It IS Aug 4th - right?

Well, today was SUPPOSED to be the day my new novel was released.

According to the publisher's website, it is still on the Coming Soon page, releasing Aug 4th.

Maybe somebody forgot to tell them today is Aug 4th?

Or am I wrong on the date????

Nephilim - OUT TOMORROW!!!

It's just about the time! Tomorrow, Nephilim: Shades of Gray will be out as an e-book, via New Concepts Publishing's page .

Here is a sneak peak: (there is an prologue that will go ahead of this)

Chapter One

America, Present Day

Nicolette stood on tiptoe to glance over the crumbling brick wall. The acrid evening breeze filled with oppressive city life blew over her, making her shiver. She sensed the dread of this place, and if it had not been her responsibility to watch over the events about to unfold, she would have ran from the certain smell of death. But, as it was her responsibility, her gaze was trained on the broad shoulders of the man stalking down this dark alley, away from her spot hidden from view.

He glided with an unnatural grace, which told her he was not a member of the homeless as most that walked the dark side streets of the inner city were. His clothes were worn, but clean and mended, and he neither slouched nor slumped. He held his shoulders high and firm, with the confidence no citizen of the streets ever had.

This man had never been broken.

Stopping suddenly and turning his head as if he heard something, Nicolette crouched down, hoping he would not see her watching. After holding her breath and counting to thirty, she peeked out over the grimy wall again to see him staring her way. There was no way he saw her in the gloomy darkness, as all but her eyes and the top of her covered head peeked out from behind the wall. Lightly sniffing the air around him, he began walking back towards her location.

He was almost upon her. She had seconds to decide if she would flee and have him probably give chase; or try to attack him before he reached her, which was nearly pointless as he dwarfed her in size and musculature. Just before she was forced to make a decision, a large creature materialized just feet in front of her wall, cutting off the man’s advance. The creature was nearly nine feet tall, if you counted the two feet of curling horns atop his bulbous head. Gray-blue skin stretched across a bulky, muscular body, not human, but slightly humanoid in shape, with longer arms and larger fists attached. A sticky substance seems to ooze from the thickened skin.

And it smelled. Bad.

Nicolette had heard of the M’guna previously in her studies, but had never encountered one before. She was glad she was not the one that was facing this particularly nasty demon, one well known for ripping the entrails of its victims out and dining on them before the poor soul was even completely dead. She shivered remembering the pictures in the ancient text her teacher had used in her Demonology classes. Those pictures did not do this creature justice, as it was ten-thousand times more beastly in person than she could have ever imagined.

Here and now, in this dark alley, would be the proof she sought. She sat back to watch how the man defended himself, to see what he was made of. As he approached the demon, she got a better look at the rugged face that had thus far been shrouded in a hood, and was surprised by the beauty of his appearance.

He was tall, very tall, which was to be expected if her suspicions of his origins were correct. His eyes were dark, but it was hard to see in the half-light of the alley. Although his features were beautiful, he also exuded a masculinity that even she could feel a response to.

This man was raw, yet exquisite, and he created a burning need inside her with just one look at his face. She was not supposed to lust after his kind, and she swore to herself under her breath, nor was she the type of woman to feel instant lust for any man. Reminding herself that she was just a Watcher, and she could be no more than that, she tamped down the rising lust she had begun to feel and refocused on the battle about to begin, something few ever witnessed, as few ever survived a confrontation with this particular demon.

The M’guna had begun to growl deep in its belly, and slowly, almost imperceptibly, advanced towards the man. The man stood his ground, refusing to budge or show fear, which seemed to anger the demon. Picking up it’s pace, the creature screamed a battle cry that nearly pierced Nicolette’s eardrums.

And then it was over before it had even begun. Nicolette gawked over the wall, looking down at two separate pieces lying across the trash littered ground. One being the top half of the M’guna and the other being the bottom.

Stunned at the speed at which he had taken down the brutal demon, Nicolette looked up at the darkest blue eyes she had ever seen. The glowing fire from his sword lit up the face she had thought beautiful and realized there were no words on this Earth to describe him. Exquisite. Perfection. No, not even those were enough.

Once she gathered her wits, she realized he had seen her as well, and she hastily fled her hiding place. As soon as she turned the corner, he was standing before her; his speed was astonishing, even given what she knew he was. He quickly pushed her back into the wall and pressed his body against her to block her retreat.

Nodding towards the pieces of demon strewn on the ground, he asked in a voice that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and heat pool into her loins, “A friend of yours?”

Fear made her shake her head no, or maybe it was the sensations that ripped through her body after hearing the warm seduction of his voice. That voice made her tremble. Or maybe it was his warm, hard self pressed tightly against her, holding her to the gritty wall. Maybe it was all three.

“What are you doing here?”

“I…I…I’m a…a…Watcher.”

“And just what do you watch?”

“All otherworldly creatures, but I specialize in Angels.”

“Well, I’m guessing our friend down there is not an Angel, not even one of the Fallen. So, who are you here to watch?”

“You. You are Nephilim. I know it, especially now. You are an Abomination.” She cringed at the last statement, knowing that the creature before her was too beautiful to be anything but perfection. But the thought had been beaten into her head her entire life, and reinforced in the Academy…she hadn’t wanted to blurt it out though.

He smiled down at her, but it did not quite reach his eyes. “An abomination, hmm? And who told you Nephilim are such?”

“My parents, who were also Watchers. The Academy. Saraqael. Michael. The other Archangels and the Seraphim.”

“The Archangels would say such, now wouldn’t they? They are just jealous.”

“Blasphemer! What do the angels have to feel jealous about? They are perfect creatures.” Why, oh why was she arguing with this creature? Why would she fight this beautiful man?

“I’ve been called worse, Watcher, believe me. And angels may reside closer to perfection, but that does not make them perfect.”

“Angels are perfection, you are wrong.”

“Am I? What do you think you just witnessed?”

“You…killing a M’guna demon.”

“Would an abomination go around saving humans from the Hounds of Hell? In my opinion, if I truly were an abomination, I would have helped him through to this side. If I were an abomination, I would have killed you by now to protect myself from being found.”

“I don’t…I don’t know….” Instantaneous fear jolted through her already overwrought body. Would he truly kill her?

“No, I will not kill you. Even if it means the Archangels may find me. So what do you normally do after you encounter a Nephilim?”

“You are the first I’ve ever seen.”

“Ahh…I don’t doubt it. There are so few of us left now. So what do you think? Am I all you expected me to be?”

She blushed fiercely, still feeling his warm body so close to her own, his pouting lips mere inches from her own, with his sweet breath cascading over her face and neck. She could barely think straight this close to him, but she suddenly realized that if his lips were inches from her own, at his height…she looked down and saw her feet were at least two feet from the ground. She looked back up into his eyes, surprise written all over her face. He smiled.

“You are…tall and strong…as I expected. But…but…” She grasped him tightly, as she paused again to look down at the ground, which seemed so far away.

“But?”

“You are…” she blushed deeper, “You are…so much more beautiful. You are even more beautiful than Gabriel himself, which in itself is nearly blasphemous.”

He smiled down at her again, “And now you see why we are called abominations.”

Her shocked intake of breath made him smile. “What are you suggesting?”

He smiled again. “Nothing. Never mind. So what is the plan?”

“The plan?”

“What are you going to do if I let you go?”

“Report to the Council that I have seen you. It is my duty.”

The lovely man cringed, his whole body stiffening in displeasure, and he hissed under his breath. “The Council is the last thing I need chasing me. What must I do to change your mind?”

“Why?” was all she could utter, seeing the pain in his eyes.

“The Council is backed by the Archangels, and Saraqael and his brethren have been killing my kind for eons. All the Archangels have made it their duty to find the Nephilim, the Fallen, and any other assorted “abominations” and execute them.”

“But the Fallen are trapped in Tartarus, deep in the bowels of Hell, so there would be no need for them to be executed. The Archangels claim the Nephilim will free the Fallen from Tartarus and they would escape onto this world, creating a new Hell.”

“I know not what all others of my kind plan or don’t plan. Me? I have no reason to see the Fallen plague the Earth and I have spent two millennia killing demons across this globe. Just like you witnessed now. If you tell the Council, I will die. Do you want me to die, Nicolette?”

“How did you know my name?”

“I know much, but it seems you know very little.”

He slid one long, lean finger from the bottom of her earlobe, along the line of her chin and down her neck, stopping just before the swell of her breast. Pure pleasure arced through her entire body.

“Okay,” she huskily breathed.

“Okay?”

“I won’t tell the Council.” Goose pimples ran all over her body as he caressed her neck. “On two conditions.”

“And those are?”

“One, I want you to teach me all you know of the Nephilim, as you seem to think I know very little. If I know more of the history, from your perspective, maybe I can help you with the Watcher’s Council and the Archangels.”

“Do you really think the Archangels will listen to you? If you do, you are sadly mistaken. They have their own agenda, one you have no idea of. One little spit of a girl cannot fight millennia of hatred.”

“But the Council. I may be able to sway others to your plight if I know more about you.” Nicolette knew she was grasping at straws, but she could not imagine him walking away from her just yet. She had to know more about him, and would use any reason possible to get closer to him. Knowing her offer was flimsy at best; she hoped he wouldn’t see through her desperate attempt.

He looked over her face, seemingly trying to determine if she was sincere in her desire to learn more, to aid him. As he looked into her eyes, and saw her honesty shine through, he seemed to relax slightly.

“Done. And two?”

“Kiss me now before I die here on the spot.”

He threw his head back and laughed with the ease of an untroubled soul, though she knew he was far from it. He looked back at her and the humor floating around his beautiful sapphire eyes soon turned into unadulterated lust. Sliding both his hands up along her neck so he was grasping her head from both sides, he lowered those beautiful, pouting lips to hers, and kissed the breath from her lungs.

Suddenly it seemed as though time had stopped and colors swirled behind Nicolette’s closed eyelids. A surge of electricity arced from her tightened nipples down to her mound as his hands began to slowly slide down her neck, past her shoulders and down her arms. She felt him grind his hardening sex against her own, and more moisture pooled there, readying her for more than just his kiss.

She had never experienced pure emotion such as this, and as his tongue slid over her teeth and began a gentle exploration of her mouth, she orgasmed on the spot.