Thursday, July 31, 2014

{Cover/Blurb Reveal} Disgraced (Book one of the Saving Eve trilogy) by Dianna Hardy











Disgraced
(Book one of the Saving Eve trilogy.)

Amid long, wild grass, a snake slithers, hidden.
Hidden until a man opens his eyes…

Awaking with amnesia in St Mary's Hospital, after a near-fatal freak accident, he is known only as Luc. With the help of Evie Gold, the kind, young woman who found him, he starts a new life – a second chance, a clean slate.

A bond burgeons between them.

But disturbing dreams of dark deeds become waking recountings. His new life crumbles as Luc finds himself drawn to London's most depraved places, without understanding why. Inside him, a blackness is uncoiling – seductive, familiar and dangerously provocative.

An ancient craving stirs; an old addiction rises.

And suddenly, Luc find himself in a fight for redemption, never knowing from what until each new memory surfaces. But his next memory might just be his undoing, for it's a memory of Evie.

With a snake in one hand and an apple in the other, legs streaked with blood, she is screaming his name ... but it isn't Luc she's screaming.

It's Lucifer.


From the author of the international bestselling Witching Pen series, Dianna Hardy takes a seed from The Last Dragon and brings you book one of a brand new trilogy, steeped in eroticism, of a man, stripped of all, in the search for his light against the forces of an aeon of darkness.

Expected release: April, 2015

All ongoing info will be posted here: http://www.diannahardy.com/saving-eve-series.html

Sign up to Dianna's Release Day Newsletter so you don't miss a single book! http://www.diannahardy.com/release-day-newsletter-sign-up.html

Join Dianna on Facebook for up-to-date info on all her books: https://www.facebook.com/authordiannahardy
 




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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Destiny Awaits by Jaidis Shaw Blog Tour {Review + Giveaway}

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Title:  Destiny Awaits
Series:  Juniper Grove Chronicles
Author:  Jaidis Shaw
Published: July 19th, 2014
Publisher:  Crushing Hearts & Black Butterfly Publishing
Word Count:  approx. 50,000
Genre:  YA Paranormal Romance
Recommended Age:  14+
Synopsis:
She wants a normal life. They want her dead. Destiny has other plans.
Twenty-year-old Alayna Scott receives visions around water, but even her foresight couldn’t prepare her for the tragic accident that claimed the lives of her parents. With everything she loves gone, Alayna packs up and moves to the small town of Juniper Grove in hopes of starting over.
Jayden McKnight can’t explain the attraction that he feels whenever Alayna is near, but he does know that he will do whatever it takes to win her heart. When a vampire selects Alayna as his next victim, Jayden will stop at nothing to ensure her safety – even if that means bringing Alayna into a world that she never knew existed.
Love blossoms, challenges are made, and Alayna will find herself fighting not only to survive, but to understand what she has become.
Goodreads


 MY REVIEW









Prologue from Destiny Awaits:
 Sunlight caught the crystal that hung from the rear view mirror, and rainbow bursts of color radiated throughout the car. My parents and I had gotten up early so that we could make the three hour drive to my uncle’s house, but from the line of backed up traffic in front of us, it seemed that it would take us longer. I leaned back in my seat and let the music blaring in my earbuds help pass the time. My mother turned in her seat in the front, and I glanced at her. Seeing her mouth my name, I pulled one side of the earbuds out of my ear.
“What did you say?” I asked.
“I asked if you were hungry,” she replied. “Your father thinks that we should get off the interstate at the next exit and grab something to eat while the traffic clears up.”
“Sure, that’s fine with me. It’s a good idea, anyway, since Uncle John turned vegetarian. There’s no telling what he’s going to try to get us to eat.”
My father’s hearty laugh rumbled through the car. “Do you remember that rolled up spinach thing he tried to feed us last time?”
“How could I forget?” I said.
Mom sprung to her brother’s defense. “It wasn’t so bad.”
“Then how come you didn’t eat it? I saw you slip it to the dog when you thought nobody was watching.” My father glanced at my mother while she tried to come up with a retort.
“If you saw that, then it’s obvious that I wasn’t sneaky enough.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window.
My dad laughed as he flipped on the turn signal and merged into the right lane, coming to a stop behind a logging truck. I looked at the long logs protruding from the flatbed. “It always makes me nervous when they hang off like that,” I said. A shiver raced over my body.
“It’s okay. They make sure to load them on so that they won’t come off,” my dad reassured me.
I opened my mouth to reply, but stopped when I heard a screech of tires behind us. Turning my head, I locked eyes with the man in the driver’s seat of the truck that was hurtling toward us. The truck slammed into the back of our car, and my mother’s scream echoed in the tight space around me. A shower of white stars filled my vision as pain ripped through my shoulder and cut off my own scream. As the darkness closed in around me, I heard the faint shrill of sirens in the distance.

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About the Author:
Jaidis Shaw currently resides in South Carolina with her husband and beautiful daughter (with another daughter on the way). With a passion for reading, Jaidis can always be found surrounded by books and dreaming of new stories. She enjoys challenging herself by writing in different genres and currently has several projects in the works.
Jaidis also owns and operates Juniper Grove Book Solutions, voted Top Three for Best Promotional Firm, Site, or Resource in the 2013 Preditors & Editors Readers’ Poll. In her spare time, Jaidis maintains her two blogs, Juniper Grove and Blooming with Jaidis. One of her main goals in life is to encourage her daughters to let their imaginations run wild.
Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Blog | Pinterest | Instagram
 
Giveaway Details:

There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:

  • A $20 Amazon Gift Card
  • Winner’s choice of any one current Kindle eBook release from CHBB, Vamptasy, or Hot Ink Press
Giveaway is International.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
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Monday, July 28, 2014

Reese's Cowboy Kiss by Kimberly Krey Blog Tour {Review + Giveaway}

A themed book tour through Prism Book Tours.

Reese's Cowboy Kiss (Sweet Montana Bride Series #1)

Reese's Cowboy Kiss
(Sweet Montana Bride #1)
by Kimberly Krey

Adult Romance
Paperback, 307 Pages
May 13th 2014 by Candle House Publishing

Texan pageant winner, Reese Taylor, has a former classmate who wants her dead. Now she must leave her friends and family to enter a protection program on Emerson Ranch. A group of good-looking cowboys awaits her, but Reese has her eye on Blake Emerson, the one man too busy with the ranch to give her a chance.

Blake Emerson has no time to go lookin’ for love. He’s got a ranch to run, positions to fill, and an ache in his heart from love gone wrong. So when he agrees to harbor a witness to help on the ranch, Blake assumes his first two problems are solved. But he never dreamed his new guest would be a woman. One he was destined to lose his heart to.

With sparks burning hot and danger around the bend, one question lingers in his mind: Has he only added to his list of troubles, or has Blake just found the woman of his dreams?

*While this book is considered clean romance, it contains passionate kissing and a few mild curse words.*

 MY REVIEW


On the night Reese has to give up her crown, the person it was intended for gets shot. And that’s not the end of it; she is positive that it was her that was supposed to get hit. Now she has to go into witness protection in Montana until the man responsible is caught.

Blake wants nothing to do with women and just wants another hand on the ranch. Things start looking up when they are getting a guy with some ranch experience. So when he gets to the airport he is shocked that Reese is a woman. He vows to help all he can, but he intends to keep his distance.

How long can these two go before a cowboy kiss is involved?

I met Reese in Cassie’s Cowboy Crave and it was interesting actually seeing everything with her play out. In Cowboy Crave we get little stories of Reese and Blake and I loved actually seeing it happen. It was frightening to learn what happened to Reese and she handled it pretty well. She is a strong woman.

I love all of Kimberly Krey’s books. I always know that I’m going to get a clean and sweet romance. Have I mentioned that I love romance books with a little twist? :D Well this one does. A seriously disturbed man is after Reese!!! So she ends up in witness protection with a hunk of a cowboy. It’s cute how they both try and not like each other. Well that’s not true. Reese wants Blake to like her, but he has been hurt before. So he ignores his feelings….or does he. Things always get completed though and nothing worth having is ever easy….is that how the saying goes? Anyways I loved that is wasn’t easy for them (does that make me sick) I liked watching them fall for each other. They actually got to know one another and she got to know his family.

Overall: I loved this book and I recommend it to everyone that likes a clean romance with a dash of angst, a cupful of looming danger, and a whole lot of cowboys.

4 STARS!!!







Other Books in the Sweet Montana Bride Series:
Jade's Cowboy Crush (Sweet Montana Bride Series #2) Cassie's Cowboy Crave (Sweet Montana Bride, #1)
Amazon                       Amazon
Barnes & Noble           Barnes & Noble



About Kimberly Krey

Image of Kimberly KreyI'm a writer of contemporary clean romance, a lover of home, family, & friends, & the ultimate hater of laundry.

A few of my favorite things: Diet Coke, Cafe Rio, and novels by Marcia Lynn McClure.

I do not go anywhere without: SoftLips Chapstick and Altoids Smalls.


Tour-Wide Giveaway

- $100 Amazon Gift Card
- Open Internationally
- Ends August 10th

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Sunday, July 27, 2014

[Review] Save Yourself by Kelly Braffet

Goodreads

Patrick Cusimano’s father killed a boy while driving drunk. Now Patrick is working at a grubby convenience store, and he and his brother Mike are the town pariahs. Caro, Mike’s girlfriend, is running from her own painful past, with no idea what she’s running toward. Layla Elshere is a goth teenager who befriends Patrick for reasons he doesn’t understand and doesn’t trust. And Layla’s little sister Verna, tortured by her classmates, finds unlikely solace with Layla’s dark tribe of outcasts.

As their fates become entwined, everyone is set down a terrifying and twisted path—leading them all toward a collision where loyalties will be betrayed, fears exposed, and lives shattered.






Review


I have conflicting emotions about this book. 
I thought that is was interesting as a suspense novel with some horror themes. There were some dark themes touched on in relation to teenagers and the stress and decisions they face. I just had trouble actually liking some of the characters. Which I hate, since, how am I supposed to care about the story if I just can't like the characters. 

I did not like Patrick. I did a bit in the beginning. I felt bad for him and was looking forward to his story. But as the book went on, he was a selfish jerk who didn't care about anyone besides himself, but he actually believed he was caring. It was.. angering. 

I also tried to like Caro in the beginning. I also felt a bit of pity for her. But she threw that pity away through various actions. I would have felt differently if she had actually cared about Mike. These two characters just felt selfish and I had a hard time liking them or their relationship. I think I continued reading just hoping they would NOT get a happy ending. Because I'm sadistic like that. 

I did love/hate Layla. She did earn my pity and forgiveness, even if she was completely jacked up. While she did not so savory things and was not the best person all around, she still had dynamics in her personality that let a better person shine through on occasion and gave me a glimpse at who she could be. (unlike Patrick and Cara who just ticked me off.)

One character I did love was Verna. She was my favorite and I found it extremely difficult to dislike her. While the other characters were trying their hardest to destroy their lives, she is trying her best to pick up what is left of hers. She gets into horrible situations, but she  always wants to do what is right, especially when it comes to her sister. 

I very much liked the end of the book when it comes to Verna, Layla, and all the other characters, excluding Patrick and Cara. 

I was very upset that nothing was addressed about Mike in the end. The author just decided he did not deserve to have an ending, I guess. Like the guy didn't have to go through enough drama, now he does not even rate an update in the ending? I do not approve. 


3.2 Stars



**I received this book in exchange for an honest review


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Saturday, July 26, 2014

[Review] An Ancient Gift and Other Stories

Three stories of magic, mystery and horror by award-winning author Jeanne Grunert. "The Glove"...She needs peace and quiet, but sending her son to her grandfather's house while she recovers from pneumonia may give this woman more quiet than she bargained for..."Friday Night Visitor"...A bargain goes horribly, horribly wrong..."An Ancient Gift"...Two sisters preparing their grandmother's house for sale find a hidden surprise within the house...and within themselves.





Review


This collection of short stories was a very quick read. I read it in less than 20 minutes. There were three paranormal stories. Each of the stories had interesting concepts and were designed to creep you out. 

The problem I have with short stories, that I am learning, is that sometimes things are unexplained or left hanging. This makes a story that is supposed to be scary/mysterious a bit confusing. The first two stories were interesting and enjoyable. The first was basically a woman remembering something terrifying that happened when she was a child. The second was a waitress who runs into a scary diner guest. The third is.. I guess two sisters dealing with a terrifying power while trying to put their family home on the market. Maybe. 

"The Glove" and "Friday Night Visitor" were pretty straightforward in their creepiness and had enough details that you aren't left floundering for an explanation. However, when I read "An Ancient Gift" I was pretty much just left confused. The concept for it was very interesting, but I felt like I was lost without more back-story. 


3 Stars



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Friday, July 25, 2014

Reign of Shadows by Melissa Wright Excerpt Tour + Giveaway

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

Read along with us on the EXCERPT TOUR for 
the third book in the YA/NA Urban Fantasy Descendants Series:
Reign of Shadows
By Melissa Wright


Reign of Shadows
(Descendants #3)
By Melissa Wright

Brianna can see her future, but it’s the past that haunts her. Plans laid in place centuries ago are threatening not only her and her sister, but all of the Seven Lines. As the shadows plot their way to old rule, the visions shift again. Her power has led to some hard choices—and the occasional stab wound—but this set of futures holds nothing but darkness.

Unable to bear the idea of losing the footing they've so recently gained, she turns the soldiers of the Seven. But with shadows hidden among the ranks, can she overcome the path they've set in place, or is she blindly following their lead?

Smashwords - iTunes


EXCERPT!!!!!!!!!

EXCERPT 9
Chapter Four Cont’d
Ellin

His hand rested on her hip a moment too long before gripping it tight, tossing her forward and then wrenching her head around to face them. Her hair was laced into his fingers as he jerked her again. “Tell him, Ellin. Tell him to give us the girl.”
Brendan was strapped to a chair, the right side of his body limp, as if his arm was disconnected, dragged out of socket. Splotches of blood covered what was left of his undershirt, some of it clotted, but most bright, wet as it seeped through from the wounds beneath. The material of his pants was ripped, revealing gashes and burns, and the fingers of his left hand were broken, dangling loose below the bonds of his wrist.
His head hung, but he looked at Ellin from beneath his brow, swollen and bruised, cut and bleeding. She could still see the unhealed scars from the day he’d released Morgan. The day he’d tried to save their prophet. He wouldn’t give her now, not any single bit of information that would help them. He would never turn on Brianna.
Her jaw tightened as their gaze connected. These men would die for what they’d done.
A man beside Brendan grabbed his head, jerking it up to face Ellin, to make her watch as they played out the next cruelty. But everything stopped when the slam of a heavy metal door echoed through the space. Ellin shivered, despite her resolve, and they were joined by a new group, five men surrounding the one that led them all. Jackson, they’d called him, though she had no idea whether it was his first name or last. She’d not seen this man, any of these men, before the attack on Westlake. She didn’t know why they were targeting Brendan, why they hadn’t bothered with Morgan or Aern; she only knew they wanted information on the prophet. On Brianna. And that there was something powerful about them. Something wrong.
The one they called Jackson stood beside Brendan’s chair, the soles of his leather shoes splashing into a pool of water as they came to rest. He was tall and lean with perfect hair and dark eyes. His manner was cool, always calm. Ellin might have thought him attractive if she didn’t want to kill him so badly. He unbuttoned the crisp suit jacket with one hand, smoothly pulling it away to roll up his sleeves. The motions were practiced; everything she’d seen him do quick and clean. She wanted to close her eyes when he reached for Brendan, wanted to not see what he was about to do, but she couldn’t. She had to watch.
Jackson smiled at her, a slow, sexy smirk that said he enjoyed his job, that said he relished her pain, but still, she didn’t look away. His hand met Brendan’s chest and the air changed around them. It had been almost imperceptible the first few times, but Ellin was paying attention now, trying to take in all that she could. It was charged with something, some current just below the surface, and then it was gone, all of it focused on the connection between Brendan and his captor.






The other books in the Descendants Series

Shifting Fate (Descendants Series, #2)Shifting Fate
(Descendants #2)
by Melissa Wright

There is a teaser posted here and the first chapter posted here, but beware, it's full of spoilers from the first book.

Purchase from Amazon , Barnes and Noble, and the Book Depository. Can also purchase in audio at iTunes and Audible.

Bound by Prophecy
(Descendants #1)
by Melissa Wright

You can read an excerpt of Bound by Prophecy here.


Get the ebook for FREE on Nook and Kindle. Can also purchase from the Book Depository, and in audio at iTunes and Audible.



About the Author

Melissa Wright is the author of the Frey Saga and the new Descendants series. Melissa spends her time working on novels, but when not writing she can be found on Goodreads and Pinterest.

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[Cover Reveal] Chances by Paulina Ulrich [Book 2 of the Fighting Fate Series]

CHANCES

(Book 2 in The Fighting Fate series)
Release Date: October 31st, 2014
Genre: Mature YA/NA Paranormal Romance (Due to mild language and drug reference)

Kaddy Richston thought she had escaped her destiny between the Commendables and Calamitous and having to face the things she never wanted to.
She was wrong. 

On tour with her bandmates, Kaddy does her best to blend in and hide her hybrid status, but being the drummer in an up-and-coming band doesn’t exactly help keep who she really is hidden. Still enduring a painful transformation, Kaddy is forced to hide her wings and her abilities from those closest to her. 

Doing her best to convince herself that she’s fine, she knows she can’t face her looming destiny alone. When she left her small town, she didn’t think she’d need Cole Huntington as much as she does, but the more involved she becomes with him, the faster the consequences catch up to them. Navigating a dangerous world as the people she was running from close in on her, Kaddy is faced with difficult decisions to embrace her destiny.

With everything she knows hanging in the balance, being chosen is nothing she expected it to be and taking chances just might spell the end for everything and everyone she loves. As the two worlds diverge on her, Kaddy is thrown into the middle of it all and she’s the only one that can stop the devastation or encourage the world’s destruction.

Taking chances has a whole new definition.




Paulina

Blog | Twitter Facebook | Goodreads | Website   

Paulina Ulrich has always loved writing, telling stories, and the idea of dreaming big. An English Major with emphasis in Creative Writing, she is now a full-time author and has her very fluffy cat Juey to keep her company while she writes. Not to mention she always has a full glass of iced-tea nearby and music blaring in the background. Paulina is the author of the Flightless Bird series and the Fighting Fate series. When she’s not writing she’s out buying way too many cute shoes…






CHOSEN 

(Book 1 in the Fighting Fate series).
Genre: Mature YA/NA Paranormal Romance
Synopsis: Nothing can stand in the way of outspoken, rule-breaker-extraordinaire, Kaddy Richston…except destiny. Born with wildly colored hair and piercing gray eyes Kaddy knew she was different, but she set her sights on her ambitious dreams of being in a rock band and leaving her small town behind along with the painful memories of her past.

But destiny has other plans for her. 

When the calm, cool, and always collected Cole Huntington enters her life he takes a strange interest in her, his striking blue eyes never wandering far from her every move. Despite her efforts to push him away, he plans on unraveling every single one of Kaddy’s dark secrets even though he has some of his own. 

Despising each other from the start, Kaddy is determined to undermine whatever intentions he has until she learns of a destiny she never asked for. The fate of the world lies in her hands as she learns how different she really is. The only person she can turn to for answers is the last person she’d want help from: Cole Huntington who seems to dislike her rule-breaking as much as she dislikes his rule-following.

Sometimes destiny sucks.



Start the adventure with CHOSEN, the first book in the Fighting Fate series for only $0.99!


Thursday, July 24, 2014

Kiss Me Dead by Dale Ibitz Book Blitz + Giveaway


IFB is hosting the promo tour for Dale Ibitz fantasy, Kiss Me Dead. See details below:


22381900Release date: May 28th 2014
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis via Goodreads:

One curse…

Christian, a nineteen-year-old reaper-human hybrid enslaved to the Other World to harvest souls, earns his freedom by making a bargain with the Goddess of Death. As part of the bargain, he’s been cursed with the kiss of death. 
One kiss…

The only way Christian can break his curse is for an angel to kiss him. Willingly. He finds Brooke, an nineteen-year-old descendant of a Naphil whose destiny is to hunt rogue reapers. But she’s hiding, suffocating in a semi-agoraphobic cocoon since witnessing a reaper steal her brother’s soul. 
Two destinies…

Christian has found the angel who can break his curse, and the seduction begins. To break her phobia’s hold, Brooke embraces her angelic role and makes it her mission to kill rogue reapers, trying to avenge her brother’s murder. Christian can break his curse by kissing Brooke dead ... but will she figure out his game and kill him first?



About the Author
Dale Ibitz was born in Oxford, Connecticut, grew up in the state of Washington, and then re-located back to Connecticut as an adult. Always a lover of books, she spent much of her childhood reading, visiting the library (her best friend’s mother was a librarian…how convenient), and writing. She majored in English at Central Connecticut State University, and while Dale holds a full-time day job where she’s immersed in the dry life of writing contracts, she’s been writing young adult fantasy and mid-grade contemporary for seventeen years (on the side, of course). 

If you were to visit Dale’s house, you'd meet her husband, 2 kids, their dog Lea (most people simply refer to her as The Beast...and for good reason), their kitten Luna (affectionately known as Loony Luna), a gaggle of ducks, and a flock of hens ruled by a tyrannical rooster they call The Stump, or Stumpy. How he got his name is a long story...maybe she’ll tell you sometime.

authordaleibitz.weebly.com| facebook.com/DaleIbitzAuthor | twitter.com/daleibitz


==EXCERPT==

Christian watched the dying girl and did nothing. 

He longed to do something—anything—to save her, but it wasn’t his place, his calling, or his duty. His duty was to wait for her death, then act.

Giltine, Goddess of Death, had branded the girl for death, the mark on her cheek glowing like slick silver while wet moonlight clung to her breasts. Her flailing arms and flooded gasps forced Christian’s eyes to close and his hands to clamp over his ears.

Nothing could stop the sound of death.

He could taste the girl’s fear; blood-metallic, like pennies. Even though he yearned to run, he wouldn’t. He would stay. He’d wait for her death then reap as he was bound to do.

Inhaling, he closed his eyes, scenting Giltine’s addictive poison, a sweet nectar reapers craved. He was a slave to her and to his addiction, just as the girl was a slave to death. Neither could escape their fate.

But no matter how many times he tried to abstain and break his addiction, no matter how fervently he wished for death to claim him, to awake and find Giltine’s mark glowing silver on his cheek, he would continue to exist, if only to hunt for death.

The girl’s hands slapped the water. She slid deeper into the shadowy lake. Pulse in his neck throbbing, he swallowed, trying to remain detached and unemotional as a proper reaper should. Unfortunately, he was also human. His humanity made him suffer.

As he edged closer to the water, sweat formed along his hairline. The mark on the girl’s cheek shone brighter, sweeter. He licked his lips. It was almost time.

Trembling with need, he rubbed his thumbs along his pants’ seams. He’d gone too long without a soul-hit, and cold rotted him from the inside. The longing for poison that tightened his stomach also made his lips twist in disgust. Not wanting to watch this beautiful girl die with hungry anticipation, he turned his head away. 

Water covered the girl’s mouth, sucking out one last, drowning breath before consuming her nose and fear-glassed eyes. She sank below the surface.

Christian sighed. It was done. The silence, however comforting, didn’t dispel the echoes of the girl’s dying breath lingering inside his head. He shuddered. 

The girl’s stillness revived the nocturnal silence: the grinding cheeps of tree frogs, an owl’s chirruping hoot. Wooden docks stretched into the water like skeletal fingers. A red fox’s tail flashed. Not willing to enter the water, he waited on the shore for the girl’s soul to emerge. The spring lake water was snow-melt frigid, and he detested both the water and the cold, as all his kind did. 

Moments later, like dust motes in a sunbeam, the girl’s soul appeared. Her skin shone with an ethereal glow, a result of Giltine’s poison, and her hair hung in damp ringlets. He could almost taste the sweet poison, so saccharine as to make his teeth ache.

He studied the drop of water that tickled the girl’s neck and trailed between her breasts. To him, her soul appeared as alive as her living form had been. He knew that once she crossed to the other side, the embodiment of her physical being would dissipate and he’d no longer be able to see her, feel her, smell her. Until then, however, she was real to him.

Realizing he was staring, he bit his lip and focused on the ground. The girl might be dead, might no longer care about decency or modesty, but he believed in dying with dignity. He scooped up her dress.

“Put it on.” His voice squeaked like an adolescent boy’s.

The girl hesitated then took the dress. He averted his gaze until she slipped it over her head. The dress was old, with a frayed hem and torn collar. Most of the buttons were missing, and it barely covered her nakedness. The loose flapper-style made her seem like a young girl, but he’d seen her nude, and her figure suggested she was one or two years older than him; maybe twenty-one. 

Unable to stop himself, he slid a fingertip along her cheek, the silver mark sweet and sticky like icing on a hot bun. When he licked his finger, Giltine’s poison shot like bathtub gin down his throat and seared his lungs. His sigh bordered on a groan.

“Who are you?” She was pretty, with cat-green eyes and hair he was sure would lighten like honey when it dried. 

“Christian.”

He held still, watching her while sweat collected along his back. Despite the aching need, and despite the small taste he’d just sampled, he couldn’t take her soul completely. He had to wait until he took her to the Void, and for her to make the decision to cross to the Other World. If he didn’t follow the rules, there would be punishment.

Lines wrinkled her forehead. Her pain leaked fragile ribbons that looped around his chest. His Other World senses allowed him just enough information to lure her there, and he could taste the earthy flavor of her confusion. Some might consider such knowledge cheating; Christian considered it a means to an end.






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