Amplifier 0: synopsis

A page from MCD’s notebook …

They called me an amplifier. And they had bred me, raised me, and trained me to be a killer with preternatural precision. I was capable of taking, holding, and transferring power that wasn’t my own with a simple touch. Skin-to-skin contact. Along with four others of my generation, I could infiltrate any magical organization, extracting whoever or whatever I’d been ordered to extricate. Then I could destroy all evidence of our passing presence.

They had made me. They directed me. Controlled me.

Then they tried to kill me.

The Amplifier Protocol (Amplifier 0)

Coming January 8, 2019

Dowser 9: Chapter 1, Part 1

A man hung suspended in a whirlwind of magic above me.

No … not just a man.

A dragon.

I crouched on the back edge of a six-foot-wide, three-foot-high white platform set above the elven tech I had been tasked to repair, fiddling with a gemstone I’d previously removed. Pretending to work while peering through the maelstrom of golden-tinted magic that fueled the gateway.

The gold of the dragon’s magic.

Of his life force.

Energy … magic … life … that was slowly being siphoned away through the elven tech.

Something was wrong with that … scenario. That situation. Terribly, terribly wrong. But whenever I tried to grasp that thought, to fully articulate it in my mind, it hovered just beyond my understanding.

I glanced to my right, then my left. The center section of the stadium grew smaller and smaller each day as the elves erected sections of walls, closing in on the gateway. If I tilted my head, I could still see the upper rows of seating that climbed almost all the way to the domed ceiling. There were fewer rows than there had been the last time I’d counted. Not that I could remember the exact number. Or why that even mattered.

We — the dragon and I — were surrounded by elves, including my liege.

But … we weren’t a ‘we.’

Were we?

And why would us being surrounded by elves matter?

I’d repaired the tech.

I’d created a pathway at my liege’s command, opening a rift between dimensions so that the elves could cross into the earth’s dimension from their own.

That much, I knew for certain.

That much, I remembered doing.

Except just the previous day — if my sense of time could be trusted — something else had occurred. Something that had upset my liege, disrupting our connection for a moment that lasted long enough for me to remember … other things. Other ideas.

Ideas that fluttered just out of my reach, even as I gazed up at the dragon fueling the gateway with his life force.

Though my liege’s hold on my mind kept slipping, I had come to understand through her that the witches who claimed this territory, this city, had somehow reined the elves in, curtailing my liege’s plans.

For the moment.

The stadium was slowly filling with restless warriors as one elf at a time stepped through the gateway. Then waited.

Everyone was on the edge of violence, caught up in that waiting.

Me especially.

The dragon suspended above me appeared to be sleeping. I couldn’t shake the feeling that if he would only open his eyes, I would know him. I had thought more than once that I should have been tearing the magic of the gateway down, rather than propping it open and refining it. Gemstone by gemstone, I was harvesting the dragon’s magic, his life.

But wasn’t he mine to protect?

And wasn’t I his?

My liege laid her hand on my shoulder. I returned my attention to the elven device I was still working on, not wanting to invite the pain that came with an admonishment. But her touch was … shaky. Both on my shoulder and in my mind.

She was tired.

She’d have been upset if she knew that I knew. If she understood that I could feel her emotions, even sometimes catching snippets of her thoughts through the connection we shared.

I smoothed my magic, my alchemy, across the milky-white gem I was coaxing into place on the gateway device. The two sections of that device had been reunited. The metal components slotted together in an intricate pattern to form a circle about a foot and a half in diameter. I had slowly been replacing and repairing the gateway’s cracked and shattered gemstones, but one large divot on the right remained empty. The elf tech had remained inert until I’d reawakened it with my power — as bidden by my liege. But that wasn’t enough. I couldn’t fix and fuel the dimensional gateway at the same time.

So the others had been brought in. The others who I’d taken, incapacitated, and stripped of their weapons. The dragon, the vampire, the werewolf, and the guardian.

I was the technician.

They were the power source.

I thought the gateway tech might have been killing them. Slowly draining their lives away. But my liege made certain they were left with a spark within them after each session, allowing them to recuperate so that faint sliver of magic could grow and bloom.

Only to be drained again.

And again.

Unbidden anger coursed through me, through my chest and down my limbs.

Something snapped between my clenched fingers.

The hand on my shoulder tightened.

A hurricane appeared at the edge of my mind.

I had cracked the gemstone I’d been placing in the gateway device. Not enough that I couldn’t repair it. But my liege didn’t notice. And what she didn’t know, didn’t ask, I wouldn’t tell her.

She wondered why the gateway would still allow only one passenger at a time, why it could recharge only intermittently, about once an hour. She cursed my inability to open it wider, to allow six or a dozen warriors through at once. She fought, argued with Traveler, almost constantly.

But she never asked if I was deliberately limiting the gate, trimming its magic, keeping it only half-functional.

So I didn’t tell her I was doing just that.

Though why I would have wanted to sabotage the gateway at all, I had no idea.

“Again?” a large warrior elf snarled from behind me.

Traveler. The teleporter.

He’d noticed the cracked gemstone.

Traveler always noticed, which was why my liege often sent him away, tasked with other duties. Training, organizing, readying the warriors. But what they were being readied for was unknown to me.

I kept my head bowed, even though I desperately wanted to look up again, to check on the dark-blond dragon suspended in the stream of energy emanating from the gateway. Energy that was still tinted with the gold of his magic.

If only he would open his eyes.

If only he would recognize me.

Then maybe I’d know who I was …

“She’s drained.” My liege sounded weary. Her tone was labored, heavily accented. Not English, though. Elvish. The translation came through the gemstone embedded into my forehead, anchored in my brain. Though, again, why I would have needed anything to be translated, I didn’t know. “I shall set her to sleep. More components will be delivered, and the gateway will be fully functional in a few more hours.”

“You’ve been saying as much for days,” the seven-foot-tall warrior elf sneered.

My liege’s long cloak brushed against me as she swiveled to face her second-in-command. “What care you for human time, Traveler?”

“I care about being caged in here by the witches. We hold a guardian. How long do you think it will be until the warrior with the golden sword comes?”

“We will be ready.”

“I request … again … to be allowed to summon an engineer from my realm. She will have the gate fixed moments after she steps through it.”

“The alchemist has it in hand.”

“A human,” Traveler snarled. “Your trust is misplaced. Our most-powerful monarchs grow restless. We have a chance to gain a hold over this dimension and cement our place in —” 

Then Traveler grunted, pained.

The boney hand on my shoulder tightened, as if drawing from my strength. I glanced sideways, watching Traveler fight a torment that I knew the feeling of all too well. The hulking elf fell to his knees, panting in unvoiced agony.

He placed a hand across his forehead, as though trying to shield the gemstone embedded there from my liege’s power, her assault.

He couldn’t.

As I well knew.

“I grow tired of your constant questioning, Traveler.” My liege sounded remote, unaffected. But she was holding herself upright with the strength of my back. The strength of my body, my magic.

And I would gladly give it to her.

Wouldn’t I?

Traveler met my gaze, his green eyes glistening with rage, with pent-up hatred.

A smile spread across my face, mocking him. Sneering at his pain.

He snarled.

I could shake off my lady’s hold. I could lunge, snapping his neck before anyone would have a chance to even see me move.

He lifted his chin in a challenge.

I flipped the cracked gemstone in my hand, threading my alchemy around it and through my fingers. “Try me,” I murmured.

He sneered. “Why would I bother? Your head will soon be mine. As will those of your friends.”

Friends.

Friends?

I glanced up at the man suspended in the gateway. Was he the one who Traveler threatened? Was he my … friend? The term didn’t seem correct somehow … didn’t fit the feeling that hovered just out of my reach every time I laid eyes on him — 

The magic of the gateway shifted between the suspended dragon and the elven device. A tall, slim elf with sleek hair falling to the back of her knees stepped through the gate, pausing to cast her gaze around the stadium. And for a moment, it felt as though all the elves within viewing distance of the gateway held their collective breath. The newcomer wore a high-collared vest that fell to her ankles, and slim pants tucked into laced-up boots. The long vest was edged with multicolored gems that twinkled with magic.

Traveler scrambled to his feet.

Fear coursed through me. But it wasn’t my own. 

It was my liege’s.

The elves working on the walls returned their attention to the task.

“Problems?” the newcomer asked mockingly. “Already?”

My lady spoke a few words I didn’t understand, that didn’t automatically translate — a name and a formal greeting, perhaps — dropping her hand from my shoulder and stepping away from me. Silently, Traveler joined her.

I remained kneeling, keeping the newcomer and the dragon in sight without outright staring at either of them.

“We weren’t expecting you,” my lady said stiffly.

“I heard you had gained a hold in this dimension. A tenuous one, it seems.”

Anger filtered through my connection to my liege, even though we were no longer in physical contact. Her anger, not mine.

“I am making great headway, ward builder.” Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the sweeping gesture my liege made, encompassing the gateway and the maze of twelve-foot-high walls that had been constructed throughout the lower level of the stadium. She folded her hands before her, appearing tranquil even as I could feel her ire. “I’ve established a foothold on Earth as none have been able to do before me.”

The newcomer’s gaze fell on me. I was blocked from continuing work on the elven tech by her booted feet. “A fool’s quest, some would say. A flawed attempt to expand a territory that has only been further weakened by your absence. Your imprisonment.”

“My daughter has been ruling —”

The female elf waved her hand dismissively. “I’m not here to question you. I understand you seek a prime gem. I have brought you one.” A large snow-white gemstone appeared in the palm of her hand. Even without handling it myself, I knew it would fit perfectly into the final empty slot in the device.

Eagerness flashed through me. Not my own. My liege’s. I felt only dread. A stone like that could fix all the little things I’d done to hinder the gate’s true potential.

“You offer to join us?” my liege asked — a little too keenly.

The newcomer laughed, but the sound was flat and joyless. “I seek only news of my kin.”

My liege didn’t respond.

The new elf stepped down from the platform, slipping the white gemstone into the outer pocket of her vest. Magic glistened from every inch of the gem-crusted fabric. I curled my fingers in so that I didn’t inadvertently reach for the power as she brushed by me.

My liege had called the newcomer ‘ward builder.’ But judging by the look of her magic, my lady’s smothered anger, and Traveler’s silent deference, she was much, much more than that.

“My niece?” the ward builder asked, pausing a couple of steps to my left. Even the ends of her bootlaces were beaded with gems. “My nephew?”

“Dead,” Traveler said. “Both.”

“By whose hand?”

“She kneels beside you,” my liege said. “Cowed and entrapped by my might.”

“This … witch?”

“Alchemist.”

“She slaughtered my kin, whose safety was entrusted to you by the controller of all the territories. And you allow her to live?”

“She is the reason we were able to open the gateway.”

“And after she did so? You continue to allow her to breathe?”

Traveler snorted.

“The alchemist continues to be useful,” my liege said bitingly. “Beyond the operation and widening of the gateway. But it is not for you to question me, ward builder. Even though your kin have fallen to the enemy, our realms are allies in this endeavor.”

“For now.”

Ignoring the snide interruption, my liege continued. “Those who followed me here did so willingly. Their sacrifices were worthy of their position and heritage.”

The ward builder abruptly lunged sideways, grabbing me by the neck. I allowed her to pull me to my feet. Even as drained as I was magically, she wouldn’t have been strong enough to move me otherwise.

And though I could have held it easily, I allowed the magic that tied me to the elven tech to snap.

The gateway flickered.

The dragon held within the gate’s energy dropped, still hanging at the edge of my peripheral vision.

I met the fierce gaze of the elf as she attempted to choke me. She was a couple of inches taller than I was. Not otherwise touching her, I pressed my neck into her hand.

She gnashed her sharply pointed teeth at me. Then her footing slipped backward a few inches. As I’d assumed, she wasn’t strong enough to hold me. Not on her own, anyway.

Her magic rose, writhing along her arm, then around my neck, across my shoulders, and down my own arms, attempting to hold me at bay.

I laughed, but the sound came out as a gurgle. Then I slammed my open palm against her chest. Bone snapped.

Losing her hold on me, the elf flew back, crashing into one of the many walls that had been creeping closer and closer to the gateway for days. Walls erected in an elaborate spiral, forming some sort of maze to protect the passageway to the gate.

Beside me, the magic of that gate collapsed. The dragon tumbled to the floor, rolling off the platform and into the back of my legs. He was heavy, knocking me forward.

Many hands grabbed for me, trying to contain me, to hold me.

I broke a few arms without even trying. The elves who had stepped forward scurried back, nursing their wounds.

The ever-present, simmering hurricane — my liege’s power — stormed through my mind.

I ignored it.

I ignored my lady’s command to heel.

Ignoring her was becoming easier each time.

To my right, the ward builder had regained her feet, crossing to join the others loosely encircling me. Me and the unconscious dragon. Traveler had manifested a crystalline knife. But I didn’t care.

I cared about the dragon. The dragon whose skin was almost the same color as mine. Neither he nor I were finely scaled. Neither he nor I had hair so pale it was almost white … or slightly pointed ears … or sharp teeth. 

I found myself wondering suddenly — if the dragon bled, would he bleed red? Red like me? Not the pale green of the elves?

Because I wasn’t an elf.

That much I remembered.

That much I knew.

A warrior elf got in my face while I was trying to look at the dragon. Trying to understand what I was feeling, to retrieve knowledge that felt just out of my reach. I took the elf’s knife, embedding it deeply within his blood armor before he’d even noticed its theft.

Just for bothering me.

He fell.

Another elf darted forward, dragging the wounded elf away.

The others waited, tightening the circle around me.

The hurricane increased. A tornado slipped through the wound in my forehead, gaining entry through the gemstone embedded into my brain. It threatened the thoughts I was trying to collect. The clues I was trying to connect.

Friend. Traveler had used that word.

Friend.

I knelt by the dragon, placing my hand on his chest. It rose steadily underneath my touch. His magic was dim when it should have been bright. Bright … and golden … and tasting like …

“Not just my friend,” I whispered. “Mine … mine.”

Two swords scissored around my neck, then forced me to my feet and away from the dragon. Traveler had appeared behind me without warning, closing the space between us before I could react. Teleporting. I should have followed up on my earlier promise and killed him.

“I’m taking her head!”

“No,” my liege shouted. “I have her under control.”

“And each time that control slips, she kills one of us!”

“When we conquer this world, those sacrifices will bring glory to us all.”

Sacrifices … I remembered a yellow jacket abandoned in the rain …

Sacrifices.

I glanced at the newcomer. The ward builder, who had tried to strangle me. She was watching my liege, rubbing her chest. Then she glanced at me, dropping her hand to her side.

“You look like … Mira,” I said, speaking to her. “And her brother. Same … nose …” I trailed off, losing track of the thought, of the connection.

“Mira?” The ward builder furrowed her brow.

My liege lunged forward, pressing her fingers to the gemstone in my forehead. A searing agony slammed through my brain.

“Who is Mira?” the ward builder asked.

I lost control of my limbs, collapsing forward against Traveler’s twin blades. They sliced into my neck, but my lady snarled a command — backed by a push of her power — and Traveler withdrew his twin crystal swords, allowing me to fall forward across the dragon.

“Mira and her brother,” I murmured, trying to speak through the hurricane still rampaging through my mind. Trying to formulate the thought out loud. “My elf … friend … Mira. Illusionist … who wanted to die on her favorite black-sand beach …”

“Sleep, alchemist,” my liege said. “You will retire to your room and sleep.”

Blackness encroached on my vision, first taking my sight, then dampening all my other senses.

I slept.

As commanded.

Gemstones, Elves, and Other Insidious Magic (Dowser 9)

Amplifier 0: A murder of sorcerers.

A cluster of sorcerers had fortified the doors to the stairwell, and likely the entire staircase leading down to the fourth level. Evidentially I hadn’t fooled anyone as to my objective.

A murder of sorcerers. Not a cluster. Bee’s presence brushed through my mind. She laughed, quietly deadly.

“Helpful,” I muttered, risking a glance down the long, straight hall. Looking for possible egresses, or anything I could use for shelter. There were none, which I’d already known But double checking never hurt.

A red laser sight bloomed on the wall above my head. I was crouched — the gun-toting extraction team were aiming for where my head should be. I retreated a couple steps, running the floor plan in my head. I could backtrack. But, since they knew where I was going, eliminating the other four while they were trapped in their rooms was most likely being discussed.

A botched attempt on my life was one thing. Perhaps the heart attack Macy had planned to induce was supposed to look like a complication from my wounds. But murdering the others without a traceable kill order was going to be difficult to justify.

Still, time was of the essence.

– The Amplifier Protocol, Amplifier 0, second draft

Dowser 8.5: Who is Freddie?

“Who is Freddie?” Liam asked, folding his arms and glancing sternly between Jasmine and me.

“A shadow leech.”

“What the hell is a shadow leech?”

“Freddie.”

Liam swore under his breath.

I stifled a smirk.

–Mory, Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things that Byte (Dowser 8.5)

COMING AUGUST 23, 2018

PREORDER NOW

AMAZONiBOOKSKOBOB&NSMASHWORDS

Are you new to the Adept Universe? Book one is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1).

Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe.

Dowser 8.5: Mory: “So … there’s no way this is just, you know, a casual thing? Right?”

Misfits, Gemstones, and Other Scattered Magic (Dowser 8) released a week ago! Normally I’d share a some of the lovely early reviews, and I will soon, but I thought it might be more fun (for me) to share a (mostly) spoiler free excerpt of Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things That Byte (Dowser 8.5).

And yes, if you haven’t already noticed the sneak peak of the book cover in the back of Dowser 8, Dowser 8.5 is available for preorder. It is, in fact, almost completely finished. I’m spending my afternoons working through the line/content edit and will then do my final smoothing pass before the book goes off to the proofreader.

I’m adding new scenes to Dowser 9 daily as well. It is currently sitting at about 30K. And, because someone might ask, I haven’t set a release date yet (late-fall is most likely).

🙂

Thank you for joining me on the rollercoaster ride that is the Adept Universe!

– WARNING FOR POSSIBLE SPOILERS –

“Why me? There are two more powerful necromancers in town. Why did Pearl Godfrey send you to me?”

“She didn’t. I just see you here … in this graveyard.”

I shrugged. “I come here often.”

Rochelle hesitated.

I hated it when people hesitated before talking. It usually meant they were considering lying, or telling a half-truth. And then I was usually forced to go along with the lie like it was an actual conversation we were having.

“No. That’s not what I mean.” Rochelle shoved her left hand in her army-green satchel. Her tone was soft, as if she were afraid of frightening me.

Me. The necromancer fueled by death magic, who’d been freaking the oracle out only moments before.

“No. I see you.” She tugged a thick fold of paper from her bag.

I knew what she was handing me even before she held it out.

A sketch.

Of me. Of my future.

I had never seen one of Rochelle’s visions — the final version, rendered on paper — but people talked. All right, Jade Godfrey talked. Everyone else was pretty mum about anything having to do with power around me.

I took the proffered paper, feeling myself hesitating suddenly.

“It’s not bad.” Rochelle fiddled with a ring on her left hand. A gold wedding band crusted with tiny diamonds. Her husband Beau wore a matching one, though his was thicker. And according to the rumor mill, aka Benjamin Garrick, it adjusted in size whenever he transformed. Both rings had been crafted by Jade, the same as my necklace. “It just … is …” she said.

I unfolded the sketch. And there I was, rendered in black, smudged charcoal. I was perched on my favorite gravestone — the one I was presently seated on.

I had developed a habit when I was young, even before my necromancy had manifested. I had demanded to visit the graves and interment places of young children whenever I traveled with my mother while she was working — and would occasionally throw a tantrum if that demand wasn’t indulged. I used to swear that the children would whisper secrets to me, though my mother always insisted that their essence had moved on.

That had been my version of imaginary friends, I had assumed long ago. Though the gravestone I most identified with at Mountain View was different. The sweet soul interred beneath my feet occasionally made an appearance, and I … I was hoping that one day I’d have the ability to help her. To release her from whatever held her in this dimension.

“Your hair is different.” Rochelle stepped up beside me and leaned closer, peering down at the sketch in my hands.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, taking in every stroke and smudge on the paper. I looked … different. Different than I saw myself in the mirror. Fiercer, bolder. Just … more. I wondered if that was how Rochelle saw my magic, as if it added an extra layer to me as a person. “I change my hair a lot.”

“No,” Rochelle said. “It’s different in the sketch … in the vision. Blue and purple, not the purple and red you have now. Were you planning on dyeing it again soon?”

I shook my head, unable to tear my gaze away from the drawing. “I just changed it from blue.”

“Ah …” Rochelle nodded thoughtfully.

“You, um … you see in color but sketch in black and white?”

She hesitated for long enough that I realized I’d overstepped, asking such a personal question. It was one thing to explain in general terms how something like necromancy worked, or to ask for specifics about the sketch I was holding. It was completely another thing to interrogate an Adept about their process. How their magic functioned, or even how it felt for them specifically. Magic was like sex that way. Not that I had much experience with either.

“Yes,” the oracle finally said. “Things … I didn’t know, you know, when the visions started, what was happening.”

“You didn’t have anyone to ask.”

“No, I didn’t. And when I was trying to make sense of it all, black and white felt more … grounded but less … real …” She trailed off, embarrassed.

“I understand. My mother works as a necromancer for the Convocation. And usually that means summoning ghosts to question them. Or, conversely, laying a ghost to rest who’s getting all poltergeisty. But … three times now, she’s had to go … examine, assess other necromancers. Adepts, but outside of any known bloodline, whose magic had manifested and made them think they were …”

“Crazy.”

“Yeah.”

Rochelle nodded, then looked back down at the sketch I was holding. “I get that.”

I spent another moment contemplating the version of me depicted in the drawing. Then I asked the question I had to ask but really didn’t want to. “So … there’s no way this is just, you know, a casual thing? Right?”

“Me having a vision of you? Rather than any of the other epically powerful beings that come and go from Vancouver?”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought.” And that in a nutshell was why hanging out with people way more powerful than me was a bad idea. Except that everyone in Vancouver was more powerful than me, it seemed.

– Mory, Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things That Byte (Dowser 8.5)

Dowser 8: chapter one, part one

An elf stood at the door to my bakery. Well, actually, it was Bryn’s and my bakery, but still … an elf.

In Whistler.

I mean, I expected this sort of thing in Vancouver. But if you weren’t into outdoor sports involving snow, then Whistler was a pricey destination in the winter months. Plus, the village and the municipality around it were both seriously lacking in the magical department.

Or at least they had been.

In less than an hour, I was hosting a grand opening for Cake in a Cup Too. And I was pretty damn magical. Also, still not much of a wordsmith when it came to naming things. Plus Bryn, not being magically inclined herself, had unwittingly staffed the bakery with at least one skinwalker — Maia Thomas, an Adept who could cloak herself in the form of a chosen animal. In her case, a raven. And just for good measure, I’d dragged a telepath along to help pass out free mini-cupcakes to potential customers.

The elf caught my eye and smiled.

Smiled.

And despite the rows of sharp, shark-like teeth she displayed, I briefly believed she was genuinely pleased to see me. A dense crowd of shoppers and skiers crossed back and forth through the retail square behind her — all of whom were nonmagicals. I could tell that with utter certainty because the new bakery wasn’t warded. Unfortunately, despite the lack of shielding magic between us, I also couldn’t taste any power from the elf. That was unnerving.

Her long hair, pale to the point of being practically white, flowed gracefully over her shoulders and halfway down her back. Simple braids twisted back from her temples, exposing ears that were indeed slightly pointed. As with vampires and werewolves, the fantastical depictions of elves in nonmagical culture were obviously rooted to some degree in the truth, perhaps from the earliest encounters between Adepts and humans. 

This particular elf had a pale, iridescent complexion with a subtle green undertone. If I’d been closer, I knew that iridescence would have revealed itself as finely scaled skin that was currently picking up light reflected from the bakery’s floor-to-ceiling front windows. The elf was easily six feet tall, wearing the cutest baby-blue puffy winter jacket and skinny-legged jeans tucked into calf-hugging polished black boots. She had the same sharp features as the warrior I’d faced in a park in Vancouver three months before. But with her significantly smaller frame — that first elf had been even taller than Warner — she came off as delicate. More feminine, somehow.

Based on my limited experience and the few ancient tomes detailing historic clashes with elves that I’d read since the previous September, I had the distinct feeling that regardless of how graceful, even elegant, she appeared, the elf likely packed a punch. Thankfully, the same went for me. Though standing five foot nine inches and endowed with ample assets, ‘delicate’ or ‘elegant’ weren’t adjectives that had ever been applied to me.

The elf also had a massive gemstone embedded in her forehead. The gem was a slightly darker tint of her skin tone and appeared to be surrounded by a simple raised design that followed the edges of the stone.

It bothered me that with nothing but twenty feet and some triple-paned glass between us, I couldn’t taste her magic. Because that was my thing, my advantage. The thing I was supposed to do better than anyone else. The thing that made me special, made me THE DOWSER in all caps.

Elves, it seemed, were very skilled at masking their power. Either that or I wasn’t particularly attuned to their magic because they came from another dimension. But since the elf standing just beyond the bakery door was only the second one I’d ever encountered, I didn’t have enough experience to draw a conclusion either way. Still, it was better all around for the very vulnerable humans meandering through the center of Whistler Village that she wasn’t doing anything that would have allowed me to taste her power.

Speaking of magic, Peggy Talbot paused a few steps beyond the door that led back into the kitchen, just on the edge of my peripheral vision. The willowy blond was dressed similarly to me in jeans, a brown Cake in a Cup T-shirt, and a white ruffled apron. She was also carrying a large tray of mini Chill in a Cup — mint-chocolate cake with mint-chocolate buttercream. The telepath had frozen at the sight of the elf. Her blackberry-jam-infused power swirled around her.

Well, it was always good to know I wasn’t seeing things.

The elf’s green-eyed gaze flicked to Peggy, then returned to me. Her smile became challenging. Then she beckoned. Her slim fingers were tipped with thick nails that were only slightly too short to be called claws. The gesture was meant to be enticing, but I wasn’t that easily fooled. Too many big bad monsters with sharp teeth had a habit of seeing me as a little snack that would tide them over on their way to taking over the universe.

Yeah, I wasn’t feeling at all dramatic.

COMING JUNE 28, 2018

PREORDER NOW

AMAZONiBOOKSKOBOBARNES & NOBLESMASHWORDS

Are you new to the Adept Universe? Book one is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1).

Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe.

Dowser 8: Want to go hunting?

*SNEAK PEEK OF DOWSER  8*

*WARNING FOR POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

Misfits, Gemstones, and Other Shattered Magic (Dowser 8)

RELEASING JUNE 28, 2018

“Let’s see if we can turn the tables on the elf. Assuming she’s stupid enough to leave us a drop of her blood.”

Kandy laughed snarkily.

“How?” Jasmine asked, following us out into the alley while tugging on her hastily repaired jacket. Somehow, she’d completely hidden the safety pins from sight. Skilled in tech and tailoring. Nice.

“Dowsing, baby girl,” Kandy said. “That’s what Jade does, after all. Want to go hunting with us?”

Red rolled across Jasmine’s eyes, and she grinned wickedly. “I sure do.”

Lovely. “Though let’s keep the biting to a minimum, eh?”

Kandy laughed quietly, then whispered to Jasmine behind my back. “She always says that.”

Well, this was sure to go delightfully.

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Are you new to the Adept Universe? Book one is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1).

Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe.

Dowser 8: the trick was …

Even beyond elves running amok, the tenor of Vancouver was changing. And it always got worse before it got better, didn’t it? The trick was getting through the worst of it without losing anyone in the process.

Or murdering anyone, I supposed.

And I had yet to pull off that feat.

– Dowser 8, Chapter 3, fourth draft

And, because you might ask, I haven’t set a release date yet. 🙂 Late-spring/early-summer, best guess.

***

Are you new to the Adept Universe? Book one is Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1).

Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe.

 

Story editing and an excerpt

I finally got Dowser 8 off to the editor (aka SFG aka Scott Fitzgerald Gray) for story editing this morning. Though I nearly lost my mind trying to output the manuscript from Scrivener (the software I use to write) into a WORD document because the compile function had been updated/upgraded. Anyway, an hour and half later, I dropped the book in Scott’s inbox. YAY!

And, because some of you might ask, I haven’t set a release date yet. There are three stages of editing – story, line/content, then proofread. And those tasks depend on other people’s schedules as well as at least two, if not three, more drafts of the novel, plus a polish, that depend on me. Late spring/early summer is my best guess right now.

To celebrate I thought I’d share an excerpt with you.

“Treasure Keeper.” I struggled to keep my tone smooth. “Thank you for coming. I do have some questions. Would you like to step inside the bakery?”

He tilted his head, making a show of thinking about it. “Are there cupcakes?”

“Probably not. Nothing fresh, at least. But I believe we were just about to order sushi.”

Pulou grimaced. “Raw fish.”

“We could order some tempura.” Yes, I was cajoling one of the nine most powerful beings in the world with deep fried prawns and veggies. I had a feeling it was that, or give into the need to beat him around the head until he apologized — for locking me up and not telling me about the elves. “And there might be some leftover petit fours.”

“That will have to do then. Not created by your hand, alchemist, but I shall have to endure, I suppose.” He offered me a smile.

I returned the smile, with less teeth. I wasn’t fooled by his attempt to charm me. Seriously. A girl knew when her former mentor would like nothing better than to kick her ass and retrieve the instruments of assassination.

– Dowser 8, Chapter 8, third draft [selectively edited for extreme spoilers][unproofed]

 

 

Dowser 8: the bachelor party, part two

Below is the excerpt I promised yesterday. I just added another 2100 words to Mory’s story (which opens Dowser 8.5) bringing it to 12k with at least six more scenes left. So it will definitely be a novella once it’s finished, not even including the addition of Rochelle and Jasmine’s stories. Fun!

Now I’m going to make Michael his birthday lunch (grilled cheese – medium cheddar cheese from a local dairy on garlic cheddar bread from a local baker), then settle in with my knitting for a Thor movie marathon with the birthday boy. Later there will be cheesecake and individual pizzas.

Warner leaned forward. “And if I’m about to leave the country, I’d like a moment alone with you. Upstairs, perhaps?”

Placing a hand on his chest, I pushed him slightly away. He allowed it with a grin that told me he was content to be compliant. For the moment, at least. “Leaving the country? With Kett?”

He shrugged. “We’re bringing Drake. And your father and Qiuniu are joining us at some point. So what could possibly happen?”

My mind momentarily boggled at all the craziness that could possibly occur under those exact circumstances.

– Dowser 8, chapter two, second draft

Click here for the reading order of the Adept Universe.