The Child Thief by Melissa Snark
A Victoria Storm novella
#1 Loki's Wolves series
Genre: Paranormal/urban fantasy
Published March 17, 2013
Amazon ASBN B00CJ1D1BI
ISBN 9781301101122
Blurb:
Valkyrie Victoria Storm has werewolf hunters hell bent on revenge trying to
kill her. She can barely keep her own downtrodden pack alive, let alone respond
to the pleas of a murdered mother.
Can
she set aside her differences and work with her sworn enemy to save a little
boy from a Christmas nightmare?
Excerpt:
"Help
me. Please. The child thief has stolen my son," a woman said, her voice
full of desperation. An icy hand closed around Victoria Storm's arm and the
chill of the grave swept through her body. She gasped and halted, turning
toward the woman, but remained silent. She took a moment to study the
distraught spirit.
The
woman had light brown hair and an olive-toned complexion. She wore a mid-thigh
length white nightshirt, stained with dried blood. Her legs and feet were bare.
The ghost's appearance mirrored the condition of her body at the time of
death—her face and throat bore dark bruises, defensive wounds marred her hands
and forearms, and the side of her skull had been bashed in.
The
spirit took Victoria's silence as an opportunity to continue her plea.
"Please, Michael is all alone and he's so scared. I need your help."
Victoria's
gut clenched, because she had no choice except to refuse. "I'm
sorry," she said. "But I can't help you."
Several
paces ahead, Jasper turned back toward Victoria. His bright eyes focused on the
apparently empty spot before her and his eyebrows rose, disappearing beneath
his lank brown bangs. His tongue flickered across his lips, moistening them
against the aridness of the winter air. "What's up?" he asked, eyes bright
with curiosity. "Is a ghost here?"
"Shhh."
Victoria shushed him. She cast an anxious glance about her, concerned that
their odd behavior would attract the wrong sort of attention. Neither Jasper,
nor any of the humans present, could see the dead woman because they lacked
Victoria's gift of spirit sight.
Cheerful
holiday decorations lined the streets and storefronts along bustling Central
Avenue of downtown Albuquerque. The sidewalks were crammed with holiday
shoppers out to take advantage of the clear Saturday afternoon before
Christmas. No one so much as spared the two werewolves and the invisible spirit
a glance.
"You
must help me," the woman pleaded. "No one can see or hear me."
At
the same time, Jasper said, "What does she want? C'mon, tell me what's
going on!"
Victoria
spoke to Jasper from the side of her mouth. "She says that her son was
kidnapped and she needs me to help him."
Jasper
grinned. "Cool!"
"Not
so much for her," Victoria said with a glare, irritated with the teen's
lack of sensitivity. Not that she really blamed the boy for craving excitement,
but their lives were already dangerous enough.
"Find
out what we can do," Jasper said.
Goddess help me!
The boy has too much testosterone, too little sense. Rolling her eyes
heavenward, Victoria exhaled through her nostrils so her breath formed a cloud
of vapor. Born and raised in Arizona, she found the extreme winter temperatures
of the high desert to be familiar, but the thin air left her lightheaded.
"Come
over here so we can speak privately," Victoria said, addressing both the
spirit and the boy. She shook off the ghost's hand.
Grasping
Jasper's forearm, she pulled him into the natural alcove the western apparel
storefront provided, out of the path of pedestrian traffic. Although, the
fifteen-year-old stood a full head taller and outweighed her by at least twenty
pounds, she moved him without effort. He lacked the stature of an adult male
and deferred to her, because she outranked him within their pack's hierarchy.
The dead woman followed.
Victoria
regarded the distressed woman and her stomach roiled. As Valkyrie and the
goddess Freya's priestess, Victoria had a duty to respond to a spirit's call
for help. As a nurse and a healer, she had a nurturing nature and rarely passed
on an opportunity to render assistance to those in need.
However,
she had bigger considerations. Hunters had dogged her pack nonstop for the last
two weeks, pursuing them from Arizona to the high desert of New Mexico. Most of
her pack, including her parents, had died in Phoenix when the war with the
Barrett family began. The fallout had left Victoria in the role of Alpha, the
highest ranked wolf and leader of the ragged group of survivors. It was her
responsibility to get Jasper to safety and the longer they stayed out in the
open, the better the chances the hunters would find them.
"I'm
sorry, but I can't save your son," Victoria said. "I have to protect
my own people."
The
woman moaned but before she said anything else, Jasper launched a passionate
protest. "Victoria, we have to help her!" he said. "It's the
right thing to do!"
Victoria
stifled a groan.
The
ghost grabbed her arm again. "Please, he's going to be eaten."
THE CHILD THIEF is available for FREE download:
Author Bio:
A
friend asked me once how I chose my pen name. I told her the following:
"Melissa, because when people mix up my first name, it's the most common
goof up. Snark, because it amuses me. A) I love the word 'snarky' and B) I love
Lewis Carroll." As
an individual, I'm sarcastic, stubborn and blunt to a fault. I have a strange
sense of humor and I like to laugh (usually at my husband or children), but
also at myself. I'm not particularly extroverted, although I do enjoy time with
my family and close friends a great deal.
At
the moment, I'm a stay at home mom who writes in my spare time. I've got a B.S.
from Arizona State University in Business, and I've worked a variety of
different jobs, including as a medical device documentation specialist, a
technical writer, and an auto liability adjuster. I
live in the San Francisco East Bay of Northern California with my husband,
three kids, and three cats. My hobbies include roleplaying, cooking and
reading.
Where
to find Melissa on the Internet:
Email: melissasnark at gmail.com
The author is hosting a giveaway for the following prizes:
(Paperbacks are limited to continental United States delivery)
- 2 signed paperback copies of Hunger Moon
- 2 $5 Amazon Gift Cards
a Rafflecopter giveaway
