Sneak Peeks
Pearl and Gold or The Winged Ones?
Hello, lovelies and soul bards,
Happy HUMP Day. Need a little life lift up over the middle of the week and into the weekend? Well, based on the last time that I sent a poll a few weeks ago, people tied in their requests for either sneak peeks of The Winged Ones and / or Pearl and Gold.
Well, why not go with a little from both of them, plus a glimpse at the covers?
What is it like being a member of Aryeh’s personal guard throughout time? Let’s find out, shall we? This collection of short stories features side quest tales that do not exactly fit in the main line quest stories of Season 1 and 2, but they do expand upon it. Let’s visit in with Tuce this time, shall we?
“She’s the daughter of a Hunter’s bastard son Turned vampiric King of Immortals. What do you expect, Ian?”
“In a modern world, without a court or magic to encourage her brat-dom?”
“I guess Uncle Tuce needs to have a conversation with his favorite gal. Why did they pull her over in the first place? She’s driven up to Canada hundreds of times since she got her first bike in the 1950s.”
“First time in forty-nine years of making the trip that she found trouble over the vehicle. Normally, it’s punching somebody’s lights out and restraining orders that keep her mother’s anger boiling.”
Tuce rubbed his temples. “Please tell me you brought something to help me cope with this pounding headache?”
“Caffeinated sugar, as you prefer.”
“Branded, glowing, green swill? I think this is the stuff superheroes drink to obtain epic strength and bad adolescent attitudes.”
“Not to mention an absurd addiction to pizza.”
“Is this some sort of new store brand I’m not aware of out in them there rural parts?”
“Not at all. Backed by your favorite brand’s rival.”
“Ah, new capital competition at long last, I see. You attempt to outdo my love of gamer empowering drinks with a replacement? Consider thine gauntlet picked up and returned.”
Without a second thought for the green, black, and red’s labels warnings, he twisted off the cap with a comforting snap and fizz. Tossing his head back, he gulped the would-be radioactive soda. It’s chemical cocktail of caffeine, synthetic ingredients, and undigestible or unpronounceable elements.
“You know the rule. Mess up her beloved Desert Rose, and you’ll clean it from bumper to bumper and rocker panel rack to tires.”
Thankful Ian swerved them into an emergency lane, the wingless fae spat every drop onto worn asphalt. “This is nothing like my delicious, liquid gold from the Divine. What fucking poison did you choke me with, asshole?”
“That’s certainly not the reaction I thought you’d have. Is it really so bad?”
“Do you have ice water anywhere?”
Ian handed over a thermos of the requested drink. Downing several gulps and swishing the last two permitted Tuce the room to combine the green bottle with the thermos. Shaking them together cancelled the unneeded fizz. “Damn humans and their addiction to plastic.”
“That was a fast mood change.”
“Smartass.” Tuce guzzled several swallows and shrugged. “At least it’s in the same mountain chain as my beloved addiction this time around.”
“Note to me, cola is a better choice in this situation.”
“Damn tootin’ it is.” Rubbing his belly, he sipped the watery mess a few more times against wisdom’s intuition. Fresher air an hour and a half later persuaded nausea to subside. Blood pressure disagreed, and his heart started tapdancing.
Ian peered over his sunglasses and across the Jeep. “I assume you’d fly right out of here if you had wings.”
“No soda or sugar source has made me sweat without containing something a la vitamins and crap Rochelle knows more about.”
“I can call her and ask for advice?”
“I think the better decision would have been to not taint the water. Do you think Katrina would be on her evening run by the time we arrive in town?”
“She goes for coffee as the mid-point in that run, in case you don’t recall.”
In the months after Book 5 and Season 1's ending... how does Nephtyri find healing alongside Ian in a land she’s never seen but has heard about through his eyes? What can she learn as a vampire and former queen of all immortals about being a better leader for her people by learning from a local village’s favorite elderly woman? This novella features a side quest tale that does not exactly fit in the main line quest stories of Season 1 and 2, but it does expand upon it.
Paradise. At last. Is this our home?
Salty air filled Nephtyri Sinclair’s lungs, and not from the scent it left behind on her soulmate and spouse's clothes. Well, all their clothes, really, even if it heightened the calming effect his coat had when draped around her body. Instead, the Atlantic herself splashed and played against the Good Ship Lusty Strumpet on what must have been their longest voyage. Their loneliest voyage.
Watching the water, Nephtyri hoped leaving the past behind remained where it belonged, as they sailed into an unknown future without magic in a land only her Ian knew. In her soul, she cried for what would happen to her lost Turnling's favorite ship. Chasing up and down a shallow coastline to navigate unfamiliar territory was one half of their concern in this New World, as so many English people called it in London. Ripping the Good Ship apart and building homes with her along the cliffs dotting the island above the not-so-far-off beaches?
Mahlyce, said lost Turnling, would be flattered to partake in either operation, if she were present. She would love the odd designs Bjorn and Ian argued over regarding who had which house and where on the map they charted together. At the same time, Mahlyce would cry.
She is with her Daniel, where she craved to be for centuries. That is what matters. That is all that matters. She is happy and would want us to do what is best for our survival, healing, and joy. Nephtyri cleared her mind of sad thoughts as best she could, when a pattering of feet rounded the corner to join her on the helm deck.
“Aunt Tyri, there you are.”
“Hello, Iona. I see your Uncle Frey has you babysitting for him again.”
The little bundle of shifter prince strapped to the adolescent’s back squirmed as she responded, “Korrin is behaving for me today. Do you see the beach ahead?”
“Yes. So many fires. Your Uncle Ian said there might be new friends to greet us.”
“I hope so. Do you think we are likely to see any of the Hunters here? They used to trade with this island.”
Nephtyri sighed long and deep. “That is my greatest concern. We do not know which enemies lie ahead in a territory that is not yet home. Thank you for being brave, my moon and stars. We have asked so much of you, and you make me so proud to raise you as my own.”
Iona’s honesty smelled like sweetness to her aunt’s vampiric nose. “I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, after what happened the last few years. Remind me when I forget my strength?”
“My girl, you are indeed brave, like your mother,” Nephtyri stated with a hug to envelop both children. In her eyes, they were not orphans. They had a family full of cousins, aunts, and uncles who loved them. In Iona's case, Nephtyri and Ian considered the redhead to be their daughter, but she was not required to call them what her cousin Elias did. If she wanted to eventually, she would be welcomed.
Korrin, however, would not hesitate to call Frey and Lee by Papa and Mama respectfully. Whether or not the little boy remembered his natural mother, Harumi, Nephtyri did not know. She would not dare to ask until he was well beyond his youthful years, either. For the time being, she would love them both as best she could and nothing less.
Iona snuggled into her aunt when the ocean sprayed them too hard. “Thank you.”
“For?”
“Being so much like a mother when you're my aunt. Do you think Uncle Ian will return soon with Uncle Bjorn? I'm worried as to why they have been gone for three nights.”
“The friends Ian wants us to meet need to be prepared to receive us.”
“You think the Hunters might have made them an enemy?”
Want to know more? Blurbs and more sneak peeks coming soon!
Please take care of you during this time, lovelies and soul bards. More than ever. Your. Voice. Matters. DANG IT!
All my hugs,
Jenna OM
~Your Soul Writer