What
Gifts She Carried (The Grave Winner #2)
by Lindsey R. Loucks
YA
Paranormal/Fantasy Romance, from
Crescent Moon Press
Release Date:
August 15, 2014
About the Book:
Leigh Baxton just wants to pick up the pieces of her life—if
you could call it that—but someone keeps resurrecting the dead. These new
zombies have a knack for spilling Leigh’s precious blood, something she was
warned about by a certain pair of undead sorceresses.
Desperate to find out why they’re here so Leigh can put the
nightmares behind her, she must learn more about the gifts she carries. With
Tram’s training sessions and clues from her mom’s past, Leigh begins to piece
together what she’s capable of.
Too bad there isn’t a Cliff’s Notes version to saving the
world.
The zombies have teamed up with followers of the darkest
sorceress who ever lived, and they’ll play a wicked game until she’s freed from
her prison inside the earth. When the battle to the death begins, Leigh must
rely on friends, crushes, and even her enemies to win the war, but not the
grave.
Excerpt:
Jo
slammed the door behind me, which made me jump a little, then waved. They
backed out and rode off, leaving me all alone. Well, almost all alone.
I watched
them go for a second, but the shadow above lanced the top of my head like only
an angry dad’s stare could.
The
puddles in the cracked pavement rippled with the moon’s reflection, and I
hopped over them on my way up the iron staircase. Time to face the music, or in
this case really loud shouting. Every step upward vibrated doom, doom, doom. I gave it the middle finger for the friendly
reminder and rounded the corner.
As soon
as I reached the top step, the shadow unplugged the pen light from his mouth
and shined it in my face. I turned my head away from the spots dotting my
vision and took my final steps toward him. The green paint on the walls and
doors had peeled and crumbled to the walkway like little piles of broken dragon
scales. My boots crunched over them. Welcome to Krapper’s finest and
friendliest Crumbly Motel.
“Why
didn’t you call?” Dad asked in a low voice. He sounded as tired as I felt. And
way pissed.
“I’m
sorry.” I blocked the light with my hand and tried to look him in the face. “I lost
track of time.”
“Were
you really working on a school project?”
The
truth was loony-bin crazy, and I’d already lied before. Might as well play it
up. “Yes, I was. And we finished the pirate project. The pirates have sailed on
to loot and pillage their hearts out. I’m really sorry I’m late, Dad.”
He
stood, his book tucked under his elbow, the pen light still aimed at my eyes.
“Do you have any idea—”
A loud
thud came from inside the motel room. Both our heads whipped towards the door.
My
heartbeat skipped. Too many bizarre things had happened. Too many weird sounds
would haunt me forever, and this one didn’t feel right at all. I lunged for the
doorknob, but it was locked.
“Darby?” I shouted and pounded on
the door.
“Leigh,
quiet down. I’ve got the key.” Dad pulled the card from his pocket and stuck it
in the slot. When the light flashed green, I tore through the door. I had to
wait for my eyes to adjust to the dim overhead light before I saw her. Directly
across from us. Outside on the balcony. Leaning over the railing so far I could
barely see her upper half.
Her purple mermaid nightgown
fluttered around her legs. A sudden sharp breeze tossed the hair around her
shoulders and unsteadied her grip on the rail for half a second. That half
second shot me across the room.
Once I
reached the balcony door, I grabbed her foot and pulled. “Darby, what are
you—?” Something trickled from my nose. I brushed it away, and blood smeared my
hand. A pinprick of dread punctured the small amount of hope I clung to. Hope
that all the nightmares in my life could be done. That hope left me deflated
when Darby turned around.
Blood
seeped from her nose, too. Her hands were covered with it. Terror blazed bright
behind her glasses. “You’re…you’re bleeding.”
“You
are, too.” The hairs along my arms lifted. Both of us had nose bleeds and both
of us were Trammeler sorceressi. One and Two had warned me not to waste my
precious blood, but now it flowed down both our fronts for everyone to see. For
what? I swallowed. So we could be hunted down? With the balcony and front doors
still open, I felt very exposed. “What are you doing out here, Darby?”
Blood settled above the curve of
her upper lip. “I—I thought I heard something.”
Dad, hovering in the doorway, raked
his hands through his hair. “What on Earth is going on with you girls?” He took
Darby by the shoulder and guided her to the bathroom. “Leigh, get the doors and
then let’s get you both cleaned up.”
I
reached for the handle while holding a sleeve up to my nose. As I slid the door
closed, a small, bloody handprint smudged the streetlights behind it. Darby’s.
She was bleeding more than me.
A slow but steady doom, doom, doom of footsteps echoed up
the stairs outside the still open front door. Someone was coming. And with them
came the stink of nasty meat floating in a sewer. Even with all the blood
gushing a river out my nose, I could still smell it. Death. Coming closer.
What Gifts She
Carried Links:
The Grave Winner
Links:
Bio:
Lindsey R. Loucks works as a school librarian in rural
Kansas. When she's not discussing books with anyone who will listen, she's
dreaming up her own stories. Eventually her brain gives out, and she'll play
hide and seek with her cat, put herself in a chocolate induced coma, or watch
scary movies alone in the dark to reenergize.
She's been with her significant other for almost two
decades.
