Welcome to the Release Day Celebration for
Clanless (Nameless #2) by Jennifer Jenkins
presented by Month9Books!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
Happy Book Birthday, Jennifer!
Striker Gryphon has lost his position of honor among the Ram, and is now a hunted man. A traitor
Zo, the object of his affection, was murdered by members of his former clan. To honor her memory, he journeys to the highly secretive Raven “Nest” to warn strangers of their impending demise—though it could cost him more than just his pride. He doesn’t know that Zo is very much alive and in another part of the region assisting Nameless refugees over a mountain swarming with wild men known as “Clanless.” As each struggle to make sense of what their lives have become, they fight and claw to reach the Allied Camp, their last hope in bringing peace to the region. But the road back to one another is treacherous and uncertain. And freedom will come with a price.
Clanless (Nameless #2)
by Jennifer Jenkins
Publication Date: October 4, 2016
Publisher: Month9Books
“I am Talon
and this is my twin sister, Raca. We are traveling home to the Raven after a
long journey south.”
Zo wondered
if they came from the Allied Camp but didn’t want to reveal too much about her
knowledge of Commander Laden and the Allies. Enemies of the cause would kill
for that kind of information—especially the Ram.
The Raven
girl called Raca hitched up her pack and smiled. “We usually avoid smoking
fires, but I made Talon stop when I saw your group. It isn’t every day you find
other women outside of the protection of a clan.”
Talon took
another step forward. “We mostly just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
Zo looked
to Eva, who shook her head from right to left. “No,” she mouthed, while keeping
a firm hold on both of her knives. Joshua was more relaxed, looking to Zo for
his cue to attack. His confidence in her was terrifying. No matter their talks
of assets and liabilities; in that moment it was clear that they all saw her as
their leader.
A poor
decision.
Zo had no
other choice but to follow her gut instinct. If these people were Raven then
they needed to know about the Ram’s plans to attack their clan. “You are
welcome at our fire.”
Talon and
Raca relaxed and walked over to their circle.
“Tell me,”
said Talon in his slow-paced Raven accent, “how do two young women, a boy, and
a child find themselves outside of clan protection only a day’s journey from
Ram’s Gate?”
Eva waved
her knife in front of Talon’s nose. “This is our fire, Bird. You have no
business asking questions.”
At hearing
Eva’s harsh Ram words, Talon immediately drew his own blade, with Raca and
Joshua following suit.
Zo’s hands
shot out to calm the circle. “Enough. Eva, put that away. Joshua.”
One by one,
the circle rested their weapons in their laps, though none went so far as to
sheath them. “You’re a Ram,” said Raca to Eva. “I’ve never met a Ram woman before.
For some reason, I always imagined they grew beards and had thighs the size of
tree trunks. You’re actually kind of pretty.”
“A
compliment? Charming.” Eva twisted the knife in her hand.
Joshua
snorted, and the dying coals of the fire crackled.
Talon
studied Zo. “We don’t mean to be rude, Ram. It’s not every day you see a pair
of Ram and a pair of Wolves enjoying the same fire.”
Joshua
said, “How did you know that Zo was a—”
“Wolf?”
finished Talon. “Well, look at her. Long neck, elegant lines, the feminine
curve of her jaw. It’s easy to spot.”
“You can
stop staring,” said Joshua in a hard tone at odds with his usual affable
nature. “She is not yours to look at.”
Excerpt #4
Stone held
Eva’s hand in two of his and they all sat around a fire to eat a meal of boiled
venison and wildroot. Zo had spent the last hour explaining how to find the
Allied Camp using a map of twigs, grass, and small rocks.
She leaned
in to adjust the two twigs that represented a slot canyon. “The final stretch
is narrow and will not be easy for someone your size to cross, but you can do
it.” She looked up to see Stone bring Eva’s hand to his lips.
“We’re
going to make it, love,” he said.
Zo blushed
and looked away. The dozens of fires that dotted the clearing drew her
attention. Many of these people wore nothing but rags to fight the chilling
nights on the mountain. They ate what food the land provided and, according to
Stone, had sometimes gone whole days without a morsel to eat. Still, the people
smiled and laughed around their fires. Perhaps still in shock from the trauma
of escaping their slavery.
Freedom. It
was such a peculiar thing. You could give a person food, water, and shelter,
but take away their free will and they could never truly be happy. “If we die
on this mountain,” Stone had said, “then we die free. And I can live with
that.” He’d smiled his crazy smile, where his eyes turned to saucers and his
grin reached his ears.
Zo
remembered the first time she met Stone up in the treetop hideout—a
headquarters for the Nameless insurrection. Stone had ordered her capture. They
dangled her over the edge of a platform high in the trees (some Raven
construction) to get her to disclose her work as a spy for the Allies. She
hadn’t exactly liked the man, but his passion for freedom could not be
questioned.
As Eva and
Zo rinsed their dinner bowls in a nearby stream, Stone shouted orders to “Circle
up!” This sparked a flurry of movement among the people. They gathered their
supplies and arranged the company so that the men slept on the outer rim of the
circle, protecting their women, children, and supplies within.
Zo noticed
that every man also slept with a stick sharpened to a point like a spear. A Ram
weapon.
Several men
reported to Stone and received orders for night watches. Joshua turned to Zo.
“This guy’s a good leader. The Nameless follow his orders without question.”
“We resent
the term ‘Nameless,’ boy.” Joshua startled when Stone appeared behind him. “We
have names and we’ll never be forced to live without them again.”
“Stone,”
said Eva, taking the Nameless leader’s hand. “Joshua didn’t mean any harm.”
Stone
didn’t look so sure as he eyed the boy. “I just don’t love the idea of a Ram in
my camp.”
Eva threw
her head back and laughed, drawing the attention of many of the company. “And
here I thought I’d be sharing your bedroll tonight.” She made as if to walk
away, but he snatched her around the waist. “Point taken.” He turned to Joshua.
“You’re welcome here, boy. But you’ll refer to us as ‘Freemen’ from now on. Understood?”
Excerpt #5
A long cut
stretched across Boar’s forehead. Blood gushed down his face and into his eyes
like red tears. Every muscle in his shoulders and arms flexed as he stomped
toward Zo.
He fell
before he reached her.
A few of
his men rushed to his side. Another thrust Zo’s medical satchel at her and
ordered, “Help him.”
Zo’s icy
hands hugged her mother’s satchel to her chest. “No,” she said, scrambling
backward. She bumped into the chest of another of Boar’s men. She looked over
at Boar sprawled out on the ground then down at the satchel in her arms. A
clear memory of her mother sprang to the forefront of her mind.
Zo was
young, maybe eight or nine years old. Her family had a few sheep that they used
for wool and milk. Zo remembered them well because it was her job to care for
them. They followed her around whenever she entered their pen. If she turned
left, they turned left. If she ran, they ran. It was one of her favorite forms
of entertainment.
Until they
were slaughtered in a raid.
One of the
men who committed the crime was injured and Zo’s mother called for him to be
brought to her healing tent. Zo cried and cried over the loss of her sheep and
when she learned what her mother had done, she stormed into her mother’s
healing tent and yelled, “Don’t heal him, Mama! He killed my sheep.”
Zo would
never forget the disappointment she saw on her mother’s face that day. “I am
not this man’s executioner, Zo,” she said. “I am a healer. If I do nothing I am
as guilty as he is.”
Even as a
child, Zo didn’t have her mother’s humanity. Her incomprehensible ability to
love and forgive. Besides, this wasn’t about revenge over sheep, it was about
self-preservation. Boar’s injury might be the key to her escape.
Zo fought a
niggling voice in her head that wouldn’t be dismissed. “Heal him.” It was absurd and utterly foolish, but as those two
words gently penetrated her consciousness, a blanket of warmth spread over her
body. “Heal him.” It was her mother’s voice.
She’d
forgotten just how soothing it could be. Deep and smooth and achingly
beautiful. Zo clasped her hands and pressed them to her chest. Remembering
brought so much pain, but strangely, comfort too.
Zo raised
her head to the heavens, wiped at a tear, and sighed. This is for you, Mother.
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES
Four clans have been at war for centuries: the Kodiak, the Raven, the Wolf and the Ram. Through brutal war tactics, the Ram have dominated the region, inflicting death and destruction on their neighbors.
Seventeen-year-old Zo is a Wolf and a Healer who volunteers to infiltrate the Ram as a spy on behalf of the allied clans. She offers herself as a Ram slave, joining the people who are called the “nameless.” Hers is a suicide mission – Zo’s despair after losing her parents in a Ram raid has left her seeking both revenge and an end to her own misery. But after her younger sister follows her into Rams Gate, Zo must find a way to survive her dangerous mission and keep her sister safe.
What she doesn’t expect to find is the friendship of a young Ram whose life she saves, the confusing feelings she develops for a Ram soldier, and an underground nameless insurrection. Zo learns that revenge, loyalty and love are more complicated than she ever imagined in the first installment of this two-book series.
With her degree in History and Secondary Education, Jennifer had every intention of teaching teens to love George Washington and appreciate the finer points of ancient battle stratagem. (Seriously, she’s obsessed with ancient warfare.) However, life had different plans in store when the writing began. As a proud member of Writers Cubed, and a co-founder of the Teen Author Boot Camp, she feels blessed to be able to fulfill both her ambition to work with teens as well as write Young Adult fiction.
Jennifer has three children who are experts at naming her characters, one loving, supportive husband, a dog with little-man syndrome, and three chickens (of whom she is secretly afraid).
Visit her online at jajenkins.com
Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please be respectful, all comments are moderated. Please reframe from comment fights, everyone has a right to their own opinion, if you don't like it, to bad.
I love to hear your thoughts, and crazy idea's. I'll make very effort to replay to your comment and views. :)
-Cheers.