July 21, 2019
Man… the heat has
been horrible this week. I hope everyone has a cool spot and is dealing with
the high temperatures safely. Ugh… it's miserable. Watching the Irish Open, I
truly wanted to be there. I mean they were wearing sweaters and jackets. I
could go for that right now. And, yeah, everyone needs to remind me when I'm
griping about how cold it is in May next year to shut up and deal. LOL
Slow week for
television viewing. I had a full slate of work and needed to focus so I didn't
get as many shows watched.
I did catch another
episode of Daredevil. I missed
watching one last week. Not a bad episode but too much Fisk for my liking.
Krypton had a great episode. I'm in deep and want to know what happens next.
I'm honestly not sure if I care whether Lyta is redeemed or not but I do want
to see her reaction to the reprogramming.
Watched another
episode of Painkiller Jane and the
pieces started to fall into place. Only about three or four more episodes left
of this show.
Last but not least,
I caught another episode of Durham County.
Man, Michelle Forbes can really play the barely hanging on by a thread
character better than a lot of actors. She's scary good at those roles.
That's pretty much
it for this week. Tonight's post is from Order of Aggression, a novella that
started with a writing community prompt.
Here's the
mini-blurb:
When Ames Braddock
is ordered to take out an enemy outpost with possible civilian casualties, he
calls on Parker Hart to be his second, but Parker balks at the idea. Ames isn't
thrilled with the mission, but he needs Parker and he's not above using
aggression to bring her in line, which gets the job done, but also backfires when
she demands satisfaction.
And a preview
snippet…
Ames pored over the blueprints
for the neighboring buildings on either side of Fifth Street Saloon. "I
need Parker's input. She's got the insider knowledge." And hated to use
it.
Too damned bad.
Delving deep into her childhood
never sat well with Parker, but her experience planning interference for her
parents when they ran the black mage meant she could pinpoint the potential
places for the traps they'd face. Even with the decade plus she'd switched
sides, Parker almost always called the opposition's movements. The fact her
parents no longer held a role in the guild's makeup didn't mean the new
leadership changed the playbook overmuch.
Parker breezed into the rec room.
"You wanted to see me?" She glanced at the blueprints and shook her
head. "No. Dammit, Ames. I don't want to go back to that dark place again.
You know how much I hate frolicking in my old life." Her eyes closed and
her face twisted in a grimace.
He got up and scooted around the
table, grasping her shoulders. "You're right. I do." He guided her to
a chair and gently nudged her down. "But you're worried about collateral
damage—" A sharp look from her had him amending his statement. "We're worried about civilian losses. One
way to minimize them is to make sure we don't trip any explosive traps or knock
anything loose that's dangerous to humans." He settled back down in his
seat. "If you can help me figure out a way through each building, we can
keep the element of surprise and hopefully get any edgy normals out of the way
before we take out this saloon." He waited until she met his gaze.
"Please, Parker. I'm trying to make everyone happy here."
She heaved a sigh. "You know
something? If I'd known the levels I'd have to sink to pay you back for saving
me, I might have stuck with the guild." Her lips thinned and she held his
gaze. "I wouldn't be alive right now, but sometimes I wonder if that would
be a better fate than this." She pointed to the blueprints.
A metaphorical kick to the balls
had the same impact as the real thing. Ames hated it when Parker fell back on
gratitude for a decades-old deed then twisted the knife by claiming she'd have
been better off if he'd left her to the guild after they killed her parents.
His fifteen-year-old self had taken one look at the shivering, cowering girl
and his purpose in life became clear—saving her by offering her life on the
other side.
They'd pretty much been in each
other's pockets since then.
Which meant each could push the
other's buttons without blinking. And Parker punched the saltiest one she could
when she invoked the whole "you saved me and now I have to do your bidding
even though I hate it" thing. Just once, she could maybe do the right
thing because it mattered, civilian losses or not.
Ames bit back a heated retort and
focused on the positive. "Not having you around would make my life boring
so I, for one, am glad I found you." Admitting how much he depended on her
came easily, owning what not having her close meant not so much.
Parker snorted. "Yeah, yeah.
Ply me with pretty words so I buckle under and get to work. I know how you
operate." Her lips twitched into a grin. "And I fall for it every
damn time." She shuffled the pages on the table. "Give me thirty
minutes to review these then we'll go do some recon." She pulled the
prints closer and bent her head to study them.
Ames propped his feet on a free
chair and settled in to wait. He had a solid idea of how he wanted to run the
operation… unless Parker found something that could literally blow up in their
faces.
Good
thing she's on our side now.
This story is coming
along nicely. I love the dynamic between Ames and Parker and dredging up
ancient history is one of my favorite things to do.
That's it for this
week.
Cheers!
Skye
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