Update:  The winner of DARK IMMORTAL is commenter #22, Elisa Jankowski!  Congratulations, Elisa!  And thanks for all the comments!

Are we really already up to day 11?  Time flies, right?  Thanks so much to everyone who has been coming by to check out the posts and to comment.  🙂

Today’s guest is talented author J.K. Coi–she’s the author of the Immortal Series and the Destiny Series.  One lucky commenter will win a print copy of DARK IMMORTAL (and this book has gotten some great reviews).   Welcome, J.K.!  Glad you could join us for demon fun.

Vampires and Werewolves and…Demons. Oh my!

First of all, I’d like to say thank you to Cynthia for having me as a guest today. I’m very excited to be a part of her 30 Days of Demons!

So what is it with the dark characters? You know the ones I mean. The strong, generally silent type that seem most at home in a dangerous back alley. The ones who snarl with a curled lip that a normally savvy heroine can’t help but think is sexy. The ones who make her blood heat when that bold gaze rests on parts of her body it really shouldn’t?

We used to look for these characters in the vampires and werewolves of our paranormal romances—and I still love a really well-written vampire, I’ve gotta tell you. But when I sat down to write my own heroes and villains, it wasn’t vampires that came to mind exactly, but a band of immortal warriors who fought to protect the world from…Demons.

That’s right. My demons are the bad guys. They’re evil beings born of hell who live to destroy mankind, and my heroes take them out in a really big way.

Mostly.

Because when I was writing my last book, Dark Immortal, I surprised even myself with the demon who played such a large role. Karnage is one of the most powerful and feared creatures to dwell within the demon realms. He and his brother Mastema have spent many millennia torturing humans in their bid to be released from the demon realms. Death and destruction practically seep from Karnage’s very pores he’s so evil.

And yet, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by him. His one redeeming quality is his love for a single mortal woman. And love makes all the difference, doesn’t it? If a being can love, he can’t be all bad, can he?

© Dark Immortal by J.K. Coi

“Karnage.” Mastema leaned forward, gnashing the name through his grinding teeth. He tightened his clawed hands into fists over the arms of his chair. It never failed to irritate him how easily the elusive, sorry excuse for a demon slipped past his guards. When he was so close to his destiny he could almost smell the warm blood of the Prophecy, so close that his mouth watered as he thought of the rich fluid coating his tongue and falling down his throat. Now especially, Mastema could not have Karnage getting in the way of his plans. “What nasty little bug did you crawl in here with, demon?”

“Mastema.” Karnage straightened and started to make his way forward. Mastema noted with disgust that most of the demons in the room either cowered back in fear or stepped aside in deference, the result being a long, clear path that parted to make way for the towering figure. Mastema glared with contempt at the useless demons. It was no wonder he was still trapped in this dungeon, with such pathetic creatures as his only link to the worlds beyond.

“Still intimidating the help, Mastema?” Karnage taunted, lifting a brow at the bloody example Mastema had made of the Rage demon. “I guess there aren’t a lot of other job opportunities for bloodthirsty demons in hell, or you might be forced to look for some new minions.” Karnage stopped a few feet away, seemingly unconcerned that the demons had finally found what remained of their balls and were starting to close ranks.

“Get out of my hall, Karnage,” Mastema growled. “Nothing here can be of any concern to a worthless demon such as yourself.”

“On the contrary.” Karnage swung around to the demons hesitantly starting to crowd in behind him, then back at Mastema with a raised brow. “I’m finding this quite fascinating.”

Mastema curled his lip and growled. Karnage was a constant thorn in Mastema’s side. Thousands of years ago, they had battled for dominion over all the worlds, gaining in power until the Destroyer herself had been called upon to imprison them both—and even that had been possible only because Mastema and Karnage were too busy fighting each other to protect themselves from the Destroyer’s sneaky, underhanded tricks. It had occurred to Mastema over these many centuries that, had they been able to work together, they might yet have succeeded where each separately had failed.

Karnage was the only demon with a strength and power equal to Mastema’s own, and it galled him to no end that in the thousands of years they had been forced to share this hell dimension he had been unable to bring the other demon to heel. It set a bad example for Mastema’s minions—some of whom had begun to think they could also get away with a similar insolence—and forced him to make more frequent examples of the offenders in order to keep the rest in line. His enjoyment in the chore had faded long ago.

But even that wasn’t the reason why Mastema despised the other demon.

Somehow Karnage was able to do the one thing that Mastema could not—he had found a way to escape the demon realms.

“What a pathetic excuse for a demon you’ve become, Karnage.” Mastema sneered. “You are even dressing like the humans now?”

Karnage just laughed, his eyes flashing to black. “You’ve got to give them credit for a few stellar ideas. Cell phones and MP3 players, for one. That Punk’d show is hilarious. And a good pair of Diesel jeans sure beats the alternative.” He gave Mastema’s straining erection a deliberate look. “Considering the intimidation factor you’ve been working so hard to maintain these days, brother, I suggest you give them a try.”

J.K. Coi writes dark and edgy paranormal romance, where love is all consuming, the stakes are always high, and the immortals are to die for.

Dark Immortal is available now in ebook and in print!

(http://www.lindenbayromance.com/product-darkimmortal-7307-149.html)

Forever Immortal is coming June 16, 2009 from Linden Bay Romance (http://www.lindenbayromance.com/product-foreverimmortal-7193-193.html).

Website: http://www.jkcoi.com

Blog: http://www.jkcoiblogspot.com

Myspace: http://myspace.com/jkcoi

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkcoi

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