The Orion Circle by Kimber Leigh Wheaton
Welcome to my stop on the Twisted Sisters blog tour!
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Excerpt
I sense movement, and in the next moment
Tracy throws herself at the barrier, a screaming, howling banshee. She fights
against the magic barring her. Static electricity sparks through the room,
zooming around, visible in the darkness. I push Kacie behind me as the manic
ghost continues her relentless assault on the barrier. A deafening boom reverberates through the room,
followed by a wave of energy. I push Kacie down, falling on top of her to
shield her from the ghost’s wrath. Pain lances up my back like thousands of cat
claws, making me cry out both in shock and pain. I glance back—Samson and
Delilah hiss their displeasure at Tracy, their claws digging into my back.
The claws retract when I yell at them,
and all the other pain surfaces. Ignoring the throbbing in my ribs, I roll to
my side to free Kacie, sending the cats leaping away. Tracy lets out one last
anguished wail before slumping and falling to the floor. My familiars circle
her prone body, mouths open, scenting the air. The heaviness in the air lessens,
but I continue to take in shallow breaths to keep from aggravating the pain. I
watch Tracy, searching for… well not signs of life, but existence? Her form
flickers like an old movie, and I wonder if she’ll just wink out of existence.
“Is she…” Blake trails off, pushing
himself up on his elbows. “That was quite a blast. You both okay?”
“Yeah,” Kacie says, rubbing her head.
“Where’s Mr. Kincaid?”
“Out here,” Mr. Kincaid says from the
hall. “I got out just before the explosion.”
“Logan…” Kacie pulls on my arm while
pointing at Tracy’s prone form. “I’ve never seen, I mean, she can’t…”
“Her spirit would’ve disappeared if she
was destroyed.” I try to struggle to my feet but give up, sagging back down.
Kacie leans against me, and I wrap my arms around her.
Blake eyes us. “You two are not okay.”
“When Tracy forced the barrier, she
released a lot of psychic energy,” I say, resting my cheek on Kacie’s head.
“It drained all of us, not just her,”
Kacie adds.
“I feel fine,” Blake says stretching his
arms over his head.
“Yeah, why is that?” I ask, unable to
hide the genuine surprise from my voice.
“Rebecca will be thrilled,” Kacie says.
Blake raises his brows. “Why, she like
stamina?”
Kacie giggles. “Get your mind out of the
gutter, Blake. She likes researching puzzles.”
“Oh, no. I ain’t no one’s guinea pig.”
Tracy’s spirit releases a soft sigh,
like a light exhale of breath… if ghosts could breathe. She floats to her feet
as though controlled by invisible strings. Still solid, her dark eyes scan the
room. A smile crosses her face when she realizes that she made it through the
psychic barrier. All I can do is stare at the ghost and wonder what that
mysterious smile means. Maybe she’s as drained as we are. Kacie squeezes my
hand, her aura flickering from exhaustion. I meet her gaze. Evade and stall for
time to recover—I try to send the message to her in my expression.
“Now that you’re in here, love,” Blake
says, gesturing at the room. “Care to share why you wanted in so bad?”
Tracy blushes at Blake’s obvious
flirting. I had no idea a spirit could blush, even one who appears as human as
she does. I mean, it takes blood to blush, right? More manipulation? She glides
to one of the beds and reaches out to it. Her hand goes straight through. When
she tries again, she lets out a frustrated growl as her hand once again passes
through the mattress.
“I can’t touch anything?” she says, her
words sounding more like a question than a statement.
One moment she’s by the bed and the next
she appears inches from Blake’s face. He doesn’t flinch, which I have to admit
is rather impressive. I’m pretty sure even I’d have reacted to her sudden
appearance.
“Are you really a werewolf?” she asks,
leaning so close they’d touch were she human.
“Yep.” Blake manages a blank face as the
ghost circles him.
“Shift for me.”
“It ain’t a full moon, love,” he says,
shrugging his shoulders. I’m well aware that Blake can shift whenever he wants.
He’s a born alpha werewolf, not a bite victim. Blake’s features take on a look
of complete innocence. Damn but he can rival Kacie and Daniel in the acting
department. “Why’re you deflecting attention from that bed? What’s under that
mattress?”
“Nothing,” she says, backing away,
shaking her head furiously.
“Now we both know that ain’t the truth.”
Blake saunters over to the bed and lifts the mattress.
“No!”
“Now what have we here?” Blake tosses a
small book to me.
I open the book and flip through the
pages. “It’s a journal.”
“It’s mine!” Tracy howls, making a grab
for the book. But her hand passes through. She may have enough power left to
look almost human, but not enough to manipulate physical objects.
Kacie takes the book, hugging it to her
chest. “This is very private, but it could also be what’s keeping you from
moving on.”
Tracy’s form flickers and sinks to the
floor. She returns to an ethereal, misty spirit, and I can’t help but notice
how much lighter she is now than before. Swirling white and light gray misty
energy compose her figure, a sure sign that she’s close to acceptance of her
fate.
“I’ll talk, but just to you,” she says,
pointing at Kacie.
“No,” I say, unwilling to leave Kacie
alone with this dangerous adversary.
“Of course,” Kacie says, directing a
glare at me.
Twisted Sisters
The Orion Circle, Book 2
Kimber Leigh Wheaton
YA Urban Fantasy/Mystery
Sea Dragon Press
October 27, 2015
It’s a
child’s toy—what could go wrong?
While playing with a spirit board, two sorority sisters summon
the vindictive spirits of three women brutally murdered by a psychopath. Join
Logan, Kacie, and the rest of the Orion Circle as they delve into the disturbing
events of the past to find the key to freeing the spirits.
But this isn’t any ordinary haunting. These ghosts were banished before, and now
they have returned more powerful than anyone could have imagined. Anger breeds
hatred and hatred leads to darkness—these phantoms are on the verge of losing their
last spark of humanity and becoming completely lost to the shadows.
Can Logan and Kacie convince the tortured souls to embrace
the light and move on, or will the spirits succumb to the hypnotic pull of
evil, leading to an eternity of torment and suffering?
About the Author
Kimber Leigh Wheaton is a bestselling
YA author with a soft spot for sweet romance. In addition to writing, she works
as an editor for two publishers, as well as select indie authors. She is
married to her soul mate, has a teenage son, and shares her home with three
dogs and lots of dragons. Kimber Leigh is addicted to romance, video games,
superheroes, villains, and chocolate—not necessarily in that order. (If she has
to choose, she’ll take a chocolate covered superhero!) Winner of the 2014
Rising Star Award at the BTS Red Carpet Awards in NOLA & a Silver Medal for
YA Mystery/Horror in the 2015 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.Author Links:
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/URgwH
Giveaway
Congratulations on your book, Kimber Leigh. It sounds fascinating. Great photo. Precious dog. Best of luck to you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beverly! My dog is such a sweetie, and she takes the best pictures :)
DeleteThanks for participating in the tour, Kai!
ReplyDeleteAlways happy to have you and your lovely books stop by the blog.
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