{"id":68,"date":"2013-09-13T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-13T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bestfantasynovel.com\/2013\/09\/13\/minutes-before-sunset-by-shannon-a-thompson\/"},"modified":"2013-09-13T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-09-13T13:00:00","slug":"minutes-before-sunset-by-shannon-a-thompson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/2013\/09\/13\/minutes-before-sunset-by-shannon-a-thompson\/","title":{"rendered":"Minutes Before Sunset by Shannon A. Thompson"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

She was undoubtedly a shade, but I didn\u2019t know her.<\/i><\/p>\n

Eric Welborn isn\u2019t completely human, but he isn\u2019t the only shade in the small Midwest town of Hayworth. With one year left before his eighteenth birthday, Eric is destined to win a long-raging war for his kind. But then she happens. In the middle of the night, Eric meets a nameless shade, and she\u2019s powerful\u2014too powerful\u2014and his beliefs are altered. The Dark has lied to him, and he\u2019s determined to figure out exactly what lies were told, even if the secrets protect his survival.<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

He had gotten so close to me\u2014and I couldn\u2019t move\u2014I couldn\u2019t get away.<\/i><\/p>\n

Jessica Taylor moves to Hayworth, and her only goal is to find more information on her deceased biological family. Her adoptive parents agree to help on one condition: perfect grades. And Jessica is distraught when she\u2019s assigned as Eric\u2019s class partner. He won\u2019t help, let alone talk to her, but she\u2019s determined to change him\u2014even if it means revealing everything he\u2019s strived to hide.<\/p>\n

Minutes Before Sunset <\/i>is available\u00a0now on Amazon<\/a>, Barnes & Noble<\/a>, Smashwords<\/a>, Kobo<\/a>, Diesel<\/a>, Sony,<\/a> and Apple<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Excerpt<\/h4>\n

Eric<\/p>\n

\u201cCamille.\u201d I grumbled as I moved through the lifeless forest, leaves crumbling under the pressure of my feet. I hated it when she played stupid games.\u00a0It was cold, really cold, and I was wandering through the woods trying to find my\u00a0guard. Despite being twenty-one, Camille hadn\u2019t changed from the day she was assigned to me. She loved annoying me.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t matter that she was my guard. We were supposed to be together whenever possible, but, after twelve years, Camille was annoyed with responsibility. If she were assigned to an average shade, she\u2019d be free during daylight, the only time we were allowed to be human, but she wasn\u2019t. She was assigned to the first descendant. I gained my powers at my naming. I was thirteen, and four years passed quickly, even though everything had changed.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

My father remarried to a na\u00efve woman. The Dark was our life, yet she didn\u2019t even know what the Dark was. Mindy was oblivious that she\u2019d married a practical king, and she never would. The Dark was a secret for a reason. We protected the humans from evil, because they aren\u2019t capable at determining evil for themselves.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The Light was evil, and it always had been. Forget archetypes. They\u2019re completely wrong, and they always will be.<\/div>\n

In our history, the Light and Dark accepted one another, but it wasn\u2019t until the\u00a0elders deciding separating our energies was the smart thing to do. Idiots. We turned on one another, and the power was taken away, only to return when the true descendants were born. Thousands of years later, that was exactly what was happening, and, lucky me, I was one of them.<\/p>\n

Our prophecy was in the making, and the only thing the Light had to do to gain power was prevent the rest from happening. Seemed simple enough until everyone realized only the descendants held the power. In turn, only the descendants could fight the battle, and killing one of them would define who won.<\/p>\n

No worries. No pressure at all. I shook my head as I stomped through the only forest in our small Midwest town. I only had to save my kind or die myself. At least I was aware.<\/p>\n

I was raised with three simple rules:<\/p>\n

1. Fight defensively and offensively.<\/p>\n

2. Under no circumstances is it safe to reveal your identity. (Unless it\u2019s Urte, Pierce, Camille, or anyone else the elders deemed an exception.)<\/p>\n

3. Win.<\/p>\n

The last rule is my favorite, because of the dishonesty. Win didn\u2019t mean win. It meant murder. It meant I had to kill the second descendant, the power of the Light, and I had no choice. I would get blood on my hands.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
I brushed my hand along the shivering trees as my gaze darted around the darkening forest. I rarely had time to leave our underground shelter and use my powers, and I didn\u2019t feel like wasting my night chasing Camille around in the dark.I threw my senses out around me. The forest reeked of evergreen and pine. I could feel every prickly leaf and see every shadow. From stump to stump, I searched the darkness for Camille\u2019s body heat. No one could avoid my radar.<\/p>\n

Bingo. I grinned as I locked onto a girl by the river. I sprinted through the thicket, pushing pastscraping branches and leafless oak trees. As I neared the forest\u2019s opening, my body sunk into the shadows, and my skin tingled as it morphed into the chilly air. It was the greatest feeling\u2014other than flying, of course\u2014and I relished in the moment. The blackness of night flowed with me as I floated along the trees, the leaves, or snow. I was enveloped in silk.<\/p>\n

I only solidified when I reached the forest\u2019s edge. Just as I thought, a girl stood on the river\u2019s guardrail, but she wasn\u2019t Camille.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t have Camille\u2019s white hair or mischievous dark eyes. In fact, this girl didn\u2019t even look Camille\u2019s age. She was my age, and she had the dark hair, pale eyes, and the pale skin complexion that our sect had.<\/p>\n

She was undoubtedly a shade, but I didn\u2019t know her.<\/p>\n

My fingers gripped my jacket as I moved backwards, trying to conceal myself in the darkness, but the girl spun around and stared at me. She was perfectly still when her purple eyes met mine. She didn\u2019t budge. Instead, she pointed at me, and the dark magnetically trailed her fingertips.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2014\u201d She stepped off of the railing, and her eyes widened. \u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I put my hands in front of me and stepped out of the forest. This must be one of Camille\u2019s illusion jokes.\u201cWho are you?\u201d she asked, backing up against the river\u2019s guardrail.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t respond. Instead, I flew through the shadows and reappeared in front of her. My body heat escaped me, and she froze, completely petrified by my closeness. I laid my hand on her cheek, expecting her to disappear like any of Camille\u2019s illusions, but she didn\u2019t. She was real, and we were centimeters apart, teetering over the edge of the river.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t move. I had the ability to hypnotize any shade, but I hadn\u2019t used any power. She was shaking\u2014shivering\u2014beneath my touch, and her heartbeat thundered her energy through my veins.<\/p>\n

How odd. She was powerful, yet fear suffocated every bit of her being.<\/p>\n

\u201cShoman!\u201d<\/p>\n

A shout split the air, and I sensed a body rushing through the forest. Camille was coming for me. \u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflexively, I released the girl and turned to the forest, waiting for Camille to appear. Over here, I said, sending her a telepathic message. Immediately, she appeared in a beam of light.<\/p>\n

Her dark eyes were ablaze as she picked sticks and dried leaves from her glittering hair. \u201cWhat the hell, Shoman? At least tell me where you are going if you want\u00a0to be alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cI was with\u2014\u201d I closed my mouth as I waved my hand towards the nameless girl, but the ground where she once stood was empty. Nothing. No marks or anything signifying her leave. She was gone.Impossible. No shade had ever been able to stay off my radar, yet I hadn\u2019t felt her leave. It was as if she had never been there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith who?\u201d Camille asked, trudging up to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cShh,\u201d I held up my hand and threw my senses out.<\/p>\n

Camille tensed, and her black eyes darted around. \u201cWhat are you looking for?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBe quiet,\u201d I said, spinning in tight circles. My senses were useless. Nothing was there. Not even a bat or a plane. I was being blocked.<\/p>\n

I grabbed my guard\u2019s boney shoulders. \u201cCamille, who else was out here tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one. Everyone is at the Naming,\u201d she said, rolling her eyes. \u201cIf you haven\u2019t forgotten, you\u2019re supposed to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d I said, ignoring the ceremony of the last harvest. It was hard to forget. A thick layer of frost coated the dying grass, and I knew that the first layer had fallen yesterday morning. As the first descendant, I always went, but my father hadn\u2019t in years, and I was beginning to forget the point.<\/p>\n

Camille touched my arm. \u201cIs something wrong, Shoman?\u201d she asked, widening her eyes. \u201cWas someone here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I lied, patting her palm. \u201cLet\u2019s go,\u201d I said as I dissolved into a shadow.<\/p>\n

Find more from Shannon her website<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She was undoubtedly a shade, but I didn\u2019t know her. Eric Welborn isn\u2019t completely human, but he isn\u2019t the only shade in the small Midwest town of Hayworth. With one year left before his eighteenth birthday, Eric is destined to win a long-raging war for his kind. But then she happens. In the middle of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[161,162,389,592,593,596],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excerpt","category-excerpts","category-paranormal-romance","category-ya","category-ya-recommended-for-boys","category-young-adult-books"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}