WIP Excerpts 2

This is the beginning of the Necromancer story I was thinking about earlier in the week...

Dealing with the Dead - The Thompson Agency book 1

Jayden Thompson unlocked and pushed open the doors to his family’s offices and walked inside. Not many people could work with their entire family six days a week, but it seemed to work for them. Jayden was thankful they all didn’t still live together. He thought that may have thrown him over the edge and caused a mass homicide. He could probably have convinced the police to let him off with a warning as no one can live and work with their large, and he meant large, family twenty four hours a day.

Jayden was the youngest at twenty, of seven siblings. He had six older brothers, his parents trying and failing to get the girl his mother had always wanted. All seven boys inherited their gift from their father and as such worked with their parents in the family business.

Walking through the still and silent building Jayden made his way through the building until he came to his office. He was glad they all had their own offices as he liked his things just the way they were. Jayden turned on the lights and settled down at his desk before turning his computer on.

Waiting for his computer to finish loading Jayden pulled out the new files that had been placed in his in tray. The damn thing was empty when he left yesterday afternoon, but not anymore. Skimming through the files he found it was all basic stuff. Insurance companies wanting clarification on the cause of death so they hopefully didn’t have to pay out millions, families wanting one last chance to say goodbye to a loved one who was taken from them suddenly.

His computer dinged when it had finished loading and Jayden placed the files to a side and opened his e-mail. He looked through the calendar first to see how many appointments had been added to his day since he last looked. Jayden groaned as he noticed he was nearly booked solid to for the entire day.

As Jayden was the youngest he seemed to get stuck with all the less interesting jobs, as evidenced by the files in his in tray. His dad and his eldest brothers Jackson and Jessie always seemed to get the good ones. What his family didn’t realise yet was that Jayden was the most powerful of them all. He was the seventh son of a seventh son.

His brothers had started to show signs of their powers when they came of age at eighteen. Jayden, however, had felt his magic bubbling under the surface from the tender age of thirteen. He had not told his parents this, not wanting to appear different from his brothers; he had kept it to himself and tried to ignore it as best he could. This didn’t always work, however, as left unchecked and untrained his magic had a life of its own and tended to do things Jayden would rather forget.

Jayden was born into a family of Necromancers. Yes, they could raise and converse with the dead for short periods of time and no, they were not evil. It was just another form of magic. Witches’ magic dealt with the living, Shifter magic came from within and Necromancer’s Magic dealt with the dead.  It was as simple as that.

And with all paranormal creatures there was a destined mate out there just for each of them. Jayden smiled at the thought of finally meeting his mate. His mum and dad were mates and they had been together for over thirty years. A mate was a necessity when you were a paranormal with a great deal of magic. A mate grounded you, gave you a measure of peace and was said they tamed the wild magic within, allowing it to flow more easily.

WIP Excerpts

To celebrate the release of my final Holland Brothers books 'Forbidden Mate' I thought I might post a couple of excerpts from my WIP List

Please note: all excerpt are unedited, so please excuse my horrible typing. lol

Untitled - Merrick's Coven 1

Merrick stood on the balcony of his apartment, arms pressed against the rails staring out over the swan river. The lights reflecting off the black water dazzling in all their different shapes and colours. He sighed. He had been feeling more and more melancholy recently. After living for over five centuries no one could really blame him for it.

His life had boiled down to a never ending line of willing men, both in his bed and as blood donors. Merrick was the master of the city, his coven was secure, hell, there hadn’t even been a challenge to his leadership in over fifty years. Even the club he owned down stairs never had any trouble, people came they drank, they danced, they fucked, they sucked then they went home.

  Paranormals had been revealed to the world nearly five years ago now. It was getting harder and harder for their existence to be kept a secret, so their council had decided to announce their presence to the world. This isn’t to say that the leaders of the world didn’t already know that they existed, because they did. There were several paranormals in high up military ranks, and many more in lower military ranks. We were a lot harder to kill than your average human, as such the government loved us.

There had been some backlash at first, with a few groups campaigning for their immediate death. Stupid humans. The majority of the population seemed to understand that they weren’t in any danger, and the paranormals had always been living amongst them, now they just knew about it.  

Having humans know of their existence was a huge positive for the vampires. It meant there was a lot of men and women who were willing to offer up their life giving blood for the chance to be bitten and experience one of the most powerful orgasms in their life. Just the bite of a vampire was enough to send them into the throws of pleasure.

Merrick was getting bored. He was tired of the same type of people always offering up their ass and their neck for one night only. He wanted someone that was going to stick around. He wanted someone who set his blood on fire, and his heart to pounding. He wanted someone who would stand up to him instead of falling all over themselves to give him what he wanted.

Yes he was a master vampire, and yes he could be scary as hell, He was tall for his kind at six foot five, had long flowing black hair and eyes almost as dark as his hair. Sharp cheekbones that suited his face perfectly and perfectly tanned skin. His body was well defined but not overly muscular like you would find with the were folk.

One of the largest misconceptions about vampires that had been brought to light so to speak when their existence was announced was their ability to walk just as easily in the day as the night. A lot of people were disappointed to find out that their myths about vampires were untrue. Garlic tasted great on pizzas and crosses did absolutely nothing to them. Much to the disgust of some church groups.

They were much stronger than the average human, roughly ten times as strong, they were faster and had heightened senses. They could eat food just like everyone else, they just need blood as well to survive. If  a vampire went too long without drinking blood their skin would become pasty white and their abilities would lessen until they slowly withered away and died.

Their bodies had faster healing abilities, like the weres but they could die, a stake through the heart would do the trick. Well anything through the heart actually would kill them, but the people liked to know that something in their myths were correct. Also you chop someone’s head off and they weren’t coming back. Ever.

Merrick had moved to Perth at the beginning of the twentieth century and watched as the city grew and thrived so had his coven until it was the largest in Western Australia. He had fought for his position often at the beginning, not so much now though.

 He picked up the glass of whisky sitting on the table next to where he stood and sipped at the amber liquid. He heard his apartment door open behind him but didn’t turn to see who it was. Only a select few people had access to his private residence. He stood and watched the river below, waiting for his second-in-command to arrive.

Merrick didn’t have to wait too long, Bryce walked out to stand next to him in complete silence. They stood there and watched the boats pass on the water below, Merrick slowly sipping his drink.

“Did you need something Bryce?” he asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the peacefulness of the night.

“No, just wanted to check that everything was okay, you’ve been awfully quiet lately.” His friend answered.

“Everything’s fine. Just thinking is all.” No matter how long they had been friends Merrick wouldn’t show weakness in front of anyone. Weakness could get you killed.

Bryce grunted beside him.

Merrick turned and clasped his friend on the shoulder. Pasting a smile on his face he looked his second in the eyes. “Everything’s good my friend. Trust me”

“Always” Bryce answered immediately. The man didn’t even need to think about it at all.

“How’s business down stairs?” he asked wanting to change the subject.

Now it was Merrick’s turn to grunt and Bryce laughed at him.

“Come on, man, come have a drink with me, listen to some music, you don’t even have to talk to anyone else if you don’t want to. Your people just like to see you and you’ve been absent lately.”

Merrick lifted the glass in his hand. “Already have a drink thanks” he grinned at his friend.

Bryce returned his grin before he reached out and stole the glass from Merrick’s fingers quickly draining its contents before he placed the now empty glass on the table.

“What drink?”

Merrick laughed at his friend, not many people would have had the guts to do what Bryce just did, and he was right. He had gotten bored with the whole scene and had pretty much stopped going. This was probably not his smartest move, as someone could construe it as weakness on his part.

“Fine, let’s go, the night is young, you never know what could be in store.” With that Merrick turned and walked through the apartment Bryce following along behind him.

 

And the winners are:

Good morning world.... What a beautiful day to try and get some writing done.... Oh and to draw a competition..... speaking of....The winners are:

Petie and Kitana. Thank you to my daughter who delayed going to school to draw the names... It was such a hardship for her. lol

If you would like to e-mail me at info@tonigriffin.net I would be more than happy to send out a copy of Forbidden Mate... If you have already pre-ordered please let me know and I will set aside a copy of my christmas story if you would like.

Thank you to all who entered it was interesting reading some of your favourite foods.

Contest Time

It's that time again. Forbidden Mate, HB4, will be released next Saturday and I would love to give away two copies to my readers.
As I'm on a diet at the moment (Yuck) I would love to hear what your all time favourite food is... Nothing like a little torture to start the day off right. lol

Just comment and you will go into the draw. Good luck to all.

Excerpt from Forbidden Mate

Hi all,

After torturous hours spent doing edits this morning I thought I would pass this on by posting an excerpt from Forbidden Mate for you *grins evilly*
HB4 is due to be released on October 1st through Silver Publishing (In case you hadn't heard yet) and is currently available for pre-order here

Excerpt:

Walking into the house, Rick couldn't stand the thought of going back into the lounge room with all the happy couples. Especially as he knew that would never be him. He knew who his mate was and they would never have the chance to sit cuddled up on a lazy Sunday afternoon watching football. Or get caught making out by his brothers when they came home from work.

Rick made his way to the kitchen. He wanted a drink and needed some peace so he could think. Grabbing a beer from the fridge, Rick headed outside and sat on the back steps leading from the porch to the garden. A cool breeze blew his hair and he lifted the bottle to his lips. Drinking half the beer in one go, Rick agonised over what he was going to do.

Should he find someone else and try to be happy? Even as much as Jake had hurt him over the last ten years he knew, without a doubt, he would never love another man. The thought of letting someone who wasn't Jake touch him sent shivers of revulsion down his spine. Well, it looked like his life was shaping up to be a lonely one.

Rick was so lost in his thoughts he didn't hear the back door open and was startled when Brian came and sat down beside him holding a glass of water.

"Hey," Brian said quietly.

"Hey, yourself."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Brian said quietly. Confused, Rick looked at his brother-in-law.

"What in the world do you have to be sorry about?"

Brian smiled slightly at him then lowered his voice further, "I'm sorry Alex is making you go on this trip with your mate."

Rick sucked in his breath and jumped back, never once taking his eyes off the man next to him. His heart was hammering away in his chest. How did he know? Rick hadn't told a soul and he didn't think Jake would have either, seeing how he didn't want him.

Thinking fast, Rick did the only thing he could think of. He wasn't strong enough to outright deny the truth so he did the next best thing. "I don't know what you're talking about. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine and you know exactly what I'm talking about. I don't know why he hasn't claimed you but I'm willing to bet everything I own that Jake is your mate."

Rick couldn't talk, his throat was burning and his head was shaking, trying to deny that which he couldn't voice. Brian placed a hand on his arm.

"It's okay, you know, to talk about it. I'm here if you ever need me."

"How—" Rick wasn't sure how he'd managed to squeeze the word out of his throat but he had and he really wanted to know how Brian had known.

"It's fairly obvious if you know what you're looking at. I noticed it the first time I met Jake. The sexual tension practically explodes around the pair of you whenever you're in the same room together. You also can't keep your eyes off him. It's almost like he can tell the exact moment you look away because then his eyes are all over you. Jason noticed it as well but your brothers seem to be particularly obtuse to the tension between you two."

Rick could feel a tear running down his cheek as he listened to Brian.

"How long have you known he was your mate?"

Rick hung his head and answered as a sob tore though him, "Ten years."

"Jesus Christ, you must have the restraint of a saint! Marcus and I couldn't even last a night after we met. Ten years—" Brian repeated. Rick didn't know if Brian sounded awed at the length of time or saddened by it.

"What are you going to do?" Brian asked him quietly.

Rick didn't know why he was opening up to Brian after he had managed to go ten years without discussing this with anyone else. Why now? "There's nothing much I can do. My mate doesn't want me and I can't stand for anyone else to touch me. Believe me, I've tried." After Jake being around so much lately and always staying as far away from Rick as he could without being rude, Rick had snapped.

"Is that where you were going in the evenings?" Rick had decided that if his mate didn't want him, he would find someone who did. So he hit the clubs and tried to pick up men. The first time Rick had almost thrown up when another man touched him. He decided he needed some liquid courage to go through with his plan. The problem with being a werewolf though, was it took a hell of a lot of alcohol to get drunk. And he meant a hell of a lot too. By the time he was starting to feel a slight buzz, the bars would be closing and he just ended up going home alone.

"Don't give up hope yet, Rick. I believe everything will work out in the end." Rick didn't answer. He'd had ten years of hoping his mate would come around and tell him he was madly in love with him then claim him so they could live happily ever after. If it hadn't happened so far, it wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to say that to Brian though. He would let the man continue to think there was a happy ending to his story.

Walking inside, Rick threw his bottle in the recycling and made his way to his room, luckily avoiding everyone else in the house. He had a bag to pack and things to organise before he spent the next tortuous week in his mate's company.

Now available on All Romance

Protective Mate is now available on All Romance for all those who have yet to get their copy. You can find it here

Blurb: Within the space of two years Zack lost nearly everyone that had ever meant anything to him. After his parents were killed in a car accident and his best friend succumbed to cancer, Zack is left alone with only his eighteen month old daughter. Her ultra-religious and homophobic grandparents will do anything they can to take his daughter away from him. To stop this, Zack packs up and moves to a small town in northern Victoria.

Simon has known he was gay since he was fifteen and he had resigned himself to never being a father. Walking into his house one afternoon, he is shocked to find not only his mate, but a two year old calling his mate daddy.

Is Simon ready to be a father? Can Zack open his heart after so much hurt and risk loving someone else?

Excerpt:
"Daddy?" Zack looked in the rear-view mirror at the most important person in his life. His daughter sat in her booster seat surrounded by everything they owned.

"Yes, Pumpkin?" Zack constantly flicked his eyes back and forth between his precious cargo and the road ahead.

"Are we there yet?" Zack sighed. The question had been constant for the last several hours. It had to be hard for Hayley. Within the space of a six month period, she lost the mother she loved, the house she grew up in and was being taken from the day care she knew and friends she loved. To top everything off, her grandparents were trying to take her away from her father, so he'd finally left with Hayley to start over in a new town with new people and hopefully new friends.

"Not yet Hayley, but soon okay? We'll find the motel and unpack the car, and then we'll find a nice park where you can play for a little while. How does that sound?" The squeals of delight from the backseat let Zack know Hayley was onboard with the park idea.

Glancing back again, Zack couldn't believe how much she looked like her mother. Her sparkling jade green eyes and the cutest little button nose you had ever seen, above a small mouth with rose pink lips, reminded him daily of the only woman he'd ever loved. But her best feature Zack thought, the only feature she got from her father, fell past her shoulders in loose, bright auburn ringlets. One of Sarah's favourite things before she passed was to brush Hayley's hair.

Zack felt momentarily overwhelmed with grief at the thought of his best friend. On their first day in high school, Zack and Sarah had both gone to sit in the same seat at lunch, neither of them paying any attention to their surroundings, and ended up best friends by the time the bell rang to signify lunch was over.

Their high school years seemed to fly past with the two sharing everything. Zack confided in Sarah when he realised the boys at their school held more appeal to him than the girls. Sarah had hugged him and kissed him on the cheek and said being gay didn't matter and she would always love him. She'd encouraged Zack to talk to his parents and let them know what was going on with him. His mum had surprised him and said she'd suspected for a while and his dad nodded and said as long as Zack was happy then that was all he cared about. Zack had hugged his parents, never more thankful for their support.

Sarah however, kept the knowledge from her parents until after they'd graduated from high school and moved into an apartment together. Her parents, being the religious, god fearing people they were, were adamant Sarah have nothing further to do with him. When she refused, they informed her God would punish her for association with him.

Who knows what Sarah's parents would have thought if they ever found out he was a werewolf as well as identifying as gay. They'd probably keel over in an apoplectic fit. Zack chuckled at that idea and thought back to when Sarah found out he was a werewolf. The first full moon after Zack turned sixteen he and Sarah were lying on the floor in the lounge at his place, doing their homework. Zack's entire body had heated, like his blood was boiling, then his arms started sprouting fur. He'd looked over at Sarah, saw her wide eyes staring back at him and said the only thing he could think of. "Please don't scream."

Her eyes had widened even further at his words then his bones started to reshape, his face elongated and before he knew it, he stood on all fours tangled in his jeans and shirt and staring at his best friend as she looked back at him in wide-eyed shock.

Zack's mother had come through from the kitchen clearly in the middle of asking them a question when she noticed Zack and stopped in her tracks, mouth open. She quickly looked at Sarah and regained her senses. "Sarah, honey, are you okay?"

"That is so fricken cool!" Sarah turned and quickly picked up her homework before waving it in front of Zack's face. "Come on Zack! Be a good boy and eat this for me. That way I don't have to do it and I'll have such a good excuse." She giggled as Zack took a playful bite at her hand before his mother scolded him. She sent him sent to his room until he could change back so she could talk to Sarah.

Sarah tried to get him to eat her homework several more times after that and when they moved in together, she came home one day with a collar and lead and hung them by the door. She'd laughed herself silly then ran to the toilet before she wet herself the first time Zack saw the items.

Pulling himself out of his memories, Zack once again looked into the mirror and noticed his daughter was now fast asleep, her favourite toy, a plush wolf, held close to her chest. Concentrating on the road ahead, Zack wondered what he was going to do without his best friend. Sarah had been a constant in his life for thirteen years. When Sarah received her diagnosis of cancer, the news hit the friends like a tonne of bricks. They went to sleep that night wrapped in each other's arms, both with red rimmed eyes and tear streaked faces.

Sarah woke him up the next day by asking for his sperm. After the initial shock wore off, Zack had agreed. The doctors gave her a maximum of two years to live and wanted to start treatments right way; they didn't expect to be able to prolong her life by years, only months. Sarah had wanted to be a mother more than anything else in the world. Any treatment she undertook would take that opportunity away from her.

Zack couldn't deny his best friend anything, and as he was gay he never expected to have a child, but he couldn't think of anyone he would rather have one with. Knowing a part of Sarah would live on in their daughter, helped Zack with the loss of his friend.

After long discussions and more tears, they spoke with Zack's parents. The couple were overjoyed to find out they would have a grandchild. With Zack being an only child and gay, they had resigned themselves to having no grandkids. His parents were so happy they offered to pay for Sarah's wish to come true. Zack and Sarah were extremely grateful for their help, as all Sarah's parents said, upon hearing the news of their daughter's illness, was she would be punished for her association with Zack.

They were lucky and Sarah got pregnant on the first attempt. Zack could see the strain the pregnancy put on Sarah, but she never complained. She worked as much as possible to help pay for her share of the expenses, no matter how much Zack tried to tell her to slow down and take it easy.

Sarah was about 6 months pregnant when Zack received the phone call one night to tell him his parents had been involved in a car accident. They'd been driving back from his dad's Christmas party when the driver of a semi trailer had fallen asleep at the wheel and crossed into oncoming traffic. The truck hit them head on and they both died instantly. There were some things even being a werewolf couldn't save you from. They never got to see their granddaughter being born.

His parents left him their house, which was debt free, so Sarah and Zack moved out of their apartment and into the home he'd grown up in. Zack would never have gotten through those pain-filled weeks and months if not for Sarah. She gave birth to their beautiful baby girl the following March and they named her Hayley after his mum.

Valerie and Howard Stewart, Sarah's parents, didn't want anything to do with Hayley or Sarah as long as he remained in the picture. Zack and Sarah lived happily for nearly eighteen months before Sarah's disease really took hold. Then life was a constant juggle between work, day care for Hayley and hospital visits for Sarah. Sarah passed away peacefully in her sleep less than a month before Hayley's second birthday.

Two months after Sarah's passing, Zack received a surprise visit from the Department of Children's Services. They'd received an anonymous tip stating his daughter was in danger and naming Zack as an unfit parent. Zack knew who the tip had come from even if the social workers wouldn't reveal the name. He'd clung to Hayley while they searched his house from top to bottom before being forced to hand her over so they could perform an examination.

After they determined Hayley looked to be in good health and a happy two year old, they handed her back to Zack and left, letting him know they would be in contact.

Zack waited until Hayley was in bed that night before he picked up the phone and dialled a number he never thought he would. The line picked up on the fifth ring and Valerie's uppity, I'm better than you, voice rang through. "Hello, Valerie speaking."

"How dare you!" Zack was so furious that these people, who'd yet to even lay eyes on their granddaughter, said he was an unfit father.

"Excuse me? Who is this?"

"I said how dare you. What gives you the right to call Child Services and say I'm an unfit parent? You've never even met Hayley. You want nothing to do with her."

"Ah... Zack." Valerie's tone was really starting to get to Zack. "Yes, well, we can't have our only grandchild being raised by someone like you."

"Someone like me? What? You mean gay?" Zack was pacing his bedroom by this time with the phone clenched so tightly in his hand his knuckles were going white.

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean. You are an abomination and unless you repent, you will be going straight to hell along with Sarah."

Zack paused in stunned silence for a second. How could anyone think Sarah would go to hell? Furious at the people who were supposed to love her no matter what, Zack gritted his teeth and forced out, "You stay the hell away from me and my daughter." He hung up the phone and threw it at the wall.

Collapsing on his bed and curling into a ball, his body shook with the force of his crying. Zack had lost his parents, then his best friend, now these people were trying to take his daughter as well. He knew one thing though, he would fight them every step of the way. Hayley was his, and he would protect her with everything he had.

That's how Zack ended up on this lonely stretch of road, driving towards a town he'd never been before and starting a new job in a week's time. His only possessions were what he could fit inside his small Toyota Camry. Valerie and Howard came through on their threat and Zack was forced to sell his parents' house to afford the lawyers who fought his case in court.

Now available on Amazon

Protective Mate is now available for purchase on Amazon. It should be available on all other distributors 2 weeks after it's initial release from silver. I will let you know on the day it becomes available.

Blurb:
Within the space of two years Zack lost nearly everyone that had ever meant anything to him. After his parents were killed in a car accident and his best friend succumbed to cancer, Zack is left alone with only his eighteen month old daughter. Her ultra-religious and homophobic grandparents will do anything they can to take his daughter away from him. To stop this, Zack packs up and moves to a small town in northern Victoria.
Simon has known he was gay since he was fifteen and he had resigned himself to never being a father. Walking into his house one afternoon, he is shocked to find not only his mate, but a two year old calling his mate daddy.
Is Simon ready to be a father? Can Zack open his heart after so much hurt and risk loving someone else?

Forbidden Mate available for Pre-Order

Right on the heels of Protective Mate's release Forbidden Mate is now available for Pre-Order.

Forbidden Mate is the final in the Holland Brothers series and is also the longest coming in at over 35k. I hope you all enjoy.

Release Day

Protective Mate is finally available for download. You can purchase your copy HERE if you haven't already.
I hope you all enjoy reading about Simon and Zack. I had a lot of fun writing them

And the winners are:

Drum roll please........ By a very scientific process of elimination. (Drawing names out of a bowl.. lol)


Kerstin & Rain....

If you would like to e-mail me at info@tonigriffin.net I will be more than happy to send out a copy of Protective Mate to you tomorrow. If you have already pre-ordered please let me know and you can have a choice of either HB4 or my Christmas story.

Thank you to all those who entered.

New website

Hi all.

The hubby has finally finished so head on over to www.tonigriffin.net to check out my completely re-vamped website. Let me know what you think.