Today begins the promotion for my Estilorian short story, The Prophecy, on Amazon.com! From today until Friday the 16th, The Prophecy is free! For those of you who don’t know, this story serves as a prequel to my Daughters of Saraqael trilogy. Thus, it’s a great way to get your feet wet if you’re not yet familiar with the Estilorian world.
Here’s the story blurb for a little more enticement:
“Saraqael hadn’t intended to fall in love with Kate. It shouldn’t have even been possible. His kind didn’t experience emotion, and they certainly weren’t supposed to become attached to humans.
When he discovers that Kate’s dying and there’s nothing he or her human doctors can do for her, Saraqael realizes how deep his feelings for her run. And he understands just how far he’s willing to go to save her.
He vows to search until he finds a way to save her life. With the help of his best friend, Quincy, he embarks on a quest spanning the Estilorian plane…a quest that will forever change the future of his kind.”
Now, on to the teaser!
The first book in my upcoming Firstborn trilogy, Defy, releases on April 30th. I’m organizing a cover reveal blog tour on March 29th, so be on the lookout for that. Today, I thought I’d post another new excerpt from Defy to tide my Estilorian fans over for a while. Visit these posts to check out the prologue, chapter one, and part of chapter two. And now we’ll continue Tate’s story…
Defy (Book One of the Firstborn Trilogy)
Part of Chapter Two
Quincy walked with her out to the training paddock with his packed satchel. Tate realized that all of her family members were nearby, despite the early hour. A number of them were stretching or completing their cardio warm-ups before the weapons training ahead.
Tiege stood with Aunt Amber and some of their cousins performing tai chi. Her dad and Uncle Gabriel spotted for her brothers, Nick and Alex, as they lifted weights. Her mom glided around the side yard with her younger sisters and cousins, instructing them in dance. Aunt Olivia and Uncle James watched the littlest of the children as they played with the family of panthers before beginning school for the day.
Sophia sat on a large rock about twenty yards from the paddock, looking quite glum as she awaited the day’s flight efforts. Tate’s heart went out to her. She knew how discouraged Sophia had been to fail again and again at bringing forth her wings during the lessons her parents started after her eighteenth birthday several weeks ago.
Plastering an encouraging smile on her face as she and Quincy approached, Tate said, “Hey, Sophia! You’re looking particularly pretty today.”
She heard Quincy mumble something under his breath and fought a giggle even as Sophia gave her a baleful look. The comment was true enough, though. Sophia’s turquoise sundress flattered her petite frame. The long skirt of the dress, pooled around her slim legs, made her look very delicate. She had secured her golden hair at the nape of her slender neck in an intricate knot, drawing attention to her wide blue-green eyes and the blue-green butterfly wing patterns around her eyes, indicating her second power. Although her small size and fair coloring differed from the rest of the Kynzesti, Sophia managed to outshine them all, in Tate’s opinion.
“Thanks, Tate,” Sophia said, barely glancing at Quincy. She looked irritated about something and Tate wondered if one of the scientific experiments her cousin so enjoyed was giving her trouble. That always tended to spoil her mood. Of course, she could have just been nervous. With Sophia, it was a little hard to tell.
“I can’t wait to hear how everything goes today,” Tate ventured, keeping her tone light.
“Hmm,” Sophia responded, shifting and getting to her feet. Now, she spared Quincy a glance. “Well, let’s get this over with.”
“Ah…” Quincy said when she caught his gaze. He didn’t manage anything more.
“Your parents are coming to send you off,” Tate threw in, trying to help. Quincy gave her a grateful look.
Uncle James and Aunt Olivia approached, trailed by a group of giggling and bouncing children. Tate smiled as her aunt pulled Sophia into a hug, then passed her over to her uncle so he could repeat the gesture.
“We’re proud of you, honey,” Aunt Olivia said, her light green eyes damp. “I wish we could be there, but…I’m sure Quincy’s right. We were inadvertently restricting you in our lessons. Without us there, you’ll have the faith in yourself that you need to extend your wings.”
Sophia shifted uncomfortably and looked at the ground. Her father gave her a gentle smile.
“We look forward to hearing all about it when you get back,” he said.
She looked up and nodded. Quincy adjusted the satchel he wore across his body. It rattled as the items inside shifted. Although Uncle James raised an eyebrow over the obviously full bag, he didn’t comment. He did, however, catch Quincy’s gaze.
“Take care of her,” he said.
Quincy nodded. Then he looked down at Sophia. “Ready?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said.
Tate saw the lie resonate in the word. Sophia caught her gaze in warning, not that Tate was going to call her on it. She smiled and stepped forward to give her cousin a hug.
“Try to have fun, Soph. I know you’ll do great.”
As she watched Quincy lead her cousin into the forest toward adventure, Tate felt the desire to go with them like an ache in her chest. Instead, she turned with her aunt and uncle and headed to the training paddock. And the mundane.
The tai chi session came to a finish as she neared. Aunt Olivia led the children to their lessons as Uncle James joined her father and Uncle Gabriel near the weights. Aunt Amber watched her approach as she wiped her face with a towel.
“You need to stretch?” her aunt asked. She was never one for idle chit-chat.
“Nah,” Tate replied. “I did my warm-up routines earlier.”
“Cool. Why don’t you and Tiege pair up? I’ll get everyone else set up with their weapons and then we’ll see how you’re coming along with your new form.”
“Okay.” She glanced at her brother as he finished drinking some water and strode toward her. “Ready for some hand-to-hand?” she asked.
“You mean am I ready to kick your ass?” he returned with a grin. “You bet.” When she didn’t return his smile or give a snarky rejoinder, his grin faded. “You’re still upset that Mom and Dad said no?”
She shrugged. He already knew the answer. They knew each other as well as any two individuals possibly could.
“You know it’s a lousy idea, Tate,” he pointed out pragmatically. “We have no idea what things are really like away from home.”
That was exactly her point, she thought in growing frustration as she glanced at the break in the trees where Quincy and her cousin disappeared. She didn’t have any idea what it was like out there. And she very much wanted to.
“You’d only get yourself into trouble,” Tiege continued as he twisted sideways in another stretch. “Your skills aren’t sharp enough.”
That set her temper to a fiery pitch. She was sick and tired of the lack of faith in her abilities. How on the entire Estilorian plane could anyone know she would fail to protect herself if she’d never been given the chance to prove it?
