Title: Sūnder
Author: Lexi Ander
Series: Darksoul #1
Release
Date: September 4th 2017
Word
Count: 120,000 words
Cover
Artist: Kirby Crow
Categories: Romance / Gay / Paranormal / Urban Fantasy / Futuristic Sci-Fi
BLURB
If Sūnder Alārd was
born female he would have been cherished for being faeborn—born with magick—and
his birth celebrated. Instead, his L’fÿn mother insisted on his death. Only his
Panthrÿn father’s desperate escape through the forest saved him.
With most
Chándariāns uneasy in his presence due to rumors he is doomed to become a
darksoul, and unlikely to find a mate because of it, Sūnder has nevertheless
carved out an honorable existence as a warrior and commander. Serving as a
bodyguard and chaperone, Sūnder accompanies the Chándariān prince to the annual
mating festival on Earth, and when the prince is injured, he can’t help but be
fascinated by the tongue-tied nurse who attends them at the hospital.
At sixteen years of
age, Gabriel St. Baptista came home to discover his parents had taken off into
space, leaving him behind to look after himself. Gabe never recovered from the
unexpected desertion, and keeps everyone at arm’s length to avoid the pain of
being abandoned again. However, after meeting Sūnder, Gabe finds himself unable
to resist the bond between them and breaks his carefully crafted rules to spend
time with the Chándariāns, regardless of the fact that Sūnder will soon leave.
Scared by what he feels for Sūnder, Gabe can only hope his heart won’t be too
broken when Sūnder returns to Chándaria.
But deceit and
treachery surrounds them both, and when Gabe saves Sūnder’s life, it sets off a
chain of events that could either tear Gabe and Sūnder apart… or give them both
exactly what they want.
Find Sūnder on Goodreads
EXCERPT
The bark of the
tree he hid behind exploded. Valiant flinched, hunching his shoulders to shield
his fragile burden. Splinters lodged in his exposed skin, thankfully leaving
the babe unharmed. His energy flagged, but if he pushed himself a little harder
he could reach the field where the rest of his knights awaited with the
hovercrafts. Panting heavily, he pushed off the tree and ran as fast as he
could. If not for the fragile treasure in his arms, Valiant would have taken to
the trees where, as a Panthrÿn, he’d make better time. Not that speed mattered.
The Jade Forest belonged to the L’fÿns, and they were far more familiar with
these woods than he. Instead, he relied on his battle-honed reflexes to keep
him ahead of his persistent pursuers.
He ducked and spun
left, the next stunner blast missing him as his keen hearing saved him once
again. Had his bodyguards all fallen to the L’fÿns of Nellá? He heard people
following him but couldn’t risk stopping to verify whether the pursuers were
his Panthrÿn knights or L’fÿn. The babe he clutched to his chest had been
silent since Valiant picked him up. Had the newborn died, making his
precipitous escape through the Jade Forest unnecessary?
Valiant could
hardly believe he ran from his wife and her people. L’fÿns were a peaceful
race, the arranged marriage between his family and the L’fÿns of Nellá an
age-old tradition that had begun with a peace treaty centuries ago. Valiant
hadn’t fallen in love with Tālia, but he’d been fond of her and valued her friendship.
That she became pregnant within the first season of their nuptials had been a
sign from the Gods. On the eve of the birth, they’d left the capital of Wūxbury
and traveled to Tālia’s homeland so the babe would be born near the forest, as
was L’fÿn tradition.
All had gone well,
or so Valiant thought—he’d been pacing anxiously in the hallway—until the child
was born and wails of sorrow were raised within Tālia’s chamber. Her attendants
burst from the enclosed room, jostling him in their haste to leave. Certain the
newborn had passed through the veil—for what else could cause such a
commotion?—he rushed into the birthing chamber to… discover the boy alive,
whole, seemingly hale, and… on the floor? Alarmed, Valiant bent to pick the
child up.
“No, Valiant, don’t
touch it,” Tālia choked out, her hand held up beseechingly. Grief ravaged her
delicate features, her cheeks painted with silver tears as she lay in the bed,
propped up on a mound of lavishly embroidered pillows. Her cornsilk hair was
bound high on her head, the loose tendrils plastered to her sweat-slick coral
skin attesting to the strain of childbirth.
Ignoring her plea,
Valiant lifted the babe, cradling him carefully in his arms as he fought the
anger he felt at his son’s treatment. The boy’s unusual gaze caught and held
his. Brilliant, royal blue eyes were each red-ringed, the vibrant crimson color
matching that of his already thick mane. Like both his Panthrÿn and L’fÿn
parents the child was smooth-skinned, but darker than Valiant had expected,
considering his mother. Some called L’fÿns “The Golden” because their skin
tones were vibrant coral hues and their hair some shade of white, gold, or
bronze, although a small portion of the L’fÿn population—dròw—were between a
dark gray and deepest black in color. Other than the child’s skin tone, pointed
ears, and the slightly tilted angle of his L’fÿn-shaped eyes, the babe’s more
prominent features were all Panthrÿn. The retractable claws, rosettes on his
torso, ridges down the bridge of his nose, and long tail all favored Valiant’s
side of the family.
The inherent power
of an alpha emanated from his son, which pleased Valiant mightily, but he also
felt something else within the boy, something unexpected. Surprised, he glanced
at Tālia, stating proudly, “He has magick.”
Tālia cried harder.
“I don’t
understand.” Valiant sensed nothing wrong with the babe, so why were Tālia and
her household filled with such sorrow? “Why do you weep so? He is a beautiful
child who shall clearly grow into a powerful male.”
“He is faeborn.”
Tālia’s voice broke, and she stifled a sob.
Tālia had spoken
glowingly of the treasured faeborn children, coddled and spoiled, given
everything they wanted. For an L’fÿn dròw to be called faeborn, magick must
rest within them at birth. Instead of being born with an L’fÿn’s light-colored
hair, faeborn were crowned by brilliant hues found only in nature. These
children grew to become healers, druids, or rangers, occupations of great
importance because they were the only ones other L’fÿns trusted to broker peace
and settle disputes. How was their son’s magick not wondrous?
“This is an
incredible thing,” Valiant argued. “How can you be upset at such good fortune?”
Tālia shook her
head, her copper eyes glistening with unshed tears. “He is a dròw male. Faeborn should only be female,
never male. Faeborn males crave violence, blood, and war. He— It is an abomination. Father shall fetch
the High Druid. She will deal with it.”
Giveaway: Win 3 x Sunder Paperbacks
About the Author
Lexi has always been an avid reader, and at a
young age started reading (secretly) her mother’s romances (the ones she was
told not to touch). She was the only teenager she knew of who would be grounded
from reading. Later, with a pencil and a note book, she wrote her own stories
and shared them with friends because she loved to see their reactions. A Texas
transplant, Lexi now kicks her boots up in the Midwest with her Yankee husband
and her eighty-pound puppies named after vacuum cleaners.
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