Category: excerpts

Conduit 2: keeping us apart

Just a little teaser that snagged my attention while writing today. As always, these are the first words on the page and subject to a lot of tweaking over the next four drafts.

Content of note: mildly explicit language

Because I need the conversation to move much, much quicker, I offer a truth of my own, “My bonds have been … stripped from me.”

The Outcast frowns deeply. “That isn’t possible, even if you rejected —”

“I would never,” I insist, because I know that at least. I know it.

The Outcast flicks his gaze — questioning and clearly angry — to Rath and then Rought. “What have you done? Is this why Reck isn’t here?”

“This is about you,” Rath says roughly. “About your fucking secrets and how they might have impacted us. You knew Disa. You knew Zaya wasn’t dead. You let us believe —”

“I don’t get involved with the Conduit’s business. I protect as much as she’ll let me, but I no longer have the right —”

“We’re your blood!” Rath shoves his chair back. Then, finding himself standing with all of our attention on him, he paces, clearly trying to level out.

“Sit,” the Outcast says after a strained moment. The command is mild but pointed.

Rath stiffens, clearly thinking about ignoring, or at least trying to ignore, the essence-enforced demand. But then he throws himself into the chair. It creaks warningly under his weight. His gaze on his plate, he attempts to finish what remains of his breakfast in a few, fierce bites. Clearly stifling himself now.

I hadn’t really understood, not until watching Rath struggle in this moment, what it must be like to be on the other side of this all. Abandoned and forgotten by his soul bound mate. By me. And then to find out that our elders, those most trusted to guide and protect us, had knowledge of it. If not, more nefariously, a hand in keeping us apart.

– Snag (Conduit 2), first draft, chapter nine

Are you new to the Conduit World? While it’s not necessary to read all the interconnected series, the ideal reading order is as follows:

Please note: it is very likely that the Conduit World books will be going into KU in the next couple of months (around the time that the preorder for Snag is avail). If you prefer to purchase directly from other retailers, or me, that won’t be an option while they’re exclusive to KU. Snag will be available directly from me before it hits KU, promise. Just FYI!

Conduit 2: You like to watch, don’t you?

Just a little teaser that amused me while writing it today – with a few redacted lines because, you know, spoilers! As always, these are the first words on the page and subject to a lot of tweaking over the next four drafts.

Content of note: mildly explicit language

Rought’s phone vibrates with an incoming call. He swipes the screen to answer it before I can come up with a response to what I’m fairly certain wasn’t actually a question.

“You better not be fucking on the side of the fucking road,” Rath growls through the phone speakers. “I want answers now.”

One of those delicious shivers that apparently only Rath can trigger — while being a complete asshole over the phone — runs up my spine. 

Rought side-eyes me, knowingly.

[redated][spoiler!]

Holding Rought’s gaze intently, I lean toward the phone and drawl, “I’m game if you are.”

A choked silence emanates over the speakers.

I tilt my head playfully — for Rought, because Rath can’t see me. “You like to watch, don’t you, dragon?”

Rath groans. “Fuuuck …!”

Then he hangs up.

Spinning the wheel and tapping the gas to get us back on the road, Rought chuckles, both pleased and amused.

“What?” I say like a total brat. “Am I wrong?”

– Snag (Conduit 2), first draft, chapter nine

Are you new to the Conduit World? While it’s not necessary to read all the interconnected series, the ideal reading order is as follows

A form of empathy, she called it.

Teaser Tuesday: Mirth, Part 2

Okay! I’m going to try to revive #TeaserTuesday with a longer excerpt on my blog and a shorter excerpt on my socials. It’s a bit tricky because Mirth, Part 2 is filled with massive spoilers.

Side note: I’m also doing #WIPWednesday with Conduit 2 on my socials. 😁

The momentary hush that had fallen over the audience cracks wide open. Toffs start jumping up from their seats, scrambling for their belongings.

Getting in my way.

Mirth’s blazing gaze runs over all of them a second time. They literally freeze in place, mouths agape, and hands clutching at clothing or each other. All that power at their fingertips, all the privilege in the world, and Mirth’s mere presence has them too fearful to even flee. Let alone fight back.

And Mirth isn’t compelling anyone to do anything. Not yet.

A form of empathy, she called it.

I chuckle to myself, elbowing the assholes who’ve stumbled into the aisle out of my way. Empathy. That was the fucking understatement of the fucking century.

– Mirth, Part 2: Christoph POV

Are you new to the Conduit World? Content of note can be found on the individual book pages. The suggested reading order is as follows:

Mirth: Princess Euphrosyne

[I just realized I hadn’t shared this illustration here, and I need it for the Extras and Freebies page 😁][it is also in the limited-edition eBook of Mirth, Part One].

Her Royal Higness Princesss Euphrosyne. Aka Mirth. Awry. Heir to the United European Nation. Character illustration by Nicole Deal (@nicole.deal.art).

CONTENT NOTE: language

The door to the suite opens. Anne hustles in. She’s wearing a light-gold full-length wrap-style silk dress. She pauses just inside the door, blinking at me, then taking in Sully, then Bolan.

“Oh,” she finally says. “Good. Sully. You’ll help Mirth get into her dress? Mimi and Tavi have been roped into service by the Mertons. Apparently, our lack of ability to house all the staff they would have preferred to bring is … irksome.”

No titles in private. No formalities.

Unless I impose them.

But only after I explicitly lift those protocols in the first place.

That was Sully’s point. About protocol.

“Yes, of course.” Sully grins widely and wickedly. “Why else would I be in Her Royal Highness’s suite?”

Anne huffs, playfully pleased. “I have your father waiting to escort you,” she says to me.

“Escort me?” I echo, abruptly displeased.

“We’ll go straight through to dinner,” Anne says, ignoring my tone. “The rest of the guests will start arriving around nine for the ball.”

“Of course,” I say. I did know that already, but apparently I’m still having issues with holding everything in my head all at once. As if new information is at constant war with the continual grief and the continual state of overwhelm.

Anne casts a look over all three of us again, then smirks. “Ten minutes. Or I’ll send in the twins.”

Sully raises his hands in surrender.

Anne steps back the way she came, snagging the door closed.

“Well, this is going to be a blast,” Bolan says sarcastically.

“It will be awful to do sober,” Sully says blithely over his shoulder.

“Fuck you, asshole.”

“Not today. But I do like it when you beg.”

I huff, spinning away from them both.

Sully attempts to follow me, but stops instantly at my snapped, “No!”

Bolan’s laughter follows me back through to my bedroom, then beyond the door that I slam in my wake.

I put on the decadently voluminous silk ballgown skirt and the beaded bustier. Then I carefully slip a diamond-crusted platinum coronet into my perfectly coiffed hair.

Because if they want a fucking princess, I’ll give them a fucking princess.

– Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part One

Mirth: Waterfell Castle

Waterfell Castle from the Mirth duology. Scenery illustration by Kateryna Vitkovska.

The early morning is dark, cloud shrouded, though a half moon intermittently shimmers through thinner patches of that cloud. Tiny flakes of snow filter down from the otherwise starless sky. Not even a hint of the pending sunrise tinges the horizon as I slip out a side door. I immediately dart across the short yard to half-jog down the narrow stone stairway that twists down from the cliff on which the towering edifice of Waterfell Castle is perched. Kilometers away, deep in a valley nestled between neighboring peaks, I glimpse the faint, sporadic lights that emanate from the nearest town, before the path at the bottom of the stairway abruptly changes direction. 

The few castle guards, both mages and shifters, patrolling the various ramparts and posted in the towers above ignore me. Not that I look back.

My breath comes out in chilled puffs.

Tiny mage lights trigger as I descend, situated at ankle height so as not to compromise my sight. If I were a null without the ability to actively wield essence, I’d be stumbling around in the dark.

Despite my light sensitivity, I’ve never been much of a fan of the dark. Though curling up on a winter’s eve next to a fire with a book, sipping a hot chocolate, and reading by candlelight is a hazy memory …

Or possibly an unrequited dream.

Before that stupid kiss. Before he shoved me away with pure pain etched across his face, as if I … as if my touch was … is …

I resolve to shred that stupid list of names the moment I get back to my rooms. I wasn’t thinking … in fact, I’m still not certain I moved the pen of my own volition. I never would have rationally chosen to put his name down.

He belongs to Armin more than me, anyway.

Belonged.

Past tense.

I can’t remember the last time I managed to maintain any level of rationality, not even for a full day. Was it the day before I felt my chest crack open and my soul sunder? While I attended some fucking charity event, commenting on the pretty fucking flowers and smiling at children, even as I wondered why my chest was hurting and my texts were going unanswered. Assuming the entire time that Armin had gone on a bender or was romancing someone new for the weekend instead of checking in with me. A rare but occasional occurrence when he needed … when he needed to run …

Just as I now practically ran, tripping down the path, through the snowy early morning.

Had I still been rational as I raced to the mountain township to identify my brother? Before I found him so … empty, and still. So silent.

Armin. Armin was even more trapped than I am. 

Or rather, more trapped than I used to be. But never as trapped as I am now.

Because my father never would have forced Armin to choose bond mates only six months after my death. Armin would have been granted more time.

– Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part One [excerpt from Chapter Two]

RELEASE DATE: JULY 25, 2024

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Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Rath

‘Rath’ Guerra. Shifter. Illustration by Nicole Deal.

I unlock the door as the engines of the vehicles shut off behind me. I don’t have to look back to know that Cayley is climbing out of the car, or that Grinder has returned with Doc Z and Presh’s brother, Rath. Their life force is so robust, I don’t need eyes with which to see them. 

But I feel drawn, even momentarily compelled, to look back. Just once. 

At Rath. 

He’s so huge, easily six and a half feet, that his large bike looks regular-sized as he swings his leg off it. His hair is brown, chopped short. As he removes his helmet, he favors his left shoulder, almost imperceptibly. I can’t see the color of his eyes from this distance, but his features are broad, arresting.

– Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter 6

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024

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Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Rought

‘Rought’ Guerra. Shifter. Illustration by Nicole Deal.

The engine hasn’t even died before the driver’s-side door is opening, and a male steps out — dark-blond hair, naturally tanned skin, and shoulders so broad I’m surprised that he slips out of the car so agilely. Though he is clearly a shifter.

The moment his booted feet hit the ground and the energy underpinning the property rises to ghost his footsteps, I know that he is a … presence, a power. He’s in black jeans and a light-gray henley. He lays his hand on top of the Camaro, pivoting toward me — not bothering to look at the barn or the property or anything else as he reaches to shut the car door with his other hand.

He meets my gaze. His eyes are light colored, either blue or green, but I can’t tell which at this distance.

He’s still moving, hand running across the top of the car, then down the back window, then fingers only along the trunk.

He fucking caresses the fucking car as he crosses alongside it, then continues steadily toward me. And for a moment of utter insanity, I want it to be my curves under those fingertips.

The passenger-side door thunks closed. I feel Presh’s presence as well. But I can’t tear my gaze away from the golden god in worn black jeans taking long, steady strides toward me. I’m locked in his gaze.

The nearer he gets, the more I see … in his expression, in his body language, in the way his essence entwines with that of the property. 

I’m not lightheaded.

I’m not beguiled or enchanted.

The nearer he gets, the more anchored I feel. 

Not frozen. Not overwhelmed.

I’m in this moment. Breathing it. Savoring it. As if … as if … my very soul has been starved? And he is … he is …

– Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter 10 (slightly edited for spoilers)

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024

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Conduit Series: Illustration and an excerpt: Presh

Precious ‘Presh’ Guerra. Awry. Illustration by Nicole Deal.

“I can’t push you,” I say gently. “Some choices have to be your own. Not everything is determined by fate alone.”

Startled, her eyes flick up to meet mine. “Can you get me home?”

“I’ll die trying,” I say, aware that I’ve uttered my own destiny — a single, short thread of it, at least — as the words fall from my lips. 

I’ve never been great at keeping my mouth shut, even when I’m trying. Or ignoring a knowing even when doing so was in my best interest.

I reach for her.

She steps closer to accept my hand.

The thin threads already connecting us solidify so suddenly and sharply that it’s like a punch to the gut. I lose my breath within the momentary onslaught of sensation. It settles into an unadulterated rightness. More than a simple thread of destiny. 

I’ve never felt the like before. Even accepting my inheritance was less … steady, less resolved. But most essence-wielding is like that. Most essence, most power, grows slowly, and not necessarily steadily.

“What … what was that?” she asks in a whisper.

I meet her gaze, blinking and still feeling a little out of body. “Fate,” I whisper back. “It seems … we are meant to be here, in this moment and beyond.” 

She smiles. It’s tentative, shaky. Her grip on my hand is almost punishing.

“What’s your name, sweetness?”

“Presh …” She exhales hope along with the gift of her name, fortifying the connection between us further. Then she inhales strength — I can see it flooding through her — and gives me more. “Precious Guerra.”

I lean into her, taller by a half-dozen inches. My necklace swings forward, drawing her attention again. “Zaya Gage,” I say. Then I add, teasingly, “Granddaughter of Necessity, Daughter of Darkness and Night.” Even though I’m speaking the utter truth. As I always must when I’m about to walk the path of my own destiny. 

To my death, I had no doubt. 

Presh giggles quietly, as I’d hoped she would. Though depending on how much of the family history I’m willing to accept as pure truth, I’m not lying.

– Awry (Conduit 1), Chapter 1

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 25, 2024

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Amplifier 6: Chapter One

The dark-haired sorcerer swathed in black tactical gear at my side ran his hand down my spine — or as much of it as he could reach while I was wearing my dual blades sheathed across my back. His conflicting emotions filtered through to me even as I peered through the magically enhanced binoculars I had trained on a tiny, rocky island in the middle of nowhere. 

Literally, nowhere. 

Loaded into a heavily armored, magically fortified helicopter, we were hovering over what was practically the midway point between the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea, the southern extents of the Arctic Ocean. Though technically, we were off the northern coast of Norway, we’d left that coast behind two hours ago. I couldn’t see even a shadow of the mainland, not even with the enhanced binoculars.

Five days had passed since we’d been sent the first text message from Samantha and Daniel’s kidnapper, and the sorcerer who’d all but shackled himself to my side was still angry. At the situation, yes. But also at me specifically. That didn’t stop him from reaching out, though, or touching me tenderly in the very brief moments we’d grabbed on our way to finding — and hopefully liberating — my blood-bound teammates.

Aiden had his own pair of binoculars. They cut without difficulty through the gloom of the cloudy night — which wasn’t actual night, because the sun never set in this part of the world in June. But they also somehow highlighted magic, picking up the energy that emanated from the magically inclined as well as magical constructs, then tagging that energy in a medium shade of blue that was slightly lighter than the color of Aiden’s power.

It was closing in on 3:00 a.m. Despite the cloaking on the helicopter and the clouds obscuring the midnight sun, we’d waited until early morning to further minimize our visibility.

Even heavily cloaked in cloud, the sun sliding along the horizon, while never rising or setting, unsettled me. Not that I would ever admit that out loud. We’d been moving too quickly and crossing too many borders to do more than snatch a nap here or there, completely ignoring time zones as we passed through. So I blamed the jet lag for the disconcertion, then ignored it.

To my left, Christopher was outfitted in cool-weather tactical gear like Aiden and me, though with fewer pockets than the sorcerer. He wasn’t bothering to keep watch out his side of the helicopter. His magic was a constant low-grade hum on my upper spine while he shuffled his oracle cards and called out quiet commands to our ground team of two over the comms. Mostly, though, he had been content to allow that team to implement the plan it had taken us three days to cobble together, as they navigated their way to the island, then into the research station that occupied the site’s northern tip.

According to our intel, nine nonmagicals occupied the entirety of Bear Island. Researchers. But I had tuned out what exactly they were researching on a barren rock of an island in the Arctic Ocean, more interested in how we were planning to get them out of our way.

– Endings and Empathy (Amplifier 6), Chapter One

COMING MARCH 30, 2023

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Endings and Empathy is the sixth and final book in the Amplifier Series, which is set in the same universe as the Dowser, Oracle, Reconstructionist, Archivist, and Misfits of the Adept Universe series. Click here for the reading order of the entire Adept Universe.

Amplifier 6: Destiny and Death Curses

COMING MARCH 30, 2023

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– AMAZON – APPLE BOOKS – BARNES & NOBLE – KOBO – SMASHWORDS –

Aiden glanced at Christopher, whose back was to us — deliberately, I thought — and narrowed his eyes. “Destiny.”

“Yeah, the clairvoyant is a big believer.”

“Enough to …” Aiden trailed off.

“Enough to throw me in front of a death curse.” I hadn’t bothered lowering my voice. Christopher’s shoulders stiffened, but he didn’t turn around.

“More than once?” Aiden asked in a whisper.

– Chapter One, Endings and Empathy (Amplifier 6)

Are you new to the Amplifier Series? The first book in the series is Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1) but there is also a prequel, The Amplifier Protocol. Or click this link for the entire reading order of the Adept Universe (and how the Amplifier fits within it)