My newest novel, The Silver Catacombs (Elfblood Book #2) is being released in February 2013. But I thought I would give anybody interested a little sneak peak. So here is Chapter One.
Summer was fading into fall, bringing a hint of
winter’s chill to the nights and early mornings. Charlie lay with his head
rested on his backpack and watched the gray sky shading toward the golden hues
of dawn. The alley in which he’d spent the night was still and silent, except
for the soft snores of Spree, who was curled
up on his chest.
He hated to wake the sprite but he was stiff from
sleeping on the hard ground. Besides, it was never a good idea to stay in one
place for too long, and he was hungry. “Spree?”
He gently prodded her with his finger.
The sprite stirred with a sigh and propped her head up
on her slender hands. Her almond-shaped brown eyes regarded him wearily. “What
you need, Charlie?”
“It’s time to get up.”
Spree stood and stretched, flexing her translucent wings.
“Is hardly sun in sky.”
“I know. But this isn’t like sleeping in a tree or a
gully somewhere. We’re in the city now and someone might see us.” They’d been
avoiding populated areas as much as possible on their trek across Angland,
using Spree’s corridor of non-light whenever
they could. But Spree could only carry another
person that way for so long before her magic wore out and so Charlie had spent
part of the journey on foot.
They had used
the corridor three days ago to bypass the checkpoint at the border and enter
the country of Kiloreen, ancestral home of the elves. From here on out, Charlie
must travel by foot alone. He was looking for something and he didn’t want to
take the chance of missing it by using the corridor. There was a map in his
pocket which was supposed to lead him to his destination if only he could
figure out how to use it.
Once Spree had hopped
off his chest, Charlie took the canteen out of his backpack. He screwed off the
lid, filled it with water, and handed it to Spree,
then drank what was left himself. They would need more water and soon. Though
he wasn’t sure where to get it in a city.
“Is more food in back sack?” Spree
asked.
Charlie looked inside the backpack and tried not to
smile. One would think that someone who’d spent more than a hundred and twenty
years living in the heating ducts of a school would have a clearer grasp of the
language but Spree persisted in mangling it. Charlie’s
few attempts at correcting Spree had done
nothing but agitate her and he’d long since given up.
“No,” he said, closing the backpack. “You better go
see what you can scrounge up. And bring back real food this time, not cookies.”
Spree made a face, stuck out her tongue, and went
invisible. Charlie sighed. They’d mostly been living off whatever the land had
to offer, which meant Charlie had eaten more fruit in the last two weeks than
he had in his entire life, not to mention grass, flowers, and bugs. None of
this bothered Spree who, despite her
preoccupation with sweets, seemed willing to eat anything, but for Charlie it
had been something of an adjustment.
Charlie leaned his head back against the brick
building. He found himself missing the home where he’d spent the last seven
years of his life. At least there he had three meals a day and a real bed on
which to sleep. This whole thing was like one long nightmare from which he
could not wake. Sometimes, he wished he’d never met Lily, never heard of the
Silver Catacombs; then he would still be with Grant and the others instead of
on this endless quest.
Well, no time to dawdle in this alley, wallowing in
misery; he needed to move. He had no worries about leaving this spot without Spree. She could always find him. He reached into his
pocket and withdrew the silver disk. He stared down at it for the hundredth
time and traced a finger over the strange symbols etched blackly into its
surface. He thought they were words but could find no one capable of reading
them.
In the center of the disk was a small, white
magestone. Charlie concentrated on it, calling up his magic, which he was sure
was the key to unlocking the map. The stone shimmered faintly, the air above it
rippling, only to fade away again. Charlie muttered a curse and stuffed the
disk back into his pocket.
“The map and the key” was what Lily had called the
disk. But she had known no better than he how to operate it.
Charlie headed for the street and hoped there were no
constables about who might be inclined to stop him. He had no papers; if he was
caught they would take him straight to jail. Once they got a look at his record
and saw elfblood in bold red letters,
he would be finished.
As Charlie stepped out of the alley, someone came
running around the corner and barreled directly into him. They went down in a
tangled heap and Charlie found himself looking into a pair of bright blue eyes
surrounded by long lashes.
“Idiot,” the girl muttered, pushing herself to her
feet. “Don’t you watch where you’re going?”
Charlie, who was a bit dazed from having hit his head
on the asphalt, stared stupidly up at her. She was tall and trim, with unruly
black curls, highlighted purple, falling across her shoulders. She was dressed
all in black: jeans, tank top, boots with chains, and fingerless gloves. A
silver belt circled her narrow waist.
Charlie thought she was a little older than he was,
maybe sixteen, judging by her shape, which wasn’t bad to look at even from
where he was lying on the ground. The sound of running feet came from the side
street. The girl glared down at Charlie. “You didn’t see me.” She darted down
the alley and hid behind the nearest dumpster, which was overflowing with
foul-smelling refuse.
Charlie managed to get himself into a seated position
before two men came around the corner. He knew by their blue uniforms they were
town constables and a cold fear cramped his guts.
The fiery dragon in Charlie’s mind leapt to the
defense, the magic eager to take control. Charlie mentally grabbed hold of the
chains that had once bound the beast in the darkest depths of his mind and
pulled back, hoping to at least keep it from going for the kill.
He was on his feet before the men even knew he was
there. With a quick kick, he hit the first constable in the chest and heard
something snap as the man fell backward. The second constable went for the
pistol holstered at his side but he wasn’t half fast enough. Even as his hand
closed around the leather grip, Charlie’s leg came around in a roundhouse kick
that caught the man on the side of the head. He spun and fell face first onto
the ground.
Magic rushed through Charlie’s veins eager for the
kill. But he held it back, forcing the dragon to retreat. Once it was safely
put down, Charlie knelt beside the first man. The man’s face was pale, his
breath short and raspy. Charlie hadn’t allowed the full force of his magic to
come through, but he had still broken several of the man’s ribs and judging by
his breathing one of them had likely punctured a lung. The second man was unconscious
and bleeding but his heartbeat was steady enough.
There was no one else on the street so early in the
morning. Charlie had chosen this place because it seemed mostly deserted,
though he could hear traffic from somewhere on the other side of the brick
buildings. He was torn. Should he try to find help for these men and endanger
himself, or leave them and hope some passerby would find them before they died?
“How did you do that?”
Charlie turned at the sound of the girl’s voice behind
him. Her eyes were wide with amazement. He stood. “I… uh…” He couldn’t tell the
truth and reveal what he was. But he never had been good at lying. “Uh…”
“Uh…” she mimicked him with cruel accuracy. “What’s
the matter? You can fight but you can’t talk?”
“I can talk,” Charlie said, blushing furiously. “I
just don’t like answering questions, that’s all.”
She shrugged. “Suit yourself. My name’s Raven and I
guess I owe you something for taking care of these two for me.” She glanced at
the men. “Although they aren’t dead.”
“My name’s Charlie and I don’t kill people if I don’t
have to. In fact, I’d like to get them some help before they do die.”
Raven eyed him with a frown, then shrugged again. “A
conscience can be a dangerous thing, but if you insist.” She stepped around him
and knelt beside the first man who watched her with a mixture of fear and pain
in his eyes.
There was a small, black box on his belt, which looked
to Charlie to be very similar to the coms the guards had used back at the
prison camp. Raven pressed a small red button on the side of the box. “There.
This place will be swarming with constables in about ten minutes. I would
suggest we be long gone by then.”
“We?”
“Sure. You saved me from going to jail so the least I
can do is get you something to eat. You are hungry, aren’t you?”
Charlie hesitated. “Well, it has been awhile
since I ate.”
“So come on, then.” Raven led the way down the alley
and along a rutted back road. On one side, the backs of tall brick buildings
loomed over them. On the other was an overgrown lot with a few motor cars
rusting under the rising sun.
“You’re not from here, are you?” Raven asked.
Charlie was instantly suspicious. “Why do you ask?”
Raven gave him a lopsided smile. “Right. You don’t
like to answer questions. Not a bad view in most instances but it could get you
in a lot of trouble where we’re going.”
“Why? Where are going?”
“A special place,” she said, still smiling. “A place
not everybody is allowed to go. But don’t worry; I think you’ll fit in just
fine.”
