Amplifier 5: Paisley goes surfing

I felt an excerpt coming on so I put up a poll in the Facebook reader-run fan group – yes, apparently I have a thing for polls right now – and rather predictably, Paisley won by a landslide. So here is a fairly spoiler-free excerpt from Instincts and Impostors (Amplifier 5) including everyone’s fav demon dog!

“Emma!” Opal cried. Her shout was gleeful but more than a little concerned.

I spun toward the surf, already running.

Paisley had somehow acquired a surfboard, and was trying to drag it into the pounding surf while also climbing on top of it.

Knee-deep in the water, Juniper was watching her with both hands clamped over her mouth.

Opal was jumping up and down next to the other young witch, the waves nearly knocking her over, one after another. “Not like that!” she snapped, half-laughing and half-lecturing as she made a grab for the nose of the board Paisley was trying to mount. “You’re too heavy!”

A male wearing a half-wetsuit was striding down the beach toward the trio, his focus intent, though he wasn’t close enough for me to see his expression.

Aiden was already moving to intercept the newcomer with an easy smile plastered on his face and his hand extended. An offer to shake hands, not an overture to casting a spell.

I closed the space between me, the witches, and the demon dog, wading into the roiling surf. I made a show of grabbing Paisley’s collar and ‘helping’ her out of the pounding waves. She chortled, playing along.

Opal and Juniper rescued the surfboard, dragging it back toward Aiden and the surfer, who didn’t seem particularly distressed now that he was chatting with the sorcerer. Aiden could be as charming as he was deadly, so I wasn’t terribly surprised that he could so easily smooth over the oddity of having a surfboard stolen by a pit bull. 

“You’re soaking wet,” I chided Paisley.

She snapped at my hand playfully.

I lowered my voice. “And for future reference, the waves are strong enough that they should have knocked you over.” I hit the word ‘should’ hard.

Paisley eyed the crashing waves, our ankles getting more and more buried in the sand under the onslaught. Then she snorted dismissively.

I tucked my hand under her chin, forcing eye contact. “Opal could have gotten hurt.”

Paisley blinked up at me, then over at Opal. Who was apparently in the process of interrogating the surfer about where she could rent a board and what he would recommend for a beginner.

Paisley pressed her nose against my wrist, clearly apologetic.

“I know,” I murmured. “I would never hurt her either, but we have to remember she wasn’t … bred like us.”

– Instincts and Impostors (Amplifier 5), chapter two

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The Amplifier Series is set within the larger Adept Universe but can be read separately. The main series starts with Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1) but there are two prequels (bundled together) as well. Click here for the full/recommended reading order of the Adept Universe