Feature & Giveaway:The Daemon Whisperer by Candice Bundy

Blurb
Genre: Paranormal Romance/ Dark Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Lusios Publishing, LLC
Meriwether Storm discovered the grisly remains of her parents on their living room floor when she was only fourteen, the result of a failed daemon summoning. Meri immediately swore vengeance on the daemon who'd killed her parents, but there was only one problem--she had no idea which one had committed the atrocity.

Before their untimely deaths her parents had trained her intensively in the arts, and Meri used her skills to follow in their footsteps, ever seeking the daemon's name. Now, despite her years of searching, she's no closer to the truth and her time is running out.

A captivating daemon mysteriously offers her a dangerous job in exchange for information about her parent's murderer. Will she accept a deal from the daemon if it means finally learning the truth? Is it her instincts, her unusual attraction, or her desperation for answer, pushing her to trust the very creature she normally despises?

When retribution is the only thing that drives you, how much are you willing to sacrifice before you lose yourself to the cause?

Chapter 5 Excerpt - Meri's completed the job the daemons hired her to do, and then Azimuth arrived afterwards and healed her injuries--but she's not happy to see him. 
Could he sense the heat coming off her skin? He couldn't get detailed images from her mind, could he? Meri took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Why was she so warm?
"Meri? Your throat? Is it improved?"
His look of concern reminded her she'd missed the question. "You healed me? How's that possible? How do healing and scenting falsehoods fit into the same daemon skill set?"
Azimuth smiled enigmatically. "I have a number of talents, which I'll explain to you at the appropriate time."
"Now, if you're recuperated we should port back to the burrow. There is much to discuss." He rose, retrieved her bag, sat it next to her on the bed, and then stood ready to leave.
"Could you please turn around while I change?"
"Certainly. Let me know if you require assistance." He turned away but didn't move from the spot.
Meri opened her bag, took out a change of clothes and slowly got dressed. Dressing got more challenging by the moment, as alternating chills, sweats racked her body, coming, and going so quickly her limbs jerked in pain. Once finished, she stood and took a few steps. Her body felt downright feverish, and each step she took could have been with someone else's body as they connected with the earth lightly. She barely registered the contact, as if her weight was negligible.
"Azimuth?" She tilted her head. "Did you do anything extra when you healed me?"
"Nothing. But as I said, there is much to discuss and we are short on time." He held out his hand, his body taut.
Meri crossed her arms. "I think not. How did you manage to get in here, anyway? My wards should have blocked you."
Azimuth dropped her bag and walked to face her, impatience practically oozed from his tense frame. "I came in through the door."
"But it's got a state-of-the art lock keyed to my thumbprint, and I've warded this place to the gills. There was no way for you to enter."
She wanted to slap the imperious grin right off his face the moment it formed. "We assumed you might have complications. By your ink, we knew this was your first time with an Arch-daemon, and killing one is no small task. Take no offense, but we took certain precautions. We knew the location of your warehouse from following you in the past, and collected your thumbprint during your visit to the burrow. I bypassed the wards with a Doppelganger spell from Annamie, courtesy one of your hairs. All of this was actually very easy when planned in advance."
"I can't believe you convinced Annamie to betray me like that!"
"Meri, I can not only sense truth from others, I can also state it absolutely. When she knew you'd die without my assistance she was eager to help."
Her irritation at Annamie dissipated, but that still left one hole in the puzzle. "How did you know I was injured?"
Azimuth's face darkened. "Orias foresaw you definitely needed help and warned me to move in when I did. We assumed Annamie would assist if you were in danger. She's a true friend to you."
Meri spun away from him, feeling like she'd been punched in the gut. If Orias had foreseen her injury, then he had to know the full circumstances. Her cheeks burned in shame over her exposure.
Azimuth put his hands on her shoulders. "Meri, I know you think poorly of us. Please know Orias handled the matter delicately. He shared the barest details of the vision, knowing you'd be indisposed, but he shared nothing intimate or inappropriate. Trust me; Belial would have had his head if he had."
Meri turned to him and saw his earnest expression. Obviously, Orias hadn't told Azimuth the sordid details, but she guessed he must have seen it in the vision. Just as she knew he'd hold it over her head. He was a daemon, after all. It was a priceless bargaining chip.
She'd have to act first, before Orias told Azimuth. "I'm going to kill Orias," Meri said. A wave of heat and anxiety rolled off her, blowing Azimuth's hair back and rolling the knocked over candles around on the floor. She took a few steps back from him, staring in confusion first at him, and then at her shaking hands. Azimuth didn't appear surprised in the least, confirming he knew what was going on, but he refused to let her in on the secret. "Damn you. What the hell was that, Az? Did I do that? No. How did I do that?"
"Like I said, we should be going." Azimuth's stormy expression bordered on anger.
"I don't feel like going to Sheol right now, Az. I'm going home. I'm going to have a nice, long bath. I'm going to watch some stupid sci-fi flicks. I'm going to eat some ice cream. And I'm not going to think about daemons for a few days. Just give me my payment, and we'll talk later."
If she didn't know any better, she'd think Azimuth looked panicked.
"That's not a good idea, Meri."
"Why not? What's going to happen if I don't go with you, Az? And are you actually refusing payment unless I comply?"
"This is not the place." Azimuth squared his shoulders. "We need to get you out of here. It's not safe for you here anymore. You need time to adjust in a safe environment.
Meri cocked her head, itching to goad him into a fight. "Adjust to what, Az?"
His eyes flickered to white for a moment. "As I said, this is not the place to discuss it."
"Fine, we'll talk later, but I'm not coming with you today. I'm likely to gut you or Orias or both of you. You just reneged on a payment, mister! Now you're only willing to discuss the information I want in Sheol? I know when I've been played." Meri walked around him and grabbed her bag off the floor. "You know what Makhra said while I was killing him? He said I should kill you next for not warning me of the consequences of killing him. You see, I think he'd taken a liking to me, despite the whole assassination thing. I'm standing here wondering, why the hell should I trust you? I mean, your enemy was more honest with me."
Azimuth watched her with a murderous glint in his eyes, but he didn't answer.
Meri thought about staying and demanding her payment, but between Azimuth's mood and her body's odd after effects from the summoning, she needed time to think. Time without his gaze boring through her.
"I'll call you when I'm ready for that talk. I trust you can let yourself out?"
"Don't wait too long," Azimuth replied. "And watch your back."
"Are you threatening me?"
"I'm not a threat to you."
His voice was soft again, and Meri reacted viscerally, heating from the inside out. Meri shut the door between them, reminding herself that underneath his silken voice were motivations that didn't appear to have anything to do with her best interests.
"Oh yeah you are. You're driving me out of my mind."

Author Bio
Candice lives in Centennial, Colorado with her husband, son, and her pathetically stupid but therefore very sweet cat Maia. Candice loves to make wine and mead and is a professional hedonist, rabble-rouser, and goat-herder. She adores archeology and all things Greek/Roman, so if you send her fan mail, please send it on cuneiform tablets, papyrus, or traditional vellum.

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