by JustinSloan | Nov 19, 2017 | Snippets
War Wolves Books 1 and 2 now available on Amazon!
CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!
Ketrick and Rizzo raced to finish the twenty-ounce glasses of beer they pressed to their lips. Amber liquid ran down each of the corners of their lips as they gulped large mouthfuls of the alcohol.
At once, the two men lowered their mugs to the table, trying to be the first; the sounds of the glasses striking the circular wooden table in the bar came in unison.
“It was me!” Ketrick looked over at Vet and Riot for confirmation. “I was the first to claim victory!”
Rizzo shook his head emphatically, waving a finger at Ketrick and pointing to a milliliter of beer still in his mug.
“I don’t know, there, Prince,” Riot said with a nod toward Ketrick’s glass. “It doesn’t look empty to me.”
“No matter,” Ketrick said, slapping Rizzo on the shoulder. “I love this game. Let’s do it again!” (more…)
by JustinSloan | Nov 17, 2017 | Snippets
War Wolves Books 1 and 2 now available on Amazon!
Besides the white noise of the ocean and the few seagulls overhead, the base at Port Hueneme was as silent as a tomb. Riot pulled the jeep in an did a quick scan of the area. It appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be a deserted shell. Fences that once stood imposing and sturdy were now broken and bent. Bombed-out buildings lay demolished all around them.
“Uhhh, I don’t want to piss on your parade here,” Vet said as he straightened up in his seat, craning his neck to see all around him. “Still, I think I should tell you that Port Hueneme was abandoned after the initial Syndicate attack. They hit us hard here. We left this post and regrouped down south.”
“Just wait.” Riot maneuvered the jeep through the maze of crumbling buildings, overturned vehicles, and field of debris. “Do you remember Captain Harlan?”
“Uh, yeah. Every push-up he made us do, every mile he made us run.” Vet took another look around the destroyed area to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. “He’s here?”
Riot finally pulled the jeep to a stop beside a two-story building made of cream-colored cement. One side of the building had caved in on itself.
“When we destroyed the Syndicate, they left us information telling us this was all a test. They were preparing us for a much larger invasion from the true enemy. Captain Harlan is heading up a Marine division called SPEAR to deal with this new threat, and their HQ is here at the Bulwark.” Riot nodded to the building in front of them. “That’s why you’re here with me now. I want you on my squad for this mission. You’re the best mechanic I’ve ever met, and even with your vision, you’re one hell of a shot.” (more…)
by JustinSloan | Nov 16, 2017 | Snippets
War Wolves Books 1 and 2 now available on Amazon!
Riot looked over at the man she had fought and bled next to since they started in the Corps together. He was more than a friend or a fellow Marine; he was her family.
They had been through it all, including the Syndicate invasion and the world that waited for them at the other end. But what he had just said couldn’t stand.
“That’s disgusting,” Riot said grimacing. “Is that why you haven’t asked to pull over in the last six hours?”
Vet looked at her, arching the eyebrow of his one good eye. The other eye was completely gone, covered now by a steel eye patch that latched into the skin around the vacant hole. His Indian heritage spoke for itself with his dark hair and brown eye.
“Think about it. It’s the most natural, efficient way to travel,” Vet said, adjusting the seatbelt over his compact, muscular chest. “This is a perfect example right now. We’re almost there, but you have to pull over to piss. I’m just fine.”
“No, you’re not fine.” Riot shook her head, concentrating on the road in front of them. Their jeep hit a road bump, causing the vehicle to swerve on the broken asphalt. “You’re sitting in your own poop and piss.” (more…)
by JustinSloan | Oct 21, 2017 | Snippets
UNDEDITED
Fires smoldered, sending a steady plume of black smoke over the town supposedly populated by water mages. The sight was enough to give Andreas doubts about their location. How could water mages have let this happen?
Still, given all the fighting he had seen—including the crazy sorcerers—it wasn’t unthinkable. Why nobody had bothered to put out the fires, though, was another question.
“Looks like we’re too late,” Lars said as they came around the bend, now better able to see the town that had been destroyed.
“Wait… There!” Kim was at the wheel of the ship, eyes narrowed, pointing.
Sure enough, someone was moving toward them, and then they saw more than one. A whole group was coming their way.
“Friend or foe?” Lars asked.
“That’s what we’re about to find out,” Andreas replied, staff gripped firmly in his hand. If there was trouble he was ready to get them out of there quickly, with a little help from the waves and wind.
“Would you look at that?” Kim exclaimed. “Horses!” (more…)
by JustinSloan | Oct 20, 2017 | Snippets
UNEDITED (Shades of Justice is book 4 in the Hidden Magic Chronicles)
Alastar took an offensive stance and closed his eyes, imagining the goddess, Lady Mowain—his aunt—standing before him. Wind blew against his cheek, warm and gentle like Estair’s nighttime touch. It with it brought the scent of the upcoming palace feast, still cooking while training continued in the yard.
He wasn’t training there, though. He had found a secluded spot to focus on this damned sword.
With a quick thrust he dove forward, focusing his energy on the sword. He tried to pretend the legend was real and pull the power from the Sword of Light.
Nothing.
It didn’t matter how much he practiced or willed it to be so, it was just another sword. How many times had he heard the story of the magical blade and its green glow when blessed? It had the fabled jade-encrusted hilt, to be sure, but that was about the extent of its being true to the legend. When he had fought with it in battle and cast his magic, it had glowed white like any other sword he had ever wielded.
He sighed, holding the sword out with one hand and staring at the fine craftsmanship. Who was he kidding, anyway? Hope that it was the magical Sword of Light meant he was still grasping at a lost cause, at the idea that there had been any truth to be had in the Order of Rodrick.
Instead, it had all been a lie. His entire life, or most of the part that he could remember, had been a lie. His aunt had killed his mother, taken him and his sister away from their father, and left them with the madman he had grown up thinking was his mentor. His spiritual leader, Sir Gildon of the Order of Rodrick.
And then he had killed that son of a bitch. And his sister Rhona had taken out Lady Mowain’s daughter, and little Kia had done a pretty number on Master Irdin. All in all, they were doing quite well.
Hell, he was even a prince, and his sister was a princess! (more…)
by JustinSloan | Oct 20, 2017 | Snippets
UNEDITED
When it was just Bethany Anne, Michael, Valerie, and Robin, Bethany Anne stepped closer and took each of the ladies in an embrace. She pulled back, eyeing them, and smiled, a bit of her earlier humor in her eyes lost and concern replacing it. “You two have no idea what you’re getting into, do you?”
Valerie glanced around at the ship, wondering where it had been and what it had seen, and turned back to Bethany Anne, “None.”
Robin shook her head.
“Fair enough,” Bethany Anne nodded and started pacing back and forth as she spoke. “The future is going to be treacherous, but beautiful. Mind-blowingly full of activity, and yet, you’ll have moments where you wonder what you’re doing with your life and how you got here.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, your heart will ache as you miss your friends here on Earth. I can promise you that as I still ache a couple of times a year as I think of friends who died almost two centuries ago.” (more…)
by JustinSloan | Oct 18, 2017 | Snippets
The first time Samantha had seen the world end, it had terrified her.
Of course, that vision had been long ago. Over three years, if her estimation was correct. Since then, the vision had come to her in nightmares and flashes in her mind, and each time it seemed more blurred, more… unsure.
The vision was always the same—an alien armada unlike anything the world had ever seen. Not the invasion that had already taken over the world and held it in a state of martial law. No, this invasion would put their current overlords to shame. The Syndicate would fight and, in the end, be crushed.
It didn’t help that others called her crazy.
It also didn’t help that she was certain she would have a hand in saving the world, because that meant it could only end badly. Either she would be proven right, and an alien invasion greater than any they had ever known would destroy their world, or she would fulfill her destiny, but her so-called friends would go on thinking she was insane.
The latter would do, she decided as she stared out of her foxhole, waiting for the Syndicate drone to fly by. They always did at this time of day—a patrol, one of many set up to ensure everyone was in by curfew. If the drone was lucky, it would find members of the resistance, the Last Remaining Resistance, or LRR, as its members liked to refer to it. (more…)
by JustinSloan | Oct 8, 2017 | Snippets
UNEDITED – SPOILER WARNING (Be sure you’ve read Reclaiming Honor 1-8 first)
Valerie and Robin emerged from the transport ship, following closely behind Michael as he led them into the ArchAngel II, the large ship they had seen from the ground when Michael had picked them up.
It was still almost unbelievable that she had left her friends behind, all but Robin.
The woman at her side, barely a woman at all, if you counted her actual age instead of looking at her through the lens of all she had done.
Now it was the two of them leaving the comfort of their homes behind to go off and join Michael in the fight for humanity’s survival from a different angle—from space.
Only, as Michael had just explained to them, they had signed up for more than anything than they could have fathomed before his explanation. (more…)
by JustinSloan | Oct 4, 2017 | Snippets
UNEDITED
New York
Valerie took her first step into HQ in what felt like years, but really it hadn’t been more than a couple of months or so. How odd it felt, knowing that this building had once been home to her enemies. She had led a siege against Commander Strake and his Enforcers, then hunted him and the CEOs behind him down. The building had become her home after that, but now felt like such a strange, foreign place.
This sensation confirmed something she had been thinking about for a while now—that she didn’t belong here. But where did she belong? In space?
With a glance at the skies, she wondered what sort of battles were going on in space right now. Was it possible something could go wrong and it would all be over without her even getting a chance to fight?
Considering the fact that it was Bethany Ann up there fighting for their survival, she was hopeful. (more…)
by JustinSloan | Oct 3, 2017 | Snippets
UNEDITED
Cammie glanced around the desert landscape and the town known as El Diablo. It was pressed up against a small hill with dead trees at the top that resembled devil horns, which looked especially ominous silhouetted against the night.
The first thing she had done was come to New York looking for Valerie. When she learned that Sandra had been in touch with her and that Valerie was heading for New York, her first instinct had been to stay there and wait. But the more she heard about the situation, the upcoming predicament, the more she realized that they had to get ahead of this war situation.
So here she was, with Sergeant Garcia and Royland. They had told the others that anyone who wanted to return to the island up north could take off that day. The rest would stay in New York to help fight.
Nobody had left. (more…)
