Book Title: Elex: Sons of Hecate Volume I
Author and Publisher: Mellanie Rourke
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Release Date: December 26, 2023
Genres: Dark Romance, Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Tropes: Hurt/Comfort
Themes: Overcoming adversity, rags to riches
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 92 000 words/320 pages
It is a standalone story and first in a series. The other books will be coming out in 2024.
It does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Alone, they are victims. Together, they may topple an empire.
Blurb
Elex is a slave even though his father is King of Alexandria. Disinherited once his elemental magic developed, he was banished to the Alexandrian Legion to “learn his place” at the non-existent mercies of his new masters. Humiliated and abused, he learns the hard way that he can’t always protect the ones he loves.
Now the time of the Machi Thanatos approaches, a deadly competition where Legionnaires must battle their foes and each other for the dubious honor of a lifetime of slavery at the hands of Elusians, Alexandrians with the ability to control Elex and his fellow Mageians by Suppressing their ability to use magic.
Elex will fight to the death to protect himself and those he loves, but during the Machi he meets Helios, a shapeshifting Soma from the rebel country of Illyria. Helios will fight for what he loves, too, and this savagely fierce little Mageian is quickly adding his name to that list.
Separately they are two victims of the whims of Alexandrian Elusians. Together, they may discover a secret that could topple an empire.
Hel and I set out the next morning to search the city for more Mageia. We left V at the camp. He had tried to hide it, but I’d seen the dark circles under his eyes. He needed the rest.
We had been most of the day a few miles from the base, tracking signs of some Mageia Hel had caught a trace of. We mostly moved in companionable silence, so I was startled when Hel spoke, his voice raspy.
“So, you owe me, Kat,” he said, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
“Owe you what?” I asked suspiciously.
“Some truth,” he said, side eying me, a look of mischief on his face. “I believe our deal was that I would get the truth for any questions you lied about, and you lied about everything.”
I sighed. I had hoped that he was going to forget about that part of the conversation, but apparently not.
“Fine,” I grumbled. A deal was a deal, and besides, he’d know if I was lying anyway. “What do you want to know?”
“Let’s start out with the easiest one. What’s V’s favorite weapon?”
I grinned. Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as I thought.
“That is the easiest question. His favorite weapon is his mind,” I responded. “V would rather think himself out of a situation than have to hurt anyone. He’s one of the smartest people I know.”
Hel nodded. “He seems to be a natural collaborator. He tends to bring people together. I’ve seen it already,” he said.
“He would have made a great King.”
“King?” Hel asked, freezing in place.
“Yeah. He wasn’t always Vlakas. His original name was Prince Lucien Alexus the First, son of King Cyrius Alexus and Queen Eurymenye Atropos,” I said. “If he hadn’t become Mageian, he could have been the heir to the throne instead of our half-brother, Maalik.”
Hel didn’t say anything for long moments, his silver eyes searching my face.
“That means…” he began, his voice trailing off.
“Yep. Dear old Dad raped my mother and got her pregnant after he enslaved her,” I said bitterly.
“So you’re both princes?” He asked, moving forward again, picking his way through the dense foliage between two buildings.
“Fuck, no,” I said. “I was the brat of a slave. Maybe if I had developed Elusian powers I could have been an heir, but that never happened.”
“Wait, so if you are both sons of the King, then Davidus is your brother?”
It was my turn to freeze.
“You know Davidus?” I demanded, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a halt. “How? Where is he? Is he okay?”
The same shock shot through me that happened any time our skin touched, and I dropped his arm quickly. The panic in my face must have been evident because he quickly moved to reassure me.
“Last I heard, he was fine. He was the first Mageia I met that would give me a chance. He went with the first group back to Nymphaeum.”
“More woven threads,” I said, though I wasn’t sure exactly why. “You have to tell me the story.”
“It’s getting dark. I have a bolt hole near here that’s safe. Rather than risking moving at night why don’t we make camp? I can tell you the rest,” he said.
Hel led the way through a maze of streets and alleys. Once or twice he pointed out signs of movement through the streets: some disturbed foliage, overturned wooden pallets with varying degrees of weathering, and once even the wrapper from one of the packaged food containers distributed to Legionnaires.
When we finally got to the building, it was not what I had expected. I had thought it would be something similar to the underground sewers. Instead, he led me up the interior of a building to the topmost floors.
As we walked out of the stairway he must have noticed my cautious look.
“It’s safe. I would know if anyone had been up here,” he said.
The room was filled with the dying light of the sunset. Tall glass windows surrounded us on all sides, even above. Only a few at the very top were broken. The temperature in the room was several degrees warmer than it had been outside, which was good, because it had been getting pretty chilly.
All around us were an abundance of plants. Miniature trees rustled with the sounds of birds and the wind hushed gently through the leaves. The scent of flowers filled the room. I wasn’t sure where exactly the scent was coming from because there flowers everywhere. Flowers of every color, shape and size filled the room, giving off a bouquet of rich floral scents that all blended together.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered, gazing around in wonder.
Mellanie Rourke lives in Akron, Ohio with her spouse and their furry menagerie of 3 young adult roommates (because ‘they aren’t kids anymore’), two dogs, three cats, and five ferrets.
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