Title: Empath
(The Empath Trilogy)
Author: HK
Savage
Genre: Mature
YA
Publisher:
Staccato Publishing
Reveal Host: Lady
Amber's Tours
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Book
Description from Empath:
All she wanted was to disappear…
Claire Martin is an empath. She’s lived her entire life as a slave to a constant barrage of emotions that weren't hers. Off to college she hopes simply to blend with the crowd where she can best hide her curse. Within her first few weeks at school Claire meets Stephen Andrews, a small, fragile looking boy who changes her life forever.
Stephen, a boy with a secret of his own, instantly recognizes Claire for what she is. It is through Stephen's aid that Claire meets James, a vampire with a talent of his own. As soon as they touch, their abilities connect in a way that has not occurred in over three hundred years forming a bond that cannot be broken.
Claire Martin is an empath. She’s lived her entire life as a slave to a constant barrage of emotions that weren't hers. Off to college she hopes simply to blend with the crowd where she can best hide her curse. Within her first few weeks at school Claire meets Stephen Andrews, a small, fragile looking boy who changes her life forever.
Stephen, a boy with a secret of his own, instantly recognizes Claire for what she is. It is through Stephen's aid that Claire meets James, a vampire with a talent of his own. As soon as they touch, their abilities connect in a way that has not occurred in over three hundred years forming a bond that cannot be broken.
Excerpt:
James stood and put his right hand into the air separating
our bodies. I looked at it and snapped back up in alarm. “What do you want me
to do with that?” My heart started to race. We couldn't touch. What if
he could sense how he affected me? He could do whatever he wanted then and he
could just tell Troy and Stephen I’d gone willingly to the slaughter. It would
be easy to get me to mirror his thirst.
“I will shield you myself and take it down a little at a
time as you learn to pick it up your own. But I will need to know how your
ability functions to better work with it. I sense people’s talents, but need to
touch you in order to do so. Each person’s is different. I cannot help you to
contain or manipulate yours if I don’t know the peculiarities of it.” He held
his hand out palm up and wiggled his fingers playfully at me, a grin crept back
into his eyes. “You will have to trust me.”
89I stood too, wiping my now sweating palms on my pants,
glad I had picked the jeans. They hid the marks so much better than khakis. I
raised my right hand and held it palm down a few inches from his. Our bodies
were little over a foot apart and my heart started hammering in my chest. My
stomach was fluttering and I felt the sweat beading on my back and under my
arms. I thought I was having an anxiety attack.
His face was calmly watching mine like this was the most
normal thing. “You must learn to settle yourself, we haven’t even tried our
first experiment yet.”
“Give me a moment.” I closed my eyes so that I couldn't see
him, then I concentrated on my breathing. With all of my issues I had spent a
good amount of time practicing deep breathing and meditation. Taking this
moment to “find my breath” as my books had instructed, I found my heart rate
coming down and my body responding to my wishes. I reopened my eyes, my body firmly
back under control.
James stood exactly as before with a pleased expression.
“That was good, Claire. Are you ready to begin then?”
Too frightened to speak, I merely nodded and licked my
suddenly dry lips.
Much like my earlier confession, I watched his hand moving
toward my own except I felt like it was someone else’s. Mine was some
stranger’s body and I was standing beside her, seeing this from the outside.
When our palms were about an inch apart, I felt the hum begin, lower and
quieter than I was used to. He was different than a human.
My eyes sought his. They quickly became my gyroscope,
helping me balance here in this strangest of situations. He saw my surprised
reaction to his feel.
“I will be easier to work with because I am not human. My
emotions are much more fleeting and almost feel...” Here he became uncertain
for the first time since I had met him. “I guess you would say that my body has
been dead for so long that my human emotions have dulled. They are in my head,
but do not affect my body as your kind’s do.”
Hmm, that was curious. I felt it building, the unstoppable
urge to touch him. He’d said no harm would come and that he would help shield
me, plus I had to put my hands on his. Again I felt that inexplicable pull
toward him, but now it was total. The tug was in my head, in my stomach. I
could feel it even in my very skin.
Dropping my resistance, I brought my hand down onto his,
lightly then more firmly. I knew instantly that it was too much too soon. His
feelings rushed up to me. They were so fast and fleeting that it was hard to
focus on what I was getting as they flooded into me. With an incredible sense
of relief I also found that with them shifting so quickly they were easy to
block. It was like I had a box of his emotional “thoughts” and they were
wrapped up with enough cotton that I could choose which one I wanted to grab
and analyze once I got used to the pace.
I caught glimpses of faces and places from different times
go flashing past me. Fascinating. Would I be able to do this when my training
was complete?
Almost as rapidly as I had begun to read him, James pulled
his hand back and put it in his pocket. He was breathing hard and his eyes were
dark again.
Follow the trilogy:
Bonded
Secrets
Secrets
Be sure to check out
the other books by HK Savage:
Life Blood
Blood Bound
Blood Bound
Author Bio:
HK Savage has been a voracious reader of anything she could
get her hands on going back to the second grade when she would set her alarm
two hours early to read before school. Her passion for the written word has
continued and flowed into writing going back nearly as far. Her books have fans
in twenty countries on six continents with hopes of attracting attention on
Antarctica if for no other reason than to check a box.
Currently, HK is a mother, wife and black belt in Karate as well as an avid dressage rider. Her three dogs: a Doberman she uses for therapy dog work and two ancient Doxies keep her busy when she is not writing or working or whatever else.
In addition to editing for the past ten years in advertising, HK has been an editor for several newsletters over the years; her favorite being for Heifer International where her ideas were put into effect and complimented by those on high. Currently her skills are being focused on clients in the writing world.
Paranormal is her favorite genre and science fiction because both address the possibilities we have not yet realized and the darker things we have. Her favorite premise: “what if?”
Currently, HK is a mother, wife and black belt in Karate as well as an avid dressage rider. Her three dogs: a Doberman she uses for therapy dog work and two ancient Doxies keep her busy when she is not writing or working or whatever else.
In addition to editing for the past ten years in advertising, HK has been an editor for several newsletters over the years; her favorite being for Heifer International where her ideas were put into effect and complimented by those on high. Currently her skills are being focused on clients in the writing world.
Paranormal is her favorite genre and science fiction because both address the possibilities we have not yet realized and the darker things we have. Her favorite premise: “what if?”
Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HKSavage
Blog: http://www.hksavage.com/
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