Vengeful Darkness, Book 11 of the Shadow Demons Saga, is scheduled to release next week! I just made a few posts on social media and sent out a newsletter letting everyone know that there have been some hiccups in the editing process that may cause a slight delay in the book’s release.

If you want to read more about that, head to the very bottom of this post for all the news. But, if you’re here to read a first-look at the opening chapter of Vengeful Darkness, just keep reading! It’s still subject to change here and there in the final read-through, and it hasn’t yet been through my proofreader, but I sincerely hope you enjoy this glimpse into the next book of the Shadow Demons Saga!

**Warning: If you have not read Books 1-10, you’ll likely read a few big spoilers here. You can grab Books 1-3 of this series free here.

The Power Of The Diamond

The High Priestess

Amber firelight flickered across the onyx walls, casting shadows inside of shadows.

With a fingertip, I traced the ancient symbol carved into my Book of Shadows and admired the time-weathered pages.

Inside, I’d written thousands of spells. Spells powerful enough to shake the very foundation of the world.

Centuries of carefully-laid plans, disrupted by a child.

I would not underestimate Harper Brighton again.

No, this time, I would deal with her myself.

The mistake I’d made thus far was in assuming she was nothing more than a nuisance. I realized now, however, that I could use her. After watching her and the way she reacted, the way she loved, all it would take was a few simple calculations. A few easy manipulations. And she would not only take herself out of the game, she would also help me achieve my ultimate goal.

After all this time, it was finally coming to pass.

I opened my Book of Shadows and dipped my diamond-tipped pen into the shadowy ink.

Where to begin?

How could I put an end to her little liberation movement while torturing her spirit along the way? She did, after all, need to pay for her sins. She pretended to be an innocent, as if every horror she’d committed was in the name of freedom and love. But what about those I loved?

Or did she imagine someone like me incapable of love?

My hands curled into fists, sparks like tiny exploding stars bouncing off the desk in front of me as I thought of Harper’s latest act of wickedness.

Of the mess I’d found in this room the night they had attacked my amethyst priestess.

I’d told Illana opening a portal directly to this room with so many of their allies around was too risky. I thought I’d made it clear that Harper was to be incapacitated and taken to my citrine priestess, Alexandra.

Eloise’s torture and brainwashing had not been strong enough, but I had no doubt Alexandra’s particular brand of hell would be enough to break even the strongest of wills.

Harper would have been taken care of, and their entire resistance would have fallen apart in the wake of her insanity and death.

Why had Illana gone against my orders?

Foolish girl.

Always desperate to please me. To gain favor above her station.

I admired her ambition, but I would not mourn her for her disobedience.

I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing, slowly allowing my fists to unfurl and calm.

When I had regained control, I straightened my shoulders and admired the ritual room, taking comfort in the sight of my greatest achievements.

No one truly understood the magnitude of what I’d accomplished here. They all believed the Order of Shadows was my end game, but humans and demons had always been short sighted. That was part of why they were so easily manipulated.

I was just thankful Illana’s disobedience had not managed to harm this room.

This room was the true source of all my power. All my hopes and plans for the future.

I’d spent lifetimes creating this place and searching for a way to take the power that should rightfully have been mine.

Magda’s bombs were not kind, even when they were made with her rubies.

But combined with my diamonds? The smallest one could blow up an entire community, if placed in the right location.

I had, of course, placed warding and strengthening spells on this ritual room long ago, but there was nothing here to protect Illana from the blast. 

I mourned her, but I didn’t dwell in it. She had served me well for a time, but if she was not strong enough to see it through to the end, she was not worthy of my grief.

The paper under my palm crinkled slightly as I smoothed my hand over the words.

Lifetimes of experimentation and sacrifice. Centuries of planning.

And here I was, finally ready to take what I deserved. I was so close now, I could taste it.

The power of the diamond on the pedestal in the center of the ritual room infused the area with energy so intense, my skin tingled. Millions of lights pulsed and flickered deep inside it.

I had created that.

Me.

Someone the gods had tossed aside long ago.

Unworthy they had called me.

But they would soon know my vengeance, and all these years of work would finally show them just how important and powerful I could be.

Maybe it was good someone like Harper had come along. I’d grown complacent these past two hundred years.

Once I’d figured out the right process of collecting and storing energy, it had all been too easy.

The human witches were greedy for power and easily manipulated, while even the once-great demon king himself had practically handed me his kingdom on a platter.

My power proved too great for these weak beings, but where was the glory without the challenge?

Harper had made it fun for me again, and though I had dreamed of her torture and destruction, I had also spent time daydreaming about recruiting her to my side.

After all, what might she have been capable of if she’d taken over her role as Prima? Joined with a rare and powerful demon like Aerden, she could have been an incredibly powerful asset to me.

But in the end, she was too clever. Too rebellious.

Too determined not to be used by the Order of Shadows.

I smiled.

She had no idea just how useful she had been to me, despite her protests.

I turned to admire the diamond in the center of the room, its light glowing brighter with each new day.

If it hadn’t been for Harper killing off my sapphire priestess, I might never have realized my mistake. I might have overlooked the one thing that could have still managed to put an end to my plans.

An acceptable loss for such a powerful realization.

Now, I was invincible.

I closed my eyes, turning away from the diamond pedestal and the pentacle carved onto the floor.

No. It was that kind of thinking that had nearly ended it all for me once before.

I was not invincible, but I was powerful beyond anything they’d yet imagined. If I had wanted to, I could have killed them all at any moment, but Harper still had a part to play in all of this.

The other princess, too. Lazalea. They would both die before I was finished, of course, but I needed them for one last purpose.

But just because I couldn’t yet end their lives didn’t mean I couldn’t torture them along the way.

They thought I’d put my full force toward finding and putting an end to their Demon Liberation Movement. To their Resistance.

Ha.

I’d barely even spent a moment of my attention on their efforts. I’d left their fate up to my priestesses, never dreaming it would be an even match.

It turns out many of my priestesses were unworthy of their power, but it was no matter to me now. They would all be dead soon, anyway.

Harper and her friends had been fighting with everything they had for a very long time, and I’d barely lifted a finger against them.

I was done with that now.

I ran my hand along the most recently-filled page of my Book of Shadows, going over my plans again in my head.

It was all too perfect.

The twins heading for the storm, searching for answers to questions they’d not even yet thought to ask. Lea looking for answers about the stone guardians I’d placed beneath her city, having no clue just how much danger she and her precious kingdom were truly in.

And Harper?

Harper naively believing that if she could save poor Magda from the Order and release the ruby gates, she’ll have turned the tide against me. That all of this could be over.

She still foolishly believed my power came from the Order of Shadows. That I was nothing without those witches.

But like everything in my life, the Order was just another tool. Another way to get what I needed.

And all of them, in their own way, playing the roles I’d set out for them.

They couldn’t see I was the one placing them on the board like chess pieces in my centuries-old game.

Or that I was about to change the trajectory of their lives forever.

Because I wasn’t playing with my hands tied behind my back, anymore.

They were so eager to know who the High Priestess truly was?

Well, it was about time they all found out.

---

So, that’s it! The opening chapter of Vengeful Darkness. I hope you loved it!

I’ll be posting throughout the weekend with updates on my progress through the final edits. Fingers crossed I can still have it out someday on Tuesday, June 1, but it’s possible it could be the 2nd or 3rd. Coming soon, though, I promise!!!

The Details On The Preorder and Release

As promised above, here is a brief explanation of what is going on with the release. This is copied over from my other posts, so if you’ve already seen the news on my newsletter or social media, you can skip this news, as it’s the same!

Vengeful Darkness is on its way in just a few short days, but there has been a slight change in how it will be released.

I’m going to lay this out as clearly as I can, but if you have questions, just post them in the comments below and either myself or an admin will help you as soon as possible.

Vengeful Darkness is scheduled for release on Tuesday, June 1. Right now, I’m still expecting it to be out on time or just very slightly after. However, due to its preorder status, the ebook vendors like Amazon require me to upload the final version of the book today to make the deadline.

During my final read-through, I realized there were a few sections of the book that still needed work to be the way I wanted them to be, and I still need to get it through my proofreader, as well.

Long story short, I need a few extra days to make it the book it needs to be. It’s so close, and betas LOVE it so far. But I haven’t worked on this for two years to put out a book that I’m not 100% proud of.

I am still hoping to release on June 1st!

I will work pretty much constantly until the book is completed this weekend, and I am hopeful I can still upload it for release by Tuesday. Keep an eye on posts here for more news! At most, if there is a delay, it would only be a day or two max. I don’t anticipate this taking a week or anything like that.

However, due to the way preorders work, like I said, to keep the preorder date saying June 1st, I would have to upload the book today. If I don’t either upload the book or change the date, they cancel all preorders.

So, what I had to do was go ahead and change the on sale preorder date to June 29th. This gives me time to work over the weekend without cancelling the preorders, but the book will be out long before the 29th. (You may have already received an email about this change if you preordered the book.)

When it’s finished, I can just upload and click “publish now”, and they will send it out to those who preordered right away.

What that means is that even though you’ll see June 29th on the sales page, the book will still be out next week. It just won’t likely be exactly at midnight on June 1st (*and there’s a super small chance it might even be out on the 31st).

I know this can be confusing with the date swaps, but the long story short is just that I need more time and the book will be available as soon as humanly possible.

If you preordered the book, you don’t have to take any additional action. You’ll still get it the minute it’s released, whether that’s late Monday night or early Wednesday morning. I just don’t know yet the exact timing.

Thanks for your support on this. Last year when I set up preorders for Fate’s Surrender and Vengeful Darkness, I believed it would be for the best to give everyone a release expectation after such a long wait.

However, I’ve definitely learned my lesson that life with two kids during stressful, uncertain times and a lot on my plate is not really good preorder material . I won’t be doing them again ever (unless the book is already completed and ready to go).

What you can hopefully look forward to, though, is an amazing Book 11 with lots of twists and turns and a HUGE series reveal!

As soon as this book is completed, I’m starting work on Book 12, which at this point is planned as the final book of the Shadow Demons Saga. I won’t be giving a release date for that until the book is completed, but I’ll give updates as I write it

!I’ll also announce the title and share the cover this summer. For now, thank you very much for reading this super long post. I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter of Vengeful Darkness, and I sincerely hope you will love the book when it is released!

If you haven’t yet preordered the book, you can do that here:

Amazon | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo Books

Now, I have to get back to my edits, where I have just left Jackson in a somewhat terrifying situation….