Release Day: Nemesis (Alliance, #2) by Emma L. Adams

Nemesis is live! *throws confetti*

Nemesis is the second book in the Alliance series, with the usual magic, monsters, multiverse-hopping and stubborn characters. It was more tricky to write than Adamant and I knew I was taking a major risk in the story direction, because the characters are dealing with the aftermath of the end of the first book, and it's... dark. No fluffy kittens or sunshine and rainbows here. ;) But Nemesis does contain invisible goblins, hover bikes, and a lot of angry centaurs.

Joining the Alliance might be the key to seeing the worlds she's always dreamed of, but Ada's new job causes a rift to form between her and her guardian, Nell. As she struggles to come to terms with the events of the previous month, Ada is reluctant to use magic again after the damage it caused.

Kay, meanwhile, faces his first challenge as one of the Alliance’s offworld Ambassadors - helping his colleague, Markos, investigate the mysterious death of the centaurs’ king back on his homeworld of Aglaia. When they realise magic is involved, Ada is pulled into the investigation. But tensions between humans and centaurs run high, and avoiding a bloodbath will be more difficult than any of them expect. Especially when Kay discovers something about his own magic that could affect the future of the Alliance.

Against an enemy they quite literally can’t see, Ada and Kay must face up to the power that almost destroyed their lives…

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And here's a teaser from Chapter One:

My communicator buzzed in my hand, and I flicked the touch screen to unlock it and accepted the call from my boss. Ms Weston never seemed to leave Central, especially in the last few weeks. There was always some crisis or other.

“We need you to go offworld, tomorrow,” she said, without preamble.

“Whereabouts?” I asked. Damn. I’d been intending to talk to Ada, because she didn’t have the code for this new communicator.

“Aglaia. You should speak to Markos. Aglaia’s in the middle of a crisis, and we urgently need an Ambassador to be there.”

“Isn’t Markos enough?”

“A non-Aglaian Ambassador. More than one. It seems the centaur king’s been assassinated.”

And there I was, thinking I’d be able to get through one day without someone mentioning murder.

“Damn,” I said, moving away from the guards so they wouldn’t overhear. “There’s no way they’ll let outsiders in.”

“It’s part of Alliance custom to oversee the change of leadership, as we’re a neutral force. I’m sure you already know Aglaia’s history with the Alliance.”

“Unfortunately,” I said, with a glance at the dark shape of Central silhouetted against the perpetually-grey London sky. “Is Markos back on Aglaia, then?”

“He’ll give you the details.” There was a sound of papers being shuffled. “The peace treaty with the humans was due for renewal next week, so the timing makes it all worse. This could be perceived as an attempt to ignite old conflicts. At the very least, it will delay all plans, including consultations with the Alliance.”

“You need someone who speaks Aglaian, right?” I was hardly experienced in this kind of diplomacy. Least of all with a volatile, high-magic world.

“Not just that,” said Ms Weston. “We specifically need a magic-wielder. Just in case.”

What? “Are you sure? I was under the impression centaurs hated magic.” I retreated under the overhang outside the training complex. The last thing I wanted was anyone to hear me talking about magic.

“Yes, they do. But humans on Aglaia are all magic-wielders, and if it turns out one of them did have a hand in the centaur king’s death, then it’s better for us to be prepared. It goes without saying that you won’t be able to reveal you are a magic-wielder in front of the centaur contingent, but considering Earth’s lack of magic, they have no reason to suspect that you are.”

Yeah, that’s reassuring. “If you say so. The humans, though–they’ll be trained magic-wielders. We aren’t.”

No. What I knew of magic, I’d learned on instinct when fighting for my life. And I couldn’t forget that two streets away from here, it had almost caused a wave of destruction across London. Even the guards who’d fought in the Passages that day didn’t know just how close Central had come to being wiped out. For all I knew, they were the ones who’d started the stories. People needed to believe someone had had the situation in hand.

Ms Weston paused before saying, “Actually, magic-wielders on Aglaia are relatively peaceful, at least with each other.”

“It’s the centaurs I’m more concerned about,” I muttered. “Who else is going, aside from Markos?”

“A small team. You’ll meet here tomorrow at seven.”

“Right,” I said, resigned. Aglaia was hardly an opportunity to pass up, but it felt uncomfortably like the conspiracy scenario I’d ended up mired in at the Alliance a few weeks ago. Assassination, magic, and aggravated centaurs? Still, nobody signed up as an Ambassador purely for the Valerian hover bikes.

“Good,” said Ms Weston. “Best of luck. There are two aims. Reinstate a new monarch before certain disparate centaur groups take power, and find out who killed their leader, if possible.”

“I’m pretty sure most of that is up to them, not the Alliance. They don’t like humans meddling in their affairs.”

Ms Weston drew in a breath. “Well, given the circumstances… Markos will tell you. Essentially, you’ll be acting to stop a group of enraged centaurs from declaring war on humans.”

“Great,” I said. “No pressure?”

Start the series with Adamant (Alliance, #1), reduced to 99 cents this week! :)

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Magic. Monsters. Murder. Welcome to the Multiverse.

The Inter-World Alliance is the only force standing between Earth and the terrifying monsters of offworld. But one girl is about to shake up the balance...

Ada Fletcher is twenty-one, keeps a collection of knives in her room, and lives under the Alliance's radar, risking her life to help refugees from a devastating magical war on her homeworld hide on the low-magic Earth. But when she's taken into custody by the Alliance, her unusual magic makes her a prime suspect for a supervisor's suspicious death.

Kay Walker, grandson of the Alliance's late founder, expects to spend his first week as an Alliance employee chasing monsters out of the dark Passages between worlds, not solving a murder. But when his supervisor dies in suspicious circumstances, he finds himself in charge of questioning a girl he arrested as a suspect. A girl with secrets that force him to confront his own narrow escape from magic's destruction, and threaten to make both of them into the murderer's next targets.

The last thing Ada wants is to help the infuriating Alliance guard who arrested her, but it soon becomes clear that the Alliance knows too much about Ada's offworld origins. More, in fact, than she knows herself. Now she has to choose between loyalty to her family, and helping the Alliance save the Earth - and the Multiverse - from a deadly enemy.

What reviewers are saying

"The world building is magical. Even though we only get a hint of what's out there, I am already in love with this world." - Lola at Lola's Reviews

"...the beginning of a potentially brilliant and addictive series" - Jeanz Book Reviews

"This book is a unique, fun read, and I'd recommend it to everyone who enjoys sci-fi and fantasy." - Amazon reviewer

“Adamant is a fantastic start to a fun, adventurous and super cool series… a world so well written and brought to life you can totally lose yourself in it, and it's utterly fantastic... Can't praise it enough!” - Alisha at Reality's A Bore

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I haven't yet made an announcement about what's coming next, but I'll be publishing a prequel novella to the Alliance series and Book 3, Collision, later this year (release dates to be announced when I can confirm them!). You can add Delinquent: An Alliance Novella on Goodreads now!