L.J.K. Oliva - Season of the Witch

Season Of The Witch
Shades Below
Book 1.5
L.J.K. Oliva
 
Genre: urban fantasy/paranormal romance
 
Date of Publication: Oct. 1, 2015
 
Word Count: 99,733
 
Cover Artist: Amy Mateyka
 
Book Description:
 
Something wicked this way comes...well, more wicked than usual.
 
Georgia Clare needs help, and fast.  As the lone survivor of—and witness to—her coven's brutal massacre, she's felt the killer hunting her.  There's just one problem: the rest of San Francisco's witching community wants nothing to do with her, and the one man she can turn to doesn't do witches.
 
Darius deCompostela has done his best to steer clear of subversive affairs.  A private investigator and reluctant medium, the last thing he wants is to advertise his existence to the things that go bump in the night.  But then Georgia knocks on his door, and try as he might, he can't turn her away.
 
It's just one case, after all.  It's not like it's going to change his life…
 
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Excerpt 1
 
It was her third night in a row of frozen pasta for dinner.  Not that she was counting.
Georgia popped the top off yet another bottle of Corona and took a long draw.  She leaned back against the counter.  The microwave hummed behind her.  She glanced over her shoulder at the digital clock on the unused stove.  Sighed.
Nearly six o'clock, and still no sign of deCompostela.  The pang of disappointment in her chest chafed at her pride.  She should have known better than to believe he would stop by.  He'd already made it abundantly clear he thought she was out of her mind.
Truth be told, the possibility had occurred to her.  It had been a week since the new moon, and she hadn't seen hide nor hair of...it.  Whatever it was.  If not for the lingering scent of blood in her nostrils, she could almost believe she'd hallucinated the whole thing.
The microwave beeped.  Georgia took one last drag of beer, then set her bottle down next to the two that had preceded it and opened the door.  Fragrant steam rushed out; a heady blend of tomato, basil, and MSG.
Georgia reached in and grabbed the microwaveable plastic bowl, hissed and yanked her hand back again.  She scanned the kitchen for something she could use as a potholder.  Finally, she settled on a bunched-up paper towel.
The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as she pulled out the pasta bowl.  Georgia tensed, turned...
...Just in time to see her living room window explode inward in a hail of glass.  She let out a startled shriek.  A massive, dark creature suddenly occupied the space where her coffee table used to sit.
Everything else seemed to happen in slow-motion.  The creature straightened, shaking shards of glass off its dull black fur.  Its ears twitched towards her.  Its lips peeled back from its razor-sharp teeth.
Georgia's chest seized.  Recognition slammed through her.  The creature snarled.  Any lingering doubts she'd been harboring instantly evaporated.
It was here.
Georgia blindly hurled her steaming pasta bowl in the direction of the living room and bolted from the kitchen.  She looked over in time to see it connect with a loud splat squarely between the intruder's eyes.  The creature howled and clawed desperately at its face.
Georgia didn't wait for it to recover.  Her altar.  If she could just get to her altar, she could banish the ugly fucker and buy herself some time.
The creature was planted in the dead center of the straightest path across the living room.  Georgia veered wide.  She had almost cleared the front door when it flew open in a barrage of splinters.  Someone barreled into her.  They both sprawled to the ground.
The new intruder landed on top.  Georgia hissed, bucked, clawed at anything she could reach.  Her mystery assailant scrambled off her.
"Jesus Christ, would you calm down, you crazy—what the f*ck?"
deCompostela.  Georgia didn't let herself pause to feel relief.  She rolled to her feet, grabbed his hand and dragged him after her.  They dove behind her sagging couch just as the creature regained its bearings.  It threw back its head and let out a roar that shook her remaining windows.
Darius sniffed.  "Is that tomato sauce?"
Georgia didn't answer.  Her focus was squarely on her altar again.  It was still too far away.  "Wait here."
"What—"
She leaped to her feet.  The creature's eyes locked on her.  Georgia swallowed the terror that welled in her chest and sprinted for the altar.  She skidded to the floor in front of it like a baseball player sliding into home, yanked open one of the drawers and fumbled for the first items that came to mind.
The creature roared again.  A blast of superheated air hit the back of her neck.  Georgia braced for the feel of teeth around her throat.
"Right here, ugly!"
She turned in time to see Darius' massive fist catch the creature square in the nose.  The creature yelped, then retaliated with a swipe of an even-more-massive paw.  The blow swept Darius clear off his feet.  He flew backwards and hit the wall with a dull crunch, then sagged to the ground with a wheeze.  Flecks of paint and drywall fluttered to the floor around him.
But he'd bought her the time she needed.  Georgia held up her black candle and flicked her Bic lighter to life.  She touched the flame to the wick.  The creature's eyes widened.
"Black, the color of protection.  Black, the color of night."
The creature snarled.  Darius heaved himself to his feet and surged forward.  He wrapped his arms around the creature's hind legs and held tight.
"Black, the color of silence.  Black, the color of stillness."
The creature swiped at Darius again.  Its paw caught empty air where his head had been just seconds earlier.  It tried to move.  Darius' arms visibly tightened.  Muscles bunched under his suit jacket.
"With black I banish thee.  With will I banish thee." Georgia poured intent into her words.  Her voice grew heavier, fuller.  "Return to the night.  Return to the silence.  Return to the stillness.  Be gone from this place."
The creature let out a strange yelp-hiss as invisible forces compelled it to obey.  Darius released it and scrambled backwards.
Georgia lifted her chin.  Magic crackled through her veins, tinged her vision black.  "Be gone from this place," she repeated.  "With black and with will, by my power and by the power of the Lady, I banish thee.  So mote it be."  She blew out the candle.
The creature vanished in a swirl of acrid black smoke.  Its final, infuriated roar echoed through the small apartment.
Georgia finally allowed herself to breathe again.  For the first time, she realized she was coated in a fine film of glass and wood slivers.  She reached up to dust herself off, at the last minute thought better of it.
Instead, she turned to Darius.  He had hauled himself onto her sad excuse of a sofa.  His hands were planted on his knees.  He stared at the spot where the creature had last stood.
Georgia crossed her arms and cleared her throat.  She waited until he looked up at her, then arched an eyebrow.  "So.  Do you believe me now?"
 
Excerpt 2
 
She pushed through the glamour surrounding the exit, and shoved the door open.  Next thing she knew, she was in a narrow alley.  She allowed the door to slam shut behind her.  It immediately vanished into the aged brick wall.
Georgia sank against the side of the building.  She bent forward and rested her hands on her knees.  Fuck, was she stupid.  What the hell had convinced her waltzing into a floating club was a good idea?  She knew her history.  She knew what people thought of her.
She should have known better.
Something that sounded suspiciously like a door opening echoed through the alley.  Georgia hastily straightened and swiped her hands over her eyes.  A second later, Darius was standing next to her.  His eyes looked glazed, his face heavy.  He shook himself hard.
Georgia pressed her lips together and turned.
"Wait."  The word sounded slurred.
Georgia ignored the twinge in her chest.  "Forget it."
"Georgia, wait."
A hand closed around her arm.  Georgia yanked free.  Darius caught her again, this time spun her around to face him.  She hadn't expected him to shake off the glamour so fast.  Unbalanced, she stumbled headlong into his solid chest.  He stiffened, then his arms closed around her.
Her vision blurred.  She'd always known the witching world didn't want her.  Even so, she'd always maintained a tiny flicker of hope that maybe, someday, she might carve out a place for herself.
It was stupid.  Hell, she didn't even like most of the people in there.  She certainly didn't understand them, any more than they understood her.  The entire time she'd lived in the city, there was only one witch who had ever tried to connect with her.  Only one witch who had given her a chance.
Just her luck, that witch had gone and gotten herself murdered.
Georgia squeezed her eyes shut.  No good.  All she saw was the same grotesque still life that had been haunting her all week.  Study In Carnage.  She tried to breathe.  Thick metallic sweetness hit her tongue.
She didn't realize she was shaking until she felt Darius' hand slide down her back.  A low sound rumbled in his chest.  The echoes of it reverberated deep inside her, in a place words couldn't reach.
It took her a moment to realize he was shaking too; tight, controlled shivers she would have missed if they'd been farther apart.  Georgia's head reeled.  She didn't get this man.  One minute he all but threw her to the wolves, the next...what?  He felt her pain?
She hesitated, then awkwardly laid her cheek against his chest.
She lost track of how long they stood like that.  Gradually, she became aware of other things.  Of his large, impossibly gentle hand.  Of the cool, subtle slide of his suit jacket beneath her palm.  The fabric smelled expensive, but she kept catching a whiff of something else, too; something richly organic.  She'd never smelled anything quite like it.  She furrowed her forehead.  Then it struck her.
It was him.  Darius deCompostela, distilled down to the essence.  Georgia closed her eyes.  The tightness in her chest eased.
Several more minutes passed before she opened her eyes again and stepped back.  It took several more before her head was settled enough to think.  At last, she forced herself to look up.  "You really don't want me around, do you?"
Darius didn't answer.
She tried again, her voice stronger.  "Why?  And don't try to feed me that Joe-Pesci-Lethal-Weapon line again.  I'm a big girl.  I can smell bullshit like that a mile away."  Something occurred to her.  "It's because I'm a witch, isn't it?"
His dark eyes were impossible to read.  "This is your world, Ms. Clare, not mine.  But as long as I'm working this case, let me be clear: we're not partners.  I don't work with people like you."
She tried to be angry, but couldn't quite manage it.  "I won't forget that."
He didn't look away.  "I know."
Georgia swallowed hard.  She turned and started down the alley again.
This time, Darius didn't try to stop her.
 
About the Author:
 
L.J.K. Oliva is the devil-may-care alter-ego of noir romance novelist Laura Oliva. She likes her whiskey strong, her chocolate dark, and her steak bloody. L.J.K. likes monsters… and knows the darkest ones don’t live in closets.
 
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Review of Season of the Witch

Georgia witnesses her covens brutal slaying and is now being hunted by the creature that killed them. Unsure of where to turn, she decides to hire a private detective. Instead she gets his partner Darius, who is a medium and wants nothing to do with witches. After he helps Georgia escape the creature he gets drawn into her world. A well written story with some great characters. I love reading about witches and this book doesn't disappoint, I would definitely recommend this book.

  
1. Tell us about your witch and the powers she has.

Georgia Clare is a black witch.  In the world of my Shades Below series, black magic isn't actually evil; it just means a witch utilizes every kind of vibrational energy on the spectrum, not merely vibrations used in the lighter ranges.  Basically, Georgia has almost unlimited raw power at her fingertips.

2. Where did you get the inspiration for your character?

Honestly, she just sort of popped into my head.  The heroine of the first book in Shades Below described Georgia as a "bookkeeper by day, badass biker witch by night".  All of Georgia's character grew out of that description.

3. If you had a magical ability - what would it be and why?

I would love to be able to write telepathically.  I would have my entire series written by now!

4. Who is your favorite TV or movie witch?

I really loved Seraphina Pekkala, from The Golden Compass (it was a book first, but they made it into a movie too, so it totally counts!).  There was just something so earthy and badass about her.  Instant girl crush.

5. If you had a familiar what would it be (you can choose any animal) and what would you call him/her?
​
I think it would be a dog.  A big dog.  Preferably a German Shepherd.  If it was a girl, I would name her Sheba (after my first GS dog).  If it was a boy, I'd name it Winchester (Supernatural fans, you know what I'm talking about!).