Chaos (Book 4) (The Omega Group) (20 page)
Read Chaos (Book 4) (The Omega Group) Online
Authors: Andrea Domanski
Orano lobbed another non-lethal energy ball at the cocky kid
in the Omega Group’s training center. Although his ability would be a great
addition to their team, his attitude needed a serious adjustment. Many agents
offered to take care of that particular problem over the past few months of the
kid’s training, but Myrine had yet to take them up on it.
As the boy focused on separating the molecules of the energy
ball before it hit him, Orano drilled him with a smaller one on his backside.
“Hey! That’s not fair. I wasn’t ready yet.”
“Too bad, kid. I’ve got a flight to catch.” Orano threw a
towel at the boy as he left the gym.
When the kid turned the corner he heard him mumble, “Say hi
to your girlfriend for me,
Sparkles
.”
Any other time, and he would have gladly knocked the kid
through a wall for that, but not today. He hadn’t seen Gracey in over a
month—not since her inauguration as High Priestess of the Sherwood Coven. It
had taken all of his willpower today not to walk around the building with an
ear-to-ear smile plastered on his face just at the thought of sweeping her into
his arms.
His reputation had taken enough of a hit after their mission
in Virginia Beach. The other agents no longer gave him a wide berth and
actually started inviting him to go for drinks with them. He didn’t want to
make it any worse. He grabbed his bag and headed for his car.
“Hey, Orano. Wait up a sec,” Myrine called out.
“Can it wait, Myrine? I’m officially on vacation, and I
don’t want to miss my flight.”
“Don’t worry,” his boss said. “I was just wondering if you’d
seen Myrick. I need him for a job.”
“I think he’s in the dock house. Why? Did the pool lining
get torn again?”
“Very funny. No. It’s actually a problem in the Bermuda
Triangle.”
That got Orano’s attention. “Seriously? What’s going on?”
Myrine crossed her arms over her chest. “You know all the
ships and aircraft that have disappeared there over the years? Well, they seem
to be coming back.”
The End
Thanks so much for taking the time to read
Chaos
. I
know you have no shortage of options when it comes to reading material, and I
greatly appreciate you choosing to hang out with the Omega Group in your free
time.
For those of you who have been with this series from the
very beginning, you know exactly what I’m about to ask. For those who just
began your journey with me, I have a request to make. Please take a moment to
leave a review on Amazon. I know it sounds like an insignificant thing but, for
an author, each and every one of those reviews has an enormous impact on the
success of the book. From a personal standpoint, I read every single one of
them, and the lessons I learn (what I’m doing right as well as what I’m doing
wrong) change the way I write. You can click
HERE
to leave your review if you like.
Now, on to the fun stuff. I infuse as much truth as I can into
all of my stories. For
Chaos
, the entire idea bloomed from the true
story of a woman named Grace Sherwood.
The witch trials of the late seventeenth century are
infamous. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t know about the
horrors perpetrated in Salem, Massachusetts. Yet, despite popular beliefs, many
colonies chose a different path.
Unlike Salem courts, where the accused needed to prove her
innocence, Virginia required the person bringing the accusations to prove them.
Judges and magistrates in Virginia usually dismissed the charges as
unsubstantiated, and even allowed for the accuser to be sued for slander.
During that entire period in Virginia’s history, not one witch trial ended with
a death.
All of the events mentioned in the prologue of this book are
taken from historic documents and tell the story of what happened to the real
Grace Sherwood. Well, maybe not the part about her actually being a witch and
starting the Sherwood Coven in secret. I added that myself. I’m not saying that
part’s
not
true, just that it’s not in any documents that I could find.
But, for my purposes, I really want it to be true.
Speaking of finding the truth, when it comes to witchcraft,
it is an incredibly difficult thing to do. When I’m writing a book, I spend an
enormous amount of time doing research. I need details on everything from
street names to historical figures to weather patterns to, well, everything.
I’ll spend hours poring over articles, news clippings, videos, and pictures.
Oh, and on a side note, I have no idea how authors were able to do all of that
before the internet. Kudos to them.
In the case of researching witchcraft, I ran into a serious
problem. There was just too much information out there. It seemed as though
everyone had an opinion on what witchcraft was, what it entailed, and who could
wield it. I was lost in a sea of contradictions with no yardstick by which to
measure.
After visiting hundreds of websites, one kept drawing me
back. I can’t explain why, but I somehow knew it would be the site to help me.
Then, after hours of clicking from one page to the next, feeling like a second
grader sitting in on a high school physics class, I gave up. I clicked the
“contact” button and sent an email to whomever it was that ran the site,
introducing myself and asking for help.
And this is how I met a real life witch. Not the curious
college student who sits in circles chanting prayers to Mother Earth while
updating her Facebook profile to say Wiccan, but an honest-to-goodness,
born-and-raised, magic-wielding, hereditary Celtic witch.
She goes by the name Lady of the Abyss, and she became an
invaluable resource. Her expertise spans not only the Craft, but also Wicca,
Druidism, Hoodoo, Santeria, Voodoo, and so much more. I inundated her with
questions at every turn, and she took the time to answer every one of them,
showing a level of patience I wish I possessed. Her generosity, honesty, and
willingness to share deeply personal information with me was a gift I’ll never
be able to repay. Please understand that any inaccuracies in my story with
regard to witchcraft are my doing, not hers. Sometimes I needed to take
liberties.
If you’re interested in the subject of real witchcraft,
please visit her website at
www.witchesofthecraft.com
.
I promise, you won’t be disappointed.
As for the truth behind Coronal Mass Ejections, well, that
stuff really does happen. The Carrington Event of 1859 that Julian mentioned
happen exactly the way he described it. We took a direct hit from a huge CME and
had the largest geomagnetic storm in recorded history. If something of that
magnitude were to happen today—in a world reliant on electricity—it would be
absolutely devastating. I only hope there are no High Priestesses with the same
idea as our Tori.
I want to thank those of you who entered my Name a Character
After Me contest. We had a few winners in
Chaos.
In fact, the entire
inner circle of Sherwood coven, Tori Houlton, Liza Sims, Nicole Burns, and Joy
Remson, are real people. I hope you enjoyed your brief foray into the wonderful
world of witchcraft, and I’m sorry Gracey and Orano had to foil your evil plan.
As always, it takes a village to write a book or, in my
case, a small army. The
WorldWiseWriters
group have become, cliché as it may sound, a second family to me. They are Rowanna
Green, Hannah Sullivan, JD Faulkner, Jacky Gray, and SM Freedman. Their
brilliance and humor keep me going every day.
Pat Mason and Tom Haase, my weekly coffee mates, push me
(sometimes kicking and screaming) through the many episodes of writer’s block I
have to contend with. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have finished
Chaos
until I was old and gray without their encouragement.
And, of course, my wonderful husband and our two amazing
children. They tell me I’m brilliant even when I’m not, and support me with
their unconditional love. I’m a very lucky woman.
As I’m sure you figured out from the Epilogue, the next installment
of the Omega Group series is underway. Please sign up for my newsletter if
you’d like to be notified of new releases (often with special deals available
only to my subscribers) by clicking
HERE
.
Thank you again for reading
Chaos.
I can’t wait to
read your review and see your name in the Name a Character After Me contest. If
you have any questions or comments, shoot me an email. I answer them all
personally.
All the best to you,
Andrea
Web Info
www.Facebook.com/AndreaDomanskiAuthor
www.Amazon.com/Author/AndreaDomanski
https://twitter.com/andrea_domanski
The Omega Group Series
Born and raised near
Toronto, Canada, Andrea Domanski moved south to get away from the snow and cold
when she was 24 years old. She now lives in Savannah, Georgia with her husband
Mark, their two children, and their goldendoodle.
After selling her
business in 2012, Andrea focused her energies on raising her two children and
finding a new career path that excited her. It wasn’t long before she decided
that writing a novel—something she’d always wanted to do—would be her next big
adventure.
Andrea is a member of the
WorldWiseWriters group and is currently working on the next book in her Omega
Group series.
