The Covalent
Healers Ease Barakiel’s Wounded Heart
By Libby
Doyle, author of the Covalent Series
The Covalent
Series began with The Passion Season. On the vernal equinox, a group of shadowy
monks from France burned a man’s internal organs in a bizarre ritual sacrifice.
Through this gruesome crime, FBI Agent Alexandra “Zan” O’Gara met Rainer Barakiel.
They fell deeply in love, but Zan didn’t know that Barakiel is a superhuman
warrior from another dimension. The shadowy monks were the minions of his
father, Lucifer, who perpetually seeks his death or enslavement.
Zan learns
Barakiel’s true identity in The Pain Season, Book II of the Covalent Series,
when she is attacked by demons at the autumnal equinox. She questions her
sanity, and leaves him. His duties as a warrior give him some relief, when he
can express his emotional pain and rage by cleaving the skulls of demons, but
this goes only so far. Barakiel’s passions are as strong as his sword. He never
loved anyone the ways he loves Zan.
In the
following scene, Barakiel visits the Sylvan Three. The most masterful healers
in the Covalent Realm. He is there to be repaired after a battle, but they also
offer their understanding, a soothing balm to his lovesick mind. This scene is
not in the book. It happens “off-camera,” after the Three have healed
Barakiel’s leg wound and he has awoken from his restorative sleep. They know about
his broken heart.
***
Barakiel
opened his eyes to see the exquisite faces of the Sylvan Three looking down on
him, their tranquil smiles betrayed by the nervous movements of their hands.
“How do
feel, warrior?” they asked in unison, arranging themselves around the pale
green glow of his bed.
He stretched
and flexed his muscles. “As if I could combat Lucifer’s armies single-handedly.
Thank you, Three. As usual, your healing powers have made me better than I
was.”
“Yet, still
you do not shine. We wanted to restore your light.”
They laid
their hands on his naked frame and explored where his leg wound had been,
before they pulled him upright. One healer cupped his face in her hands.
“It always
hurts us, when Covalent lose their mates. We cannot help them.”
“But you do
help me, Three. The only other Covalent who knows about my love is Pellus, and
he warned me that it would come to no good end. He does not believe she is my
mate. He thinks I am deceiving myself, and that a Covalent could never truly choose
a human. He does not understand that I will never stop loving her.”
“We
understand, Barakiel. We felt your mind. Your love is deep and pure. It cannot
end.”
The Three
handed Barakiel a robe and beckoned for him to follow them. Soon, they sat in
their inner chamber on white cushions next to a pool of clear water that
bubbled gently at its edges. A servant brought them glasses of root wine, rich
garnet red in delicate crystal goblets. Barakiel sipped his wine, wondering why
they had brought him there.
“Tell us
about her, warrior.”
Barakiel
rested his hand on a slender ankle. “You know, Pellus would say that will make
it worse, indulging my reflections.”
“Have you
found anything that will stop you from thinking of her?”
“No.”
“Tell us
about her.”
He chuckled
and they matched him with a musical trill.
“Her name is
Zan. Like me, she is a protector of her kind. She is tall, strong and clever, as
courageous as the finest Covalent warrior.” Barakiel broke into a wide smile as
he spoke. “She plays the guitar. You should see her on the stage, Three! She is
a force of nature. That’s when I wanted her, when I saw her play. I was beside
myself with lust.”
“But it
became more?” they asked, sipping their wine, smiling back at him.
“Yes, much
more. I feel the snow in her skin. I see the night sky in her eyes. When she
holds me, I feel like I belong to her, in her mind and to her body. I never
felt that belonging before.”
“How could
you, Barakiel? You were so young when the Covalent Council banished you.”
“It’s all
right, warrior. The Council banished you and now they expect you to slaughter
our enemies. You selflessly attend to your duties, yet know one never asks you
what you need. We recognize your love. At least you can feel some measure of
belonging, here, with us.”
“Yes, I
can,” he murmured. He let his head fall and revealed his grief to the only
beings who would accept it from him.
***
The Pain Season
The Pain Season
ON THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX, ZAN O'GARA'S LIFE
WILL CHANGE.
Tonight’s the night. Rainer Barakiel is
going to tell me all his secrets. I thought I’d be excited, but I feel like
someone shoved a knife into my gut.
Heh. Fitting, considering I met Rainer
because of his expertise in edged weapons. The daggers used in that ritual
sacrifice became our best lead thanks to him. What kind of omen is it, that I
met the love of my life because someone found a human spleen in the bushes?
I didn’t expect someone like him. When he
opened his door I couldn’t talk, I was so stunned. God, how I flirted with him.
Hell of a way for an FBI agent to act. This whole relationship is a hell of a
way for an FBI agent to act. I didn’t want to face that he was hiding things
from me.
What if he has something to do with this
murder?
I’m being paranoid. He’s denied being a
criminal and I believe him. I don’t see how my instincts could be so wrong. He
can’t be bad. He can’t.
He’s hiding things from me, but he loves
me. I feel it. Maybe he didn’t expect to fall in love with me, but he did, and
now he wants out. He’s going to confess, leave it all behind. For me.
I wonder, after he tells me all his
secrets, will this become a wacky story we love to tell? Or a story I tell only
to myself, alone in a stale-smelling apartment, stewing in pain? The story of
how my heart got damaged beyond repair.
WARNING: This book contains foul language,
violence, and explicit sex. Adults only, please.
Amazon: goo.gl/O3MEfT
iBooks: goo.gl/JQIOHL
Barnes & Noble: goo.gl/sSNpSb
Kobo: goo.gl/AHm51x
Although not a cliffhanger, The Pain Season is not a stand-alone novel. The story begins in The Passion Season and will continue in The Vengeance Season coming in 2017.
About the Author
Libby Doyle is an
attorney and former journalist who took a walk around the corporate world and
didn’t like it. She escapes the mundane by writing extravagant yarns, filled
with sex and violence. She loves absurd humor, travel, punk rock, and her
husband. You can discover more about Libby’s world at http://www.libbydoyle.com
Thank you for hosting me here today. I hope everyone enjoys my "off camera" scene.
ReplyDeleteWe were very happy to host you, Libby. Thanks for visiting Spacefreighters Lounge and sharing a little about The Pain Season with us. Sounds like a wonderful read and a fascinating series.
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