Black Dawn
by Mallory McCartney
Genre: YA/A Fantasy
Release Date: February 14th 2017
Clean Reads Publishing
The end of an Empire, The rise of a Queen
Emory Fae enjoys leading a quiet, normal life. That is until two mysterious, and handsome soldiers show up at her apartment, and the life she knew is instantly whisked away. Memphis Carter and Brokk Foster come from the magical and war ridden world of Kiero, and upon Emory’s arrival she will discover she is the long lost heir to the Royal Line and is thrown into the Black Dawn Rebellion with a dynamic role to ignite the rebels and reclaim her throne.
With both men being darkly woven in her past Emory uncovers hidden secrets, a power held long dormant, and will soon realize there are worse things than supernatural humans, love, loss, betrayal, and a Mad King.
Some things are better left in the shadows.
Chapter Four: Memphis
The scream tore through his mind, ringing as Memphis watched Brokk stalk out of the room, his hurt plain across his face. He glanced at the now panting Emory, her anger dissipating to confusion once more. Her movements were impatient as she perched on the edge of the bunker and cradled her head.
“Emory? My name is Memphis Carter. Do you know who I am?” He could feel Nyx’s eyes burning into his back.
With a slight nod of her head, Emory peeked up at him through her fingers. “Vaguely. That still doesn’t answer where I am, and what he was doing here.” Her voice was like crystal, smooth and commanding. The voice of a Queen.
Guilt twanged in his gut, and he chose his next words carefully. “I realize what this is going to sound like, and that’s insane. Brokk and I brought you here to this world. This is the Academy—our home. You came from Earth, but this world, our world, was your home first. Kiero. We grew up together. Your family built our government. To us, you are the rightful heir to their lineage.”
It was like walking on ice—too much pressure at once and her mind would break. Memphis had to dance around the edges. Especially to protect what he had done. He asked softly, “How much do you remember?”
Her eyes were daggers as she shakily stood up. “Why should I remember this place? This world? So you’re telling me that you just kidnapped me and transported me to another world? This isn’t freaking Star Trek! It feels like my mind is being split in two. I remember my life—going to work, my apartment…but now…now it’s like someone has drawn back the stage curtain and all these broken memories have come into play. I see myself as a little girl and instead of being raised in an orphanage, I’m with parents…? And we had abilities…like supernatural abilities. Which just proves that I have lost my mind from stress because I’m being held hostage—” She choked on panic and laughter. Emory searched his eyes for an explanation.
“Show her.” Nyx’s quiet voice resonated in his mind. He stared back at Emory, narrowing his eyes. He could gently feed more memories to her. It was the only way to make her see the truth. Reaching toward Emory, he placed his palm against her temple. Her skin was cool and soft, and he could feel the adrenaline rushing through her.
What books inspired you to write fantasy?
I love this question! Fantasy is my absolute favorite genre, and has been ever since I was young. My first fantasy series that I absolutely fell in love with in an addictive manner (other than Harry Potter ) was Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness series. This series is AMAZING (seriously, read it if you haven’t). Along with Sarah J Maas and Laini Taylor, these authors really brought the spark to life for me to start to dream of my own fantasy world, and what it would look like. The original manuscript for Black Dawn I wrote when I was a younger teenager, but I rewrote the novel when I was twenty-two, and it was really cool to see the two versions of my world collide together. Being a writer you sometimes channel personal experiences or themes into your book, and writing fantasy is all about the “what ifs”, and to dream of the possibilities, which are endless. For me it all started with the dream about Emory Fae, and looking at a world that is teeming with too much power, with magic and people with supernatural abilities. The book flowed from there as I answered the what if questions. Writing fantasy is such an amazing experience and it is one of the most exhilarating things to be a part of!
Mallory McCartney currently lives in London, Ontario with her husband and their two dachshunds Link and Lola. Black Dawn is her debut novel, the first in a series. When she isn’t working on her next novel or reading, she can be found dog grooming, book shopping and hiking. Other favorite pastimes involve reorganizing perpetually overflowing bookshelves and seeking out new coffee and dessert shops.
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