Have you entered to win a feather From an Angel’s Wing?  It’s the contest to celebrate the release of Blind Destiny…

“What in the world are you wearing on the back of your jacket?” Luc asked, peering through Krell’s eyes and trying to make sense of the odd-looking little man.

Sina craned her head around, as though trying to see her back. Then she laughed abruptly. “Oh, that’s Grumpy. He’s my favorite.”

Grumpy…? Luc frowned. Well, the man did look rather cranky and if Luc looked that way, he’d be rather cranky as well, but that still didn’t explain why Sina was wearing it…wait.

Something trickled through his memory and he managed to snag it, pull it to the front. Seven little men— “You’re wearing one of the seven dwarves,” he said slowly. “On the back of your jacket.”

“Yes, what of it?”

Through Krell’s eyes, he studied her and abruptly, he had the answer. He couldn’t see the colors of her face clearly…dogs weren’t truly color blind, but they didn’t see colors quite as clearly as mortals did. So he couldn’t see if she had lips as red as blood. She was pale, though. And her hair was dark, but was it black as pitch?

“Tell me,” he said. “Do you have lips as red as blood or was that poetic license on your part?”

Sina smiled at him, and while those lips may or may not be as red as blood, they were rather full and Luc felt the punch of lust hit him low in the belly. It wasn’t altogether unpleasant, but it was unwelcome. Shielding his mind, his thoughts, his everything against her, he continued to wait as she sauntered toward him. “Well, Luc…you can see me; can’t you tell?”

There was a challenging look on her face.

Almost anybody who knew Sina would understand that look.

It was a look that said, Don’t ask…forget whatever you think you know.

“You sit in here and watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” Luc murmured. “You wear one of those silly little cartoon characters on the back of your jacket. So many of us try to distance ourselves from those silly stories you fabricated. But you seem to embrace it.”

“Do I?”

Sina continued to watch him. He was no longer able to see her face now. Krell was sitting at his side, giving him the disconcerting view of staring upward at her chin…and over the enticing swell of her breasts, the flat plane of her belly, long legs…

Breaking the connection with Krell, Luc placed himself once more back into the darkness, he said, “Tell me, Snow White, were you chased by a woodsman? Threatened by a wicked stepmother?”

Sina laughed. Then she turned away. He felt the passage of air against him, the slight lessening of her presence.

“Trust me, Luc…I was the threat during my mortal years. It wasn’t some foolish, yet noble woodsman, it wasn’t a selfish or vain stepmother. I was the villain of my story.”

Something brushed against his mind and then he felt a whisper deep inside. And if you do not believe that…simply take a peek inside my memories…and see it for yourself.

She didn’t wait for him to look.

She showed him just a glimpse…only long enough for him to see the blood dripping from her fingers. Only long enough for him to hear the screams as they bounced off arched walls of stone.

Then she pulled her mind from his.

Luc staggered. Krell pressed his solid, sturdy body against his leg and Luc reached down, steadied himself against the big dog’s weight. Sina had left.

Sucking in a breath of air, he fought to clear that image from his mind.

But he couldn’t.

It was there, etched upon the surface of his mind.

Because Sina had wanted it there. She hadn’t wanted him to forget.

Will, what have you gotten me into?

 

Chapter Three

He stirred.

The darkness. The blackness. It was still there.

That did not concern him.

There was evil, though…and that drew him. Cloying and thick, an old, familiar stink, something he had sought time and again. But he had yet to succeed at finding it.

As he pulled himself back into the world, he searched for it. Scowled when he found it. Nothing had changed. He still couldn’t reach it.

Even as he was ready to retreat, though, he stilled.

Something new. Something different.

Something…other…calling to him.

 

 

“What have you gotten us into?”

Natasha Curry ignored the men and women behind her as she shoved her hood back and studied the towering monstrosity of a house.

She was here, damn it.

Here, at the home her ancestors had once owned. It was derelict now, in danger of being torn down because nobody would stay there. People would buy it, thinking to renovate it. Then they’d leave. Sometimes in the dead of night, leaving their belongings and everything behind.

Eight years ago, one group had bought it thinking to set up a boutique hotel that catered to those who liked spooks and haunts. Even they hadn’t stayed.

Walls that bled.

An old woman wailing.

Screaming.

Mocking laughter.

Cold spots.

Hot spots.

Whispers of death and despair.

Maniacal laughter.

Even the locals avoided this place.

Getting here had taken just about every penny she had and she’d all but lied through her teeth, promising she knew how to fix things.

Well, she didn’t know how. She just had a way of doing it. Fixing things. With unsettled places, as her mom had called it. And this already felt like the most unsettled place ever.

It would have to stay that way for a little while, because first they needed proof.

She needed proof. Proof of the stories here. Proof of the secrets.

One story, one secret in particular.

For years she’d felt drawn here, ever since she’d uncovered that album in her mom’s room, all the clippings about this place, and the stories her mom had told.

She was going to find what it was that had haunted her ancestor, an aunt many generations back, but somebody who sounded like she had maybe been a little…off. Like Natasha was. She felt a weird kinship with the old woman, something she couldn’t quite explain and that was why she was here.

To find out about her aunt Despoina. What happened to her, why she died, why a pall had fallen on her family ever since, why this house seemed to be cursed…

There was a low, eerie sound, like leaves skittering along the grass, but there was no wind. Something seemed to brush against her skin and she could almost swear something touched her.

Behind her, the crew muttered and grumbled. Two were excited. Two were pissed. Ah, yes. All was well in her world. This was how they worked. They had an Internet show, Monsters: Real or Imagined, and if this went well, maybe, just maybe, that Internet show could become the real deal. Nat had dreams of Discovery Channel. Or bigger.

It would take something monumental, though, to get noticed there.

Something huge.

And there was something huge in front of her.

The sprawling, old house looked somewhat out of place, surrounded by quaint little shops, cafes, B&Bs…it was a bygone thing, but plenty of the places here were old.

It wasn’t the age that set it apart.

It was the aura of despair.

Just looking at the house made her blood sing. Actually, it was almost a scream—terror was just barely kept in check and part of her wanted to run. But that was a good thing. She knew it was. It meant there was something here.

It had taken all of her savings, some begging, some borrowing, and some pleading to get the team to come here. But in the end, the excitement of it had won out.

A haunted house. On the island of Crete.

One where a lot of freaky shit had happened.

There were whispers…it was cursed, it was haunted…

Nat had grown up hearing the stories about this place.

About the seven bloody sisters who had driven one of her ancestors insane.

“So…we’re staying there.”

She glanced back and smiled at Max. “Yeah. For a few nights. I only got the permit for three nights.” Then she wiggled her eyebrows at him. “If anything happens, we might be able to get it extended, but we can’t go in for a few more days. I’m supposed to get the ball moving on that tomorrow. Relax, you’ll like the B&B we’re staying at. It’s supposed to be haunted too. But I think that’s just crap. We’ll have fun tearing that story apart.”

They’d done it before and more than a few people had tried to sue them, but it never worked. If you faked a ghost, you were just setting yourself up for it.

But some of it was real.

Was this one of them?

Her gut said YES…practically screamed it.

“Hey, Nat, are we going to go? Or just stand here for forever?” Jake said from behind, nudging her with his shoulder.

She scowled at him before moving forward to curl her hands around the wrought iron fence post, staring across the distance that separated her from the house. So close, damn it.

So close, after all this time. She could feel it screaming at her.

So much had happened here. In the past thirty years alone.

A couple had bought it and spent their life savings to refurbish it, turn it into an inn. The first night it opened, a young married couple had left, irate about an old woman had appeared at their door, whispering to them about the seven bloody sisters.

The next night, a second couple had fled screaming into the night. They had said there was blood in their room. On the windows and spilling all over the floor. Of course, the innkeepers had seen nothing.

The inn had closed within three months.

It had functioned as a home for unwed mothers for a time. But that hadn’t succeeded any better than the inn.

All the complaints were the same.

An old woman.

Blood.

And sometimes, people would whisper that there were screams. And sobbing…sobbing that sounded like it came from a young woman.

Some seriously spooky shit.

This wasn’t just orbs floating through the night.

It wasn’t just disembodied voices.

This was some seriously fucked-up shit.

And Nat wasn’t leaving until she had some of it captured on video. After she had that done, she’d see what she could do about the unrest she could feel burning in the air, but first…proof. Proof, vindication…

A voice buzzed in the back of her mind and she scowled, pressed the heel of her hand to her temple, turning away.

She needed some sleep. Turning back to the crew, she gave them a short nod. “Come on. Let’s head to the B&B. Maybe we can catch something scary happening there.”

Halfway down the narrow road, she glanced back. One last look at the place…just one. She’d been waiting for this her whole life, it seemed. She couldn’t believe the moment was finally here. Centuries…

She scowled, wondering where that odd thought had come from.

~*~

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Read more about Blind Destiny… or you can just preorder it. 😉

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(This won’t be out in print for a while…it’s not long enough so it has to be paired up.)