Rachel Morgan's Blog, page 34

Creepy Hollow Fae: Yuromanter

Year of study: fifth
Assignment type: solo





The blonde in the miniskirt leans closer to her mirror and dabs something over her eyelids. “So then I told him that I’d just have to skip the game if he was gonna be like that, and he was all like, whatever babe, doesn’t bother me.”

Her friend, lying on the bed flipping through a magazine, looks up. “Ugh, what a douchebag.”

“I know. Total asshat, right?”

Douchebag? Asshat? I haven’t heard those before, but they sound like names I could use for Ryn when t...

Creepy Hollow Fae: Xerogoul

Year of study: fifth
Assignment type: solo





He wraps his sandpapery hands around my neck and squeezes. “You damn guardians think you can interfere in everything that isn’t your business.”

I slash at him with my knife, slicing through the front of his jacket, and then bring my knee up hard against his stomach. He stumbles backward down the cinema steps. “You make it ... our business ... when you try to kill someone,” I gasp, then throw the knife at him for good measure. He dodges the weapon, whic...

Creepy Hollow Fae: Will-o'-the-wisp

Year of study: third
Assignment type: paired (with mentor)





“Here’s what I think,” says Jasmine between chattering teeth. “If these humans are stupid enough to go hiking in this—” she gestures to the thick mist swirling around us “—then they deserve to be led into a marsh and drowned.”

Nearby, I hear a sigh from our observing mentor, Bran.

“Well, here’s what I think,” I tell the girl who can’t seem to think of anyone but herself. “Firstly, we would fail our assignment, which is a big deal. And s...

Creepy Hollow Fae: Virika

Year of study: fourth
Assignment type: paired (without mentor)





“Get off her, you little freaks!” yells Honey. The bright red ghost-like entities crowd around me, suffocating me, feasting on my magic. Their pointed and perpetually bloodstained teeth scrape against my skin. My hands are a crisscross of fine red lines. Uselessly, I shove against them, gradually losing sight of the empty classroom around us.

“Honey ... get them ... I can’t ...”

... so weak ...  fading ...

A sudden roar fills my...

Creepy Hollow Fae: Urisk

Year of study: fourth
Assignment type: solo (with mentor observing)





Bald, misshapen head? Check.
Scrawny, wrinkled body? Check.
Patches of hair in random spots? Check.
Ferocious, human-devouring tendencies? Not so much.

“He looks so lonely,” I say to Tora. More than lonely, in fact. The urisk sitting on the rock beside the dam looks as though he may burst into tears at any moment.

Tora frowns. “You’re not supposed to be talking to me. I’m just here to observe, remember? Not interact.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“U...

Creepy Hollow Fae: Troll

Year of study: second
Assignment type: group (with mentor)





With gathering momentum, the troll lumbers across the parking lot, heading straight for the student in the bright red something-or-other. (I’ve never been good with car names. It’s not like I need to know them.)

“Okay, you guys ready?” shouts Bran from the grass. As a mentor, he’s not supposed to get too involved in our assignments. He’ll be in trouble if we fail and get a human squished, though. Probably why he’s looking a little green....

Six Sentence Sunday: "I tilt my head back and..."

Today's six sentences come from the opening scene of Traiter, the third installment in the Creepy Hollow series (due to be released in late May).


I tilt my head back and let out a groan. Counseling. That thing where I have to discuss my feelings about killing someone. Great. The list of things I’m not good at is pretty short, but feelings are probably at the top. Fortunately, my kill count is pretty low, so I haven’t had to do the counseling thing too often.






Guardian Gets Around
Thanks to Smash...

Creepy Hollow Fae: Shapeshifter

Year of study: fifth
Assignment type: solo





The faerie boy steps closer to his target, an aged librarian packing books away into a shelf. He pulls a knife from his belt, raises his hand—and that’s when I grab him around the neck and drag him backward. He melts into the form of a small child—what? A shapeshifter? The Seer didn’t tell me that—and slips easily away from me before shifting into a large man and shoving me to the ground. I sweep my leg out, tripping him. He lands heavily. I jump to my...

Creepy Hollow Fae: Reptiscilla

Year of study: fifth
Assignment type: solo





I slide off the window seat and creep across the room, keeping my eyes peeled for the reptiscilla. The boy I’m protecting sleeps soundly at his desk, his cheek stuck to the open page of a textbook.

I shrink into a shadowed corner and wait, thinking about that shapeshifter project I still have to—

But there she is! With a hiss, the serpent woman streaks across the room, lamplight reflecting off her scaly skin. I stretch my arms into position and feel the...

Creepy Hollow Fae: Quirkizil

Year of study: fourth
Assignment type: paired (without mentor)





“This is so lame,” says Dale as I open a doorway to the faerie paths. “It’s just one of those little quarkazole thingies.”

“Quirkizil,” I correct, widening the doorway.

“Whatever. My point is, they’re not even dangerous. I could handle this perfectly fine on my own.”

“Sure,” I say. “I’m happy to stand back and watch while you take care of the situation. Now let’s go.” I hold my hand out. We have to maintain contact while traveling the...