Tina Lynn is heating up the ether with her Bad Boy Blogfest over at her blog, Sweet Niblets. She didn't specify if bad boy meant villain, or hero with attitude.I tend to list toward characters that aren't clearly in one category or another. Brooding heroes, alluring villains...enablers with your favorite vice on hand.
This excerpt is from my WIP, Black Adders. The main character, Raven Adder, is from a family of con men and women; ruthless people that she turned against after they killed an innocent family.
She's moved away and gone into hiding, but someone starts leaving tarot cards in her mailbox, on her doorstep, at her work. Knowing her family doesn't belive in magic, she's terrified they spell out a message...a threat on her life or a warning. Not sure, she risks going to see someone from her past...someone she barely survived the first time.
Black Adders
Yellow smoke fluttered through the bead curtain hanging in the doorway and wafted passed my nose. Craving hit me with the force of an angry rhino to the gut erasing two years of abstinence in a moment. Hands shaking, I parted a portion of the beads and walked through the gently clicking cascade.
A dim red light bathed the room in an eerie darkroom glow. Couples clustered in corners, on benches, and along the damask covered walls of the room. Persian rugs, fine glass, and lush fabrics muffled the music from the club below.
Siyah, lounging on a pile of pillows, looked up at me and favored me with a brilliant smile. He put the glass pipe in his pocket and tilted his chin up looking down his nose at me. “Raven,” he murmured. “You’re back in town.”
The feel of those pillows, soft beneath my back, flashed in my head and I swallowed against the lump in my throat.
Stopping just inside the room, I leaned against the cool wall and balled my fists at my sides. “I won’t be here long.”
His eyes danced along my body and back up to my face. “Long enough, I hope.”
When I didn’t answer, Siyah clicked his tongue and rose to his feet. All muscle and sinew; his movements reminded me of something powerful hunting. He walked up to me, hand over my head against the wall, he leaned in until our noses nearly touched.
“Did you come here for anything in particular?”
The sweet aroma on his breath mingled with the brandy and I stifled a whimper of need.
Reaching into my back pocket I drew out the tarot card and held it between our faces. He leaned away, took it, and then held me with his dark eyes.
“The Tower?” Siyah stepped back. “What did you do?”
I peered back at him, shocked. “You must have heard. With your connections—”
Siyah’s brows knit. “It’s true then?”
Nodding, I took in a shaky breath. “I – I need to know if anything can be done. Your father...I thought you might have an answer.”
He rolled away coming to rest on the wall next to me. Sighing, he shook his head. “The only way to fix it is with a blood offering.” His voice, low and even, betrayed the wary look in his eyes when he turned to me. “If not yours, then someone more valuable to them.”
Tears trailed down my cheeks and I nodded silently. I’d known as much. “I had to be sure,” I whispered.
“How long has it been, Raven?” Siyah asked and brought the pipe and lighter to his lips.
I watched the flame lick at the glass and a shudder shook my core. Suddenly sweating I licked my lips. “T-Two years.”
Siyah moved blindingly fast, pinning me to the wall with his hand on my chest, he stopped just short of touching my lips with his and exhaled the yellow cloud into my mouth. Sucking in with surprise and then urgent need, I filled my lungs with the burning tendrils of release. Breathing out, my voice hitched as I stifled a cry.
He kissed me then. My nose, my cheek, my eyes. His angular jaw resting against mine, he put the pipe in my hand. “You shouldn’t have left, Raven.” He muttered. “You belong here.”“Say you’re back to stay.” He leaned in and whispered at my temple. “And I promise I’ll help you.”
I shouldn’t have come back here. Why had I thought I could walk away from him unscathed? Siyah’s strong body pressed against me and I sighed heavily, the fog descending over my mind like a familiar blanket. I let the tarot card drop to the floor.
“I promise.”
I'll stay here and try to get Raven away from Siyah in one piece...you go check out the other entries at Sweet Niblets.
Until next time...Go Write!
Photograph by andronicusmax. Photograph by Ambient Ideas