Wings of Hope: The Veil Series

By Pippa DaCosta

"I am his muse. But not for long..." 

When Mammon, the Prince of Greed, 'acquires' a half-blood slave known as 'Muse' for three nights, and bespells her with tales of a world where people live like kings and queens among towers of steel and glass, the seed of hope takes root in Muse's soul. But hope, for a half-human half-demon creature like her, is a dangerous thing. Especially when that tentative hope springs from the honeyed words of a Prince of Hell. What is Mammon's price for freedom? 

Meanwhile Da'mean, her ruthless owner, would rather see her dead, than free. She belongs to him. She is his muse. And no beast will take her from him. 

The netherworld is harsh and violent. Muse's demon kin are merciless, blood-hungry beasts, but little do they know, Muse has something far more dangerous coiled inside her, desperate for a taste of freedom. 

Her humanity. 
 

***

Reader Note:

This prequel is a short story (approx 90 mins read time). It can be read as a stand alone piece, or at any time during, prior to, or after reading any of the novel-length books in The Veil Series without spoilers. 

WARNING: Wings Of Hope contains graphic scenes that some readers may find distressing. 

Genre: Dark Fantasy 
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pippa DaCosta
• Release date: Jul 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533722065

Pippa DaCosta

Born in Tonbridge, Kent in 1979, Pippa's family moved to the South West of England where she grew up among the dramatic moorland and sweeping coastlands of Devon & Cornwall. With a family history brimming with intrigue, complete with Gypsy angst on one side and Jewish survivors on the other, she draws from a patchwork of ancestry and uses it as the inspiration for her writing. Happily married and the mother of two little girls, she resides on the Devon & Cornwall border. She loves fencing, archery and photography and is also the author of a five book urban fantasy series; The Veil Series. www.theveilseries.co.uk www.pippadacosta.com www.facebook.com/pippadacosta www.pinterest.com/pippadacosta

Book preview

Wings Of Hope

Wings Of Hope

The Veil Series Prequel

Pippa DaCosta

Contents

Copyright

Foreword

Wings of Hope

Also by Pippa DaCosta

About the Author

The Veil Series Reviews

Copyright © 2014 by Pippa DaCosta

Pippa DaCosta

Urban Fantasy & Science Fiction Author

Subscribe to her mailing list here.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictions, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

US Edition. Edited for US readers.

---

Version 1.2

www.pippadacosta.com

Foreword

If you are coming to this prequel new to the series, or as an established fan, please take a moment to read the following:

Muse has tried to keep her past hidden. Her darker half is not something she shares often, and indeed, the full extent of her past remains a secret to those around her. It was only after you, dear reader, demanded more (sometime between books two and three), that this prequel took shape. Wings Of Hope certainly wasn’t easy to write. The Muse we meet in these pages is a very different beast from the Muse we meet fifteen years later in the first Veil Series novel Beyond The Veil . You may not like her. She is demon.

---

If you ask her today , Muse will tell you she’s all about the future. One step in front of the other, always moving forward. Never looking back. But once in a while, she’ll take herself somewhere quiet. She’ll sit, close her eyes, and in that darkness, where her demon resides, she remembers a very different time, in a very different world, when she was a very different creature.

---

Author’s note regarding names :

Da’mean ~ Damien

Ahkeel ~ Akil

Muse :~

I am demon. I am human. One is a beacon of light in the darkness, shining with potential, brimming with dreams. The other is cold, hungry, ruthless, and governed by instinct. I am both, but here in these pages, the demon prevails. In the beginning of this tale, you may find my words hard or empty. My words are me. You may wonder why I allowed these cruelties to happen, but you are outside the cage looking in. The view from inside is very different.

---

"I had hope , and when it all boiled down to nothing, hope was all I had." ~ Muse, Devil May Care, #2 The Veil Series

---

"W e are not so different , and yet we are worlds apart." Ahkeel, Wings Of Hope

Wings of Hope

The elemental approaching us was deadly. I didn’t need to lift my head and look at him to realize as much; the invisible weight of his ethereal touch encircled mine in a curious embrace. I’d learned not to flinch away from such explorative examinations. Should I react, Da’mean, my owner, would punish me for my weakness. Do not react. Do not flinch. Be still. Be unseen. I focused on becoming small, a part of the background, an insignificant nothing.

Yet this elemental’s power throbbed the air, undeniable and suffocating. I bowed my shoulders and dipped my chin snug against my chest, bowing under the weight of his presence. He spoke in measured tones, his words no more or less than they needed to be. Da’mean’s spluttered snarls and mumbled growls seemed bestial in comparison. My owner conversed with actions, not words. But actions would not do here among the sights and sounds of trading day, when all my kin came together to haggle for goods. A water elemental nudged me from behind, jostling her way through the crowd. She gurgled a curse, spilled her liquescent gaze down my body, raised her lips in a snarl, and moved on. Others milled around, snarls and yips punctuating their speech as they bartered for goods or favors. As yet, no blood had been spilled, but it wouldn’t be trading day if a scuffle didn’t break out. Elementals often ended disagreements beneath the slice of their claws. Da’mean always brought me to trading day, as though reminding me where I came from and how easily I could be traded away.

The visitor and my owner discussed such a trade. I might have listened more had the invisible flicker of the visitor’s element not crept beneath my skin. He should not touch me that way. I was Da’mean’s. I was owned. The powerful stranger’s encroaching touch was forbidden. It was my duty to reveal his actions to my owner. But even though I was not at fault, the punishment would be mine.

I closed my eyes and withdrew inside myself, seeking the embrace of his unwelcome energy. They continued to converse, and yet despite the visitor’s apparent attention to my owner, his power wove through me, seeking, exploring. I chased its invasion, driving my own element after his. This was wrong. It was forbidden. My heart fluttered.

Give me your half-blood.

The words wrenched me to the surface and back into the moment. What had he said? I steadied my breathing, hoping my gasps hadn’t been noticed.

She is nothing. Da’mean snorted, disgusted.

Three nights, the visitor replied, his words spoken with unyielding conviction. Clearly, he was not accustomed to being refused.

Da’mean snarled—not a rebuttal, but more an acknowledgement. She will disappoint.

A growl bubbled beneath the visitor’s words. Do you deny me?

I flicked my gaze up and, for the briefest of moments, found myself locked into the molten glare of an elemental like no other. Lava veins throbbed beneath his black-as-night skin. His