An unhappy shape shifter can be a dangerous companion....
It's Frisky Friday, and for A Writer's Naughty Thoughts, Fridays are also anything can happen days.
My excerpt for this week is from my 2nd book, Deadly Enchantment. A shapeshifting wizard romance set in Victorian England published by New Concepts Publishing,
In this snippet, which occurs at the beginning of the third chapter, Dominic Westcroft has reason to suspect Serena Blanford, one of the guests his sister has invited for him to consider as a potential bride, possesses magical abilities she's trying to keep hidden. Believing she may actually be a plant placed in his home by his treacherous brother, he decides to give her to a purity validation test.
Serena has no idea what this process actually entails, but other women who've submitted to it have returned pale and shaken, refusing to discuss it. So, up until this point she has managed to keep both her and her cousin from having to undergo the ordeal.
Serena has no idea what this process actually entails, but other women who've submitted to it have returned pale and shaken, refusing to discuss it. So, up until this point she has managed to keep both her and her cousin from having to undergo the ordeal.
When she
reached the foot of the long staircase, Westcroft extended a hand and caught
her arm. “I need to speak with you,” he
advised firmly.
“But my
cousin and I were just about to go to breakfast.”
“Your
cousin may go with my sister. You will
come with me.”
“But ….”
“Allison
will come to no harm, Serena,” he promised in a tone that was both firm and
gentle. “You have my word.”
Then,
before Serena could argue further, he escorted her into a large room where
every wall was lined with books.
Surmising she was in Westcroft’s library, she asked, “Why did you insist
upon separating me from my cousin?”
“I’ll
answer your query shortly, but first I would like you to answer a question of
mine. Why do you think your aunt sent
you and your cousin here?”
Though
Serena didn’t particularly care for Westcroft's calculating expression, she
considered the question fair given the circumstances. “Like many of the other girls’ families, my
aunt and uncle are in need of money. My
uncle fell seriously ill recently and now they are having difficulty paying off
their creditors.”
“Do you not
care for your aunt and uncle?”
“That is a
rather odd question to ask.”
“Perhaps,
but from your actions of late, I gather you wouldn’t mind seeing them locked
away in debtor’s prison.”
Serena
hesitated for only a second, but she feared the man beside her had gathered quite a
bit from her pause. “Of course I
would mind.”
“I don’t
see how that’s possible.”
“Why not?”
she asked, feeling just the tiniest bit defensive.
“Because if
you’d truly cared, you would’ve seen your part of the contract filled.”
Serena
regarded him through narrowed eyes. “If
you refer to that barbaric custom your sister is masquerading as some sort of
purity validation, you would be right."
Dominic Westcroft is determined to uncover his young guest's secrets even if it means testing her himself.
M/F, Shape shifting wizards in Victorian England.
Read the first three chapters at: Deadly Enchantment
Available at NCP, Amazon, Barnes & Noble or ARe
Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoyed this brief excerpt and wish you and yours a very Frisky Friday.
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