Book Birthday for Soulbound!!!!!

Yay!  My baby is finally on the shelf-- I can't tell you how excited I am that Xandra's story is finally out!  And also, today is my real baby's birthday.  My oldest turns sixteen today, which is really, really hard for me to imagine (yes, I was a child bride ;)  He's celebrating with the keys to a car and I'm celebrating by freaking out, LOL.

But back to Soulbound.  Here's today's excerpt.  And don't forget to comment, tweet and/or FB about it to get extra points for the gift card and book giveaway!!!!

Have a great Tuesday :)

Excerpt #2:

 “Is something wrong?” he finally asks, letting his hand fall back to his side. There’s no impatience in the question, no condescension. Just an honest concern that has me forgetting the whispers about him. Or at least putting them aside for a while. Despite my best intentions, I lower my guard.

“You mean besides the fact that I just humiliated myself in front of my entire coven?” I answer, settling down beside him as he takes off his socks and shoes.

“And what looks like a fair amount of outsiders as well, don’t forget.”

“Gee, thanks. I was totally in danger of forgetting that, so I appreciate the reminder.”

“I do what I can.”

“And not a thing more, I bet.” I narrow my eyes at him. “You need lessons on how to pretend to give a damn.”

“Oh, I give a damn, Xandra. I just didn’t think you’d want me to lie to you. I can try, but I warn you, I’m not very good at it.”

“Someone like you doesn’t have to be.” I, on the other hand, have spent my whole life living a lie. Trying to be who my parents want me to be no matter how hopeless I am at it.

“Someone like me?” There’s a dangerous note in his voice now, but I don’t care. I’m feeling reckless.

“I’m not stupid. I know who you are. Someone like you doesn’t have to answer to anyone.”

This time it’s his eyes that narrow. “You’d be surprised.”

To the side of us a peach tree bursts into flame. For a moment, Declan looks stunned, like he can’t imagine how it happened. I wonder what that would be like, to have so much power that it could just leak out like that without me even noticing. I don’t think I’d like it—I’m too much of a control freak.

A second later, the fire goes out as suddenly as it started. He doesn’t say anything else and neither do I. Instead, we just sit here, the tension between us ratcheting up with each minute that passes.

“So, why did you come?” I finally ask. “You don’t know my family, don’t know me. You aren’t even part of our coven. So why did you travel halfway around the world—”

“Halfway across the country, not the world. I was in New York before this.”

“Whatever.” I couldn’t care less about semantics when there are questions I want answers to. “So why, out of all the places you could be right now, did you choose to be here?”

“Because you’re here.”

My gaze jumps to his. I’ve been careful not to look him in the eye since those first moments, scared of what I might find. Now, I know that fear is justified. Power—overwhelming, unimaginable power—swirls in the obsidian depths and I can’t look away. I’m pinned, as trapped here as I was back there on that stage. More so, really, because here it feels like there’s no escape route. No back door to scuttle out of.  Nowhere to run.

I desperately want to look away. But the pull is intense, like he’s reached out and grabbed me and there’s nothing I can do about it.

I’m playing prey to his predator.

Even worse, there’s a strange lethargy pulsing through me. Pulling me into him. Pulling me under. I start to fall . . .

No! I don’t know what game he’s playing, but I won’t be anyone’s pawn. Not anymore. When I jumped off that stage tonight and ran away, I started a new path for myself. A new life. Instinctively, I know that this isn’t it.

I finally find the strength to wrench my gaze from his and as I do, I feel this pop, like I’ve ruptured something deep inside. I gasp, wrap my arms around myself in an instinctive bid for comfort. Declan doesn’t react at all, doesn’t move a muscle, but I think he felt it too.

When silver sparks of energy whip through the air around us, I’m sure of it.

Reaching a hand out, I capture one of the sparks. I can’t stop myself. I want to know, for just a second, what that kind of power feels like. It sizzles against my skin, crackling and spitting, burning me, until I open my fingers and let what’s left of the spark fall back out into the air.

My palm throbs where it touched me, white hot and painful. It takes all my energy not to flinch, but I manage it. It’s my turn not to react. Except, Declan knows—just as I did with him. He reaches out, gently cups my hand in his own. Strokes the fingers of his other hand lightly over the burn.

It should have been smooth, easy, but the second his skin brushes against my palm, the entire world ignites. Fragments of memories I shouldn’t have rush at me—terrifying, fascinating, compelling. I close my eyes, try to block them out, but they’re still there behind my eyelids. Still there, deep in my mind as every nerve ending I have lights up like it’s Christmas at Rockefeller Center.

I order myself to pull away, to break the connection this one last time, but I can’t do it. The pleasure, woven as it is amidst the pain, staggers me and I can’t do anything but sit there and soak it all in.

The pain dissipates as suddenly as it came, but in its place . . . in its place is a silver Seba, identical in all but color to the one on Declan’s neck.

“What did you do?” I gasp, looking at the new mark on my palm. It shimmers in the moonlight, is the most beautiful—and frightening—thing I’ve ever seen.

“That wasn’t me, Xandra.” But he looks shaken as his fingers close around mine in a grip so possessive it makes my breath catch in my throat. I start to pull back—this is too weird, even for the daughter of witch royalty—but then I realize his hand is shaking even worse than mine. It’s enough, that hint of vulnerability, to keep me here when every instinct I have screams at me to flee.

“What—” My voice breaks and I clear my throat, try again. “What’s happening?” The sparks aren’t stopping. In fact, they’re spinning all around us like a freak, midsummer snow flurry—growing hotter, more plentiful, the longer we’re touching.

Declan doesn’t answer, just shakes his head. I get the impression, right or wrong, that for all his power and experience he doesn’t know what’s going on any more than I do. I take a step back and electricity arcs between us, flowing from him into me and back again.

Every cell in my body is vibrating with it, every nerve ending screaming with the agony of it. Just when I think it’s over, that the electricity is going to rip us apart, he does something even more unexpected. He leans forward, and slowly lowers his mouth to mine.

Rockefeller Center turns into Mardi Gras, the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve all rolled into one.  Too bad I never thought to wonder what happens after the ball drops.

Soulbound Hits the Shelves Tomorrow!!!!

Hi Everyone :)  Thanks so much to everyone who has been out to see me at booksignings in the last few weeks.  It's been awesome to meet all of you.

Today, I'm excited because the day has finally arrived for my new Urban Fantasy series to hit the shelves. Soulbound, the first book in the Xandra Morgan series, will be out tomorrow and I couldn't be more thrilled.  It's a dark, suspensey, witch story that takes place in my current hometown of Austin, Texas and it was a blast to write.  I know the name is different-- Tessa Adams vs. Tracy Deebs-- but it's still me, just a psuedonym I write under :)

Here's the blurb:

As the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter—and a member of Ipswitch’s Royal family—Xandra Morgan should be a witch of incredible power. But things don’t always turn out like you expect…

While she hasn’t lived up to her family’s expectations, Xandra has come to terms with her latent magic and made a life for herself in Austin, Texas, running a coffee shop where she makes potions of a non-magical nature. While things aren’t perfect, Xandra is happy—until she runs into powerful warlock Declan Chumomisto.

Xandra hasn’t seen Declan in years, and though she’s still overwhelmed by his power, she doesn’t trust him. And when her own powers awaken one night and lead her to the body of a woman in the woods bearing the symbol of Isis—the same one that has marked Xandra since the day she met Declan—she’s filled with a terrible suspicion, soon confirmed: the woman is connected to him.

Xandra doesn’t want to believe that Declan is capable of murder, but as the body count mounts, and Xandra’s own powers spiral out of control, she’s not sure she can trust her own instincts…

 

And here's an excerpt:

 

I shouldn’t have drunk the damn tea.

I’d known it even as I took the first sip, but when I’d asked my mother what was in it, she’d sworn it was completely innocuous. Chamomile. Mint. A touch of lavender for luck.

Yeah, right.

But when I’d scented all three herbs in the cup she’d handed me, I’d decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. And while there’d been something else in there—something a little sweet that I couldn’t quite identify at the time—I’d just put it down to the agave syrup my mom’s been crazy about for months now.

I’m not a fan of the stuff but my mother looked so anxious, and so happy to see me after my six month absence from Ipswitch, that I hadn’t been able to disappoint her. I’d drunk the entire stupid cup in one long gulp to make up for the unpleasant taste.

I’m paying for it now, big time, which makes me an even bigger fool today than I was eight years ago. Back then, I’d still been trying desperately to live up to her expectations of me, to be the witch she wanted me to be. In the last few years, though, I’ve given up on trying to be something I’m not and have instead built a life for myself that I’m proud of—away from my hometown.

Away from the magic that is so much a part of this place.

Which, I suppose, makes my momentary gullibility more understandable. It’s been a while since I’ve been around the insanity and I’ve obviously forgotten how bad it can get. It was a mistake to think that I would be safe here, even for a couple of days.

After all, from the moment I walked away from Ipswitch and the magical legacy I had no hopes of living up to, my mother has been desperate to get me back. She’ll stop at nothing to find a way to unlock the powers I’m perfectly content without, will do anything to turn me into the Magic Barbie she’s always wanted me to be. Maybe if I’d remembered that, instead of thinking about how much I’d missed her, I’d be in better shape now.

Live and learn, I suppose. And just to be clear, I’d really like the chance to live through this. I send the thought out into the universe even as I wonder if the number for Poison Control is the same as it was when I was a little kid.

I reach for the phone, but it falls to the ground before I can wrap my hand around it—whether by accident or design, I’m not sure. The fact that it’s perfectly believable that my mother would have charmed the phone to prevent me from calling for help is one more glaring piece of evidence against both of us.

Idiot, idiot, idiot . . . The word thrums through my brain, a triple syllable repeating chorus that echoes the three step cramping in my stomach.

Squeeze, tighten, release.

Squeeze, tighten, release.

I-Di-Ot.

I didn’t know anything could hurt this much. Had my mother inadvertently given me too much of whatever this was, or had I simply poisoned myself by drinking the tea too quickly? I call out for help, then curl myself into a ball and pray for death. Maybe living isn’t all it’s cracked up to be after all—at least not if it comes with this.

“Hey, Xandra, what’s wrong?” my sister Rachael asks from her spot near the door. Though she normally doesn’t have much use for me, her most prominent power is healing. My illness must have called to her, overcoming her usual lack of interest.

“Tea,” is all I manage to say, but it’s enough. She rushes into the room and lays a cool hand on my forehead.

“Mom’s crazy,” she tells me. “I swear, your latency has pushed her completely around the bend.”

“What did she give me?”

She looks at my pupils, shakes her head. “Best guess?” she asks grimly. “Belladonna.”

I shudder at the confirmation of my worst fear. Guaranteed to bring out even the most latent magic—or so the herbal practitioners promise—belladonna has been a staple in witch gardens for centuries. I know my mom grows it, but I thought she burned it to get to its essence. Never in a million years did it occur to me that she would actually go so far as to feed me the toxic plant. Especially since, so far, the only thing it’s brought out in me is my breakfast—an experience I really could have done without.

“What do I do?” I ask between cramps, forcing the words out from between my clenched jaws.

“I’m not sure. I need to look it up, and talk to her, find out how much she gave you. Probably no more than a berry or two, which isn’t enough to kill you when brewed in a tea—it’ll just make you really uncomfortable.”

Another pain hits and I pull my legs even tighter against my stomach. “I think . . . uncomfortable . . . is an understatement,” I gasp.

“I know, sweetie.” She heads into my bathroom and comes out a few seconds later with a damp washcloth, which she lays across my forehead. “I’ll be back in a little while, hopefully with an antidote to make this all go away.”

“Pilocarpine,” I tell her, because while I’m no good with actually wielding magic, I’m still up on all the plants and other ingredients that witches deal with—a leftover from when I was trying to be super-witch.

“I know. I’m just not sure if I can get my hands on any. I wouldn’t put it past Mom to have gotten rid of all of it before you got here. You might have to suffer through this without it.”

Terrific. I grit my teeth against another influx of pain and swear to myself that I am never coming back here again. I don’t care about command performances anymore, don’t care how much my mother pleads with me to return for special occasions. She’s crossed so far over the line this time that there is no way I’ll be able to overlook it. Winter Solstice or not, I am out of here the second I feel better.

If I ever do feel better, which seems doubtful right now. The pain is increasing as the belladonna works its way through my system, and I try not to think about what’s coming next. Blurred vision, dizziness, hallucinations, convulsions. Already, I can see the edges of the walls bending, curving in on me. I tell myself it isn’t real, that it’s just another side effect of the belladonna, but the truth is I don’t know what’s real anymore and what’s illusion.

 

There will be more excerpts posted all week, so stop by and see what Soulbound is all about :)  And leave a comment for a chance to win a $50 gift card to Amazon or BN and a signed copy of Doomed.  Tweet and Facebook about Soulbound for extra chances to win and then let me know about it here.  Thanks so much :)

Come See Me at YAK Fest this Saturday!!!

Hi Everyone :)

I'll be speaking on a panel and signing books in Keller, TX (near Dallas) this Saturday with a bunch of other really cool YA authors!  Check out the schedule below for more info and if you're in the area, come see me!!!!!

WHEN: Saturday, January 19, 9am – 5pm
COST: FREE.
OPEN DOOR: Come when you can and stay for as long as you like.
WHERE: Keller High School, 601 N. Pate Orr Rd. Keller, TX 76248
SOCIAL MEDIA: twitter / facebook / blog
https://twitter.com/YAK_Fest (hashtag #Yakfest13)
https://www.facebook.com/YAKbookfest
http://teacherweb.com/TX/KellerHighSchool/YAKFest/apt1.aspx
http://campus.kellerisd.net/schools/khs-001/Pages/YAKFest.aspx


KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Simone Elkele

Panel Breakdown:

Keeping It Real – Jessica Anderson, Charles Benoit, Chris Crutcher (afternoon only), Simone Elkeles, Guadalupe Garica McCall, Jessica Warman, Lori Aurelia Williams and Shannon Greenland

This is Not Normal – Rosemary Clement Moore, Cory Oakes, Victoria Scott, Mary Lindsey and Jeff Hirsch

This is Not Normal Either – Krissi Dallas, Tracy Deebs, Greg Leitich Smith and Andrea White

Vampire Smack Down - Cynthia Leitich Smith, Rachel Caine and Jason Henderson

Poetry Workshop – Colin Gilbert

A Walk on the Weird Side – Kelley Milner Halls

Choctaw Tales – Tim Tingle

Schedule (tentative)

Time	Event	Location
9:00 - 10:00	Doors open; book sales	Commons
10:00 - 10:45	Keynote- Simone Elkeles, followed by introduction of authors	Fine Arts Center
10:55 - 11:40	select a panel or session	Lecture Hall, Band Hall, classrooms
11:40 - 12:40	Lunch - food for purchase; Book sales	Commons
12:40 - 1:20	select a panel or session	Lecture Hall, Band Hall, classrooms
1:30 - 2:10	select a panel or session	Lecture Hall, Band Hall, classrooms
2:20 - 3:00	select a panel or session	Lecture Hall, Band Hall, classrooms
3:10 - 3:40	Poetry reading	Commons
3:40 - 5:00	book sales; author signing	Commons

There will be books available for purchase from The Book Carriage, and they will be selling books all day. The Book Carriage will accept cash and credit cards. You may bring some books from home for authors to sign. Food and drinks will be available for purchase at lunch.

Doomed Release Day!!!!!

Hi, Everyone!  I'm so excited to host the last day of the Doomed Scavenger Hunt (and am especially excited because today is release day!!!!)  So, before I head out to my local bookstore to sign copies of Doomed, I'm posting one more excerpt from the book.  Hope you like it!  And remember to comment for the chance to win a $75 Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Apple Store gift card :)

Happy Tuesday!

Eli bursts through the door.  “A bunch of unmarked, black vehicles just pulled up to the front door.  We need to move.  Now!”

            Before I even process Eli’s words, Theo’s up, grabbing the backpacks and my hand  Then  we’re running.  Down the hall and three flights of stairs.  Out the back door. 

            I start to flee into the parking lot, but Theo holds tight to my hand as he drags me against the building.  We race along the perimeter, Theo in front, me in the middle and Eli in back, until we get to the corner, where Theo stops dead.  Flattening himself to the building, he peers around the edge.  “Damn! There are four of them at the truck—including that jerk from your house, Pandora.”

            The information has me reeling, as there’s only one “jerk” Theo saw at my house—Mackaray.  “That means they’re Homeland Security,” I tell them.  “What are we going to do now?”

            “The only thing we can do,” Eli says, heading back the way we came.

            Theo and I exchange frantic looks, but we follow him.  If he’s got a plan to get us out of this, I’m more than willing to go along.  It looks like Theo is as well.

            We get to the other edge of the building and after checking to make sure it’s safe, Eli slips around it.  “What are you doing?” Theo hisses.  “You’re getting us closer to them—“

            “Sssh.”

            Eli creeps all the way to the front edge of the building and I follow him, even though I’m also beginning to doubt his sanity.  We wait, plastered against the building, as eight agents stand around staring at the window we broke earlier.  Guns come out and then most of them are slipping through the same hole we used to get in. 

            I want to run now, while they’re inside, but Theo holds me steady against the building, his hand around my wrist.  “What are we waiting for?” I hiss, and Eli grins at me.  It’s a wicked, wild thing, filled with a strange elation I don’t understand. 

            “Grand Theft Auto, anyone? For the second time?”  He grabs my free hand and we’re running again, straight toward the Homeland Security vehicles instead of away from them. 

            “Get in!” he yells, yanking open the driver’s door of the first one.

            I don’t let myself think as Theo and I pile into the back.  Eli’s pulling out before we even get the door closed, flooring it as he drives right past the agents going over our truck.

            It’s not the brightest move, but it’s the only one we’ve got.

            Sure enough, our escape doesn’t go unnoticed.  “Get down,” Eli yells, and Theo shoves me face first onto the seat, covering me with his body.  Shots ring out and the back windshield, right where I’d been sitting, shatters.

            “Shit!”  Eli swerves back and forth.

            “Hit the gas!” Theo yells.

            “I’ve got the thing floored,” Eli shouts back.  “Just shut up so I can concentrate.”

            The next few minutes pass in a blaze of absolute terror.  I can’t see anything—Theo has me completely covered—but I can hear plenty and that makes everything worse.

            Sirens sound as the remaining Homeland Security guys come after us, shots ringing out as they pursue us through the empty business park.

            “Where’s the road, where’s the road?” Eli mumbles to himself as he sends us careening around a corner so fast the SUV takes it on two wheels.

            “Up ahead, half a mile,” Theo tells him.

            “We’re not going to make it that far.  It’s only a matter of time before they hit a tire.”  He yanks the car to the left around another corner and Theo loses his balance, pancakes me.

            I can’t breathe with him crushing my rib cage and my face pressed completely into the seat and I struggle against him.

            “Sorry, Pandora,” he says a minute later as he pushes himself up.

            “No problem,” I answer before I realize how absurd we sound.  Nothing like manners in the middle of a life or death crisis.

            We hit the main road just as more shots ring out.  They hit the side of the car, slamming into the metal.

            “How are we going to get out of this?” I whisper to Theo, afraid of distracting Eli.

            “I don’t know.”  His hands are clenched and I know it’s hard for him to sit back here with me, leaving our fate in Eli’s hands.  But Eli’s doing a good job, taking turns at breakneck speed, dodging back and forth among the few cars that are on the road. 

            Homeland Security is still behind us—I can hear their sirens—but they don’t seem as close. Eli whips around another corner and hits the brakes, hard, as he strings together every curse word I’ve ever heard in the most imaginative way possible.  We've driven straight into a mob of angry people.

           

The Doomed Scavenger Hunt is On!

Hi Everyone!  I can't believe that Doomed comes out in less than a week!  I'm excited and thrilled and terrified all at the same time and can't wait to hear what you guys have to say about it.

To celebrate Doomed's release on January 8, I've put together a fun little blog scavenger hunt.  Keep reading for all the details.

Welcome to the Doomed Scavenger Hunt! Over the next eight days, Tracy Deebs and Mundie Moms are sending you on a scavenger hunt through eight different blogs. In Doomed, the three main characters embark on a scavenger hunt that winds itself through a video game and the real world in order to stop a countdown to nuclear annihilation. Our scavenger hunt is nowhere near as complicated-- or as scary-- as what Pandora and her friends have to go on. Instead, all you have to do is visit the eight sites, read the excerpts and find the hidden number in each of the entries. At the end of the eight days, add up all eight of the numbers and include them in the rafflecopter entry spot for the Scavenger Hunt to earn 10 extra entry points for $75 gift card to your choice of Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Apple. There are also prizes to be won at every stop, so make sure to get your entries in and be sure to comment on each of the blogs to be entered to win. Happy hunting!!!!!

Here's the schedule:

1/2- Mundie Moms, excerpt #1
1/3- Reading Teen, excerpt #2
1/4- Fangirlish, excerpt #3
1/5- Girls In the Stacks, excerpt #4
1/6-
1/7- I Read Banned Books, excerpt #6
1/8- Page Turners Blog, excerpt #7
1/8- Tracy Deebs, giveaway, end of the scavenger hunt

And here's the basic info about Doomed:

Pandora's just your average teen-glued to her cell phone and laptop, surfing Facebook and e-mailing with her friends-until the day her long-lost father sends her a link to a mysterious site featuring twelve photos of her as a child. Unable to contain her curiosity, Pandora enters the site, where she is prompted to play her favorite virtual-reality game, Zero Day. This unleashes a global computer virus that plunges the whole world into panic: suddenly, there is no Internet. No cell phones. No utilities, traffic lights, hospitals, law enforcement. Pandora teams up with handsome stepbrothers Eli and Theo to enter the virtual world of Zero Day. Simultaneously, she continues to follow the photographs from her childhood in an attempt to beat the game and track down her father-her one key to saving the world as we know it. Part The Matrix, part retelling of the Pandora myth, Doomed has something for gaming fans, dystopian fans, and romance fans alike.

YA Scavenger Hunt is Here!!!!!!!

 

And for a bunch of chances to win signed copies of Tempest Rising and Tempest Unleashed, the first two books in the Tempest Maguire trilogy, The International Kissing Club (a book Tracy wrote with Emily Mckay and Shellee Roberts, an ARC of Emily McKay's The Farm, plus an ARC of Doomed and a fun prize pack with a Farm Backpack and all kinds of Doomed, International Kissing Club and Tempest swag,   rack up points by doing one or more of the following:

1. follow me on Twitter at @TracyWolff (1 point)
2. get friends to follow me on Twitter (1 point per friend)
3. like my Tempest Rising page on  Facebook(1 point)
4. Like my brand new Doomed Facebook page
5. get friends to follow me on Facebook (1 point per friend)
6. Follow this blog
7. email me at tracydeebs@gmail.com and let me know you want to be part of my Doomed street team!
8. Leave a comment on this blog post.

 Leave me a comment here under this blog post telling me if you like the Tempest Revealed excerpt and how many points to give you. Just leaving a comment counts 1 point. (And if you have done any of 1-6, give me your user names and your friends’ user names so I can credit your points.) The drawing will be random, but the number of points you get determines how many times your name will be put into the hat.

Tempest Revealed

I dropped in on the wave just as it crested. As I did, I made the mistake of looking toward shore—exactly what my dad had told me not to do. I could see him there, standing under a light and looking out at me. I couldn’t see his expression, but I figured it wasn’t happy. But if I nailed this wave, all would be forgiven.

I turned to look down at the wave and realized that I couldn’t see anything—the lights on shore had disrupted my vision, just as my dad had said they would. I felt a moment of panic at the idea of surfing this wave, which was high enough that riding its crest felt like being at the top of a mountain. And then it was too late to do anything but ride as I plummeted down the sheer, flat face of the most mammoth wave I’d ever ridden.

It was amazing, exhilarating, terrifying and awe-inspiring all at the same time. More than once I thought I was going into the drink, but I managed to hold on—by my toenails sometimes—until the wave brought me in. I didn’t get as close to shore as my dad did, didn’t get a chance to shoot the barrel as the wave turned choppier, started to break up.

I jockeyed for position, hung on as long as possible, then dropped out right before the thing crashed into the surface of the ocean. As the waves bumped me around some—the water was getting rougher—I fumbled for my board. Once I found it, I straddled it and let out a war whoop of epic proportions. My dad echoed it from his spot on the water. He was paddling out to meet me and probably do the whole crazy thing again, and I couldn’t wait. I’d ridden the hell out of that wave and couldn’t have been prouder.

Grinning, thrilled with myself and the whole world, I turned toward my dad, wanting to share my exhilaration with him. He was close enough that I could see his grin and I smiled back, waved a little. He was as stoked as I was that I had not let that swell take me down.

“That was awesome, Temp—”

He stopped talking mid-sentence, a strange look crossing his face before he disappeared suddenly beneath the choppy surface of the ocean.

            What the hell?

“Dad!” I called, but he didn’t answer. Seconds later, I saw his board floating several feet away.

            Confusion turned to alarm and I ditched my board, diving deep between the crests of one wave and the next. As I did, I blew the air out of my lungs and let my gills take over so that I wouldn’t have to worry about hitting the surface for air. Though I was prepared, that first breath of salt water hurt like a bitch as my human lungs fought instinctively to reject it. I ignored the pain, ignored the messages that warned me I was drowning, and dived deeper. Swum faster.

            As I did, visions of sharks and swordfish and even huge, carnivorous seals ripped through my head. As did images of Tiamat and her vicious pet, the Lusca. Something had my dad—of that I had no doubt. Now it was  a matter of finding out if it was just an animal doing what came naturally to it or if it was a darker, more dangerous force.

            Smart enough to know I wasn’t going to be able to find him out here in the dark, I closed my eyes and tried to focus through the terror ripping me apart. A couple deep breaths, a little shot of power, and I’d created a large, encapsulated ball of light that illuminated the ocean around me. I quickly tethered it to me with another blast of power, so that it moved where I did, and then I went deep. 

            As I dove, I didn’t know what to wish for: a shark could very well have killed my father by now. But then, so could Tiamat—unless she wanted something from him. Like to use him as bait to make me swim directly into one of her traps.

            If it was her, she was getting her wish because while the logical portion of my brain was shouting warnings at me, I was paying it absolutely no attention. Sheer terror had seized control of me and I was bumbling around like a total frube, desperate for some—any—sign of my father. It had been two and a half, maybe three minutes since he’d been grabbed. I only had a couple more to find him before brain damage started to kick in.

            Freaking out, panicked beyond just about anything I had ever felt before, I forced myself to surface. To look out over the black water and try to see if I could spot anything. But there was nothing but the inevitable push and pull of the waves and the glowing blue of the algae all around me. In the distance, I could see the lights of my board glowing purple against the dark water, but there was no sign of my father.

            And that’s when it registered. While the ocean all around me was lit up an other-worldly blue, there was a heavy concentration of the phosphorescent light about thirty feet in front of me. Heavy enough that it meant something was there right now disturbing the algae.

            I shot forward, using every ounce of power and strength I had to swim faster than I ever had before. I got there in seconds—I’d never been more thankful for the whole mermaid thing—and then dove deep, circling the lit up area much like a shark did its prey.

            And that’s when I saw him, floating along beneath the surface. His arms were above his head, his legs slightly open. His eyes were closed, his face lax, and I knew. I just knew that I was too late. That my father was dead because I hadn’t been strong enough to stop it.

            I arrowed through the water toward him, so close to hysteria that I forgot how to breathe through my gills. Instead, I opened my mouth and ended up gulping in huge swallows of salt water, choking on it.

            My human body wanted to cough, to expel the noxious stuff, but I held it down with sheer will alone. If I had any chance of doing CPR, of getting the water out of his lungs, every second counted.

            I reached my father moments later, wrapped my arms around his waist and used the powerful muscles in my legs, muscles I’d spent the last year building, to kick us straight up to the surface.

            As I broke through the water, I dragged air into my abused lungs even as I tried to figure out if my dad was breathing. He wasn’t—of course he wasn’t—so I whirled around in a desperate bid to find shore. In just the last few minutes the ocean had grown much choppier, though I didn’t know if it was from the incoming storm or my own freaked out emotions. It didn’t matter either way, I supposed, not when the end result was the same. We’d been pushed farther out to sea by the seething, roiling waves, shore much too far away to reach in time to save my dad, even for me.

            Wrapping my arms around him again—this time above his waist and below his breastbone—I drove my fist directly back and into the bottom of his lungs. Water shot from his mouth, so I did it again and again and again. It was awkward as hell with the waves building up all around us, but I forced my body to relax. To just ride out the waves. Soon, I had determinedthe timing of the ocean, and what part of the wave I needed to be at to squeeze the most water from my father’s lungs.

 I rode the waves for long seconds, not attempting to fight them or get closer to shore, but simply trying to clear my dad’s lungs enough that he could breathe. I was focusing so completely on the task that when it finally happened, when he spit out a huge mouthful of water and then started to cough, I could barely believe it. I kept pounding my fist into the spot below his sternum until he started struggling against me.

And even then, even as I heard him draw one loud, shaky breath into his lungs, I still didn’t believe it. “Daddy?” I shouted to be heard above the roaring of the waves, slipping back into the childhood endearment as if it were a comfortable old slipper that had just been waiting for me to find it again.

“What happened?” he gasped between coughing fits.

I was hoping he’d be able to tell me that. “I don’t know. Are you okay?”  All his limbs were attached and he didn’t seem to be bleeding, but something had obviously happened to him out here. 

Something that seemed less and less like an animal attack and more like—

At that moment, something wrapped itself around my ankles and tugged. Hard.

CONTINUE THE HUNT

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author, Amy Plum! Happy Hunting!!!!! 

Tempest Revealed!!!!! 1st Excerpt!!!!

Here's an excerpt from Tempest Revealed!  I'm so excited to finally be sharing it with you :)  Let me know what you think!

When I woke up, I was floating. Sabyn had unchained me but was keeping a close eye on me from his spot across the room.  It took a second for me to register that I was still alive.  I allowed myself a moment of pure relief before whirling toward Sabyn yet again.  I sent out the most powerful blast of electricity I could muster. It should have been enough to knock him on his ass, if not fry him completely, but nothing happened. In fact, he just stood there, smirking at me as I blasted him again and again and again.

It only took a couple times for me to figure out that it wasn’t that Sabyn was repelling the electricity, it was that I wasn’t actually firing any. Just like I wasn’t shooting any energy pulses either. My powers had completely dried up.

Are you done? he asked. Because there are things I’d like to talk about, and frankly, you don’t look like you can do that and listen at the same time.

I sent another blast his way. Then another. And another. Still nothing. What did you do to me?

If you’d calm down a little bit, maybe we could talk about it.

I did scream then, reaching deep inside myself for the reserves of power I rarely had to draw on. I fired absolutely everything I had at him and prayed.

All he did was yawn. Then he walked toward the door, his total disregard for my powers obvious in the way he turned his back on me—something he never would have done before.

Okay. All right. The words came out hoarse and breathless, a testament to just how hard I’d been fighting him. What do you want to talk about?

I knew you’d come around.

I coughed, then felt my gills ooze a little. When I put my hands up to them it was to find out that I was bleeding. Sabyn had really done a number on me.

I’m sorry about that, he said. I guess I was too rough.

I didn’t bother to answer. He’d smothered me into unconsciousness, so yeah, I had a tendency to see that as “too rough.”

What do you want, Sabyn? I’m too tired to play games.

Even after your nap? I’m so sorry to hear that. He gestured to the floor. Why don’t you have a seat, get comfortable? He pulled a picnic basket into the room, set it down next to me. Maybe something to eat will help with your exhaustion.

I stared at the basket in disbelief. I’m not hungry.

He shrugged his shoulders. I guess that depends on how badly you want answers. Besides, who knows when I’ll decide to feed you next.

You are completely revolting.

And you are a total pain in the ass, but here we are anyway. He held out a kelp bar. Try it. It’s pretty good.

I don’t think so.

He shrugged, then took a big bite. Suit yourself.

Sabyn settled with the picnic on the ground, or at least as close to the ground as he could get with the sea water pushing at him. Merpeople, like other half-human sea creatures, have a built in resistance to the ocean’s buoyancy, which allows them to counteract it any time they want. It doesn’t mean they’ll be able to walk on the ocean floor without effort, but it does mean that they won’t float more than an inch or so above it unless they want to. My resistance isn’t as good as a full merperson’s but I can usually stay two or three inches above whatever it is I’m resting on. Unless I’m concentrating. Then I can lay on a bed or walk on the ground like any other merperson.

            Are you going to tell me what’s going on here, Sabyn? You can’t actually think you’re going to get away with holding me prisoner.

            He laughed. Who’s going to stop me? Kona? From what I hear, he can barely stand to be in the same ocean with you. Besides, he’s got other problems right now.

            My blood ran cold. What do you mean?

            You screwed things for a lot of people when you took off for home last week. Now Coral Straits is mine, and Kona’s kingdom … well, let’s just say it’s not really his anymore. But don’t feel too bad; his people are probably relieved. He’s been having a rough time over there since you dumped him.

            Sabyn’s words hit me hard, made me focus on the guilt that was always just below the surface. I wanted to lash out at him, to tell him off, but I couldn’t. I needed him. Not just for me—I was more than happy to piss him off when I was the only one at risk. But Sabyn had news of Kona, and that I wanted desperately. He might not be my boyfriend anymore, but that didn’t mean I didn’t still care about him. If something else happened to him because he was helping me … I’d never forgive myself. And I would make Sabyn, and Tiamat, pay.

            I’d never been particularly bloodthirsty as a human. Even as a mermaid, I would rather flight than fight if I could get away with it. But I’d had about enough of Sabyn and Tiamat and all the other sea monsters they had working with them. If I got out of this damn dungeon alive, I swore I would take them all down, no matter what it took. Their reign of terror had to end.

            But I was smart enough to know that there was no way I’d get a chance to escape if I didn’t play nice with Sabyn. Oh, I didn’t necessarily expect him to buy it—he wasn’t a total idiot, after all. But he was vain, really vain, and if I worked it long enough, maybe his guard would slip. If not today, then some time soon.

            Hating myself and what I had to do, I settled down next to him and his ridiculous picnic. I even grabbed one of the disgusting kelp bars and took a bite, praying it wasn’t poisoned.

            He didn’t say anything while we ate, and neither did I. I was smart enough to know that I had to wait for him to take the lead or I would never get anywhere. But it was so hard, when I was dying to know where Kona was. Not to mention what he had done to my powers. If there was ever a time I needed them, this was it. I couldn’t do anything without them.

            Sabyn forced me to sit there, watching him go through a truly disgusting amount of food. I knew it was for effect, that he was showing me he was the one in control. But even understanding his motivation, it was difficult not to grab one of the kelp and veggie sandwiches and cram it down his throat until he choked on the stupid thing. Except he was a merman so he couldn’t actually choke. More’s the pity.

            Finally, when I felt like I was going to lose my mind if he made me wait one more second, he pushed his plate away with a huge sigh. Beer? he asked, holding out a brew made of red algae. It was Kona’s favorite brand and my heart thumped a little in my chest when I saw it.

            I shook my head. I hated the stuff. Besides, the last thing I needed right now was to cloud my brain with alcohol.

            So, Sabyn said after taking a long drink. I have a proposition for you.

            Finally. What do you want?

            You.

            Excuse me? Surely I’d heard wrong. Then again, he looked surprisingly earnest when he leaned forward and reached for my hand. I yanked it away before he could get a good grip on it, then folded my arms over my chest in case he hadn’t gotten the hint. I had to admit I felt like I was in the middle of a particularly weird and horrifying episode of The Twilight Zone. Or maybe X-Files. That show has always freaked me out.

            I waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. Nor did he do anything besides stare at me with a wounded expression on his face. Like my not wanting him to touch me had somehow offended him. Which was so ridiculous it made me long for my powers even more. There was nothing I wanted at that moment as much as the ability to blast him into next week.

            Finally the whole nervous talker thing got the better of me and I demanded, Sabyn, what the hell are you up to?

            I thought that was obvious. I’m taking over your kingdom.

            Yeah, I got that. But what are you doing bringing me picnic lunches? We’re pretty much the definition of mortal enemies at this point.

            I think that’s a little harsh, don’t you?

            You shot me with a dart gun, stripped me of my powers and chained me in a dungeon. And that was just today.

            Yes, but that was for your own good.

            My own good? I almost choked on my utter incredulity.

            In case you didn’t notice, people weren’t exactly overjoyed to see you today. He gestured carelessly to the world outside my dungeon walls.

            I didn’t talk to anybody. That’s the whole point. You have my people so terrified of you that they wouldn’t even come greet me.

            That wasn’t terror, Tempest. That was disgust. I didn’t seize control of Coral Straits. It was given to me in a gift box, all wrapped up with a shiny bow.

            I don’t believe you.

            He shrugged. Fine, don’t believe me. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Your people sold you out.

            I wanted to ignore him, to discount everything he was saying. But he was so calm, so rational, so sure of himself that it was hard to do. Besides, I could still see Bali’s face, could see all those people who saw me come into town today and went out of their way not to talk to me. After seeing Sabyn, I had decided it was fear that motivated them. But what if it was something else? What if they had chosen Sabyn as a leader? They could have been avoiding me because no one wanted to be the one to tell me. Or worse, because they’d known what was waiting for me and they were okay with me being hurt, imprisoned, trapped.

But still. Why would they do that? I demanded. Even as I asked, I was aware of the irony of seeking answers¸ reassurance, from the man who had put me in this situation.

My guess? They don’t like your ties to the human world. Every time things get rough, you run home to your daddy and that human boyfriend of yours. You have to admit, it’s a little pathetic.

I wasn’t about to discuss Mark or my family with Sabyn. They were none of his business and, truthfully, I hated that he knew anything about them at all.  I decided to change the subject. So, at risk of sounding like a broken record, what are you doing here? If you have the monarchy of Coral Straits all tied up, what are you doing in this dungeon with me?

He smiled, then, and it was such a cold, slimy thing that I had to force myself not to shudder. The way he was looking at me made me feel like Little Red Riding Hood at the foot of her grandmother’s bed after the big bad wolf had climbed into it—like I was lunch and I just didn’t know it yet.

Funny you should ask, he told me, tipping his beer toward me in a little salute before he drained the bottle and tossed it back into that ridiculous picnic basket. I’m here to ask for your hand in marriage.