It’s #BookQW and this might be Coral’s lucky ‘year’!
More from Chapter 2:
She let out her breath. Not that her parents had ever caught her in the years she’d been sneaking off and back onto the ship.
Creak.
The sound meant little, but the subtle shift of weight on the schooner did. Had Lemon followed them? Coral magicked a protective shield over her body and whirled, her braids whipping about her face.
A figure loomed beside the nearest mast.
Blue energy shot to her fingertips. It coalesced, and Coral threw the shockball. Her magic hit an answering flashshield with the same blue coloring. In the brief flare of light, she recognized the wizard.
“Salm!” she hissed at her brother and let the second shockball hum in her hand. Skipper’s toenails clicked in a dance over to greet him and then back to her. She should have known it wasn’t Lemon since her dog hadn’t barked. Great Orb, what was with her? Clenching her hand into a fist, she absorbed the energy and tiptoed to meet him.
“Got you.” Her older brother chuckled in his annoying way. “What has you on high alert?”
“You wouldn’t believe it,” she blurted and told him about the fistfight. “Have you ever seen wizards do that?”
“Never.” Salm shook his head. “I thought those two were joined at the hip. I suppose when it comes to courting you, Lemon wants first dibs.”
“Like that’s going to happen. I don’t need my magic hyped by Lemon’s again, with all that sparking and sizzling. But he keeps going on about how, if we’d just learn to merge our magic, it’d be the best bonding ever.”
Salm snorted. “It’s your business, but I never did know what you saw in Lemon.”
Neither did she, apart from a stellar first kiss, but she wasn’t sharing that with Salm. She turned away even though he wouldn’t be able to see her blushing in the dark. She’d thought splitting up with Lemon months ago would improve things in their group, but he—and now Spike—were acting all kinds of stupid.
“Does dueling have you so distracted that you’re willing to test Spike’s energy, too?” Salm asked.
Her head shot up. “Spells,” she snapped. “You think I’d court the town bully? Especially not after he clobbered me good.”
~~~
I’m thrilled to announce that Lost Whisperer of the Seas is a contest finalist! Read more about the 2019 National Readers’ Choice Award contest on my blog post.
Read the first three chapters of Lost Whisperer of the Seas. It is the 3rd in the series, but because it starts with different characters in an adjacent enclave, it can be read as a stand-alone. See its buy links. The novel is available in ebook, paperback and Large Print editions.
Remember, you can also get my books for free at your local library if you request them in person or on your library app.
Leave a Reply