Echthroi Shadow Wielder

By Amanda Ferrell

ECHTHROS (Greek) - Enemy pl. Echthroi

We are Echthroi. We have been shunned and persecuted through the centuries until we became nothing more than a myth, a scary story told on a stormy night. Over time we have been gathered by Mother in a mansion known as the Hive where we have been trained to fight in the upcoming battle against humankind. We weren’t always Echtroi, though.

Rhia Tesla liked to get close to her targets before she killed them but never this close. From the moment she met his eyes in a photograph something inside of her started to change. Now Rhia must make a choice. She must kill the only man to ever make her feel anything or stand up to protect him from the Hive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amanda Ferrell
• Release date: Jun 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311018663

Amanda Ferrell

Amanda Ferrell is a wordsmith, a wordslinger, a crafter of the english language, a poet, a musician of words, and a builder of stories. She turned her passion for writing into a career when she founded Stuff4Mutts.com and published her first book, Don’t Pee There! How To Successfully House Train Your Dog. Her serious personality mixed with her quirky sense of humor are evident in all of her works, as is her love of animals.As a child she was so enamored with books and the strange worlds that they brought to life she was often found volunteering in the library. In 1997 Amanda had her first chance to share her writing publicly in the form of poetry for a church newsletter. Since then she has learned to incorporate her love of writing in every career path she has taken, from writing emails for colleagues to designing and maintaining catalogs and writing product descriptions for web pages.Even while writing dull emails and product descriptions Amanda continued to write stories and poetry to relieve her creative impulse. One of the products of this early distracted writing can be found on Wattpad, titled “Finding Home” by rabid_reader. She is in love with this story but refuses to say anything else about it (yet).Amanda now resides with her husband William in Springtown, Texas, the same small town that they both grew up in. When she’s not hunched over her keyboard like it’s her precious, she’s spending time with her husband, three children and two dogs. (The cat, of course, only spends time with Amanda when he chooses.)

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Amanda Ferrell

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing June, 2016

ISBN 9781311018663

www.amandaferrell.siterubix.com

Dear Reader,

This book is dedicated to you. May you always find a light in the darkness and always be able to find your way home. May you go on a thousand adventures from your favorite chair with the turn of a page. And may you never run out of stories to read.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter One

The liquid in the glass looked like water but it burned like fire on the way down. I set the empty shot glass on the table and looked around the dilapidated bar. The air smelled of stale cigarette smoke and sweat, a smell that somehow lingered in the empty halls of my past and reminded me of a long forgotten home. I leaned forward out of the shadows as a waitress passed by and lifted my glass, tapping a perfectly manicured purple fingernail on the side. The poor girl’s hand shook as she set another shot glass on the table.

Don’t worry sweetie, I don’t bite, I said taking the shot in one gulp this time. Another.

I stretched my lips over my teeth in an attempt to smile at her and she practically ran back to the bar. A few seconds later the bartender himself brought over a bottle of vodka and an extra glass. He sat down in the empty seat across from me and poured two drinks. I watched him from the shadows as we sipped from our tiny glasses for a moment in silence. He smelled like Old Spice and beer but underneath that was the unmistakable scent of fear.

I don’t want any trouble.

I laughed, leaning across the table to look into his eyes. He was more than scared, he was terrified. Good. I leaned back and took another sip, enjoying the warmth as the alcohol poured down my throat.

Me either.

He fidgeted for a minute before talking again. Did Louie send you?

I almost told him the truth but decided to have a little fun. What if he did?

I told him I would get the money for him by Friday! That’s still three days away!

Money. I should have known. It was the one driving force all of mankind had in common and something I had absolutely no interest in. If it had been something I could trade on the black market I might have played along, but not money.

"Louie didn’t