Treasure Darkly by Jordan Elizabeth

Beware a Treasure Darkly…

(The stunning cover art is thanks to Amalia Chitulescu)

Seventeen-year-old Clark Treasure assumes the drink he stole off the captain is absinthe…until the chemicals in the liquid give him the ability to awaken the dead. A great invention for creating perfect soldiers, yes, but Clark wants to live as a miner, not a slave to the army—or the deceased. On the run, Clark turns to his estranged tycoon father for help. The Treasures welcome Clark with open arms, so he jumps at the chance to help them protect their ranch against Senator Horan, a man who hates anyone more powerful than he.

And he is not alone. His new found sister, Amethyst, thinks that's rather dashing, until Horan kidnaps her, and all she gets is a bullet through her heart. When Clark brings her back to life, she realizes he's more than just street-smart - and he's not really a Treasure. Amethyst’s boring summer at home has turned into an adventure on the run, chock full of intrigue, danger, love, and a mysterious boy named Clark.

TREASURE DARKLY, book 1 of the Treasure Chronicles

The young adult novel is a dark mix of steampunk, the paranormal and romance in a “Wild West” setting.  

Below is an excerpt from TREASURE DARKLY.  You can read more on the Curiosity Quills Press website.

“Looks like he did drink it up.” The general client spoke from the right. “Must’ve interacted with all that bloody hertum. Look at ‘im, he’s bleeding already.”

“What’s it gonna do to him?” the guard from the morning asked.

“Lots of stuff.” The general laughed. “When he touches the dead, he’ll be able to bring them back, and exchange that life for another. Perfect soldier, huh? We only have one vial ready and I was going to give it to a lucky fellow. Guess it will be this boy.”

“Whatcha gonna do with him?” The guard snickered.

“Have to be a test subject,” the general said. “Sure thought it was that Judy who stole my bottle. Pity I killed her. She sure knew how to make my pecker sing.”

Judy.

Clark’s mother.

Clark bolted off the ground and ran. He could hide in the hole under the shed behind the brothel. Mable never found him under there. He might be cursed with raising the dead—he’d already done that to the poor mine worker—but it didn’t mean he’d let them take him for tests.

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TREASURE DARKLY is only Book 1 of the Treasure Chronicles.  Clark’s adventures continue in BORN OF TREASURE, available September 21, 2015.  To whet your appetite, here is an excerpt:

The clock smith crouched to look under the tables. “I ain’t fooling, you idiot.”

Clark held his breath to keep his chest still as he eased away from the curtain, careful to keep the thick velvet from moving. He stepped to the ladder on his tiptoes, dreading a creak, but the ancient boards remained steady.

“We’ll just talk,” the clock smith sneered.

Talk. Right, with a handgun barrel pressed to his skull.

Clark grasped a rung and swung up.

The floorboard creaked.

“Aha,” the man called.

“Brass glass.” Clark scrambled upward. The metal bit into his gloved palm and his soles thumped against the rungs. The trap door had better not be locked. He didn’t have time to pick it.

“Think you can make off with my stuff, eh?” The man scrambled onto the stage.

Clark slammed his fist into the trapdoor and it lifted with a moan, dust falling around Clark like snow. He coughed, blinking to clear his stinging eyes.

“He’s aiming at you,” Eric exclaimed.

Who cared what lay above? He’d had to have spent a night before in worse squalor than whatever waited for him up there. Clark grabbed the edge of the opening and pulled himself up. A bullet pinged against the ladder as the boom of the handgun echoed through the ballroom.

“Ain’t getting away from me,” the clock smith hollered.

Clark rolled from the opening and yanked a linen handkerchief from his jacket to wipe dirt from his eyes. Light entered from a grimy window to illuminate more props and trunks. An old dress hung over a dressing screen in the corner… near a door.

“I’ll getcha!” The metal ladder clanked as the clock smith grabbed it.

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You can read more about Amethyst Treasure in GEARS OF BRASS, a steampunk anthology from Curiosity Quills Press available now from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Jordan Elizabeth, formally Jordan Elizabeth Mierek, is the author of ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW, available from Curiosity Quills Press.  Check out Jordan’s website, JordanElizabethMierek.com, for contests and book signing locales.  Jordan is represented by Belcastro Agency and she is president of the Utica Writers Club.

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