Spooky Excerpt from Priceless Deception

Pumpkins? Check. Costumes? Check. Ridiculous amounts of Chocolate? Check! You are now ready for Halloween and nothing goes better with ghouls and candy than an old fashioned ghost story. Settle in for this spooky excerpt from my latest Regency Romance, Priceless Deception.   

Madeline sat up in a cold sweat.

The dream was so vivid, so raw, in her heart she knew it hadn’t been a dream at all. She had just seen her mother’s death.

She felt the hard weight of the diamond beneath her pillow, checking to make sure it had not vanished from her side. She threw off the bedcovers and walked to the window, hoping the night air would help wash away the remnants of her dream. The terror in her mother’s face, a fiercely glowing diamond scalding her palm—the images still hovered around the edges of Madeline’s mind.

“Madeline.” She gasped at the voice, stumbling away from the window as the sound came closer. “You’ve seen the truth now.” The rasping voice, the sharp, worm-filled cough… there was no doubt. 

“Madeline.” She was on her knees, eyes squeezed shut, too terrified to look any closer. He was here, no longer underground in the dirt but here, in her room, watching her from the window. “It killed your mother. You must destroy it.”

“It’s only a diamond, Papa. It cannot hurt me.” She choked as the words tumbled from her mouth. Colin’s words. 

“You swore a vow. IT MUST BE DONE!”

She shrieked when the voice swept past her head, ruffling her hair, as the rattling grew closer and closer…My daughter…

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it, please don’t come any closer!” She shrank down to the floor, screaming now. This wasn’t a dream. Someone would come, Helena would hear the screams and run in—

Madeline awoke in her bed.

It was still dark outside. She was shaking, gasping, scrambling for the diamond that no longer brought her comfort. After long minutes had passed, her eyes searching every corner of the dim room, she convinced herself it had been only a dream. She pulled the diamond from beneath her pillow and, rolling it up in an old dress, threw it into her trunk. She must end this, the fears, the hiding, these torturous dreams.

Tomorrow. She would destroy it tomorrow.

Hiding under the covers yet? Don't worry, Priceless Deception is also full of laughter, scandal, and lots of romance! Available now from The Wild Rose Press. 

www.JenniferAnnCoffeen.com

Click here to buy!