EXCERPTS: A Valentine
Anthology
The Lending Library:
Ailidh wobbled precariously
on her high heels.
Kayne smirked. "Having
problems, dear?"
"Shut up!" she
snapped. "I need to practice this until I get it right. We don’t really
have many options left open to us, Kayne. You had better practice, too."
He stopped and steadied
himself on the railing of the porch. He wriggled his feet out of the closed
leather shoes that encased them.
"I don’t know why you
insist we wear these ridiculous articles of clothing. This long-sleeved shirt
cuts off the circulation to my hands not to mention the lack of space for my
wings and these long pants chap my legs.
"Worst of all, are
these horrendous leather shoes. They pinch and make my feet swell. Why do we
have to go through all of this? I don’t understand." Kayne grumbled.
Ailidh sighed and slowly, patiently explained to him, once again,
why they were practicing.
Chasing Rainbows:
Ka-boom!
The blast shattered the settling peace of dusk as Marissa Madison pulled into
the circular drive. Rissa threw open the car door and sprinted toward the gray
stone house.
"Please,
no blood this time," she whispered as her feet hit the rough-hewn steps
leading up to the broad double doors.
A
bespectacled man stepped through the doorway amid a confetti shower of
envelopes and leaflets. His silvery hair stood in startled spikes around a balding
pate as if it too had been a victim of the explosion.
"Too
much torque in the mail conveyor," he muttered with a frown.
"Please
turn it off, Uncle Horace!"
"Right."
The old man disappeared back into the house. Within moments, the clanking stopped
and silence fell over the rolling hills once again.
Just another normal day, Rissa thought, as she surveyed the day's mail
scattered in gay abandon across the landscape.
The Gift:
"Get in the house,
now!"
"Mama?"
Elice Weld shielded her eyes
and watched the ground fog rising in the distance. She didn't know what was
coming her way, but she could guess. The rumors that a Union cavalry unit was
in the vicinity had spread like a wildfire on a Kansas prairie.
Rain had fallen all morning.
Now the clouds had separated, and the sun heated the earth, causing the
evaporation of the water-soaked ground. The cavalry rode through the mist like
dark, avenging wraiths bent on the destruction of all mankind. She could see
seven men silhouetted on the horizon.
"Izzy, go." Elice
didn't want to frighten her daughter but the urgency of the moment could not be
denied.
"But mama?"
"Go to the cellar.
Now."
"It's dark."
Izzy's voice echoed in
Elice's head, filling her with a wild panic she didn't know how to stop. Every
time soldiers approached she was terrified. The last four years had been the
longest years of her life. "Do as I say, quickly." Elice hugged her
daughter, turning her at the same moment and with a gentle shove sent her
through the open door of her house.
"Izzy."
Elice knew the panic in her
voice would mobilize her young daughter. She despised the fear and the terror.
She loathed the war. She looked up. The fog was dissipating, and she could see
the dark blue of the Union coats. She didn't have anything left for the
soldiers to take. Good God, they'd taken everything already--everything save
her daughter and her hope for the future.
She inhaled a quick breath
then stood on the steps, hands folded together in front of her, watching the
dark wraiths inch closer. She knew from experience she couldn't fight these
men. She would do as they said and when they left, she would put the pieces of
her life back together.
Until the next time…
OTHER ANTHOLOGIES BY ROGUE'S ANGELS
Buy at:
May Day has been celebrated
since Roman times with dancing, baskets of flowers, and bonfires. In this
collection of May Day stories, Rogue's Angels--Christine Young, C.L. Kraemer,
Rosemary Indra and Genie Gabriel--continue the celebration with humor, faeries
and falling in love.
Highland Miracle --
Christine Young
HURTLED THROUGH TIME, Sean
Michael Sterling, landed in the midst of a May Day celebration he didn’t
understand, assuming the role of Laird Sterling.
ILLIGITAMATE CHILD OF
NOBILITY, Reagan Douglas searches for a way out of her half brother’s house.
Defying the Odds -- C.L.
Kraemer
The night elves on the hill
aren't happy without their magic. They concoct a plan to punish those who were
involved in the act that rendered them almost human. Meanwhile, Uther, the
rogue night elf, has returned to woo the Librarian to be his eternal mate.
Love in Bloom -- Rosemary
Indra
When childhood friends
reunite it takes two fairies and a matchmaking daughter to help them admit
their true love for each other.
No More Poodle Skirts --
Genie Gabriel
After drifting for years in
the innocent age of the 1950s, a woman struggles to join today's world by
finding a career and a new love, with some help from her zany family.
BLURB
Tumble through time…
…to Ireland in 1817, when tensions are high between
Protestants and Chatolics and faey people guide the fate of villagers. A lovely
Catholic lass stumbles upon the weakly ritual fisticuffing between Irish lads.
She falls into the lap of a handsome young Protestant. Family ties, grudges,
and two conniving faeries threaten their budding love. But the faeries outsmart
themselves when they hijack a time machine that has mysteriously appeared in
their forest and are whisked to…
…Eugene, Oregon in the 20th century, amid a property feud
between the local faeries and night elves. The conniving faeries from Olde
Ireland try to stir up more mischief. However, a warrior gnome convinces the
magic folk to control their own destiny, and forces the intruding faeries to
take refuge in the time machine again, spinning their way toward…
…A modern day castle in western Oregon. An eccentric
inventor is determined to reclaim his wayward time machine and save his beloved
wife from her latest misadventure. If only they can travel safely past the
black hole…
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