I Finished an Old Half-Written Story

Tags

crying, half-finished story, old writing, tatiana's diary, the broken world series, upcoming anthology, writing about death, writing experience, writing vlog

I’ve forced myself to dig back into an unfinished story. I didn’t stop writing it because I didn’t want to finish it. I stopped because life got crazy, and I needed a different distraction, which was my new novel that I also put aside for similar reasons.

Funny how that works.

At the time, I was editing my fourth book in the Broken World series, the end of the semester was upon me, I had the flu and food poisoning and something else, and my kitty died.

So yeah, this got pushed aside.

But now, I’ve reopened the file for an official review and push to finish it. It is my story for my upcoming anthology after all.

I sat down to the first twenty-four pages. And I cried…six times.

Then, I sat down to write, and I cried for nearly an hour as I wrote.

To clarify, this is the diary of my main protagonist’s mother, Tatiana. The one who dies to give birth to Ria. Her death is no spoiler, but as I experienced in writing her father’s story—also dead—their inevitable deaths didn’t hamper my emotions.

I might have gotten this response on video, too, up on my channel via a writing vlog. It’s pitiful, but I didn’t edit out the crying. It was, like, three-quarters of my experience.

Overall, in my review and continued creation, I hope it affects others even a quarter as much as it did me while I was writing it.

I feel crazy sometimes, having these kinds of experiences while I write. But what else am I to do when people inhabit my head?

 

Do you ever have this kind of response when you write? Let me know in the comments below.

Before the Beginning of the End: a Meleia Mini

Tags

atlantean pantheon, atlantis, death and destruction, end of the world, fates, goddess of chaos, goddess of discord, goddess of fate, karma

The town center on early mornings were cool from the harbor air, twisting the ends of shirts and skirts as people bustled about. Walking, waving, tapping canes, shaking hands, chatting with their peers, the Atlanteans easily intermingled amongst their duties—many of them craftsmen and saleswomen, who had booths to open and set up for the rich and powerful.

I liked to sit at the center’s fountain, large and gold-laced marble with a roaring splash that injected a steady cadence into my heartbeat.

Karamara sat a few degrees to the north of me, dressed up her blonde curls and tanned skin—the exact opposite of her natural dark hair and pale skin. She could not hide the silver flecks in her dark eyes.

My disguise matched hers to blend in with the humans.

“You’ve made these visits more often than is usual for you. It is like you know something that the rest of us don’t.”

Breath filled my lungs, pressing against the tight wrapping of my bodice. For a fate, she asked me such an obviously-leading question.

“I sense chaos. Tell me you don’t feel the oncoming retribution, the inevitable destruction looming catastrophe that few will escape.” I tucked the long hair behind my ear, twirling the bead in my earring.

“And so you’d prefer to spend your time here instead of preparing a defense? Planning the means for survival?” Karamara didn’t fidget the way a human did.

Chaos and discord didn’t mean always mean death and destruction, but this time it did. I’d succumbed to the irrevocability of our fall. All things must end.

Even if we never truly disappear.

We must pay our dues.

Varying Heroines in the BLOOD PHOENIX Saga

Tags

diffuse situations, femininity, kick-ass female, make a difference, mother's sacrifice, strong female character, strong female lead, writing advice, writing characters, writing tips

I love creating strong female characters—if not already evident by the way I typically describe my protagonists. Ria is a semi-typical kick-ass personality. She’s learning to balance the evils of her vampirism with her morality, which means she gets beaten up and beaten down on quite a regular basis.

But she’s not the only heroine in the series, even if she’s put out front.

What I’d like to do instead is highlight some of my other strong females in the series to explore the depth and variance of what makes a character “strong.”

It’s hard to start anywhere other than with Ari, Ria’s long-time bestie. She’s mentally tough and able to surf through chaos since it’s unavoidable given her childhood friend. Her ability to navigate people is her best asset, dissecting and diffusing a situation before it escalates.

Her weakness is her boredom—with the several jobs, with the cycle of men, with the struggle to stay afloat. Yet, Ari comes into her own when she arrives at the training facility, traversing an entirely new world without the veil of safety.

Is she a kick-ass-and-take-names heroine? No, but most of us aren’t. She is the kind who steps up when she can, and she makes a difference. That’s something to celebrate.

Next would be Tahe. Although she can fight well and came to help Ria save her seven-foot-tall leprechaun, her ability to embody femininity and eschew traditional depictions of it gives her a different kind of strength.

She is a lipstick lesbian, who loves to tinker with cars, learned to harvest a field with a scythe, worked with an old-school magician, had tea with Nikola Tesla, and has a trend of back-sassing authority. Tahe’s got a hell of a complex backstory to showcase how she uses others’ natural tendency to underestimate her to her advantage.

Tahe represents the long-term fight to be a woman any way we want to be. Something I have struggled with for decades.

Finally, I want to showcase Ria’s mom. Writing more about her in the last few stories I’ve explored has revealed a lot of what I think about motherhood and what I know about Ria. Tatiana is excited to be a mom; scared, too. She has to shift from the new adult freedom to a real adult so quickly. Then, she has to come to terms with her mortality and the knowledge that she’s going to die from childbirth.

It takes a hell of a strong woman to give her life for her child. Complete selflessness. Honestly, I don’t think I could do it, but I’ve also never been put in that situation. Regardless, that type of decision makes Tatiana all the more heroic to me.

Three very different types of strong females, and there are plenty more worth exploring, like Julia sacrificing herself instead of taking down her lover, like Deanne’s unwillingness to give up on escape even when it’s hopeless, like several other characters who use their motherly instincts and life experience to help themselves and others in bad situations. What I’m getting at is that muscles and fighting skills aren’t the only way to make a character strong.

 

Do you have a favorite strong female lead (whether someone else’s or your own)? Tell me about her in the comments below!

Did You Know…About the Scarlet Queen?

Tags

did you know, fae, faerie mound, fairy folk, Marusya Negreev, Russian Revolution, Soviet throne, the bloody queen, the Scarlet Queen, Tsar Nicholas the second

Marusya Negreev, the Scarlet Queen, single-handedly seized the faerie mound in the Soviet Union just before the Russian Revolution and the fall of Tsar Nicholas the second. Many believe that the fall of the mound influenced the fall of the tsar’s regime, but no one knows for certain.

When Marusya gained power within the Soviet mound, she flayed her own parents for her merciless upbringing and proved to the people that she would defeat all who came against her. Ruthless and dispassionate, her name was a sign of what she’d been burdened with, and her family was blamed for much of her bitterness. Names prove potent enough to taint the soul, especially amongst the faerie folk.

Many fae died without their home to hide within—exposed to the Celampresians and humans. Anyone who did not serve Marusya fled her rule. Too many didn’t make it out and more never found their way to safety.

Immediately following Queen Tarkovsky stepping down from the Soviet throne, Scarlet ordered the execution of what amounted to be a hundred-thousand faerie folk, more than a third of the population, earning her the title as the Scarlet Queen. The bloody queen.

She ran off to join the Celampresians as the revolutionaries gained greater numbers than she had the strength to fight from within the mound. Her death toll rose to a quarter million afterwards.

Now, she works with the vampire queen, searching for ways inside what was left of the independent mounds and the truth about her birth.

Character Interview with Devere Kiernan

Tags

Devere Kiernan, family man, knife throwing, Little Red and the Surly Bear, Loving Red Saga, lying to loved ones, paranormal romance, personal motto, romancing the fairer sex, the broken world series

Hey, y’all. I’ve been looking forward to introducing you to this guy for some time. This is Devere Kiernan, or Dev for short, one of the two protagonists in LITTLE RED AND THE SURLY BEAR. He’s the surly bear if you hadn’t guessed.

I love this guy. We’ve gotten close.

 

Alisha: Good morning, Dev. Thanks for joining me. It’s nice to see you again.

Devere: The pleasure is mine. I’m glad the circumstances are much better this time.

Alisha: Me, too! Last time got a little bloody. It’s hard to get out cotton?

Devere: I’m afraid that I do. The trick is cold water.

Alisha: Oh, well, that’s helpful. I’ll remember it for next time.

Devere: That’s likely.

Alisha: All right, let’s get into this, yeah? I know you are close with your family. Can you tell me about them?

Devere: I am. It’s just my sister, my nephew, and myself now. Maddy, my sister, likes to pretend she’s my mother. My nephew, Theo, thinks it’s funny. And I’m the reason they have to move all the time, but we’ve been a tight-knit pack for hundreds of years, especially after our parents died.

Alisha: Can you tell me about your parents?

Devere: My father was a good man. Strong and brave. He protected us when we needed help and let us fall when we needed a lesson. He stood up for others and taught me to do the same. My mother was much the same, but she was more meticulous and far better with a weapon than the rest of us. She taught me how to throw knives during puberty—gave me a reason to like being in my human form.

Alisha: How would you describe your childhood?

Devere: Peaceful. We traveled a lot, lived in the woods. My twin and I were playful. I loved France and scavenging human food across the country. The French have quite the palette.

Alisha: Where is the favorite place you’ve lived?

Devere: Other than France? Hmm. I liked the beer in Germany, the wine in Italy, the chocolate in Switzerland. But I like what they now call the Peneda-Geres National Park in Portugal.

Alisha: If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

Devere: I’d let others take more risks for me.

Alisha: How do you feel about lying?

Devere: It proves valuable to keep people safe, but I am not a fan of it in general. I do it far more often than I like.

Alisha: Do you have a motto? If so, what is it?

Devere: Help others when you can.

Alisha: What do you like to do when you’re not working?

Devere: I prefer to spend my free time romancing the fairer sex. One night and woman at a time. I also like to make weapons. Knives.

Alisha: Do you have a criminal record?

Devere: Not in this country nor this century.

Alisha: Are you a pessimist or an optimist?

Devere: An optimistic pessimist. Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

Alisha: Do you believe in soul mates and/or true love?

Devere: I do. My parents had it, but I don’t think I’ll be lucky enough to have that in my life.

Alisha: Well, that’s it. Thank you again for taking the time to visit with me. I hope only a mild sense of danger awaits you.

Devere: Since danger certainly awaits me?

Alisha: Call it a hunch.

Well, y’all, that’s Dev. He made a cameo in LOVING RED, but now, he’s finally got his own voice in the story. Expect to see more of him in the last installment, LOVING THEM BOTH, coming in early 2021.

 

See him in action in my newest release, LITTLE RED AND THE SURLY BEAR.

 

Character Interview with Kalib Ganesh

Tags

character development, character interview, ladies man, Little Red and the Surly Bear, Loving Red Saga, Order of the Star, powers of persuasion, The Mark of the Phoenix

Hey, y’all. Ready to meet a newish character from my Broken World series, Kalib Ganesh, Assetato agent.

Alisha: Thank you for coming to meet with me today, Kalib. I know you’re busy, and I appreciate your time.

Kalib: It’s no problem, sweets. I take any chance I can to fraternize with pretty ladies.

Alisha: Oh, you flirt. I’m happily married.

Kalib: Innocent fun is nothing to feel shame over. I will not keep you from your questions. <He gestured with a handroll for me to go ahead.>

Alisha: Good. I feel better focusing on you rather than me. So, first question: What’s in your fridge right now?

Kalib: At home, most of what haunts my frivolously empty kitchen is alcohol and coffee, so a half-empty carton of milk and a few bottles of wine? No blood or other gore like movies tend to depict. Unless the house keeper stashed some away on there.

Alisha: Coffee and wine. I get on board with that.

Kalib: I am a man of excellent taste.

Alisha: What is your most marked characteristic?

Kalib: Why, my charisma, of course. I can charm my way into or out of nearly any situation, especially when sexual prowess is at stake, sweets. I have quite the collection of undergarments.

Alisha: Good to know. Not one of my questions though.

Kalib: It felt like a fitting answer to me.

Alisha: I’m sure. What was your life like before you became a vampire?

Kalib: I was the son of a politician, anointed into the Order of the Star in India. We lived well and worked hard. We were proud of where we came from and what we worked toward.

Alisha: It’s nice to have conviction. What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?

Kalib: As I’m sure you wouldn’t appreciate if I told you about this young thing I found in northern India just after my transformation, I would have to say Hoggenakal Falls in South India. It’s breathtaking and invigorated with power.

Alisha: I have found water and earth in such force has enormous emotional effects. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Kalib: A good bottle of wine, pale legs and blonde hair spread across my sheets…

Alisha: Speaking of pale and blonde, tell me what’s going on there between you and Maddy?

Kalib: A gentleman does not kiss and tell about a lady.

Alisha: You have done nothing but.

Kalib: Vague details that do not pinpoint anyone. I can paint quite the picture without offense.

Alisha: If you say so. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Kalib: Absolutely, but it rarely lasts longer than a couple of days at most. At least, in my experience.

Alisha: What is your weapon of choice and do not make any phallic references is you please.

Kalib: I am a fan of the sword, and I have dabbled quite a bit in throwing stars, but I prefer my powers of persuasion. <Smoke lifted off of him, sweet and dirty all at once.> It’s quite a helpful tool.

Alisha: That’s one I haven’t seen before. How does it work?

Kalib: I must simply want something badly enough, and I make it mine.

Alisha: I hope you don’t take that power lightly. What is your favorite proverb?

Kalib: “It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.”

Alisha: I like that. Last one, when did you last make a promise?

Kalib: Mere months ago, to a woman who deserves much more than I can promise, but I offer nothing more than I can deliver.

Alisha: Back to those cryptic details, huh?

Kalib: I believe you are out of questions, sweets.

Alisha: That I am and time. Thank you again for taking a couple of minutes to sit and talk with me today, or it might be better to say flirt with me, but I’m sure that’s nothing personal.

Kalib: Oh, no. Not at all.

Well, everyone, that is Kalib, he’s made a few cameos in a few stories so far, and I can’t wait for you all to keep learning more about him with me.

 

Want to see him in action? Take a look at LOVING RED, THE MARK OF THE PHOENIX, and LITTLE RED & THE SURLY BEAR, coming this June!

Obnoxious Character Planning: INFERNO Character Personality Types

Tags

blood phoenix saga, Blood Phoenix: inferno, character development, INFP, Myers Briggs personality model, personality types, writer planning, writing tools

So, I’ve been on a planning kick lately, showing the intimate details of how I prepare myself for a big project, like a book. I’m going to be honest, the way I prep myself changes each time, and this go around, I might have gone a little crazy with notes and etc.

But here’s a bit of my rationale. I’m working with a series. While I have limited myself to five books for Ria’s BLOOD PHOENIX saga, I do have a slew of other characters, books, and stories within this world, so I need to start keeping track of little things that will connect and manifest throughout.

Now, this is a little wild for planning purposes, but I thought it was so much fun to peg down each of my characters by personality type, so here’s my list:

One of the interesting things I discovered from doing this is that Ria’s personality, although remaining the same amongst most of her previous lives, did change on a few. Even with reincarnation, culture and genetics played a role in how they behaved. Since Ria’s past lives impact Ria’s present quite dramatically, I hope can keep them separated enough to do them justice.

Another interesting note about personality types is that even with the same four-letter determinations, their personalities are not precisely the same. For instance, Ria, Mark, Colista, and Layla have the same categorization—INFP, but each of their descriptors are different: the Spunky Kid, the Lost Soul, the Waif, and the Nurturer, which comes not from the Myers-Briggs model but from the character archetypes of heroes, heroines, and villains, although honestly, none of these four are villains in the slightest.

But INFP clearly fits all four: poetic, kind, and altruistic people, always eager to help a good cause. They are the most idealistic, have strong personal values, seek order and peace, are creative, non-directive, and reserved with people.

Anyways, I could devolve into a rambling about personalities and the types of how each connects, but I’m not going to do that. I merely wanted to share how assigning base personality types helped me differentiate characters and keep them true to their original dispositions, even as they evolve as people.

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So, I want to know what kind of categorization, notes, and tools do you use to develop and/or maintain your characters? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Plotting INFERNO: the Transition from Pantser to Plotter

Tags

#100daychallenge, #100dayproject, blood phoenix saga, bullet journal, Harmon's Plot Embryo, panster, plotter, Rachael Stephen, three-act structure, writing journal, writing spreads

So, if you’ve had a chance to peek at my writing journal, you’ll know that I’ve recently invested more time on plotting elements of my novels and stories via plot embryos, the hero’s journey, and the three-act structure.

I have been a long-time pantser doing little planning other than major scenes that I knew I wanted somewhere relative to each other in a general arc, which is basically saying that I bullshitted my way through most of my writing.

Well, the last novel I wrote, THE GIRL WITH THE GLOWING HAIR, flowed out of me so much faster with a general guide for each of my chapters. I also developed them with a chart and the five-idea method from Rachael Stephen.

This worked so well that I implemented the plot embryos for my shorter works to gauge a general structure.

Then the year ended, and it was time to start my new BLOOD PHOENIX novel, INFERNO. And man, the embryo was a nice start, but I needed more to power through as many words as I really wanted to get through this year (~112,000 words), so I tried my hand at a three-act structure, and here’s what I came up with.

 

How I plotted BLOOD PHOENIX: INFERNO (some spoilers but no biggies).

Here is where I used the traditional Harmon’s Plot Embryo, below is a comparison of the  my use of the tool. The blue bits are major spoilers.

After I let that marinate for a little while, I created a list of all the plot points I could think of for each act, not worrying about an order. Like this:

 

This is when I used the three-act structure in a stricter sense, putting those on my list into the act where they belong. At the bottom, I had notes that came from looking at the story arc again and again.

Finally, I made the project its own notebook, listing each act’s plot points down the side before shifting them into appropriate chapters with other details to help me not get stuck between, which is where I typically struggle the most with writer’s block.

So far, this method has allowed me to hammer out 16,000 words last month and another 4,000 this last week with the #100daychallenge or #100dayproject.

But this little book I’ve slapped together has some extras that help me remember character motivations, keep secondary threads going, plan out the past to understand how it affects the present, and after the halfway mark, I’ve started gathering notes for a Broken World guide after requests from readers to explain all of the connections and cross-overs and research that builds the series.

And that’s the process I’ve been using. I’ve found quite a spike in my productivity since I started plotting more and writing more consistently.

I hope you’ve found this helpful, and if you have any suggestions for plotting or writing research, leave them in the comments below so that I can add them to my list!

Also, join me on Instagram or my personal page as I document my journey writing 500 words a day for 100 days!

Playing Matchmaker: a Maddy Mini

Tags

Little Red and the Surly Bear, Loving Red, missed opportunity, must read, playing matchmaker, shifters, the broken world series, unrequited love, vampires

In celebration of my upcoming novella, Little Red and the Surly Bear, I thought I’d explore a scene from the story from one of my supporting character’s point of view.

Enjoy!

 

Maddy pinched her son, swatting him out of the way as he pulled a fresh onion ring from the top of a patron’s plate. “You quit that before I serve you up to our customers instead.”

Theo grumbled and rolled his eyes, so she swatted him again.

A deep smoke-laced coffee scent inched through the kitchen window, narrowing Maddy’s eyes on the curls as Kalib walked to the table where Kaia sat. And neither of them told her they were coming? Oh no, sweets. That is not how she ran her social life or safehouses, and that vampire knew as much.

When she finished the fried catfish plate and served it to her customer at the bar, she detoured and slipped into the empty seat at their table. “Two of my favorite people show up at my place, and nobody warns me first. You’d better be planning me a surprise party, or I’m going to be offended.”

“Surprise.” Kalib smiled without fang, warmth and intimacy bled into it like a promise to make it up to her.

He’d better.

Maddy turned to Kaia, knowing her humanity and newness to paranormal persuasiveness, she didn’t hold it against her. Much.

“I sent you a message before I left.” Kaia’s green eyes blinked at her as is if to amplify her innocence.

A short shuffle with her phone, and there it was, just as her friend said, a heads-up text. Maybe Kaia was more of a match for this group than she thought. “Well, apparently you did. So, I’ll forgive you. You, on the other hand, are in the dog house.”

Maddy pointed at him to accentuate her point.

He played his part, dramatic in shock. “If this is what I get for surprising a friend, I will have to choose better friends, maus.”

Maybe he played that part too well, anxiety fluttered under her ribs for a heartbeat before she pushed it away. They’d been friends a long time. More than on a few occasions.

It carried her back to the kitchen.

Dev slipped in through the back—the real reason Kalib was at their establishment. Should have figured.

Her brother leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek before tagging Javier for a brief chat.

Maddy shook it off, digging into her work: tasting, seasoning, stirring, scooping. Managing the pub’s kitchen and trying to ignore the guilt of having pushed Kalib away those centuries ago. Before she knew the kind of man he was. Before she’d had Theo.

She needed a fresh air break. Or maybe a cigarette and a glass of bourbon.

Hitting a lull in the line, Maddy did just that, sneaking off as Kalib grabbed her brother’s attention. As much as she brush him off, the concrete feeling of his attention caressed her spine.

The backdoor sealed the noise and stew of scents inside, and Maddy finally found some relief. She fished out the pack of cigarettes she kept for times like this from behind the dumpster and pulled the acrid smoke into her lungs with relish before the backdoor opened again, and Kalib stepped out.

“Tsk, tsk, maus. Do you not know how quickly those death sticks will kill you?” Unceremoniously close, he slipped the cigarette from her fingers and took his own drag, the smoke pluming thicker and darker on his exhale.

Sweeter.

Kalib leaned her back against the brick via proxy as he returned her nicotine. His proximity stirring old feelings with the new ones.

The temptation to draw him closer strangled her. Too close to mating season.

She glanced at the door between heartbeats.

“Afraid of being caught by your pious brother?”

That pulled a snort out of her. “My brother? Pious? I think you’ve had something a little heavier than tobacco.”

Those elegant fingers stopped her short, drawing her hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear.

Sanity said to push him away, but his smoke slipped into her mouth before he kissed her—intense like the first time but not fueled by the same childish neediness.

Still she could not control her ragged breath when he pulled back.

“Consider this my apology for showing up unannounced and playing matchmaker. The romantic in me can’t seem to help myself.”

 

 

Faerie Possession, a Loving Red Excerpt

Tags

dryads, faeries, Loving Red, must read, possession, shifters, soldier in Afghanistan, the bloody queen, the broken world series, vampires

From Chapter Twenty-Five

Outside, the buzzing cicadas and chirping crickets, the occasional bleat from an oversized frog and the general whispering of the trees reached him. Besides his ache to be wrapped up with Kaia, peace fell over him. The dryad chose and secured a wonderful piece of land.

The Scarlet Queen bothered him, increasingly so as the sun lightened the blue of the sky and his mind grew crisp and fully awake. She didn’t use her powers on the two of them while she had opportunity to, unless she’d gone complacent through her power over others. And Severins himself was too low in the ranks for her to do the dirty work. Still, what he’d just learned about the pixie nagged him.

Scarlet had been rigid with her hands, placing them oddly on her thighs and at her sides, twitching ever so slightly, but she could have simply been eccentric. He’d met his share of odd fae over his lifetime. Without being aware of her normal behavior, Severins merely had assumptions—nothing concrete enough to plan around. The side of his head pounded in time with his heartbeat, and heat warmed the sky like his early mornings in Afghanistan with steel beach soaking up the sun and reflecting a steaming ninety degrees by breakfast.

Somehow, Afghanistan seemed easier than this. The routines, knowing the enemy, knowing the men he worked with. Severins sighed and stepped off the porch, pacing the brisk lawn as he searched for a signal on his cell. He found a spot by Kalib’s car where he maintained two bars and view of the trailer.

He dialed home.

His mother answered. “Who is this?”

“Maman.”

“Where have you been? Your leave started a week ago.” The worry in her voice weighed on his shoulders.

“I’ve fallen into something. I won’t make it unless it’s safe. Right now, it isn’t. And before you ask, I can’t tell you like this…I’m supposed to pick up Shawna, and since I can’t, I want you to. Be ready for anything.”

“Severins, you’re worrying me.”

He needed her worried, because a worried maman meant a protected pup.

“Just keep her safe for me until I get there, okay?”

“Yes, my son, I will protect her with my life.” She sounded resolved and very much like the warrior wolf she’d always been. “Give me some clue as to what I might prepare for.”

“The Scarlet Queen.” Bodies moved inside at both ends of the house. “I need to go. Je t’aime, Maman.”

She told him that she loved him, too, before he walked around the house. No signs of anyone on or near the property. But he clearly felt Kaia moving through the house.

She met him on the porch with a sleepy smile. “Hey there, Big Bad Wolf. You weren’t marking your territory on any of Eilon’s precious plants, were you?”

Severins eased her against him, running his fingers through her hair to release her scent into the air. Everything inside burned for her with such intensity that his senses sharpened. But the general cool touch of her fingertips blazed against his biceps. Bending to kiss her forehead, the same unnerving heat greeted him. “Are you feeling all right, beautiful? You’re burning up.”

“Hmm?” The strength of her surprised him as she squeezed him closer, pushing his torn shirt up his torso. “I feel fine.”

Rubbing her body against his sent a jolt of need through him. But when she lifted her face to him, the green of her eyes took on a reddish-brown ring as though the fields burned under the relentless, Oklahoma sun. She pulled at him again, but apprehension hit him instead of arousal. “Why don’t we find a soft bed of flowers to desecrate?”

Framing her face with his palms, he bent for a better look. The colors of her irises darkened along the rim, spreading like vines toward her pupils. Pliable magick wove between them, and sirens rang in Severins’ head. “Shit.”

Yanking her into his arms, he carried her inside, restraining her thrashes. “Oi,” he called in the doorway. “Little help.”

Kaia’s elbow connected with his nose, and the crunch of cartilage shot pain straight into his brain. But he held onto her until Kalib took her. Blood dripped onto his fingers as he tipped his head back until the dryad offered him a fresh towel with some ice.

The vampire struggled with Kaia in attempts of subduing her without harm. He succeeded in pinning her to the chair in which he’d slept. Bending to get a good look at her, he swore. Profanity cut short, Kaia pressed her mouth to his before she floated into the leather with a grin unbefitting of her gentle persona.

“Chai would never do that. You’re not her.”

The laugh that bellowed from her made the ivy quiver and retreat, pressing against its support in fear. She writhed in her seat, and the vampire used his hips to pin her knees together. Kaia purred at him.

Eilon sniffed at the southeast corner of his house, reaching behind him with a distracted gesture. “Bosex. Hawk. Resting in an oak a kilometer from here.”

Grown rigid, Eilon stomped his foot, his skin marbled, and ivy sprouted in place of his hair. “No. No! Nobody marks my trees. My trees!”

“Hey, oak boy.”

Eilon whipped his head around, black eyes wide and terrifying. The knobs at his knuckles sprouted thick, sharp thorns.

“Got anything to keep her from hurting herself or us?”

Black gaze swung to Kaia and back, before he shifted, ordering Kalib to bring her closer. Eilon coaxed the vines on his wall, and as the vampire set her against them, ivy wrapped around her limbs, torso, and throat. Long stem-like fingers flicked at the last vine. “She needs to breathe.”

The vine unraveled from her throat and tangled itself around her waist. Kaia jerked forward after Eilon, laughing as more vines held her.

“You’ll never win. Just let them take me.” Her body rolled against her restraints. “We’ll all dance in blood as your bodies are butchered, your bones gnawed on, and we add you to the fire like kindling.”

The bleeding in Severins’ nose stopped, and he felt it for the break, shifting it into place as he shouted his rage. Those bastards infiltrated her mind. This wasn’t a power present during their capture, and he’d never heard of a bosex that could pull this stunt off, nor a vampire without eye contact.

“Can fae perform a trick like that?” Kalib asked Eilon; he must have come to the same conclusion.

Kaia began a low, eerie song in a language he didn’t understand—her voice sounded unlike her own. Eilon stood transfixed by it until Severins skirted him toward the door.

“I know of one. The Scarlet Queen’s apprentice—a babe stolen from a very powerful family. She can do more the closer she comes.” The dramatics seemed to lessen the more danger seeped into the little house and the louder Kaia’s voice became.

Each of them stood at the ready, so Severins took his role. He pointed at the vampire. “Keep the front door in sight. Stand between anything that wants to get inside to Kaia. And you,” he pointed at the dryad, “Head southeast. Distract them if you can’t take them. I’m searching for whoever’s causing this.”

Haunting giggles cascaded out of Kaia, twisting a knot in Severins’ gut. He took a long whiff of the magick as his nose cleared and healed. “I’ll go first.”

They each moved in the precise movements of trained men. Severins followed the faint traces of magick through the trees, but it turned him around and had him retracing his steps until his wolf senses overlapped and became his downfall. Fewer animals rustled around than he expected. The magick was stronger; he could taste it, but he’d gotten lost in the woods for the first time in over six hundred years.

Stopping, Severins listened.

The trees grew silent.

The air went still.

He braced himself for attack and waited.

And waited.

The whoosh came from his right.

Severins turned to meet it.

Sharp jabs greeted the muscles as his back met the tree behind him.

A familiar fist met his ribs, and he returned the favor, finding the hawk’s flesh. Sharp streams of light reflected off the golden hue of him.

Grabbing a hold of him, Severins gained ground, twisting Eric to the left.

The swift pressure in his side made him grunt, and he knew he’d been stabbed. He held back no restraint as he shoved the hawk back into the tree, aim intact; a sharp, broken branch pierced Eric’s middle. The wood produced a wound less threatening than his own, but it rewarded Severins the time to retreat.

At the porch, he pulled the blade out and fell to his knees. The vampire stood behind him in seconds. “Silver-plated. Cheap but enough.”

Plated silver meant serious damage to his internal organs, but it didn’t necessarily mean he couldn’t heal, but he didn’t have the time for this kind of wound. They wanted him down, that’s for sure. And they got him there.

Kalib pulled Severins up, maneuvered him inside, and gave him the shirt off his back. “Press this to it. I’ll find the nymph.”

And the vampire disappeared.

 

 

Tall, blonde, and charming, a new adventure has blown into Miami.

When Sergeant Severins Bouvier’s wolf senses bring him to a tiny accountants’ office, he unknowingly steps in the middle of a manhunt.

Kaia doesn’t trust Sev, but she’ll have to rely on him once a rogue group of creatures catches her scent.

Now, they’re on the run together, and chasing after her ex is the only way of ending this nightmare.

If you like the dark and sexy plots of the Dark Hunters and paranormal twists of the Anita Blake Series, you’ll love the Loving Red saga.

Buy Loving Red to start this sweetly sadistic affair today.