Today, I have AR DeClerck over.
She's sharing book two of
her fabulous Steampunk Adventure.
I'm so excited!
Enchanter's Embrace
by
AR DeClerck
Icarus Kane and Cora Mae Jenkins have left London on their
honeymoon, and Archimedes Merriweather and Lady Lucia Conti finally have a
moment to consider a true courtship. Unfortunately, their hard-won peace
doesn’t last when a message arrives in London detailing possible black magic in
the agricultural area called Kensington. The Queen herself dispatches Archie
and Luci and a few of their friends to the Summer Ridge estate to get to the
bottom of the problem and take care of the black mage if he exists.
There are
secrets in the corridors and passages of Summer Ridge, and someone doesn’t want
Archie and Luci poking around. The intrepid duo will have to face demons,
poison and surprises as their old regrets and unforgotten secrets begin to come
back to haunt them. Archie will do anything to save his Lady, and she will do
anything to keep him safe.
“This
way!” Archimedes ran across the field toward the isolated cabin nestled against
the copse of birch trees. Smoke puffed from the chimney and a light was visible
in the window.
“Archie,
slow down.” Corrigan pulled him to a halt with a hand on his arm. “We have to
be sure this isn’t a trap.”
Archie
shook him off, but he stayed put. The captain was right, as much as it galled
him to admit it. The path through the fields had been easy to read once they had
asked the aether to illuminate it. They squatted at the edge of the woods and
looked at the cabin.
“A
horse-drawn buggy left here not long ago,” Grayson said quietly. He pointed to
the tracks that passed near their hiding spot. He held his pistol at his side,
but his eyes were narrow and focused.
“We
need to know if they’re in there.” Archie’s wand was at the ready, his heart
pounding hard in his chest. “They could be hurt.”
“Or
already gone,” Corrigan reminded him. “We go in slow and with purpose. We keep
our wits about us and don’t get distracted by the way things seem. Agreed?”
All
the men knew the way dark mages could manipulate and confuse. They crept toward
the cabin as quietly as possible, until a shrill scream rang out over the
silent countryside.
Archimedes
wasn’t a fool, but something inside him snapped at the sound. It was so full of
terror that a knot formed in his throat and tears in his eyes. He clutched his
wand so tightly he wondered why it didn’t break, and he ignored Corrigan’s
shouts as he slammed into the door of the cabin, leaving it hanging only by its
bottom hinge. He stumbled into the room, but skidded to a halt as the scene
swam before his eyes.
“Lucia?”
She
turned at her name, blood smeared over her face and across the bodice of her
dress. She tilted her head and looked at him. The large carving knife she held
in her hand dripped bright red blood onto the floor. She didn’t drop it, but it
lowered a fraction. Elizabeth cowered on the floor at Lucia’s feet, her arms
over her head. Her arms were red with the gashes where the knife had cut into
her skin.
“What
are you doing?”
“Kill.”
The
word, spoken with the soft inflection one saves for a lover, sent goosebumps
over Archie’s skin. He held up his hand to hold the others back as they came
into the room behind him, their gasps of disbelief barely concealed.
“Put
down the knife,” Archie said softly, moving closer to Lucia.
“Archimedes…”
Corrigan warned quietly. “Be careful.”
“Kill.”
“No,
darling. We don’t want to kill.” He moved closer, until the tip of the knife
was against his shirt. “You are good.”
“I’m
not.”
He
did not wince as the knife pricked the skin at the edge of the plating where
his human parts met his clockwork ones. “You are. You are good and kind. You
are the woman I love.”
With
Lucia’s attention on Archimedes, Grayson crept forward and picked up Elizabeth,
running from the cabin with her in his arms. Corrigan backed up to the door, in
case Lucia tried to follow.
“You
lied to me.” The knife went a fraction deeper and a soft bloom of red blood
flowered on his shirt. “I know.” It was a hiss.
“I
don’t lie, Lucia. Especially to you.”
Her
eyes were pupilless, the effect of the dark magic leaving her gaze a swirling
mass of black. He touched her cheek with his human hand.
“You
knew what Edgar was doing to me. You saw it.”
“I
didn’t.”
“You
did!” She poked harder, and the blood dripped across the blade of the knife.
Corrigan
took a step forward, his electrified Bo staff out as he saw the blood. Archie
shook his head and held him back with a wave.
“You
saw him hurting me. You saw the things he was making me do. You didn’t save
me.”
He
cupped her face, forcing the soulless black eyes to meet his. He could feel the
knife a quarter of an inch into his skin, but she was shaking. The dark magic
would not control her for much longer. “I know I didn’t. I think about it every
single day. I agonize over it.”
“You
didn’t save me. I saved myself.”
“Yes,
you did. Now you’re the strongest woman I know. You didn’t let Edgar Baiandelio
control you. Don’t let dark magic control you now.”
“Elizabeth
must die. She is not innocent.”
“We
don’t kill. You heal people.”
He
felt her shaking, the knife clattering to the ground as she dropped it.
“There
is darkness inside me.”
He
pulled her close to his chest and she let him. He felt the blood from his chest
soaking through to her dress. “There is darkness in us all. It is how we
control it that makes us good.”
“I’m
not good.”
He
kissed the top of her head and handed Corrigan his wand. Carefully he bent,
scooping her up against his chest so that he held her tightly. She was limp,
but tears covered her cheeks.
AR DeClerck:
Author. Mother. Wife. Reading ninja. Food assassin.
All-around goofball. Self-proclaimed nerd.
Raised in the mountains of Western North Carolina, AR
currently lives by the Mighty Mississippi with her husband, 2 daughters, 2 dogs
and a wily cat. She writes adventure romance with a particular love for strong
heroines and redeemable heroes. AR believes LOVE is the greatest adventure, and
she enjoys writing stories that incorporate ideals of loyalty, honor, sacrifice
and personal growth.
Find AR
Here:
Sounds like an exciting read! I loved the cover!
ReplyDeleteShe has the coolest covers. And this series is really fabulous. I can't wait to read this one!.
ReplyDeleteThanks, ladies! Believe me, I never thought Icarus Kane could have a run for his money, but Archie is a heart throb too!!
ReplyDelete