(Pssst: I currently have a mega sale on my Badari Gladiators boxed set, books 1-3 – just $.99!!! Check it out below the post – scroll all the way down.)
I’m switching to my newly released paranormal romance DANGER ON THE NILE!
The excerpt, from close to the beginning of the book. Mayet, a new priestess, is in the inner sanctum of the temple, cleaning the altar:
The sound of the heavy door opening caused Mayet to spin with a gasp. She wasn’t finished yet—the high priestess was early. Punishment for disappointing the goddess would be swift and Mayet would walk in pain for several days after the whipping she knew would be meted out. Or perhaps the priestess would be more merciful and spare the rod but put her on bread and water for a few days.
But the door seemed to be stuck, opening only a small way and Mayet heard whoever was at the entrance breathing heavily, almost gasping. She rushed to the portal, finding the high priestess clinging to the locking mechanism, her dress stained with blood, her wig askew and her eyes wild. Her elaborate makeup was smeared and the kohl left tearlike marks on her cheeks.
“Help me, child,” Inu said in a weak voice.
“What happened, my lady?” Trembling, Mayet supported the other woman and half carried her to the closest surface where she could sit. She glanced at the door, worried about the sounds drifting in from the outer temple area. Shouts, screams and the clang of metal. Swords? Here?
“Close the door quickly,” Inu said, slumping against the wall, smearing blood across the vivid paintings of the goddess in her garden as she moved.
Depositphotos
DANGER ON THE NILE (CHILDREN OF FATE) by Veronica Scott
1550 BCE. Mayet is a newly appointed priestess at the temple of Isis in a southern Egyptian border town. When enemies attack the city, she must flee alone with a sacred effigy to keep the invaders from claiming it and using it for their own magic rituals. Joining with other refugees from the stricken city, she has to hide the statue from curious eyes and comfort her companions as if she was a learned, senior priestess. They all look to her for leadership on their desperate trek north. With the enemy close on their heels, Mayet stumbles over an ancient, abandoned fort, where her party takes refuge. Surrounded and trapped by the invaders, she faces a bleak future.
Khay is a high-ranking Egyptian officer, sent by Pharaoh to negotiate treaties with various southern tribes. He and his soldiers narrowly escape an ambush at the city where Mayet’s temple was located and are on the run from the invaders when he sees the shelter of an abandoned fort. Now he and his men are also trapped inside the stout walls with no food and no hope of rescue. Yet he has no regrets for the priestess leading the refugees is the woman the goddess Isis has shown him in a vision, the one who could become his wife.
Together Mayet and Khay must find a way to bring their people to freedom. Will Isis listen to pleas from such a fledgling priestess? Khay comes from a famous family, smiled upon by other gods – will any of them come to his aid? As the pair struggle to stay alive and save the other Egyptians, attraction grows and unites their hearts. But is there to be a future in this world, or only in the Afterlife?
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My other ancient Egyptian paranormal romances…
BADARI GLADIATORS BOOKS 1-3
I’ve bundled my three gladiator books into a box set and put it on sale for $.99 this month! Of course I’m hoping if readers like my gladiators they’ll want to read the ongoing, original Badari Warriors series too. And if you’re already a fan of one or both series, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
This Badari Gladiators box set gathers the first three science fiction romance novels from this series into one collection. Featuring genetically engineered soldiers of the far future, the Badari were created by alien enemies to fight humans. But then unscrupulous lab techs faked the deaths of a few men, smuggled them off the planet in cryo freeze and sold them to be gladiators. They meet their human fated mates in alien arenas and must fight to save themselves and their mates. Kyden is a Generation Five Badari whereas the main characters in the long running series are from a later time and are Generation Eight. This new series stands alone and you don’t have to have read any of the other books to enjoy this one. I couldn’t resist the temptation to tell a few other Badari stories, set in the galaxy’s Hinterlands, and who can resist gladiators? Please note each novel has been previously published on its own and all are standalone tales. No new material has been added, aside from a brief Author’s Note about why I wrote each novel.