Keep The Coffee On Stand-by

            “Welcome to my world. The impossible has been happening to me since I was eleven.”

            “It’s not fucking possible.” Truly agitated for the first time, he dragged his fingers through his hair, staring at her as if trying to figure out a puzzle. “You’re earthborn. By all the gods, how can you be earthborn?”

            “I’ll tell you everything I know if you guarantee my safety and that you’ll leave my cousin alone. He’s done nothing wrong.”

            “He harbored a fugitive,” the Guardian said in a voice laced with steel.

            “He protected his cousin, just as his parents did before they died. Leave him out of this and I’ll come peacefully.” She kept her spine straight, never breaking eye contact with him.

            He considered her for a minute, mulling it over. Finally, he nodded. “Deal.”

            The above is a randomly chosen excerpt from Shadows Rising, the scene where Kat and Grady meet for the first time. It still has to be edited for the final draft. I’m pushing to the last minute, I know, but it’s what I’m good at. I’m sure I’ve mentioned before the seven hour marathon session right before my senior seminar’s second draft was due? A good experience as a writer, maybe not so much for my sleep schedule.

            Some writers thrive off deadlines, others plan accordingly so they’re sipping tea right before. I’ll probably fall somewhere in-between, but so long as I can be relied on to meet an agreed upon deadline, that’s what matters.

            *proceeds to bite nails*

            Between this novella and my rising freelancer status (keep your fingers crossed on that one), I feel that this year will be amazing. Whether or not that will translate to monetary value, we shall have to wait and see (and pray!).

            That’s all I’ve got this morning, besides a mental to-do list that is glaring and tapping its foot. I’ll see you all Friday for the next edition of the Kelswitch. Until then, over and out! Have a good week!

Moving Shadows Part 3

            This is a little longer than the other parts I’ve posted, but I think I’ve dragged this out long enough. As always, if you missed the other parts, part one can be found here and part two can be found here. Please read and enjoy and I welcome any and all comments or suggestions.

            Happy Monday!

            She came to mere moments later, but panic seized her. She jumped up, ignoring the abrupt pounding in her skull. Frantic, she looked around and saw her daughter’s door hanging open, the light blazing bright. She rushed through the door, drawing to a stop when she saw Ricky furiously tearing apart the room. Pink sheets were in a pile on the floor, books and toys were scattered everywhere as he searched. “Where is she? Where did that little freak go!” Mary saw red. She didn’t think, she just rushed him, slamming into his larger body with enough force to shove him backward and into the bedside lamp. It rocked and fell to the ground, shattering. Mary balled up her fist and drove it into his face. He swore viciously and grabbed her arms, picking her up and slamming her against the wall. She cried out as her back cracked and her wings twisted at the wrong angle. “If you make me damage these things, I will make your death slow and painful. I will take them off you while you still breathe!” he hissed.

            “You bastard!” she shouted and spit in his face. It only served to make him angrier. He slammed her against the wall once more, twice.

            “Be a good little slayer and let’s get this over with. Where is she?”

            “Away from you!” Mary winced as his fingers dug deeper into her arms. Instinct drove her head forward until it connected with his. The crack was alarming as it split through the air. He loosened his grip but did not let go.

            “Tell me where your brat is!” he roared.

            “I’m right here, silly.”

            All the blood drained from Mary’s face as Ricky smiled and glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough, her daughter stood there. Her small black wings were spread out, her little hands clasped behind her back. Her ebony hair curled around her shoulders and those gray eyes blinked innocently. Her expression was a shade too neutral. “Will you put my Mommy down please?”

            “Of course sweetie,” Ricky said slyly, releasing Mary so fast that she stumbled as her feet hit the ground. She could only watch in frozen silence as a murderer approached her little girl, coming to one knee before her. “You’re coming with me,” he said, a false sweetness in his voice. How had she not noticed it before? When would she learn? This was all her fault.

            Ricky held out his hand to her daughter. “Come on, pumpkin. We’re going someplace special.”

            “Where?”

            “Someplace where slayers are given the royal treatment.”

            Mary squeezed her eyes shut, one lone tear making its way out of the corner of her eye and down her cheek.

            “I know bad men when I see them. Cadeyrn told me  you were bad. He said you would hurt Mommy,” the words came as fierce as any adult. Mary’s eyes shot open. Storm clouds gathered in those ancient gray eyes and a phantom wind kicked in the room. “Cadeyrn taught me its okay to protect the ones we love, even if it means someone dies.” Her angel’s expression never changed. “So long as it’s the one who threatened ours, the gods will smile their vengeance in cold blood.”

            A sickening crunch made Mary jump. She watched in muted horror as Ricky fell over, his eyes staring vacantly at the far wall. Death’s aura filled the room and the spell was broken. Her daughter’s eyes went wide and tears slowly filled them. “Mommy…” Mary rushed forward to wrap her arms around her child. She squeezed tight.

            “Oh my love, my little girl,” she whispered, kissing the top of her dark head.

            “I killed a man, Mommy.” She heard the tears in her daughter’s voice and it broke her heart. “Cadeyrn said I had to, but…I killed him!”

            Mary tried to smile but she couldn’t. “I didn’t know you could talk to Cadeyrn.”

            “He comes to me on the dreamscape,” the little voice whispered. “He says that until the realms are one again and he can walk beside me again, he will have to protect me from afar. He said that he would always be watching, he would always be with me.”

            The horror of what had just happened was all too real, but Mary couldn’t help but send up a prayer of thanks to the gods for Cadeyrn. Even realms away, the immortal showed his loyalty to her daughter, his soulmate reborn. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Mary.

            Odin gave up his eye for knowledge, but the price Mary had paid was much, much steeper and tonight it had almost cost them their lives. It had cost a piece of her daughter’s innocence. The Oracle had warned her when she first became pregnant, that the little girl she carried would change not just her life, but the entire world. She warned her what the Sight would demand for Mary to know the truth of her child. She was not an Oracle, and the Sight had taken her powers as restitution for the glimpse she had gotten. She had paid dearly to know who her daughter was and who she would become.

            “Morrigan.”

            Mother and daughter broke their embrace as the name floated over the room. Both looked around until they saw him, or rather a projection of him. Mary’s jaw dropped and her hand tightened around her daughter’s. It couldn’t be…

            Cadeyrn, High King of slayers and of Aviara, their home realm, stood next to the messed up bed. His gray eyes were filled with sorrow as he took the sight in. His red hair glinted under the artificial light and his black wings were so large they nearly filled the space of the room. “I am so sorry this happened,” he said.

            Mary drew in a breath as her daughter pulled away from her, standing with her spine straight and wings spread. She stepped closer and closer until she was right next to him. Her small hand went out. Cadeyrn raised his to meet hers, but her skin passed right through him. She wiped away her tears fiercely but more flowed right behind them. She was such a brave little girl.

            The King came down on one knee, much as Ricky had. He gently traced the tracks of her tears, though no touch was felt. “My Queen,” he said softly. “How fierce you will be when you are grown. I can’t stay long, but I needed to see you for myself, to make sure you were okay.” He glanced over her shoulder at Mary. Mary gave him a mute nod. He dropped his hand away. “You both have a long road ahead of you, but I will be with you every step of the way, as best as I am able.” Already, his image was beginning to fade, the power that projected him across realms losing its strength. “You did well tonight, little one.” He hesitated and right before he faded completely from sight, the words came. “I love you, Regan.” And then he was gone.    Regan’s bravery died with him.

She openly sobbed, sounding like any five year old whose heart was broken. Mary reached for her and pulled her into her lap, holding her close as she cried. Kissing her daughter’s head, she murmured small words of comfort, rocking her back and forth until she had cried herself to sleep. And still, Mary did not move from that floor, holding the reincarnated Queen throughout the night.

Moving Shadows Part 2

I’m not lacking on blog ideas these days, but I figured I am way overdue for the next part of “Moving Shadows.” If you missed the first part I posted or would like to refresh yourself, that blog can be found here.

Now, without further ado…I give you part two.

Ricky Reynolds, an earthborn she had gone out on a few dates with, was smiling. He held his arms away from his body. “Surprise.” He was a handsome man and was dressed in his customary suit and tie, a fedora completing the look of high profile gangster she sometimes felt he was going for. Meeting him in a coffee shop in the heart of the city had been a surprise, even more so when he expressed interest in her, a single mother who was one step away from the poor house. He came from money and had his own business, she found out shortly after meeting him. He had always been good to her and lovely with her daughter. Against her better judgment, her guard came down and she relaxed.

            “What are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night.”

            “That’s a funny story,” he said with a soft smile. He advanced on her carefully and though Mary was relieved it was him, she never moved from in front of her daughter’s door. “You and I have such wonderful discussions and you’re so open about your life,” he went on. “I’ve always wanted to date a slayer and truly, I never expected one like you to literally drop into my lap. You’re perfect for what I need in this life.”

            Mary’s eyes went wide. Where was he going with this?

            Ricky continued to come closer until he was less than a foot away. Still wearing that soft smile, he reached out and trailed one finger down Mary’s cheek. For reasons she couldn’t name yet, she shuddered. “It’s dangerous for a woman to live alone in the city,” he mused, “especially in this part of town. Very dangerous indeed. You never know who or what might jump out of the shadows at you.”

            “Ricky,” she said nervously, taking a step back, “you’re scaring me.”

            “Oh? And what are you going to do about it?” His hands shot out and grabbed hers, slamming her back against her daughter’s door. He pressed his body against hers, leaning down to delicately sniff her neck. “I know you don’t have any powers left,” he whispered, as if they were lovers exchanging the deepest of secrets. His tongue snaked out to lick along her neck and Mary squirmed, pushing against his hold but he didn’t let go. He raised his head, his movements that of a snake coiling for the strike. “A powerless slayer is a dead slayer, as they say in my line of work. And do you know the price some would give for the wings of a young slayer? Oh my, you cannot imagine. Your daughter’s black wings are such a rarity too. That’ll fetch double the price.”

            Mary’s eyes went wide and she started pushing and kicking with all her might, trying to break free of him, but he was too strong and he crowded her against the door, effectively trapping her. Fear was suddenly a living thing, slithering through her bloodstream until all her limbs were jello. She kept fighting though, the thought of her defenseless angel sound asleep behind her kept her moving until Ricky cursed. Something smacked the back of her head and everything went black.

            I hope you enjoyed part two. Only one more part to go, which will be posted at some point. If you like what you’ve read so far or if you hated it, I would love to hear from you! Don’t be shy. :)
            Happy Monday from the Kelswitch! Over and out.

Moving Shadows Part 1

            I have decided, as a feature for the Kelswitch for this week, I am going to showcase a little something I wrote for the world of the bloodborn. For a while, I toyed with the idea of writing the stories about parents of my main characters. After all, our stories begin with our parents, before we’re ever born. I ultimately abandoned the idea, but this part is something I really like and thus, wanted to share.

            There has been no editing, no revising for this part or the parts I post later. It is as it was when I first laid it out.

            Shadows moved. They weren’t supposed to, but Mary could not deny her own eyes. In the corner of the living room, in the tiny apartment with the rent she was barely able to afford, something moved in the darkness.

            It was well past midnight. She couldn’t say what had woken her, but suddenly she had felt the need to check on her daughter in the next room. As she stumbled out of her door, rubbing her eyes, she had caught the movement in her peripheral vision. She froze and it froze with her. It knew that she knew it was here.

            She was a woman living alone in the city. She knew the risks. She knew the threats she faced every single day, but nothing made her more determined to keep them at bay than the angel asleep in the room behind her. Standing before her daughter’s door, she slowly unfurled her light gray wings, spreading them out wide. A well known sign of aggression from a slayer if they weren’t about to take flight. Earthborn or magicborn, whatever had invaded her apartment in this late hour, the warning was clear. No words need to be spoken.

            Her fingers itched for cold steel, but the invader was between her and the kitchen where she kept her cooking knives, and her real knives were locked up in her room. She wouldn’t risk her daughter hurting herself with one. She was virtually defenseless but the mover of shadows did not need to know that. “You’ve invaded the home of a slayer with a little one, you better have a damn good excuse,” she said as threateningly as she could. Suddenly, the click of the lamp switch and light flooded the room. Mary blinked heavily, unprepared for the sudden burst of illumination. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that greeted her once her eyes adjusted. “You.”

            Stay tuned to see who is in her apartment. Coming to the Kelswitch soon. Subscribe, bookmark, whatever it is you need to do. Peace out and happy Monday.

What I do all day... Beware of Crazed Writer

            Dragons rise over the mountains of North Carolina, demon riders on their backs. Earthborn were the first to fall under the curve of their blades, between the jaws of their dragons. Ireland was left in a flame of ruin, the scorch marks scars that would forever identify the Emerald Isle as the starting point of the invasion. It was an invasion of the sort Earth had never seen.

            Centuries ago, earthborn waged war against refugees coming to Earth from other realms. Vampires, witches, changers, magicborn all seeking shelter from worlds that had turned against them. The vampires were the first to fall, succumbing to extinction because of the war. Slayers crossed into Earth to pick up where they left off, trying to make a place for themselves just like everyone else. Eventually, they succeeded, and magicborn and earthborn came to a tentative peace that gained strength through time and boundaries respected by both sides. Now, magicborn are all that stands between Earth and complete dominion by the demons.

            The weeks leading up to the invasion were normal as ever. It was business in usual in Ireland. Katlynn Martin was living her life, free of the past that still haunted her dreams. With her cousin by her side, she had carved out a good living for herself in Dublin. Until Grady Devlin came, searching and digging up things better left alone. He quickly realizes something wasn’t right with the story he had been told, but before he can begin to figure out what’s really going on, someone targets him and Kat both.

Together, they have to untangle her past and find out who is after them, before it is too late.

            The world as you see it here did not develop until May, and before that I was working on a separate story. I was on version two of that storyline and it was fighting me tooth and nail, every step of the way. This one doesn’t fight me as much, but it still has mood swings.

            The opening line of this synopsis came to me as clear as a bell yesterday while I was driving home from a weekend in the mountains with Bear, Judgment, Bear’s brother, and Maestro. Since I was lacking on the blog topics last week, I thought I’d share this summary of what I’m doing with myself while I don’t have a job.

            If it seems strange that I jump back to right before the invasion, that is on purpose. The main series I want to write is set after the invasion, but I’m working on a novella  from right before, and that’s Kat and Grady. I have big plans for them, but we’ll have to see how it goes and how nice the muse plays.

            Does this sound like something you would want to read? Then by all means, subscribe to my blog for updates or just bookmark me. Or you can follow me on Pinterest, since I’ve started pinning new blog updates there. http://pinterest.com/carolinakel14/

I also tweet @Carolina_Kel. I have an official website, but I do not update it often enough so my blog, Twitter, or Pinterest is the best bet to keep up with me on this journey to publication!