~BLog Tour~ Marked (Shadows in the Dark Book 1) by Charisse Spiers

Welcome to my fucking world. My name is Kaston Cox and I’m a criminal’s worst nightmare. Most people run from darkness, but I live in it, require it, and thrive in the night. Some call me a monster, some a lover of evil, and others, the devil himself, but they’re all wrong. I’m just a shadow in the dark. I speak for the innocent when no one else will. Once I have marked you, you better beg for forgiveness, because your time has run out…

Revenge is the ultimate wage for evil. Some just can’t stomach to do it themselves. That’s where I come in. I am the ultimate judge when called upon for justice. I will decide who lives and who dies. Blood may be on my hands, but it’s not the blood of the innocent. Remorse is nowhere to be found. I don’t give a shit if you understand. I can live with the man I look at every day in the mirror. My soul was tainted the day I was conceived. You think you know me? You have no fucking idea. I am who I am because of what they did to her, and to him. They were my family. This was the only form of restitution he believed in. I owed him everything. I took over the empire he built. This is how I repay him. There was only one rule: never allow emotions to form. Numb and heartless are the only two ways to live.

What I never included in the plan…was her.

My name is Lux Larsen. My life is as perfect as it can get. I’m a partier, a seductress when it comes to something that I want, and the ultimate sexual con artist. I use my body to get what I want and I’m not ashamed. Designer tags are what I’m after. I love sex. I’m good at it. Fuck double standards. Guys can do it, well guess what, so can I. I will never be caught back on the other side of the tracks for as long as I live. I left that hellhole years ago. I’ll do anything to stay away. You can call me a whore if you want, but I just look at it as I’ve decided to become a player in a man’s game, and I’m a fucking pro at it. Love is for the weak minded. Weak is something I’ll never be.

I never anticipated the predator that would find me. I’m now his prey…but I’m not sure I can run.

The world likes to think that love is only pure, only for those that do good, but what no one considers is when bad has to be done to formulate a different type of good. Two of the most random people can be a perfect match, being placed together like pieces to a puzzle. Being in the wrong place at the right time can be terrifying and it can also be exactly what is supposed to happen, because sometimes…love is born in the dark.

Jose pulls the black SUV into the alley. Dad kept black cars only, because they blended more with the night. It's dark, the only light coming from above the back door of the hole-in-the-wall bar a few feet down, not far from the dumpster. "What's the plan?"

Propping my elbow on the door, I place my fingers over my mouth as the words exit my mouth. "We wait."

"We could be here a while. It's still a while until close."

"This we have time for; all the fucking time in the world."

I close my eyes, trying to mentally prepare myself for what I'm about to do. Hesitating in the moment can get you killed. I still can't figure out why he did it, or why he failed. He never changed the plan, no matter what the reason. Why this time? I listen to the silence, allowing my mind to roam. In the depths of nothingness in my mind, a creaking door opening makes itself known.

I open my eyes to the sick fucker stumbling out drunk. It's funny, really, how predictable evildoers are. Of course he's going to use the back door, probably shopping for his next victim; the innocent people that think the dark is fun. He might have gotten a few more arousals had he not pissed off the wrong person. He dropped a bomb...and now it's war.

"Watch my back," I say, while pulling the black, latex gloves on my hands. I open the door, stepping out. I stalk toward the end of the alley without making a single sound, watching him. He stumbles into the dumpster and props himself up on it, pulling a flask from his suit pocket before pressing it to his lips. Not only is he a sick bastard, but he's also a fraud, disguising himself as a normal human being.

My mouth twitches as he tilts his head back, letting the liquid fire run down his throat. I close my eyes and envision the scene from three days ago, letting the anger and hatred devour every cell in my body. I stop in front of him and turn my body, now standing face to face with my arms by my side.

His heavy eyes scan me. "You look like shit. Did a bar fight get the best of you? I'm guessing you were on the losing end." He laughs sadistically.

I tilt my head, a smirk playing out on the lower half of my face. Looking him in the eyes is like lighting a trail of gasoline. "I never fucking lose."

He glances at my covered hands and his eyes slightly widen. "Who the fuck are you?"

"You took something that was mine, something that I can never get back. For all intents and purposes you can call me a grim reaper. I'm only here to collect what's due. Hell's gates are open for you."

He pushes off the dumpster and stumbles forward, trying to push past me. "Fucking psycho. I don't have time for this shit."

I grab him by the neck and squeeze, hard. "Awe.... Trying to leave so soon?" I tick my tongue to the roof of my mouth. "I don't think so." He grabs my hand, trying to pry it from his neck, but I'm stronger than him. I walk forward, toward the back wall of the alley, before slamming him against the brick wall.

"What do you want from me? How the hell could I take something from you? I don't even know you."

My teeth steel together. "You may not know me, but you knew someone important to me. In fact, you were the last person to see him alive, so look into my eyes and see if you can remember," I growl out. He looks away from me. I pull him back and slam him into the wall, harder this time. "Fucking look at me!"

He does as I say, studying my eyes as if he's trying to focus. The alcohol is inhibiting his memory. As if a light switch just got flipped, his eyes widen further. "I guess your itinerary from three days ago just came back to you?"

"He tried to kill me. It was self-defense. What else was I supposed to do? Who the hell was he to you?"

That's the thing about a fucking pathological liar. They lie so much they actually believe their own lies. Sadly for him, I'm not a dumbass. I close in on him, bringing my lips just outside of his ear as I dig my fingers into the sides of his throat, wanting like hell to rip it out. He coughs. "He was my fucking father. He may have tried and failed...this time, but I'm going to finish what he started. I'm cleaning up the trash on the streets. Your days of raping and killing innocent women are over. Since I just had to lay his body in the ground, you're next. Blood for blood."

"He-" I cut off his words by pressing into his vocal chords.

I pull back and turn him around, his back against my front. "On your knees."

He tries to beg as he follows instructions, but all that comes out is a gargled sound. "It doesn't feel good when you're on the opposite side of the line, does it? If you scream, I'll have my partner shove something so far up your ass you'll feel it in your throat, so you can feel what the women you raped felt. If you stay quiet, I'll make this as painless as possible."

His breathing becomes uneven, quickening by the second. I cup one hand around the back of his head and the other on his chin. Adrenaline starts to spread through my body. "You have about five seconds to say your prayers and hope to God that he forgives the shit you've done, because if not you're about to bust Hell wide open. Five...Four..." He whimpers.

"Three...Two...One." I swiftly twist his neck to the right, snapping his spine in two, just like he does to the women that have fallen victim to him. His body goes limp as I release him, letting him fall face first onto the concrete.

Something breaks free inside. I don't truly understand it, but I feel completely high right now. Maybe it's knowing that there is one less woman to be hurt in the world, but I feel like I'm on top of the world; untouchable.

I turn to the SUV and wave Jose toward me. He nods and steps out of the vehicle, grabbing something from the back before making his way toward me with a gas can in his hand, setting it down beside us. Flipping the lid to the dumpster open, we both grab one end of the body, tossing it inside. Jose grabs the can full of gasoline and starts pouring it in the dumpster, drenching everything inside.

I pull the small matchbook from my pocket with Dad's company logo on the front. He used to carry them around everywhere, stating they were great for business marketing with all of the smokers out there. The best business is always done over scotch and a cigar he would say. Opening it, I tear off a matchstick and swipe the red end against the starter strip. It lights instantly, quickly burning down the wooden stick.

Throwing the match inside the dumpster, I turn and walk away as the accelerant causes a combustion and heightens the fire, consuming the entire inner contents of the dumpster. I hear Jose's footsteps behind me as we make our way back to the SUV. "Rest in peace, Dad," I whisper. "It's been done."

I grab the door handle and get in the vehicle at the same time Jose does. "Do you need me to take you to the airport, boss?"

"No, Jose, you can take me home. I think I'll stay awhile. There are things that need to be sorted before I return to the states. Drive. I can't talk right now."

He quickly backs out and drives at a rapid speed, us both freeing the world from one bad soul. Now, it's time to find out what's next...

I found books when I was going through a hard time in life. They became my means of escape when things got bad. I realized quickly how much I loved to take a backseat to someone else's life and watch the journey unfold. That began my journey with books in November of 2012. I constantly had a book open on my Kindle app. Never in a million years would I have imagined myself as a writer, because I never thought I was creative enough. I'm living proof that things will fall into place when they're meant to be. People will make their way into our lives when we don't expect it, setting the path for what we are meant to do. Never give up on people. Never stop taking a chance on others. Someone took a chance on trusting me with her work when she didn't know me from a stranger on the street and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime as our relationship progressed, which led me to editing and writing as well. This is my dream I never knew I had. As soon as I sat down and gave writing a shot, it was like the floodgates opened. Now, I am lost in a world of fiction in my head, new characters constantly screaming for their stories to be told. Continue to dream and to go for them. No one ever found happiness by sitting on the sidelines. Sometimes we have to take risks and put ourselves out there. Thank you for all of your support, and may there be many books to come. XOXO- C