A Soulless Guard

Raef O’Reilly (Paris) is Eila’s protective, brooding, devastatingly handsome shadow. He is also the boy who has stolen her heart . . . and may possibly steal her life.

I saw Raef as an emotionally complex combination of characters. He is both young and ancient, an enemy and an ally. He is a teenager seeking forgiveness and love, but also an immortal man who has lived five lifetimes by stealing the souls of the innocent. Combining the various aspects of who he is, and what drives him, was no easy task.

Quite frankly, he made me crazy – initially.

During the development of UNDERTOW, I would often write scenes (that were from Eila’s 1st person perspective) and flip them in my head to Raef’s POV to get a solid feel for the internal war he constantly waged. Once crafted, he was a clear combination of two reluctant heroes in teenage form: Aragorn (J.R.R. Tolkien’s LORD OF THE RINGS) and Mr. Knightly (Jane Austen’s EMMA).

At his most basic, Raef is the boy that makes all the girls swoon.

Too bad he’s designed to be quite the lady killer . . . literally.

READ ABOUT THE REAL TEEN BEHIND THE FACE OF RAEF!!!

MEET COLBY MCWILLIAMS by CLICKING HERE