In case you haven't noticed, we've made it to the month of May, and that means Claimed by the Undead will be OUT on all retailers later this month! 🥳

Best part? This time there will be paperbacks available too! It's been a while since I've fought my way through the process of formatting a paperback—which is a lot more tedious than formatting an eBook. But since This Earthen Cage is set to be a long saga that follows the same main characters, I have no excuse to NOT make paperbacks available. Because some of us like to escape from technology when we read.

I've got just a handful of chapters to finish off Claimed by the Undead, and after that it's formatting and uploading to all the retailers. Plus sending ARC eBooks out to everyone on my review team! I can't wait to find out what you think of the first book in Helena and Konstantin's saga, because it's been so much fun to experience it coming together on the page.

Beauty And The Beast Expanded

We first met light witch Helena and the conflicted Black Priest Konstantin a couple years ago in their standalone novella, Gift of Light. Originally that was supposed to be the end of their love story, since Gift of Light's plot is basically a "Teutonic retelling" of Beauty and the Beast. Horned beast who resides (mostly) alone in a haunted fortress—that's Konstantin—and an inquisitive bookworm considered a weirdo by her neighbors in an 1890s village—that's Helena.

Gift of Light is only 99¢ for the rest of this month in celebration of the expansion of its hero and heroine's story, so be sure to nab it if you NEED to see the origin of Helena and Konstantin's romance. Like the "meet-cute" and their first kiss. 💋

✨ Gift Of Light ✨

While I slogged through creative burnout before and after publishing Gift of Snow, the last (and now first) book in the Elemental Bloodlines series, my brain had started ruminating on how Helena and Konstantin's love story would ultimately turn out. Because we know the demon who terrorizes the Teutonic Fantasy Realm isn't a fan of love. Especially when his Black Priests indulge in it.

(Why does said demon despise love? You'll find out to some degree if you read the entire His Name Was Augustin series. The boxed sets are the best deals where price and bonus content are concerned.)

If you've read Lurid Curse, the fifth book in His Name Was Augustin, then you've met a rather ghastly collection of Black Priests gathered on earth for a certain sacrificial ritual. 😬 In the original version of Lurid Curse, Konstantin was among that group of ghastly priests (though not mentioned by name). Things changed a little when I decided to give the man his own love story.

Because nobody wants their love story to end in hell.

The above graphic is courtesy of Bing AI—which is evident considering that oddly-cone-shaped candles in the background. No extra fingers this time, and Konstantin looks like a pissed-off vampire or something, but...that's a vague glimpse of our hero and heroine from Claimed by the Undead. 😍

Have to give a shout-out to a certain indie author friend who informed me, after reading Gift of Light, that Helena and Konstantin got their happily-ever-after far too neatly for a Black Priest and a living witch. You might be the reason why their saga will now expand over the course of 6+ decades.

Thanks a lot, girlie. 😜 Where would I be without you?

(Writing some other Teuton saga, probably....)

Claimed by the Undead: Snippet #1

Today we're catching up with Helena shortly after she caught her half-brother, Wilhelm, preparing to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night with a devious dude from a cult. Wilhelm and his buddy wanted to intrude onto the Black Priests' mountain right when they were scheduled to conduct human sacrifices to the demon lord Wuotan.

Not exactly the best time to visit a Black Priest.... 💀

***

I shook my head as I carried the tray to the kitchen, passing Wilhelm on the way. My brother still grumbled under his breath, which meant he needed someone to pacify him. Our father would do much better at that than me. So I busied myself with wiping out herbal residue from each cup and the teapot, tossing the excess into the slop bucket before setting the cups and pot into the sink. While I worked, my mind wandered to Konstantin’s mountaintop fortress. Gory images assailed me at the idea of my Black Priest poised beside his older counterpart, Nemo, casting men upon a stone altar and removing their hearts at Wuotan’s behest.

Was it really happening while I stood here doing mundane tasks? How could Konstantin be the most honorable young man I had ever met if he sacrificed human beings? Had he cast some sort of trusting spell upon me, so I would not push back on his wicked rites? Berthold seemed educated about Teutonic magic even though he had none of his own. Maybe I would not have noticed if that fascinating Black Priest revoked my free will. Maybe.

But how could I find out?

I stood beside the stove while I thought it through, its radiant heat offering me much needed peace. Eventually Wilhelm retreated to his bedroom, and shortly afterward our father joined me in the kitchen. The sounds of the teacup’s shards falling into the waste bin scratched at my heart, the remnants of a life I would never know.

“Only six left now.” I toyed with my housecoat’s belt, my guilt resurfacing at how Berthold's tales prompted me to drop my teacup on the hearth.

“Your Mama would understand.” My father gazed out the kitchen window toward the chicken coop after setting the soap and sponge beside the sink. “Just like she understood when Flora broke the other teacup years ago. We can’t always control what happens when we receive unsettling news.”

He revolved to face me but remained beside the sink, my nerves tingling as I recognized how Berthold’s statements had affected him. “Do you really think Konstantin could have cast a spell on me like—like Wilhelm’s buddy said?”

Breathing out a heavy sigh, my father said, “From what I know of Teutonic magic, those sorts of hexes take a while to fully set in. Some priests use the heart-bond to silence their wives. Unless that beast holds the heart of your soul, I doubt your will is anyone’s but your own.”

“Please don’t call him a beast, Papa. His horns aren’t real. They’re a way he expresses the magic inside him. Elemental stone.”

“I’m aware. I think it’s time we both try to get some sleep. Tomorrow’s the start of a new month, and I’ll need to join our neighbors in the hunt to bring down enough deer for the winter.” Glancing at his pocket watch, he clarified, “It’s nearly midnight.”

“You get to bed. I’ll do some organizing in here. I need to settle down some more before I try to sleep. At this point I’d just lie there staring at the rafters.”

My father studied me with an unhappy expression for a moment, then put his pocket watch away and moved to embrace me. “I love you, Helena. No matter how you decide to live your life. Just remember to consider what you could lose alongside what you could gain.”

What I might lose if I chose to match myself with Konstantin instead of a living human being, Teuton or outsider, was something I preferred not to imagine. But my father’s comment regarding the deer hunt reminded me that our village would be in dire straits by springtime. Konstantin had captured my father and brother while they traveled to Kufstein, the Austrian town that hosted the festivals where they sold and traded our hometown’s goods twice each year. The unplanned detour caused them to miss the festival and lose all of our neighbors’ goods. Which meant some families might run out of food and other necessities after the snows cut us off from civilization.

I had helped Pauline Görgen, the beekeeper’s wife, with her foraging since I descended Konstantin’s mountain on October 14^th. Each week we spent three days collecting the forest’s treasures and three days preserving them. Although we did not discuss the looming truth, we knew we would face a hard winter. All because of the Black Priest whose silken voice wove cords of attraction into my heart.

He had called me his ‘love’ the last time we spoke. If he truly meant it, he would come to me after the sacrifices were over, as soon as Nemo left the castle to resume his hunt for members of the Teutonic Brotherhood. Maybe we could figure out a way to save my hometown from famine.

But right now I needed to use my magic to show me what was happening on that mountain. Whether the two Cursed Ones were actually sacrificing eleven men like Berthold said, or whether they might show mercy and slay just two. Wuotan required only one sacrifice per undead servant, according to Konstantin. Killing all eleven outsiders seemed unnecessary, cult involvement notwithstanding.

After I was sure my father had gone to bed, I climbed onto the stovetop and hugged my knees to my chest. The stove’s warmth shared similarities to my light, which might make it easier for me to allow my element to eclipse my mortal body and send my spirit into the astral realm. An intricate type of magic I had struggled to achieve since the Black Priest taught me what it meant to be a Teuton, it was the only way I could safely peek at the sacrificial ritual. To observe the Cursed Ones from the ether, beyond the veils of physical sight. If Konstantin or Nemo noticed my spirit’s presence, I could send myself back into my body here on the stove. Safe from the fatal gifts of the mountain’s inhabitants.

“All right. Focus,” I murmured to myself, shutting my eyes to concentrate on the light glimmering in my blood and spirit. Taking a deep breath, I summoned it to breach the mortal world and slowly encapsulate my body, preserving it for my spirit’s exit and return. I fixed my intent on the Black Castle, how it appeared from the outside, when Konstantin had carried me there. A semicircular fortress of gray stones, set into the peak of the mountain. The central spire reaching for the sky. The four square turrets surrounding the stronghold.

The northwestern turret. The place that had been my home while I stayed with Konstantin.

An incinerating sensation snaked toward my torso from my fingertips and toes, elemental light evicting the darkness from beyond my closed eyelids. I took one final breath before my core fell into light’s fervent heat, ordering myself not to succumb to doubt. I needed to get to the Black Castle now. Even if it felt like my magic burned my body to ash. I was a Teuton, and the light was a part of me. My element would protect me, not destroy me.

. . . After a seemingly infinite moment of breathless burning, the eyes of my spirit opened to show me the very turret I had just envisioned. Its stones appeared more black than gray, the castle of the Cursed Ones shadowed by a thick cloud ten meters above where my spirit floated. An ominous aura seeped into my ethereal robes, altering their brilliant hue from yellow-white into the muted pale blue of a distant star.

I gaped at my robes in confusion, catching sight of the ground far below in the process. Alarm brought a mental cry out of me; and I set my hands against my temples, forcing my spiritual lungs to take a long breath. Keep quiet. You’re a spirit right now. You’re not going to fall, and even if you did it wouldn’t hurt. You don’t need Nemo noticing you floating around out here.

By why had my robes changed color? The other time I managed to breach the spiritual realm, they had shone a wondrous yellow-white the entire time.

But I had been with him then. With Konstantin. Telling him I had figured out how to keep Nemo ignorant of our budding friendship. Because the only rule Black Priests had to follow—aside from the twice-yearly sacrifices—was that they were forbidden to love. Wuotan believed love to be a weakness. A human trait he expected his servants to renounce.

After Konstantin agreed to tell Nemo I was his blood slave, he called me his love. Disobeying his demon lord outright.

Tonight the Cursed Ones indulged in darker deeds. A distant, droning moan emanated from deep within the fortress, its tenor siphoning my hopes out of me. Then I heard a scream, and the sky darkened further. Startled, I tilted my head to see undulating fires smoldering within the cloud above. Flames of unnatural reds and blues. Was that green? Silver? Impossible.

How could there be flames inside a cloud?

A growling laughter reverberated around my spirit in a tone so cruel it could not have been human. I hid my arms beneath my robes as it occurred to me that perhaps Wuotan himself watched from within the cloud. Waiting to descend upon the castle’s dungeons and devour the sacrificial blood.

My spirit began drifting away from the fortress without my conscious intent, as though my instincts knew I should not stay to observe what would come next. But while I hunched and stared at the castle in despair, another spirit arose from beneath the earth far below me. It was a man, and he raised his eyes to the heavens as his spirit ascended, a smile of relief softening his features. He did not seem to notice me at all, his course set on reaching the divine.

I had just witnessed the results of a horrific murder.

***

Welp, if you thought it was "easy" to be in a relationship with a Black Priest, now you know otherwise. And now Helena might have to rethink the loyalty she gained for Konstantin during the events in Gift of Light. Can she really commit herself to someone who sacrifices humans to a demon?

Join Helena's journey into the darkness and beyond in Claimed by the Undead, which you can pre-order today on all retailers and my shop!

✨ Claimed by the Undead ✨

Other Books You Might Like

Now that we've reached release month, I'll be sharing 4 books with you every newsletter while my fellow authors drop Claimed by the Undead in front of their readers. Today we've got a BookFunnel freebie starring a grumpy orc, a magical desert romance in KU, a steamy dystopian romance available on all retailers, and a no-strings-attached freebie drenched in mafia suspense. Take a look at all of the stories, and add whichever ones strike your interest to your TBR.

She’s a little lost. He’d rather be left alone. But fate—and a few wolves—have other plans.

When Anne takes a flower delivery job to escape her law school burnout, she doesn’t expect a pack of wolves to chase her straight into the arms of a grumpy orc woodcarver.

Urk doesn’t want company, especially not a stubborn, sassy human who talks too much and cooks like she owns the place.

✨ FREE On BookFunnel ✨

An exile yearning for a home. A masked warlord fighting his destiny. A bond that could save the Ballan Desert—or destroy the world as they know it.

Keera is an exile struggling to survive, forced to rob passing travelers or face starvation. When she steals from the wrong man—a vicious masked warrior named the Viper—his hand around her throat awakens an ancient magic within her, and she uses it to escape his clutches. Now, Keera must master her power to protect the city of Kelvadan—the only place an exile like her can find a home—from the Viper and his growing army.

The Viper serves the magic of the desert, but the sins of the past threaten to destroy it. To protect his home, he will do everything it takes, even marching on the great city of Kelvadan. However, the real key to healing the desert’s magic might lie in the infuriating but intriguing exile who slipped through his fingers and now fights for his sworn enemies.

✨ FREE on KU ✨

She’s determined to save the world…even if she doesn’t remember it.

World-renowned geneticist Danica Lawson woke up to a world that had been destroyed—by her own hand. She has no recollection of the downfall of society but is determined to repair the damage.

Moreover, the first face she sees is one that’s eerily familiar—and undeniably handsome—even if she doesn’t recognize the sexy soldier with the deep, soothing voice.

As Dani struggles to reverse the destruction, she realizes sinister forces are at play. For, a malevolent threat is sweeping through their dystopian world, and the window to defeat it narrows each day its reign strengthens...

✨ All Retailers ✨

Fairy tales and reality are concepts so different from one another, they shouldn't exist in the same world.

The story in which the maid defies her stepmother, goes to the ball, and dances with the prince isn't how real life works. For Della Lambert, real life is disappointing. Real life means working for her stepfather in exchange for her and her sister's freedom. Attend the party, steal their secrets, and lure the mafia prince in.

Nico Corsetti isn't a prince though. He's the callous Capo who hunts his prey until he's satisfied in his vengeance. When Della becomes his target, he won't stop chasing her, even when her betrayal demands her death. In the end, real life isn't a fairy tale and the prince is simply another controlling villain.

✨ FREE On All Retailers ✨

May Book Fairs...And Flowers

Claimed by the Undead is hanging out in a nice batch of BookFunnel book fairs this month, along with a handful of my other books plus loads of enchanting tales to offer you an escape from our mundane world. Be sure to browse all the great indie options available in each book fair!

**Just a couple more weeks left to enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a BIG batch of paperbacks, hardbacks, audiobooks, and swag!

Before I sign off for now, I have to share a couple photos I took in western North Carolina last week. My husband and I just got back from a short getaway in the mountains, and I have to admit I might know where I want to retire, assuming I eventually "hit it big" as an author. 🌳🌲 The woods are calling me now and always, and last week we got to see some trilliums in bloom!

Aren't the trilliums absolutely beautiful? My husband and I haven't seen any in bloom since we first learned they existed three years ago, because we haven't hiked at the right moments. Trilliums bloom for a very short time, but they're definitely worth seeing if you're ever in the Appalachians in late April.

Now I'd better scramble back to my laptop so I can get going on Chapter 31. The catastrophe this whole story built towards has begun to erupt, and poor Konstantin's facing demonic fallout for his romance with Helena. We can only hope he'll cling to his humanity even through hellfire....

Have yourself a wonderfully weird week, and I'll catch you again on Friday.

Talk to you soon,

C.L. Carhart

Pre-order Claimed by the Undead:

https://bf.clcarhart.com/fd9deoy799

Get Gift of Light for only 99¢:

https://bf.clcarhart.com/z0k1vqfsss

Elemental Bloodlines series:

https://clcarhart.com/collections/elemental-bloodlines-series-ebooks

His Name Was Augustin saga:

https://clcarhart.com/collections/hnwa-series-ebooks