An
Argeneau Novel
Book
21
Lynsay
Sands
On-sale: 2/24
ISBN: 9780062316004
Book Description:
A few hours ago, Sherry Carne
would have sworn that vampires didn’t exist. That’s before rogue immortals
rampage through her store, leaving bloody chaos (literally) in their wake. The
kicker comes when Sherry learns that one of the vamps on the bad guys’ trail
may be her life mate. Her head says it’s impossible. The rest of her takes one
look at Basileios Argeneau, and has much more interesting ideas.
Whatever Basil expected in a life
mate, funny, outspoken Sherry isn’t it. But mind-blowing chemistry and instinct
don’t lie. They tell him something else too-that Sherry’s connection to the
immortal world goes deeper than she knows. And that she’s in the kind of danger
only Basil can save her from-if she’ll just trust him, now and forever…
Excerpt:
Sherry was muttering to herself
as she worked. She hated doing taxes. She hated paying them even more.
Snorting with disgust as she
calculated the amount of money she'd have to pay this quarter, she saved the
program and was about to shut off the computer when her office door burst open.
Grumpy after her task, Sherry raised her head, ready to rip into the employee
who had barged in without knocking. But, instead, the words caught in her
throat and her eyes widened with surprise as she stared at the petite blond
teenager who rushed in and slammed the door closed.
The kid didn't give her more than
a passing glance as her gaze slid around the room to find the window
overlooking the store. The office was eight steps up from the main floor, so it
allowed for an eagle's view of everything. On spotting the window, the kid
immediately dropped into a crouch, and then moved to it to poke her head up and
peer anxiously out over the store floor.
Sherry's eyebrows rose at the
action, and she announced, "It's a one-way mirror. No one in the store can
see you."
The girl glanced around and
frowned at her. "Shhh."
"Excuse me?" Sherry
said with a half laugh of disbelief at the sheer gall of the girl. Expression
turning serious, she said grimly, "This is my office, kiddo. I suggest you
explain your reason for being here, or get out."
Rather than put the kid in her
place, the words merely drew a full-on scowl from her as she turned and then
concentrated a pair of the most amazing eyes on Sherry. They were a strange
silver-green and seemed almost to glow with intensity.
Caught by those beautiful and
unusual eyes, Sherry allowed her to stare briefly, mostly because she was
staring back, but then she arched her eyebrows. "Well? Are you just going
to crouch there and gawk at me or explain yourself?"
Instead of answering, the girl
frowned and asked, "Why can't I read you?"
A short disbelieving laugh
slipped from Sherry, but when the girl simply stared at her with bewilderment,
she said reasonably, "Maybe because I'm not a book."
That got no reaction from the
girl. She still continued to stare at her, looking almost vexed. Tired of
thinking of her as "the girl," Sherry asked abruptly, "What's
your name?"
"Stephanie," the girl
replied almost absently, eyeing her now as if she were a bug under a
microscope. That examination ended abruptly when a chime sounded from the
speaker in the corner of Sherry's office. It announced that the front door of
the store had been opened. Seeming to realize that, Stephanie whirled to peer
out at the store again, and quickly dropped back to her haunches so that only
the top of her head poked up over the bottom of the window ledge.
"I told you it's
one-way," Sherry said with exasperation. "They can't see—"
"Shhh," Stephanie
hissed without glancing around, simply raising a hand in her direction, palm
up, demanding silence.
Despite herself, Sherry obeyed
the silent order. There was just something about the girl, a sudden stillness
and tension that had been present before, but now intensified. It made Sherry
frown and glance past her to the store beyond the one-way mirror as four men
walked into the shop.
Using the word "walked"
was somewhat misleading. It was too normal, and had they just walked in she
would have simply taken note of their entrance and then turned her attention
back to the teenager in her office. But there was nothing normal about these
men.
All four of the newcomers looked to
be in their mid-twenties. They also all had longish, dirty blond hair. One wore
it in a ponytail, another actually had it up in a bun, and a third man had
gelled it into long pointy spokes that poked out of his head like a hedgehog.
But the leader, or at least the man in the lead, had a full, matted mane that
made her think of a lion.
Sensing trouble, Sherry watched
the men. They each wore jeans that could have used a run through a washing
machine. Their T-shirts weren't much better, and they didn't walk in so much as
stalk in. There was just something predatory about them, an air that made her
feel like a gazelle on the planes of the Serengeti and grateful they were on
the other side of the mirror.
Unaware that she had stood and
was slowly moving to the girl's side, Sherry watched with trepidation as the
lead man raised his head and took a long, deep sniff of the air, scenting it
like the predator he made her think of. He then nodded, lowered his head and
glanced around to ask, "Where is the girl?"
Not surprisingly, the half a
dozen customers in the store continued perusing the kitchenware they'd come in
for, probably not even aware that he was addressing them or to what girl he was
referring. Sherry doubted anyone but her employees had even noted the girl's
entrance, and busy with customers as they were, even they may not have.
When nobody paid him any
attention, the lead man scowled and cast a glance back toward his men. The last
man, the one that resembled a hedgehog, still stood in the open store door. Now
he entered fully and slammed it, sending the bells ringing madly. When the
chimes fell silent, so was the shop. Every eye in the place was now on the
foursome, and the air seemed charged with a sudden wariness that Sherry was not
only aware of, but was experiencing herself.
"Thank you for your
attention," the leader said pleasantly, moving forward again. After half a
dozen steps, he paused again, this time in front of one of her employees who
had been helping a young woman who had a little girl clutching at her skirt.
Sherry sucked in a breath when
the man's hand suddenly shot out to the side and snatched the mother by the
front of her sweater. He wasn't even looking at her as he grabbed and jerked
her forward. Only then did he turn his head toward her, his nose almost
brushing hers as he demanded, "Where is the—"
Sherry found herself tensing
further when he paused suddenly mid-question. She bit her lip, the hairs on the
back of her neck standing on end as he inhaled again, more deeply this time.
Sherry didn't know why, but the action made her anxious for the woman,
especially when he gave a pleasant little shiver as he released his breath at
the end.
"You're pregnant," he
announced, a smile growing on his lips. Dipping his head, he ran his nose along
the woman's throat, inhaling deeply again. He then released a happy sounding
little sigh and announced, "I love pregnant women almost as much as
untreated diabetics. All those hormones pumping through the blood …" He
pulled back to look her in the face as he said, "It's a powerful
cocktail."
"Damn."
Sherry blinked and tore her gaze
from the tableau below to glance to Stephanie, surprised to find she'd briefly
forgotten about the girl.
"What?" Sherry asked,
instinctively whispering this time. She didn't know who these people were, or
what was going on, but all her inner alarm bells were ringing in warning now.
Something very bad was happening and she knew instinctively that it was only
going to get worse.
Stephanie bit her lip and then
glanced around. "Is there a back exit in this place?"
"That door leads to the
alley behind the shops," Sherry admitted quietly, gesturing to a door down
another eight steps at the back of her office.
Sherry didn't blame the kid for
wanting to run. She wanted to herself, but couldn't, not with her employees and
customers out there at the mercy of the men presently filling her small shop.
It was like four lions set among a pen full of lambs. Although she supposed
that was the wrong analogy. Everyone knew the lioness did the hunting, not the
lion. Wolves were probably a better descriptor for these men.
"You don't happen to have a
car parked out in the alley, do you?" Stephanie asked hopefully.
Sherry merely stared for a
moment. She had heard the question but hadn't seen the girl's lips move. What—?
"Do you?" the teenager
hissed, her lips moving this time.
"No. I take the
subway," Sherry admitted quietly. Most people did in the city, rather than
pay exorbitant parking fees.
The girl sighed unhappily and
then peered back to the drama taking place on the other side of the mirror.
Sherry followed her gaze. The
leader now had the young mother pressed up against the checkout counter, her
body bent back over it, but all he was doing at the moment was sniffing her
neck like a dog. It was weird, and might even have been funny if Sherry hadn't
noted the knife he now retrieved from his pocket and flicked open at his side.
"Oh crap," she
breathed.
"Yeah," Stephanie
muttered. "A car would have made this so much easier."
"Made what easier?"
Sherry asked in a distracted voice as she watched the man run the side of the
blade lightly up the apparently pregnant woman's stomach toward her throat. The
woman wasn't reacting at all. Her expression was blank, as were the expressions
on the faces of the others in the store. Even her child simply stood there,
blank-faced and unconcerned. The only people in the store with any expression
at all were the leader and his men. The leader was smiling a soft almost sweet
smile, while the three men who could have been his brothers were all grinning
widely with what she would have said was anticipation.
"You better start
running," Stephanie said grimly, moving to lock the door leading into the
store.
"I'm not running
anywhere," Sherry said, her words sharp despite her effort to keep her
tone soft. "I'm calling the police."
"The police can't help
them," the girl said grimly, striding over to pick up the heavy filing
cabinet in the corner and carry it down the stairs to set in front of the door
that opened to the store floor.
Sherry was so startled by the
action that she just stared. The filing cabinet was a tall, four-drawer legal
cabinet stuffed full of paperwork and receipts. It weighed a ton. She doubted
she could have pushed or dragged it across the floor, let alone lift it like it
was an empty laundry basket as the girl had just done. She was trying to work
out in her head how Stephanie had done that when movement below drew her
attention back to the store floor. The leader had suddenly released the
pregnant woman and stepped back.
Maybe he was going to leave. The
vague hope had barely formed in her mind when he grabbed one of the mixing
bowls off a nearby display and handed that and the knife to the pregnant woman
and said pleasantly, "It's such a messy business and this is my favorite
T-shirt. Why don't you do it? Bend forward over the counter, put the bowl on
that stool there so it's under your throat, and slice your neck open so the
blood flows into it."
About
the Author:
LYNSAY SANDS is the nationally
bestselling author of the Argeneau/Rogue Hunter vampire series, as well as
numerous historicals and anthologies. She’s been writing stories since grade
school and considers herself incredibly lucky to be able to make a career out
of it. Her hope is that readers can get away from their everyday stress through
her stories, and if there’s occasional uncontrollable fits of laughter, that’s
just a big bonus.
Visit her official website at www.lynsaysands.net
Tour
Giveaway
1 copy of each of the 21 books in
the Argeneau Series for each day of the tour. Open to US shipping Only.
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