Title:
Black Widow Witch
Author:
A. J. Locke
Release
Date: 5/15/2014
Genre:
Urban Fantasy
A
deadly curse, a deadly assassin, and one shot to save everyone she
loves…
Malachi
Erami can’t fall in love. After she’s caught with Knave, the
witch Queen’s favorite lover, she’s cursed to savagely butcher
any man she falls for. Exiled to live among humans, Malachi runs a
bar that serves magic-laced drinks, but since her curse labels her
high risk, she’s also closely monitored. Julian Vira is her latest
babysitter, but he’s also the first man since Knave that she’s
been attracted to. Good-looking and nonjudgmental of her horrible
curse? Yeah, he’s hard to resist.
But
when Malachi finds a body behind her bar, she knows she’s in
trouble. If the Witches Control Council gets wind of it, she’ll be
accused of murder and sent to her death. And when her friends start
getting framed for murder, she realizes she’s not the only target.
Malachi and Julian dig into the evidence to clear her name, but the
closer they get to answers, the closer the curse comes to taking
over. So when Malachi uncovers a plot to kill the witch Queen, she
finds herself suddenly recruited into service, with the promise of
having her curse lifted and a reunion with Knave as well. But if she
fails, Knave will die. And she and Julian might not live long enough
to see that happen.
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Chapter One
Today
was the anniversary of the worst day of my life, and I’d been
trying to forget about it by consuming a vast amount of booze. The
fact that I owned a bar greatly helped with that endeavor, and the
fact that I was drunk was an accomplishment, since witches weren’t
easily susceptible to alcohol. Humans were onto something with this
whole drinking-to-forget-one’s-crappy-life thing.
Behind
the bar, I poured a shot for an eager customer. Amaretto, Southern
Comfort peach liqueur, and sweet-and-sour mix went into the glass,
then I held my hand over the drink and let a stream of purple magic,
the same color as my eyes, flow into it. The drink glowed purple for
a few seconds, then I handed it to the customer, who drank it with no
hesitation. After slamming the glass down, he grabbed the tipsy woman
who’d been hanging on him and gave her a sloppy kiss, then led her
out of the bar. I smiled and shook my head. The magic I’d put into
the shot, aptly named Piece of Ass, would ensure they didn’t leave
the bedroom tonight.
Somewhere
in the room I heard riotous laughter, and above that the voice
eliciting that laughter. Xiune was having a good night for a change
and wasn’t holed up in my office. Though since she was just a head
inside a clear acrylic box, it was understandable that sometimes all
she wanted to do was hide.
“Malachi,
darling!” Xiune called. “Seven handsome young men have requested
the Challenge!” I smiled slyly. I loved administering the
Challenge.
“It’s
time for the Seven Deadly Sins Challenge!” I announced, filling up
eight shot glasses with vodka, one of which I downed. “Which sin
will it be and what will its victim do?” People shouted their
guesses while I sent tendrils of magic into the shots. My magic
sparked like tiny bolts of lightning, and like the shot I had just
made, the liquid briefly glowed purple. I focused on one of the
glasses and started whispering a spell, channeling the essence of one
of the seven deadly sins through my body. For a brief moment, my body
became flushed with a feeling of ravenous desire, then it flowed out
of me into the shot glass. I felt rather charged and wondered if this
had been the right sin to choose tonight. But hey, I was drunk, and I
kind of wanted to see someone suffer. Misery loves company right?
I
levitated the shot glasses onto a tray and sauntered over to the
table where Xiune was entertaining the men who thought they were up
for the Challenge. With her flawless complexion, golden eyes, and
vibrant red hair, Xiune didn’t need a body to be beautiful. I’d
known her when she had one though, and if she’d been sitting there
in all her glory, she’d have every man kneeling at her feet. Her
allure was only heightened by the fact that she was a bodiless beauty
who used her magic to float herself around in a box. The box wasn’t
necessary for Xiune to move around, but she felt safer inside it when
she was out in public. That way if a witch hater spat on her, she’d
have a shield. It also prevented those on the other end of the
spectrum, people who were fascinated by witches, from getting too
close. I set the shot glasses down and motioned for the men to stand
around the table. They looked like your typical college fare: unkempt
hair, sagging pants, and some sort of ironic or sports themed
T-shirt. High-fives and sh*t talking all around.
“Now
boys,” I said, leaning forward on my forearms, giving my cleavage
time to shine. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? One of you is
moments away from experiencing a sin you may or may not enjoy.”
They assured me they were man enough to handle any sin, and I smiled.
The fun thing about the Challenge was that everyone handled it
differently. One man caught with gluttony had run across the street
to McDonalds, spent over a hundred dollars on food, then sat on the
floor and gorged himself. A woman under the same gluttony spell had
tried to eat her friend’s purse.
“Let’s
hope it’s lust and let’s hope it’s me,” one of the men said,
winking at me. He stood a couple of inches over six feet, had brown
hair and a lanky physique. If he started spending time at the gym,
maybe his lame come-ons would give him more luck getting laid.
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Links:
A.J. Locke is an author and artist, originally from Trinidad, now residing in New York City. Black Widow Witch is her second published novel, and other than writing she enjoys reading, drawing, painting, graphic design, and watching too much television.
Blog: http://iqurae.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/AJ-Locke/522250584507699
Twitter: @maqueripe
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20643885-black-widow-witch
Other books: Affairs of the Dead Elemental Inferno
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