Review: Dark Secrets A Paranormal Noir Anthology

Six award-winning authors bring you this spellbinding collection of stories about dark desires, mysterious worlds, and danger that lurks in the shadows of the night. Where nothing is black and white; where things might not be as they seem; where magic and mayhem rule.

MARION, MISSING by Rachel Caine

Valentine is a detective with two major problems: he’s been offered a kidnapping case that will probably get him killed, and his partner won’t let him turn it down. He owes her that much … since his partner’s a ghost, and he’s the one who killed her. A dark, haunting noir mystery of love, hate and loss.

FEMME FATALE by Cynthia Eden

PI Mick Swayne has seen it all—his clients have included liars, thieves, and even killers. He thinks he can handle anything and anyone. Then she walks into his office. Savannah Moreau is beautiful, seductive, and…a vampire? The gorgeous vamp hires Mick to help her track down a killer who is hunting in Chicago, but as Mick slips deeper into Savannah’s paranormal world, he wonders if he can really trust his new client…

DANCE WITH THE DEVIL by Megan Hart

When the devil starts the music, you’d better get ready to dance.
Kathleen Murphy has sold her soul to the devil. Fame, fortune, success…everything she’s ever dreamed of is hers, and all she has to do is the devil’s bidding. When love comes knocking, the last thing in the world she wants to do is involve Jake in her twisted world, but the devil’s started up the jukebox and Kathleen has no choice but to learn the steps.

THE CONSORT by Suzanne Johnson

Faulkner Hearne, the captain of the ruthless Fae Hunters, finds his duty at odds with his heart when he’s ordered to capture the consort of Faerie’s cruel Prince of Summer when she flees across the veil into modern New Orleans. Can Faulk turn Liandra over to a certain death at the hands of the prince, or will he risk a war with Faerie in order to save her?
An all-new novella set in the Sentinels of New Orleans multiverse.

HEART’S BLOOD by Jeffe Kennedy, a Twelve Kingdoms novella

A dark fairytale retelling of a princess robbed of rank, husband and even her name.
Nix is nothing. The Princess Natilde—her former waiting woman—attacked her on the journey to wed Prince Cavan, stripping her of everything and taking her place. With no serving skills, Nix becomes a goose girl. Perhaps if Nix keeps her promise never to reveal who she really is, Natilde won’t carry out her vile threats. Prince Cavan entered his arranged marriage determined to have a congenial, if not loving relationship with his future queen—for the sake of both their kingdoms. But, his wife repels him more each day and he finds himself absurdly drawn to the lovely Nix.
With broken vows, anguish and dark secrets between them, Cavan and Nix struggle to find the magic to restore what’s gone terribly wrong… if it ever can be.

THE DJINN IN THE MIRROR by Mina Khan, a Djinn World novella

A paranormal Cinderella story with a young witch as the heroine and a wicked, sexy djinn instead of a fairy godmother.
Dahlia, the step-daughter of a power hungry wizard, promises to free a djinn trapped in a mirror if he rescues her from impending death. But Ashmael the djinn has his own agenda: to trick & seduce his way to freedom. The only problem is he ends up falling for Dahlia. Can he win his freedom and save the girl?

Okay I've never reviewed an anthology before so I'm just going to say a few words about each story.
Marion, Missing was an interesting story. Not a traditional romance story but I liked it. And I've never read anything by Rachel Caine so this one was a new to me author and an unusual  story.
Femme Fatale was a vamp story by one of my favorite authors and it was great. I really liked it.
Dance with the Devil was a really really really different story. And I wasn't sure I liked it but it turned out to be a great story at the end but it was one of the darker stories in this anthology.
The Consort was by another new to be author. I really liked this story. Even though I wanted Faulk to seriously beat down that Prince. This author is one I am going to read more of.
Heart's Blood was a DNF since it wasn't my cup of tea.
The Djinn in the mirror was another new to me author and I finished the story but this wasn't my cup of tea either. The heroine was not to my taste and the hero was too much of a dick for me.
All in all this was an interesting anthology and added a couple of authors to my like to read list. Not bad for an anthology. That is what makes anthologies fun, the surprise and maybe finding a favorite author in the bunch. I give this one a 4 stars even though there was a couple of stories not to my taste but that wasn't the authors writing it was me and the story.I was given this book by one of the authors in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Author Diane Alberts Interview and Amazon Gift Card @Bittenbybooks

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Review and Giveaway: Feel the Burn by G.A. Aiken

Enter to Win a Paperback  Copy of FEEL THE BURN

FEEL THE BURN

Dragon Kin #8

G.A. Aiken

Released Nov 24th, 2015

Zebra Imprint

War makes strange bedfellows. 

I, Gaius Domitus, one-eyed rebel dragon king of the Provinces, know that better than most, since I have to fight off half my ungrateful family on a regular basis to keep law and order here in my lands. But I never expected to have to consort with a barbarian human woman.

Kachka is beautiful, if you like them fierce—and of course I do. But she keeps complaining about how spoiled and decadent I am, and how a feared Daughter of the Steppes has no time for foolish dragons. I think she likes my eye patch, though. It is quite dashing. With death always at our tails, we take our passion like we take our allies. As they say, love the barbarian you’re with…

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Elina’s suggestion that they play a game was not helping Kachka’s current emotional state. If anything, it just made her feel even more useless.

Elina studied the game board with her one good eye, debating her next move.

This was the life of the Shestakova sisters now.

Decadent. Lazy. Spoiled. Sitting around. Playing board games like children.

It amazed Kachka that adults played these games. Daughters of the Steppes had their three-year-olds playing these games to help them understand the concept of “divide, conquer, and destroy so that the next city or town over just gives us what we ask for.”

So for the two sisters to be playing these games again appalled Kachka on a visceral level. How far she’d fallen back. Would it never get better?

Finally, after much thought, Elina went to make her move . . . and her hand missed the piece by a few inches. Although, based on Elina’s reaction, it might as well have been a mile.

Kachka’s sister growled, then she swiped her hand at the board . . . which she also missed.

That’s when the entire board went flying, her sister’s bellow of rage startling the weak, delusional servants who worked for these rich, decadent royals.

 sighed. “You were winning.”

“Shut up!”

Kachka leaned back in her chair. “Such whining. Like baby, you whine!”

“I am still weak!”

“You took down bear last week.”

“Took me three shots!”

“That’s not eye. That’s this life we now live.” She pointed at one of the dragons walking by. “Decadent! Like that dragon.”

The dragon stopped, placed a hand on his chest. “Me? Kachka, you love me!”

“I love your beauty. I have no use for you personally. You represent all that we hate.”

“Why do you talk to him so?” Elina asked. “He cannot help that he is beautiful but worthless.”

“I am not worthless! I am Gwenvael the—”

“We do not care, lizard!” Kachka barked.

“Do not yell at him!”

“Do not be so pathetic! So you miss eye! Get over it!”

That’s when Elina kicked Kachka under the table. So Kachka kicked her back.

“Ow!”

“Whine!”

Elina reached and grabbed Kachka by her leather buckskin shirt. That Elina could grip with no problem.

Kachka punched her sister’s arm, but that only made Elina drag Kachka out of the chair. Kachka gripped Elina by her shoulders, shoving her back against the table.

“Stop it! Both of you!” the dragon called out. “I have enough beauty to share with everyone!”

Ignoring the beautiful but useless dragon, Kachka drew back her arm to punch her sister, but it was caught and held.

She assumed it was the dragon, but when she looked, it was the queen who held her. What worried her, though, was the look on the queen’s face. She stared at Kachka as if she’d never seen her before.

“You,” the queen said.

“What about me?”

She didn’t answer at first. Simply stared. Then, suddenly, she yanked Kachka off her sister. “Come with me,” she ordered.

“No!” Elina cried out, grabbing Kachka’s other arm. “Do not kill her!”

The queen blinked. “What?”

“It is all right, sister,” Kachka soothed. “I am ready for death.”

“What are you two—?”

“Don’t worry,” the beautiful dragon tossed in. “I’ll make sure you have a beautiful funeral.”

“Gwenvael!” Annwyl roared.

“Why are you yelling at me? I didn’t do anything. It was the outsider!”

Annwyl yanked Kachka from her sister’s grip. “She’ll be fine,” she snapped before Elina could complain further.

“Do not worry, sister,” Kachka said as the queen dragged her off. “I will go to my death

bravely!”

I just love G.A.'s books. They are always highly entertaining. The one thing that I can always count on with her books is that they generally make me snort my drink if I happen to be stupid enough to read and drink at the same time. That proved true of this one as well. This is a continuing series and i'm not sure that it would translate well as a standalone read. Might be a tad bit confusing but that's all right because all of these book are fantastic and like lays chips you can't read just one.

My only issue was that the main couple's story was a little rushed more so than  normal and the book was busier with all the side bits going on. This isn't a traditional romance more a fantasy with romantic elements and that worked for me..  But I must say I liked all the little side stories with all the normal crazies in her books. I liked seeing some of Gais backstory and would like to learn more about his sister and of course the Abominations. I am so looking forward to all their books and to see the resolution of this continuing story arc. 

I can always count on G.A. or as who I think of as Shelly Laurenston which is her alter-ego and how she was first introduced to me long ago and far away lol to entertain and crack me up. I give this book 4 1/2 stars and I was given this via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Originally from Long Island, New York Times bestselling author

G.A. Aiken has resigned herself to West Coast living, which involves healthy

food, mostly sunny days, and lots of guys not wearing shirts when they really

should be. Writing as Shelly Laurenston, she is also the creator of the

wickedly funny Pride series for Brava. For more info about G.A. Aiken’s

dangerously and arrogantly sexy dragons, go to www.gaaiken.com.

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Charming: A Seven World Novel (Seven Series #6.5) By Dannika Dark Release Day Blitz

Charming 

(Seven Series,  #6.5)

by Dannika Dark 

Blurb: 

After seven hundred years, Prince has acquired everything a Packmaster could desire. But when he meets the enchanting Nadia Kozlov, he realizes there’s one thing he doesn’t have: answers. Prince owes his life to a man he hasn’t seen in centuries, and Nadia holds the key to his whereabouts, because that man is her father.

Destinies collide when Nadia’s sister shows up unexpectedly. Katarina is a skilled bounty hunter, hot on the trail of a nefarious outlaw who turns out to be Prince’s old nemesis. Prince teams up with Nadia’s sister to track down the Mage, but the real game of cat and mouse is already underway as sparks fly between Prince and the cunning bounty hunter.

The only trouble? Nadia wants him too.

In the Seven series timeline, this full-length novel is 6.5. 

However, Charming can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone.

Available for purchase at 

  

For all buy links please visit 

Dannika Dark's Website

The SEVEN SERIES

About the Author

Dannika Dark was born on a military base in the U.S. and spent her youth traveling abroad. She developed an interest writing poetry and song lyrics early on, eventually gravitating toward a job that involved writing procedural training documentation. In her spare time, she wrote novels before she decided to pursue a career in publishing.

In addition to writing about supernatural worlds, Dannika is passionate about graphic design and creates all her own covers and series art. When not writing, she enjoys indie music, movies, reading, Tex-Mex, strawberry daiquiris, heaps of chocolate, and unleashing her dark side. 

All of her published books to date are written in the same universe and contain material suitable for adults only.

"For me, writing is all about blending genres to break out of the confines of predictability, but it's what I love to do."

Danni

You can find Dannika at 

              

To receive exclusive content and be the first to know about upcoming releases, please sign up to receive her newsletter. 

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HEALING EDEN

The Eden Series #2

Rhenna Morgan

Releasing Dec 8th, 2015

Lyrical Press

In a world divided by war, falling in love is the ultimate betrayal.

Galena Shantos has never questioned her loyalty to Eden. As sister to the Myren king, she serves as a healer, one of the best in the army fighting to suppress the brutal Lomos Rebellion. She’s never doubted the importance of stopping the rebels bent on enslaving humans, until she spots a warrior across enemy lines—and knows instinctively that their destinies are entwined. . .

Rebellion warrior Reese Theron has nothing left to lose. He’s been forced to fight on the wrong side of a war he abhors in order to protect his family secret. His honor lost, as well as the trust of his own people, Reese has thrown himself into a battle he cannot possibly hope to survive. But after being rescued by a beautiful woman whose exquisite eyes seem to see him for more than the traitor he’s become—he may have just found a new reason to live. ..

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Rhenna Morgan writes for the same reason she reads—to escape reality.

Yes, her life rocks—two beautiful little girls, a great husband, a steady job, and the kind of friends that would take you out back if you hurt her. But, like most women, she’s got obligations stacked tight from dusk to dawn. So, when the world gets her down, she slips into something…less realistic.

Romance is a must. So is a steamy romp (or four). Nothing thrills her more than the fantasy of new, exciting worlds, strong, intuitive men, and the sigh of, “Oh if only that could happen to me.”

So, if you’re picking up one of her books, expect portals into alternate realms and men who’ll fight to keep the women they want. Romantic escape for the women who need it.
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Check out the first in the Eden Series

UNEXPECTED EDEN

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Review: Shattered by Cynthia Eden

In New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden's latest novel featuring the Last Option Search Team (LOST), one agent is forced to face her past as she uncovers secrets about the man who may be the key to her future.

Criminal psychologist Dr. Sarah Jacobs is all too familiar with the kind of bad boys who belong behind bars. But the dark, dangerous man she meets in the New Orleans underworld is a new kind of ruthless, and all too irresistible.

Jax Fontaine doesn't claim to be a good guy, but he's loyal to his own code and brutally honest about what he wants. He and Sarah may be worlds apart, but when they're skin to skin, nothing matters but the heat between them.

And when a deranged killer targets Sarah, Jax will do whatever it takes to keep her safe

This has to my most favorite Romantic Suspense books of Cynthia Eden's that she's wrote. I loved everything about it.. Sarah was a kick ass  heroine with a seriously twisted past. I loved the way she went into detail on how Sarah did her profiling especially how it pertained to her past with her dad.

And Jax he's the epitome of bad boy. I want one of him for my own. He's sexy, loyal, and mean to the bone with those who deserve it. He's protective of those he considers his. His past is seriously warped too. And when someone goes after Sarah he goes ballistic. I loved the way this story went and the way they were intertwined And i must sat that Cynthia got me with one of the bad guys and I really didn't  see him coming. The way he was wrote before didn't come off as the way he wound up. Just goes to show that you can't tell what a man is like beneath the skin.

And OMG the ending to this book was wonderful. There was one part that even though you knew it was coming it blew me away. I give this book 5 stars and I can't wait until the next story in this series. I was gifted this book by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Whispers of the Dead by Zoe Delante Book Blast #ZoeBlast

Title: Zoe Delante Thriller Series (Whispers of the Dead & Whispers of the Serpent)

Author: CL Roberts-Huth

Publication Date: December 2013 & June 2015

Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis

Whispers of the Dead:

Murder was never something Zoë Delante enjoyed, but solving the cases…. She does that rather well, and has the track record to prove it. Yet when she’s called in on a new case with the Baltimore PD as their go-to clairvoyant, she’s unprepared for the heinous nature of the crimes.

The hunt for the murderer unfolds, dropping Zoë right in the middle of a power struggle between a nightmare of a coven, and a serial killer leaving bodies in ceremonial circles in the rural parts of Baltimore’s city limits.

Will she discover the identity of the maniac behind the gruesome beheadings, or will she lose someone close to her first? A race against celestial bodies and the trail of earthbound body parts keeps our intrepid clairvoyant running right until the very end.

Whispers of the Serpent:

No rest for the Wiccan.

One year has passed since Zoë Delante’s last big case, and everyone’s favorite Wiccan has managed to carve a normal-ish life for herself and her boyfriends, Jacob and Daniel. Then she gets the call that someone has discarded dead babies like empty soda cans off I-295 in the Baltimore/D.C. area, leaving strange scales all over the crime scenes. Another serial killer?

Zoë dives into the case when her one-year-old niece comes up missing, and she discovers that the guy running the Church of Holy Light knows magick and lies about it. Is he the one behind the mind control? Did he send the guys to drop magick all over her sister’s house?

And what the hell is up with her magick?

The visions are getting stronger, and weirder, and Zoë can’t remember the last time she slept. No matter. She has bad guys to catch and innocents to save. She’ll sleep when she’s dead….

…Or when the killer is.

EXCERPT:

He pushed the door open slowly and the buzzing turned into television snow.

“At least there’s no body,” I said half-jokingly as I surveyed the room. The walls were white and freshly painted. Fumes still hung thick in the air. There was no furniture except for a television/DVD combo on its stand. “What’s going on?”

“It’s not the room,” Mike said as he followed us in. He walked in front of me to the snowy set and pressed ‘play.’ “It’s the message.”

“A message?” All the hair on my arms rose in one pin-prickling leap. “For who?”

He couldn’t even keep the fake smile on his face. “For you.”

“Shit.” I willed my eyes away, but they stayed glued to the screen. I had no desire to see what Paul had left behind.

“Yeah, those were my words exactly.” Mike sighed and stepped away.

The picture shifted as the camera was adjusted. A pale bar of flesh surrounding a pair of dark blue eyes jumped across the screen with each amateur movement.

The man leaned back from the lens and said, “Hello, Rhiannon.” The rest of his face was hidden in well-placed shadows across his cheekbones, mouth and forehead, leaving his eyes bared to the camera. His voice was deep, almost a bass, with a gravely rumble I couldn’t place.

“If you ‘re watching this, congratulations. I honestly was uncertain about your power, didn’t know if you were strong enough to defeat my little pet. You’re a special little witch, but you’ve heard that enough from my colleagues lately. Visions can be tricky things. You understand that. What’s a coven of misfits to do when promised a messiah?” He laughed, the sound strained, like he’d heard the joke too many times.

“Have you figured it out? Have you made the necessary connections between my victims?” He blinked slowly, deliberately. “Of course you have. With the resources of every police precinct in the area, surely you have discovered my modus operandi.

“My work here is almost done, and my murderous rampage is nearing its end. In three days’ time, I will have taken my final victim. In three days, you will be faced with the most difficult decision you’ve ever faced in your young life. Who are you willing to sacrifice to catch me? Whose life is worth enough to play my game?”

The tracking on the DVD skipped and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Nervous? Who, me?

The picture cleared, and he continued his soliloquy. “Take care with those you most cherish, little witch. Protect them if you can. I have given you enough time to make suitable arrangements.

“I regret that I couldn’t meet you today, but we will meet soon enough, you and I. It’s been prophesized. You will come to me. You will come, because you will have no other choice. But you already knew that.”

His eyes changed, blurring from blue to wolf amber. “Come to me, Rhiannon, willingly, and I may let the last one live.” Paul leaned forward into the camera lens and out of the protective darkness.

My breath caught tightly in my throat as a terrified shudder slithered over my skin. The visions hadn’t prepared me for what I was seeing.

His nose was misshapen, like a sculptor had tried to carve a muzzle from the delicate cartilage in the middle of his face. Teeth like jagged shards peeked through his garish attempt at smiling. Great tufts of red-brown fur covered parts of his forehead and jaw line.

“Three days,” he growled. “You are running out of time.”

The screen went blank.

*******Excerpt for Whispers of the Serpent:

“Six minutes, beautiful.”

I cleared my throat and clapped my hands. “All right, let’s get this thing done.” No chance in hell was I going to lose him now. I touched each strand, and the second and fourth ones caused the pulse to speed up. The third and fifth ones made it slow down. The first and sixth ones did.... Nothing? How odd.

“Try a combination of the dead ones with the fast ones,” Jacob suggested.

I frowned. “We’ve already lost a minute with my futzing.”

“No one would make something so complex and have useless parts, Zo.”

I blinked on my other vision and almost cried. The ‘dead’ lines were storing energy through itty-bitty capillaries from the other four. The siphon from the slow lines, though minimal, pumped steadily. From the fast lines, the deposits were larger but intermittent, sometimes every other pulse, sometimes every third. Maybe if I severed those feeds....

I reached in and squeezed one off.

It didn’t stop the others, but no more energy passed into the emptier chambers from that line. I skipped four lines and squeezed the fifth, then repeated the process on both ‘dead’ lines, and it significantly slowed the flow. “Can you do this from your end?”

“I can try.” He knelt down and reached in with his free hand.

“You see the tiny ones?” I asked, pointing them out.

“Yep.” He squished one.

“I’ve been doing every fifth one. Think it’s bought us a few more minutes.” Together we worked at this until we could reach no farther. Some of the squashed feeds turned black and crumbled into ash on my carpet. Some of them turned an ugly bruise of purple and hemorrhaged the spell’s magic in the space between lines, where it reinforced the exterior walls but wasn’t otherwise absorbed. We had bought time, already past Jacob’s original ten-minute assessment, but all our efforts were a bandage. Eventually, all this magick would explode.

“Can we push it into the foundation of the house?” I asked. “I’ll take moving over being dead any day of the week.”

Jacob grunted. “We could try, but probably not.”

I pushed one of the slow lines down, but instead of sinking into the carpet, it clung to my finger and shocked me. “Son of a bitch!” I shook it off, but an imprint of it remained on my fingertip. 

“Well, shit.” I looked a Jacob. “I’m open to suggestions.”

“Can you change?”

I shook my head. “Not without the full moon.”

He nodded. “I was just thinking about last year when you absorbed the coven’s power to fight against Paul. Could you absorb all this and change? Since it’s already connected to you?”

Can I? Looking over the strands again, I considered the best course of action.

In theory, it should work. All spells were energy, and the First Law of Thermodynamics stated that energy could not be created or destroyed, merely transformed. Absorbing the energy woven into the spell would transform it into the magick I needed to change into my wolf form.

Nerdy witch for the win.

That left the question of how to absorb it. In my head, I was all Pacman and pellets, but could I just eat it? Could I wrap it around me and take it that way? I looked at the markings on my finger, already fading like an old henna tattoo.That’s good. I wasn’t looking forward to a full body tattoo.

“Babe.”

I waved at him. “I think it’ll work. It’s a lot of energy to absorb in the time we have left, but we’re out of options.” I offered my best brave smile. “No time like the present?”

“If this doesn’t work, I want you to know I love you, Zoë.”

“If this doesn’t work, I’m going to haunt your ass. With love, of course.”

He laughed, and while it came out a little strained, a little forced, if I could choose to hear one last sound before we rocketed to the Summerland, laughter  beat the hell out of tears.

I exhaled slowly and gave him a long look. “I do love you, Jacob, and when we get through this, we’re going on a long-ass vacation, okay? Just you and me.”

He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Sounds good.”

“Okay, let me get to work.”

“Dear Mother Goddess,” I whispered. “Protect me as I as try this crazy-ass experiment in hopes of coming out of this alive. Please protect us, and watch over Jacob, in case this kills me, which I really hope it doesn’t. I’ll survive being furry an extra time this month, if it saves us. If it is Your Will, so mote it be.”

I snagged one of the threads and held it up to review the intricate little parts. It ran cool across my palm, like an electric strand of ice. The tiniest tendrils formed on the edges, tasting me, drawing their own lines against the whorls and grooves of my skin. The sensation felt like snowflakes melting against my skin.

So strange.

I pressed down, and the line flattened and spread. The depth of this spellcraft was mind-blowing. I wrapped it around my hand twice, and the energy pulsed faster all the way down the line and across to Jacob’s wand.

Well, shit. I grimaced and closed my eyes, willing it inside me, and a sensation akin to breath across menthol moved over my hand.

“It worked.” The spell left a glittery tattoo along my skin, and the energy sparkled inside me like a mind bauble, but with white-blue light and a firmer shell. The fill lines had not taken my absorption lightly and began to swell.

Shit! We don’t have time for this insanity.

I scooped up the ends of all six lines, wrapped them around both hands, and pulled.

Jacob’s wand twitched, and he moved forward a good six inches.

I closed my eyes and willed them to be a part of me.

“Oh, gods!” Gone was the delicate sense of melting snow, replaced by a feeling of being electrified. My eyes popped open wide, and I couldn’t breathe, much less unfurl my fists. It hurt everywhere, no inch of me left unscathed.

It worked. Not only did I feel the energy transfer inside me, the pulse in the remaining length had slowed. I could do this.

“Zoë, are you okay?”

I looked at Jacob and nodded. “Yeah. Hurt like a bitch, but I’ve got this.” I wrapped another two lengths around my hands and repeated the process. The electrical shock was stronger, and I bit my tongue. A warm rivulet of blood ran from my lips to my chin.

“Zoë!”

I shook my head and did it again. The sheer intensity of pain dropped me to the floor, and my wolf howled, tail hung low between her hind legs.

Just a little longer.

If I could swallow the last few feet, push through the agony, I could change. I could save us.

I can do this!

I yanked the rest of the spell onto me, and steeled myself against the impending pain. My entire body shook as blood poured from my mouth, and warm liquid raced from my eyes and ears.

Somewhere in the distance, Jacob yelled for me. He tried to grab me in the haze, but so much electricity rode along my skin that his touch was brief, the energy throwing him back.

I couldn’t breathe inside that storm, no bearings to be had, and the world spun.

My wolf trotted up and nuzzled me, as if to ask if it was time. I managed a nod, and she leapt from me, taking a big chunk of the energy with her, and then we changed.

Maybe I was already in a shit-ton of pain, but the transition from my shell to hers was almost smooth. Rearranging bones, thickening and lengthening inside me, pulled me out of the spell’s grasp and gave me a place to focus. I pushed energy into the change, and my musculature popped from the squishy humanoid frame to the tight, sculpted, large muscles of a dire wolf.

I was hyperaware of every part of the change. Each hair extrusion caught my attention in an odd twist of pleasure and pain, as shiny black fur passed over my skin and absorbed the remnants of clothing still touching me. My hands morphed and expanded from little pudgy fingers to great black paws resting on thick nails, and my tail swished behind me, the long hairs brushing the ground.

I stretched and shook the magickal remnants, which sparked like static charge along my overcoat. Tilting my muzzle upwards, I let loose a magnificent howl that shook every fiber of the house.

Change was good.

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Author Bio

Born in 1975, I’m the product of star-crossed lovers who took separate paths shortly after my arrival. Now a three-time mother, twice married woman, and eclectic person, I reside in the sunny biosphere that is Sierra Vista, Arizona, with my wonderful partner in crime, Peter, and three brilliant geeklings: Michael, Cami and Desmond. Oh, and a mop… er… Shih Tzu named Sir Lancelot the Brave.

Writing came to me naturally, and the dark clouds of childhood and adolescent angst gave birth to a myriad of story threads that reflected my inner struggle to find a place in this world. I haven’t quite discovered it yet, but I’ve fallen in love with the journey and all the stories unfolding in front of me. I’m a lover of many genres and a writer of a small handful, and rather content with that lot.

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