Blurb:
The
Apache kidnapped me to dispel an evil ghost from their village. If I tell them
I don't possess the same skills my madre did, they'll cut my throat and feed me
to the dogs. Celesta was the best spirit chaser in all of New Mexico before she
died.
The
most I can hope for is that Emmett, my fiancé, will rescue me. Is he capable of
such a thing? Poppy must not have thought so because he sent Deacon Bannister
to save me. Deacon…the man who walked away days before our wedding a year ago.
The man who still melts my bones after one look.
We're
running for our lives from Uday, the vaporous ghoul tracking us. He wants
Sacheen, the beautiful maiden banished from the Apache village who travels with
us. The warrior killed her father when Sacheen refused to marry him, and then
Sacheen's brother killed Uday.
The
ghost's powers grow stronger every minute on our journey back to El
Vaquero...and so does my love for Deacon.
~Madrid Arrende
~*~
Excerpt
A shadow hovered near the fires,
ducking in between stalks of cacti and other scrub brush. Maddie drew a deep
breath and ambled forward with Elan beside her. Amid the dissonant chants and
prayers, warriors brandishing spears and shields hollered into the gray mist.
Maddie squinted, hoping to catch sight of the ghoul the others couldn't see.
Only powerful shamans and spirit chasers had trained themselves to look upon
the face of a dead spirit. A ripple of fear spread through her limbs and
shivered down her spine when la fantasma appeared before her.
A mass of
black patterns and swirls marred his enraged face. His eyes were hollow and
black until a den of serpents slithered from the sockets–a deception the spirit
had learned in his brief time in the underworld.
Maddie
swallowed hard and sneaked a glance at Elan. Standing tall and looking
formidable, she had to admire the man's courage. "It is you he seeks to
destroy, Elan, to forge a path to Sacheen. I will go forth on my own now."
Elan
shook his head, his expression one of disbelief. "Why would you put
yourself in such
"No.
It is what he wants, for all in the village to fear him. Only then does his
true power unfold. I will meet his challenge; let him know I am here to banish
him back to the dead." "Although I cannot", she whispered under
her breath.
The ghost
twisted and turned, retreating back from the fire, only to appear seconds later
at another location in camp. He screamed and howled, the otherworldly sounds
rumbling through the village like a murderous dust storm.
Maddie shrugged aside Elan's grip on her elbow
and walked forward. "Madre, be with me," she said to the ground. The
moon had not shown its face this night but a smattering of a million stars gave
enough light for Maddie to focus on the grim outline of the wretch. "Lift
up your eyes dead spirit and hear my words."
An
inhuman screech sent a blast of wind in her direction. It lashed her face and
whipped her long hair into a frenzy.
"You are small and weak. I do
not fear you!" she screamed, bewildered by the words spewing from her
mouth. "The wolf has sung your passing and the bear has grumbled low. Sing
your death song and return to the underworld."
The
wailing chants of the shamans echoed behind her.
Ignoring her warning, Elan suddenly
appeared beside her, only to be struck to the ground when the ghoul unleashed a
stream of lightning spikes from the sky. Elan moaned, clutched his broken arm
and attempted to rise.
"Stay down!" Maddie ground
out between clenched teeth.
Her mother's voice rode the crest of
her fear. Be strong, Madrid, try again.
Her knees shook and her spine
curled, but she took another step forward. "Your breath has moved to
another world. You must remain with it. Do you hear me, dead spirit? You are no
longer welcome here. Your relatives have said farewell and so must you, never
to return."
A refrain from the Apache against
her back bolstered her courage—a roar of cheers and the synchronized trampling
of moccasins beating the ground.
Torrents of rain fell from the sky, pounding
Maddie into the earth beneath her feet. Wet dirt spiraled up her nose and
debilitating pain wracked her body. A hand clamped over her arm. When Maddie
realized it belonged to Elan, a sigh of relief mingled with the cold blast of
air surrounding them. Sacheen's brother pulled her against his wet body and crawled
toward camp, dragging her with him.
A triumphant scream from the ghost
rent the air, pitching the warriors into a cowering retreat. The cold, gray
dawn swept over camp. Shivering with despair, Maddie turned to Elan. "His
power is great."
Out of breath and still clutching
his arm, he nodded.
Maddie raised a fist to the
sky. "We have failed this night, dead spirit, but we will not the next
time we meet."
~*~
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Thanks for visiting, Keta!
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