Today my new release is out, Elfhame Academy book 1, which is part of a new urban fantasy series. You can get it here. It’s available across all ebook platforms, and in paperback and hardback.
About the book
I lost my slayer heritage the day my mum was murdered.
I’m Cassie Morgan. I’ve carried a feeling of emptiness with me since I was twelve. When they took my mother’s life, a part of me went with her. Now, thanks to a caring aunt and the passage of time, I’m ready for answers about where I came from and the mother I lost.
I can’t deny who I am any longer. The lure of the Elven realm beckons.
Surprises were expected, but I never imagined my journey would introduce me to a baby dragon or reunite me with an old friend. For the time being, all is well… until it’s not.
Danger lies ahead. When my aunt is arrested, it’s up to me to help. The question is – at what cost?
I don’t know where this trail will lead, but I have no doubt, more trouble lies ahead.
Dying for answers isn’t part of the plan.
Excerpt
I clambered through the jarred and jagged remains of the warehouse. I’d been back almost every day in hopes of finding my missing sister. Of some trace of her, but I never did find anything. Liv the disappeared that night and was now presumed dead. I’d woken up outside the warehouse with a concussion and ringing in my ears but no sign of Liv.
Murphy zigzagged above me. His silver-white scales shimmered like moonlight. He flew down and wrapped his tiny body around my shoulders. Weird. Once I would have scoffed at the idea of having a dragon sidekick. Now I couldn’t imagine being without him.
I patted his head and he purred against me. Dragons purred like cats. Who knew?
I raised my hand, light flared between my fingers as I blasted more debris out of the way. More junk seemed to appear every day. The warehouse had been declared unsafe and condemned. Pretty soon there would be nothing left for me to search. No way would I believe Liv was dead, not until I had proof.
Maybe coming back here was a waste of time but this was the last place I’d seen my sister. It seemed like the only place where I would find any clues.
My phone buzzed. I pulled it out and Mum’s image appeared on screen. Like me, she had long purple hair and pointed ears. Although her hair was lilac and mine dark purple. We both had azure blue eyes that hinted at our fae and elven heritage.
I groaned then hit the button to answer the call. “Hi, Mum.”
“Cassie, where are you?” she demanded. “It’s the middle of the night. And I know you don’t have any active cases at the moment.”
“You don’t know that. I don’t tell you about every single case I’m working. Just like you don’t tell me about some of your cases.” The only bad thing about following in her footsteps and becoming a private investigator was she usually knew what kind of cases I worked. And when I worked them. “I’m out with Murphy. You know he gets antsy been stuck in the house.” True enough.
Mum struggled with having a dragon around. Murphy struggled with it, too. Dragons weren’t meant to be house pets. But I couldn’t make Murphy leave — I’d tried already that and he either cried or came straight back.
“Please tell me you’re not at the warehouse again.”
Damn, she knew me better than I thought. Mum had searched for Liv as well but hadn’t found anything either. That was what she had told me at least. She had scoured the warehouse, talked to the elven enforcers and human authorities. They ruled the explosion as suspicious and declared Liv dead. She seemed to have given up which puzzled me. How could she just give up finding Liv? It made no sense.
“Okay, I’m not at the warehouse again.”
Mum gave a derisive snort. “Cassie, that whole place could come down on you. Come home. Right now. I told you to stop going there.”
I rolled my eyes even though I knew she couldn’t see me. Since I was nineteen now and a private investigator myself, she couldn’t boss me around like she had when I was a kid.
Make weird noises, I told Murphy and held the phone to his mouth where he tried to breathe fire. He hadn’t learnt how to do that yet, but he made huffing and puffing sounds instead.
“Mum, you’re breaking up. I’ll back later. Don’t wait up for me.”
“I already lost your sister —”
I hung up and switched my phone to silent. “Sorry, Mum.” I had to do something. Liv being dead seemed impossible. I’d been closer to the blast, yet I’d got out pretty unscathed. Plus, there should have been some trace of her. Something.
Lucy Grey had a few scratches on her. She and Mum had been cleared. Although Lucy had spent over a month in prison. She claimed she couldn’t remember anything about the murder or the explosion. Mum had someone test her and concluded Lucy’s memories had been wiped. I’d visited Lucy in prison and several times since she got out, but I hadn’t got anything from her. Except annoyance and frustration both on my part and hers. She stopped talking to me after a while and I heard she’d gone back to the group home she’d been staying in before her arrest.
Mum told me not to question her anymore and that we couldn’t get anything else from her. Mum had mental abilities so she could pick up things from people too. I knew she wanted Liv back as much as I did. But at the same time someone had to know where my sister was.
