#SFRB Showcase - Deadly Dancing! #scifi #romance #adventure

Hello, and welcome to another SFRB Showcase. I'm sharing an excerpt from Tethered, a SFR adventure with a succubi-like assassin, Tyree, sent to impersonate her murdered sister clone in order to help complete a diplomatic mission essential to the survival of humanity, and her own people - the Inc-Su. Here she's just arrived at the space station where she'll be kept secure until the agreed date for the signing of a new treaty, and she's been assigned her sister's former accommodation...and belongings. She's trying to find something to lighten the mood...

"Music," she demanded, wanting to break the depressing silence falling over her.

"Specify," returned a soft, androgynous voice.

"Rhythmic trance."

Bubbles of light fell from the ceiling and formed a cylinder of gently swirling color and sound in the center of her room. The track wasn't familiar, but the pulsing beats and synthesized notes flowed over her, and she felt the shadow lifting. If this was Mirsee's choice, then it seemed they had something in common after all.

The room, five times bigger than her one in Refuge, perhaps fifteen meters by ten, had cream-colored walls. A holographic print of a landscape, full of wind-stirred trees and flowers in garish hues, decorated the entire main wall. Was that Mirsee's garden? Or simply a representation of the kind of thing she liked? It made Tyree shiver to imagine the breeze stroking the plants into motion, making them brush over her skin.

"Can the image be changed?"

"Specify."

"I'd like a sky full of clouds."

The image shifted to one that mirrored the view she'd expect in Refuge, although it was missing the sky towers. For an instant she considered asking for them, and for flocks of lowri, and then dismissed it. Banishing the garden was enough for now.

She shed the copper dress Visaya had persuaded her into, but guilt poked at her as she stepped out of it. With a little more care than she would have shown her clothing back in Refuge, she gathered up the garment and draped it over the back of a plush, plum-colored sofa that curved around one corner of the room. The white silken shift she wore underneath clung around her torso and hips, but left her limbs free. Swaying to the music, she pulled the pins and clasps that bound her hair, releasing it one braid at a time. With each loosened and the soothing rhythms, her tension eased. She could do this. It wouldn't be so hard.

The last braid fell and she massaged her scalp, breathing out a thankful sigh. The music wrapped around her like cammer, a mild tranquilizing drug favored by some rhythmic trancers. She'd taken it a time or three while waiting on a target, though their use was forbidden in Refuge.

Warmth flowed through her body, and all her concerns seemed to wash away. This would be easy. She twirled beneath the bubbles of light, submerging into the pulsing beat of the song. It filled her thoughts, blanked all her worries. The music possessed her, moved her body without her conscious control. Her arms lifted of their own volition. Colored light glided over her vision, and the room seemed to vanish. She giggled as she floated.

But I haven't Misted out, she thought, with a faint twinge of alarm at the strange euphoria that filled her. She couldn't feel her body, only a heated glow and the racing pulse of her heart in time with the music.

She tried to draw breath, panic coming in a cold sweat and a convulsive jerk of her body. The floor smacked into her side and pain crashed into her skull. She lay on the carpet, her limbs twitching spasmodically and her throat closed tight. The rhythm of the music spiked into her mind, agony piercing her body.

If you enjoyed that, you can find out more by clicking on any of the links underneath the book cover below. In the meantime, please click on the banner at the top of the post to find links to the other participants in this month's showcase. Enjoy!

EXCERPT |  GOODREADS
Available at... Breathless Press |
Smashwords | ARe | Bookstrand
Amazon | B&N

Blurb:

She can kill with a kiss. But can assassin Tyree also heal one man's grief, and bring peace to a galaxy threatened by war?

For Tyree of the Su, being an assassin isn't simply something she was trained for. It's the sole reason for her existence. A genetically enhanced clone—one of many in Refuge—she's about to learn her secluded lifestyle, and that of all her kind, is under threat by a race capable of neutralizing their special talents to leave them defenseless. 

For Zander D'joren, being a diplomat has not only cost him his appearance, but also the love of his life. Scarred, grieving, he must nonetheless continue in his role as co-delegate to the fearsome Tier-vane or risk a conflict that could only end one way.

Now both of them need to keep each other alive and maintain a perilous deception long enough to renegotiate the treaty with the Tier-vane, or throw their people into a war that could wipe out Terrans and Inc-Su alike. But there's more at stake than humanity, whether true or modified. Can the love growing between them save them both? Or merely hasten their destruction?

Now, while I have you here, I have a favour to ask (yup, you thought you'd get away!). Four of my book covers are up at the Houston Bay RWA Judge a Book by its Cover contest, and I'd really appreciate your votes if you have the time and inclination. I'd like to get both my cover artists recognized for their stunning work. Please click on the image below to go to the main page. I have one cover in Young Adult and three in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Paranormal category. The votes are done by scoring so you *can* vote for all four. Thanks in advance!