For decades, the races have been living in a never-ending line of conflicts and battles. Humans, shifters, vampires, angels, demons, and spirits all striving to exist together, but unable to find a way to do so peacefully. Jashin Kimoshi, a proud vampire, finds herself trying desperately to prevent even greater bloodshed from happening while maneuvering her way through newfound feelings for a human woman. Sabella Hemmingwell, the princess of a human territory, struggles with her duty to her people and her family, and the inner turmoil of her heart. Both are thrown together in a war with the vampires pinned as the scapegoats, and the puppet masters they are unaware of hidden well in the shadows, directing their fates.

          I want to start by saying thank you for taking the time to look into my book. This series has been living rent-free in my head for twenty years now, and it is finally getting the chance to see the light of day. This story has been through so much. Character changes, rewrites, countless write-ins, two desktop computers (one being from the early 2000s), three laptops, and multiple hardware crashes resulting in the loss of hundreds, if not thousands, of words. There were multiple times I wanted to give it up and throw it all away, but the little Jashin in my head refused to be silenced. She had a story that needed to be told. So, strap in because we are starting one hell of a ride.

          As a little welcome gift, please enjoy this little sneak peek of the book.

Jashin pulled her head through the top of the dress and straightened it out. “A corset?” she stepped over to the wardrobe and laughed as she pulled the article of clothing off the hanger. “Either this is Sire’s attempt at a joke, or Arri packed this. He’s always trying to make me act more like a lady, but corsets aren’t very good for fighting in.” She gave it to Sabella. “You may have it if you would like.”

Sabella placed the corset back on the hanger in the wardrobe. “I have plenty, thank you.” She looked over to Jashin and smiled. “It looks very nice on you.”

Jashin looked down at herself in the dress. “I suppose.” She glanced back up and smiled. “Thank you. Now I see you’re already dressed for the festivities, but as for me…” she chuckled. “If I go down there without my hair styled,  Sire Alacun will send me straight back up here until he sees I am fit for society. But as you can probably guess, I know next to nothing about styling hair.”

“I would be happy to help you.” Sabella grabbed Jashin’s wrist gently and pulled her to the vanity. “Please, sit,” she said and went in search of a brush.

Jashin followed Sabella with her eyes, trying to cross her legs though they tangled in the dress. She frowned and set her foot back on the ground with a sigh. Sabella turned with a brush and hairpins in her hands.

“Here we are,” she said as she stepped behind Jashin. Sabella worked with Jashin’s hair as if it were the easiest thing in the world, then carefully put it up into a simple bun, leaving a few strands of hair to hang down the sides of Jashin’s face. “There,” Sabella said and smiled
as she stepped off to the side. “You look beautiful.”

Jashin smiled and stood up. “As do you.” And to remind herself of her set boundaries added, “My friend.”

Sabella nodded. “We should go. We need to be there when the treaty is signed.”

“Yes of course.” Jashin grabbed her boots from the side of the bed and quickly put them on. They weren’t the shoes that were sitting in the wardrobe for her, but there was no way her feet were going into a pair of shoes with heels taller than half an inch and didn’t secure with
laces. “Let’s hurry then,” she said as they left the room.

“There you are!” a voice called out and the two girls turned to see a very clearly stressed Arri rushing towards them. His hair was disheveled, and his neck ruffle was askew.

Jashin laughed and fixed his attire once he was close enough. “Arri, honestly, you worry too much,” she said. She smoothed his hair back, then held his face in her hands. The moment her hands touched him, it was as though all of his stress was gone. “Try to relax? I may not show
it as much as you, but I do worry about you.”

Arri sighed and took Jashin’s hands in his own. “I just wish you would take things more seriously.”

“How about this?” Jashin started. “You relax and don’t stress for the rest of the night and I will share at least one dance with you.”

Arri pulled back quickly and coughed into his hand. “Really Jashin, just get down to the ballroom balcony,” he said and turned to leave the way he came. “But I will hold you to that promise,” he whispered, with pink in his cheeks, then hurried off down the hall.

Jashin shook her head and turned back to Sabella, who had an odd, sad look on her face.

“He loves you.”

Jashin sighed and nodded. “Unfortunately he thinks so.”

“What do you mean by that? That seems so…”

“I don’t mean to sound cruel.” Jashin said softly. “But Arri is like an older brother, and I just don’t have romantic feelings towards him. He knows that, but still he tries…he’s lost in his own
labyrinth right now” a solemn smile graced her lips. “We all hope he finds the center someday soon.”

“That seems so sad.” Sabella said quietly.

“Unrequited fictitious love usually is.” Jashin sighed. “We should go. We’ll both get scolded if we don’t hurry.” She smiled and started to jog down the hallway and grabbed Sabella’s hand. In the short amount of time they had known each other, their skin had touched several times, but when their hands touched this time, it was like a bolt of lightning rushed through the both of them. They both gasped, Sabella’s more audible than Jashin’s. Blue eyes met green, both filled with equal shock. Jashin pulled her hand from Sabella’s quickly and tried to calm her breathing.

“What—”

“Please excuse me, I must meet with Sire Alacun.” The vampire said hastily and ran off, leaving Sabella standing confused in the middle of the hall. Jashin ran until she had to ask a servant
where the King and Alacun were, finally bursting into the study where Alacun and George were preparing for the evenings speeches.

 

         Hi there, my name is Joette! My journey as a writer started way back when in 6th grade with a story about two girls fighting off robbers at Kings Island. Writing that story sparked something in me, and soon I was rarely seen without a notebook and pen. The 1994 movie Interview with the Vampire added to that spark, and that led me all the way here.

          My love for writing followed me into high school, where I worked hard so that my senior year could be almost all writing and literature classes. Then I went to college, where, after a year and a half as a secondary education major, I switched to creative writing.

          I currently live in Ohio with my wife and our daughter, two rambunctious corgis, a temperamental tortoiseshell cat, and our braincell-less orange cat. I spend my spare time playing Dungeons & Dragons, sewing, taking photos, and reading copious amounts of Brandon Sanderson novels.

Meet my current design partners!

Cover design by Nadinne Neira

Character art by Jaivin McCoy.