Before I get to the teaser/snippet, I offer a bit of a contest. For those who've read my other works, you might be aware that I am somewhat obsessed by a certain book that became a stage musical. Contained below is a reference to that book hidden amongst the beginning of my little tale.
What you need to do is:
1. find that reference
2. identify it in the context of the book
3. post your answer in the comments :) Yes, I'm a comment whore. Sue me.
What you win:
I"ll ask the winner for their email (privately, don't want the spam bots to pick up) and will send them an inspiration pic for Daevas Malphas (which will go in the bios eventually) and the following chapter by email when that chapter's snippet is posted. So, not terribly early, but before anyone else.
Good luck and enjoy!
xxxxxx
There's a Fine Line...
Chapter One
Blake
Simons drummed his fingers upon the conference table and idly contemplated
murdering his terminally boring Chief Financial Officer. Today’s meeting was focused
on the annual budget review of the multi-billion dollar company as well as
voting on the proposed budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. The dark haired
CEO hated reports in general but reserved a special level of loathing for
financial reports. They were generally a regurgitation of the same report from
the previous year with little changes beyond accounting for inflation and
increases in the costs of living. While such reports were considered necessary,
he could see little advantage to listening as the thin, prune-faced man droned
on about the financial stability of Simons Enterprises as well as the instability of several of the
large conglomerate’s select clients. He’d heard it all before at the last
financial review and once more began plotting his advisor’s death. A simple
grip on the man’s narrow head, a quick twist, and the torture would be over for
the day. He could go home and have a glass of Madeira and relax. How charming
that would be!
“…and
the figures from the third quarter indicate that Leroux, Inc., has experienced
a marked decrease in…”
A marked decrease in your incessant
tediousness would be far more welcome, Simons grumped silently to
himself. He wondered, yet again, why he hadn’t turned over the running of his
company to some younger underling and just raked in the profits. Oh, yes…he was
a controlling bastard who trusted no one. That was it.
Deciding
that a nasally tone of voice and pedantic manner of speech were insufficient
reasons to go through the trouble of covering up the man’s death, he, instead,
allowed his mind to wander to a subject that was as equally appealing as it was
appalling: Alicia Johnston – his mate. Like every other wide-eyed, fresh faced
youngling, he, too, had once believed in the drivel poured into his naïve ears
about soul mates that would make the interminable years ahead bearable. But
when the years passed – years, then decades, and then centuries – without this
mythical being, he felt the veil forcibly ripped from his eyes. Nothing could
soothe the utter dreariness of outliving your friends, family – even their
grandchildren’s grandchildren were now dust and forgotten. Until that damnable
Summit; until her. His scowl grew fierce and the CFO nervously
stumbled over his words before falling silent. Though he much preferred the
silence, Blake sighed and motioned for him to continue.
“Um…yes,
well…meanwhile, Poligny & Debienne has seen a steady increase in…”
The only increase I want to hear about,
Barnes, is the speed of your damned speech before I rip your tongue from your
mouth and force you to eat it, the vampire owner and Chief Executive
Officer thought sourly. He really hated meetings. As the CFO droned on, he
allowed himself to drift back to the events that led up to his finding his mate.
Had
it only been two months ago that he’d been approached by a member of the
Vampire Council to investigate the leader of the hate group, the Human Purity League,
Colonel Friedrich Hunsinger? That he’d been chosen as the Primary Investigator
hadn’t surprised him; he was one of the few high-profile nonhumans who hadn’t
stepped forward after the Reveal. He’d enjoyed a fair amount of speculation
from both colleagues and rivals alike over the last five years and it had
amused him to fuel the fires of both opposing opinions. When he learned that
the Colonel had planned to capture several of the children of the attending
Ambassadors, he passed the information on to his contact and gave it little
additional thought. Vampires couldn’t have children so what did it matter to
him if some Shifter’s brats were kidnapped? A few less mutts in the world
couldn’t be a bad thing, could it? So, he’d made his report but failed to
follow up with the Council to discover their next plan of action.
The
Council had remained silent on the matter which had surprised him. With
Elizabeth Pierce as the local Council Chair and the Colonel being her mate’s
mortal father, he’d expected some kind of official stance on how to handle the
situation. Instead, his reports had been met with nothing but silence. It was
only the interception of a wayward pixie spy that informed him that the
Colonel’s plan had been implemented and he’d been furious. He’d stormed the
hotel to confront his friend only to discover that his reports had somehow gone
astray. The Council hadn’t reacted because they hadn’t known. It seemed there
was someone amongst the council members with their own agenda.
The
lights in the meeting room dimmed, pulling Blake from his thoughts. His eyes
shifted closer to those of his inner beast’s, more crimson than his dark brown,
in order to pierce the low light. When the projector flared to light, he barely
stifled his groan. PowerPoint was the bane of every meeting in the corporate
world and he had half a mind to hunt down Bill Gates and kick his ass for allowing the
damned thing to be created.
“As
you can see by this table, the changes in the Board of Directors of Larrabie,
Inc., has caused stockholders to…”
Holy fuck, was the man still talking?
Ripping his head off was far too kind. Perhaps he could pin him to the wall
like a wingless butterfly and peel the skin away in small squares…
Immersed
in the pleasurable contemplations of his CFO’s torture, Blake returned to his
thoughts of the recent past. When the others had left the room, he’d remained
behind – drawn by something he couldn’t name. It wasn’t until he’d paced the
room more than a dozen times that he’d learned whom the elves had been tending.
The young human female wasn’t what he normally indulged in when it came to sex
or food, but her scent had captured his attention the instant he’d gotten
close. Once those annoying elves had moved out of his way, he’d gotten his
first good look at the girl. His beast had hissed his pleasure…and his need.
She
was a little thing, short and slim, with gently waving light brown hair that
fanned out over the pillow like a honeyed halo. Dark brown lashes kept her eyes
hidden but the scattering of freckles across her cheeks and bridge of his nose
had his fingers itching to trace each and every one. In sleep, she looked far
younger than her nineteen years and yet the gentle swells of her breasts beneath
the thin sheet had belied her childlike appearance. She wasn’t, perhaps,
classically pretty but she was petite, cute, and called to him on such a deep
level that, in his eyes, she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever been
privileged to see.
The
blood that stained her shirt had been the evidence of a vicious wound and he
barely remembered asking the elven shaman how she’d obtained the injury. The
answer had been a dagger straight to his soul. Alicia had been injured helping
the children – those same children he’d written his reports about and then
dismissed. The pain he’d felt when he’d gazed upon a near-mortally wounded,
young, human girl and realized that his complacency had caused her injury very
nearly crippled him. It was his fault she was injured; he should have
confronted the Council after his first report went unanswered.
And
then there was the knowledge that another of his kind had drank from her –
placed their bloodied and savage fangs upon the creamy flesh of her delicate
throat and defiled what was his.
He didn’t care if it had meant their escape; reason had little to do with the
vampire’s visceral and instinctive reaction. Blake’s inner beast rose sharply
at the thought with but one purpose, to kill, but he ruthlessly subdued his vicious
nature. For as cruel and bestial as his inner beast was, it had learned quickly
in the earliest days of their shared existence that the human was far colder,
more cunning, and deadlier than it could ever aspire to be.
But
now, both were undone by a girl. A
Girl! His low growl caused those nearby to shift uncomfortably in
their chairs but he paid them little mind.
Once
she’d healed, he’d visited her in her room and asked her to dinner. Granted,
she’d been in the shower when he’d entered and it had been quite a struggle to
keep from joining her. Just the thought of the water flowing over that young,
nubile body to wash away the frothy bubbles that hid her delightful curves from
his eyes had very nearly shattered his monumental self control. Fuck, it was
damaging it even now as the memory of her in that fluffy robe, with her hair
wet and tousled, had him hard as granite in his pricey A. Caraceni. The
surprise on her face when she’d found him in her room, followed quickly by a
perfectly thrown knife aimed for his head, had him ready to ruin his expensive
tailored suit.
And
then he’d tasted her.
Leroux wrote Phantom of the Opera. Poligny & Debienne were the couple retiring from the Opera near the beginning of the story.
ReplyDeleteLOL I'd totally forgotten about Leroux...I'd been thinking of them as the werewolf pack from TOH. But yes, Poligny & Debienne were the retiring managers. :)
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