DAY 5 : CHAOS BOUND by REBEKAH TURNER - EXCERPTS & GIVEAWAYS - HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO ESCAPE PUBLISHING DIGITAL IMPRINT OF HARLEQUIN AUSTRALIA

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY 

ESCAPE PUBLISHING

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I am going to be showing you an excerpt every day for the next five days and giving you the chance to not only win a digital copy of that book but also to go into the running to win a digital bundle of all of them from Escape Publishing. 

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Today I am showing you an excerpt from :

CHAOS BOUND by REBEKAH TURNER

The long-awaited sequel to Chaos Born takes us back into the Applecross, where Lora faces increasing threats to her survival and her chance at love.

Lora Blackgoat — mercenary and smuggler — has only just recovered from the last threat on her life and hasn’t even begun to sort out the mess of having both a nephilim warrior and a reborn hellspawn as potential lovers. Work should be a refuge, but a job finding missing persons puts her in the crosshairs of a violent gang and a merchant with a taste for blood sport.

Reluctantly, Lora turns to the two men in her life for help. Roman — the nephilim — professes to be her soul mate and turns to her when he feels the darkness of nephilim madness descending. But though Lora is drawn to Roman, it is Seth, ex-lover and reborn hellspawn, who Lora must ultimately ask to protect those she loves. Can she trust Seth to save Roman and her adoptive family, or will this be a fatal mistake?

Chapter 2

The trees sat just beyond the cemetery's low stone wall. There was no gate nearby, so I had to resort to an undignified scramble over the top. Muttering curses, I straightened up on the other side, dusted my knees, and stepped into the shadows of the pines to see who had been trying to get my attention.

‘Hello, Dimples.’ Seth leant against a tree trunk, smoking a thin cigarillo. He wore a starchy City Watch uniform under a battered leather greatcoat, a wheellock pistol strapped against one thigh. He smiled at me, teeth white against his dark goatee. A straight razor sat in one hand, the blade angled to the sun. A saddled horse stood a little way off, tethered to a low hanging branch.

‘Having fun watching the show?’ I asked dryly. Seth and I had a long past together: a patchwork of fights, long absences and moments of heated, sexual bliss. Then things had soured between us after I'd discovered he'd been keeping secrets about his past. Wasn't the kind of thing a girl could easily forgive, not when you understood the kind of past he'd been hiding.

‘I always enjoy watching you work, Dimples.’ Seth folded the razor back into its ivory handle, blade winking one last time. I ignored the thrill of excitement that sparked low in my belly. Seems my libido had the memory of a fruit fly and had forgotten we were angry with him. Stupid libido. Stupid men.

‘Are you all right?’ Seth's tawny eyes were calculating as he stared at me through tendrils of smoke. ‘I could hear the widow from here. You know she was just talking nonsense.’

‘I don't care what she thinks. I don't care what anyone thinks.’ My hands tightened around my cane. A wicked sword hid in its stem, but running Seth through seemed like a slight overreaction. He took a step towards me and I shifted back, fresh indignation spiking my veins in a hot rush. I needed to keep my distance; my body had its own ideas when it came to Seth Hallow, and most of it involved sweaty cravings of the bedroom variety.

Seth dropped his cigarillo and rolled a boot toe over the smoking stub. ‘Glad you don't care what people think. Especially with your latest nickname.’

I mashed my lips together. I was not going to ask. I was not going to ask. Since the beheading incident, people had been calling me Chopper behind my back. Gideon had lectured me on the virtues of having a ferocious nickname, a killer's handle to awe the clientele. But I loathed it, the name a constant reminder of a blood drenched moment I wanted to forget. And now, apparently, I had a new one.

‘Personally, I think everyone should call you Dimples,’ Seth said. ‘Since you have the cutest pair I ever did see.’

‘Stop calling me that. You know I hate it.’

‘It's an improvement on Chopper,’ Seth continued, ignoring me. ‘Though I must say, the new one isn't very flattering.’ He grinned, like he could smell my curiosity in the spring air.

‘I don't want to know.’

His smile dampened at my frosty tone. ‘Still mad at me?’

‘What do you want, Seth?’

‘You won't return my messages, so I had to resort to stalking. A mighty fall for a Captain of the City Watch, don’t you think?’

‘I asked what you wanted.’

His bright eyes darkened. ‘I heard you were hanging around that Regulator lately. He's nothing but bad news.’ Seth's words were measured, but his tone carried a warning tone that summoned a scowl to my face.

‘Bad news, hey? Kind of like you?’ I snapped.

Seth moved forward and I stumbled back, hitting a trunk behind me. Seth came close, cupping the back of my neck with a strong hand. ‘I'm looking out for you, Lora, something you've not being very appreciative of. You can understand how a man might feel aggrieved.’ His movements spoke of restrained violence, lurking underneath a thin surface of social necessity. I wasn't impressed though, and inched up my chin to glare into his gold‐flecked eyes.

‘Get lost, Seth. I've got nothing for you.’

His hand slid to my right hip, a possessive touch and my thighs clenched , remembering moments of tangled passion and deep kisses. I closed my eyes and tried to keep a level head as hot desire swept through me, tempering my anger. Seth's closeness was the headiest of aphrodisiacs, his familiar smell intoxicating. But I'd come a long way since we'd first met, when I'd been seduced by his sweet words and clever hands. If Seth tried to sneak into my bed these days, I was just as likely to pull my cane sword and threaten his Mr Winky.

I opened my eyes to see Seth staring down, eyes expectant, waiting for me to crumble and forgive him. After all, I'd forgiven him in the past for his indiscretions; had always welcomed him back into my bed after months of no contact. But Seth didn't seem to realise this time was different. Everything was different. I'd found out he was ex‐hellspawn, expelled from The Pit. I'd also discovered he'd known what I was. That underneath my snow‐white hair and eclectic fashion sense beat the heart of a nephilim: half angel, half
human.

The fun didn't stop there, either. I'd discovered I was the only female of my kind to ever exist. Not something I wanted anyone else to know. Nothing like being a freak to bring out the fanatics. A spell woven into a charm around my neck hid any nephilim characteristics; it had made my hair ivory instead of ebony, my eyes green instead of black. The first charm had broken and it had been Seth who had told me it had contained a powerful concealment spell. I had a theory that Seth had known I was nephilim since we'd met. I saw it as a betrayal, that he'd pretended to care about me. Pretended to be my friend. Pretended he loved me.

Yeah, right.

‘Get off me.’ I scratched around inside my head, trying to reignite the indignant rage I'd been coasting on the last few weeks. I'd made my peace with Gideon over tankards of beers, and then with Orella over pots of spicy tea. The two of them had conspired to keep my true identity from me and while I didn't agree with what they had done, I understood they just wanted to protect me. But Seth? I didn't understand his motivations, only that our relationship had been a set‐up from the start.

‘I didn't exactly plan for things to go this way, Lora.’ Seth sounded exasperated. ‘I wasn't sure you'd ever want to embrace your heritage.’

‘How did you know?’ I asked stiffly. ‘How did you know what I was?’

Seth took my hands in his, his touch warm and inviting, full of promise. ‘Sometimes, I see things in dreams. Premonitions, maybe. I saw you and a suggestion of what you were. Nothing specific, just that you were special. So I arranged for us to meet, and you intrigued me. In time, I learned just how special you were.’

I ignored his gentle words, letting unasked questions burn in the air. Seth saw them in my eyes and his hands tightened. ‘I didn't say anything about what you were because I wasn't sure,’ he said. ‘You had the white hair of a Witch Hunter, so I thought I could be wrong about your bloodline.’

‘When did you know what I was? When were you sure?’ I asked.

‘Why does that matter?’

I pulled away, raising a hand to touch the new concealment charm under my shirt. Probably a bad idea to even start on questions. ‘It matters.’

Seth dropped a hand and stepped back. ‘You think I'm lying to you. About everything.’

‘That about sums it up.’

He shot a hand through his hair and cursed under his breath. You're the only female nephilim that's existed, Lora. Are you really not interested in the slightest about what you could accomplish?’

I gave a short, bitter laugh. ‘Not as much as you are.’

‘You could achieve so many great things.’

‘With chaos magic? I talked about this hot‐stuff power with Orella. You can't control chaos magic. You know, hence the name “chaos”.’

‘You're stronger than you think,’ Seth argued. ‘All you need to do is learn how to harness it. You wouldn't have to do it alone. I could help you.’

‘Sing that tune for someone else.’ My knuckles went white around my cane. ‘I'm not buying.’

‘What about The Key of Aldebaran?’ Seth's voice was suspiciously light.

My eyes narrowed to slits. That rotten little book of spells was what had started this whole mess. Written by a mad warlock, its pages contained spells for powerful chaos magic, with a rambling prophecy that claimed the blood of a female angel would be the key to its spells. Catch was, female angels didn't exist. The prophecy also apparently talked about a woman called the Dreadwitch, who would fight a creature called the Howling King. What this all meant for me? Well, technically, I had angel blood in me, so technically, my blood fuelled the spells. What else this meant for me? That zero fucks were given. My destiny included buying expensive shoes on sale, a full beer tankard, and a good game of dice.

‘What about the Aldebaran?’ I asked.

Seth shrugged. ‘What happens when another madman gets a copy of it and realises your blood can unleash all sorts magics?’ He shook his head. ‘You know, I'd have thought you'd want to take charge of your destiny. Use this situation to your own advantage. Carve  something out for yourself.’ He made a sharp, exasperated gesture. ‘Instead, you're still working as a Runner for Blackgoat, as if nothing happened. A lowly mercenary for hire. Just waiting to get mixed up in the next disaster.’

I flushed, feeling like a petulant child, unable or unwilling to control their own destiny. Didn't quite match the strong, independent image I worked hard to project. I rubbed my eyes, exhausted. There's only so much hard truth a girl likes to hear in one day. ‘We're done here.’ I turned and began to walk away.

‘Wait.’ Seth touched my shoulder, stopping me. ‘I've found out something I thought you might be interested in.’

Against my better judgement, I paused. ‘What?’

‘I know the location of a copy.’

‘Of the Aldebaran? Where?’ I instantly regretted giving away more than I'd wanted to reveal. After all, I thought my enquiries had been discrete enough. My plan was simple. Find all copies of that stupid book and burn them. No more grimoires containing chaos magic  spells meant peaceful nights for me.

Seth held a finger up. ‘I want to help you, but I want something in return.’ 

Here it was. The catch. Of course he'd want payment; Seth's services usually had a price, sooner or later.

‘I want a favour I can call on,’ he said.

Suspicion blanketed my mind. ‘What kind of favour are we talking about? Wouldn't you just prefer money?’

‘You couldn't afford me.’ Seth gave a low, sexy laugh. One that I wasn't falling for anymore. ‘Relax. I won't ask for the world.’

I rolled a shoulder, like I wasn't bothered. ‘As long as it doesn't involve me getting naked, I'm sure we can work out a deal. I agree to your terms.’

Seth gave me a smug smile, eyes lingering on my mouth. ‘I'll set the meeting up and let you know the details. It will involve some travel.’

‘Where is it?’

‘The Outlands, if you can believe it,’ he said.

‘Fine by me.’

Seth walked back to his horse and untied the reins. ‘You want a lift?’

I ignored the question and limped towards the city to the soundtrack of Seth’s laughter. He knew I hated horses; a horse riding accident as a child had left me half‐lame. Since then, I preferred my transport with wheels, a driver and some privacy. My thoughts tumbled over each other. Whatever Seth's intentions were towards me, one thing was certain: the bastard couldn't be trusted.

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ENDS 5th DECEMBER 2013

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