Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer and Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller by Demelza Carlton

There are real monsters out there. The worst part is that they're human. 

They took her away from me. 
I mumbled a protest through the haze of pain and exhaustion that had turned me into little more than a zombie. I'll never be able to watch a zombie movie again without remembering this night, I thought. 
"It's all right - we have to move her to take care of her. She's hurt worse than you," I was told. "We need to treat you, too. There's a gunshot wound in your shoulder."
One of the hospital staff looked grim and came over. She started firing questions at me.
"Name?" 
"Nathan Miller."
"What happened?"
"I was shot."
"By whom?"
"A homicidal lunatic with a gun and bad aim." 
"Her name?"
"Caitlin Lockyer."
"What happened to her?"
"Looks like someone tried to kill her."

Nathan found Caitlin on a beach covered in blood. Saving her life was just the start. Now he's the prime suspect and he has to find out who's really responsible. Both of their lives depend on it.

Who hurt her? 
Why was he shot? 
What did he promise? 
Why doesn't his story add up? 
Who was the dead man on the beach? 
What will she remember when she wakes up? 

A tiny taste of what's in store:

"Stay away from her, Nathan. That girl isn't good for you."
Stay away from her? I'd go crazy with worry in a day. "You don't know her."
Chris looked grim. "Neither do you. Is there anything you wouldn't do for her?" 
"Yes," I snapped. "I wouldn't die for her."
Chris turned around to stare at me, her mouth hanging open. 
"Do you want to know why?" I asked steadily. "I wouldn't die for her because I wouldn't be able to protect her any more. What if I missed one of the people who hurt her? I couldn't take that risk. She's too important." 

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The sequel to Amazon Top 100 Horror Suspense Bestseller,Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer. 

Evil should never be necessary. Except when it is. 

"And now in breaking news, Caitlin Lockyer has been found. In the early hours of this morning, a man discovered her body dumped on a south-west beach. A police spokesperson would not confirm whether the girl known as the Absent Angel is alive or dead..." 
They called her an angel. No one thought to ask what kind. 
Burning for retribution, now she'll stop at nothing. 
Can it truly be evil when it feels so good? 

A tiny taste of what's in store:

Don't get into cars with strangers.
So stupid to think I was strong enough to resist.
But I never dreamed it would happen to me.
I tried to back away, but the b**** behind me didn't let me. She hit my diaphragm with the heel of her hand, forcing my breath out in a huff. Unable to breathe, the street stood still in my mind as I stared around, desperately hoping for someone to see - someone who'd help me. Did eyes meet mine? Did I imagine understanding? If it was, it came too late. The burning flare that was my need to breathe exploded and she shoved me into the car. I fell on flesh encased in fabric as I gasped for breath, a flailing fish in the pervert's lap as I lay across the back seat. I dimly heard the doors and windows shut. The motor hummed as the car accelerated away - before I had enough air to scream.

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About the Author:

Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish. 

She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below. 

Sensationalist spin? Hardly. She takes a camera with her to photograph such things to share later. She asserts that sharks are camera shy. 

Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world. 

The Ocean’s Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by her Nightmares trilogy.

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Ocean's Gift and Ocean's Infiltrator by Demelza Carlton ***Indie Author Event***

Sirens don't fall in love with humans. For centuries it has been so... 

But Sirena is different. She lost her first love to sharks and a storm, cursing the islands that stole him from her.
Times have changed and she must swim ashore once more, to the islands she once cursed. 
Gone are the boats powered by sail and steam - jet boats with GPS are now the order of the day. 
Enter Joe, the deckhand on the Dolphin. A handy man to have around when the lights go out. He'll fix your generator and have the lights back on in no time, no worries.
But can he seduce a siren? 
Or will she swim away before he can uncover her secret? 
A book about lobsters, beer and boobs, on some cursed islands off the coast of Western Australia. At least, that's how Joe tells it.
For Sirena, it's a very different story.

A tiny taste of what's in store:

The boat was almost full of water now, I realised in panic, as I groped for a bucket to start bailing. Throwing bucket after bucket overboard, I couldn't tell if I was making any difference to the water level in the boat.
One moment I was holding the bucket, about to scoop up more water, the next I was flying through the air. Immersed in cold, black water, I couldn't see the surface. I struggled, kicking in the direction I thought was up, and hit a rock. I jerked back reflexively and my head cleared the water. I gulped a huge lungful of air and grabbed for the rock. I had to hold on 'til daylight. 
Another big wave broke. I tried to keep hold of the slimy rock, but I was pushed out of reach, drifting in the current. I tried to kick my legs, but I wasn't sure if I did. I couldn't feel my feet and the numbness was creeping up my legs. 
I could hear the breakers on the outer reef, louder than they were from shore. I could feel the spray on my face. A wave washed over me and I was under the water again. 
I thought I could feel someone beside me, rolling me over so my face was at the surface, pulling my body through the water. 
All I could hear was an unearthly singing, high and sad, like some kind of suicidal dolphin. I could say I blacked out, but everything was already so black I wouldn't have noticed the difference. 
I checked out of Hotel Consciousness. At least I got to dream of Vanessa naked. 
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Capsize his boat. Lure him into the water. Summon sharks... 

How long will Sirena let Joe live, now he knows her secret? 
A story about seduction and sharks, parenthood and penguins, with plenty of beer and boobs to keep it interesting, at some coral islands off the coast of Western Australia, plus a few other places, too. 
Sexy mermaids surface once more, to sing up chaos on ship and submarine, sea and shore. 
Trouble, take two. This is Demelza's second contemporary fantasy book in the Ocean's Gift series, with more mermaids and mayhem than ever. 
You'll never look at mermaids the same way again. 

A tiny taste of what's in store:

For the first time, she looked nervous. "No human has ever seen me change before," she admitted. 
"It's the first time for me, too," I replied hoarsely.
She touched her heels together and gave a flick with her feet. The movement rippled up her body, before she did it again. It looked like her skin was darkening, or was it just the waves washing over her? Another flick, her feet rising out of the water this time, and I saw the blue wasn't just the water. It was like the skin of her legs had grown together, extending over her feet into curved flukes, as blue as the water. It blended seamlessly up her body, though her torso remained pale.
She turned on her side, her eyes curious. In the skin along her ribs, I saw dark lines that looked like gills. I couldn't take my eyes off her. She'd never looked less human, but I'd never wanted to touch her more. My mouth hung open and I couldn't seem to close it. 
"Are you coming in, or not?" She twisted, arched and dived down. 
I plunged into the water after her. 

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Meet Aidan from Water and Fire ***Indie Author Event and Giveaway***

Excerpt:

I watched with worried eyes as the paramedic strapped Miranda into a stretcher and loaded her into the small aircraft, followed by her newborn child.

"Thank you," Miranda said hoarsely, a smile stretching her face as her eyes shimmered with tears. "I don't know what would have happened without all your help."

My smile was more strained than hers. She didn't know what would have happened, but I did. The child would be in the hospital morgue and Miranda might have followed soon after. "My pleasure. The hospital staff in Perth will take care of you both. Your husband will be there when the plane lands."

The Royal Flying Doctor Service plane's doors slammed shut and the pilot crunched across the gravel on his way to the cockpit.

I heard a shout from across the field.

"Wait!"

The emergency gate ground open, motor whirring and metal grating on metal.

Both the pilot and I turned to see a lanky man running through the grinding gate and across the gravel beside the tarmac. His long strides cleared the distance faster than I could have. He waved a paper file that looked like medical records.

The man was breathless when he reached us, but he still managed to make his words intelligible. "The patient's file.Has to go with her on the plane." He held out the white cardboard folder with a rainbow of numbered stickers up the side.

The pilot took the folder with a nod and climbed into the plane. I backed away to a safe distance and the breathless man did the same. "Glad I got here in time," he gasped. He was almost doubled over, his hands near his knees, as he tried to catch his breath. He appeared to be speaking to the gravel beneath his large feet.

I looked around, but I saw no one else within earshot, so the man must have been speaking to me.

"What did you do to make the hospital staff send you racing out here with medical records? Did you steal one of the doctors' parking spots?" I asked, hoping to head off any further conversation.

Privately, I thought it more likely that he was a member of the cleaning staff that I hadn't met yet, who'd been sent here by the cowering intern, too shaken to venture out of his office to drive.

Instead of being offended, the man laughed. He stood up and I realised for the first time that the length of his limbs matched his height – he was taller than me. "I may be the most junior doctor at the hospital, but I still get my own parking spot. I'm Aidan Lannon, the intern. I wrote up the patient's notes so slowly that I didn't realise she'd left without them, so it was my responsibility to take them to the airport."

So this is the new intern – and he's not the useless, quivering wreck Rob said he was. He's a man who takes his responsibilities seriously and doesn't send a flunky to make up for his mistakes. I found I almost liked him. Begrudgingly, I began, "I'm Belinda," but that's as far as I got.

"I know who you are. You're the midwife who saved that woman's life, and her baby. If it weren't for you, they both would've died." His eyes shone with something like admiration.

I sighed. "I'm the student midwife, who happened to drive past where she'd crashed her car into a kangaroo and took her to hospital with me at the start of my shift. When she went into premature labour, she became my patient, as Jill, the qualified midwife, was dealing with a difficult delivery for a woman who refused anaesthesia. I told Jill I'd let her know if I ran into trouble, but it wasn't necessary, and her patient needed her more."

I hit the gate release and we waited for it to clank open before trudging from the restricted airside gravel to the bitumen between the hire cars and the staff car park. Together, we stood and watched the tiny plane taxi down the runway. It took off, shrinking into the sky until it rose above the cloud ceiling and out of sight. Silently, I wished the woman luck, hoping that her daughter would survive long enough to leave hospital and go home with her mother. My hopes for happiness flew with her.

Happiness I will never know. My daughter no longer lives.

I sagged, suddenly realising how exhausted I was.

Yet the intern turned to me, his eyes full of unmistakeable awe. "If that was your first solo delivery, you're in the wrong profession. You should have studied medicine instead of nursing. I couldn't have done it."

I was too tired to explain to him that Miranda's child was by no means the first baby I'd delivered, nor the most difficult. Instead, I looked for my car in the parking lot.

"How did you get here?" Aidan persisted.

I wondered the same thing, as the only car I could see was not mine. "In the ambulance, with my patient," I replied slowly. The ambulance had left without me. I hoped that didn't mean there would be another emergency waiting at the hospital. If and when I managed to make my way back there. It would be a long walk – more than three hours. There wasn't a taxi in sight and my bag, my phone and my wallet were back in my locker at the hospital. I heaved a deep sigh and summoned the strength to start the long journey back.

Aidan pressed a button on his key. The lone car in the parking lot flashed its orange lights. "Let me give you a lift back to the hospital."

I considered refusing. I also considered how tired I was. By the time I reached the hospital on foot, my shift would be well and truly over and the sun would have set. I hadn't brought a torch and there weren't any streetlights for most of the way. It'd be pitch dark and I'd be a good target for the Nannup Tiger, if it existed.

"Okay." I tried to keep my face expressionless. It wasn't difficult, as even the effort of forming any expression was exhausting.

Aidan drove a Mini, a very small car that appeared incongruous to his size. He opened the passenger door and started pitching things from the passenger seat into the back, before he gestured for me to sit down. He seemed really nervous, apologising for the mess in his vehicle.

I sat in the passenger seat, carefully placing my feet between a pair of very large sneakers and some muddy gumboots. Noticing something uncomfortable beneath me, I reached for it and pulled out a stethoscope, the head of the chestpiece decorated with a sticker of a three-lobed leaf.

In three strides he rounded the front of his car and folded himself into the space between the driver's seat and the steering wheel. He reminded me of an octopus squeezing itself into a small rock crevice, only more angular and awkward.

When he'd managed to wedge himself inside, I held up the stethoscope, lifting my eyebrows, too.

"Oh hell, sorry. That's my lucky stethoscope. Dad gave it to me before I left Ireland and I forgot to take it off before I left the hospital." He took it from me and stuffed it into the glove box.

He said little and I said less for the start of the drive, until we were forced to stop by a flock of sheep moving across the road from one paddock to another. The farmer shifting them waved to us and walked over to the driver's side window.

He and Aidan discussed sheep and I let my mind wander, not listening, until I caught the words, "…Nannup Tiger…"

I turned to listen to their conversation.

Aidan laughed. "You don't expect me to believe in the Nannup Tiger, do you? That's just something you made up for tourists!"

The farmer shook his head. "The Nannup Tiger's real, mate. It took two of my lambs last week and Pete next door said he's lost three. Pete's missus saw a slinking dark shape by one of the sheds near the house the night they lost two lambs. You watch out for it. I'm shifting my lambing ewes closer to the house, so the dog and I can keep a better eye on them."

He waved again as he closed the gate behind his sheep.

Aidan crunched his car back into gear and accelerated away. "So, do you believe in the Nannup Tiger?" he asked, without taking his eyes off the road.

I replied cautiously. "It's a native species that's believed to be extinct because no one's seen one for a long time, isn't it? With all the forests and big farms around here, anything could be hiding. It wouldn't surprise me if there are still some around, even if no one sees much of them. Aren't there plenty of undiscovered species in the world, even in Australia? What's one more?"

Aidan's laughter died. "Some stories say it's a thylacine, some sort of big native cat, but others say it's a black panther that escaped from a circus. No one seems to know what it is." He looked nervously into the trees on either side of the road.

I made myself smile. "Well, if you're scared of it, don't go out at night, then," I said lightly.

He shivered and continued driving, this time in silence.

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Meet Demelza Carlton ***Indie Author Event*** Spotlight and Giveaway

Today I have the privilege of hosting Demelza Carlton on our first day of the Indie Author Event!! Make sure you check out the excerpt of Water and Fire as well as the YouTube video! And, before you ask (since I did already) that is Demelza speaking in the video!

A steamy contemporary medical romance involving a sexy doctor, a naughty nurse, a midwife on a mission and a mysterious predator in Albany, Western Australia.

Working as a student midwife in an Australian country hospital is never easy, but Belinda finds more trouble than most.

There's the intern doctor who follows her around like an overgrown puppy, the dangerous local wildlife and her own secrets she must keep.

When she finds herself without a place to live, what else can possibly go wrong?

Or is it time for something to go right?

Meet Belinda- Excerpt

A screech and a thump were my only whisper of warning.

I sighed. Another suicide.

I rounded the corner. The humped body of the big buck kangaroo sprawled like a sleeping seal by the side of the road. No other animal has a death-wish quite like a kamikaze kangaroo. The bitumen glittered in my headlights, as if frosted over in preparation for the dawn. The crunch beneath my tyres belied the thought of ice. I knew the sound of crushed glass.

The tail-lights of the tiny Toyota bled their glow onto the gravel beneath. The tree toppled between those two red eyes had folded the roof into a pair of ominous knitted eyebrows.

I slowed to a stop in the gravel behind it, hoping my help wouldn't be necessary. I left my headlights on to illuminate the wrecked hatchback. "Hello?" I called.

The answering groan was deep and came from the car. I peered through the back window, but the inflated airbags inside made it hard to see. I approached the driver's door.

"Are you okay?" I asked, knowing the answer already as I surveyed the damage done by both the kangaroo and the tree the driver had blindly swerved into.

"No," whimpered a female voice. "I…I can't get out."

Her door had popped partly open, so it wasn't difficult to pull on the handle to widen the gap. The airbag sprouting from her steering wheel pinned her to the seat. Under the weight of the fallen tree, both the roof and the console tightened into a cage around the airbag, making her car a padded cell in which she started to panic. She struggled to twist out of her seat, but she couldn't.

I waited a moment, before asking, "Can you undo your seat belt, or is it stuck?"

She looked at me in wonder and began fumbling for the seat belt buckle. I clearly heard the click that released her, before her scream shattered the air.

When she ran out of breath, she panted for a moment before she spoke. "I'm sorry," she said hoarsely.

I gritted my teeth into a smile. "Nothing to be sorry about. Let's get you out of there."

I helped her out of the driver's seat and onto her shaky legs. Only as she straightened beside me did I see the swollen belly that the airbag had hidden. I had barely a second to recognise her pregnancy before another contraction seized her. My arms were strong enough to support her, but her scream was longer this time. I saw the blood and fluid staining the driver's seat and felt a frisson of fear.

No. Can't hesitate. I'll do whatever it takes to save her. I won't lose this patient.

When the sound had died away, I said quickly, "Let's get you to my car, where you can lie down."

I helped her hobble to my car in time for her to topple into the back seat as her next contraction hit. Her scream rang in my ears, but I pulled out my phone, ready to ring for help as soon as she was silent.

I looked down. No signal. I held her life in my hands and mine alone. No, not just hers.Her unborn child, too.

So be it.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered, "but I think I'm having my baby, too."

For the first time, I smiled properly. "Then you're in luck. I'm Belinda, one of Albany Regional Hospital's best midwives and I'm on my way to work. I guess I'm starting early today, with you as my first patient. What's your name?"

"Miranda Nelson," she groaned over the next contraction. A gout of blood soaked the seat beneath her.

"I'll buckle you up and then we'd best get going," I said brightly, hoping there were no police up yet to catch me speeding. If I didn't get her to hospital soon, Miranda might bleed to death.

Not on my shift she won't.

 "I'm sorry," Miranda sobbed, before another scream sounded her next contraction.

"No need," I replied cheerfully. I found myself singing under my breath. I lifted my voice a little so she might hear the soothing song, too. After all, it can't hurt. She's in enough pain already.

A wail heralded another contraction, Miranda's panicked panting punctuating the time between. I glanced at my watch. Five minutes. With the contractions so close, the next one should hit just as we get there.

I braked carefully as we reached the ambulance entrance, the sound drowned in Miranda's deep groan. I threw myself out of my door and pelted to hers.

"EMERGENCY. I NEED A WHEELCHAIR!" I bellowed as a stricken-looking ward clerk appeared at the door.

"Yes, Belinda," Helen replied smartly, vanishing back inside. She returned in a moment with the small hospital's only wheelchair, angling it perfectly to catch Miranda as I levered her out of the car.

Helen pursed her lips at the sight of blood in the back seat of my car, but she said nothing. I passed her my keys as I took hold of the wheelchair. "Can you take care of my car, Helen?" I asked brightly, already rolling Miranda inside.

With the help of a sleepy orderly named Rob, I quickly ensconced Miranda in a birthing suite, her wail rising as another contraction hit her.

"Where's Jill?" I asked Rob, before he left the room.

"In with Mrs Barker. She went into labour and won't let Jill leave. Jill and the anaesthetist are trying to persuade her to have an epidural, but she swears she won't."

Two difficult births in one night – Mrs Barker and now Miranda. This was going to be harder than I'd thought. I sucked in a breath, wondering who else would be able to help me. "Where's Dr Henderson?"

Rob shrugged. "He's not on duty – he's on the afternoon shift. We got a new intern for the morning shift – he's shaking in his office. I swear he goes whiter every time Mrs Barker bellows. Not like you – everyone knows you're the ice queen. Cool, calm and collected – no matter what."

The last thing I needed was a terrified intern for this birth. Alone, then. "Can you send the anaesthetist to me, after he's done with Mrs Barker? Miranda Nelson was in a car accident, and it looks like she's gone into premature labour."

Miranda let out another hoarse scream.

"And get someone to call her husband. He's up in Perth this week, I believe – tell him we'll have her flown up to King Edward Memorial Hospital as soon as we can. Call the Flying Doctors for transport, too." I looked at Miranda, straining through another contraction.

Rob hurried out, leaving us alone.

"Just you and me, Miranda," I said softly.

"No," Miranda gasped out. "She's coming. She's coming…urngh!"

Not wanting to believe her, I examined her as quickly as I could. She was almost fully dilated. There would be two patients for transport, not one.

And it's up to me to make sure they survive.

"So she is," I replied, keeping my voice calm. "It's time to push, Miranda. I hope you have a name picked out."

Character Profile: http://youtu.be/nGam2cdYbwA

Author biography:

Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish.

She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray-drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below.

Sensationalist spin? No - Demelza tends to take a camera with her so she can capture and share the moment later; shipwrecks, sharks and all.

Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world.

The Ocean's Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by the Nightmares trilogy.

Purchase links:

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Apple:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/water-and-fire/id684516856?mt=11

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Kobo:  http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Water-and-Fire/book-s0pxKByY1kC1Vpy14AhSsg/page1.html?s=T9Ro7sIJYkaSx24D-tQKqQ&r=3

Sony: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/demelza-carlton/water-and-fire/_/R-400000000000001105107

Water and Fire is on sale for $.99 at most outlets for the weekend!!!

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