Blog Tour (Excerpt): Masks and Mirrors by Sue Duff

Title: Masks and Mirrors (The Weir Chronicles #2)
Author: Sue Duff
Publisher: Crosswinds Publishing
Tour Organizer: Roger Charlie
Release Date: April 2, 2015
Ian Black’s commitment to safeguarding Earth has come at a price. His career as an illusionist is at a standstill and attending to the planet’s needs has distanced him from his best friend, his guardians, and the woman he loves. When presented with an opportunity to perform, Ian seizes the chance. But moments before he takes the stage, Ian encounters the mysterious Jaered and a rebel force fighting to protect Earth alongside the Weir.

Jaered is determined to stop a malevolent Weir from releasing a drug capable of wiping out the last vestiges of their race and plunging Earth into self-destruction. But when Jaered is willing to sacrifice an innocent child to obtain the drug for himself, Ian risks everything to uncover the secrets of the rebel forces and their true intentions for Earth’s survival.

Excerpt

A scream from beyond the glass. Jaered stepped toward the window, aghast at the test subject’s transformation. The center of the man’s chest glowed crimson, bright enough to be seen through his shirt. Heated fumes emanated from every pore of his translucent skin. He pressed his head back and his mouth opened, releasing flames into the air. The man’s core burned him alive from the inside out.

Aeros’s hand dropped. Donovan crumpled to the floor, sputtering. “Delivered as promised, sire.”

Jaered focused on his father’s reflection in the glass. A smile parted Aeros’s lips as he stared at the test subject’s body engulfed in a brilliant blaze. The room filled with smoke. An alarm sounded. Overhead sprinklers kicked on and a torrential rain drenched the corpse. Aeros’s entertainment was cut short. The disappointment on his father’s face was palatable.

“I will require tremendous quantities,” Aeros said. “My legions are vast. There are many Weir Sars scattered across Earth.”

“I was under the impression there weren’t that many Pur Sars left,” Donovan said.

Cyphir grabbed the CEO by the arm and jerked him to his feet. Donovan’s face twisted. “Dare to question the master again, and you will not draw another breath,” the guard hissed. Jaered clenched his fists at the man’s naïveté. His father wouldn’t limit its use to the Pur. All Weir Sars, Pur or Duach, were viewed as a threat to Aeros’s global annihilation agenda.

“The serum is ready in its current form? Nothing further is required to mass-produce it?” Aeros said.

“No sire, unless you want to find a more suitable subject and test it further.” Donovan rubbed his sore arm.

Aeros stared at the corpse through the glass. “It will be tested soon enough.” He regarded Jaered for the first time. “You will see to it that the drug is ready for distribution within two weeks.”

Jaered cautioned himself not to appear eager. He crossed his arms and threw the CEO a hateful glare, but the frightened expressions on the cowering scientists stole the edge from his voice. “I’m not babysitting him, or his pit crew.”

“Who else knows of this?” Aeros asked.

“Only those in this room,” Donovan said without the merest hint that it was a lie.

Aeros waved his hand.

“Ugh.” Chang slumped down in his booth chair. His extremities contorted at unnatural angles. His eyes glassed over. The other scientist bolted from his seat. Cyphir reached out and grabbed his head. With a twist, the scientist’s face lined up with his back and he slumped to the floor.

Aeros brushed past Jaered. “Now, it’s manageable.”

Jaered clenched his jaw, but hid any other reaction behind the mask he wore like a second skin in his father’s presence.

A muted chime came from deep within Cyphir’s pocket. He withdrew his cell and swiped the screen.

Movement under Jaered’s feet. A ballpoint pen on the console rattled, then rolled off. One of the scientist’s chairs moved a few inches but stalled next to the man’s corpse. The puddles of water in the test room beyond sloshed in a rhythmic dance.

Donovan grabbed the edge of the control panel to steady himself. “These are common in San Francisco, but the tremors are occurring a lot more frequently.”

Cyphir pocketed his cell and followed Aeros out of the control room.

Jaered stared at the pen on the floor until it stilled. His father’s draining of Earth’s core had triggered the mild quakes. Their frequency was on the rise across the globe, and soon, would begin to intensify. Jaered had lived through it before.

Once Aeros’s legions killed every last Pur and Duach Sar, there would be no stopping him from sucking the life out of Earth.

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About Book One



Title: Face to Black (The Weir Chronicles #1)
Author: Sue Duff
Publisher: Crosswinds Publishing
Release Date: October 10, 2014
Illusionist Ian Black has a talent for keeping secrets. College student Rayne Bevan has a gift for uncovering them. She suspects that the popular performer's skills extend beyond the stage and that he's the area’s mysterious and elusive defender of the innocent. In her efforts to uncover the truth, Rayne is swept into the hidden world of the Weir, a magical race who struggle to prevent Earth from self-destructing. Her inquiries expose Ian to those who would kill for his connection to the planet, and as he fights to keep Rayne, and those closest to him safe, they discover a force behind the Weir’s raging civil war—a traitor bent on launching Earth’s Armageddon.

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About the Author

Sue has been writing since high school but never became serious about it until a skiing accident laid her up for an entire summer and she turned on the word processor to combat the boredom. A couple years later, her first urban fantasy novel, Fade to Black, was a finalist in the RMFW Colorado Gold Writing Contest. By day, she’s a dedicated speech-language therapist in an inner city school district to pay the bills but her life as a writer is her true passion and the creative outlet keeps her sane.

Sue is a member of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and The Pikes Peak Writers. Her creativity extends into her garden and the culinary arts. She is the second oldest of six girls with an avid reader mom and her dad, the family’s single drop of testosterone in a sea of estrogen. Fate thought it hilarious to give her a son but maternal instincts swing both ways and she didn’t break the little bugger. She lives in Colorado with her miniature dachshund, Snickers and hears from her son, Jonathan whenever he needs something.

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