Sunday Snippet: Protect the Target

This past week I got to experience my daughter's first "senior night", this one for golf. She's my youngest and the last one we need to get through high school. Which is actually funny because she's also the most organized of my three kiddos and we haven't had to do much to get her through anything. Okay, except to maybe open the checkbook or whip out the debit card.

Anyway, the golf team had a scramble with another county team and the girls had a great time. This is a little poignant for three of the four seniors because they're all four-year letterman and they literally launched the girls' golf team for the high school. My daughter and one of her friends were the true masterminds, getting another freshman and two sophomores interested so they could form a team. There had to be at least four girls and they had five so they were good to go. In the four years they've had a team, the roster grew to eight, dropped to seven, then went back up to eight again this year. It's been exciting to watch the group grow and change and support each other.

Next up, is senior night for band and that's next weekend. I'm hoping for a non-rainy football game. This past week, the game got delayed due to lightning. Fun times.

Had a busy week overall with work but did get some television viewing in. I kept up with more episodes of Peter Gunn. I'm almost through the second season.

Also got some Classic Who in with The Mind Robber, The Invasion, and The Kroton multi-part episodes. I think I'm through the mixed episodes that are part animation and part regularly shot scenes.

I also watched three more Midsomer Murders episodes. I'm in series seventeen so I have about three more series to finish up.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Protect the Target, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Noya Vix is a walking target with a lot of magical factions coming after her, the most persistent being Lenj Gottman, who wants to exploit her precognitive ability. Booth Wanderlux is her number one protector, but he's got issues with keeping Noya out of harm's way because she refuses to lay low until Lenj is caught.

And a preview snippet…

Noya checked her reflection in the mirror. "Not bad if I do say so." And she did.

Lorna gave a low whistle. "Damn, girl. I'm impressed with our brilliance." She made a slow circle around Noya.

Brilliance might be an understatement. With Lorna's magickal help, a full-on transformation of Noya's hair, skin tone, facial features, the works, had taken place. Instead of dark brown locks, Noya sported a shimmering shade of red. Her eyes were a leafy green, which looked so different from her usual color of burnt umber. The olive of her skin now appeared as flawless and creamy. She kind of missed the shadows and planes of her darker skin tone. Lorna also made her cheekbones fuller and less angular.

Now, Noya needed to work on altering her speech pattern and her gait.

Lorna made a tsking sound. "Mm-mm-mm. Booth is gonna lose his mind when he sees you." She tilted her head to one side. "Darlin', that man isn't going to recognize you."

Noya banked on that fact. If Booth didn't immediately know her, she stood a chance of pulling off the biggest sleight of hand to nail Lenj's ass to the wall. And, dammit, she would have a hand in taking that fucker down.

Noya tried a new voice, lowering the pitch of her tone. "Do you really think so?" The sound flowed out of her mouth, smoky and sultry.

Lorna's eyes went wide. "Holy shit. You make me think of cigarettes and whiskey in a back room somewhere." She chuckled. "I take full credit for the magickal enhancement of your looks, but, Noya honey, everything else is all you." She swished her hand back and forth. "Lemme see you walk around a bit."

Noya complied, concentrating on shortening her stride to a loose shuffle instead of the usual strut she normally did. She slouched forward instead of squaring her shoulders and made a short circuit of the bathroom. The weird jockeying would take some getting used to and she couldn't hold the illusion for long, tripping up on her way back to Lorna's side.

Laughing, Noya shrugged. "Yeah, that's gonna take some work." And probably some painkillers to ease the kinks her muscles would get.

Lorna nodded. "You'll get the hang of it." She leaned in. "How are you gonna let Booth in on the new look?"

Noya made a grimace. "I'm going to do it where he'll least expect it…" She met Lorna's gaze. "Tonight… in bed."

Wouldn't that be a rare treat?

Okay, maybe not.

Noya is so much fun to write and her partner in crime for this scene is very much an enabler, which won't make Booth very happy.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye