At long last, we come to the last character profile in the series, Zyan herself!! I have so much love for Zyan.
Martinis with the Devil, the first in the series, is the only book I've ever written where the character was the inspiration for the whole thing. Usually I have a cool plot idea, the great "what if?" question that pops into a writer's head. But Zyan came, rather insistently and incessantly, after I read the Twilight series years ago. She started pounding in my head, like "that whole finding your true love at 17 is great and all, but what happens if you're wrong about the person, and you end up totally screwed and immortal so you can think about how much of a dumb ass you are for all eternity?" Yeah, she's fairly sarcastic :)
I'd written another fantasy novel before
Martinis, and had a hard time pinning the voice for that character, but not with Zy. She came in loud and clear, and the words just flowed. Plus, she's so fun, feeding my obsession for chicks with swords, martinis, and bad language. Okay, so here she is!
Name: Zyan Star
Supernatural powers: Anam Gatai (Irish soul thief): magic akin to a witch, immortal, can call to souls like a Siren, extra strength, regeneration
Appearance: Pale skin, darkish/burgundy hair, espresso eyes
Favorite drink: Siren's Kiss Martini (has cherries)
Weapon of choice: Katana, though uses magic when she has to
Zy is pretty much a total badass and never behaves herself :) I warn people, if you don't like magic, violence, sex, cussing and mouthy women with swords, you will most certainly NOT like these books.
It's practically impossible for me to put in a fave Zyan excerpt, because I love so many of them... I'm going to be a tease and include one from the second book,
Whiskey and Angelfire, which releases on July 4th. Also, I JUST got back the cover from my amazeballs cover artist, and I literally cried a little bit it's so perfect. My newsletter subscribers will get to see it before anyone else,
so sign up if you haven't already. I'll also be giving away some ARCs. Okay, so here we go - Zy and the gang have just arrived in Dublin to search for a missing angel (NHTF stands for non-human task force and HR stands for Holy Representative):
The
interior of the building was stark and militaristic, not in the slightest bit
welcoming. Looked like the NHTF had definitely taken the lead in décor. It had
none of the elegance of the lobby in HR headquarters back home. A single desk
stood at the back of the room, behind which sat an angel in the usual pale gray
tunic, and an NHTF officer in an olive uniform. To the right of them was a
door, flanked by two more officers. Though it was only a couple hours until midnight,
none of them seemed surprised to have visitors. Eli stopped in front of the
desk and cast a quick salute. He’d changed when I went home, and now wore the
same sort of tunic the other angel did instead of the jeans and t-shirt he
seemed to prefer. It covered up all his nice muscly bits, which was a tad tragic.
“Commander
Whitesong here to see Commander Juno.”
The
nameless angel and NHTF officer nodded. The NHTF officer leaned to the side,
casting a glance that slid off me like I was five-day-old roadkill. “And these
are?”
Eli
opened his mouth to speak, but I stepped around him. “Special Agent Zyan Star. Yes,
THE Zyan Star. Appointed by the HR of Northwest America after saving his life
and preventing Lucifer from taking over the realm of Earth.”
They
looked me up and down, taking in my burgundy hair, leather jacket and jeans.
Not to mention the big-ass katana strapped across my back. And the emerald
green nail polish.
I
hooked a finger over my shoulder toward Quinn and Riley. “And these two were
instrumental in helping me and Eli - Commander Whitesong, that is - save the
planet’s ass. We’re here to find the angel you guys lost.”
“I’ll
call Commander Juno,” the angel said, scrambling over his words slightly.
Eli
cast me a reproving look as we waited, but I just grinned in return. A couple
minutes later the two NHTF officers guarding the door pulled it open and a
tall angel emerged. Her hair was short and red, her eyes a startling purple,
bright unlike Eli’s pale lavender ones.
“I’m
Commander Juno,” she said. “Follow me."
We
entered the depths of the building, passing through stark white hall after
stark white hall. What was it with them and decorating like a mental hospital?
We reached what was clearly a command center, a busy room with banks of screens
and holographic programs running. Angels and NHTF officers stood together,
monitoring video feeds, calling out commands into their comm devices, and
repositioning various satellite feeds.
“After
Officer Lightwing went missing, we tapped into our global surveillance network
to see if we could pick him up via facial recognition scans,” Juno said,
confirming my thoughts. “We also of course have the supernatural DNA scanners
in all businesses to track the supernatural population. It picks up angels as
well. Nothing matching his DNA signature so far. Wherever he’s been taken, it’s
off the grid.”
Hopefully
not off the grid as in dead, I thought grimly.
“His
apartment was pristine, not a trace of a struggle or any suspicious DNA
evidence,” she continued. “Of course, not that we really expected anyone to
have taken him out from under our noses in this building. We’ve interviewed his
contacts outside the angelic forces and no one has seen or heard anything
pertaining to his whereabouts.” She sighed, her purple eyes troubled. “He
simply clocked out of work two days ago, presumably left the building to run an
errand, and vanished from there.”
“What
makes you certain he was abducted?” I asked.
Juno
looked over as if noticing me for the first time. Her face bore a look of
confusion. “What else could explain his disappearance?”
I
shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t want to work for the angelic forces anymore.”
The
female angel went stiff as an oak. “Angels do not abandon their position, Ms.
Star.” Her tone was arctic. “Unlike the other supernatural races, we are born
and carry on our lives to fulfill a very specific purpose: to protect humanity.
It is our duty, pure and simple, and not something we can simply walk out on.”
I
let her insult of other supes slide right on by. “That’s all very noble, but
I’ll repeat my question: do you have hard evidence that Ambriel was abducted?”
“I
don’t need evidence.” Juno’s eyes bored into mine. “I’m not sure how the HR in
Seattle handles things, but we follow a very strict code of conduct here in
Dublin. We’re not accustomed to bringing in outside help on our missions, let
alone someone of your… reputation. Not
all of us are keen on your involvement in this, so I suggest you tread lightly
if you wish to continue employment with the angelic forces.”
I
smiled broadly. “Let me clarify something about my reputation, as you seem to
be confused. I follow no code of conduct and I never tread lightly. That’s why
the HR asked for my help, and later promoted me to special agent. I get shit done. And another thing - I am no one’s
employee. I choose the cases I wish to work, and since so far your team here in
Dublin has failed to find even the tiniest lead in Ambriel’s disappearance, Eli
and I were called in to salvage the situation. I respect the HR, and I’m
working this case as a personal favor to him. You can fire me if you wish, it
makes no difference.”
So there's some Zyan for ya! Hope you enjoyed. Check out my newsletter for the droolworthy book cover. TTFN!
