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Please don’t forget Divine and Dateless is out now. Kindle and Nook versions are on sale through tomorrow for .99. Get your copy before the price goes up. Also available in print and iTunes version coming soon. For readers 18 and older, please.
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Divine and Dateless is out now. Kindle and Nook versions are on sale through tomorrow for .99. Get your copy before the price goes up. Also available in print and iTunes version coming soon. For readers 18 and older.
Here’s a sneak peak from my paranormal romantic comedy, Divine and Dateless, book one in my Eternally Yours series.
I’ve already posted a sample of chapter one below, or click HERE.
Blurb:
Divine and Dateless by Tara West Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go all the way…
What can be worse than electrocuting yourself while getting ready for your internet date? Realizing the hot stud you’ve been fondling is the grim reaper? Being chased by a sex-crazed bloated, naked corpse?
How about an eternity of more bad hair days and horrific dates? Or lusting after the one guy in all of the afterlife whose hydrophobia rivals his fear of commitment?
Yeah, that’s a whole lot worse.
From Chapter Two
“I told you, I’ve got a schedule to keep.”
Fake Roger (I refused to call him Grim, because then I would have had to acknowledge I was dead, which I couldn’t possibly be over a stupid blow dryer) was hovering behind me, tapping his foot on my shag bathroom rug. Don’t ask how he got in my bathroom. I wasn’t sure, but I thought he floated through my door.
Creepy, right?
He kept going on about some stupid schedule, which shouldn’t have mattered if we were dead, which I WASN’T.
I’ll be damned (oops, probably not a good time to be using that phrase) if I’m going anywhere with Grim.
I was only twenty-nine. I couldn’t have died. I hadn’t even done the marriage and kids thing yet, not that I was looking forward to the kids part, but my mom had been bugging me about grandkids.
My mom!
Holy crap. She would be heartbroken when she found out. I hoped my sister stopped being a brat long enough to console her. But Mom wouldn’t need anyone to console her because I wasn’t dead.
I’m not freaking dead!
I was sitting on the toilet crying, staring down at the chipped magenta toenail polish on my other body. My brain was so foggy from shock and grief, I hardly heard Grim as he heaved a sigh and said something about his schedule again. If my eternal fate hadn’t been in his hands, I’d probably have smacked him.
“What happened to me?” I asked through a sniffle.
He nodded toward the blow dryer lying by my side. Its bright fuchsia shell was marred by angry streaks of black. The cramped space smelled like burnt plastic, too. “Looks like you electrocuted yourself.”
“Shit!” I stomped a heel on the cracked tile. It created this weird, hollow echo, and I swore I could feel the vibrations ricochet into the other room.
“Were you running the water with the blow dryer on?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Didn’t you read the warning label?” He held up the dryer and pointed to the chord, a look of condescension in his vibrant eyes.
I averted my gaze, chewing on my lower lip. “Maybe not.”
“Your dryer should have had a surge suppressor.”
He pointed to the little red button on the plug, the same stupid button that had been popping out just about every two minutes when I’d tried to dry my hair. Yesterday, I’d finally gotten fed up, so I Super-glued it down. I’d thought it was a good idea at the time.
Grim swiped a finger across the plug and looked at me with a smirk. “You glued it?”
Okay, I admit it wasn’t a wise decision. Lesson learned. “Can’t we just resuscitate me?”
“Ashley,” he said through a groan as he pointed down at my body, “You’ve been dead for half an hour.”
I shot to my feet and peered down at my body and then spit out a curse that would have made my poor dear granny spin somersaults in her grave.
“Ashley? You okay?”
“Ash.” I said in a tone that felt as hollow as my lifeless body. “Nobody’s called me Ashley since high school, and I can’t go with you. I’m not dead.” I said that last part without conviction. Shit. Even I was starting to believe I’d croaked. This was so not good.
“Ash, I really need to get to my next call.” Grim stepped over my body, approaching my personal space.
I took a hesitant step back, not because I minded him being so close to me. Not at all. But having so much male filling up my space was like, excuse the bad pun, overloading me with a surge of electric lust.
“I need proof,” I said as I backed up until I felt the towel rack behind me.
Weird, because even though I was supposedly dead, and shouldn’t be able to feel a thing, I could definitely feel him. He put out a heat that sent my senses reeling.
He angled his head, giving me a good glimpse of a square jaw and thick neck. I had a hunch the shoulders underneath his stiff shirt collar were corded with muscle. “There’s all the proof you need.” He pointed at my prone body.
Lust forgotten. This guy sure knew how to kill a girl-gasm.
I shook my head before covering my eyes with my hands. “No, she’s not real. Neither are you. I zapped my head really badly when I shocked myself, and I’m still knocked out.”
“You don’t honestly believe that.”
The pity in his voice would have been humiliating had he not been a figment of my imagination.
“I do. I have to. I’m not ready to go.” I looked at him through my fingers. Damn. He’d stepped closer to me, and I couldn’t back up another inch.
Much to my amazement and annoyance, he had the nerve to smirk. Not the everyday, average, asshole smirk, like the kind I had to deal with from my pinhead boss on a daily basis, but the devastatingly handsome, sideways smirk that could only be perfected through years of endless flirting.
This definitely had to be some sort of hallucination. No guy I’d ever met was that damn sexy.
“What?” I asked as I clenched my hands.
His eyes gleamed with mischief. “You’re cute when you pout.”
I let out a huff of air, knocking a piece of wayward frizz out of my eye. “Okay, the Grim Reaper is flirting with me. Now I know this is a dream.”
He laughed, combing a hand through his thick, dark hair. “You want proof I’m real, don’t you?”
I wagged a finger in his face. “Flirting hardly counts as proof.”
“Sorry.” He shrugged. “That’s all I’ve got.”
Then a thought came to me, a really, really wicked thought. That devil sitting on my shoulder had to have been working overtime to come up with that one. I tilted my chin, looking deep into his eyes as I gave him a challenging glare. “What about kissing?”
Grim’s face paled, and, ironically, he looked like he’d been spooked by a ghost. He backed up, holding out his hands in a defensive gesture. “I’m not going to take advantage of you.” His words were at war with the molten look in his eyes.
Though I knew my hair was a frizzy mess, and my tight, black skirt might have exposed a bit too much pudge in the thigh area, I knew lust when I saw it, and this man was turned on.
Okay, since he was just a figment of my imagination, I figured I’d enjoy playing out this fantasy while it lasted. So I did what any woman in my situation would have done during an uncomfortably awkward moment of flirting gone wrong, I kept right on flirting. Ignoring the body lying between us on the floor, I stepped over my torn dress, which was definitely exposing too much pudgy thigh, and moved toward him until he was backed into a corner.
He stiffened until he was parallel to the wall. That would have been a definite sign he was not interested, except he licked his lower lip like he hadn’t eaten in a week, and I was a juicy cut of prime rib. I continued my advance until there was barely a breath between us and my heavy breasts were pressing against his chest. He stood there with this deer-in-the-headlights expression, and that’s when I started to lose confidence.
His knee went up, grazing the skin between my bare thighs, and a zing shot straight to my lady parts. Holy heck! I was horny for Grim! If this really was a dream, I hoped I didn’t wake up for at least another ten minutes. Scratch that. Make that twenty. Judging by the way this flirting was progressing, we’d both be at home base faster than I could devour a plate of triple-chocolate chunk brownies during PMS.
“Prove to me I’m dead,” I cooed, laying a hand on his chest. The top button on his long-sleeved cotton shirt was unfastened, revealing just the right amount of dark hair and a hint of hard muscles beneath. I moved my fingers to that small patch of curls, letting the heat from his bare skin on mine soak through. And then I did something naughty. I leaned up and pressed a feather-soft kiss on his tanned neck.
He groaned, cupping my shoulders in his strong grip. “What are you doing to me, woman?”
“Proving I’m not dead.” I giggled, nipping at his earlobe for good measure.
“Maybe you need some other kind of proof,” he growled, right before his lips came crashing down on mine in the most heat-searing, exquisite kiss imaginable.
I moaned into his mouth as I welcomed his tongue’s invasion. I tasted the sweet scent of fruit, maybe apples? I wasn’t quite sure, but I knew I needed to investigate further, so I fisted his shirt collar in my hands, clutching it like a lifeline as I deepened the kiss. He pulled me against the length of his hard body until I straddled one hard thigh. Our tongues sparred and our lips melded together perfectly.
At that moment, when my brain had been robbed of all coherent thought, one word popped into my brain: heaven. His kiss was pure heaven.
I released his collar, roaming the length of his body, which surely had to have been carved from granite. I didn’t care if I was pushing boundaries. This was a dream after all. Then I settled on that exquisitely large and stiff protrusion between his thighs, and I froze.
Holy shit, he was harder than a rod of steel, and as his leg ground out a torturous rhythm between my thighs, I realized I was wetter than spring in Seattle.
This was not a dream. This was real, and I had just fondled the boner of the freaking Grim Reaper.
For those of you who haven’t downloaded my Whispers boxed set, it’s on sale today for just .99 as part of Ereader News Today’s Book of the Day promotion. I’d like to give a shout out to Greg from ENT for going out of his way to feature my book. Thanks so much! Please download your copy now if you haven’t picked it up yet. That’s three YA paranormal books for one low price. 🙂
The Whispers Boxed Set includes the first three books in the Whispers Series, Sophie’s Secret, Don’t Tell Mother, and Krysta’s Curse.
Sophie’s Secret, Book One Sophie Sinora and her BFFs struggle to keep their strengthening paranormal powers secret while trying to fit in at school. Her teacher’s suicidal thoughts, a threatening locker bully, a teasing school flirt, her hormonal pregnant sister, and the tension between Sophie and her friends, only add to her problems. Hopefully, she can fix them in time to save her teacher’s life and her social life.
Don’t Tell Mother, Book Two AJ’s mounting frustrations at home and school could turn her into a ticking time bomb. She knows the first step to solving her problems is to gain acceptance from her mother. Then AJ’s green-haired boyfriend knocks on the door. AJ’s ability to foretell the future is driving her and her mom further apart, and if she doesn’t tell her mom about her horrible vision soon, her brother will die.
Krysta’s Curse, Book Three Krysta Richard’s ability to talk to spirits is getting in the way of her social life. Just as the chemistry between her and her lab partner, Bryon, is about to ignite, a homicide detective asks her to summon a murder victim, her drunk father suddenly takes an interest in her life and her dead friends enlist her in a crusade to save their decrepit cemetery.
* * *
Books four, five and six: Visions of the Witch, Sophie’s Secret Crush, and Witch Blood are not included in this collection.
Well, what do you think? I think my girls have outgrown the previous covers, so the entire series has been redesigned. Have you gotten a chance to read the series? I sure hope so. Sometimes updates take a while, but I expect the new covers to be showing up within the week. Be looking for book seven this fall. 🙂What do you think of Sophie?This ebook is free at all major ebook sites. Check out my Amazon page HERE.
So I know Witch Blood’s release date was scheduled for the end of February, but it’s going to be out a little early, as in tomorrow! Please remember to load your Kindles and iPads with Sophie, AJ, and Krysta’s latest story. I hope you enjoy it!
Here’s another scene from Witch Blood:
“Ethan, I’m sorry.” I reached toward him, but he jerked away.
“Not as sorry as Sleznick’s going to be,” he growled.
“Efan, you’re too hot. Get away,” his sister whined.
When Ethan scooted toward me, I gasped. The heat radiating off his body buzzed with this strange ominous hum. Oh, this was so not good.
In all my life, I’d never been as scared as I was now. We were being hunted by a demon with powers beyond our knowledge, and my boyfriend was set on killing him. I got this sick roiling feeling in my gut that Ethan would be the one killed instead, and me and Kaylee along with him.
“You can’t go after him.” The edge of fear that punctured my words was sharper than a razor blade. “You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
Ethan kept his gaze forward, and I held my breath as his hair stood on end and his entire face turned blood red. He squeezed his hands in his lap, his arms and shoulders stiff, the veins in his neck bulging like raging rivers. “I don’t care. I’m going to kill him.”
“AJ and her family will be here in a few hours. We need to wait for them.”
Ethan just stared straight ahead, his face a mask of stone and his eyes unblinking.
Panic alarms were ringing in my ears. What was Ethan planning? He couldn’t risk exposing us to Sleznick. The incubus would kill us all. I wasn’t ready to die. I was barely a kid. Images of my family flashed through my mind. My mom and dad would be heartbroken. My nephews would grow up without their aunt. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let Ethan risk our lives just to get revenge. Steeling my resolve, I turned to him and squared my shoulders.
“Ethan, are you listening to me? We need to wait for AJ’s family.”
My stomach lurched into my throat when the boat tilted forward. I turned just as the other passengers collectively gasped. Holy heck!
A giant swell of water rose up behind us from out of nowhere. I didn’t remember this happening on the Dreamy World ride. This wasn’t supposed to be a roller coaster. This was a gentle ride for little kids and terrified teenagers.
The crest of water pushed us forward at an alarming pace as the boat violently banged against the railing while whizzing by the Dreamy singers of all nationalities getting tucked into bed.
Kaylee giggled and held up her hands as water droplets from the cresting wave splashed our heads. The other passengers laughed nervously while casting anxious glances at each other. They probably hadn’t expected to be catapulted by a roaring tidal wave on this ride, either.
Ethan’s face was now crimson. I did a double take, thinking maybe the flashing Dreamy World lights were casting a strange shadow over my boyfriend, but no, his face was truly crimson… and glowing!
Witch Blood (Whispers book six) is over on GoodReads now. Please add it to your TBR pile. Initial beta responses are in, and so far they love it. I sure hope you do, too. The book is scheduled to be released the end of February, but I predict it will be released a week or two early. I can’t wait to share it with you!
In the meantime, here’s another (unedited) scene…
“Ethan, I’m so sorry,” I said as soon as we pulled out of my driveway.
He shrugged a shoulder and laughed, doing his best to look casual, but I wasn’t fooled. The way he clutched the steering wheel reminded me of that time I held onto the safety bar at Dreamy World’s haunted castle ride. Again, in my defense, I thought those ghosts were real.
“Don’t be,” he said. “He’s doing what dads do.”
“You mean embarrassing the hell out of me?” I groaned.
He laughed again, but the nervous energy behind it skirted across my psyche, and I felt Ethan’s panic jumping off his skin in erratic currents.
I didn’t want to pry into his mind, even though, as a telepath, that’s what I did best. But seriously, what was up with Ethan?
I should have been the one on edge. Ethan’s heady cologne wrapped around my senses in a warm embrace, setting my hormones on high alert. And his full lips were begging to be kissed. I could practically hear them calling to me. I was sorely tempted to ask Ethan to pull over so we could make out.
Besides, I so wanted the distraction after my crazy week. Maybe a make out session was what he needed to take the edge off, too.
“So we’re really going to your parents’ party, right?” I asked.
Ethan shrugged again, clutching the wheel even tighter. “Only for a little while, and then we have to go someplace safe with my kid sister.”
His nervous energy hit me like a blast of hot air. I crossed my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”
Ethan sucked in a deep breath, and then his words fell out of his mouth in a jumbled mess on the exhale. “My parents assembled their coven. They’re going to banish Sleznick to hell.”
I blinked once, then twice, waiting for my boyfriend to break into a fit of laughter and tell me that it was all just a joke. But his features hardened like granite, and the temperature in the car dropped like twenty degrees.
Even though I was wearing a warm jacket, I shivered as the gooseflesh rose on my arms. “Excuse me?”
“They’re doing a ritual to banish the incubus, Sophie. They need us there.”
“Omigod!” I squealed, even though my teeth had started to chatter. “What are we supposed to do? I don’t know how to banish anyone.”
I swear the temperature dropped another ten degrees. Even though my limbs felt frozen, I leaned over and set Ethan’s heater to full blast.
We’d come to a stoplight, and Ethan was staring at it like he was transfixed. Finally, he turned toward me, and I watched a knot jump in his throat as he swallowed. “You don’t need to do anything. We just need your uhhh…” He turned away, his cheeks flushing as bright as the glaring red light in front of us.
“My uhhh?”
His words spilled so fast out of his mouth, I swear they were going to trip on his tongue along the way. “My dad says he needs the blood of a virgin witch to lure Sleznick to the ceremony. So he wanted to ask me if you were maybe able to do it.”
I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing at this point, and I gaped at my boyfriend like he’d grown a second head. He looked away from me and put the car in drive. I turned my head and stared out the window as cars whizzed by. At first, my brain was too numb to process what Ethan had just told me, but then his words started to filter into my brain, like coffee on a slow drip.
Virgin. Witch. Blood. Sacrifice.
Holy heck!
Ethan had pulled into the driveway of a two story house. Several cars were parked along the sidewalk, and all of the lights were on inside. Voices carried from behind the large bay window where I saw shadows moving frantically about.
O-mi-freaking-God! We were at his house!
“Are you serious?” I practically screeched.
The car suddenly warmed to the point that Ethan had to roll down the windows and let in the cool air. He turned to me with his palms out in a defensive gesture.
“They just need a drop of your blood from your finger for the sacrifice.” He cringed. “That is, if you’re eligible.”
I’m pretty sure my heart fell to the pit of my stomach. “If I’m eligible?”
His face contorted, making him look like he’d just swallowed a whole lemon. “I know you and Frankie were going out before.”
“We haven’t done anything, Ethan,” I said on a low growl. “I haven’t done any of that with anyone.”
“Whew. That’s a relief.”
Was the boy smoking some kind of magic crack? Instinctively, I reached out and punched him, which was totally out of character for me. I’m pretty sure I hadn’t punched anyone since that time Patty Ledbetter royally kicked my ass in the sixth grade, but I was so angry I was practically seeing stars. “I can’t believe you!”
Ethan jerked back and rubbed his shoulder. “Sorry, it’s just we were going to have to use my sister. She’s only four and she’d probably freak.”
“And what makes you think I won’t freak?”
Ethan pinched his fingers together. “It’s just a tiny drop of blood. I swear.”
Just take me home, I wanted to say, but I clamped my jaw shut, even though I was sorely tempted to jump out of Ethan’s car and make a dash for home. Somehow watching old crime dramas with my dad sounded far better than spilling my virgin blood for a demon. I poked a finger in his chest. The heat radiating off him was palpable. “Why can’t they use your blood?”
Ethan’s face colored before he looked away.
I clenched my fists by my sides and scooted back against the door. “I see.”
Ethan’s shoulders hunched. He looked ready to sink beneath his seat. “It was a long time ago, Sophie.”
“That’s okay.” I waved him away with a flick of the wrist. “I don’t need to know.” Truthfully, the thought of Ethan doing that stuff with another girl gnawed at my insides like a starving dog with a bone, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. He was older than me, plus he had a car, and he was cute. Really cute. I was sure he’d had more than one girl, and I was sure it wasn’t that long ago.
“Sophie, if we don’t banish him, we’ll never be safe.”
“What if something goes wrong? What if they don’t banish him?”
“My parents are powerful witches. I trust them.”
“Sure you do.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re not the one being sacrificed.”
“Okay,” he said on an exhale. “We’ll have my sister do it.”
“She’s freaking four years old!” I wagged a finger, sorely tempted to ball up my fist and punch him again.
“We need a virgin, Sophie,” Ethan pleaded, his bright blue eyes darkening and his lip turning down in a too cute pout.
“Fine. I’ll do it.” I folded my arms across my chest and flashed a pout of my own.
When Ethan leaned forward and brushed a feather soft kiss across my forehead, I felt my resistance weaken even more.
This had to be the worst first date in the history of history, and I was the craziest, stupidest girlfriend on the planet. I knew we needed to get rid of Sleznick. I shouldn’t have been a baby about a little drop of blood, but I didn’t need AJ’s gift of foresight to know that this ritual had the potential to go terribly wrong.
Great news, everyone! Witch Blood (Whispers Book Six) is finally finished and with my great beta readers! Then, it’s onto my awesome editor, Theo. If all edits and revisions are completed ahead of schedule, I will not wait until the February 27 release date. Now, here’s a sneak peak at Witch Blood. Please remember this is the first draft. ❤ Tara
Chapter One
Swish, gargle, spit, rinse, spit, spit, spit…
I couldn’t seem to get the taste of bile out of my mouth no matter how many times I brushed my teeth. I clutched the side of the bathroom counter as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Dark circles that looked more like bruises hung under my eyes like heavy thunderclouds, a sharp contrast to my ghostly skin tone. My long, dark hair was a straggly mess, and my ordinarily vivid green eyes were dull and lifeless, sunk in their sockets, as if they, too were hiding from the horrors that may be lurking outside my home.
Basically, I looked like I’d been drug through hell and back. A shiver stole up my spine at the thought. Because it could really happen, since I’ve discovered my history teacher, Mr. Sleznick, was an incubus after my soul.
After a day of fainting, and then having a vision about my teacher from hell, then trying to control two morphling witch toddlers, you could say I’ve had a stressful day.
And I thought my week was off to a bad start when I sprouted this pimple on my nose. If only my life was that simple. What I needed was a good night’s sleep.
Fat chance.
Since I knew it’s physically impossible to sleep with one eye open, I guess I’d be pulling an all-nighter. My cat, Alessia, who’s also my witch’s familiar, told me Mr. Sleznick’s powers were stronger at night.
If a soul sucking incubus tried to sneak through my window tonight, I wanted to be ready. I’ve already stolen my dad’s hunting knife and slipped it underneath my mattress, though I don’t know if a knife will be able to ward off his powers, whatever powers he may have.
Alessia told me every time an incubus kills a witch and steals her soul, he also absorbs her powers, and I’m not sure how many witches he’s already killed or what he’s capable of. One thing I know, he’s impervious to my mind control. He demonstrated that today when I tried to persuade him to let us out of detention.
I repressed another shudder before splashing my face with warm water. I pumped some makeup remover onto a wet washcloth and cleaned my face. Then, I applied some zit cream to my nose and rubbed moisturizer into my dry zones. If guess if I was going to have my life force sucked out of me by my demonic teacher from hell, I should have at least had clear skin. Besides, just in case I managed to survive my sophomore year, I wanted to look pretty for my new boyfriend Ethan Maeson.
I heaved a sigh as I patted my face dry with a towel.
At least something had gone right in my life today. Ethan asked me to be his girl, and I said YES! How could I not? I mean, the boy has to just look at me with that smoldering gaze and my insides melted. Not literally, of course, although I supposed they could since he’s an elemental witch, as in he’s got the power to control the elements. So freaking cool. Though Ethan was still honing in his skills, case in point, I accidentally burned my hand a few days ago when I grabbed his arm.
Note to self. Do not touch Ethan when he’s angry.
I went back into my bedroom. Alessia was curled up in a white fluff ball, snoozing on my satin comforter. She looked perfectly content, as her nose twitched while she slept. I felt a pang of jealousy that she could fall asleep so easily, then that jealousy turned to annoyance. Didn’t she care that a demon was trying to steal my soul? I may not be the most obedient witch slave, but I’ve always made sure my mom bought the expensive kibbles and I devoted at least an hour each day to scratching behind her ears.
I dare her to find another witch who gives her so many scratches.
Relax, little witch. He’s not coming for you tonight. Alessia said this to me in thought, not even bothering to lift her head and look at me with those piercing silver eyes.
“How do you know this?” I asked, trying to mask my annoyance that my telepathic cat just invaded my mind without permission.
Has AJ called you?
AJ, duh. My psychic BFF who literally can see the future. She’s always been able to predict impending death or accidents of her loved ones at least a day or two before they happen. If Sleznick was about to come after me, I’m sure AJ would see it first.
She’ll warn you before it happens. Alesia confirmed my thoughts, although she was probably still inside my head, anyway. My brain felt fuzzy. That’s how I knew she was there.
As if on cue, my phone rang and I jumped.
I forced myself to calm down when I realized it was probably just Ethan. He stopped by earlier to help me babysit (no, the parents did not know this), and said he’d call me when he got home. I reached for my jeans on the floor and pulled my phone out of the pocket, and then my heart froze when I saw AJ Dawson flashing on the caller ID.
I slid my finger across the screen to answer. “Hey.”
“Sophie,” AJ groaned. “Thank the Goddess you’re okay.”
“Goddess?” I asked, although I really shouldn’t have been concerned by her sudden change in religious deities. What I should have been worried about is the fact that she thought I wasn’t okay.
“Witch school, ya know,” she answered casually, as if I wasn’t about to have my soul sucked out of my body by a demonic history teacher with really bad breath.
“AJ, what did you see?” I snapped, unable to keep the impatience — or fear– out of my voice.
“There was a man chasing you,” she said. “I couldn’t see his face, so I don’t know who it was.”
I wanted to respond, I did, but my mouth stopped working, along with my lungs, heart, limbs and brain. In fact, I’m fairly certain the earth stopped spinning, too. I hadn’t had the time to tell AJ that I’d recently discovered Sleznick was an incubus.
I have no idea how my phone was still attached to my ear, but AJ continued without waiting for my reply. “This guy was chasing you through a crowd.” Then she paused, maybe waiting for my response, but my brain still hadn’t kick started into gear. “His eyes were red,” she added with a gasp.
Oh, no! That was my brain thinking, but I still hadn’t found my voice.
“You were at Dreamy World.”
Dreamy World?
“Sophie,” AJ impatiently huffed. “Are you there?”
“I-I’m here,” I answered through a shaky voice, as my world started spinning again, albeit slowly. Dreamy World was an entire days’ drive away. My parents hadn’t taken me there since I was a kid, and after our last trip, Dad said he would never take us again. Maybe it had something to do with me wetting my pants on the haunted castle ride. (I was seven, okay, so don’t judge. Those ghosts looked real, really real, and unlike my BFF, Krysta Richards, I don’t handle floating deceased people very well.) Anyway, anyone who knew my dad knew he preferred camping and fishing to riding Eddie the Elephant rides, and he especially hated the creepy Dreamy World employees telling us to have a dreamy day every time we purchased a soda or even farted in their direction.
So, no, I seriously doubted I’d be going to Dreamy World any time within the next century. For the first time that night, I heaved a sigh of relief.
“My dad hates Dreamy World. He won’t take me there.”
“You’re going soon,” she says. “I see Halloween decorations.”
I shook my head as I fall back on my bed. The day’s stress had left me physically and mentally exhausted. Now that I knew my teacher wasn’t coming for me any time soon, I gave into the fatigue, and massaged the tension out of my neck with my free hand. “My parents aren’t taking me to Dreamy World.”
“You were there, Sophie,” she stressed. “I saw you running. You were holding a little girl’s hand.”
Though I come from a big Italian family, other than my twin nephews, I’m the baby. “I don’t have any little girls in my family.”
“The dream felt so real. Really real.”
“I’ll talk to my parents and make sure they don’t have any vacation plans. If they do, I’ll tell them to cancel.”
“Sophie, listen to me very carefully,” AJ enunciated like I was my dear Aunt Louise who’s lost most of her hearing. “You are going to Dreamy World. What I don’t get is why this guy is chasing you.”
Crappity, crap, crap! She can’t be right, I told myself. But AJ’s never been wrong about a vision before. “I bet it’s my history teacher, Mr. Sleznick. He’s an incubus, AJ.”
“Mr. Sleznick? I remember him. What the heck is an incubus?”
“Ask Aunt B. Actually, is she there?” I managed to ask through a shaky voice. “I really need to talk to an adult witch right now.” Maybe Aunt Bertrice can help me make some sense of all this. Maybe she’ll have some good news like AJ accidentally inhaled some of her incense and her visions aren’t reliable.
“She’s playing bunco with her coven.”
“A bunco coven?” Now I’d heard of everything. I wondered if any of Aunt B’s friends were mind readers like me. I was sure those witches had plenty of tricks up their sleeves. I shook my head, trying to clear it of crazy thoughts. Bunco covens were the least of my worries.
“Hey, whatever makes them happy,” AJ answered.
“Would you have her call me when she gets home?” I managed to squeak, though my voice had gone so dry, it felt like I’d swallowed a bucket of sand.
“Sure. You okay?”
“Not really.” I sighed as I leaned back against the bed. I was so frayed from fear, my muscles felt liquefied. A lot of crazy things have happened to me since I discovered my powers, but nothing so frightening as discovering my teacher wanted to steal my soul. Then I remembered the one good thing that happened to me tonight. “But Ethan asked me to be his girlfriend.”
AJ let out this weird girly squeal. What had gotten into my jock friend since she moved to Salem? “I hope you said yes.”
“You know I did.” I draped an arm over my eyes and groaned. That vein above my temple was starting to throb. Another wonderful side-effect of my gnawing panic, no doubt.
“I’m worried about you, Sophie.” AJ’s voice dropped to a somber tenor.
I let out a long sigh, squeezing my fist by my side. “Me, too.”
If you’d like to read a few more chapters, check out Witch Blood on Wattpad.
Projected release date is February 27. If it moves up, I’ll be sure to let you know. Be looking for a scene from chapter one next week. What do you think of the cover? Big THANK YOU to my fan club for their input on the cover art and blurb.
If Sophie Sinora survives tonight, she’s sure to be grounded for life. But that’s the least of her problems. She’s thousands of miles from home, people are not who they seem, and she doesn’t know friend from foe. She needs to keep her hot witch boyfriend, with an even hotter temper, from losing his cool before the incubus finds them and steals their souls. And she thought she was having a bad week when she sprouted that ginormous pimple on her nose. If only her life was that simple.
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Books one through five are available at all major ebook retailers and in print. Check out my Amazon page HERE.
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About Tara West:
Tara West writes books about dragons, witches, and handsome heroes while eating chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate. She’s willing to share her dragons, witches and heroes. Keep your hands off her chocolate.
Tara West’s young adult and new adult romances have been Kindle bestsellers. A former high school English teacher, Tara is now a full-time writer and graphic artist. She enjoys spending time with her family, interacting with her fans, and fishing the Texas coast.
Hey, everyone. Don’t you just love a sale? Rarely do I discount my Whispers books, but they are on sale for just two days, so if you don’t have all of the series, here’s your chance. Due to health reasons, I had to push back the deadline of book six. Be looking for it in February.
Check back tomorrow as I list a new giveaway and a chance to win another $25 gift card. 
For readers 18 and older.
Tara West 