BDB 8/28

[telltale_commas]

Hello, and welcome to...




A. Morell's





...broadcasting live on twitter and the blogosphere through the 31st!
Join the fun and you might just win your own copy of my next book, Puncture Wounds, when it comes out this fall!

So glad you could make it. Let's not waste time getting this thing underway.

I've got mojitos and kalua pulled pork sandwiches, but the cake is up to you to find. 8)


Scavenger Hunt for a free copy of Puncture Wounds
*All are welcome to participate!
*Scavenger hunt will start the 28th and run through the 31st, and be untimed to allow everyone in all time zones a shot at winning.
*Two methods of winning: 1) Trivia questions, 2) Puzzle solving.
*On the 28th, trivia questions and free puzzle pieces (as seen below) will be posted to my blog and twitter. Remaining puzzle pieces will be scattered throughout various author blogs.
*Locations will be posted at my twitter account, under the hashtag #ScavengersAssemble.
*If you see a puzzle piece, the answer to one of the trivia questions will be on that page, but it's up to you to find it!
*To solve the puzzle, use your favourite imaging software to put the pieces together into one picture.
*All trivia answers and completed puzzles must be emailed to me directly at sans.morale@gmail.com
*Participants may complete one or both methods. One winner will be chosen at random for each method of entry.

First piece is here!



TRIVIA QUESTIONS

1. Where else have Puncture Wounds characters appeared before?

2. Where is the location of the birthday profile wheel of fortune?

3. From whose point of view is Half Past Forever told?

4. What sign of quality standard should you look for when purchasing Italian wine?

5. What is a good name for a butler?

6. What is my favorite movie of all time?

7. Name two singers who also have birthdays today.

8. Where was I, presumably, on August 3rd?

Eight questions, eight puzzle pieces, eight blog posts on the way. Happy hunting!


And now, for the first time ever...
An excerpt from the first chapter of Puncture Wounds.

Enjoy!

~*~*~

Chapter 1

The night was far too balmy to be dressed as he was, with the heavy leather of his coat and the weight of trusted weapons slowing him down. Sweat gathered in his dark hair and spread across his back.

He was too close to give up now.

James wiped his brow and checked the location on his GPS watch, his steel gray eyes reflecting on the interface before it illuminated and overtook them. He knew he was in Soho—the device put him on Greek Street, uncomfortably close to Soho Square and around the corner from the area’s most high-traffic nightlife strip.

He had been chasing his target all over the south of England for weeks, always half a step behind. And now, of all places, he had to lose him in an area of Central London with a good 220,000 potential victims.

“Shit.”

He kicked a nearby garbage bin and began stalking restlessly down the street. He had to do something—he would not allow the last one to escape his fate, not when he could still feel him so close by. The presence he could feel in his mind suddenly grew so strong it almost made him ill, but the apartments above the line of shops and restaurants remained quiet—too quiet.

As though on cue, an explosion of noise poured out from one of the rooms above the street. There was a crash and a loud, guttural scream before an overstuffed armchair came hurtling out of one of the higher windows, raining glass and splintering wood.

James ducked but hurried closer before the shower was over. He had found his vampire.

He had to get inside. His gaze swept over the row of terraced buildings, searching for a way in that wouldn’t catch anyone else in the crossfire or set off any alarms. Around the side of the building, the din of what sounded like a wild animal fighting to the death spilled from the broken window.

His gaze landed on the join between this building and the one on its left. Two drainpipes ran side by side down the face of both structures.

It was stupid and would never work, but James was desperate. Stepping up to the face of the building, he reached gloved hands out to test the pipes. They seemed solid enough to hold his weight between them from down here, and that had to do. He jumped and grabbed hold, hard muscles working to give him leverage to climb.

Just as his feet pushed past the top of the second-floor windows, another crash sounded above him followed by two heavy falls. His blood went cold—there were two of them.

Impossible. This creature had no other allies—James had already seen to those. But there was no other explanation for the surge in energy that left him #reeling#.

He slid and fumbled his way back to the ground just as two blurs of movement took off down the street, leaving him to speed after them.

Surprisingly—blessedly—they were heading for the square instead of the crowded pubs. James didn’t believe in any god, but he sent a quick plea into the universe for the park to be empty tonight.

He heard snarling up ahead and refocused, sticking close to the row of portable toilets lining one side of the square. It was distasteful, but it would mask his smell at least for a while. Easing around the side of the last stall, he looked toward the center of the park.

The vampires were battling it out, only slowing enough for him to make out distinct features when one of them got a brief hold of the other. It was hard to imagine what could cause such visceral rage in the creatures, which were more prone to posturing or ignoring each other— this was no ordinary battle for dominance. At the very least, it was apparent that these two weren’t allies.

Perhaps it would be two kills tonight, then.

Now that he was closer, he could see they were both male. One was his distinctively blond intended target—Ren, the last of the group he’d been hunting for three years. The other was unknown to him, dark-haired and snarling. James wasn’t about to let some strange vampire take the kill he’d been waiting so long for, but something seemed off about the newcomer, and it set his teeth on edge. His fingers itched for his weapons, but he held back.

“Are you going to let him kill me?”

James froze at Ren’s shout and immediately felt stupid. There were no guarantees that the bastard actually knew he was here.

“Here’s another one you can add to your tally!”

Ren’s words echoed through the trees as James watched him throw the other vampire to the ground, cracking the walkway beneath them.

The unknown vampire went deathly still after propping himself up on his elbows. James wasn’t in its direct line of sight, but the look on that creature’s face sent a chill up his spine and once more stayed his hand.

He watched as Ren leaned in to the other vampire and whispered something too softly to carry in the dead night air. Then he blinked—and they were both gone.

“It’s been a while, Hunter,” a voice smooth and poisonous purred from too close.

He flew backward into the square to put some distance between them. His fingers had barely wrapped around the handle of one of his guns when the other vampire came barreling at him from the air, forcing him to the ground and into a roll.

He was back on his feet in a second. And in that second, Ren was gone.