Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, where writers of all stripes and spots share their work in eight to ten lines.  This week I’m continuing with excerpts from the first chapter of my new release, Betwixt and Between, an m/m contemporary fantasy.  Our hero Ian has encountered an elf with mischievous intentions busking for coins and souls in a dark stairwell at the Pike Street Market.  This is right after last week’s snippet.

***

Though poorer than a church mouse, Ian felt a strong urge to empty his pockets into the violin case. That would be a mistake. Giving a coin to a magical being created a bond that could link you forever to a malevolent spirit. At least he’d learned that much from his Aunt Cleona. At the thought of his aunt, he remembered the protective token she’d given him the last time he’d run afoul of a fairy living in Gas Works Park. He reached for the moonstone necklace he always wore now, and when he touched it, the grip of the music loosened. He hadn’t noticed the tightness in his chest until it was gone.

Further proof he’d been hexed came from the musician’s reaction. The remarkable gaze shot up again, and he focused on Ian’s face for longer than a second. It wasn’t exactly an evil look, but not friendly either –  calculating, that was the word.

***

Cover art by April Martinez 

Blurb:

Obsessed with magical creatures since childhood, tabloid reporter Ian Evers never experiences satisfying proof that the magical realm actually exists until he falls into an entrapment spell set by a handsome but dangerous elf.  Barely escaping with his soul intact, Ian is able to undo the hex, but he can’t escape the very real infatuation he’s developed for the fierce elf.

Ezekiel Stormshadow is a svarta, a dark elf who serves the queen of the dark realm. The realm of darkness needs the power of light to survive, and while hunting the last few magical beings on earth, Ezekiel discovers Ian, a light elf who’s unaware of his true nature and ripe for the plucking.  Their brief encounter awakens a great hunger in Ezekiel, and he’s determined to feast on the light elf’s power and body before the queen intervenes and claims Ian for herself.

Driven apart by the ancient imbalance between the dark and light realms, an evil queen starved for power, and their fear of each other, Ian and Ezekiel are relentlessly drawn together even though their union might destroy them both.

***

This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight to ten sentences from a published work or perhaps their current work in progress. Then we hop to our fellow warriors’ blogs and check out all the fabulous fiction that’s happening! I heartily invite you to participate as a reader, writer, or both. It’s a great way to discover your next favorite book. Click here or use the address: http://www.wewriwa.com