Blood On The Moon Cover
My third novel was finished and published in time for Halloween 2016 and I had a launch at Waterstone's at Sheffield.
The full book cover, done by the wonderful, talented, brilliant Paul Mudie
Other Images from Pixabay or Google (Free Usage)
To read from the beginning: Here
Then change the number in the address bar from 1 to 2 (https://steemit.com/writing/@michelle.gent/blood-on-the-moon-serialised-exclusive-for-steemit-2) and so on for the next episodes.
It wasn’t only Darius that she had to avenge her parents’ and her sisters’ deaths upon, she knew that they would not rest in their graves until she had also exacted her revenge on Vitya’s son.
Selene got out of bed and before dawn was threatening to break, she set off on her way to the old manor house where she knew her mother’s body had been taken after she had been slain.
The house wasn’t difficult to find, there was a medieval church visible from the road that used to belong to the manor house when it was prosperous and thriving, before the family moved to Clipstone Priory in the mid twentieth century and the house fell into disrepair at a disturbing rate due to vandals and destructive kids.
So as soon as she saw that landmark, she knew exactly where she was even though the surroundings had changed immeasurably.
Selene had been once or twice to see if she could locate the actual burial site for her dear mother’s body but she hadn’t been successful.
She had an idea that this time would be different because as she removed the rusted yet sturdy chains from the gate and drove her car through the gateway, she could see a shimmering figure in the gloom of the pre-dawn.
She drove up the rutted track, between the trees and turned right at the top.
Then she saw what would once have been a magnificent and impressive sight before her.
Annesley Hall had once been the playground for the cream of Hume society – interspersed with the cream of Wolf society too.
The history of the property could be traced back to the eleventh century and had connections with outlaws and kings, Robin Hood and of course Royalty, again, both Hume and Wolf.
Selene remembered attending balls and dances, parties and taking tea on the terrace.
She had danced with Lords, princes, dukes and kings in that magnificent hall and it saddened her to see its dilapidated state.
More than one Lord Byron had walked with her through the beautiful grounds and she could recall at least one that had read poetry and made passes at her, despite there being other people wandering about just as Selene and her companion were wandering.
Selene parked her car outside of the perimeter buildings, where she remembered the servants had their quarters, and she went through the impressive gateway to see the manor house in all its glory, as she recalled it.
She knew that the image was one produced by Belinda and the reality was just under the surface of the shimmering veneer but she enjoyed the effect and she waved to her mother.
The gravel crunched underfoot as she walked across what would be the front of the house but she preferred to think of the front of the house as the one with the glorious view.
That side was made up of a vast array of window space.
The vista from the windows was what made the journey worthwhile all those decades ago and though there was a road and the town in the distance was sprawled closer and more dense, with factories scarring the landscape rather than trees, fields and deer, it was well worth the look anyway.
The shimmering figure went off to the side of the house and led her towards the path.
She remembered when the arboretum was first established and that was where she seemed to be heading.
The once-beautiful, clear fishing lake over to the left was not veiled by the spell that Belinda had cast and it made Selene sad to see the green-tinged water with branches poking through the covering of pond weed and she knew that swans no longer nested on the waters and fish were no longer inhabitants.
She moved on.
Belinda’s grave was tucked away beyond the overgrown summer house.
It was marked by a large stone, not a conventional grave marker as she would find in the churchyard above the house.
The stone was a large lump of what appeared to be granite but when Selene placed her hand on it, it felt warm as though the sun had already been shining on it for hours.
Selene began to dig.
The earth had been undisturbed since Belinda’s body had been put there but it was soft and rich soil and took less time to get down to the slab of stone that covered her body than she had imagined it would.
The slab was made of the same stone as the marker was and it also felt warm to the touch and Selene was thankful for the strength that her Wolfness afforded her.
She hefted the stone to one side and looked into the gap beneath it. The skeleton of her mother laid there and around her neck was what she was looking for.
The small and intricate amber and pewter amulet had been severed when Vitya had sliced through Belinda’s throat.
After the soldiers had left the cottage burning and Belinda’s almost decapitated corpse as a warning, others had found her body and had taken it to this place in the heart of the forestlands and given it the proper pagan burial.
Someone had taken a lot of time and trouble over burying Belinda, she must have been very revered and much loved and Selene sat a while and played the amulet through her fingers until she knew what she must do.