Dark Winter Tale Part 12 with Linda Robertson

Please visit the Master List if you missed the previous parts of the story!

 

For today’s part of the Dark Winter Tale story, please welcome author Linda Robertson! Did you know she used to be in a cover band playing AC/DC, Metallica, Guns N Roses and the likes? I’m a bit young for their glory years but I have to admit I love them all, so I was really surprised to discover her love of rock music! Without further intro, let’s see what the author of the Persephone Alcmedi series cooked for us!

 

Following what appeared to be a sharp turn in the tunnel, they came to an abrupt dead-end. “Any more great ideas?” Olivia asked, panting.

“Trust me,” Wyatt said, more like the young man she was accustomed too.

He reached up to the earthen ceiling and his fingertips stroked the pale web of roots saying, “Aperio.” It was the kind of gentle, adoring caress a girl sometimes wants. Can I really be jealous of dirt and roots?

Nothing happened.

Wyatt repeated the word, and his voice was laced with urgency.

The tunnel rumbled with the echo of the pursuing horde of trolls.

Olivia raised a brow. “Should I continue to trust you, Wy?”

Wyatt growled. “Aperio!”

Still nothing.

“Aodh’s locked it.” His voice conveyed misery.

“Locked the ground?”

“He must have changed the word to open it.”

“He can do that in the few seconds it takes for us to flee?”

“No.” Wyatt’s expression was utterly ashamed. “I’ve been here a while, hiding. Waiting. He must have known, changed them after I arrived. He set me up.”

Olivia made the connection. “Those were your prints that just stopped abruptly in the snow.”

“Yeah. Short cut.”

The sound of the trolls was getting louder. Olivia swallowed down the lump in her throat and stared at her hands. It seemed her previous attack-bolt was a direct response to the threat. Do I have it in me to kill again? Already she felt guilty over the ugly little thing’s demise. It was self-defense, she consoled herself, but she could still see the burnt carcass in her mind’s eye. She faced Wyatt. “Suggestions?”

He looked miserable, desperate. “Get behind me.”

She didn’t move.

He gripped her arms. “Olivia! You must be protected. I’ll give my life to save yours if I have too.” He pulled her into an embrace; she was too stunned to object. “I never should have gotten you into this. I am so sorry.”

With his arms around her he maneuvered her behind him then stepped into the tunnel where he would be able to see the trolls when they arrived. He took a ready stance.

Olivia was about to object when suddenly, the earth over her head shuddered. The ground slowly dilated open like the aperture of a camera. Dirt fell around her, then a crown of snow plopped onto Olivia’s head.

“Well, isn’t that just like a poetic sign from the gods,” a familiar voice drawled.

Olivia brushed away the snow and peered at the hand extended toward her. Her roommate Alice was lying on her belly in the snow, reaching down. “C’mon already. We’ve got little time!”

Olivia could see the strap of her book-bag around Alice’s shoulder. She reached up.

Alice began pulling her up and it became immediately evident that she had more strength—and leverage—than a human girl on her belly should have.

“This would be so much easier if you’d just listened to me,” Alice grumbled.

-----------------------------------------

More about Linda’s book….

A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do....

Being a witch doesn't pay the bills, but Persephone Alcmedi gets by between reading Tarot cards, writing her syndicated newspaper column, and kenneling werewolves in the basement when the moon is full — even if witches aren't supposed to mingle with wolves. She really reaches the end of her leash, though, when her grandmother gets kicked out of the nursing home and Seph finds herself in the doghouse about some things she's written. Then her werewolf friend Lorrie is murdered...and the high priestess of an important coven offers Seph big money to destroy the killer, a powerful vampire named Goliath Kline. Seph is a tough girl, but this time she bites off more than she can chew. She needs a little help from her friends — werewolf friends. One of those friends, Johnny, the motorcycle-riding lead singer for the techno-metal-Goth band Lycanthropia, has a crush on her. And while Seph has always been on edge around this 6'2" leather-clad hunk, she's starting to realize that although their attraction may be dangerous, nothing could be as lethal as the showdown that awaits them.

And you think beauty pageants are scary?

Persephone Alcmedi has been persuaded to compete for the position of High Priestess of the Cleveland, Ohio, coven — now that the former priestess, Vivian Diamond, has strangely gone missing. Unfortunately, there are a few small problems with the idea. Not only does Seph know rather more about Vivian's disappearance than the other witches realize, but the epic struggle she's just survived has left her with some highly unusual powers — ones that could be dangerous to reveal. Despite her reluctance, she agrees to participate, if only to prevent snooty Hunter Hopewell, an obnoxious but talented witch, from ending up in the winner's circle. Can Seph hide her secrets — including her connection to the master vampire-wizard Menessos — from the terrifyingly wise judges? Plus, there's her rock 'n' roll werewolf boyfriend, Johnny, and some angry fairies to deal with....

Once the competition begins, a finalist turns up dead. It looks as if one of the contestants is willing to do anything — including murder — to win. Suddenly Seph has even more on her plate than she thought: from solving a murder to working out what her new powers really are...and exactly why they're creating so much havoc in her love life.

Destiny sucks. . . .

There was a time when Persephone Alcmedi thought her life was hard to manage, what with wondering how to make sure she took adequate care of both her grandmother and her foster daughter, Beverley, whether she’d end up in the unwanted position of high priestess of a coven, and whether her wærewolf lover, Johnny, would resist the groupies who hang around his band Lycanthropia.

But that was before the fairies started demanding that Seph’s frightening, unpredictable ally—the ancient vampire Menessos— be destroyed . . . or the world will suffer. Seph and Menessos are magically bonded, but that’s a secret she dares not reveal to her fellow witches lest they be forced to reject her and forbid her use of magic. And, despite the strain this casts on her relationship with Johnny, as a showdown with the fairies nears, she and Menessos badly need the wærewolves as allies.

Life, death, and love are all on the line, but when destiny is calling, it doesn’t help to turn away. With the individual threads of their fates twisted inextricably together, can Seph, Johnny, and Menessos keep the world safe from fairy vengeance?

Even magic can’t solve everything. . . .

After facing down the forces of Fairy in mortal combat, Persephone Alcmedi still must deal with the aftermath. Not only does Seph now possess deadly secrets she must hide from the arcane and mundane world alike, but the dozens of magical creatures who’ve taken up residence behind her cornfield need food and shelter, and there’s still her foster daughter Beverly’s tenth birthday party to plan.

And that’s not all. . . . Seph’s boyfriend Johnny has revealed himself as the wærewolf Domn Lup, and the ruler of the wære world is en route from Romania to make sure Johnny really is the “king” he claims to be. But Johnny’s hiding a dangerous secret: his magic is locked in his mysterious tattoos. He and Seph must find a way for him to reclaim it—fast—despite those who have no intention of letting Johnny gain his full powers. Seph knows that, in the arcane world, strength is always a necessity and power must be constantly proven, but how far is she willing to go to succeed . . . and at what cost?

Sounds amazing right?

Well let me tell something else that’s amazing, Linda offered a whole set of the series, including Arcane Circle, signed, to one lucky reader!

Open to US & Canada

Ends Dec 27, 2010.

All you have to do is FILL THE FORM

And feel free to thank Linda in a comment *winks*

Posted by Tynga at 00:41

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Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

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