Well since everyone was so kind to me last week about this unedited WIP I’ve got sitting on the shelf, I’ll venture another excerpt! It’s my one and only shifter novel (so far, not counting “Priestess of the Nile” where the Crocodile God shifts)…Kyle is a leopard shifter and Caitlyn is the mysterious girl-with-a-secret who infiltrated the Witch Queen’s castle with his help. Now she’s been summoned to participate in a magical ceremony, at which the Queen draws upon Kyle’s powers to augment her own.
Anger burned in her, watching the shifter used as a source of power for the purposes of others.
Closing her eyes, she launched a mental search for his spirit, wanting to let him know there was one person in the room who was there for him. The torchlit chamber, the overpowering smells and the sonorous chant disappeared from her consciousness as she found herself standing in a small forest clearing. An agitated leopard paced the perimeter, tail thrashing from side to side. When the great cat saw her, it slunk in her direction, snarling, fangs bared.
Caitlyn backed away as the leopard stalked her. She whispered Kyle’s name, trying to master her fear. “The Witch Queen takes too much from you – no spell is worth your death,” she said.
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A were-leopard? given the leopards are one of the few big cats that seem able to survive a human-dominated world, this should be interesting.
Lovely description. I really like the sense of movement in the leopard. Gimme more. (Please.)
Exciting snippet! Can’t wait to read what Caitlyn will do now!
I love how this reads. It’s both stunningly visual and fun to read aloud. I loved that you used the word sonorous. That’s such a fantastic word! And the whole scene hooked me!
I imagine this could get pretty dangerous pretty quickly—but if she gets his leopard to trust her . . . Very interesting!
I like a leopard-shifter in this story; great fiting. I like how Caitlyn tries to overpower her fear.
Nice! My favorite use of the word “slunk” in a long time. I could absolutely picture what she was seeing. Thanks for the peek!
This reminds me a bit of a scene in The Nebula Dream. It pulled me right in.
Love the idea of a shape shifting leopard. You’ve got a great thing going with this story.
Loved her indignation at the Queen using him. I hope she tames the leopard or this could go badly for her. Great 8!
I expected her to walk right up to the leopard, knowing who it is, but I like that she’s afraid. It makes her more real for me. You picked a wonderful 8 this week 🙂
Gotta love a shifter story! Great descriptions here. I could visualize the big cat’s movements.
She’s so brave. I’m loving the tension here too. Fab snippet. Please give us more from this one.
I love the idea of the were-leopard. You created the world effortlessly. The whole scene intrigued me!
You fly straight into the heart of a conflict not explained–but supernatural or not, we’re all far too well acquainted with those who Ask Too Much. Intriguing excerpt.
Well that’s kind of the problem with only 8 sentence snippets LOL. By this point in the actual story Caitlyn does have a good idea what’s going on…but she’s still angry on his behalf.
This story is so good on so many levels. Shifter leopards are not unknown in the literature. I believe Harris used them as well. And witches are right up my alley at the moment. What’s unique about your version is the empathy toward the shifter and the budding relationship between the two.
this new story of yours almost demands ordinary objects that aren’t what they seem. My current instructor strongly encourages such devices
Thanks for the kind words! Yes, the first leopard shifter I ever “met” in a book was Andre Norton’s “Jargoon Pard”, set on Witch World, and then of course there are Nalini Singh’s leopard shifters…but I thought probably there was room for my leopards in the paranormal world too. The characters just *do* tell the writer who and what they are LOL and we go from there….
Nice “moody” piece. It put me in the scene.
Really appreciating the comments and feedback. I feel so very encouraged about this story and will probably go back to it and finish it after all. Probably a few more weeks of excerpts coming from this one…
Great scene, very intriguing. I loved the appearance of the leopard shifter.
Very nice #8. They put me solidly cheering for the were-leopard. Nicely done.
That’s an interesting scene. Love that she sees him as a leopard vs a man in her vision.
Great world-building here!
I really like the leopard and the way you make me feel his power. Nice job!
You captured this reader from the beginning, Veronica. Exciting and scary and what a heroine to face the enemy.
I don’t want to be a nag, but you have to finish this book so that I can read it! Okay? Great snippet!
Yes, ma’am LOL! I think I will work on it at some point, now that people have been so encouraging…I really love these two characters, I must admit. Thank you!
It’s an interesting (although maybe somewhat dangerous!) way of making mental contact with him.
Great snippet, Veronica. I like the premise a lot. Keep going. 🙂
Love the description of the agitated panther. And the chanting. This is great!
Great imagery ~ especially the switch to the forest!
Wow what a switch! From Sci-Fi to Paranormal (I hope I got that right :)) This is my firs time reading this excerpt and I am impressed. I’ve now have questions. Tuning in to see what happens next!
I could see this scene so clearly from your description, and I love the great details. Looking forward to reading more!
So exciting! So intense! Loved this excerpt, Veronica!
I love communicating without words. A few people are so good at it. I hope that she is one of them.
I can’t wait to read more. This is very intense. Well done.
So very visual. Love it!
Great intensity. Enjoyed.
I hope she’s able to master her fear. As dangerous as they can be, I find big cats like leopards to be very beautiful, graceful creatures.
I can sense her trepidation. Very tense and vivid. I wonder if she will test the spell despite the danger. Terrific snippet!