Category Archives: Short Stories

Cover reveal for “Playing with Darkness” book 3.5 of the Sensor Series

 

As I’d mentioned in a previous post, if the spin-off story for Melena returning the fae device to Feidlimid grew too long I would be publishing it with the retailers.  That did happen!  I hope no one minds.  At the end of the post you can see the cover and official summary for the novella.

Anyone who has contacted me already or who does so in the future will still be getting it free via email when it’s ready.  Those who have not specified their ereader type will be getting the PDF version unless they tell me something different before then.  Otherwise it will just cost 99 cents to purchase on Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and iTunes.

It will be available on May 31st and I will post links here and on Facebook as they become available.

When it was just going to be a short story I hadn’t needed a cover, but once I realized how long it was becoming I had to have one designed.  Sable has a key part in the novella so I thought it might be nice to include her this time on the cover.  Hope you all like it!

 

 

Playing with Darkness

 

SUMMARY:

 

There’s no avoiding it.  Melena must keep her promise to return the fae device that opens the portal to Purgatory.  Except there’s one problem—Kerbasi.  How can she go when she has one of heaven’s minions practically attached to her hip?  One who will strike fear in the hearts of the fae the moment they realize who he is.

 

When her shape-shifter cat suddenly gets sick, she can’t delay the trip any longer.  Only the fae can help get Sable healthy again.  And if Kerbasi tries to cause any trouble while they are there, she’ll just have to find creative ways to keep him in line.

 

************

 

Add to your Goodreads shelf here.

Snippet from “Tempting the Moon”

Most of you know I’ll be including a short story in the Stroke of Midnight anthology that will be available on December 26th.  It ended up being a little over 10k words and features Melena and Emily dealing with a werewolf problem.  Sable, the shape-shifter kitty, makes an appearance as well.  For now, I’m giving you all a snippet from the beginning to tide you over.  Hope you enjoy!

***Update- you can now grab a free copy in any format from Smashwords***

*****

“Hey, Mel?”

I didn’t look up at Emily as I continued doing sit-ups. Just a hundred more to go. “Yeah?”

“I sort of have a problem.”

She was almost sixteen. She seemed to always have some kind of crisis going on—and those were just the ones I found out about. “What’s the problem?”

“I, uh, seduced a werewolf and got him caught in a bear trap,” she rushed out.

Fifty sit-ups would have to do. I sat up and ran my gaze over her. She had scratches on her face and hands as if she’d been running through the woods.

“Maybe you should repeat that.” I rubbed at my ears. “Because I could have sworn you just said you seduced a werewolf.”

She shifted from foot to foot. “It was payback. Hunter broke into my locker at school and did something really embarrassing.”

“What did he do?” I hoped it wasn’t something that would require me to kill him. He wasn’t eighteen yet. I really needed to wait until after he’d reached the legal age to do something that extreme.

“He rigged my locker so that when I opened it a song played loud enough for everyone to hear.”

Well, it could have been worse. He could have filled it with snakes or spiders or something even more horrifying. With a werewolf, the possibilities were endless.

“Which song?” I asked.

She pushed back some of her long, brown hair behind one ear. “Cooler Than Me by Mike Posner.”

Ouch. He must still be upset with her for breaking his nose and kneeing him in the balls back on Valentine’s Day when he’d tried to crash her party. The song was sort of romantic in a weird kind of way, though.

“How did he manage to do that?”

She shrugged. “Not sure. He had his iPod in there with some speakers and I think he had a remote in his hand. That must’ve been how he turned it on.”

“What did you do?”

“Everyone was looking at me and laughing.” Emily’s face turned red. “It was right at the end of school so I shoved everything into my backpack and took off. He’s been calling me ever since wanting his stuff back.”

I wanted to be angry with the guy, but nothing he’d done so far had really hurt her. Just minor pranks like this and sending her badly written poems. Oh, and that time he showed up outside our house on a full moon with a bloody rabbit between his teeth. He’d left that for her as a gift, though Emily hadn’t found it very amusing.

“Is that why you’ve been shutting your cell phone off every time it rings lately?” I lifted my brows.

Emily appeared to be a cheerful and open person, but if you tried to dig too deep she’d put up defensive walls. Life had already damaged her pretty badly by the time I found her and it was taking a while for her to open up. I tried not to push her too hard, hoping she’d learn to trust me and talk things out when she was ready.

“Yeah.” She glanced back at the door. “I don’t know how he got my number.”

“So you decided to seduce him and get him caught in a bear trap? Is he okay?”

Emily looked down and stared at her feet. “That’s sort of the problem. He’s still caught in it and now he’s turned into a wolf so I can’t get him free.”

*****

You can add this book to your Goodreads TBR list here.

*****

The Stroke of Midnight Promo Graphic

New Year’s short story for The Sensor Series…

I was waiting until I got official confirmation on this, but now I can share the news with you all.  Pure Textuality invited me to contribute to a New Year’s anthology they will be releasing on December 26th!

As some of you know, there was a short story I’d planned to post featuring Melena and her new pet, Sable (who got her name through a contest I held a couple of months ago).  Because the anthology requests we submit stories between 5-10k words, I thought I’d write it for that instead and expand on the idea I already had (Emily will have a role in it as well).  The bonus is you’ll get to read something longer than what it would have been if I’d only posted it on my website.

The theme is for New Years (with paranormal elements) and works out well with the Sensor Series timeline because it falls perfectly between events from Chained by Darkness and the next book, Darkness Divides.  It will be totally free for readers, so it costs you nothing.  When I get the file with the ebook, I’ll put out an announcement here and on Facebook.  Anyone who wants it is welcome to email me at that time 🙂

If you’d like to add it to your TBR list on Goodreads, click here.

The Stroke of Midnight Promo Graphic

Furry Temptation- Short Story Set in The Sensor World

For those of you who have read Darkness Haunts and are patiently waiting for the next book in the series, I have a short story that takes place approximately six weeks after the first novel.  It will give you a brief glimpse into how things are going for Melena and hopefully make you even more ready for when Darkness Taunts releases.  I wrote this last summer, but haven’t released it for anyone to read until now.  Enjoy!

*****

Furry Temptation

I wanted to ignore the mewling sounds coming from a box beside the dumpster, but mama had been hit by an idiot driver moments before.  The helpless cries pulled at me.  October in Fairbanks, Alaska would not be kind to these little ones.

“Damn.”  This was the last thing I needed.

I took a step closer, but caution kept me from going further.  A sweep of the parking lot revealed nothing but a pair of stumbling drunks from the nearby bar I’d left.  I couldn’t go back in there and ask my former date for help.  He wouldn’t be too obliging after the drink I’d thrown in his face.  My only regret was that the glass had been half-empty.

My attention returned to the box.  Those felines were going to turn me into a bloated vegetable.  Cats and I did not go well together, but I also knew what being an orphan felt like.  Maybe someone else could take them in for the night.  Felisha might be willing.  I couldn’t trust them with the vampires or werewolves.  God knows what they might do with them.

I crept closer.

The wind whipped up my hair to sting my face and blur my vision.  I’d left it down and gave it a loose curl to look nice for my date.  Too bad that hadn’t worked out.  Human men were as difficult to understand as their supernatural counterparts—not that I’d ever consider being with a sup.  My kind and theirs didn’t mix well together.

I burrowed into my wool coat and cursed the Alaska climate for the thousandth time since coming here a couple of months ago.  My last escape attempt hadn’t gone so well, damn Lucas and his ability to track me, but there was always next time.  They couldn’t keep me in this town forever.

The tiny chorus of meows echoed out even louder than before.

It was impossible to resist the call, even for me.  I reached the box and found crumpled papers and napkins littering the inside.  Small bodies were wriggling through it.  I wrinkled my nose at the pungent odor coming from all around.  It was too dark to make out their coloring, but a flash of white caught my attention.  At least mama had cleaned them up before meeting her demise.

My breath stilled as I reached out.  The kitten fit in the palm of my hand.  A place in my heart I’d thought long dead warmed as it snuggled close to my chest.  The decision of whether it lived or died was up to me.  I’d seen far too much death.

Two more warm bodies came out to join the first.  My eyes watered.  I had to grasp them tight when a series of sneezes shook me.  All three of them had taken an unhealthy liking to my neck.

They protested when I put them back in the box.  No matter how cute they were, I couldn’t take responsibility for them.  The little guys didn’t understand the effect they had on my allergies.

I pulled my phone out.

“Melena?”  Felisha never got a call from me this late.

“Yeah, it’s me.  I need a favor.”  I didn’t give her the full details.  My sneezing and wheezing were enough to send her on her way once she had the directions.

She pulled into the parking lot ten minutes later.  A few patrons came out of the bar at the same time.  They shouted suggestive comments at her as she passed, but she didn’t bother to glance their way.  The red-headed woman could have passed for a model.  Instead she chose to run a local herb shop and cater to the local supernatural population.  She’d been trying to get me to work for her, but I hadn’t decided yet.  The idea of working for a sup—even a nice one—galled me.

I stood up as she approached.

“Oh, Melena.”  Sympathy filled her eyes.  “Look at your face.”

I scratched my swollen nose.  “It’ll pass.”

At least the drunks wouldn’t be bothering me—probably.

She knelt down and inspected the contents of the box.  The kittens crawled eagerly into her hands.  I took a couple of steps back and pretended not to be envious at how easy she held them.  Cats were not my thing, but these were kind of cute.

“Can you take them?” I asked.

She sighed.  “I’ve already got two at the house.”

“I know.  That’s why I never visit.”

“There is a way around that.”

I shook my head.  “I’m not drinking vampire blood.”

“You did before.”

“Dying will make you do strange things.  Will you take them or not?”

Felisha rubbed her face into their fur.  Of course, she didn’t sneeze.  “I’ll take them on one condition.”

I crossed my arms.  “What’s that?”

“You’ll come visit them once a month.”

“I can’t.”  Nope.  No way would I go near them again.

She started to put them back in the box.

“You wouldn’t.”  She was too kind for that.

“In this case, I would.  You have to stop hiding from the things you fear.”  Damn, she would.  My senses told me she spoke the truth and they were never wrong.

“That’s ridiculous.  I don’t fear kittens.”

“But you fear the cure that would allow you to be near them.”

Tiny stars lit up the sky.  I wished I could be up there with them right now.

“Fine, I’ll visit once a month—for a few minutes, but that’s it.”  I could suffer for that long without drinking vamp blood as a temporary fix.  She wouldn’t win this battle entirely.

A smile spread across her face.  Her green eyes might have twinkled as well.  With fairies anything was possible.

“Good,” she said.  “Don’t back out of it either or I’ll bring them to your house.”

I shuddered.  Cat fur in my home would be a disaster.  I’d fought hard to have my own place—even if it was only a five-minute walk from Nik’s home, the master vampire of Fairbanks.  Orphaned kittens were not going to mess that up for me.

“I won’t back out,” I said.

“Then it’s settled.” She took the box in her arms.  “We’ll make an animal lover out of you yet.”

“Not likely.”

 

Short Story- Nothing Is Ever What It Seems

The following short story (approximately 1600 words)  is a scene that takes place about eight years before the beginning of Darkness Haunts.  It depicts a major turning point in Melena’s life (the main character).  One that forces her in a new direction she hadn’t planned on going before this point.  I wrote the rough draft earlier this year, but decided to flesh it out more and post it here for anyone who wants a taste of what to expect.  This scene is briefly mentioned in the novel, but this short story version provides a lot more of the details involved.  Keep in mind Melena is eighteen here, so I tried to give her a younger and slightly less mature mindset compared to where she is when the series starts.

 

Nothing is Ever What it Seems

I’d blown up the bowl of rice I’d been heating.

The yellow grains stuck to the walls of the microwave in a colorful display that couldn’t have been mistaken for art.  Another cooking disaster for me to clean up.  At least it didn’t look as bad as my grand cake experiment from the week before.

“Melena!” Wanda cried out, shock and dismay written all over her face.  You’d think in the three years since she’d taken me in she’d be used to this kind of thing.

I pasted an innocent look on my face and pointed at the mess.  “The microwave overcooked it.”

She put her hands on her hips.  “You set the timer for too long—again.”

“I wanted to make sure it was cooked all the way.  You’re always telling me I can never be too careful.”

Wanda tossed me a dish rag.  “Clean it up.  Honestly, I don’t know how you expect to go off to college this fall if you can’t even re-heat rice.”

I shrugged.  “That’s what restaurants and fast food places are for.”

“You can’t live off that junk.”

“Lisette will be going too.  She can cook just about anything.  I’ll be fine.”

Wanda wagged a finger at me.  “We will not discuss that Pixie.  You need to stay away from her and all other supernaturals.  I’ve told you that a hundred times.”

“More than that,” I muttered as I dumped the rice into the trash can.  “Sups aren’t that bad.”

She took the dish rag from me and rinsed it off at the sink.  “They are that bad.  Someday, you’ll see that I’m telling you the truth.”

“Yeah, right.”

We both jerked our heads at the same time.

A wave of raw power swept over the house with the force of a psychological hurricane.  My lungs struggled for breath as sharp pain slid up my neck and into my head.  Holy crap.  Something was in the backyard.

I grabbed a steak knife from the butcher block and brandished it in front of me.

“It’s a nephilim,” Wanda gave me a panic-stricken look.  I could have sworn her hair turned greyer.  “That won’t do us any good — he can’t be killed.  It’ll only provoke him.”  She took the knife from me and tossed it away.

Whoever this guy was, he was coming straight for us.  I bumped into the fridge in my haste to put some distance between me and the backdoor.  It burst open, shattering into a thousand pieces and brought bright light spilling into the room.  I put my arms up to protect my face.  The blinding rays hadn’t come from the sun shining outside.  No, they’d come from the golden-haired man who’d stepped into our house.

“What do you want from us?” Wanda demanded.

I lowered my arms to discover she wasn’t as affected by the nephilim’s presence as I was.  Wanda stood tall and glared at him in a way that would have made me skulk off into a corner.  To be fair, she’d had more experience dealing with sups than I had.  My eyes adjusted enough to see a massive sword in his hand.  The polished blade glinted as he raised it into a high arc.  His hard, chiseled face revealed nothing of his thoughts — only cold determination.

Wanda lost her bearing and scrambled away from him, but he moved too fast.  She screamed in a high-pitch shrill when the sword struck her shoulder.  It kept going, cutting off her voice as it sliced down and across her torso in a straight path until it went out the other side.  Blood sprayed everywhere as the two halves of her separated and fell to the floor in a sickening thump.  Her blue eyes remained open and frozen in terror.

My hand jerked up to cover my mouth.  I wanted to finish the scream she’d started, but nothing came out.  My eyes darted back and forth between my guardian and her killer.  She couldn’t be dead.  She couldn’t.  First I’d lost my parents, and now her.  How could this have happened?

The evidence lay directly in front of me.  She’d been right all along.  Sups were dangerous and I’d never taken her seriously, not wanting to believe her.  Oh God.  I almost choked on the bile rising up my throat.  It took all my control to force it back down.  The danger wasn’t over yet.

The nephilim stood across the kitchen and held his sword at his side.  He’d wiped it off with the rag Wanda had been holding.  Blood coated the cloth now.  It wouldn’t be good for washing anything anymore.

What was I thinking?

A cold-blooded killer stood before me and I worried about a dish rag?  I’d be next if I didn’t do something, but how was I supposed to fight a man who couldn’t die?  He was massive enough that even if he was human I couldn’t take him on.

I stared at his golden form and didn’t know what to say or do.  Did I plea for my life?  Make some kind of peace offering?  The dead body on the floor — I couldn’t look at it again — told me he wasn’t up for negotiations.

“Why?”  The one word escaped my lips.

“She’s a sensor.  All of your kind deserve to die.”

I gripped the counter next to me.  Too bad I couldn’t out run him.  “Am I next?”

His lips quirked.  “Not yet, young one.  Your time will come, but not today.”

He lowered his sword.  My enhanced senses told me he spoke the truth.  I risked a glance at Wanda’s body and saw it was bad, real bad.  Dying was awful enough, but this was worse than anything I’d ever imagined.  A rage I’d never felt before colored my vision.  How dare he come into our home and attack us?  We’d minded our own business and stayed out of the way, doing nothing to piss off the supernatural population.  Wasn’t that enough?

It didn’t matter in that moment he still held a deadly weapon.  That he was a thousand times stronger than me.  I had nothing left to lose — no family and not many friends.  My future meant little if everyone around me was going to keep dying.

My feet flew toward him.  I shoved at his body and hit his chest as hard as I could over and over.  He stood there, immobile, and didn’t even bother to block my blows.  I began to think he couldn’t feel them.  It only took a few minutes for me to get tired of beating what might as well have been a brick wall.  My breath came out ragged and I could barely stand.  He took my arm when I began to stumble back.

“Are you done?” he asked.

“No.”  I scowled.  With my free arm, I managed to grab the knife off the counter where Wanda had tossed it away.  The nephilim laughed when I held it between us but he let me go.

“You think to harm me with that?”

I gritted my jaw.  “It’s worth a try.”

He took a few steps back and held his arms out wide, sword pointed away, giving me a perfect opening to strike at his torso.

“Go ahead,” he said.  “Let us see if you can.”

My hand clenched around the handle of the knife.  What the hell kind of game was he playing?  I risked a glance at Wanda to remind myself of what he’d done to her.  He’d killed her without her doing anything wrong to him.  Hating a whole race of people for a crime committed centuries ago didn’t count.  It didn’t make any more sense why he wasn’t taking my head off with that big sword of his.

“Why not kill me now?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw.  “As I said before, it’s not your time.”

I wanted to take a step back.  The strong emotions emanating from him were overwhelming my senses.  His hatred whipped at me like a stinging lash.  Sometimes it came in handy to be empathic — this wasn’t one of those times.  I had to wonder what I’d done to make him feel so strongly.  The knife was still in my hand, but I didn’t know if I could use it.

“Would you kill me if I stuck this in you?”  It couldn’t hurt to ask.

A taunting smile stretched his lips.  “Why don’t you find out?”

I wanted to hurt him in some way — in any way I could.  He deserved to feel at least a small taste of my inner pain.  I pushed down my fear and lunged for him, ready to stab the crap out of him.

It never even grazed his skin.

He deflected the blade, knocking it from my hand and onto the floor.  My momentum kept me going toward him with no time to stop.  He grabbed my shoulder with his free hand and twisted me around until my back struck his chest.  I could feel the chiseled muscles underneath.  His arms wrapped around me, holding me tight.

Tingles raced across my skin in every place where our bodies met.  I felt real fear then.  This man truly was an unstoppable force.  He leaned down close to my ear and whispered.

“We will meet again, little sensor.”

His arms released me and I almost fell.  He scooped up both parts of Wanda’s body in one swift move and stepped outside before vanishing in a flash of light.  Only the puddle of blood remained to prove he’d been here at all.  I slumped to the floor and curled into myself.  What was I supposed to do now?