Sunday Snippet: Belle of the Underground

What a difference a week makes. After our first taste of spring, we're back down to chilly temperatures. Oh well, the great weather will show up when it wants. J

Tonight's post is from what I hope will be an ongoing series. Sort of X-Files meets Dark Angel, First Breed Nation has some great potential for kick ass stories. The first book, Belle of the Underground, introduces our heroine and hero and sets them on their journey to keep their city safe and protect the secret society existing deep in its depths.

I actually featured this as my alter ego, Skylin O'Thomas, but I've recently decided this series will be a better fit in the paranormal/magic/fantasy genre than contemporary. Apologies if you've already read this. :D

Here's the tagline:

Raven Malone doesn't have an easy job, but she's a mix of freak and geek so both groups are willing to work with her. She meets her match when regular guy, Gio Roberts, starts poking around in her cover up of an unexplained murder. Sparks fly, especially when she lets him in on the underground community she's established. They forge a bond and work side by side, trying to keep everything together.

And here's the preview snippet…

Raven Malone never liked three a.m. phone calls.

Lately, she really, really loathed them. By nature, it made sense she'd get more interruptions between midnight and six in the morning. After all, the witching hours were considered play time for her kind. When it didn't matter if the strangest of the strange walked around the city in the wee hours.

But over the past few weeks that play had turned deadly and Raven didn't like it. Not one damn bit.

Her rag tag group looked to her for leadership and she had zero clue what to do with the bizarre series of events unfolding. Okay, she knew what to do, but she had to find out the who before she could exact punishment.

Crawling out of bed, Raven stumbled over to her wardrobe and yanked out several items of clothing. She heard the approach of footsteps and caught the scent of Vince Grillo, her self-appointed second in command and a shape shifter, before he rounded the door of her rooms. She could guess what he'd ask without using her pre-cog skills. She could count on Vince to be fairly predictable when they had trouble.

"You want company?"

Ding. Ding. Ding. She'd totally called that one.

Turning toward him, she didn't let the fact her only attire at the moment happened to be a pair of hipster undies and a tiny camisole faze her. Vince had seen her in less.

She shoved her legs into a pair of dark jeans and yanked them up. "No. I've got this." Throwing on a leather jacket, she grabbed a beat up ball cap and slapped it on her head.

Vince frowned. "If it's the same as last time, you might need some help."

Raven shook her head. "If it's the same as last time—and my gut says it is—I'll need you here." Understatement of the year.

He wanted to argue. "But—"

She didn't have time for it. "No, Vince. I can handle it out there. I'll lay money word is already out and you're the only one I can count on to keep the peace down here until I get back." She almost wanted to wish him luck.

Vince narrowed his eyes. "How the hell would anyone know about this yet?"

She gave him a bland stare. "Body was found by a lake. You know the aquatics pick up on vibes and can't ever keep it to themselves. They knew about this before I even got the call." She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her boots on.

Vince snorted. "Damned gill gabbers." He said it without heat. He understood their genetic make-up and school mentality trumped everything. Even common sense sometimes. "What do you want me to do?"

Raven jerked her head toward the door. She'd heard the onslaught coming a few moments ago.

"Clear a path for starters."

Vince grinned. "At least I get to have fun before the headache stuff starts."

Raven pulled the cap off and grabbed her hair, wound it on top of her head and jammed the hat back on.

Tugging the bill down low, she nodded. "Have at it."

Vince threw open the door and sure enough, a throng of First Breeds crowded the opening.

The questions started immediately.

"Who is it?"

"Who's doing this?"

"What are you gonna do to stop it?"

"Is it one of ours?"

Vince shoved his way down the corridor and Raven followed in his wake. She tuned everything out. The shouts. The whispers. Even the non-verbal thoughts. The more people there were, the more her latent sixth sense kicked in.

She'd have a bitch of a time staying upright if she didn't get through the crowd soon.

Vince turned around and got a look at her. He must've noticed the pinched edges around her mouth because he picked up her and roared over the noise. "Make a hole!!"

He deposited her at the bottom of the access hatch to up top. "Give a shout if you need anything." He glanced over his shoulder then back in her direction. "Please."

She smirked. "It just hit you, didn't it? What a pain in the ass time you're going to have down here." Her hands hit the rung of the ladder, her booted foot resting on the bottom one. "I'm sorry for it, but I gotta go." She hoisted herself up and scrabbled to the hatch. "I'll be back as soon as possible."

He gave her a curt nod and she undogged the hatch to gain access to the street level of the city. Once she cleared the top, she muttered. "Heaven help him."

And heaven help Raven. She's about to meet the new man in her life and she won't like it at all. LOL

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye