Time of Ruin (Ash and Ruin #2)
Release Date: 07/22/14
Summary from Goodreads:
The world has ended, and hope is the most dangerous thing left.
Battered and bruised after barely escaping San Francisco with their lives, Kat, Dylan, and Blue press north – desperate to reach the possibility of a new home.
But strange, monstrous ravens are tracking the remaining survivors, food is becoming scarce, gasoline is running short, and people are becoming suicidal, making survival almost impossible.
And the Pestas are growing bolder. Somehow, their numbers are growing.
The further north they go, the harder it becomes to ignore the signs that they’ve made a fatal mistake. Kat must face the impossible truth that there is no escape, there is no safe haven, and their worst nightmares don’t come close to their new reality.
Battered and bruised after barely escaping San Francisco with their lives, Kat, Dylan, and Blue press north – desperate to reach the possibility of a new home.
But strange, monstrous ravens are tracking the remaining survivors, food is becoming scarce, gasoline is running short, and people are becoming suicidal, making survival almost impossible.
And the Pestas are growing bolder. Somehow, their numbers are growing.
The further north they go, the harder it becomes to ignore the signs that they’ve made a fatal mistake. Kat must face the impossible truth that there is no escape, there is no safe haven, and their worst nightmares don’t come close to their new reality.
Excerpt
Sitting on the
bumper again, my jagged nails scratch at the plastic as I fight the
urge to tell Dylan to hurry. Blue looks up at me and whines. I shake
my head at him and pet him with the toe of my boot. His eyes are dark
blue in the evening light. Blue drops his head and looks at Dylan,
his ears perked up into two triangles. I follow his gaze. Dylan’s
still standing, holding his instruments of destruction, and staring
at the raging fire.
Blue pushes to his
feet and barks one sharp, loud yelp. My hand drifts over to the rifle
by my leg as I let my eyes slide from Dylan’s back to search for
the source of Blue’s panic.
“Dylan.” I mean
to call to him, but my voice comes out in a strangled whisper.
I swallow as I stand
and pull the rifle with me. Across the street, the shadows between
the houses are taking shape. They’re no longer the snapping,
twisting formless shadows from the fire, but something more,
something substantial. Dylan lifts the can of fluid and squirts more
onto the fire, making it spike and lick the air.
“Dylan,” I try
again, my voice a little louder. The rifle is in my hands now. The
stock is pressed into my shoulder as I aim at the shadows peeling
away from the deeper black.
Still Dylan doesn’t
hear me, or is ignoring me.
Blue barks
repeatedly, backing up until he hits the car. I find my voice and
scream his name loud enough that it hurts my throat. Finally he looks
at me, his face cast in shadows with the light behind him. I can’t
make out his features, but I can make out the horde of Pestas behind
him.
“Run!” I aim the
gun as I walk backward around the car.
Instead of listening
to me, he looks back to see what has terrified me so. They shuffle
forward, lines of them spilling out into the cul-de-sac. Dylan takes
two steps backward, nearly tripping over his feet and making me
scream again. I rip the rear door open for Blue to get in the car.
Slamming the door behind Blue, I lift the rifle and fire a shot,
aiming well away from Dylan. The Pestas cringe in unison, as though
they are all puppets controlled by the same set of strings.
“Run, dammit!” I
scream.
Book One:
(linked to Goodreads)
About the Author
Like so many other writers, Shauna grew up as an avid reader, but it was in high school that she realized she wanted to be a writer. Five years ago, Shauna started work on her Elemental Series. She released the first installment, Earth, on May 1, 2011 and has since released four sequels, with the series coming to an end with Spirit. She is currently hard at work on a new Urban Fantasy series, staring a spunky witch with a smush-faced cat named Artemis.
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