Here’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)
NEW RELEASE! The snippet is from Two Against the Stars (story below the excerpt). I’m continuing on from last week, where Dobkin, Carialle’s mob handler, has died in the bathroom of their cheap hotel room from an accidental, drunken fall. She was handcuffed to the bed but has gotten loose, although one cuff remains around her wrist. Edited somewhat from the published version:
Carialle swallowed hard and forced herself to go through his pockets, snagging the key to the handcuffs and his ID and credit tag. Her hands were shaking so hard it took her three tries to release the shackle around her wrist.
She took a deep breath to quell her rising hysteria – No time to waste.
Carialle unfastened a gaudy, retro timepiece from his wrist and sidled away. It took her a few moments in the bedroom to dump out the contents of his small pack, snatching whatever might be useful and leaving the rest on the bed. She contemplated the small hand weapon for a long moment. She’d no idea how to use it but the allure of possessing a means of defending herself against those immune to her power was impossible to resist. Grabbing the shiny mini blaster, she hid it at the bottom of the pack and sealed the seams.
She straightened her spine, took a deep breath and checked the mirror to be sure there was no blood on her drab gray tunic, leggings or shoes. She hastened to the door and stepped into the hall, closing the portal behind her, keying the advisory to Do Not Disturb.
The story:
Empathic priestess Carialle has escaped the evil Amarotu Combine, but she’s hardly out of danger. Not when she risks everything to rescue a drugged man from a crooked veterans’ clinic. By lulling the clinic staff to sleep, she reveals her powers. And once again, criminals are after her and her rescuer.
Marcus Valerian, a wounded Special Forces veteran, never expected to have his life threatened by the clinic that’s supposed to help ex-soldiers like him. But when he wakes from a drugged state to find a lovely woman urging him to run–he does. In his family’s remote fishing cabin, he suffers the agony of withdrawal, soothed only by her powers.
In their idyllic hideaway, the two also discover a nova-hot attraction flaring. But can they stay alive long enough for it to become more? Not if the Combine has anything to say–they are not giving up until Marcus is dead and Carialle is their weapon
Buy Links:
Well, this seems like a great chance for her, but I have a feeling things aren’t going to be so easy. Great snippet and congrats again on your new release! 🙂
Oh man, I’d be scared out of my skull, too. Great snippet, Veronica, and congrats on the new release! 🙂
She’s handling herself very well, though her nervousness shines through.
Love this–great tension and made me immediately want to read more.
I hope she makes her getaway, though there wouldn’t be much of a story if she easily make an escape and didn’t run into any further trouble.
Congratulations on your new release!
The tension comes across perfectly …
Congratulations on the new release !
If this were a movie, I could hear the spooky background music. She is one tough woman and danger lies ahead. Congratulations on just being you, my friend. Big Hugs.
Sooner her than me – emptying the pockets of a dead man. Great sense of urgency and tension.
Hopefully she can get away
Do Not Disturb! Awesome scene, Jean! Perfect amounts of desperation and clear thought.
Wow that’s a tense scene. Awesome snippet!
A very thorough woman. She’ll probably need that weapon.
Congrats on the new release! Intense snippet, Veronica!
She’s definitely being brave and resourceful! Congrats on the release!
Great tension. I liked her hesitation over the weapon. It added to the violent threat inherent in carrying such a thing.
Thanks for the comments, always much appreciated! Yes, the interstellar crime syndicate has put Carialle through hell for four years and she knows this is her one chance to escape. Which makes it all the more difficult for her when she meets Marcus later in the book and has to put herself at risk again if she’s to help him.A lot at stake….
“Carialle unfastened a gaudy, retro timepiece from his wrist and sidled away” Way to pack a punch in the first line, good adjectives. #WeWriWa
You can really feel the fear and adrenaline here. Wonderful description, Veronica! 🙂
I like the idea of your story, especially the emphatic priestess!
Great snippet, Veronica. I admire her bravery, not just here but throughout the story. She is one gutsy lady.
Fantastic snippet, looks like she’s made the most of a good opportunity, but something tells me it may not be so easy for her as the scene might suggest!
Nice, tense scene. I’d have taken the blaster too.
I really admire her grace under pressure. Now if she can only keep going like that!
Escape can’t be this easy. Great imagery in this snippet. You put me right there with her.
Hysteria-bound or not, Carialle sounds like she handles herself quite well! Great snippet, Veronica. Can’t wait to see what happens next!
And now the fun begins? lol 🙂 Good job writing tension into her last minutes before making her break.
Practical and efficient. I like that.