Saving Grace is scheduled for release on June 15, 2015!
Pre-orders are available on ITunes, Barnes & Noble and Kobo and it will be available everywhere else on June 15th!
Here's a preview to give you a little taste...
I didn’t want to deal with
that type of irritation, not with the foul mood brewing under my skin.
The minute I stepped into
the house the level of noise fanned those flames and I gave a nod to everyone
in the family room. My gaze lingered on my brother’s and even without the
benefit of mind reading, I knew he wasn’t handling our father’s death well. I
sent him a nod and escaped into the basement, to our workout area. Specifically,
to the punching bag.
I stripped my jacket,
tossing it into the corner and approached the bag, allowing the turmoil inside
to curl my hands into fists. The first jab felt good, the scrape of the leather
across my knuckles, the slight give of the bag, the rattle of the chains, all
fueled me and my jabs became full punches, each one more brutal than the other.
Scenes from the past few
days snapped off in my mind, each punctuated by my fists connecting with the
leather. The faster the mind show, the faster my fists flew and the more my
fury bloomed. My breath labored and I finally let out a warrior cry and slammed
my right fist in the center of the target with everything I had. The bag flew
across the basement, smashing into the far wall, disintegrating into a puff of
Styrofoam.
I stared at the mess and
then my gaze dropped to my hands still clenched at the ready. Blood flowed from
my knuckles and I loosened my fists, wincing at the first sign of pain now that
I wasn’t numb with anger.
“Ah, fuck.” I turned toward
the stairs and stopped.
“Finished?” Tom signed from
his position at the bottom of the stairs.
“What do you think?” I
snapped, dropping my throbbing hands to my side. Warm trails of blood dribbled
down my fingers, the sensation distracting and calming at the same time.
“I think you’re just gearing
up,” he signed and cocked an eyebrow. “Want to tell me what happened?”
The air went out of my chest
and I shook my head. I didn’t want to talk about Sandy and I sure as hell
didn’t want to talk about fucking a demon.
“Are you okay?”
I let a bark of a laugh
loose. Am I okay, well, that was the fifty-thousand-dollar question and I
shrugged. “Are you?”
He looked beyond me at what
was left of the punching bag and shook his head. When his eyes found mine, they
glistened with an unshed layer of tears.
My laughter faded and I took
a closer look, not just at his physical appearance, but his mind as well. The
severed head of my father brought back the nightmare he endured in Georgia and
I crossed, pulling him into a hug. The kid deserved better than what he had
been dealt and while he had shut me out at that time of his life, I was the one
who he turned to this time.
“I’m sorry I took off,” I
said when the shakes started, I wasn’t sure if it was Tom or me who was
trembling, but he was the one crying and holding on like I was the only thing keeping
his sanity in check.
Fear radiated from him and
without words, I got the litany of nightmares that plagued him these last few
nights. Nightmares that he carried alone. Not even Steve had been privy to his
sweat-induced terror. Past and present had blended into a carnival of blades
and blood, wreaking havoc on everyone he loved.
He couldn’t articulate to
Raven, not in any way that communicated the depth of the horrors he faced. It
had been years since Georgia haunted him and now it was as if the killer had
risen in his nightmares, taking vengeance on him for surviving.
“That’s not the first time
Dad lost his head,” I said when the shakes stopped.
Tom pushed me away, his damp
face cracking a smile. “You’re sick,” he signed and then mopped his face with
his sleeve.
I grinned and looked at the
floor. “Yeah, well, sometimes all you need is a well placed joke.”
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Raven Heart - book 2 in The Ryan Chronicles will be out later this year instead of 2015!
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