Critters at the Keyboard welcomes S. M. Boyce
Author of
Lichgates
Kara Magari is about to
discover a beautiful world full of terrifying things: Ourea.
Kara, a college student still
reeling from her mother's recent death, has no idea the hidden world of Ourea
even exists until a freak storm traps her in a sunken library. With nothing to
do, she opens an ancient book of magic called the Grimoire and unwittingly
becomes its master, which means Kara now wields the cursed book's untamed
power. Discovered by Ourea's royalty, she becomes an unwilling pawn in a
generations-old conflict - a war intensified by her arrival. In this world of
chilling creatures and betrayal, Kara shouldn't trust anyone... but she's being
hunted and can't survive on her own. She drops her guard when Braeden, a native
soldier with a dark secret, vows to keep her safe. And though she doesn't know
it, her growing attraction to him may just be her undoing.
For twelve years, Braeden
Drakonin has lived a lie. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it
lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. Though he begins to care
for this human girl, there is something he wants more. He wants the Grimoire.
Welcome to Ourea, where only
the cunning survive.
Enjoy this excerpt:
Kara Magari squinted back up the path she’d just
climbed. The gazebo’s roof peeked through the trees, evidence of where she’d
been only ten minutes before. Not bad. With her finger in the air, she traced
the way she’d taken, starting at the lichgate and going down over each step in
her head. Her finger hovered and came to a stop, though, when she examined the
base of the hill.
Built into the rock was a marble
door, shrouded with overhanging roots and dangling moss that clung to its frame
like bangs. She rubbed her eyes, but the closed entryway was still there when
she opened them again.
She brushed her hand along the
door’s smooth stone. It was simple, with only a round stone knob and a small
emblem carved into the rock at eye level. The symbol looked something like a
four-leaf clover made out of crescent moons.
Kara’s fingers itched on the handle,
but she hesitated.
The ground trembled with a sudden
force that knocked her against the cliff. The breeze stopped, dissolving with a
hiss into the hot summer sky. She scanned the valley. Several somethings
cracked in the ground under her feet.
Thunder rumbled overhead. A dark
cloud churned in the sky, and her heart fell into her stomach; there hadn’t
even been a single fluffy cloud up there ten minutes ago.
A blinding bolt of moss-colored
lightning flashed, striking the ground nearby. The hairs on her arms stood on
end. Heat coursed through her calves, and she caught her breath. Her ears rang.
Wait. Was that lightning green?
The cliff trembled as a boom
shattered the air. It began to rain. The heavy drops pelted her skin and clung
to her hair as another rumble coursed along the far edge of the valley. She
needed shelter, and the last place she would go in a lightning storm was up a
hill.
She turned back and twisted the
door’s handle, sighing with relief as it opened—unlocked. Still, as wet
as it was outside and as much as she wanted a safe place to wait out the rain,
she lingered on the threshold to examine the room.
Mud covered everything from the
floor to the ceiling. Since there weren’t any supports to hold the roof, she
couldn’t figure out how the ten-by-ten dirt shelter hadn’t caved in yet. The
air within was heavy, moist with the rot of dead leaves, and her only guiding
light streamed in from behind her. Roots dangled from the ceiling like
stalactites reaching for the floor. The wind picked up, howling as it pelted
rain against her back.
Kara tested the ground with her
sneaker. The dirt floor supported her weight, so she tip-toed into the room and
left the door open. Rain fell in lingering drops on the threshold before it
disappeared into the growing pools of mud. She stuck her hands in her pockets
and watched the raging storm outside.
A flash of dark brown blurred past
her.
She jumped. A tan flicker snaked
along the roof, and clumps of soil fell in sheets. She glared at the ceiling,
holding her breath as the settling dust rained onto her shoes.
It had almost looked like a root
moving, but that—that was crazy.
Another streak of motion raced down
the opposite wall. It passed through a shaft of light, and Kara saw its
pointed, wooden tip. Tiny veins sprouted from it like hairs, digging into the
dirt so that it could travel.
It was a root moving.
A second spiny vine shot up from the
floor and wrapped itself around her leg. It pulled. She tripped, falling into
the first root as it snaked along the far wall. Dirt poured over her head,
blinding her. The scent of decaying bark made her cough. The root tugged again,
and she was yanked onto her hands and knees. It dragged her towards the center
of the room. She reached for the knife strapped to her free ankle, the one Mom
had—no! She couldn’t think of Mom. Not now.
A third root wrapped around her
waist, and another grabbed her hand as she reached for the blade. The roots
flipped her onto her back. With a bang, the door snapped shut. Her stomach
churned. The floor disappeared. She fell, and the roots let go.
Buy links:
You can get the ebook of Lichgates for free!
Kobo | Apple | Barnes
& Noble | Smashwords
Author Bio:
S.M. Boyce is a fantasy and
paranormal fiction novelist who also dabbles in contemporary fiction and
comedy. Her B.A. in Creative Writing also qualifies her to serve you french
fries. She updates her blog (smboyce.com) a few times each week so that you
have something to wake you up in the morning.
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