SIX
Sundancer #1
Rachel Robinson
Emmalina is an immortal
darkling. A half human, half dark witch. Though she was born with all six
emotions, she has arrived at her eighteenth birthday and all but one miserable
emotion has fled her body.
The mission of the dark witches who control the new, darker world is simple—eradicate weakness. Weakness is summed up in one word. Emotion. Or, the six. Anger, fear, sadness, joy, surprise, and love.
The dark witches want her. She wants something else more.
She wants six.
The mission of the dark witches who control the new, darker world is simple—eradicate weakness. Weakness is summed up in one word. Emotion. Or, the six. Anger, fear, sadness, joy, surprise, and love.
The dark witches want her. She wants something else more.
She wants six.
Excerpt:
Then, I see
the specific memory—the one that haunts me. It is the memory that consumes my
being with longing because I have been unable to attach an emotion to it. I
feel as if I am in that memory at this moment.
“I’m going to get you Emmalina,” my mother says. I run so fast that my tiny heart is thumping rapidly. Sticky sweat surrounds my face and mats my hair at my hairline. My feet are bare and the gray haze is the lightest I ever remember it being. I look over my shoulder and laugh as I see her running after me. She has her hands stretched out toward me and her brown hair bounces as she runs. It is a dream in slow motion that I get to relive. The moment is perfect. Her smile is electric. Her voice is sweeter than any treat from the old world.
“You can’t catch me, Mommy!” My singsong child’s voice rings back at her. I want her to catch me. I want her hands tickling me. She grabs me and lifts me under my arms, and up over her head. I can touch the sky. I am flying. She spins around in a circle but I do not look around. I look at her smiling face. It is so cheerful, it is so perfect. It holds the same emotion that I feel in this moment.
We are complete. I am not empty.
The emotion rips me from the inside. “I feel joy,” I tell Finn as I throw my head back laughing at the sky. The emotion tears through me more powerful than anything else, filling me with purpose. I am elated, delighted, I feel contentment and relief. Excitement courses through my veins more powerful than dark magic. It is incomparable. I splash the water at my sides and giggle because I want to, not because I think it prudent. I am so happy I remember her—thankful Finn has forced this from me in his own way. I jump toward him and he catches me under my arms.
He lifts me above his head and I feel like I am floating on a cloud in an alternate universe. He spins in one slow circle. I gaze down at him knowing this is what my mother wants for me. I vow to make her sacrifice worth it.
“I’m going to get you Emmalina,” my mother says. I run so fast that my tiny heart is thumping rapidly. Sticky sweat surrounds my face and mats my hair at my hairline. My feet are bare and the gray haze is the lightest I ever remember it being. I look over my shoulder and laugh as I see her running after me. She has her hands stretched out toward me and her brown hair bounces as she runs. It is a dream in slow motion that I get to relive. The moment is perfect. Her smile is electric. Her voice is sweeter than any treat from the old world.
“You can’t catch me, Mommy!” My singsong child’s voice rings back at her. I want her to catch me. I want her hands tickling me. She grabs me and lifts me under my arms, and up over her head. I can touch the sky. I am flying. She spins around in a circle but I do not look around. I look at her smiling face. It is so cheerful, it is so perfect. It holds the same emotion that I feel in this moment.
We are complete. I am not empty.
The emotion rips me from the inside. “I feel joy,” I tell Finn as I throw my head back laughing at the sky. The emotion tears through me more powerful than anything else, filling me with purpose. I am elated, delighted, I feel contentment and relief. Excitement courses through my veins more powerful than dark magic. It is incomparable. I splash the water at my sides and giggle because I want to, not because I think it prudent. I am so happy I remember her—thankful Finn has forced this from me in his own way. I jump toward him and he catches me under my arms.
He lifts me above his head and I feel like I am floating on a cloud in an alternate universe. He spins in one slow circle. I gaze down at him knowing this is what my mother wants for me. I vow to make her sacrifice worth it.
Finn laughs
loudly—a hearty, meaningful laugh. We revel in this perfect moment together
just Finn and I and our joyful laughter.
I know then
that his laugh is the only sound I like more than my own heartbeat.
Tour Schedule:
11/18 - A Book Obsession - Spotlight
11/19 - RhiReading - Excerpt
11/20 - [Insert Clever Quip Here] - Spotlight
11/21 - Literary Meanderings - Interview
11/22 - Urban Fantasy Land - Excerpt
11/23 - Books, Movies, Reviews. Oh my! - Interview
11/24 - Mad Hatter Reads - Excerpt
11/25 - Flutters and Flails - Review
11/26 - Romancing the Readers - Excerpt
11/27 - Miriam Smith - Spotlight
11/28 - Book Chick City - Spotlight
11/29 - Books by Steph - Review
11/30 - The Reading Obsession - Interview
12/1 - Leeanna.me - Interview & Review
12/2 - Chelle's Blue and Sparkly Corner - Spotlight
12/3 - Racing to Read - Review
12/4 - Fade Into Fantasy - Interview
12/5 - What I'm Reading - Excerpt
12/6 - Cassandra Lost in Books - Spotlight & Review
12/6 - Hot Off the Shelves - Review
11/19 - RhiReading - Excerpt
11/20 - [Insert Clever Quip Here] - Spotlight
11/21 - Literary Meanderings - Interview
11/22 - Urban Fantasy Land - Excerpt
11/23 - Books, Movies, Reviews. Oh my! - Interview
11/24 - Mad Hatter Reads - Excerpt
11/25 - Flutters and Flails - Review
11/26 - Romancing the Readers - Excerpt
11/27 - Miriam Smith - Spotlight
11/28 - Book Chick City - Spotlight
11/29 - Books by Steph - Review
11/30 - The Reading Obsession - Interview
12/1 - Leeanna.me - Interview & Review
12/2 - Chelle's Blue and Sparkly Corner - Spotlight
12/3 - Racing to Read - Review
12/4 - Fade Into Fantasy - Interview
12/5 - What I'm Reading - Excerpt
12/6 - Cassandra Lost in Books - Spotlight & Review
12/6 - Hot Off the Shelves - Review
Rachel grew
up in a small, quiet town full of loud talkers. Her words were always only loud
on paper. She has been writing stories and creating characters for as long as
she can remember. After living on the west coast for many years she recently
moved to Virginia Beach, VA.Escaped is her first Paranormal Romance
novel. You can find her over at The Mean
Girl Diaries writing non-fiction of the satirical sort.
Now an extra Excerpt:
“You feel. Look at you. Why would I want
that?”
I frown. Lily looks worried she has spoken these words. I smile to reassure her. “Having joy is the most wonderful feeling in the world. Better than this.” I wave my hand to gesture to the gardens. I raise my face toward the heatless sun and then look at Lily. “Of course when you are sad,” I pause as a small wave of pain flows through my chest and ripples up my throat. “You are so low that you can barely function.” A few tears trickle down my face and I briskly wipe them away. I look down to the apple that sits in my lap. Another tear slides down my cheek and lands on the shiny surface and balls there.
“Do you know how dangerous the abandoned city is, miss?”
I look at her and cannot help a small sniffle. She will tell me what is outside of the palace walls. I wait, enthralled by the possibility of learning something new.
“It is an expansive soot covered city—so large that you can be lost in one neighborhood for days…no, weeks. None of the palaces claim the territory, so it remains as it did when the old world fell. It is as the ancient humans left it. There are palaces with other challenging monarchies on every other side of it. It is directly in the middle. Without a spell, that only a dark witch can cast, there is no way back to the circles. The savages in the forests are nothing compared to the species that reside in the abandoned city. They are brutal and cannot be killed quickly,” Lily says. Her eyes glass over. She is remembering something horrible.
“Remember the darkling that escaped the abandoned city? She was obviously tough, but the witches ended up destroying her because her mind was so rapt with fear. They could not take it away. That girl spoke of horned monsters and other winged creatures that breathed fury with their fire. She escaped into the palace by the use of a sorceress who makes these creatures her pets.”
I swallow hard. If I could feel fear I know I would feel it hearing Lily’s story. Glad I am not fearful because I need to know more, I question her further. “There is only one sorceress? Where is she located?” I urge my voice lower still. The breeze that blows will only serve to uncover secrets I do not want anyone else to know. Lily swivels her head to look directly at me.
“You are going to try. Are you not?”
I do not answer. I turn my face to the distance—toward the abandoned city.
I frown. Lily looks worried she has spoken these words. I smile to reassure her. “Having joy is the most wonderful feeling in the world. Better than this.” I wave my hand to gesture to the gardens. I raise my face toward the heatless sun and then look at Lily. “Of course when you are sad,” I pause as a small wave of pain flows through my chest and ripples up my throat. “You are so low that you can barely function.” A few tears trickle down my face and I briskly wipe them away. I look down to the apple that sits in my lap. Another tear slides down my cheek and lands on the shiny surface and balls there.
“Do you know how dangerous the abandoned city is, miss?”
I look at her and cannot help a small sniffle. She will tell me what is outside of the palace walls. I wait, enthralled by the possibility of learning something new.
“It is an expansive soot covered city—so large that you can be lost in one neighborhood for days…no, weeks. None of the palaces claim the territory, so it remains as it did when the old world fell. It is as the ancient humans left it. There are palaces with other challenging monarchies on every other side of it. It is directly in the middle. Without a spell, that only a dark witch can cast, there is no way back to the circles. The savages in the forests are nothing compared to the species that reside in the abandoned city. They are brutal and cannot be killed quickly,” Lily says. Her eyes glass over. She is remembering something horrible.
“Remember the darkling that escaped the abandoned city? She was obviously tough, but the witches ended up destroying her because her mind was so rapt with fear. They could not take it away. That girl spoke of horned monsters and other winged creatures that breathed fury with their fire. She escaped into the palace by the use of a sorceress who makes these creatures her pets.”
I swallow hard. If I could feel fear I know I would feel it hearing Lily’s story. Glad I am not fearful because I need to know more, I question her further. “There is only one sorceress? Where is she located?” I urge my voice lower still. The breeze that blows will only serve to uncover secrets I do not want anyone else to know. Lily swivels her head to look directly at me.
“You are going to try. Are you not?”
I do not answer. I turn my face to the distance—toward the abandoned city.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BOOK AND THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY! SHELLEY S. calicolady60@hotmail.com
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