Three Days to Go
Three days to go until DRAGONS & DEMONS launches.
Hazel is back and she’s ready to kick some demon butt!
And this time she’s got help…
That’s right, my favourite dragon shifter Mei is teaming up with Hazel to fight off the demons and save the world!
Click the link to find out more: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08WRZ6V3L
Read on for an excerpt…
I put the bone heirloom in a locked box in my lab, and then turn to the next object.
Mr. Fookes’s toaster.
I rub along the edges of the tiny silver charm. I’m going to set him free. It was too close a call. I almost lost him to Lakas, and I can’t take that risk again.
Smoke rises up out of the tiny toaster slots, quickly filling the lab around me. There’s so much smoke, far too much to have been inside the tiny toaster. My brain starts to feel frazzled as it tries to work out how that could be possible.
It’s not science, it’s magic.
It’s not science, it’s magic.
That’s what I have to keep reminding myself. It’s not science, it’s magic.
Out of the smoke, the tall, elegant form of Mr. Fookes emerges. He’s wearing an expensive-looking suit that shows off his large shoulders and his muscled thighs. His hair is neatly cut, and he has a beard that’s so fashionable, he looks like he’s just stepped out of the pages of some high-end magazine. I check his wrists for the watch he must surely be advertising.
I’m finding it difficult to get used to this new drop-dead gorgeous look of his. I think I prefer his pot belly and stained shirts to this dark-haired, overly attractive man.
“I am at your command,” he says smoothly, with the tiniest of head nods in my direction.
Even his voice is different. It’s so silky, it raises the hairs on my arms and makes my heart beat a little faster. I definitely don’t know how to deal with this strange, beautiful version of the quirky building super I know.
“What is your wish, my master?”
“Don’t call me master,” I snap, feeling off-kilter.
“Is that your second wish?” he asks smoothly.
I start. “No, of course not. I… just… I don’t like it when you call me that.”
“It is what you are, is it not?”
“I’m your friend,” I say savagely.
“And yet you left me in here.” He gestures toward the toaster with one elegant hand.
Guilt spikes inside me. His words seal it. I can’t leave him in there any longer. “I’m getting you out now,” I say.
Mr. Fookes looks down at me, his eyes glowing with an otherworldly light. “That would be unwise,” he says reluctantly.
I shake my head. “You don’t understand. I almost lost you. To a man who is darkness incarnate.”
“I know. I see everything from my cage.” His expression is a mix of tortured pain, and resignation.
It’s the resignation that feels like a sword to my stomach. “Then you understand. I need to set you free.”
“We are much closer to the brink of destruction than you know,” says Mr. Fookes, his voice echoing ominously. “I cannot let you free me, no matter how much I might desire it. You need to keep me with you and use the second wish in a way that will help your cause. The third wish will still be there for you to free me from my prison.”
My mind picks up on his words. “Your cause? It used to be our cause.”
Mr. Fookes shrugs one shoulder. “I cannot help who I become when I am imprisoned.”
I watch his face carefully, trying to find hints of the old Mr. Fookes. This man in front of me seems very different.
But… he was shut away inside a prison of my making. That would make anyone a little angry and distant. I think back to my time inside the Mountain Prison. Is that what it’s like for him? “Is there light inside the toaster?” I ask hesitantly.
“I have no need of light,” he replies.
I can’t help the shudder that rocks me. Mr. Fookes loves lamps. Almost as much as he loves his clocks.
“How long has it been for you? Are you okay in there?” I need him to give me something that tells me he’s okay inside the toaster.
“Time means nothing inside the toaster. Do not worry about me. Just hold me close, do not let me fall into other hands. That is all I ask. When the time comes, use the second wish to further our cause.” He purposely puts emphasis on the word “our” but I can’t tell if he really means it. I don’t think he does. He sees himself on the outside, a creature of the other, not part of our current situation. It’s a miracle he’s even making me save the wish.
Mr. Fookes starts disappearing, becoming fog instead of a solid form.
“No, wait,” I say, reaching out with one hand. I have more questions to ask him. But it’s too late. He’s nothing more than smoke being sucked back inside his tiny prison. I’m left with nothing but a tiny charm to keep safe. It feels like a heavy burden, especially given how close I was to losing him.
If you want to find out more about the series, click this link to check it out on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089KHGDD4