The Progeny (The Progeny Series) (32 page)

Acknowledgments

In October of 2010, I began planning a project that I never thought I’d ever actually write. It started with some notes, research about the Salem witch trials and two names—Ascher and Shauna. It grew, thrived and became something that I never would’ve dreamed possible. Mostly a poet and songwriter before now, I never thought myself patient enough to write a novel.

I’d like to thank Novel Concept Publishing, and more specifically J.E. Taylor, for seeing what I always knew existed in the pages of The Progeny.
You jumped right in and felt my characters as if they were your own. You’ve pushed me, making me stretch my imagination and really become one with Ascher and Shauna. Thank you for your advice, input but most importantly the chance to bring Ascher and Shauna to the world.

To Lenore Elliott: You are my wicked, awesome “Knightess in Shimmering Armor.” I’m not sure if I would’ve jumped back on the horse, were it not for you. You gave me a moment to lick my wounds then told me to get my butt back up and press on. You’re a damned good author, but an equally wonderful person.
There simply aren’t enough words...

To Lisa Shalek: You must have
focus of steel. Thanks for fact checking me, giving me quirky bits of trivia, and scolding me when I needed a good lashing.

To my husband, Mark: Thanks for sharing me with my characters and for encouraging me when things looked dim. You’ve been an endless well of support, love and the voice of reason when I almost quit.

To my son, Jerome: You’ve taught me what it is to be truly brave in the face of uncertainty and adversity. I love you.

To my platinum friend, Tabetha “Tabby” Kennedy: I don’t have to talk to you every day to know that you’re with me. You
’ve been one of my biggest cheerleaders, and a
very
bad influence since seventh grade. Blood doesn’t make a sister. Your loyalty has made you mine.

To Mickey Shadd: You’re the brother I never had and one of the nicest and most genuine people I’ve ever known.

To Michael Landers: You are wise. I take from you a wealth of knowledge that both enriches me and teaches me about life. I know paranormal wasn’t really your thing, but you toughed it out and cold read for me. Many thanks for your support.

To my cheer squad in CCR—Sonya, Jolean and Tina: Ya’ll encourage, inspire, and motivate me to keep driving. It gets hard sometimes, but I know that I can always depend on you to drop a nugget of wisdom, tell a funny story, or just plain listen to me whine when I need to.

To Amanda Cochrane: You’ve been there from day one, when Ascher and Shauna were just names and ideas in my head, cheering me on and supporting me. Thanks for reading until your eyes crossed and listening to me whine about
all
of my characters. Most of all, thanks for understanding my need to write what I do.

To Brandi Kucko: I miss you crazy girl! You’ve been extra ears, eyes and a mind (when I lost mine during The Progeny’s development). Thanks for loving Ascher and Shauna as much as I do. I’m sure I shocked and confused you. Thanks also for introducing me to your sister—the best darn
cover artist in existence.

To one of the most talented cover artists, Faleasha Myers: Thanks so much for your expertise and beautiful inspiration. Your artwork breathed an unbelievable life into Ascher and Shauna, helping me to envision them
fully.

To Kayden McLeod: You’re ridiculous. How many hats can one person wear
, and remain so focused? Thanks for cleaning up the blog—you know it needed it, because it was jacked up—and for the beautiful likenesses of my characters.

To Trent
Kinsey: You are a coding and web designing god! Thanks so much for launching the site and being so flexible with the updates. I’m in awe and eternally grateful.

To Shauni from Tea and Book: Thanks for giving me the type of review that shook me to my core, but also inspired me to be better.

To Sharree Taylor: You have the healing touch. My hair and I thank you!

To my readers: This is a revamp of book one and I thank you for the kind emails, the funny comments, and the outpouring of support. You guys are so awesome! This revamping is all about giving you a story that you’ll want to read again and again, for many years to come. I hope you enjoy it and continue along this journey with me. I wish I could hug each of you.

It
continues to be an awesome ride!

About A
SHLYNNE LAYNNE

Ashlynne Laynne is a wife, full time employee and the mother of one “very special” son. Her laptop in hand, she navigates life, finding inspiration for her novels. Writing gives her a sense of tranquility and solace. She often dreams scenes that become storylines for her characters. Her life- long aspiration is to write full time.

Ashlynne lives in North Carolina with her husband and teenage son

If you liked
THE PROGENY, check out the next book in The Progeny series…

BLOOD BONDS:

BLOOD BONDS by Ashlynne Laynne

The ties that bind two hearts are powerful. For Ascher Rousseau and Shauna McCutchin, it’s more than just a blood bond. Their union is that of vampire legend. Their love is a predestined prophecy foretold centuries ago.

It’s a week before Ascher and Shauna's sealing and the couple is making final preparations for their eternity, but Ascher's ex has other plans. Ursula is hell-bent on revenge—revenge fueled by lover's scorn and her father's death—and she begins breeding a fresh army of newborn darklings to do her bidding.

When Ursula finds
a new weapon—an ally with the capability to dismantle the Rousseau clan—Ascher and Shauna's bond is tested and they must stand together against Ursula or lose each other for eternity.

Excerpt from BLOOD BONDS:

Ascher and Shauna sat facing one another, hands clasped, their gazes locked and searching for the undying devotion and love in each other’s eyes. He
leaned into her, drawing her into his embrace, inhaling the sweetness of her hair—one of his favorite past times. The new information had to be disconcerting for her. His life had been one prediction after another.

He spent much of his existence minding the covenants and adhering to a prophecy that turned out to be false.
Quickening was the only proof he needed to affirm his decision. Anything else was an afterthought and he’d treat it as such. He pulled her closer to gauge her pulse and breathing. “You’re quiet. Are you okay? Do you need someone to check you out?”

Sh
auna sighed heavily, snuggling closer to him. “Can Zion be trusted? Klaus professed a false prophecy. Who says this isn’t one, as well?”

He knew
she was overwhelmed by everything—the prophecy, the sealing, their wedding. “Imagine how I feel. This is the second time someone has placed a sealing prophecy on my shoulders. I don’t know if it’s true and I don’t care, because no one can dictate to me what’s in my heart.”

“Which is?”

“That you’re the perfect one for me always, until the end of eternity and I don’t need some ancient prediction to tell me that.”

Their int
ense glances met and he saw the uncertainty burning back at him from her eyes.

“Something else is wrong. What is it, Shauna?”

She stared down, twisting her fingers together in her lap.

Placing a comforting hand against her face, he lifted her chin up to meet his gaze. “Eyes up,” he whispered. “What is it, really?”

“I had a bad dream last night,” Shauna managed to squeak out.

“About?”

“The baby.”

Ascher knew she still dreamed of the baby that would never be. He often thought of him, too, wondering what Shauna would look like swollen with pregnancy, or what the child would have been like. Once or twice, he’d even dreamed of a precious little angel with jet-black hair, a flushed, tanned complexion and the most beautiful dark eyes. He’d hold on to that image until he held a baby in his arms to complete it.

“If I had not miscarried, I’d be showing by now.” She trailed her hand across her flat stomach as the tears spilled over in her eyes.

Ascher grabbed her, holding her to him as the grief vibrated throughout her body. “It’s okay,” he whispered in her ear. “It’s okay to be sad, love.”

She nudged her face into his gray sweater. “Sometimes I feel so empty and it hurts me so much, Ash. I think about the baby every day, wondering if I could have done anything different. I had to save my sister; I couldn’t let Ursula kill her.”

He set her away from him, shaking his head with disapproval and placing a silencing finger to her lips. “Shhh...Sweetheart. What happened was not your fault. We’ve been over this before.” He stroked her cheek with his
thumbs to wipe the tears from her weary face.

Ascher gazed into her sorrowful eyes and saw the raw emotion reflecting from them. He imagined that if he were able to cry he’d have cried a river over their loss. Sometimes, he wished he could cry to release some of the rage that he held pinned inside of him. Losing that baby cut him deep, like a knife slicing his heart into millions of pieces. He didn’t know anything could ever wound him so much, and yet the only thing that could hurt him more would be the loss of Shauna.

Ursula had it coming for her part in their misery. That bitch was on borrowed time and the payback hourglass was almost empty. He shoved down the growl begging to surface from his depths, until it rumbled and burned hot in his belly. Ascher embraced Shauna again, strumming his fingers through her hair and thinking about his revenge. The telltale pulsing deep inside him finally made it to his eyes, tinting the lush green landscape blood red with his ire. He would get satisfaction for the shedding of Rousseau blood.

A wave of sadness crested within him and replaced the anger, sweeping through him like an emotional tidal wave. He held her tighter to comfort her and to hide the rage burning in his eyes, as his right hand joined hers to caress her vacant stomach. They sat seeking the comfort of one another’s embrace, the only sounds their breathing and Shauna’s muffled cries against his chest as the warm wind rustled in the trees surrounding them.

When the crimson left his sight, he brought his hand under her chin lifting her face to meet his heavyhearted gaze. Placing his hand over her stomach again, he whispered, “We will make another life, Shauna, when you’re ready.”

Check out some of the other erotic titles available through Novel Concept Publishing:

SURVIVAL GAMES by J.E. Taylor

Until he snatches sexy stock jock Jessica Connor, Ty Aris happily followed his stepbrother’s orders, producing some of the most coveted black market porn and snuff films on the street. But the day he grabs her in the parking lot, his life becomes a living nightmare.

Jessica foils his plans, fires his passion, and frustrates the hell out of him. She never gives in to his demands, his pleas or his desires, and yet a psychic bond claims his soul and melts the iron walls around his heart. His obsession sparks a fierce rift when Frank wants to start filming. Ty stalls with any and every excuse in the book, fueling Frank’s fury, but he knows it’s only a matter of time before he loses this game.

With the clock ticking, he scrambles for escape options.

Options that won’t land him in jail...or worse...a captive in Frank’s sadistic prison.

“From the beginning, the book was captivating, the characters well described and the unrolling of the story; without flaw. Reading this book felt like I was in a whirl wind of emotions; hate, love, sadness, pain (actual physical pain in my chest) horror and arousal (the tender but rare parts in the book). I strongly suggest that you read this book, it WILL change your mentality about the fine line that separates love and hate and the extremities and sacrifices one will take for someone they love... I give this book 5 starts for forever leaving a mark on me.”
Amazon Review by Aidee Mims

“I rarely write a review, but this one kept me up nights. Nightmarishly delicious without a hint of shying away from the seductively scrumptious flavor from one page to the next. Horror, torture, hate, fear and sensuality. This story has a little bit of everything in it with the grim intensity of eliciting these emotions in the reader.”
Amazon 5 Star Review by Anna

“Horrible, kind, cruel, sick, beautiful, hideous, and so much more. Totally NOT a book for "NORMAL" readers. It covers nearly all the seven deadly sins and then some. Humanity is so ugly and complicated. This book covered a lot of the human element, its graphic truth and ugly allure.”
Amazon 5 Star Review by C. Salgado

“I was a little hesitant getting this trilogy. I read all the time - Grisham, Koontz, Clancey and many more authors. After reading the reviews, I decided I would give the books a try, partly because of the price for all three books. I was blown away! You definitely have to keep an open mind but loving and hating the villain is something that is impossible for an author to do. You want them caught, prosecuted - no matter what catch them - but the author made me hate him, love him, cry for him even laugh out loud.  I couldn't put it down until I was finished with all three.  If you don't read these books it's a loss - very much a page turner.
”
Amazon 5 Star Review by Hard To Please for the Games Trilogy (Survival Games, Mind Games and End Game).

This book is for sale to Adult Audiences Only. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes, graphic language and violence that may be considered offensive by some readers.