Spotlight
BLITZ with author Hailey Edwards
Welcome
back everyone! Today I have something a little different for you. I
do not generally go after the fantasy romance books, but I was
intrigued by this cover and – being from Samhain and having really
good luck with what I have read from this publisher – I wanted to
find out more. Having very little under my belt in the way of
FantRom, I will be learning all about this book and author right
along with this post. I am hoping one or more of you will be able to
help me further by commenting on this post. Additionally, today's
stop is part of a release day BLITZ. Basically that means the today
is the release day for this particular book and that several blogs
will be hosting this book and author. Therefore, you have seen, or
will see, this post again today. Whether you have or have not, I
always look forward to feedback, so please consider commenting
whether this book is new to you or not. I am looking forward to
learning more, so please help me welcome to the blog:
**HAILEY
EDWARDS**
**BIO**
Born
in the Deep South, Hailey is a lifelong resident of Alabama. Her
husband works for the local sheriff’s department and her daughter
is counting down the days until she’s old enough to audition for
American Idol. Their dachshund, Poochie, helps Hailey write by
snoozing on his dog bed in her office.
Her desire to explore
without leaving the comforts of home fueled her love of reading and
writing. Whenever the itch for adventure strikes, Hailey can be found
with her nose glued to her Kindle’s screen or squinting at her
monitor as she writes her next happily-ever-after.
She loves
to hear from readers. Drop her a line here.
You
can also swing by her blog
or subscribe to her newsletter
for all her latest news.
You can also find
her on Twitter
and Facebook.
You
can find out more about Ms. Edwards in the following places:
**A
TIME OF DYING**
**Araneae
Nation, Book 3**
Genre:
Fantasy Romance
Publisher:
Samhain Publishing
Date
of Publication: July 30, 2013
ISBN:
978-1-61921-660-0
ASIN:
B00BP5FWN4
Number
of pages: 249
Word
Count: 75k
Cover
Artist: Kanaxa
**BLURB**
They
just might survive…if they don’t kill each other first.
Once
the future Segestriidae maven, Kaidi lived a privileged life. Now she
spends her nights haunting cities ravaged by the plague. Spade in
hand, she stalks rows of freshly dug graves for corpses…and then
she takes their heads.
Her
new life is caked in blood and spattered with gore, but it’s hers.
At least until—to her fury—she’s caught napping.
A
plague survivor by the skin of his teeth, Murdoch risks his neck to
solve the mysteries left in its wake. Bodies have gone missing.
Guards have left their posts and never returned home.
When
he rouses a female dozing among the dead, he’s unprepared for the
violence of her response. Or his. Beneath the grime, she’s lovely.
Too bad the blood under her fingernails belongs to his clansmen.
He
has no choice but to follow this alluring creature deeper into her
world of winged beasts and flesh-eating monsters. She holds the
knowledge he craves, but the price is high—and they may both pay
for it with their lives.
Warnings:
This book contains one heroine in desperate need of a bath and one
hero willing to wash away her sins. Expect threats, swears and
general cursing. Love is a slippery slope, and these two are sliding.
Buy
Link
**EXCERPT**
By
reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years
of age.
If
you are under the age of 18, please exit this site.
CHAPTER
ONE
Freckled
skin gave beneath my spade as I angled its honed point at the hollow
of some poor female’s throat. Milky eyes bored into mine when I
braced my foot on the spade’s tread, shifting my weight, bearing
down until the blade sliced through her slender neck, tearing flesh
and crunching bone. Her lips parted on a gasp, or perhaps I imagined
that flicker of awareness before I snuffed her final remnants. Gods
knew I hoped it was only guilt picking at scabs on my weary
conscious.
The
death of even one innocent would break me, if any scrap of the old
Kaidi remained.
Tossing
the spade aside, I wiped sweat from my brow and bent to check her
pockets, finding them as empty as my own. No coin meant going another
day without food. Not that I had much of an appetite after this, but
I couldn’t live on stale water for much longer. Soon I would need a
hot meal and a safe place to rest, if one still existed.
Gaze
skimming the grassy field littered with the corpses of plague
victims, I had my doubts.
Exhaustion
bore me to my knees. I was too tired to wince when one knee cracked
on a loose stone. My chin hit my chest, and my eyes shut. The pulse
of pain, of hunger, of regret, lulled me.
One
minute lapsed, then two. Any moment I would rise. Any time now…
The
press of cold metal against my throat shocked me awake.
“I’ll
have your name, female.” The booming masculine voice made my head
throb.
“I
hope not.” I ignored the blade and rubbed my eyes clear. “It
would sound silly on a male.”
More
pressure made breathing without cutting my neck difficult. “Tell me
your name.”
I
rolled around a few choices before saying, “Imani.”
His
grunt called me on my lie. Interesting. Usually they couldn’t tell.
He
nudged me with his boot. “What’s your purpose here?”
I
shrugged. “The same as my purpose elsewhere, I imagine.”
Grasping
my upper arm, he hauled me onto my feet and spun me to face him. I
stifled a gasp when I met the pitch-black eyes informing me that I
had run afoul of a Mimetidae warrior. I had tracked the plague to
Cathis, the Mimetidae’s clan home, but had I been in my right mind,
a state I barely recalled these days, I would have avoided their
borders and continued on to the next city.
Contrary
to my actions these past few months, I did not have a death wish.
Thinly
leashed anger radiated through his tightened fingers. “You play a
dangerous game.”
“You
have no idea,” I murmured, while measuring the distance from here
to the forest.
His
gaze trailed after mine. “You won’t make it.”
“So
you say.” I struggled until he released me, then I hit the ground
like a sack of stones.
“If
you can’t stand, then you can’t run.” He sheathed his weapon,
turning to appraise my long night’s work by the dawn’s soft glow.
“Care to explain this?” He gestured toward the headless corpse.
“Or those?”
I
forced myself to count victims—sixteen females and one male for
good measure.
My
laugh was rusty. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
His
brow creased. “Try me.”
I
fisted a palm’s worth of loose dirt. “Well, it’s like this…”
When
he folded his arms over his chest, away from that lovely sword of
his, and inclined his head, waiting, I exhaled hard and prayed the
gods gave my feet wings. His frown cut deeper, lips parting on his
next demand, when I gathered my nerve and flung the contents of my
hand at him.
“What
in the gods’ names—” He staggered back, blinking in surprise.
Shoving
to my feet, I bolted past him, snagged my spade and ran for the
safety of the trees. His bellow of rage made my heart race and chest
tighten. Those were not the sounds of a happy male. No, they were the
sounds of a male preparing to rend a female in two, if he
could catch her.
Scenery
blurred as I ran harder, faster, until my foot rung a hole and I
tumbled onto all fours. I was halfway to standing when the male burst
into the small clearing, head lifted, nostrils flared.
“Move,”
he warned, “and we’ll see if your head comes off as easy as
theirs did.”
Turning
my head slowly, I noticed his arms were out, but his sword remained
tethered at his hip as if he didn’t want to harm me. Pity. Once I
might have appreciated his misguided chivalry. Now I saw it for the
weakness it was. I was female, but I was not soft. Not my heart, and
not my arms. They were lean and muscled from digging up graves, as
firm and cold as the ground where I had buried my mother, my sisters
and cousins, all the members of my family but one, my uncle.
I
did this for them, as practice for the day we met again and I added
their names to my tally.
Can’t
kill what’s already dead, I reminded myself.
While
my thoughts churned over each other, the male took a step, and I
tightened my grip on the spade. Before he got near enough to lay his
hands on me, I twisted on my side and swung my weapon. The flat side
cracked against his jaw, popping his neck as his head twisted. In a
daze, he faced me, eyes whirling. Staggering back, he smeared the
blood welling from his smashed cheek.
Scrambling
out of his reach, I clawed my way upright, and a heartbeat later I
was running. I barely dared to hope I might escape him unscathed when
an impact knocked me against a tree. Ears ringing, I clamped my head
between my hands and focused on not vomiting as the world lurched
beneath me. A second hit from behind sent me tumbling onto the ground
and burst my lip.
I
wheezed when my attacker collapsed across my back, crushing the air
from my lungs.
“I
can’t…breathe.” My sight tunneled, turning hazy around the
edges.
His
low growl rumbled against my spine. “That makes two of us.”
Strong
hands grasped my shoulders and flipped me onto my back. Before I
brought my knee up to greet his tender parts, the male straddled my
legs and sat on my shins, pinning me in place. His fingers dug into
my collarbones, and the twist of his lips told me that if he had
another set of hands, my wrists would be shackled too. Luckily for
me, he didn’t, and I knew what I had to do.
I
brought the spade up, but seconds from contact, he noticed. Wrenching
the handle from my grasp, he flung it so far I lost sight of it. He
lowered his head until his blood dripped on my chin. His breath was
hot and hissed between his teeth. His expression sent fear shivering
up my spine.
I
swallowed hard. “Please—”
His
palm sealed the plea in my mouth. “Save your lies for those who
might believe them.”
Trapped
beneath a snarling male who stood a head taller than me, three times
wider than me, I had no choice but to obey. He was battered, his
judgment clouded, and I knew I would outlast him.
“Those
eyes—that hair—” His gaze narrowed on my left ear. “You’re
Segestriidae.”
A
name I could falsify. The golden hair and lavender eyes common to my
clansmen, those I had no way to alter. Failing those telling signs,
there was the clear quartz crystal suspended from my earlobe by a
golden strand of Araneidae silk. The expense of that silk confirmed
my identity. If their nigh-unbreakable silk made the Araneidae the
wealthiest clan in the Araneae Nation, then the craftsmanship of mine
made us almost equals in worth. Our skill with crystals was
unrivaled.
To
possess the appearance of the Segestriidae and indicators of my
status was foolhardy.
Vanity
kept me clinging to one while desperation made me reliant on the
other. At least I had the good sense to travel with the matching
necklace concealed. Bad enough to be a lone female on the road. That
earned me unwanted attention. But if my fellow rogues had coveted the
earring, they would have gutted me for the pendant.
Behind
my captor’s eyes, I imagined his mind at work puzzling out my
identity. My clothes were heavy and meant for travel, dyed soot black
because I hunted my prey after the sun had set.
Briefly,
I wished for his midnight hair and eyes. How well he must complement
the night.
After
a moment’s hesitation, he wiped the blood from my mouth with a
cloth pulled from his pocket. When he finished, he inhaled my scent,
and dread tightened my stomach. The Mimetidae were trackers, the lot
of them. What I had given him was a means of locating me should I
escape.
While
tucking away his prize, his gaze never left mine. “Why are you on
Mimetidae land?”
I
mumbled against his hand, and he removed it. “Let me go.”
His
eyes crossed. “I asked you a question.”
“Why
bother answering when we both know I won’t tell you the truth?”
“I
suspected as much, but as you’re female, I thought to give you the
benefit of the doubt.”
“Well,”
I countered, “as you’re male, I thought honesty and small words
were prudent.”
A
tic started beneath his right eye. “You’re insulting me.”
The
seriousness of his expression made me laugh. “You’re a quick one,
you are. Did you enjoy the chase?” I winked at him. “Set me on my
feet and we can have another go.”
“I
prefer you just as you are…” he shifted his hips, “…flat on
your back.”
His
words dried the spit from my mouth. All the ways this encounter could
end poorly—for me—spun wild through my head. Though the guard’s
heavy thighs pinned mine together, he was not aroused. That
realization somewhat eased my mind. Now if he would only stay
uninterested.
When
he slid his hands down my body, then up my waist and over my breasts,
I launched my fist at his bloodied jaw, but he swatted aside my arm.
“Calm
yourself.” He went still, his face earnest. “I would never harm a
female in that way. I must search you for more weapons. Understand?”
I
nodded as if I believed that was all he was after.
“What’s
this?” His patting had located my necklace. When he fished it from
my shirt, his eyes widened. “I’ve never seen such a large
crystal. The setting…” he turned it over in his hand, “…it’s
solid gold.” He wasn’t asking. He didn’t have to. What would be
the point of using such a remarkable stone but denying it an equally
elegant setting? He breathed, “This must be worth a small fortune.”
His
tone implied I must have stolen it. In fact, it had been a gift from
my betrothed, a bauble as beautiful as it was lethal.
Qualities
Hishima had once ascribed to me.
“It
was a gift from my uncle.” I wasn’t stretching the truth too far.
The earring had truly been a gift from Ghubari, a match to the
impressive novelty my betrothed had given me. “Please let me keep
it. Better yet, let me go.”
“If
I did, where would you go?” He glanced up, then back at me. “What
would you do? Find another field of bodies to desecrate? Loot more
poor souls bound for the Above?” His expression mirrored his
repulsed tone as he shoved the pendant back into my shirt. “Have
you not a decent bone in your body that you violate the dead?”
“You
don’t know me.” My morals had been abandoned for the sake of
survival.
“I
know enough.” He pushed to his feet and took me with him. “Come
on. Let’s go. You can keep the necklace until my paladin says
otherwise.”
My
palms turned sweaty. “Where are you taking me?”
“Has
it slipped your recollection that you’ve mutilated our dead? That
offense is punishable by five years imprisonment, and assaulting one
of the city’s guards has earned you another five.”
“They
were dead.” At least they were as far as he knew. “What does it
matter to them?”
“They
have family that will come to pay their respects and find their loved
ones hacked into pieces and the silver tokens placed upon their eyes
pocketed by the female who did the cutting.”
Shame
prickled my skin, but I held my head high while he dragged me toward
the city. Near the bodies stood a second male, whose short blond hair
was so filthy it almost matched his mud-brown eyes. His frame was
heavy with muscle, his shoulders as wide as the ursus northlanders
rode.
He
paused in his deliberation and jerked his chin my way. “Did that
little thing do all this?”
My
captor rubbed his discolored jawline. “All that and more.”
The
blond smirked. “You taking her to Vaughn?”
“No.”
His grip on me tightened. “The paladin has weightier matters on his
mind.”
Paladin
Vaughn? No, that couldn’t be right. The maven here was his mother,
Isolde. She had ruled the Mimetidae since the death of her husband,
since before I was born. Unless the plague…
“That’s
the truth of it.” The blond male scrubbed a meaty hand over his
head.
“Finish
up, then check the perimeter.” He tugged me closer. “Her kind
rarely travels alone.”
He
was right about that. Most future paladins, especially Hishima,
refused to let their future wives leave their clan home unguarded.
What would this male say if I presented my necklace as a token from
my once-beloved as proof of what my kind was? How would he
react once he realized that I was the future maven of the
Segestriidae? His scowl made me believe that neither the scrap of
parchment bearing Father’s crest nor Hishima’s letters tucked
into my pocket would sway his determination to see me punished, so I
studied my captor and our surroundings as the males wagged their
tongues.
“Get
on with you, then.” The blond knelt and resumed whatever task we
had interrupted.
A
hard tug on my arm sent me stumbling. “Are you trying to yank my
arm from its socket?”
The
brute loosened his grip a fraction. “Stop dragging your feet.”
Out
of spite, I was tempted to dig in my heels and make him haul me every
step into Cathis. But I wanted freedom more, so I hurried along while
slipping a hand into my shirt to grasp the pendant. With a firm jerk,
I broke the silken chain’s metal clasp then shoved my hand into my
pocket. My fingernail slid along the topmost edge, where the stone
met its metal setting. A push of my thumb broke the seal and left me
holding the crystal sheath while the petite dagger it had concealed
dropped into my pocket. Careful of the blade’s razor edges, I
grasped the short hilt in my palm.
“What
will you do with me?” Sad to say, I had some idea. “Will it
involve seasoning salts?”
He
glanced back, his eye twitching again. “We do not partake of the
flesh of our prisoners.”
Hit
a tender spot, had I? Perhaps I ought to jab harder to prod a
reaction from him.
“Ah.
Well, that’s a comfort. I had heard Mimetidae consumed the flesh of
their enemies. I’m relieved you said even my kind is exempt
from your kind’s indelicate predilections for eating—”
He
whirled around so fast, I yelped in surprise. Grasping my shirt, he
reeled me hard against him. “What else have you heard? That we find
the screams of helpless females intoxicating? Or a favorite of
mine—how we peel the skin from our victims, dry the meat in strips
to savor it later?”
I
blanched when our chests bumped and his head lowered. I had what I
wanted—his reaction was whip-sharp and furious. Riling him proved
he was as far removed from Segestriidae males I had known as the moon
was from the sun. He was no gentle craftsman. He was fierce, a
warrior.
My
knees quaked, but I stood my ground. “I don’t believe everything
I hear.”
“In
this case…” his eyes glittered, eager for truth to burn my ears,
“…perhaps you should.”
By
the time a scornful retort had readied itself, he had given me his
back. I let my gaze slide over him while I deliberated, the broad
expanse of his muscled shoulders coaxing my eyes lower.
No
time to be squeamish. While he was distracted, I had to strike. I had
to break free of him.
Tightening
my fist around the dagger’s hilt, I slipped it from my pocket. Its
tip wavered as if it were a divining rod, angling toward his weak
spots. I had never sunk a blade in a living person.
But
since he had no intention of granting me freedom, I would seize it
for myself.
Death
awaited me in Cathis. If not in the teeth of his clansmen, then at
the hands of mine.
Steeling
my nerves, I brought my arm across my body. My wrist rested on my
shoulder for a moment before I used all my strength to bury the blade
deep in the tender meat above his left hip.
My
captor howled, and I struggled to break his grip on one arm while
twisting the knife with the other. When pain brought him to his knee,
I shoved him, retrieving my dagger and toppling him to the dirt on
his back.
Guilt
and relief made me lightheaded as I pocketed the blade and sprinted
for the forest. The fallen male’s furious shouts would set his
friend on my trail for certain. I had to hurry. I had to—
Bones
popped in my shoulder when a wall of muscle slammed me against a
tree. Thick arms banded about my waist and cut off my air. Gasping, I
squirmed and kicked, but the blond giant held tight. He lifted me,
tucking me under his arm as if I were a bedroll. With my arms pinned,
I threw my leg to trip him. He caught that too and swung me high on
his hip as he would a child.
Blood
heated my cheeks when he smirked at me. “Nice try, but I’m one
tree you won’t fell.” To prove his point, he trapped both my
ankles at his hip with one hand while the other supported me by
crushing me so tight against his side his lungs might have been
supplying the air for mine.
“Shouldn’t
you see to your friend?” I twisted my head, the only part of me I
could move, but I saw no sign of the male I had stabbed. The field
was littered with bodies, but none of them his.
“Murdoch?”
The behemoth grinned. “He’s not my friend.” He chuckled at
something behind me, and I dreaded what lurked past my shoulder.
“Female, I don’t think he’s your friend, either.”
“I’ll
take her from here, Lleu,” a familiar voice grated near my ear.
“You
sure?” The giant squeezed until I gasped. “Shouldn’t you get
sewn up first?”
“I’m
sure.” Murdoch wrenched my arms behind my back. “Do you have your
hawser?”
A
tense pause stretched between them. “Always.”
Murdoch
held out his hand. “May I use it to secure the prisoner?”
“Use
this instead.” The blond tossed him a length of black thread that
made Murdoch frown.
He
ran the thick, knobby silk rope through his fingers. “You’re a
male of many talents.”
His
friend waggled his eyebrows at me. “So the females tell me.”
After
binding my wrists, Murdoch smoothed his thumb over the stump of my
missing ring finger. I cringed when he touched it. The first two
joints were missing, and his caress of what remained felt too
intimate somehow. I was grateful he showed me the small mercy of not
asking about it, but resumed his task. He pried my legs from Lleu’s
grip and crossed my ankles to hobble me before he knotted the rope.
Lleu was all that held me upright while Murdoch searched me. This
time his efforts produced the bloody dagger and its crystal sheath,
which he kept.
Assured
I was unarmed, he slung me over his shoulder. My face hit a wet spot
on his lower back, and I recoiled from the blood turning his worn
shirt brown. The wound splashed crimson over his tan skin, and the
stain kept growing.
He
must be in terrible pain. I wasn’t being wholly facetious when I
offered, “I can walk.”
“Very
fast,” he said, “and in the opposite direction of where I want
you to go.”
Huffing
hair from my eyes, I glared at his arse, figuring it was the same as
arguing to his face. “Release me.” When he grunted, I promised,
“I’m more trouble than I’m worth, Murdoch.”
His
shoulders tensed at my use of his name, but he continued on without
comment.
“You
will regret this.” We both would if Hishima got word. “Put me
down, please.”
“There.”
He winced when he set me on my feet. “You’re down.” He reached
into his pocket and produced the cloth he’d wiped my face with
earlier. “Open your mouth.” He waited. “Now.”
My
eyes rounded. “You can’t be—”
He
crammed the cloth into my mouth too fast for me to even bite him.
After hefting me over his shoulder again, this effort costing him a
muttered oath, Murdoch lumbered on toward Cathis.
Chortling
sounds made me lift my head. Lleu sauntered past me, a grin splitting
his face. He tipped his head when our eyes met. I narrowed mine,
which appeared to amuse him all the more.
Let
him smile.
If
Hishima found me at long last, his retribution would be no laughing
matter.
So
what do you all think? A helluva beginning if I do say so myself. A
TIME OF DYING is book 3 in this series, so I am thinking that there
has to be someone here who has read the previous book, or at least
one of them. Clue me in. Tell me what you can about this series, this
author, and this book. If the series is new to you, then feel free to
comment on any part of this post. Your feedback is always welcome.
I
would like to thank Ms. Edwards for being here today and allowing
this BLITZ to take place. I hope that you all had as much fun as I
did learning about this brand new release. Thanks to all of my loyal followers who keep coming back and making this blog thrive. You all
hold a special place with me. If anyone was caught by what they
experienced here today, please consider purchasing a copy of this
book(s) for yourself to show support to this author. I wish everyone
a fabulous day and I will be seeing you all again soon, but until
then ...
HAPPY
READING!!!
