Tuesday 7 June 2016

Tuesday Teaser - Lady of the Star Wind by Veronica Scott #scifi #romance #excerpt

A never before shared excerpt:The hero, Mark, is attempting to assist two of his comrades on an expedition through the tunnels under the The Lost City. They come to a deep pool and are attacked:
“What the hell happened?” Mark said.
“There’s some creature in the depths,” Rothan answered in a low voice. “Extinguish the torches, quick. The hell spawn is drawn to light.”
Too late.
            A large aquatic creature came from the bottom of the pool in a sudden surge of cold water. Mark and Djed went reeling as a wave broke around them. The beast flailed with heavy black tentacles, knocking the already off-balance archer into the water. Cursing, Mark blasted the two sinewy, suckered arms coming at him. A third tentacle wrapped around his ankle, tugged him off the ledge and into the water. He lost the lamp, which flew from his grasp as his elbow struck the step with bone-bruising force, but he kept a death grip on the blaster as he was submerged. The creature dragged him deep before releasing its grip momentarily, only to clutch Mark again, suckers sliding off the impenetrable fabric of his offworld fatigue pants. While the beast was stymied by his clothing, Mark managed to fight to the surface for one huge, desperate breath. As the animal hauled him under for the second time, he fired a tight pattern of blasts into the water where he hoped the main body was located. The tentacles tightened unbearably for a second before the creature convulsed. Tentacles drifted aimlessly now, the beast sinking into the murk. Mark kicked completely loose of one lingering ropy fragment curled around his ankle and shot to the surface, floating there for a second, gasping for air.
            He stowed his weapon, took a deep breath, and dove, trying to locate Djed, who hadn’t surfaced. Cloth brushed past his fingertips, and he surfaced with a mighty effort, dragging the dead weight of the archer with him. Mark managed to get himself and Djed onto the lowest stair. Rolling the unconscious man onto his back, Mark worked to resuscitate him. The hand torch had come to rest against the stair and provided light for the effort.
            Sputtering, Djed convulsed, retching copious quantities of water. After the spasms stopped, he wiped his mouth and clutched at his legs, nearly toppling into the water. “I can’t feel my left leg!”
            Mark played the torch over Djed’s extremities, finding an even pattern of oozing gashes running the entire length of his leg from ankle to hip. “Creature must have claws mixed in with the suckers.”
            “The numbness goes away,” Rothan said. “I was ensnared in the same fashion as I swam across the pool. I stabbed it in the eye with my dagger, and it released me. I got to this ledge but couldn’t go forward or retreat to find an alternate route. The creature lurked in the water. It couldn’t find me with the torch extinguished.”
            “Is there only one?”
***
Lady of the Star Wind blurb:
Are they merely luckless lovers … or a legend come back to life?
Mark Denaltieri, ex-Sector Special Forces, has been hired by the Outlier Empress to rescue her granddaughter, Princess Alessandra, from kidnappers. Since the Empress once had him tortured and banished, she’s the last person Mark wants to work for. But he takes the job. He’ll save Alessandra, his first love, and discover why she didn’t speak for him when he desperately needed her. Then he’ll be on his way, finally free of his past.
Alessandra would rather her rescuer was anyone but Mark–after all, he let her believe he was dead all this time. But when the couple are forced to flee her captors by Traveling via a strange crystal globe, they find themselves in a lovely Oasis on a desert planet, the old attraction sizzling between them again.
They soon discover they are far from alone. The Oasis holds the entrance to another world, one in which the inhabitants are convinced Sandy and Mark are the Lady of the Star Wind and her Warrior, come to free them from an evil Queen.
Mark and Sandy must work together to unearth an ancient mirror, and crown the true king of this land.  Can they fulfill the prophecy of the Lady and her Warrior … and this time, will their love survive the test?

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Author Bio:
Best Selling Science Fiction & Paranormal Romance author and “SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today Happily Ever After blog, Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.
Three time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job, not her romances! She recently was honored to read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “City On the Edge of Forever.”




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