Please help me welcome Author
Ill
Fated
The
Maurin Kincaide Series
Book
5
Rachel
Rawlings
Genre: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Date of Publication: 2/11/15
ISBN: 978-1508456711
ASIN: B00TI20TZC
Number of pages: 271
Cover Artist: Eri Nelson
Book Description:
Some things are destined to end in
death. After the first attempt on her life Maurin wasn't scared. Hell, she was
almost flattered. But someone put a price on her head and things are getting
complicated.
Trouble is brewing in the fae
courts and it's spilling over into Salem. The UnSeelie Dark Guard have answered
the call for her head on a platter and people closest to her are disappearing.
Can Maurin master court politics
and find her missing men before someone claims the bounty on her head?
Excerpt:
"You're
awake?" He sounded more than a little surprised.
"I'm not
really sure the state I'm in qualifies as awake."
"Here I was,
terrified to poke the dragon, and you're already drinking coffee and talking in
complete sentences."
I snorted and took
a sip of the aforementioned liquid gold. "Are you always like this in the
morning?"
"If you'd let
me sleep over you'd already know the answer to that question. Why aren't you
asleep?"
In general or just
tonight, I silently wondered. "Bad dream. I've been tossing and turning
all night. I finally gave in and got out of bed."
Papers rustled in
the background and when he spoke again, his voice was lower, intimate."You
want to talk about it?"
"Something
tells me my nightmares are the least of our problems."
"You have no
idea. I need you to come down to my office."
I sighed.
"Can it at least wait until after sunrise?"
"Would I be
breaking the no phone calls before noon policy if it could wait?"
“There really is
no rest for the wicked, is there?”
He laughed and the
sound warmed me more than a hundred cups of coffee. "Apparently not, in
your case. Now, there's a dirty chai latte and a croissant for you if you're
here before Amalie. I can't promise real coffee and pastries will survive
beyond five minutes of her arrival."
"It's
four-thirty in the morning, Mas. If you know what's good for you, you'll make
sure at least one dirty chai and
croissant remain unmolested."
"I'll see you
soon." He was laughing as he hung up the phone.
Three hours ago
I’d practically crawled through the doorway, exhausted from cleaning up after a
newbie vamp who’d broken the Jus Sanguinis Intergentes when she killed her
donor. The blood pact between people and vampires had a clear no killing, no
exceptions clause.
It was up to the
maker to ensure their child was ready to feed unsupervised. If something went
wrong and the Council found out about it, we cleaned up the mess and the sire
was subject to heavy fines and possible revocation of their rights to expand
their blood lines. She’d been quite literally a bitch to track and take down.
It had been a long
night and it was shaping up to be an even longer day.
I wasted little
time getting dressed, opting for a slip on black jersey dress, eighteen hole
Docs and a leather jacket. Jewelry was a hindrance in my line of work. My
meeting with Mason could easily turn into a run. Choked with my own chain? No,
thank you. Unclasping the necklace, I set it in a glass dish on my bathroom
counter. I ran a brush through my hair, a toothbrush over my teeth and slipped
into the between. I stepped out of the alley two buildings down from the
station and walked the last block and a half.
Amalie was swarmed
by detectives trying to get at the goodies she brought over from the Daily
Grind. She greeted me with a warm smile, shaking her head when I offered to
pull her out of the fray. She had managed to endear herself to the entire
department in record time. All it took was real coffee and fresh pastries. I
pointed to Mason's office. She'd make her way over once the starving masses had
their fill.
Mason was so
engrossed in the file on his desk he didn't hear me come in. He looked as tired
as I felt - too many double shifts. Despite an uptick in activity, SPTF was
short staffed due to budget cuts. Without enough man power to staff the shifts
properly overtime was mandatory.
"Is that for
me?" I pointed at the to-go cup and white paper bag on his desk.
He finally looked
up and gave me a smile which lit up his whole face. "As promised."
I stole a quick
kiss, grabbed the coffee and croissant, and settled in the chair across from
him. I took a long sip of my latte, savoring the delicious mix of tea and
espresso. "Man, I needed this. Is that the case you're working on?"
"Yeah, we've
got a real problem on our hands."
"Don't we
always." I tried to peak at the file.
Mason closed the
manila folder. "I'd rather wait until everyone is here."
"Who else is
coming besides Amalie?" My curiosity was definitely peaked now. I reached
across his desk, hoping to grab the file.
"You look
exhausted. Tell me about your dream while we wait."
I narrowed my eyes
and glared at him. "I see this for the obvious distraction it is but
you're right.” Sighing, I rubbed my temple.“However, I'm exhausted, too
exhausted to argue. So I'll tell you. Prepare to be confounded."
He listened
intently as I filled him in on the nightly visits from the weathered old woman
who washed my clothes and hauntingly called my name. I expected him to laugh
and tell me it was just a dream, that I had nothing to worry about.
I didn't expect
him to look so stricken.
"Bean
Nighe." He all but whispered the name.
"You've heard
of her?"
"Of course
I've heard of her. How long has she been coming to you?"
I stared at him
curiously. "A few weeks. Why?"
"A few weeks
and this is the first I'm hearing of it?” He closed his eyes and took a deep
breath, obviously struggling to control his temper.“We talked about this. No
holding things back, remember?"
"I thought it
was just a dream.” I shrugged.“Honestly, I didn't think it was a big
deal."
"It was a big
enough deal for you to research it." Agitation rolled off him in waves.
When I agreed to
give this thing with Mason a chance I also agreed to some conditions. No more
flying solo, no more rash decisions or rushing off to play the hero. We were a
team, in everything. This was just one of many set-backs.
"I got
curious, did a little digging. Until tonight, everything I found pointed to
deep seated family issues, particularly with a mother figure. I've told you
about my childhood, does that dream analysis surprise you?"
His growl told me
he wasn’t in the mood for reasonable—at least to me—explanations. "When
did you discover the true meaning of the dream? How long have you known about
the Bean Nighe?"
"Tonight.
This morning. Before you called me." I held up a hand to stop the tongue
lashing I knew he wanted to give me. "I would have told you. I got the
impression on the phone there were more pressing matters than my
insomnia."
"Is this why
you won't let me stay at your place?” His gaze roamed over my face,
searching.“Why you never stay at mine?"
"Is that the
real reason why you're so upset?" I arched my brows. “Because we’re not
having sleepovers?”
"I stayed at
your lovely apartment the first night we met."
I turned to watch
Aidan glide into the room, stopping behind my chair. Rolling my eyes, I snorted
and muttered, “In the closet.”
Mason's jaw
twitched but he didn't take the bait. "Aidan."
"It's almost
sunrise. Shouldn't you be hunkered down for the day?" I sighed, wondering
what he was doing here. I was too tired to deal with Aidan and Mason and their
combined testoserone.
Putting the three
of us in a room together was like throwing lit matches at sticks of dynamite -
eventually one of them will explode.
About
the Author:
Rachel Rawlings was born and raised
in the Baltimore Metropolitan area. Her family, originally from Rhode Island,
spent summers in New England sparking her fascination with Salem, MA. She has
been writing fictional stories and poems since middle school, but it wasn't
until 2009 that she found the inspiration to create her heroine Maurin Kincaide
and complete her first full length novel, The Morrigna.
When she isn't writing, Rachel can
often be found with her nose buried in a good book. An avid reader of
Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, Horror and Steampunk herself, Rachel founded
Hallowread- an interactive convention for both authors and fans of those
genres.
More information on Hallowread, its
schedule of events and participating authors can be found at www.hallowread.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com/Hallowread .
She still lives in Maryland with
her husband and three children.
