Today’s excerpt comes from Heat In the Air.She watched the building, waiting for
the woman to exit....
Today’s excerpt comes from Heat In the Air.
She watched the building, waiting for
the woman to exit. Juno expected Camille to come prancing out in about an hour
after dinner with the woman from the bathroom. The scent of sex had been heavy
enough in the air that she’d be a fool not to guess what they’d been doing.
Camille didn’t seem like the type to
do it on the first date or with a stranger in a public bathroom, so they must
know each other.
Her phone vibrated, and she tugged it
from her pants pocket, hoping it wasn’t Necron calling her again. She knew he
was anxious to get the girl and the stone in his grasp, but he couldn’t do that
if he didn’t let her work.
“Yeah?” she asked without looking at the
caller ID.
“How are things going?”
Necron’s voice was dark and deep and
held an unspoken question as it came through the line.
“She was fucking some woman in the bathroom,
so I figured she’d blow me off.”
“You weren’t supposed to take off,”
he snapped, and she rolled her eyes.
“You didn’t ask me to hook up with
her,” she muttered. She wouldn’t have minded. Camille was a hot little piece of
ass. “I’m waiting for her to come out so I can grab her.”
“Don’t damage the stone and don’t
feed off the girl,” he ordered.
“Anything else?” she asked coolly.
She had no real plans to feed off her. This was work. “I need to go. You’re
distracting me.”
“I want the girl here tonight,” he
said. “No stops along the way.”
“I know,” she said through clenched
teeth.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said and
ended the call.
Juno sighed in exasperation and put
the phone away. As she did, she spied Camille strolling to her car.
Camille made her way through the
parking lot fairly quickly with the springiness great sex put in the step. She
expected her to start whistling or singing any second.
“Camille?”
The voice was soft, carried to her on
the wind and Camille turned.
“Shit,” she whispered and pushed away
from the car she was leaning against as she enjoyed the darkness of this unlit
side of the parking lot.
She had to make her move now and
quick or she’d have to kill the other woman calling more attention to this than
Necron would want. Then, the bastard would kick her ass.
****
Cool solidity slammed into the back
of her, flattening Camille against a nearby car and she let out a choked scream
even as she reached for her airy magick.
A cool thread of energy slithered
down the back of her neck and around her throat and tightened. Camille grasped
it and pulled. hoping it came free as easily as a loose thread, but it
tightened and burned her flesh.
Her breath rushed out of her in a
gust, hitting the window causing it to crack before blowing back on them in a
hard breeze that momentarily stole her breath.
The person behind her grunted and fisted a hand in her hair and shoved
her face toward the window. (here, Camille is using the watery energy of air—both can
be crushing in the right circumstance or force. Tidal waves. Hurricanes.)
She exhaled roughly and her face
collided with the air that was like a cushion. The attacker growled in anger,
the breath hot against her neck. Then suddenly her energy rushed backward,
pulling away from her physical body and into her aura.
A dark breed?
They were dangerous half-demon
creatures who fed off the psychic and sexual energy of humans and witches. They
could take part of the witch’s power if they established a psychic link with
them during the feeding. Or they could twist their victim’s mind making them
easily bend to the dark breed’s will.
“That’s it,” she murmured. “Don’t fight
me and this will all be over in a second.”
Her energy felt sluggish and stilted
and her stomach roiled, causing her to gag, but Camille slammed her foot down
on the attacker and drove her elbow back into her stomach. Her power pooled low
in her belly and a light breeze whipped up, blowing over them.
Upon release, she quickly rounded on
the woman, prepared to use the limited kick-boxing skills learned in
self-defense.
She didn’t like to use magick in
public when she could help it since her power was a little erratic lately.
The woman held out a hand and black
energy snaked around Camille’s throat and latched into her skin. She fought
feeling light-headed.
Her attacker closed the distance
between them and put her hand on Camille’s chest. Dark energy went through her,
her skin crawling, and she jerked as if she’d been shocked.
“Back off.” She forced the words out,
but they were a whisper as she pushed weakly at the other woman. Air leaked
from her hands as the fear inside her grew into a frantic monster. Wet
moistened her fingers and the woman grunted and slapped her.
“Stop fighting it,” she snarled. “Let
it take you under.”
The shadow was knocked to the ground
by a black wind before the caster of the magick came into view.
The shadow faced Tylor and released a
dark vein of energy. The power was thin and ropy and snaked out toward Tylor
who jumped over it and came down, hand extended.
Tylor flicked her wrist and lightning
flashed before stabbing into the other woman. The woman jerked and a screech
tore from her throat so loudly, it triggered car alarms and drew a cry of pain
from Camille. (here I use lightning to show her power as a storm but as a blade that
cuts and kills.)
She covered her ears, face scrunched.
Tylor clenched her fingers and the screeching
stopped. The woman glowed as if lit from within and lightning flashed overhead.
A second later the dark figure was collapsing to her knees. (the clenching
of her hand signifies Tylor taking control of the woman’s breathing—air and
stopping it to stop the noise.)
It’s
a way of making the air go still like the calm before a storm.
