Giveaway & Excerpt The Traveler by Melissa Delport Blog Tour Kickoff

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Title: The Traveler
Author: Melissa Delport
Series: The Traveler Series (#1)
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: Mar 2014
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook ~ Kindle Only
Blurb/Synopsis:
Seven years ago, Rachel gave her heart to a dark, intense stranger, who left her broken and alone.
Every day since then Rachel has thought about Dex, her memories refusing to be silenced.
Now, Dex is back, but this time he is not alone. He has brought a formidable army – their sole purpose to conquer. Fate will bring Rachel and Dex back together, but on opposing sides of a war that threatens to obliterate her world.
Pitted against the power of the elements, Rachel and her friends must survive tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes and fire, all the while being hunted by a powerful enemy who will stop at nothing to pillage her planet.
Fleeing for her life amidst the chaos of a raging, burning city, Rachel realizes man’s only chance of survival lies in the hands of the very person who betrayed her all those years ago.
Earth is destined to fall, but Rachel is determined to save mankind, no matter the sacrifice.

Excerpt #2

“She’s one of them,” she counters. “She needs to die.”

“And she will.” His voice is so cold that I cringe.

“What are you waiting for?”

“Why did you abandon your post?” He changes the subject, sounding furious, and she looks almost sheepish, although she gives a haughty toss of her black mane.

“I’m bored.”

Reluctantly I tear my gaze away. This is my chance to get out of here. I can’t hang around to eavesdrop on their conversation. Without the bridge there is only one way to get back to the others quickly. I scramble over the concrete debris and, without hesitating, I plunge into the unusually icy water. The weight of the heavy jacket pulls me down, but I throw one arm in front of the other, hauling myself across the lake, the cries of the others encouraging me to keep going. After a few exhausting minutes I feel my strength waning - my numb, tired body resisting all my efforts - but the sudden frenzied screams from above rouse me from my weary numbness. Looking upward, my relief that I am over halfway across is quickly replaced by fear. The brown-haired young man who we picked up on the street near Times Square is leaning out over the side of what remains of the bridge above me, his finger pointing northeast in the direction I have just come from. Jason, beside him, is gesturing wildly, “Swim!” he roars and in a panic I turn to look.  

Dex is positioned at the edge of the lake, crouched down on his haunches, his glowing eyes fixed on me, his expression unreadable. The woman is standing just a short way behind him, her jet-black hair blowing in the high wind. Dex has one hand outstretched, palm facing downward, resting on the water and under his bare touch the water is turning to ice. Spreading from his fingertips, moving much faster than I am swimming, the frozen mass moves swiftly toward me. I can feel it as well as see it, a pressure, building in the water and growing in intensity with every passing second. I come to the terrifying conclusion that I’m going to die, trapped in a cold, frozen grave. I turn and double my efforts, each stroke a grueling victory. My arms are so heavy they feel leaden and the cold biting into my skin is agony. Peter has already made his way to the water's edge and I can see the others, having warned me, sprinting back across what remains of the bridge. I almost weep with relief when I finally feel the cold, wet earth beneath my hands and I scrabble desperately, trying to pull myself forward. Peter plunges into the water lifting his feet as high as possible as he races toward me. Grabbing the back of my jacket he hoists me to my feet and we turn and shuffle toward the others, who are still yelling, urging us to hurry. Risking another glance over my shoulder I see that the ice is upon us and I give a scream of warning. Peter doesn't turn around but he suddenly shoves me forward and I fall into Jason’s waiting arms, safe on the hard ground. Peter gives a bellow of pain and we turn to see his legs trapped from just below the knee in the ice.

We leap forward and, as I step onto the lake’s frozen solid surface, I glance across to where Dex is still crouched. He is watching me but he stands quickly and turns to the woman who is yelling beside him, her hands indicating that she is clearly unhappy that we are still alive. Dex is replying, but there is no way to know what it is that he’s saying.

“We have to get out of here!” I whisper urgently as Jason and I tug futilely at Peter's arms trying to pull him from the ice. 

“It's frozen solid,” Peter gasps through gritted teeth. “You need to find something to break it.” I glance around and my gaze falls on a large boulder lying on the ground nearby. I lift it and drop it heavily beside Peter’s body but the ice barely chips. I give a howl of frustration. I can hear that Dex is raising his own voice now and I turn to check on them. Voka is standing at the water's edge, her arm raised, pointing straight at us. Dex falls silent but I can sense that he is still staring directly at me, his green eyes burning into my face.

We have all turned to watch; even Peter has stopped struggling and is looking over his shoulder, his eyes wide. A ball of fire blossoms in Voka’s hands as though out of thin air and blazes brightly, casting a flickering light over their black clothing. I grab Peter’s arm and start pulling with even more urgency but he yanks it out of my grasp and takes me by the shoulders, dropping his head and forcing me to look him in the eye. Over his shoulder I can still see the light blazing, growing bigger by the second.

“Run,” is all Peter says, before releasing me and shoving me toward the edge of the lake back towards the park. I cannot leave him; he saved my life coming into the water, and I half-turn back but Jason grabs my jacket and pulls me away. Kate is already making her way into the trees assisted by the newcomer and I stumble blindly along with Jason. Just before we reach the safety of the tree-line I hear it. It is a whooshing, hissing sound and I turn, just in time to see the fire-ball streaking across the surface of the lake. Peter looks up at me, a sad smile in his kind eyes and then it hits him, engulfing him in an inferno of flames. I feel the bile rise in my throat as the blaze suddenly goes out. There is nothing left of Peter but ash.    

Giveaway

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Wife and mother of 3, Melissa Delport is the author of The Legacy Series, Rainfall & The Traveler. She graduated from the University of South Africa with a Bachelor’s Degree in English in 2000. She currently lives with her husband and three children in Hillcrest, South Africa, and is hard at work on the final book in The Legacy Trilogy.

Her first novel, The Legacy, self-published in 2013, is the first in The Legacy Trilogy, and is followed by the sequel The Legion. The main-stream publisher, Tracey McDonald Publishers, is re-releasing The Legacy and The Legion in July 2014. Book 3 of the trilogy, The Legend, is due out in 2015. Melissa has also written an independent novel entitled Rainfall, a psychological romance, and a science-fiction, action-adventure called The Traveler.

An avid reader herself, Melissa finally decided to stop “watching from the sidelines” and to do what is her passion.

“I was driving home from work when inspiration struck, and a storyline started unravelling in my head. For a few days, it was all I could think about and eventually I realized that the only way to get it out of my head, was to put it all down on paper. I started writing, and that was that.”

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