Dance of the Pink Mist
The Cracked Chronicles, Book 2
K.D. Van Brunt
romance/paranormal/urban fantasy - 100K
Editor's Pick
In the sequel to Win the Rings, Gray is now
a prisoner at Cracked, forced to undergo combat training under the supervision
of his nemesis, Jace. He soon learns first hand why all the other kids at
Cracked are scared to death of her, but he also finds a chink in her armor and
they both realize they have an eerie connection to one
another.
Gradually, Gray is drawn into Jace’s
dangerous world of Special Ops missions, where death waits like a shadow in
every corner.
For Jace, Gray poses a new kind of threat. Although she’s proficient in all types of combat, Jace’s training hasn’t prepared her for him, and she is forced to confront feelings she has never experienced before.
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Excerpt:
I give three
raps on Jace’s door, precariously balancing an armload of her clothes in one
hand and her newly pressed uniform jacket in the other. I’ve been Jace’s
personal valet and general all-around slave for over six weeks now, bustling
from one task to another, while trying not to incur her prickly wrath.
And even though much of what she makes me do is demeaning, curiously I find
myself stealing looks at her when she’s not paying attention to me.
“Come in,”
Jace says through the closed door.
I try to
stick my thumb on the bio-sensor pad next to her door, but the action causes me
to lose my balance just enough to send the pile of clothes cascading to the
floor. There are no outside doorknobs here, just these small rectangular
pads beside every door, which read your thumbprint and release the lock.
“Shit!” I
curse.
I drop to my
knees to salvage what I can and refold the rest. The door opens behind me
causing me to flinch. I look up at Jace wondering if she’s going to give
me a swift kick to the ribs for this, but she just stands in the doorway
tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. She has her arms folded across
her chest looking peeved, and I see she’s dressed in old sweats and a
loose-fitting camo tank top. She doesn’t have a bra on. For some
reason I blush at this, as if I walked in on her while she was dressing.
“I should
make you re-wash all of this, Gray, but I’m feeling generous tonight.”
“Excuse
me. Did you say Gray, sir?” This would be the first time she’s used
my first name since I got here. Until now it’s been rookie, rook, newbie,
new meat—among others terms of endearment.
She
shrugs. “I suppose you’ve earned the right to be called by your first
name. Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Thank you.”
“Whatever,”
she says with a sigh. “Now listen up. My bathroom needs
cleaning. So get this mess picked up and get to work on it.”
Five minutes
later, I’m standing in front of her dresser putting away her newly refolded
clothes. I’ve memorized by now the layout of her drawers—underwear and
socks in the top drawer, shirts and pajamas in the second, pants, etc., in the
third. There’s a fourth and fifth drawer, but I’m not supposed to open
those, so I don’t know what she’s hiding in there. Finishing, I glance
over at Jace, who’s sitting cross-legged on her bed flipping through a
magazine—Jane’s Intelligence Review. Gee, that looks like a fun
read. Her blonde hair is so fine and soft I feel this irrational
urge to run my hands through it, even though she’d probably kick me in the groin
if I tried. She’s leaning forward to study the magazine and my eyes lock
onto her tank top, which is gapping enough to almost flash her entire, braless
chest at me. I gawk for a moment, but then feeling like a perv, I
advert my gaze.
“Don’t stare
at me, Gray. Get to work. The cleaning supplies are under the
sink.”
I nod, but I
think I detect a subtle, knowing smirk on her face.
Every room
in the dorm is laid out the same—a main living area and a small bathroom off
one end of the room. The best that can be said about the bathrooms here
is they’re functional: toilet, sink and commode, and a shower. No
bathtubs. Sighing, I pull out a bristle brush and get to work on
the stainless steel toilet bowl.
“You ever
been to Alaska, Gray?” Jace asks after a few minutes, when I’ve moved on to
scrub the shower stall.
I hesitate,
puzzled by the question. “Once. Anchorage, sir.”
I hear her
sigh loudly. “You can call me Jace from now on. What was it like?”
I hesitate,
briefly surprised by the realization I don’t have to call her ‘sir’ anymore,
but at this point it’s been so deeply drilled into me I’m not sure I’m capable
of calling her anything else.
Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vthvY3hdzwI
K.D. Van Brunt
During
the eight hours of the day when I’m not writing, reading or sleeping, I’m a
lawyer in Washington, DC. I grew up in Southern California, moved to
Seattle before coming east to Boston to go to school. Now, I live in the
great state of Maryland with my wife, my dog—a standard poodle named
Buffy (and who do you think named her?), and my hot Camaro. One of the
few things I like better than pizza is driving fast. So, if you happen be
in the DC area and a black Camaro with a red stripe and a rear spoiler roars by
and blows your doors off…thaaat could be me.
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What is the hardest part of writing a series? Which authors are your favorite?
ReplyDeleteI am really looking forward to reading this book, great excerpt!
ReplyDeleteSounds a little different to what I usually read. Always looking for new authors.
ReplyDelete