Excerpt from
Skeleton Key Guild
Nightshade rolled over in the bed and slid his arm around my waist yanking me across the sheets to rest against him. His skin felt warm against mine and I snuggled closer, not wanting to move from this spot. His fingers slid over my mechanical hand and our fingers interlaced. I had a full range of sensation with the hand and it felt almost real except for—you know—being able to punch a hole through stone.
“We need to get up,” I found myself saying even though I didn’t want to.
“It’s not like we got a whole lot of sleep.” He laughed.
“And whose fault is that?” I gave him the evil eye and he leaned in and kissed me as only he could. I’d had boyfriends before but no man ever made me feel the way James Nightshade did. “Stop that! We need to get up.”
“No, thank you.” He pulled me even closer to him and I laughed in spite of myself.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“We have things to do,” I said punctuating my statement with a poke to his chest.
“Fine, if you say so, boss lady.” He rolled off of me and stood with his back to me and his scars were clearly visible.
I’d gotten to know the curve and thickness of each of them in the last few weeks. I hated that he had them, especially since I was the cause of them, but I also had grown used to them. I couldn’t imagine him without them.
“Don’t call me boss lady,” I huffed and got out of bed yanking a shirt on and shimmying into a pair of jeans.
“Why not, you’re the boss aren’t you?” He tugged on a form fitting T-shirt and leaned over tossing aside the blankets. He grabbed a pair of boots and slipped them on.
A shiver ran up my spine as I sensed a portal open nearby, we weren’t alone. “I told you we needed to get going.”
“Well if someone hadn’t mentioned they knew this great bed and breakfast in the South of France we wouldn’t even be here.” He smirked as he pulled his Skeleton Key out of his jeans and activated it.
“So what, this is my fault now?”
“Like I said it wasn’t my idea to come here.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re seriously trying to say this is my fault?”
“You’re not always right, just admit it.” He shrugged.
“Me admit it? Excuse me, you’re the one who can never admit you’re wrong.”
“If you say so, boss lady.”
The door to our room exploded inward and a member of the First Kind burst in, a glowing azure axe in his hand. He rushed forward and Nightshade spun around thrusting out his leg and kicking him directly in the stomach. He doubled over with a grunt and I brought my elbow down into the back of his head smashing him to the floor.
“I told you not to call me that!”
Skeleton Key Guildby MJ FletcherYA Urban FantasyDate Published: May 1, 2013Synopsis:BOOK #5 in the Doorknob Society SagaHer parents dead, her sister missing, and those she loves branded traitors to the Old Kind... Chloe Masters is on the run.To fulfill a parent’s dying wish she will do anything to save the sister she has never met. Can she learn the secrets of the Artifacts before it’s too late? Surrounded by her friends; Slade, Edgar, Jess, Val and the man she loves James Nightshade, Chloe has never had so much to live for... but will her enemies let her?
MJ Fletcher is the creator of the comic book series Adam Zero: The Last Man of Earth published by Ronin Studios. He's also been published in Hope: The Hero Initiative and Digital Webbing Presents. The Doorknob Society series is his fist book series and he's thrilled about it. He lives near the beach with his wife, daughter, dog, and a crotchety cat.
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