Great news! The pre-order for the fourth novel in the Of Cinder and Bone series, Of Fury and Fangs, is available! In celebration, here’s an exclusive preview for chapter one! Spoilers ahead!
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We’re just one week from the release of my all-new novel in the Of Cinder and Bone series! So let’s hit you with one final excerpt before it arrives to your digital bookshelves.
Please be warned: this is a minor spoiler for new characters and there is a bit of violence and language.
“Closing in on the compound,” Agent Shannon said as quietly as possible. It wasn’t easy. He could hear the low growling hiss slithering out of the throat of the dragon standing several feet away, hidden in the brush. She hadn’t taken her yellow eyes off him since he’d appeared. He felt her glare like razor wire raking down his skin. Calloway stood to her left, one gloved hand on the dragon’s neck, the other holding a pair of binoculars.
The building had once been a Home Depot, if the lingering orange paint on the roof was any indication. The empty parking lot had grass poking out between the cracks in the concrete and an overturned cart that had been turned into a nest, perhaps for rodents of some kind. It was in a bad part of town on a long stretch of road in the backwoods, hence why the retail store hadn’t survived in the long run. It sat on a couple acres of land as well, so it had no immediate neighbors and no houses across from it that would notice anything.
The only thing out of the ordinary was the semi-tractor-trailer parked at the loading dock behind the building.
“Four men,” Calloway said.
“They armed?” Agent Shannon asked as he opened his equipment bag.
“Looks like handguns mostly.”
“Right. Tether the dragon, will ya? Don’t want her breathing down my neck while we get ready.”
“Give her a break already,” Jack said over the comm-link. “If she hasn’t spat venom into your eyeballs by now, you’re safe.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“I’d take a picture and get it blown up to a 24 x 36 print, then frame it on my wall.”
“Guys,” Calloway said as he set the binoculars aside. “Cool it. I know we’re all a bit tense about catching these clowns, but we need to keep focused. Where are we at with SWAT?”
Shannon checked his phone. “ETA twenty minutes. They were running short on staff this morning. We’ll maintain surveillance until they arrive—”
Before he could finish that sentence, the tractor-trailer rattled as a roar bellowed from inside it.
Two of the men came running down the ramp, shouting something at the ones standing at the top of the loading dock. Seconds later, a Highlander dragon came barreling out of the truck bed at full speed. One man had already begun sprinting across the empty parking lot; the other hastily climbed onto the loading dock and screamed for them to close themselves inside the garage. Unfortunately, the other two men got there first and locked the door on him. The dragon flapped its wings and landed on the loading dock. Its long, spiny tail lashed behind it as it crept towards the man, who drew a .9 mm Beretta and took aim at the dragon.
He fired. Both shots ricocheted. One hit the wall. The other hit his right thigh.
“Shit!” Calloway hissed, grabbing his helmet. “Shannon, we gotta go!”
“Goddammit,” Shannon complained. “I’ll get the net launcher ready. You go.”
“What’s going on?” Kamala demanded.
“Highlander dragon’s loose,” Calloway said as he raced down the grassy hill towards the loading dock. “The crew bailed. He’s got a guy pinned. I’m gonna intercept.”
The man tried to crawl away from the dragon, his injured leg trailing blood in a long smear on the concrete. The dragon clamped its jaws down on his ankle and dragged him back. The man shrieked and kicked at it with his other leg in vain.
“Highlander dragons react to loud noises,” Kamala said. “See if you can distract it.”
“Hey, Lake Placid, over here!” Calloway shouted.
The dragon dropped the man’s ankle and snapped its head in Calloway’s direction. The man tried to wriggle out of range, but the dragon hissed and he curled into the fetal position to make himself a smaller target.
“What else ya got?” Calloway asked.
“Eyes,” Jack said. “Got anything that can blind it?”
“Yeah, a flashbang.” Calloway addressed the man. “Cover your eyes!”
He pulled the pin and flung it towards the dragon. The flash grenade bounced once, twice, and then ignited. The entire parking lot flashed with blinding white light for an instant.
The dragon roared in pain and backed away from Calloway, its head whipping to and fro in panic. Its deadly tail slashed at the air around it in erratic swipes, trying to hit something, anything, now that its vision had gone out.
“Calloway!” Agent Shannon barked as he approached with the net launcher in his hands. It was about the size of an automatic rifle with a wide, open barrel. He planted his feet and aimed as his partner moved over to one side.
Just before he could pull the trigger, the door to the abandoned building flung open and the dragon smugglers opened fire.
Agent Shannon cursed and raced for the other corner of the building for cover. Calloway followed him and narrowly escaped the men’s gunfire.
“This is going great so far,” Calloway said, flattening himself against the brick as the shots continued tearing holes in the wall.
Agent Shannon handed him the net launcher and drew his gun, waiting for a pause in the gunfire. “I’ll try and take them out. If I can’t manage it, I’ll see if I can lead them away from the dragon.”
“Any chance you guys can request a chopper?” Jack asked.
“Wouldn’t do us much good. There isn’t one close enough to make a difference. We’re on our own for now.”
“I’ve contacted the incoming SWAT team,” Libby said. “They’re hauling ass now, but they’re still ten minutes out even with their sirens going to cut through traffic. Be careful.”
“No worries, little bit,” Calloway said. “We got this. If we can manage to trap it, how the hell am I going to sedate it with scales that thick?”
“Underneath the jaw is a soft spot,” Kamala said. “Inject it there.”
“Gotcha.” He glanced at Agent Shannon as they heard the telltale clicks of the smugglers’ guns going empty. “Ready?”
Shannon nodded. “Follow my lead.”
He gauntleted the Beretta in his fist and whipped around the corner, firing twice. One of the men cried out and hit the ground with a shot to the leg and another in the shoulder. The other one took cover behind the tractor-trailer. The first injured man had managed to wedge himself in a corner away from the snarling, blinded dragon.
“Listen up,” Shannon said as he pressed up against the other side of the tractor-trailer. “I’m a federal agent. Lower your weapon and come out from around the truck with your hands up. I am authorized to use lethal force if you do not cooperate. If you fire on me or my partner, you will be shot.”
“Federal agent, huh?” the remaining smuggler said, his voice heavy with a New York accent. “Killing you oughta make my rep forever, then.”
“You sure you wanna go down this road, son?”
“Hell yeah.”
The tires behind Shannon’s legs abruptly punctured and deflated as the man ducked and tried to sneak a shot. Shannon knelt and held still as the truck groaned under the weight of the trailer as it shifted to one side. The smuggler closed in on him, all but emptying the clip in hopes of hitting him through the tire. A bullet grazed Shannon’s shoulder, but he didn’t budge.
Just as the smuggler got close enough for a point blank shot, Agent Shannon grabbed the man’s wrist and jerked his arms up. He fired a single shot into the man’s temple. Blood splattered against the side of the tractor-trailer and the man crumpled to the concrete.
Agent Shannon kicked the gun away from his twitching fingers just to be safe. “Clear.”
Calloway rounded the corner with the net launcher as Shannon went to subdue the other smuggler with the two gunshot wounds. The dragon still couldn’t see, but he could tell it knew where he was, based on scent and sound. It charged him each time he tried to get a clean shot, snapping its jaws or flicking its tail in his direction, missing him by a few inches. Calloway finally got just far enough away to fire, but then the dragon spread its wings and vaulted into the air.
“Son of a bitch,” Calloway whispered. “This just went from bad to worse.”
Of Dawn and Embers is out July 20th, and don’t forget there’s a Facebook Launch Party you can attend for a chance to win a free paperback copy. Pre-order now for a special price of .99 cents. It will go up to $4.99 on July 21st, so grab while you can.
Are you ready for the next excerpt of Book Three in the Of Cinder and Bone series? Here it is! Please be mindful of spoilers for Of Cinder and Bone and Of Blood and Ashes!
CHAPTER ONE
UNTETHERED
“Jack…why is there a dragon in our backyard?”
Dr. Rhett “Jack” Jackson spit out his coffee and gaped at his pregnant girlfriend. “Wait, what?“
He pushed his chair out and stumbled to Dr. Kamala Anjali’s side. She had the curtain drawn to one side, her jaw hanging open slightly, her brown eyes wide as they beheld the mythical beast that was calmly sniffing the red snapdragons in her garden. Jack rubbed his eyes with his palms just to be safe, but there was no mistaking it. He ripped the sliding door open and padded out onto the neatly cut grass in his faded grey MIT t-shirt and black pajama bottoms.
“Pete? Is that you?” The scientist asked, of course knowing the creature wouldn’t answer, but he just couldn’t help himself.
The dragon Pete hadn’t changed much since the last time he saw her. She stood at the height of the average horse with long limbs and a muscular, streamlined body covered in leaf-green scales aside from her belly, which was a pale cream. Her wings were folded along the groove of her spine, rustling slightly as she lifted her head as he approached. She blinked large golden eyes at him and her tail lashed in the rose bushes behind her, scattering pale pink petals. Her long, sharp fangs protruded down over her lower jaw, but it was closed; she had a muzzle on. She flared her nostrils as he cautiously extended his hand towards her snout, palm flat. The dragon sniffed it and a soothing set of vibrations filled the air.
“Goddess above,” Kamala whispered as she reached Jack’s side. “It is her.”
The dragon chittered slightly in delight and nuzzled Kamala’s cheek, then blinked in confusion at her protruding belly. Kamala laughed slightly in spite of her puzzlement and rubbed the bumpy crown of the dragon’s head as she sniffed her enormous stomach. “Well, I guess introductions are in order. Pete, meet the baby. Baby, meet Pete.”
“Kam…how the hell is this possible?” Jack asked, pushing one hand into his dark brown hair. “How did she get here? How did she even find us?”
“Excellent questions,” Kamala agreed. “Which we will answer momentarily. First, we need to keep her out of sight before the neighbors start panicking. Do you think we can sneak her into the house?”
“I don’t know,” he said, scanning over their eight-foot wooden fence to see if anyone had spotted them yet. It was still early, barely past seven o’clock in the morning. Cambridge tended to wake up on the early side, as both the MIT and Harvard students and alumni would be flitting about getting ready for the day. “She’s kind of skittish about small spaces. Let’s try to get her into the garage.”
Kamala clucked her tongue. “Come along, Pete.”
She walked back inside and the dragon followed with slow, steady steps, ducking its head beneath the threshold. Pete’s forked tongue darted in and out, testing the air, as she glanced about the two-story house. The den had vaulted ceilings, so she had no trouble standing on all fours. She sniffed the couch as Jack pulled the sliding door shut and tugged the curtains together. He gave the dragon a nudge and she got moving again, following Kamala to the two-car garage. Jack’s trusty old Mazda Protégé and Kamala’s powder blue Volkswagen Beetle were already inside, but it wasn’t too cramped. Kamala led the dragon between the two cars and gently pushed on her shoulders until the creature sat on its hindlegs.
“Did anyone see us?” she asked.
“Not that I noticed, but if she flew in here, there’s got to be somebody who saw her,” Jack said, taking his phone out of his pocket and Googling dragon sightings in the last hour. He noticed quite a few hits; mainly a blurry figure or a short video of a shadow sweeping someone’s backyard. Neither he nor Kamala had any social media accounts, so he had to check to see if dragons were trending, and they were at the moment. Plenty of people were trying to prove or disprove the sightings, but no one had convincing evidence yet.
“I don’t get it. The government shut down our project almost six months ago and seized her as well as our other dragons. How could she possibly have gotten loose?”
“Dunno,” Jack said, pacing between the cars and rubbing the five o’clock shadow he hadn’t shaved off just yet. “Maybe they were transporting her somewhere and she busted out. Does she have any abrasions or injuries?”
Kamala flicked on the overhead light and examined the dragon. “No injuries, but take a look at this.”
Jack stepped next to her and peered at where her fingers rested on the dragon’s neck. He could see one of her scales had been removed, so there was just smooth pale skin beneath it. The species of dragon that Pete was, varanus lacerto, had multiple epidural layers: thick outer scales about the size of a quarter, and then a protective layer of fat over the muscle. Someone had removed the first layer by force, it appeared, and there was a small scar as if she’d been sewn up from an incision.
“Shit,” Jack muttered. “Dollars to donuts that’s where they placed a subcutaneous tracker.”
Kamala shut her eyes for a second. “Which means the bastards are on their way right now.”
“More than likely,” Jack sighed. “Dammit. Ten bucks says they’ll find some way to blame this on the two of us.”
“I’ll take that bet,” she groused, stroking the dragon’s swan-like neck. “That still doesn’t explain how the hell she found us. She’s never been anywhere aside from MIT campus. Is her sense of smell truly powerful enough to locate us from literal miles away?”
“In theory? Yeah, I guess so. She imprinted on us at birth, and dragons’ senses are sharp as hell. Even though we’re indoors, we’ve lived here for a good while, so our scent’s on everything around here by now. Still, this is insane.”
Kamala smiled a bit. “Yes. But in spite of it all, I…missed her.”
Jack rubbed the bumpy scales over Pete’s right eye and listened to her purr. “Yeah. Me too, Kam.”
The doorbell rang.
Jack shut his eyes. “And here comes trouble.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Kamala said. “Make sure they show you a bloody warrant first.”
Jack shuffled back to the door, snorting. “Like that’ll matter.”
He shut the garage door, grabbed his coffee from the dining room table, and then opened the front door.
“Morning, assholes!” Jack said brightly. “What would you like to steal from us this time?”
Two men stood on Jack’s welcome mat. The one on the left was tall, sturdy, and had brunette hair and deep frown lines with a no nonsense expression on his face. He wore sunglasses, a black suit, black tie, a white dress shirt, and polished shoes. The one on the right was slightly shorter, pudgy, and had curly brown hair and a beard. He wore a lab coat over a stained Firefly t-shirt, khakis, and sneakers.
“Climb down off that cross, Dr. Jackson,” the man on the left said, folding his sunglasses and tucking them in the pocket of his suit.
Jack stared at him and then pointedly tilted the mug enough to spill coffee on the man in black’s shoes. “Oops. Clumsy me.”
The man sighed laboriously and shook his feet. “So infantile. You know why we’re here. Where is it?”
“What?” Jack asked innocently. “Oh, your hairline? I think it’s on the back of your head.”
“The dragon,” the man snarled. “Where is the dragon?”
Jack leaned against the doorjamb and purposely slurped his coffee before answering. “Oh, I’m sorry. Have you lost one of our dragons? What a pity. It’s almost like you two chuckleheads and the rest of your department have no idea what you’re doing.”
“It wasn’t my fault,” the pudgy man insisted. “The handler was careless.”
Jack glanced at him. “You’re really not helping your case here, buddy.”
“Dr. Jackson,” the man on the left said through his teeth. “Where. Is. The. Dragon?”
Jack leaned in, pronouncing every word slowly. “Up. Your. Ass.”
The man stared at him with his dead brown eyes for a long moment before smirking. “You know, if you weren’t so high-handed and pretentious, I’d probably like you. Fine. We’ll do this by the book.”
He reached into his suit jacket and withdrew a document, slapping it against Jack’s chest. “Here’s the warrant you’re about to ask for. Not that it matters.”
He jabbed a thumb at the man beside him. “Dr. Whitmore’s got the tracker to prove the asset is within these premises. So scurry along and go get it before I call local P.D. to kick the door down.”
Jack scowled and flipped the document open, again slurping his coffee obnoxiously loud and reading it as slowly as possible. “Well, seems everything’s in order here. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll see what I can do about facilitating the evidence of your complete and utter ineptitude.”
“It wasn’t my fault!” Dr. Whitmore whined, but by then, Jack had slammed the door in both their faces.
Jack returned to the garage and handed Kamala the letter. She growled and crumpled it in her small fist. “Four hours. She’s been missing for four hours according to this nonsense. They couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel.”
“Agreed,” Jack said. “But this is a fight we can’t win right now. Maybe we can use it later, but we have to turn her over to them.”
“Bastards,” she spat.
“Hey,” Jack said gently, kissing her temple. “Stress levels, remember?”
She exhaled, rubbing the top of her swollen stomach. “Right. Pete won’t go willingly. Find out if they have a tranquilizer first. I’ll administer it so she doesn’t get upset.”
“Will do, angel.”
Jack opened the front door again. “Agent Shannon, I assume you have something that can subdue the dragon.”
“Yes,” he said. “What about it?”
“Mind handing it over? I’m pretty sure she’ll rip your face off if she sees you coming at her with one.”
Agent Shannon lifted a thick eyebrow. “You want me to hand you a tranquilizer gun? So you can knock me out and take the asset and run?”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Actually, I don’t want your big, ugly body on my driveway. You’ll scare my neighbors and cause the property value to plummet.”
Agent Shannon sucked his teeth and glanced at Dr. Whitmore. “Doc?”
“He’s right. The dragon is, uh, rather averse to your presence. It’s imprinted on the two of them and should allow them to inject it.”
The government agent gave Jack a long stare before walking over to the large unmarked truck with a long, metal trailer attached. He unlocked it and pulled out a silver briefcase. He popped it open and withdrew a tranquilizer gun.
“Any funny business,” Agent Shannon said, slapping it into Jack’s hand. “I take you down.”
Jack smiled. “Yeah, because that worked so well last time.”
Agent Shannon sneered. “It was a cheap shot, Jackson. Want to try me again when I’m paying attention?”
“No, I think I’ll just let you live with the shame of knowing a civilian put you on your ass.” Jack slammed the door shut a second time and headed into the garage.
Kamala took the tranquilizer gun and gave it a detailed once over, checking that the dosage looked correct and would subdue the dragon. She sighed and pressed her forehead to the dragon’s, her voice slightly hoarse. “I am so sorry, meri priya. We will save you. I swear it.”
She injected the sedative. The dragon flinched slightly when the tiny needle pierced her skin. The effect was almost immediate. Pete swayed and Jack caught her upper body, lowering her to the ground as gently as he could. A thin green film slid down over her golden eyes and she fell asleep in minutes. She even snored, which they both thought was cute.
Jack heaved another sigh and walked over to the garage door. He hit the switch and the door rumbled and roared as it slid up from the ground. Agent Shannon and Larry were already standing there with an altered version of a hand truck. It was collapsible and about eight feet long and a couple feet wide. Agent Shannon smiled as he spotted Kamala.
“Dr. Anjali,” he said politely. “Don’t you look radiant.”
“Don’t you look smug and unintelligent,” she replied, and then swept back inside the house without another word. He chuckled and helped the chubby scientist load the dragon onto the carrier. They wheeled her up into the trailer and locked it shut. Dr. Whitmore got inside the truck and Agent Shannon slid his aviator sunglasses back onto his face.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Dr. Jackson.”
Jack smiled again. “I hope you step on a Lego. Barefoot.”
Agent Shannon bared his teeth in a grin and climbed inside the truck. He backed out of the driveway slowly and then pulled off into the street. Jack spat the sour taste in his mouth out into the bushes and returned inside.
Kamala stood in the kitchen, furiously stirring a spoon into her chamomile tea. “This is unacceptable.”
“Yep,” Jack agreed, pouring the remainder of his coffee down the drain.
“Who do they think they are? They lose our dragon–they risk her life with their idiotic inability to comprehend her abilities–and then demand that we return her to them without any consequences whatsoever? I have never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life.”
“Yep,” Jack agreed, rinsing out the mug.
“What if someone had gotten hurt, eh? What if some gun-toting moron with a twitchy trigger finger spotted her before she came to us? She could be gone, just like that. Taken from this world through no fault of her own.”
Jack stepped up behind her and slid his arms around her shoulders. Kamala’s stiff spine slowly relaxed against the front of his chest. Her eyes drifted closed as he ran his large hand over her belly in soothing circles. He kissed her ear, his voice low and soft. “I know. And we’re not going to let them get away with this. We’re going to give them hell. We’re not going to give up on the fight until our dragons are back where they belong, safe and sound.”
She shook her head slightly. “You always know just what to say.”
“Hardly,” he said. “You were stirring that tea pretty hard, Dr. Anjali. I just didn’t want you to break my favorite mug.”
Kamala turned in his arms. “Yes, we both know you’re terrified of my superhuman maternal powers. I’ll try not to scare you so much.”
“You kidding me?” he said, lacing his fingers over the small of her back. “I’m counting on them to save us someday. You should be wearing a cape instead of stretch pants.”
She sighed. “Oh, don’t bloody remind me. I went up another size this week. I need to get this blasted child out of me before I become a manatee.”
Jack choked on a laugh. “Stop it. You’re gorgeous no matter what size you are.”
She pursed her lips. “Don’t try to get back on my good side, Dr. Jackson. Remember, it’s all your fault that I’m like this.”
“Oh, lest we forget. The rugrat was conceived the first time we, uh, fondue’d, and I believe you were the one who initiated that.”
Kamala blushed. “Point taken.”
She pressed her forehead against his and sighed. “This sucks.”
“Yes,” he said softly. “It does. But you know what doesn’t suck?”
She glanced up at him. “What?”
Jack leaned in and kissed her gently between words.
“Slow…” Smooch.
“Heartfelt…” Smooch.
“Intimate…” Smooch.
“…oral sex.”
Kamala collapsed into stunned giggles. “You are an idiot, Dr. Jackson.”
“What? I mean, am I wrong?”
Her smile turned a bit wicked. “Not in the slightest. It would be an excellent distraction from the chaotic morning we both just had.”
She eagerly gripped his hand to drag him into their bedroom, but then her cell phone rang. She sighed and answered it with a brisk, dismissive tone. “Yes?”
“Kam,” Faye Worthington’s resigned, annoyed voice said. “I’m in jail.”
Hungry for more? Pre-order Of Dawn and Embers now on Amazon for a special price of only .99c through July 20th! Remember, the price will increase to $4.99 on July 21st, so grab it while you still can!
More to come soon, my darlings!
Here’s your first look at my upcoming novel, Of Dawn and Embers (Of Cinder and Bone Book #3)! Remember, spoilers for Of Cinder and Bone and Of Blood and Ashes ahead!
Dragons have no darting tongues,
Teeth saw-edged, nor rattling scales;
No fire issues from their lungs,
No black poison from their tails:
For they are creatures of dark air,
Unsubstantial tossing forms,
Thunderclaps of man’s despair
In mid-whirl of mental storms.
-Excerpt from “Mermaid Dragon Fiend” by Robert Graves
PROLOGUE
FIRST LIGHT
The sky was on fire.
Jack sipped his coffee and stared at the horizon above the line of trees surrounding the property. An explosion of reds, oranges, and pinks assaulted the heavens, made clearer by the lack of a city skyline or smog. It had been quite a while since he’d seen it. There was some small thing inside him that sighed contently at the sight as a wealth of childhood memories welled up. Stepping out into the crisp air, lacing up his boots, and getting ready for his morning chores. The way the grass and gravel crunched as he walked towards the barn. The cool air sweeping down through the forest and brushing his perpetually messy dark hair off his forehead. Clean living.
“Colder than I thought,” Kamala murmured as she stepped out onto the porch and pulled the front door shut after the screen door swung closed. She had one sleeve in her coat already, so he put the coffee down on the railing and helped her into it.
“Yeah, most mornings here are,” Jack said. “Even in the summer, it’s kind of brisk before the sun wakes up.”
She sipped her chamomile tea and settled next to him, her dark honey eyes scanning the sky as a flock of birds took flight nearby. She watched them wheeling about in perfect sync, some part of her envious of them. The wind picked up for a second, brushing her thick, glossy hair away from her neck and making her shiver slightly. They drank in silence for a time.
“That reminds me,” Kamala said mildly. “Why don’t you have an accent?”
Jack arched an eyebrow. She grinned. “No, I mean it. Greenville, Georgia could definitely be considered the Deep South. I heard some of the locals when we stopped for dinner last night. You don’t have a Southern drawl, Jack.”
He cleared his throat. “I just never really picked it up. Mom’s is pretty mild and she was the one who always read to me as a kid or helped me with my homework. Then by the time I was old enough to watch television and movies, the kind of things I liked didn’t have many Southern characters in them.”
He smiled faintly. “But if it makes you feel better, I can start dropping ‘ain’t’ and ‘y’all’ into our conversations occasionally.”
She snorted. “What’s a y’all?”
“Short for ‘you all.’ It tends to get overused in movies that don’t understand how Southerners act, but we do actually use it. Gone with the Wind really didn’t do us any favors for accurate portrayals, but I guess it didn’t bug my mom not to name me after Clark Gable’s character.”
Kamala shook her head. “I still don’t understand why you detest your first name so much.”
Jack sighed. “It’s just…I don’t know. You grow up with the name of a guy who some consider to be the quintessential Man’s Man character, and I was a skinny little geek all through school. The literal opposite of the guy. Besides, with the benefit of hindsight, the character was pretty problematic and I don’t like to invite the comparison.”
He paused. “Though to be fair, I am problematic as hell. Just maybe not in the same way.”
She watched him from beneath her thick eyelashes, her voice mild as honey. “I’ve seen worse.”
Something in his chest stung. Jack leaned his arms on the railing, holding the mug between his hands to warm them. “Sorry.”
“You’ve apologized a thousand times since it happened, you know.”
“Only a thousand?” he said, chuckling bitterly. “I’m behind in my numbers.”
Kamala watched him for another long moment and then reached out. She slipped her fingers into his hair and brushed them along his scalp, smoothing the messy locks away from his forehead. He shut his eyes and breathed in the scent of her daffodil perfume. She smelled like home to him.
The front door opened again. Richard Jackson stepped out, blinking in surprise as he pulled his Braves cap down over his forehead. “Morning, you two. You’re up early.”
Kamala faced him, smiling. “Rhett told me a sunrise down here isn’t something to miss.”
“He’s right about that,” Richard agreed. “I was just about to get started feeding the sheep. Care to join me?”
Jack turned and gave his father a look. “Really? You’re gonna put your guests to work?”
“Guest,” Richard corrected with a smirk. “I was talking to you, young man, not the lady.”
Kamala giggled. “Actually, Mr. Jackson, that sounds lovely. I’ve always been curious about your profession and I’d love to see the process.”
Richard nodded. “Be happy to show you. Rhett, since you’re a guest, why don’t you help your mother cook breakfast?”
“Will do. Play nice, Dad.” Jack kissed Kamala’s cheek and stepped back inside. Richard offered his arm and Kamala smiled wider as she took it and followed him across the yard.
Jack stepped into the foyer and shut the door. He walked around the corner through the den and the fluffy Maremma lying in front of the fireplace perked his head up and wagged his tail eagerly. A few years ago, D’artagnan would have raced to the door and mobbed his owner with doggy kisses, but he was coming up on fifteen years old. He was no less enthusiastic when Jack got in range of his affections. Jack chuckled and knelt for a moment, scratching the dog’s ears and letting it lick his chin. “Calm down, old man, before you break a hip.”
Dart barked happily and trailed after Jack as he headed into the kitchen.
Edith Jackson had her back to him as she stood over the island counter, carefully laying strips of bacon into a rectangular metal pan. Jack kissed her cheek and washed his hands, then walked over to the far counter, squatting as he grabbed a large silver pot. He filled it with water and set it on the stove, flicking the gas on to get it boiling. He grabbed the bag of grits from the pantry and sat it next to the stove, then set about finding a pan for the biscuits.
“Where’s Kamala?” Edie asked.
“Went out to see the sheep with Dad,” Jack replied, pulling the can of biscuits from the fridge. He eyed it warily as he peeled off the outer wrapping and gave the end a cautionary tap. It popped and he jumped a bit, sighing. “That scares the bejeezus out of me every time.”
Edie smiled as she went to wash her hands. “Been doing that since you were a kid.”
“Can you blame me?” he groused, peeling the dough away from the can. “It’s too early in the morning for surprises like that.”
He popped the biscuits in the oven. Edie nodded towards the grits. “Is all this going to be filling enough for her? I can make some hashbrowns too.”
“No, she’s not a big eater. She’s got the cinnamon toast, the grits, the biscuits, and tea. She’ll be good to go.”
Edie’s hazel eyes flashed playfully. “My son, in love with a vegetarian. What is the world coming to?”
“Trust me, it caught me off-guard too.”
“You never told me how it went when you told her.”
Jack blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh.”
Edie pursed her lips. “Uh-oh. What? Did you pick an inopportune moment?”
He coughed slightly. “You could say that.”
Edie shook her head and grabbed a Teflon pan. “My son, the lady killer.”
“Hey, we can’t all be as smooth as Clark Gable.”
“Having good timing isn’t the same as being smooth, kiddo. Was it at least a memorable time?”
Jack winced. “You could also say that.”
Edie eyed her son. “You did it while you were in mortal peril, didn’t you?”
“…no?”
Edie sighed. “Come help me cut the fruit, you hopeless case.”
Roughly half an hour later, the four of them sat at the dining room table, their breakfast finished, the conversation light and pleasant as it had always been. Once it lapsed into a natural, comfortable silence, Kamala slipped her hand under the table and gently took Jack’s hand, squeezing it. He took a deep breath to stabilize himself before he spoke.
“Thanks for breakfast, guys,” Jack said. “And thanks for having us over and welcoming Kamala. I really want her to get to know you two.”
“It’s no trouble at all,” Edie said. “She’s absolutely wonderful and we adore having her around.”
“Good,” Jack said, smiling weakly. “Because we have some news for you.”
Kamala also took a deep breath, willing her voice not to waver. “I’m pregnant.”
Thick, suffocating, awkward silence fell.
“Holy hell,” Richard whispered, his eyes wide. He ran his hand down his face and cupped his chin, glancing between them both in shock.
Edie didn’t move for a moment or two. Then she crossed her arms and all emotion wiped itself from her features. “How many months?”
“Almost two,” Kamala answered.
Edie flicked her unnervingly blank gaze over at Jack. “Then I take it this wasn’t planned?”
“Let’s call it a happy accident,” Jack said.
“That’s one word for it,” Richard said, licking his lips. “Well, congratulations. But you both understand what a sucker-punch this is, right?”
Jack snorted. “How do you think we felt?”
“And what’s your plan?” Edie asked quietly. “Are you going to get married? Are you going to move in together? Have you started saving for the hospital bills and day care and college?”
“Ma,” Jack said, his tone soft. “Don’t do this. We didn’t come here to start a fight.”
“You didn’t come here to start a fight?” Edie repeated. She pushed up from the chair and Richard rose with her, murmuring her name and touching her arm. “First, you run off to Tokyo to steal your dragon back from the yakuza. Then you storm off into a haunted forest to bring back a dragon the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, nearly getting yourself killed in the process, as well as Kamala. Now you tell me you’re about to bring a child into this world when you’re unmarried and you’ve only been dating each other for barely over two months?”
She turned away for a moment, a bitter chuckle in her voice. “Exactly what response did you think you were going to get, Rhett? Please, I’m genuinely interested to know.”
“Not far off from what I got,” Jack said. “But I love you and Dad and you needed to know. What you do with the information is up to you. I can’t stop you from being any angrier than you’ve already been since this all started.”
“I’m not angry,” Edie said sharply. “I’m disappointed. I never doubted that you would fall in love and start a family someday, but I didn’t think you’d do it in the middle of the most chaotic part of your entire life. There are people out there looking for you, for both of you, who want to hurt you. Now you’re bringing my grandchild into that equation.”
“Edie,” Richard said. “They didn’t come here so you could be their judge and jury. You know as well as I do that they’re not taking this lightly. Rhett’s not a little boy anymore. The best we can do is stand by him.”
“Stand by him, huh?” Edie spat. “That’s the tune you’re playing now, is it, Rick? Like you didn’t break my son’s arm and lie to my face about it for ten damned years.”
Richard clenched his jaw. “Yeah, I did that. I can’t take it back. I’m an ass and a shitty father for making him lie to you too. All I can do is try to make up for it by supporting these two when they need me. They need us, Edie. That’s the only way we all get through this. Together.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Because you know what’s best for our family.”
Edie turned and walked out, the screen porch door slamming shut behind her.
Of Dawn and Embers is already available for pre-order at a special price of .99 cents! Don’t miss out on this debut sale, as the price will increase to $4.99 on July 21st, 2019. Don’t forget to add it to your Goodreads To Be Read shelf as well.
Of Dawn and Embers hits digital bookshelves July 20, 2019.
Stay tuned for more exclusive content in the coming weeks.
Meet Cassandra Moody–a beautiful, graceful, snarky ass werewolf who has to entertain the Father of all vampires, Vlad Tepes, in the city of Atlanta for a night.
It was difficult to describe the way it felt when I changed. It didn’t hurt…but it didn’t not hurt. I’d once told a friend that it was like peeling off a fingernail where most of the skin wasn’t attached and so you didn’t bleed. My muscles shifted around. My bones popped and cracked as they rearranged into the lithe, streamlined form of a wolf that stood perhaps half a foot taller and several pounds heavier than a real one. When I was within the city limits, I always went with my full wolf form. I could switch to a form between the two that was bipedal—the kind that normal people wrote into movies like Van Helsing or the Benicio del Toro remake—but if anyone caught sight of me, that would be that. Supernatural folks stayed under the radar, if only because humans are ruled by fear and panic, and to know that a cute black girl could turn into something that could tear them apart in just the blink of an eye would induce instantly genocide on our kind.
My fur was dark-brown, matching the color of my skin, and my mane had black streaks running through it and along my spine, ending in a tuft at my tail. A shudder spilled through me once the transformation was done and I shook out my fur, getting used to the change in senses. I could smell who had been in this alley within the last four days. I could hear the kids playing basketball four blocks away. I could taste the vile air coming off the dumpster nearby. I could see through the veil of darkness draped over the city as if it were broad daylight.
Being a wolf is where it’s at, man.
Vlad turned around and smiled warmly at me. “Such a pretty thing. I’d forgotten.”
I rolled my-now-golden eyes and he chuckled before following my lead. He turned away and rid himself of the boxer shorts.
Vlad’s transformation was smoother and faster than my own. He just sort of…melted into a puddle of dark mass and then reformed into a black-furred wolf slightly taller than me, but not as bulky with muscle, with startling arctic blue eyes. He walked over and sniffed me a bit, then nuzzled me, his shoulder bumping mine playfully. I heard his voice in my head as clear as day even though his fanged jaws never moved.
Where are we off to, my dear?
Follow me, I replied. Stay close. People are jumpy around this area and you don’t want someone to pop a cap in your furry ass.
He laughed in my head as I broke into a sprint further down the alley.
Midtown Atlanta’s nightlife was delightful. I loved it. Music pounded through the buildings, whether just a private citizen jamming in their little studio apartment or a live band a local dive bar getting it in for the night. I could smell every dish from fine dining restaurants wafting out through their front doors as new customers walked in. I could hear people on their first dates walking towards their cars, laughing nervously and flirting. I could see the cars rushing back and forth over the pot-holes, honking and screeching and filling the air with noise.
Life. That was what I liked about Atlanta. Life happened. It never slept.
Want to read the whole short story? Grab a copy of Terminus: a short story anthology by the bestselling authors of Atlanta! Buy it here.
Cover by Marginean Anca
You read that right! Here’s an exclusive preview to my upcoming novel, Of Blood and Ashes, the sequel to Of Cinder and Bone. Naturally, massive spoilers for Of Cinder and Bone. You have been warned.
The world’s deadliest dragon, the infamous Baba Yaga, is loose on the streets of Tokyo.
Dr. Rhett “Jack” Jackson and Dr. Kamala Anjali have been tasked with helping the government take down a dragon the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex after it sends part of the city up in flames. Things worsen when they lose track of dragon in none other than Aokigahara, the Suicide Forest–a section of woods in Japan that is rumored to be one of the most haunted places on earth. They’ve also got the yakuza who cloned the dragon hellbent on getting her back, and they don’t care who they kill in order to re-capture the dragon.
Jack and Kamala are joined by CIA field agent William Fry and dragon-hunting expert Juniper Snow as they infiltrate the forest to hunt the dragon before she can hurt anyone else. Between the ruthless yakuza hot on their trail and the growing mistrust in their small hunting party, it will take a miracle for Jack and Kamala to make it out alive…
Of Blood and Ashes is available for pre-order exclusively in the Sirens and Scales boxed set. The release date is January 2, 2018. Click here to pre-order it on any platform you like.
Cover art by Marginean Anca of Brose Designz
Guess what? The all-new Black Parade novella Back to Black is out in just one month! Time to get you all frothing at the mouth for it, so here’s Chapter One. Please remember: if you haven’t read The Black Parade, She Who Fights Monsters, and The Holy Dark, you will run into spoilers here. Back to Black takes place between She Who Fights Monsters and The Holy Dark: the second and third novels in the series. With that in mind, please enjoy. Purchase info below the cut.
Cover art by Agata Broncel
We’re only a month away from the release of my new sci-fi novel, Of Cinder and Bone. Ready for a taste? Here’s Chapter 1.