This week my Rainbow Snippet is from Gone Away, Book 4 of Circles.

Mason nodded. He looked around, then squinted at the sky. “We have to find cover for the night. I’m not sure we’ll get to our base camp before it gets dark. Once we’re dried off and it’s totally dark, we can make a bit of headway then.”
​
“The temperature is going to drop a lot, isn’t it?” Riece asked.

“Yeah, it is. If we don’t at least get dried off, we won’t have a chance.” Mason pointed out a direction. “Let’s head that way. It’ll get us close to where we want to go.”

“Do you think they’ll follow us?” Riece looked back the way they’d come. “I don’t see them. Maybe we lost them.”

“I think it’s more likely they’ll need to get that guy some medical help, or if not they’ll have to take him somewhere he can be patched up. His wound was bleeding a lot. That’s why I stabbed him, though I would have loved to have killed him.”

Riece walked beside Mason and glanced sideways at him. “You’re not just blowing off steam, are you?”

“Oh hell no.”

“You’re supposed to enforce the law,” Riece said softly.

“Yeah. Which is why I want to avoid killing anyone. I’m afraid they don’t have the same concerns. They’re going to try to kill us, Riece, and if it comes down to them or us—” Mason stopped and drew a deep breath. “—then I vote us.”

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Gone Away is available in eBook, paperback and through Kobo Plus.

Nick and Todd rode in the lead wagon. Nick felt much better sitting beside Todd and was finally able to relax.

“How’re you doing?” Todd held the team’s reins in one hand and rubbed Nick’s knee with the other. “You tossed and turned a lot while we were supposed to be sleeping.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Todd gave his knee a squeeze. “Look up there. Natural light. How well did you jam the lock on the inside of the entrance door?”

“Pretty well, though I guess if someone really wants in, they’ll get inside. We could bring explosives back and collapse the tunnels. So far it’s clear in this section,” Nick said.

Todd sighed. “I guess first things first, get these people out safely.”

The last thing Nick wanted to do was go back and confront those spirits again, but if it was necessary, he would do his job. He leaned back against the bench and closed his eyes, letting the gentle rocking of the wagon lull him to sleep.

Nick woke up when the motion of the wagon stopped. As before, he felt much better after a few hours’ sleep. A look at his watch told him it had been more than a few hours, though. He’d slept for six hours. The wagons were stopped and gathering into groups again. They would rest and feed the teams, then themselves.

A few hours later, Nick was adjusting the tack on one of the saddle horses. He pulled the girth tight and fastened the straps. “I’m all packed and ready.” He looked over the horses then back at Todd. “I haven’t felt anything hostile since we left the area of the first control room.”

Todd nodded. “Good. Scouting ahead will be a lot more efficient…and faster…on horseback.” He swung onto the horse.

Nick mounted his horse as well. Each of them carried a bag of iron shavings, salt, and an iron rod along with their standard weapons. They rode side by side, a Faraday lamp fastened to each of their saddle pommels. The side of the tunnel that ran parallel to the tracks had been originally engineered to drive livestock through, so it was fine dirt tamped down to make it firm and level.

“Whatever happened near the first control room must have been bad,” Nick said softly.

Todd glanced at him, reached out, and patted Nick’s thigh. “Tell me about what you sensed.”

Nick sighed deeply. “It was all scrambled.”

“Nick, I know you’re not comfortable remembering or talking about this stuff, but keeping it bottled up isn’t healthy for you. Spill.”

It was making Nick’s job of checking out the people coming and going much easier. He readjusted his chair and inched it closer to the bar so he could hear what Todd said. Todd stood at the end of the bar closest to their table. The kid got up, took a few steps toward Nick, and snagged a menu from the empty table near him. He nodded to Nick, then sat close to Todd, separated by an empty stool. Todd glanced sideways at the kid,
sighed, and waved to the bartender.

The kid raked his gaze up and down Todd. Nick leaned forward, rested an elbow on the table and his chin in his palm. He raised his eyebrows when the boy said to Todd, “It’s a nice night. Have you been to this place much?”

Nick coughed, and Todd tossed a dirty look over his shoulder at him. Todd placed their food order, then said to the kid, “Passing through on a business trip.”

The kid turned his stool so he fully faced Todd and held out his hand. “Drew Pell.”

Nick tried very hard not to laugh, but he wasn’t as successful as he would have liked. He shoved his chair around and grabbed up the menu to cover his face again when both Todd and the kid looked over at him. Todd nodded politely but didn’t shake the offered hand. His expression changed from confusion to relief when the bartender came by and set down the drinks Todd had ordered.

Before Todd could respond to the kid, a young woman swept into the bar. Nick pulled his attention from the entertainment of Todd and the kid and was immediately riveted to the woman. Todd saw Nick’s response to the woman and turned to look as well. That’s when Nick noticed nearly everyone in the bar, including the staff, was having the same reaction. Nick mentally corrected himself: everyone who was male. Nick had never been attracted to women, and no doubt he wasn’t the only one in this bar with similar tastes. Yet it was quite clear every male in the place was drawn to her and watched her.

The kid laid a hand on Todd’s arm, making him start. Drew asked, “Do you know her?”

“No, I…” Todd grabbed the drinks and hurried back to their table.

The woman wasn’t overly beautiful, but she was alluring, and that made no sense to Nick. He was willing to concede that, maybe to a man attracted to women, she was gorgeous. She swayed when she walked and almost seemed to be floating over the floor instead of stepping on it. Her hair was short and had a nice wave that made it bounce softly as she moved. The garment she wore covered her entirely. It was an odd, straight sort of dress that did nothing to show off or accentuate whatever figure she might have. Her skin had a sort of bluish cast to it, but the dress was blue and somewhat shiny, so Nick could attribute her complexion, at least in part, to what she wore.

“That’s her,” Nick whispered. “And your boyfriend is coming to hit on you some more.”

Read Ringed Love today!

Quarry is available in eBook, paperback and through Kindle Unlimited.

This week's snippet is from Strays, a scifi MM Romance.

There was a long, empty stretch of what looked like road between two buildings and Kyle headed for that, hoping he could double around and back to Daniel. He realized too late it was a wharf, jutting out into the lake. He stopped long enough to see the path behind him blocked, tiny bits of water slithering down his neck and back, causing him to shiver. The government agents were running at him; he had nowhere to go. Kyle realized if they had to follow him down the length of the wharf, they’d likely spread out; he might be able to dodge around them and back to solid land. If that didn’t work, it would at least give the Militia assault team more time to reach him.
​
He didn’t have much choice he could see other than go farther onto the wharf. As soon as he cleared the shelter of the buildings, he was hit with sharp, cold winds coming off the lake. A split second later he learned the truth about black ice: you really didn’t see it until you were sliding across it.

His feet found no purchase and Kyle’s legs spun out from under him. There were a few moments of the sickening feeling of being without gravity and not knowing up from down; then he hit the water and was plunged into frigid cold and dark.  

Read more snippets in the Rainbow Snippets Facebook group.

Strays is available in eBook and through Kobo Plus.

​Boggslake, Ohio, might look like a normal city on the surface, but an unseen war is being fought away from the eyes of most of the population.
 
From their stronghold, Boggs's Castle, an eclectic team of vampires, werewolves, and other supernaturals fight to keep humanity safe from the things that go bump in the night. More than a team, these men grow into a family, and they’ll need to rely on each other’s strength, because their true enemy is deadlier than they could’ve ever imagined.

Excerpt from Electric Candle

“Oh, shit.” Blair was out of the chair and heading for the stairs. “Ben, wait! There’s more than….”
​
Blair heard the back door open and Moose run out. Boggs appeared for a split second, then was gone.

Moose charged across the steps and down to the yard. He was barking, snarling furiously.

“Blair, it’s not—” Ben’s words were cut off.

Blair froze at the bottom of the stairs, listening intently and hearing a human and canine heartbeat. The back door flew open, crashing into the wall, and Blair was confronted with the same man who’d followed him the day before.

Turning on his heels, Blair dashed as fast as possible through the house to the front. Doors opened, and Boggs appeared again, wearing a military uniform, and brandishing a saber. He shouted and charged the man.

The man evaporated, replaced by a thick, black cloud that met Boggs head on. The two collided. There was a screeching that sent Blair to his knees. He clapped his hands over his ears, trying to dull the sound. Cabinet doors opened, and loose objects in the room took flight.

In the next instant, Boggs and the cambion vanished. Blair staggered to his feet, and ran to the back door, shouting, “Ben!”

He skidded to a stop when the man materialized in front of the door. Smirking, he shook his head and held something up in one hand.

Blair backpedaled, tripped over the kitchen chairs, and threw them at his assailant as he ran. The chairs bounced off the man but didn’t stop him. Something stabbed Blair’s back, making it sting, followed by a sharp pain that spread through him, making his arms and legs heavy and his mind cloud.

He twisted as he fell onto his back, feebly putting a hand up. It was useless. His attacker advanced on him and gripped Blair’s hand effortlessly. Fighting to stay conscious, to keep his eyes open, was impossible. Blair’s hand was gripped viciously by the cambion. The world faded into grays and black as the creature evaporated once again.
This time taking Blair with him.