Excerpt
from Kill
Me,
by Alex Owens
The
lights dimmed and for the briefest second I found myself alone, in
the dark, with Clive behind me and out of my sight line. I had the
irrational (or maybe not so irrational) fear that he would take the
chance while my back was turned, literally. I turned to reassure
myself that he was not preparing to eat me.
Only
I couldn’t see him.
That
was a bad, bad feeling. Kind of like being a kid and certain that
something was hiding in your closet—only it’s dark and you can’t
be sure.
“Oh,
how I want to,” Clive said, his lips grazing my ear as he spoke,
before traveling down the length of my neck in warp speed.
I
jumped and almost dropped the violin. While fumbling to regain
control of the errant instrument, Clive used the distraction against
me. He pulled me down from my perch on the arm of the settee and
enveloped me with strong arms and his solid torso. I struggled, but
it was like fighting a strait-jacket.
I
heard his teeth clack near my head at the same time I felt his body
pressing into the small of my back.
My
vision clouded red. I was seriously past irritated.
Easy.
Stay calm.
A duo of voices sounded in my head. I’d become used to hearing my
own thoughts and more recently to the voice I assumed was Bette’s,
but who was the new voice? I didn’t have time to think about that
further, as the curtain parted silently, revealing the stage to the
audience.
I
calculated that I had less than thirty seconds to pull myself
together before I was supposed to start. I inhaled deeply, closing my
eyes and relaxing into Clive. It was the first time I tried to borrow
someone’s talent on purpose, so I pictured my mental brick-fortress
and nudged a few bricks out of place, leaving a hole big enough to
let Clive’s talent in. A melody came to me, somber and dark.
Gooseflesh spread down my arms.
I
felt his hand stiffen on my back, telling me that I’d tapped into
his talent just fine for my first official time. Bonus points that
Clive didn’t seem to enjoy the connection. Clearly, he was used to
being feared, not used. That thought brought a smile to my face as I
lifted my eyes, pulled the violin under my chin and prepared to play.
I
tapped my foot on the scuffed black stage, counting in to my first
note. As the time approached I let myself go, mentally drifting as I
heard myself making beautiful music. It was a slow and morose ballad
that I’d never heard before. Nonetheless, it felt familiar to my
soul. Or maybe that was Clive’s soul?
Yeah,
right. Clive didn’t have a soul.
The
song undulated around me in a hazy aura of colors that only I could
see. I reached the first lull in the song and rested the bow on my
lap. Clive shifted ever-so slightly behind me and I could feel his
lips brush my ear. I expected him to say something crass or
irritating, but he remained silent.
I
was overcome with a feeling of sadness and loss. It was like my heart
was breaking and I could literally feel it in my chest, cleaving in
two. I closed my eyes, willing the pain to recede. Instead, I saw an
image, a flickering still-frame from eons ago. A dark haired man
cradled a limp child in his arms, wailing up to the gray sky as rain
poured down around them. The cobbled street was dark, lit by dim gas
lamps every hundred feet or so. There was no one else around to
witness the man’s pain. But I witnessed it still.
Clive
nudged me and I came back to myself. I wasn’t sure what had just
happened, but if my suspicions were correct, I’d just taken a trip
down Clive’s memory lane. That’s the one thing that most people,
including myself, forget—monsters are not just born, they are
created and shaped by experiences.
But
enough of feeling sorry for Clive; I didn’t want to let my guard
down as far as he was concerned. No matter what he’d experienced in
the past or what he’d lost, he was dangerous in the here and now.
I’d be smart to remember that.
****
Claire
Adams is the star of the new book Kill Me, by Alex Owens. You can
find out more about Claire by visiting the book’s Amazon
page, the Blood
Chord Series site or the publisher’s site,
QuirkyGurl.com.
Blurb/ About the Novel:
Three days ago, Claire was a
wife, a mother, and very much alive… then the music called for her.
Claire has one goal for the
conference— to land a few whales so that her boss will give her a
badly needed raise. She pitches and prays while courting the music
industry elite until her plans are derailed by hotness-in-high-heels.
Vampire Bette is at the conference
to find someone with untapped supernatural talents that she can
control. With her cursed violin, Bette draws Claire in with a song
and as the first chord is played Claire’s life is unraveled, her
new “talents” emerge and she’s attracted to two unlikely
people— Bette and her hunky associate, Gregor. Both can light
Claire’s fire,
but is either of them the
only one?
Unfortunately for Claire, life
isn’t all song lyrics and seduction. Tied to darkness by blood and
power, Claire must harness her abilities if she has any hope of
regaining her former life.
About
the Author:
Alex
Owens is a woman with little free time, which means she stays up all
hours of the night putting pen to paper. By day she's June Cleaver in
jeans, and by night she writes. Somewhere in the middle of all that
she finds time to tend 'dem babies, fry up the bacon and curl up with
a good book (or ten), much to the chagrin of her family. She's
currently at work on her Blood Chord Series, with book two
due out by the fall of 2012.
Links:
Ok, so I had problems. I pressed enter and I think I entered to the giveaway a couple of times, but please don't desqualified me! It was just a mistake and I'm letting you know. Thanks for the giveaway, the excerpt let me wanting for more!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry.. of course I didn't disqualify you..")
DeleteThanks for entering..:D