Spooky
Excerpt
As
they fought with the tangled branches and thick undergrowth it took them a while
to reach their friend. They could already see the blood pouring down his cheek,
his pupils blacker than the night. He stood motionless, caught in some sick game
between two creatures who were circling him in the small clearing. The creatures
had no need for weapons, their claw like hands were tipped with razor sharp
talons, each tip delivering a small dose of poison. One ran up to Bendrin, its
thick serpent tongue lashed out, licked the blood from his face and sighed in
ecstasy.
The
boys had seen enough and managed to angle a bow in the small space to hit one of
the creatures in the neck. It shrieked out and fell to the floor, seeing its
opportunity, the other dived on top of its fellow creature and started to devour
the flesh before it had even stopped struggling. Quickly, they reached Bendrin
and between them, began to drag him back through the trees. It was a wasted
effort, the cries from the dying creature had brought others and they all wanted
to play.
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her blog:
http://redribbonwrites.blogspot.co.uk/
Author
Katherine Polillo
The
Watchers Trilogy
Spooky
Excerpt
I shot down a side
street, thinking it was probably no one, just my mind playing tricks on me, but
why not try to lose them anyway. As soon as I turned the corner, I felt better.
I let a sigh escape my lips as I tried to determine how to get where I needed to
go from my new location. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed through the
dark alley and a distinct panting noise rose along the quiet night. I lost all
control and broke into a desperate run for the opposite end of the alley, where
I would again be shot off onto a street with hopefully someone in screaming
range, or at least a streetlight. I really didn’t want to face my attacker in
the dark. I could face the minions of Hell, just not in the dark. I hit the end
of the alley at a dead run and promptly dove into a large hydrangea bush meant
to mark the property line of someone’s front yard. I clamped a hand over my
mouth and attempted to slow my racing heartbeat. Crouching down, I attempted to
make myself as small as possible while I waited to see who my assailant was.
I didn’t have to
wait long. From the alley emerged a large chocolate lab, its owner not far
behind. The dog’s leash grasped firmly in his hand as he jogged out of the alley
and made a left onto the main street. The adrenaline slowly began to dissipate,
leaving me feeling euphoric and foolish all at once. I sat back on my backside,
relief and chagrin mixing as a giggle escaped my lips. I had surely brought
paranoia to a new level. Standing, I started attempting to free myself from my
hiding spot, realizing the poor bush was never going to be the same. I caught a
reflection out of the corner of my eye and I froze in place. It was as if the
sun had glinted off something metallic, only there was no sun … it was midnight.
I stood, still half in the bush, waiting for the reflection to happen again. I
glanced around the seemingly empty street, waiting, but it didn’t reoccur.
Jerking my purse free of the branches that entwined it, I hurried off for home.
I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that I was being watched
.
Author Stacey
Rourke
The Gryphon
Series
Spooky
Excerpt
Somewhere
between sleep and awake he came to me. The mattress shifted under his weight as
he settled in beside me. Warm breath teased against my ear. “I could ne’er leave
you, lovey.” His wandering hands gripped my waist and rolled me to face him.
This warbled land governed by sleep couldn’t conjure his whole essence—too much
time had passed for that. Instead it teased me with glimpses of what I’d been
missing; silky hair caressing my cheek. Hot kisses traveling down my neck.
Emerald eyes filled with an insatiable hunger. The sensual awakening that jolted
through me when his mouth found mine. “I’m always with you,” Caleb whispered
against my lips. I twined my arms around his neck and pulled him closer—a move
that garnered a low groan of appreciation. His hands roamed up my arms and
encircled my wrists. In a sudden, shockingly violent, move he forced them down
against the mattress and pinned me there. I gaped in confusion as green eyes
blinked to sapphire blue. His seductive stare twisted into visible disgust and
hatred. Like ink dumped from a bottle, the black drained from Caleb’s hair. The
dripping color leaked away to reveal long strawberry blond hair ponytailed at
the nape of his neck. Alec. But not the latest version of him currently
possessed by a three hundred year old demon. This was the Alec I first met
whilst rolling a tire. The carefree boy I had started to fall for before fate
intervened. Yet the look that darkened his gaze was more murderous then
welcoming. I thrashed and bucked beneath him but couldn’t seem to summon one
iota of strength. His grip on my wrists tightened to the point of pain. “Is he
worth it?” He hissed in my face, “Is he worth the blood on your hands?” Crimson
red blood bubbled up Alec’s throat. It seeped between his teeth and dribbled
down his chin. “Will he still want you when he knows what you’ve done and what
it cost?” Squeezing my eyes shut, I cringed further into the mattress as blood
rained down. The warm stickiness, with its pungent rusty smell, dripped on my
face and soaked my shirt. I risked a glance up to see Alec’s lips curl in an
evil grin. “Now, how ‘bout a kiss?” He bowed his head and crammed his blood
soaked lips to mine. My muffled scream quickly turned into a gurgled gasp for
air as I fought not to drown in this crimson hell. -Excerpt from Ascension,
Gryphon Series Book 4 releasing in November
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https://www.facebook.com/staceyrourkeauthor
Author Alicia
Michaels
Lost
Kingdom of Fallada Series
Spooky
Excerpt
“Such
anger,” she said with a ‘tsk’. “I can see that you have much passion, Elf. I
shall enjoy your company greatly before I kill you. Perhaps watching your
beloved die will take the wind out of your sails.”
Kai
simply glared at her, his eyes cold, blue slits of rage. His chest heaved with
the force of his anger. Eranna shrugged and turned back to Zara, approaching the
stone slab again, her lips parted in a gruesome grin. When she reached the
altar, she plucked a lock of Zara’s hair from the ground and inspected it with
interest.
“Such
beauty,” she murmured. “Such freshness and youth, wasted on a mere human. I know
of your father’s treachery, girl. He stole from Fallada what was rightfully
mine, and I intend to have it back.”
“Please,”
Zara pleaded, hoping to appeal to the woman’s sense of right and wrong—if she
possessed any at all. “Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to
you?”
Eranna
laughed. The sound was bitter and raw. “Do to me? Why, nothing, child. You are
my enemy simply by circumstance of your birth. You are an abomination, an
anomaly; you have no right to exist. What right do you have to such power? You
do not even know how to control it! You are weak, a simpering little girl with
no idea the kind of might she possesses within her bones! And why should you
possess it when I am so much more worthy? Why should you experience the joys of
a lover’s embrace and his child in your belly while I …” she trailed off, her
expression crestfallen as she turned her back on Zara. For a moment, Zara
thought she detected the glisten of tears in the queen’s eyes. “It is no
matter,” she continued, her voice gruff and choked. “I will amass so much power
unto myself, that no one will stand in the way of what I want. I shall have it
all; beauty, youth, power, eternal life.” She turned back to Zara, her knife
glistening in the candlelight. “And I shall begin by taking from you what I so
rightfully deserve.”
Zara
could only stare, hypnotized by the madness in Eranna’s eyes as she advanced on
her knife raised. Through the roaring in her ears, she faintly heard Kai’s roars
of anger, his voice growing hoarse, soon smothered by the rattling of his chains
as he fought against them to no avail. The glint of the knife caught her eye as
Eranna lifted it high over her head.
Her
smile was sad as she turned for one last look at the love of her life. He’d
ceased struggling and stared back at her with tears in his eyes, silent sobs
shaking him from the inside.
“Zara,”
he whispered as he realized then that the fight was over.
“I
love you,” she whispered, closing her eyes as a swift current of air warned her
of the knife’s descent.
From
Beyond the Iron Gate: Zara’s
Journey
A
FREE read, and prequel novella to the Lost Kingdom of Fallada
Series
Find
Alicia on FB: www.facebook.com/fantasybyalicia
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