Sunday Snippet: Blending In

Another week, another blog post. But first…how about Walking Dead? I thought after last week I wouldn't be all that impressed, but guess what? I'm rather loving the way things are going along. Those little moments of humor have been a welcome occurrence.

But enough about TV. Let's get to writing. Tonight's snippet is from a brand new manuscript. One of my writing communities posted a few prompts and this idea sprang from one of those. I LOVE prompts to get the creative juices flowing.

Blending In has our heroic couple trying to infiltrate an underground movement to thwart some evil plans.

Here's the tagline:

Wren and Ethan go undercover in the seedy District. Ethan's by the book style clashes with Wren's off the cuff attitude, but when a powerful Mage makes a threat, they'll have to forge an unbreakable bond or go down in flames.

And here's the preview snippet…

"Look, Ethan, you're gonna need to follow my lead here." Wren crouched low, behind a dumpster, dragging Ethan down beside her.

Ethan shook off her hand, but kept his voice low. "You make it damned hard to follow anything. We have a plan. Took hours to map it out." He leaned in, hissing. "Not even thirty minutes into the op and you're deviating and changing it all around."

Wren held back a shudder. The man's voice did crazy stupid things to her. It reminded her of good whiskey. Cultured and smooth with just the right amount of heat.

She focused on the issue. "I know. But listen to me. The bar across the street? The one with the red door?" She moved her head so he had a clear view of the storefronts. "I feel it in my bones."

Ethan snorted. "We're throwing hours of planning aside because you have a gut feeling?" He made a move to stand. "I don't think so, Wren. Stick to the original parameters."

She grabbed his arm and jerked him back down. "Wait. Look."

Three men entered the bar, all wearing the red caps indicating their affiliation with Sons of Orion. Ethan made a low whistling sound of surprise and a jolt of vindication went through her.

Rocking back on his heels, he huffed out a breath. "Okay. You called that one." He met her gaze. "How?"

Wren didn't want to take the time to explain how her brain worked through the details. She tended to process things on the go, constantly shuffling known information against rumor, word on the streets, and in some cases, persuasion with brute force. Cursing the need to break in a new partner, she turned and propped her back against the brick wall of the building and tried to figure out the best way to explain.

She started simply. "Crimson. Remember? 'The crimson portal will welcome all who come in the name of Orion'."

Ethan nodded. "I remember. But how did you make the leap from that to the red door of the Hunter's Glen Tavern?" He stopped. "Never mind. I get it now."

She gave him credit for being quick on the uptake. Orion, the hunter. Hunter's Glen. Crimson portal, red door. It definitely helped their intel had the members all wearing the red beret-style hats and three chose to enter while she and Ethan lurked in the shadows. Good thing, too. Especially since he didn't trust her instincts and they didn't have the luxury of doing a slow build up.

They worked against a ticking clock. The next attack would take place in less than two weeks.

Not much time to get their job done.

I always love to write characters that seem to be polar opposites but have way more in common than they like to believe. Wren and Ethan are going to be so much fun. :D

And that's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye