A Fistful of Evil
(Madison Fox #1)
by Rebecca Chastain
(Madison Fox #1)
by Rebecca Chastain
Publication Date: August 18th 2014
Madison Fox just learned that her ability to see souls is
more than a sight: It’s a weapon for fighting evil.
The only problem is she doesn’t have a clue what
she’s doing.
On the positive side, her money problems are over, she’s
On the positive side, her money problems are over, she’s
possibly discovered her purpose in life, and her coworker is
smoking hot. On the negative side, evil creatures now
actively hunt her, and deadly experiences are becoming the
norm.
When she thinks it couldn’t get worse, a powerful evil sets up
When she thinks it couldn’t get worse, a powerful evil sets up
shop at a local hotel’s video game convention, and it’s got its
eye on more than the gaming geeks: it is hungry for
Madison’s soul. Madison needs to become an expert
illuminant enforcer overnight to save her job, her region . .
. and her life.
If Stephanie Plum fought evil with magic,
it’d look a lot like this.
What
a phenomenal book! This book was truly amazing but
then again, all of Rebecca's
books are amazing. They're all
well written and totally thought out. I am so
ready for book to
I'm going to have to find it immediately.
This
book is about Madison and she finds out how her soul
site is truly supposed to
be used. As she turns up for a job
interview and the new job she is totally
thrown for a loop
when the man start speaking to her about her soul site. So if
he calls it something entirely different. And that's when she
also meats and
Nikko the head Enforcer. And she learns to
deal with and clear her reaching of
evil there is a demon that
has descended on her area. Are you going to be so
surprised when you find out who it is. When this all started
out she wanted to
get rid of her gifts but there is a turning
point and you're going to love what
it is makes her wish to
keep on going. Now I'm off to read book 2.
Now before I ruin this for
you I will leave off here. I hope you
enjoy this book as much as I did. If you
do like this book,
please consider leaving a review. The Authors really like it
when you do; they value your opinions too.
. Don’t
Follow Me: I’m Lost, Too
The interview was a
catastrophe. It started out fine—better than fine. Kyle, the sales manager for
the bumper sticker company Illumination Studios met me in the warm confines of
a nearby Starbucks, purchased me a grande green tea, and selected a table in the
corner, away from the door and the cold blast of November air every customer
brought in with them. Soft music, cappuccino-machine clacks and whirs, and the
murmur of conversation created a cocoon of privacy.
I handed Kyle a copy
of my résumé, determined to prove myself to be the mandatory employee for the
boring junior sales associate position. I wasn’t particularly qualified and I
would normally have rather peeled hangnails than perform cold calls—which is
what I strongly suspected the position entailed—but four weeks of unemployment,
seven failed interviews, and escalating credit card bills proved very strong
motivators.
Strong enough for me
to ignore the desperate reason I’d applied for the job in the first
place. Never trust your soul-sight, I told myself for the
thousandth time. But my imminent eviction trumped mistrust of my bizarre,
mutant vision.
Kyle dropped my
résumé to the table without glancing at it. He scrutinized me over the top of
his dry cappuccino. Kyle exuded salesman, from his maroon button-up shirt and
khaki trousers to his thinning brown hair with its frosted tips. His face was
pinched, as if someone had pressed his baby flesh between their hands and
pulled, extending his nose and pulling his lips and eyes in tight. He couldn’t
have been much older than me, despite the sullen brackets around his mouth and
deep grooves between his eyebrows. Maybe his expression fell into disapproving
lines naturally.
“How many years’
experience do you have, Madison?” Kyle asked.
“Specifically in the
bumper sticker business, none, but I believe my time at Catchall Advertising
will—”
“I don’t care about
the bumper sticker crap. I care about your experience in the field.”
My weirdo radar,
dulled by the overpowering mix of desperation and determination, flickered to
life now.
“I honed my sales
skills while working as a saleswoman at Sundage Cars. My experience there
taught me how to connect with people from all walks of life.” Though it hadn’t
taught me how to sell a car. In the six months of my employment as a used-car
saleswoman, I sold a grand total of zero cars, which is why David Sundage, my
cousin-in-law and owner of Sundage Cars, had fired me at the beginning of
September. But I wasn’t going to concern Kyle with that minor detail.
Kyle set his
cappuccino down on the table and leaned back in his chair. “How old are you?”
he asked.
“I’m not sure I
understand the relevance—”
“What regions have
you worked in before this?”
Regions? “I’ve worked
mainly in Roseville since I—”
“With who? Not with
Brad or Isabel.” Kyle leaned forward, his dark eyes intense.
Who? I eased my tea to the
table and ran my palms down the sides of my black knee-length skirt, telling
myself it was only nerves that were making Kyle seem so volatile.
“Um, most recently
with David Sundage,” I said.
“Where are his
headquarters?”
Headquarters? What is
this, the FBI? Hadn’t
he bothered to read my résumé?
“Down Douglas,” I
answered, pointing vaguely west toward Douglas Boulevard and the car lot.
“Before that?”
“Also in Roseville,
at Catchall—”
“Look, we can both
stop playing this game. I don’t care about what jobs you’ve had to take between
IE positions.” Kyle deflated into his chair with a gusty sigh. “To be honest,
you’re the only qualified person to apply for the job—my job. I’ve been ready to
transfer for months now, so I’m not going to make this interview hard on you. I
want you to take this job as much as you want it. I just need to make this
interview look good so Brad signs my walking papers, okay?”
I nodded and tried to
look like I understood more than the English words he used. I didn’t know what
he meant by “IE positions,” and I knew I wasn’t qualified for his sales manager
position. I wasn’t even qualified to be a junior sales associate, but who was I
to argue? Managers probably didn’t have to make cold calls, which automatically
made the job more appealing. Plus, a management position would pay better, and
I was pretty sure I could fake it until I got caught up on my bills. By then, I
could find a more suitable job. Something more Indiana Jones and less Bridget
Jones.
“Okay, let me make
this perfectly clear,” Kyle continued. “Which wardens have you worked with?”
“Wardens?” As in
prison?
Kyle leaned forward,
placing his hands on the table. “What’s the largest evil you’ve ever tackled? A
wraith? A pissed-off dryad?”
I cast a quick glance
around for a candid camera, noting the nearest exit in case I needed to make a
run for it. I’d been nervous on interviews before, but never because of a
mentally unstable interviewer. Was that why Kyle had insisted we meet away from
the company office? Did he even work for Illumination Studios?
I eased my hand
through the strap of my purse and slid it onto my shoulder, careful not to make
any sudden movements that might spook the deranged man. “I don’t think I’m the
right person for the job, after all,” I said, and pushed away from the table.
This is why I never
used my soul-sight, never followed its false leads. I shouldn’t have made an
exception for this job. To the marrow of my bones, I knew soul-sight was
untrustworthy.
“Hang on, Madison,”
Kyle said, grabbing my arm as I started to stand. I froze. “You’re definitely
the right person for the job. You’re the first enforcer to walk through that
door in nearly two weeks.”
“I don’t even know
what that means. I’m going to save us both some time and leave now.” I tugged
to free my arm.
“Holy crap! You’re a
rogue.” Kyle jerked away from me, shaking his hand like I’d given him cooties.
Unbalanced, I fell back into my chair.
“That explains your
age,” Kyle said, speaking more to himself than me. “And your job history. You
haven’t been playing games with me—you really don’t know . . .”
I stood again as he
trailed off, and his gaze snapped to focus on my face. “It was nice to meet
you,” I said by rote. “Good luck with—”
“One question.” Kyle
stood, cutting off my escape. He towered over my five-foot-ten frame by a good
eight inches. Despite his wiry build, the odds weren’t in my favor that I could
knock him down before he could grab me.
Taking a deep breath,
and reminding myself that I was in a safe public place filled with people, I
said, “Okay. One more.”
“Did you apply
because you thought you could pretend to be qualified for a sales position or
because the ad glowed?”
My breath caught. The
fact that the job description in the “Help Wanted” section had glowed in
soul-sight had been an inexplicable anomaly. Dead, mashed pulp couldn’t glow.
It wasn’t alive. It didn’t have a soul. But hearing that Kyle knew about the
glow set my arm hairs on end. No one knew about soul-sight except my best
friend, and that was only because I’d told her. Soul-sight was my own personal
aberration.
Seeing my hesitation,
Kyle plowed on.
“Three decades as a
rogue has got to be a new record. I’m not sure why you chose to come out of
hiding, but I’m not letting you get away now, not when I’m this close”—he
pinched his forefinger and thumb together—“to escaping this puny region for
some real action.”
“I haven’t been
hiding. I think you’re mistaken—”
“Come on. We both
know you’re not qualified for a sales position even if it did exist,” Kyle
said, flicking my résumé. The crisp white paper skittered off the table to the
floor. “But if you could see the glow, you are qualified to be
an enforcer. Hmm, let’s see, how to explain this to a thirty-year-old rogue?”
“I’m twenty-five,” I
corrected softly, wondering why I was still standing there, why I hadn’t
stepped around Kyle and walked out the door.
“You have the ability
to see the world differently than this ‘real world,’ right? Black and white?
Plants and animals glow all pretty and clean. People look like they’re wearing
snowy-weather camouflage. Is this ringing any bells?”
There was definitely
a ringing in my ears. He’d just described soul-sight. My knees wobbled and I
sank disjointedly into my chair.
Kyle sat across from
me, shaking his head with amazement. “I can’t believe you’ve maintained a rogue
status for so long. I mean, I understand the appeal of not having a boss, but
you’re also not on anyone’s payroll. Why not become a real enforcer and get paid
for it?”
Paid to use
soul-sight? Has he infected me with his insanity?
“I, um—”
“Trust me, this
region’s not hard at all. It’s a good place to cut your teeth, but it gets
monotonous real fast. Still, let’s see what you’ve got. Tell me what you see
here.”
“A coffee shop,” I
said, not quite willing to believe he and I were talking about the same thing.
“Fine. I’ll go
first.” He twitched his long, pointy nose and grinned at me. “You’ve got great
color. Very pure. Which is how I knew you were an enforcer. No atrum in
sight.”
I shifted in my
chair, irrationally pulling my suit jacket tighter to cover myself, but Kyle
had already turned away.
“Now, that guy behind
the counter, he’s not the honest type. Look at the way atrum coats
his fingertips and wrists. Disgusting.”
Kyle grinned at me. I
tried to remember to breathe. He was truly talking about soul-sight. I wasn’t
the only person with the ability. All brain activity got jammed up between that
thought and his statement that people—he—got paid to use soul-sight. Once
I could formulate a complete thought, I was going to have a lot of questions.
“Go ahead, look
around in Primordium. I’m going to see if I can attract us a little fun,” Kyle
said.
For the first time in
ten years, I intentionally blinked in public.
I gripped the edges
of the table for support against the wave of dizziness that broadsided me
whenever I switched between visions; then I purposely examined my surroundings.
The coffee shop was slate gray, all color nonexistent in this vision. From the
floor (which I knew was tiled white) to the wooden tables to the chrome
espresso machine, every inanimate object was shades of charcoal. The overhead
lighting didn’t exist in soul-sight—in Primordium, I corrected
myself. Shadows didn’t exist in Primordium, either, not traditional
light-created shadows. Something worked in this vision to give depth to
objects, but trying to focus on it was a recipe for a migraine. The only bright
spots in the room were the people.
I forced myself to
examine the man behind the cash register to verify Kyle’s description, fighting
against soul-sight-avoidance instincts honed over the last ten years. My
fingers tightened on the table. The barista’s fingertips and wrists were
smeared black, like he’d had a run-in with a dirty chimney. The rest of his
arms were pale gray, as was his face. I knew from experience, those dark
patches represented some immoral choices and actions. Light gray was normal for
a human; black was pure evil. Only animals and plants were pure white in
Primordium. The barista’s smudged wrists meant he’d made some bad choices, but
I couldn’t tell what. That was only one of the flaws of soul-sight.
The only person’s
soul I’d ever seen that was as pure as an animal’s was my own. Since I was far
from perfect, I figured I couldn’t see my own flaws. That was fine by me.
Seeing my soul felt like looking inside myself, and it was a sure way to induce
stomach-churning vertigo.
I swiveled my head to
look at my companion, fully expecting him to look like a variation of every
other human I’d ever seen.
Kyle, the
plain-looking salesman, glowed brighter than most searchlights. I lifted my
hand to shield my eyes, but it was as impractical as shining a flashlight in my
eyes to shield them from the brightness of the sun.
“Aha! There are a few
curious imps. Figured there would be with the traffic in here,” Kyle said. He
was too bright to see his facial features, almost too bright to see a solid
outline. When he talked, I couldn’t tell if his lips moved. It was one of the
creepiest things I’d ever seen.
I had a thousand
questions for this man—why had we never met before? Why did he refer to me as a
rogue? Could he please dim himself?—but what came out was, “A curious what?”
“Imp.” His glowing
head swiveled toward me. “You have killed evil creatures before, right?”
I shook my head.
“What evil creatures?”
“Amazing. Truly
amazing. It’s like you’ve been hiding under a rock, invisible to both sides.”
He shook his head in wonder. “You’ve not imploded a single imp? Not even a
small one?”
“Maybe I have,” I
said, belatedly offended and not sure why. “What do they look like?”
Kyle laughed loud
enough to draw several stares. “No shit. A rogue with zero experience.” He
chuckled again. “The best Brad can attract to his puny region is an untrained
nobody with no clue. I’d love to see his face when—” He raised his hand to
forestall my next question. “Never mind. You’ve got the ability; you’re
trainable. Brad won’t turn you away, not when he’s so desperate for an IE. Ah,
that stands for illuminant enforcer, which is the job I’m leaving
to you. So let me give you your first demonstration of what a true enforcer
does. Watch carefully.”
I tore my eyes from
his shining aura. There was no after-image like with real light, which was a
good thing, because I’d have been blind for a half hour after staring so hard.
Logic said the bright light of Kyle should have cast shadows all over the room,
but in this strange sight, logic didn’t apply.
I wasn’t sure where I
was supposed to look, so I scanned other customers.
The coffee shop was
busy but not full, with groups of two and three people scattered around the
free-floating tables—mostly college students or businesspeople escaping the
office. People firmly rooted in reality, not looking at dirty souls and talking
about illumi-something enforcers and Primordium.
I focused on the
group of four people to my right. Like everyone else in the room, they had gray
dollops peeking through the V-necks of their shirts and flecks of black soot
defiling their hands and wrists. I could see their features faintly through
their bodies’ natural light, and I flushed with embarrassment when all four
turned to stare back at me. I rarely let myself use my soul-sight around
people; despite my discomfort, it was heady to use it so blatantly now. Of course,
to them it just looked like I was staring rudely.
“Do you see the
imps?”
I swiveled back to
Kyle and blinked against his brightness. Unobtrusively, I leaned against the
table while the world spun back into color.
“They’re the smallest
of the evil creatures, little blobs of pure evil. Hardly enough brain matter to
function. Just enough to recognize food and attack it.”
Not good. This
is so not good. I wished I were back at home with my cat, Mr. Bond,
and a good book or a TV show. Something ordinary. I did not want to be talking
with the only other known person with soul-sight who kept insisting there were
evil creatures visible to only us. I felt like a character in a horror movie
right before they slowly turn around and come face-to-face with a monster.
Seeing evil on people’s souls was bad enough. I didn’t want to see—let alone
come into contact with—something purely evil.
And yet, how could
I not look?
I blinked, carefully
focusing away from Kyle first.
I scanned the room
again. Baristas. Customers. Books and CDs. Coffee bags. “What am I looking
for?” Kyle didn’t answer me. Movement under the nearest table caught my
attention. An inky black chinchilla-like blob sat on the table’s base, its
glowing eyes watching me.
“What the hell is
that?” Anything with life was always a version of white. Even the sullied souls
of the sadistic still glowed with light undertones. Nothing living was all
black—it was life that made everything glow. Furthermore, animals were never
tainted by ambiguous moral choices like humans; animals were always white.
The tiny fluff ball of blackness was darker than the inanimate objects around
it. It was black—solid black. Impossibly black. Either there were varying
degrees of life I’d never encountered and this was the zombie equivalent of
life, or this creature—this pile of dust with bright eyes—was pure evil.
“Madison, meet your
first imps,” Kyle said.
The imp cocked its
head at me, clearly curious. Curious meant it could think. Curious meant it was
trying to puzzle me out. A thinking evil creature was
interested in me. Abandoning my job hunt and moving back in with my parents
suddenly seemed like a great idea.
The imp hopped toward
me.
I lurched to my feet,
sending my chair careening into the people behind me. Scrambling around the
table, I put distance between myself and the creature. Its eyes tracked me. It
hopped out from under the table until it was less than two feet away from me. I
tensed to flee.
Kyle waved his
radiant hand in front of the imp the way a matador waves a cape for a bull.
Like a bull, the imp charged. I squealed. The imp disappeared.
He’d said imps, right?
With an s? I spun around, looking for more.
I spied three behind
Kyle’s chair. Like the first one, the dark creatures were fixated on him. In a
group they lunged. I jumped back, tripping over a chair. Windmilling my arms, I
fought for balance while trying to keep the evil creatures in my sight, but gravity
won. In a cacophony of wood and metal and flesh, I crashed to the floor. When I
looked back at Kyle, the imps were gone.
“Miss? Are you okay?”
Reality popped like
my ears had just unplugged. I blinked. The world swam. I rolled to my side.
From my position on the gritty floor, I could see a circle of black-clad feet,
and more approaching. Baristas. Everyone in the coffee shop had gone
deafeningly quiet, making the cheerful jazz sound like it was blaring. I
realized three things simultaneously: (1) everyone—from the patrons
to the dishwasher—was staring at me; (2) I must look like I had gone
absolutely, start-raving mad; and (3) my skirt was hiked up to my hips. Shit.
Can you die from embarrassment? Please?
I untangled myself
from the rungs of the chair I’d tripped over; stood faster than I should have,
assisted by the adrenaline of embarrassment; and yanked my skirt down so that
it covered me to my knees. I patted at my hair, pulling a bit of muffin out of
a clump and wiping my hand on a napkin. And I assured everyone that I was fine,
convincing no one.
How could I be fine?
I’d just learned that I wasn’t the only person with soul-sight—or the ability
to see in Primordium. Worse, there were evil creatures that lived alongside us,
visible only in Primordium. Creatures that gazed upon me and Kyle with the same
loving look I reserved for triple chocolate fudge cake. Somehow Kyle had made
them disappear, but for all I could tell, it was magic, because how did you use
a sight to make something vanish? I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t just
seen it. It was the equivalent of a person using their normal sight to move an
object; it just didn’t happen.
Only it had.
To continue reading,
pick up your copy of A Fistful of Evil today!
A Fistful of Fire (A Madison Fox, #2)
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A Fistful of Fire (Madison Fox, Illuminant Enforcer #2)
·٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ●•٠· Rebecca Chastain ·٠•● Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ●•٠·
Rebecca Chastain is the international bestselling fantasy
author of A FISTFUL OF EVIL, A FISTFUL OF FIRE, and
MAGIC OF THE GARGOYLES. She has found seven
four-leaf clovers to date, won a purebred Arabian horse in
a drawing, and once tamed a blackbird for a day. Dreaming
up the absurd and writing stories designed to amuse and
entertain has been her passion since she was eleven years
old. She lives in northern California with her wonderful
husband and two bossy cats.
TINY GLITCHES is her latest novel.
For insider access regarding new releases and other novel
news, sign up for Rebecca’s newsletter:
For a list of all Rebecca Chastain’s novels, visit
Thank you for the very nice review! I'm so glad you liked A Fistful of Evil, and I hope you enjoy A Fistful of Fire just as much!
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