, Daughter of Darkness and Night.â Even though Iâm speaking the utter truth. As I always must when Iâm about to walk the path of my own destiny.
To my death, I had no doubt.
Presh giggles quietly, as Iâd hoped she would. Though depending on how much of the family history Iâm willing to accept as pure truth, Iâm not lying.
â Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter 1
RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024
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Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Muta
Muta.
In his actual form.
Although he looks like a snake â a long gold body with dorsal blotches of dark brown that form inverted triangles, ending in a horny spined tail â Muta is actually an aspect of the divine who was trapped in the body of a snake. As a punishment, perhaps. At least according to family legend.
So kind of like me, but not really. I have opposable thumbs and a more well-rounded diet. But Muta has the wicked fangs and venom, among other otherworldly tricks.
Itâs also possible heâs one of my ancestors. Again, depending on how much of the family mythos can be wholly believed.
â Awry (Conduit 1) Chapter Two
RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024
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Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: The Gage Estate
Instead of unlatching the gate, I climb it. The fencing is about six feet high on this edge of the property. Grasslands allowed to go wild stretch from here up to the house, which is set back from the bluff. A long, sandy beach stretches out as far as the eye can see â with enhanced or normal sight â from either side of that jagged, rocky outcropping. A low-lying beach punctuated by massive rock formations jutting out of the surf runs to the right. To the far south, near the very edge of the property, dunes begin to rise.
Except âpropertyâ really isnât the right word to encompass the mass of land that the Conduit and the Gage family occupy along the coast of Oregon. Itâs a territory, really. Hectares upon hectares of land and beach. Even the foreshore is protected from public access, with both legal and essence-enforced boundaries. Thereâs a no-fly zone above, and a no-boating zone set between us and international waters. No entry without permission.
I canât currently see that much of the property, of course. Not even while balanced on top of the gate. I can, however, see the conical roof of the turret tower on the main house, offset to the left on the asymmetrical structure. None of the usually ever-present soft glow emanates from its windows.
â Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter Six, Zaya
RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024
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Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Zaya
Iâm staring. Going from coldly enraged to numb âŚ
Because the gun I expected. Itâs a lightweight, untraceable piece I slipped into the room myself ages ago.
But ⌠Zaya Gage â a slightly older version of Zaya, and looking like death warmed over â is sitting on a motel bed in Outcast territory.
Alive.
And glaring fucking daggers at me.
Glaring at me as if she doesnât know me at all.
As if sheâs seriously considering shooting me.
The numbness holding me in place cracks, splintering like a skiff of ice over a dark well of vicious despair.
Her eyes, vibrant and utterly beguiling, are the wrong color.
Bright, soul-fucking-searing violet.
Not the warm, deep purplish-blue I gazed into summer after summer. Not the deadened, darkened purple that stared up into the storm-blackened sky, unseeing. The eyes that still haunt my nightmares, for almost thirteen years now.
My Zaya would be a month away from her thirtieth birthday. This woman, with her slight frame, her dusky pink lips, and her cheekbones and collarbone looking like carved white stone or the age-bleached fucking bones of some prehistoric creature, is too young.
â Awry (conduit 1), Chapter Four, Rath
RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024
PREORDER NOW
eBOOK
â PREORDER LIMITED-EDITION DIRECT FROM MCD â
â AMAZON â APPLE BOOKS â BARNES & NOBLE â GOOGLE PLAY â KOBO â SMASHWORDS â
AUDIOBOOK
â PREORDER DIRECT FROM MCD â