Sunday Snippet: Dangerous Elements (a Lantern Jack tale)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! It's been a chaotic week with work projects and life stuff going on. And my distraction levels are making me frustrated. But … I'm still getting stuff done so I can't really complain.

I definitely didn't make a full round of shows this week. Just didn't have the bandwidth with my focus being all over the place.

I did catch an episode of The Batman and had vague memories of watching this the first time around. Joker episodes are hit and miss in the version of the dark knight.

Watched an episode of My Life Is Murder and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm almost finished with this show, and I'll miss it when I'm done. Such a fun cast of characters.

Caught another episode of Midsomer Murders and again enjoyed the mystery. I'd seen something of a similar nature of the plot based on a true story, so this episode ended up being a lot of fun.

Finished up the final episode of Silent Witness season twenty-five. I'll be starting season twenty-six this week. Ended up really enjoying the limited episode run.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Dangerous Elements, a Lantern Jack tale featuring shifters and keepers.

Here's the miniblurb:

Lantern Jack is back to right another wrong. The long-standing animosity between shifters and the human council comes to a dangerous head. Dahlia Derringer is next in line to rule the council and she's stepping into the role because a shifter almost took her father's life. Otto Orpheus leads the shifters and he's furious a rogue fox acted against his orders. Samhain is nigh and the shifters need to replenish their aura … if Otto can get Dahlia's permission to do so.

And a preview snippet…

Dahlia's fists clenched. The sheer audacity! She tamped down a strong urge to punch Mr. Otto Orpheus in the face. Acting innocent after what they did? Inconceivable.

But … he didn't appear to be going anywhere so… "Fine." She dug her phone out of her back pocket. "If it gets you off…" She scrolled to her video app and mashed her thumb on the icon. "Here." Shoving the phone in his face, she swallowed down the bile threatening to spew forth.

Otto's eyes went wide then narrowed into angry slits. His lips twisted in a pained grimace and he blanched before two spots of red flushed his cheeks. The footage showed a fox shifter attacking her father, biting his calf to bring him down then tearing into his arm and chest, trying to get to his jugular. Her dad rolled into a ball, tucking his head to his sternum and using his arms as protection. The fox bit and clawed at her father's back, shredding his shirt and leaving a bloody mess behind.

Dahlia came into view and fired a warning shot in the air. She couldn't risk taking aim at the fox—not when he hovered over her father. She could've taken the animal down when he ran, but concern overrode her instincts and she went to her dad instead. The video ended on her phone, but she had the security camera feed saved on their server.

Otto snarled a curse. "God dammit." He met her gaze. "Is Dean—" He broke off, swallowing hard. "How is he?"

Dahlia huffed out an angry breath. "Not dead, but it was damned close." She might as well give him the full status. "And he could still take a turn. He's feverish and fighting infection." And had a long road to recovery.

Otto sighed. "Look, I didn't orchestrate this, and I don't condone it." He paced back and forth, a hand running over the top of his head. "But I can't say I'm shocked something like this happened." He paused and met her gaze. "I'm not surprised a shifter went rogue. It's long been a point of contention—the lack of access to our sacred ground."

She growled, low in her throat. "Are you seriously defending that damn fox?" After seeing what it did to her dad?

Otto shook his head. "Not defending him or his actions. But I understand where he's coming from. For most of us, the land calls out—we need it, and it needs us."

The longing in his voice almost got to her. But, no, whether he sanctioned the action or not, one of his members caused harm and almost killed her father. She wouldn't let him spin this in any way.

Dahlia squared her shoulders. "Are you saying the attack was my dad's fault?" Her voice all but quaked with anger.

I'm very excited to have another installment underway in the Lantern Jack series. I love these stories so much.

 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye