Excerpt 4: Teleporting while driving

I missed yesterday. Crap.

I have no (good) excuse.

Sorry.


OKAY! So that's out of the way. The release date for HELLSBANE is just around the corner. November 20th!!! (I'm so psyched!!) But to keep me from going crazy obsessing over it, I've been posting never-before-posted excerpts right here.

I'm also offering a little giveaway, the winner gets a free print copy of HELLSBANE and the runner up gets a cool Angel Tarot card deck.

To be eligible to win, just fill out the form after the excerpt or leave your name and email in the comments. The winners will be posted here on release day--which is when???

NOVEMBER 20TH!!!

Now...on with the excerpt. Today's slice is from chapter eleven and shows why teleporting and driving can be dangerous. 

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CHAPTER ELEVEN                                    

“Where you goin’?” Tommy asked, and I jumped, jerking the steering wheel of my Jeep so hard, I nearly drove into a tree.

“Holy—crap.” I swerved the car back onto the road and slugged Tommy, who’d suddenly appeared in the passenger seat.

“Ouch. Hey.”

“Don’t ever friggin’ do that again. Got me?”

“No doubt. Sheesh,” he said, rubbing the sore spot on his bicep.

Then it dawned on me. He’d traveled fast enough to land in a moving car. Cool. It’d been nearly two weeks since my trip around the world with Eli. Two weeks of squeezing in combat practice between clients, two weeks of testing out my strength, my speed, my enhanced psychic gifts. I’d only been attacked once since the last demon got away, but I’d managed to slice off her head in the handicap bathroom stall in Walmart.

I still felt like I didn’t know what was going on half the time and could never really shake the fear of being ambushed by some berserk demon. Luckily, I faked normal better than most people. I’d had years of practice.

“What, are you stalking me or something?”

“I like to think of it as keeping an eye out for you,” he said.

“Right. They’ve got laws against it.”

He shifted to a comfortable position in his seat, slouching. “So, where are you going?”

“To the library,” I said. “I thought they might have copies of the yearbooks during the years my mom taught high school English in McKeesport. She’s always been all about her job and her family. If a horny angel wanted to get close to her, he’d have to come at her through one or the other. I’m betting job.”

I glanced back and forth between Tommy and the road. He nodded. “Makes sense. So, you figure you’ll look over the yearbooks and see if you notice any wings or halos?”

I scoffed. “No.” Smartass. “But I thought there might be some candid shots of my mom. If she was having an affair at school, someone might have caught a photo of them together. Plus, I can check male teachers who were only at the school the year I was conceived, then gone the next year.”

“Actually, that’s not a totally idiotic idea,” he said.

“Gee...thanks. Careful, that kind of gushing praise will just go to my head.”

“I know.” He stretched his arm out to drape it over the back of my seat and tried to lounge his legs a little more. A Jeep Wrangler isn’t made for lounging. “Where’s your sword?”

I tipped my head and caught his following glance to the hilt laying on the backseat.

“You’re taking it in with you, right?”

“Nah. Doesn’t really go with the outfit. Yes, I’m taking it in, nag.”

“That’s Mr. Nag to you,” he said, and shifted his gaze out the window.

The conversation quieted. Several seconds ticked by without a word, but when we were almost to the library, I said, “Don’t you, um, have someplace to be?”

He shook his head. “Not until tonight. Besides, I’ve been doing this gig for a while now. Maybe I’ll recognize someone or notice something you don’t.”

That wasn’t it. My gaze flicked to him again as he shifted once more in his seat. His leg bounced on his toe, his hand tapping a counter-rhythm on his knee. “Why are you so wired?”

He looked at me, and all his nervous motion suddenly stopped. “Nothing. Why?”

“For one thing, you’re tagging along with me to a library,” I said.

“So?”

“You’re a jock, Tommy. I mean, you might be a nephilim warrior now, but you’ll always have the mindset of a jock. Jocks are allergic to libraries.”

“That’s so prejudiced.” His face pinched in offense, mouth agape. He was faking it. “Don’t label me. I’m a whole person, not just the beautifully toned athlete you see on the outside.”

I rolled my eyes. “Right. Okay, Mr. Toned Athlete, what’s got you so keyed up you can’t sit still?”

He followed my quick look at his knee—bouncing again. It stopped, and he swung his gaze back to me. His smile bloomed across his handsome face, dimpling his cheeks and twinkling in his eyes. I almost sighed. So cute. 

~*~

Once again, I hope you enjoyed today's EXCLUSIVE excerpt from HELLSBANE (book 1) and check back Monday (my birthday is Sunday. I'm not blogging on my birthday. m'kay?) for the last never-before-posted slice of the book before...RELEASE DAY!!!

Now, wouldn't you love to have your own crisp new copy? Or be the runner up and win a cool Angel Tarot Card deck? Take the time to enter below. You can either fill out the form or leave your info and answer in the comments. Good luck!