Buried in Edits...

Not sure what's up with blogger, but I'm about ready to kill it!! Grrr...everytime I try to log into blogger, it tells me "Service Unavailable". The only way I can log in and do anything is to log in through my other blog account. Grrr...again! lol

Anyway, I'm buried neck deep in edits. I'm almost finished with the edits on my new dark gothic romance series Where the Road to Hell Begins and thought I'd leave an excerpt. Tell me what you think.

A word of warning, this is a dark gothic paranormal romance ("horrormance" as I lovingly call it LOL), there is a lot of graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing. So, read at your own discretion!


EXCERPT: (I actually picked this excerpt because it was less violent than others)

Power twinkled from his palm like a firework sparkler and the deadbolt grated open. Humans and their pathetic security measures, they needed protective charms to guard against demons, not deadbolts and simple locks. Soon Madison and Amos wouldn't need protection. Then blood would run like rivers, turning the soil red and from it the fruits of his labor would sprout.

The door opened without a sound and he easily maneuvered up the stairs in the dark to the bedroom. Amos lay curled on his side next to Madison on the bed. Lightening flickered through the window long enough for him to see Madison wore yellow panties and a pale green sleeveless tank-top. She lay on top of the covers, hair haloing her head like a gold coronet, one arm thrown over her head and the other rested on her stomach. Her long legs caressed by demonic electrical energy and his appreciative gaze.

Soon he'd part her shapely thighs and fuck her, remind her that she was his, forever his. Only his. And he'd make sure she understood that calling in Phoenix Birmingham bordered on treachery.

Approaching the bed with silent tread, Beliel stared at the two subjects. They meant everything to him, both equally important to his ultimate purpose.

Kneeling beside Amos, he twirled his finger and deepened Madison's sleep. "Amos." Blue eyes fluttered open, instantly awake at his call. "Hungry?"

Amos nodded his head, scrunched the covers down and scooted up into a sitting position. Holding his hands up, Beliel waggled the fingers on his right hand and his nails lengthened into sharp dark red claws. He pressed the tip of a nail against his left wrist and black blood bloomed as thick and gooey as tar. With rounded eyes, Amos stared at the blood. His breathing grew reedy and awkward, much too fast like a sprinter at the end of an arduous marathon. Like a torpedo Amos launched across the bed, wrapped tiny fingers around Beliel's wrist and smashed his mouth to the demon's wrist.

Beliel smiled and pet Amos's head as the child slurped the dark hemoglobin.

* * * * *

Madison jerked awake, unsure what woke her. Sleeping peacefully, a rarity for nightmares not to plague her dreams these days, she tried going straight back to sleep, but something dragged her from the edge once again.

Lightening crackled outside the window and a long weary sigh whistled through her lips. The thunderstorm had probably woken her. But…she'd watched the news and the forecast hadn't called for showers. A balmy, unusually warm spring evening had been in order.

She blinked, peering around her midnight darkened bedroom, the sound of heavy rain hitting the roof. Eh…the weather man just got it wrong. Again. Nothing new in the macabre southern weather.

Madison rubbed her itchy nose and stretched. Halfway through the stretch, her breath froze in her lungs as a black shape shifted and loomed over her. White holes resided where eyes, nose and mouth should be located. She opened her mouth to scream…nothing but gurgling noises erupted.

How embarrassing!

The apparition smiled, exposing white teeth. No, they were better described as pointy fangs.

This had to be a nightmare! Nightmare, nightmare, nightmare! Only in her nightmares was she ever unable to scream.

Wakeup, wakeup, wakeup!

Nothing changed.

She pinched her thigh and winced. Not a nightmare.

Thunder boomed as she found her voice and screamed. A cackle came from the shape. With her heart threatening to pound out of her chest, she reached for Amos and found empty sheets. Turning her back on the intruder forced a knot of queasiness to settle in her stomach, but she had to find her son and protect him!

Whirling about on the bed, she located Amos as he slipped off the edge of the bed and with soft, childish steps, plotted around the end of the bed.

"No!" She scrambled toward him, but he ran out of her reach and came to stand beside the dark specter. Keeping one eye on Amos and another on the presence, she held her arms toward him and prayed he'd follow her instruction. "Amos, come to me."

He didn't. Dang!

"Red rover, red rover, send Daddy right over," Amos chanted, eyes flaming burnt orange around the edges and in the darkness, they surfaced brighter than normal. "Hellfire, hellfire, send Daddy right over."

A warm breeze hit her skin and coupled with the chilling second stanza, together they bubbled her flesh with shivers of dread. Who knew the lines to a kid's game could sound so chilling?

"In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to depart!" Where'd that come from? From the recess of her childhood apparently, proof she'd been listening with at least half an ear to her father's preaching.

Unfortunately, the Christian command did not work on this creature. He chuckled and she got the sick impression he sent an amused wink to her son. She didn't like the idea of them sharing secret jokes. Amos smiled up at the figure that grew more distinct by the minute. His body solidified, but his face remained blurry. Something dangled about his neck, a crystal of some sort.

"Get away from my son!"

A black arm reached out and tangled powerful fingers in her hair, dragging her to the edge of the bed. She fought, but her efforts were useless except to have strands pulled from their roots. At the edge of the bed, he yanked on her hair and forced her to her knees before him. This position was too servile for her liking and she refused to look up at him for fear he'd perceive it as reverence.

She clawed at his arm with her nails. He backhanded her, but with his hand tangled in her hair, her head remained steady taking the full brunt of his strike. The copper taste of blood flooded her mouth and she gagged as she swallowed the fluid.

He slapped her again. No point in that one apart from amusing himself since she ceased to struggle. Once more for good measure, her teeth shredding the inside of her cheek, until she choked on the blood in her mouth and spewed the fluid all over him and herself. When the coughing finally subsided and she could breathe without feeling like she attempted to suck liquid air into her lungs, she looked up at him with hatred boiling in her belly. Even this close, she could not discern his features, but she could make out her blood pock marking his face. This was just…odd.

He stunk to high heaven. Putrid as if he'd risen from the grave, but he seemed hearty and hale. He sure as heck was strong enough to prove his heartiness.

His tongue flicked out and licked her blood off his lips and chin. Bile rose to the back of her throat, but she forced it back.

"Mm…Mm…Good to the last drop." Great a supernatural creature that quoted commercials. "I'll have more of you soon," he said. "That's a promise, Madison."

Over her dead body!

That's what he means, you imbecile!

"Run, Amos, run!"

The creature smiled, displaying those eerie razor sharp teeth. Amos didn't budge, didn't even blink. He just continued to look up at her with a soft childish smile on his face.

Her attacker's eyes glinted like diamonds in sunlight, but without the aid of any light other than the frayed lightening. They sparkled with such vibrancy her eye sockets ached.

Not freaking human! She'd had enough of these supernatural creatures coming into her home!

Madison let lose another scream. Where the heck were the Birminghams? She thought they were here to protect her. But they'd traded her guest bedroom for a hotel room. Fled more likely. She couldn't blame them, she'd flee too. Any sane person would.

So, not the time to be thinking of that, Madison!

The demon dragged her hard against his granite-like immoveable chest, knocking the breath from her lungs with their sudden impact. Demon or not, he was buff beneath his clothing and as unforgiving as concrete. And that terrified her more! She couldn't compete with strength.

Not even an inhalation moved his rock hard pecs. A testament that he didn't live, or rather evidence he didn't need air to live. And if that wasn't enough to prove he was dead, she held her breath, trying to block out his stench, but failed miserably as his malodorous odor caused her eyes to water.

"I'll provide you security and safety, make you queen of all nations. All you need do is consent to come with me now."

Queen of all nations, huh? What an amazing offer. Kind of like winning the lottery without buying a ticket, but she guessed it came with a high price.

There was a familiar cant to his voice, but it was unfamiliar at the same time. Diamond eyed or not, buff or not, offering the world or not, he was in her home uninvited and he stunk to high heaven.

She sucked in a breath to scream again, but he slammed his mouth over hers, slicing her upper lip against her teeth and cutting off any sound she might have executed. The hand in her hair twisted her head to the side, so he could deepen his demonic kiss. His tongue swished inside and flicked across hers, her bleeding mouth making their connection wet and slippery.

Madison grunted and squirmed, slapped and punched, attempting to break free, but none of her efforts worked. So, she bit down on his tongue and gagged on his dark sludgy blood, like having a mouth full of mushy, rotten eggs.

He jerked backward and an outraged bellow struck her face, the stench knocking the breath from her lungs. Holding her steady by her hair, his other hand wrapped around her throat and constricted. Awful strangled sounds came from her, but he squeezed tighter and tighter until she thought he'd crush her windpipe.

Amos…

White pinpoints exploded behind her eyes and darkness began to drown out the limited vision she possessed in the darkened room. Bright lightening haloed his silhouette and his grip intensified as thunder rattled the windows.

If he murdered her, Amos would be left all alone with him.

She struggled to lift her arms and rake her nails down his face, but they weighed too much to maneuver accurately. They ended up banging against her thighs like a loose window shutter in a vicious thunderstorm.

In those few moments before loss of consciousness, his face transformed with concise clarity. All thought froze, shocked beyond comprehension, she couldn't believe her eyes. His identity couldn't be right.

The door to her bedroom burst open as Madison lost consciousness.

*****

The thunderstorm boomed hard enough to rattle his vehicle and because of it, Nix almost didn't hear Madison's scream. Scrambling from his car with pistol in hand, he took the steps to her room two at a time. Chambered inside the gun were special bullets blessed from the forging and the final product etched with a cross. One shot and any demonic bad boy would die screaming in a shitload of pain. Better than what they deserved in his opinion.

Locked. The fucking bedroom door was locked! Damn it!

Taking two steps back, he inhaled and kicked just to the side of the doorknob. The impact jarred up his leg, traveled into his spine and snapped his teeth together. But the door held steady. Sounds of gurgling penetrated the door and he almost panicked. Losing Madison wasn't an option, so Nix drew a long breath, expelled it, repositioned himself and drew one more deep breath. On the exhale, he kicked the door with everything he had. The door flew inward, loudly crashing against the inside wall. Nix stumbled, but caught the doorjamb and steadied himself.

His gaze swept the room fast. Amos stood beside a dark apparition. That apparition tossed Madison to the bed like disposable goods. She did a little bounce when she landed and lay limp. From where he stood and with only the hall light illuminating the room, Nix couldn't tell if she were alive or dead.

Gut instinct told him hours ago that something wicked came this way, but he might have waited until it was too late to help.

Nix reacted, aimed and fired. The demon jerked when the first bullet ripped through his heart and stumbled when the second one entered his gut. Unusual that he didn't explode upon the first wound, so Nix put a third slug into him, straight between the eyes. The shot jerked the demon's head backward hard enough to rip a human's head off. Unfortunately, the demon's remained intact.

The demon's features crystallized and a smirk tilted the edges of his mouth before he exploded into flames. Perplexed by the intensity and sparkling whiteness of the flames that consumed the demon, Nix protected his eyes with his forearm. The cackle that followed the demon from the room made abso-fucking-lutely no sense! Demons screamed and died in a dramatic explosion. They didn't laugh and die in sparkling white light.

What would Georgie make of this new circumstance?

His gaze jerked to Amos and the orange ring around the child's eyes spiked and thinned, but didn't disappear. Nix ran to Madison and slid across the bed on his knees. Her eyes were closed, but it was too dark in the room to see if her chest inflated with oxygen. Lifting one of her hands, he released it and it landed as limp as a wet noodle over her stomach. Pressing two fingers to the pulse in her neck, he detected nothing.

His heartbeat rocketed.

If she were dead, what would they do with Amos?

Nix jabbed his fingers through his hair and reminded himself not to jump the gun. One step at a time, take it slowly, assess the entirety of the situation. The first step was confirming Madison's status.

Taking a moment to collect himself, he breathed in and out, all the while commanding himself to calm down and get a fucking grip on his rampaging emotions.

Once his heart rate slowed a fraction, he adjusted the position of his fingertips and waited. A slow, but steady tap hit his pads.

Oh, thank you God!

"Momma hurt?" Amos asked in a small voice, sounding like a two year old rather than a boy of five.

"A little but—"

"Good." Nix whipped his head around, his neck cracking from the force of the movement. The child smiled and his eyes spiked anew, closer to the shade of burnt orange. "So hungry. I drink Momma's blood?"

Horrified by that question more than the sight of the demon flinging Madison on the bed, Nix stared mutely at the five year old. Drink his mother's blood? Did he drink the blood of the animals he killed too? As far as he knew, only two supernatural creatures drank blood. Vampires and demons. Neither were rays of sunflowers and puppy dog kisses. And they both gained power by ingesting the blood of their victims.

"No," Nix said in the most authoritative voice he could project, but inside he quivered and prayed there'd be something in the Sherlock Handbook to guide them accurately. "You cannot ever drink Momma's blood."

None of this made sense. Running a hand down his face, he thought they might be in way over their heads. But he'd made a promise to Madison not to give up and, for good or bad, he'd keep the promise. It didn't matter that the little voice in his head screamed run! He couldn't save others if he found his way to an early grave. Even so, he would still keep his word to her.

With the flat of his palm, he tapped Madison on the cheek. "Madison. Wake up, Madison."

She groaned, so he tapped the other cheek.

"Ow!" She swatted at his hand, blinked and blinked again. "Amos?"

"Momma!" Amos scrambled onto the bed and lay down by her side, positioning his head on her shoulder and wrapping his little arm around her waist. Even in the dark, he could tell Amos's eyes were back to normal.

Madison rubbed Amos's back. "It's okay, sweet boy."

Sweet boy? Pfft…only if you enjoyed psychotic rages, creepy orange-red eyes and children that drank blood.

"Demon?" Her voice sounded scratchy.

He almost said he didn't know and then realized she referred to the presence in her room and not her son.

"Gone." Nix brushed his knuckles across her cheek and she flinched. "Sorry." She nodded or at least he thought she did. It was hard to tell in the dark room. "I'm going to get the lights."

She caught his hand before he could move off the bed. "Was that a demon?"

"I—" He thought so. The creature sure smelled like a demon and the thunderstorm vanished with him, the full moon shining through her bedroom window proof the weather was a result of the creature's presence. But the way the creature reacted to the demonic bullets left him confused and unsure. "I—um…think so."


~~~~~~

Now, I have to write a synopsis--evil demonic plagues of the writing world!--and I suck at them. I wish synopsis weren't necessary evils, but they are. It'd be so much easier if the publisher just read the first page and if they liked it, keep reading! Make an informed decision from the actually book rather than a fast decision on a synopsis that may or may not catch the flavor of the book. Grr...but, hey, I can jump through hoops and write the synopsis and pray they don't put too much stock in it and give the book a chance. LOL

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Labor Day weekend!
~huggles~
Gracen