First (longest) excerpt:
We got to Brookfield Zoo around ten,
and even though I had forty dollars in my purse, Cole insisted on paying for
the both of us. We entered through an underground tunnel that led to the main
entrance. Images of ostriches and lions watched us pass as we followed the
crowd to the turnstiles.
Cole handed a heavyset guy in a blue
uniform our tickets and then held his hand in front of him. “Ladies first.”
“Thanks.” I tucked my hair behind my ear and asked, “Are
you sure your friends won’t mind me tagging along?”
During the drive over, I envisioned
Cole’s friends as a group of unruly demons. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t asked
him what to expect when he first mentioned getting out of the apartment. When I
voiced my concerns to Cole, he let out a loud guffaw. A minute later, he
assured me there wouldn’t be a demon in the bunch, except for us. He also told
me that Luz was psyched to meet me. She was tired of being the only girl in the
group.
Cole and I headed toward a large
water fountain at the center of the zoo. A boy wearing a lion sun visor held
his little hands up as if they were paws and roared. His sister—who was about
half his size—screamed. I couldn’t help but laugh. Then I remembered Cole’s
comment back at the apartment.
“Are you really a fan of leopards?” I asked.
“Snow leopards,” he corrected. “They’re smaller than other
wild cats, but they’re graceful, cunning, and exceptional survivors.”
I got the feeling he related to them
on a personal level. Cole had said incubi were low on Hell’s totem pole of bad
asses.
“What’s your favorite animal?” he asked.
I tapped a finger to my lips. “Hmm—”
He jumped in front of me, walking
backward with a bounce in his step. “Don’t tell me. I’ll guess.”
I giggled. Cole’s behavior was so
human it was hard to believe he was a demon. But then again, so was I.
“You’ll never guess.”
He tipped his head to the side. “Is
that a challenge?”
“Maybe,” I replied with a smile.
He slowed, avoiding bumping into a
stroller even though his back was to it.
“How’d you know they were there?” I whispered, fully
expecting to be told that demons had the radar-like senses of a shark.
“Reflection in your sunglasses.” He wiggled the ones he
wore.
Darn on the supernatural radar, or
lack thereof.
“Where were we?” he asked.
“You were about to admit there is no way you’ll guess my
favorite animal.”
“You think so.” Cole smirked. “Let’s make it
interesting…winner sleeps in the bed tonight, his choice if he wants to share.”
“Or hers, and just so you know, I’m not sleeping in the
same bed as you.”
“You did last night.”
“I was passed out due to being drugged. It doesn’t count.”
I hadn’t given much thought to the
fact that Cole and I shared everything in a one-bedroom apartment. “Does the
couch pull out into a sofa bed?”
“Nope. I usually don’t have company sleep over. I
discovered last night you’re a cover hog.”
Since most mornings I woke tangled in
the sheet, I knew better than to argue with the latter statement. “Don’t you
have girls over?”
“Definitely not. Except Luz, but she’s a friend and doesn’t
stay the night.” His expression became serious. “No bringing work home. House
rule.”
I didn’t plan on hooking up with
anyone, so that rule was fine by me. “Deal.”
His lips curved upward into a
devilish smirk. “Which one: you won’t bring strange guys home, or you’re
willing to risk losing dibs on the comfy mattress?”
I began to think Lilith had purposely
paired me with Cole as a way to add to my own personal Hell. He was seriously
charming and—had we been human—the type of guy I went for.
But
he’s not human, and the only reason you find him charming is because he’s the
only person you’re still allowed to talk to.
Even Gregory Davis—the geeky brain
from school with thick black glasses and a never-ending supply of sweater
vests—would look appealing when you’re staring down eternity and he’s the only
person you know.
I shook my head to clear my runaway
thoughts and replied with confidence, “Both.”
“Be prepared to lose.” He turned and fell in stride with
me. In a low voice, he said, “Luz, Nick, and Dylan are human. Hunter’s
something else.”
I stopped. “What’s Hunter?”
Second
excerpt:
His
laughter bellowed out of the small bathroom. “You’re going to have to loosen up
if we’re going to be living together.”
“Do not!” I called back.
The
shower started, but he’d left the door open. “Succubi are supposed to be
promiscuous. Not shriek at the sight of a naked man.”
“Well, I’m not most succubi, and
you’re not a man,” I retorted.
My
jaw dropped when I opened the closet and found it stuffed with clothes. The
things on the right were obviously Cole’s. A hint of his cologne wafted from
them. The left side, however, was crammed with juniors’ jeans, skirts, tops,
sweaters—everything I could possibly want and not department store knock-offs.
Designer brands that I used to dream of owning.
I
fanned through the various items, wishing I had time to try them all on. If my
best friend knew the road to Hell was stocked with the best clothes, she’d
purchase a first-class ticket.
“So I’m not a man?” Cole asked from
behind me.
He
leaned against the doorframe, wearing a towel that conveniently hung low enough
to emphasize his six-pack abs and the muscles leading to…you know. He didn’t
bother to dry off either. His chest glistened with water droplets.
“I have parts that beg to differ,” he
added.
Third
Excerpt:
I
kicked my sneakers off near the kitchen stools and dropped my purse on the
floor.
“What’s your problem?” Cole asked. He
stood a few feet from me, eyes narrowed.
“Nothing.” I breathed in deep, trying
to calm myself. The stench of cheap perfume invaded my nostrils. I covered my
nose with my hand. “You reek of imitation lavender and…and…onions.”
Cole
tossed his keys onto the counter. Obvious confusion flittered over his features
only to be replaced with the realization that I was referring to the scents of
the waitress.
“You’re one to talk!” he spit back.
“You stink of Sport Goofy.”
“Sport Goofy, I mean Marcus, barely
touched me.” Cole gave off such a strong odor, I was sure the waitress had put
her hands all over him.
Cole
stepped closer, placing his hands on the counter on either side of me, caging
me in.
“And I barely touched her,” he
growled. “When a human’s life force flows from them to us, our souls grow
brighter and—”
“We smell like them,” I said,
finishing his sentence. He’d told me that once.
“And because our senses become
sharper, we know when our kind renews.” The blue in his irises was more
pronounced than I’d remembered. I bit my lip to keep from asking him if that
was because of my heightened vision or because he’d renewed, as he called it.
“Now, do you want to tell me what’s really bothering you?”
I
felt my face warm, and I had to fight to keep my gaze from traveling to his
lips. Did I want to admit that I was irrationally jealous that he’d kissed
another girl? Nope. So, instead, I said, “Her smell makes me want to puke.”
“Eau de Jock is doing the same to me.”
“You’re the one who called Sport
Goofy,” I reminded him.
He
smiled, clearly happy that I’d called Marcus by the nickname.
“You’re the one who pissed off the
Queen of the Damned,” he countered.
I
twitched a shoulder. “I still can’t stand how you smell right now.”
“Fine!” He grabbed me just under my
butt and lifted me over his shoulder. I screamed. He held my legs, keeping me
from falling.
“What are you doing?” I grabbed his
waist from my upside down position.
“You think I smell?”
“Reek. And you said I do, too! Now put
me down!”
“Let’s fix that.”
He
marched to the bathroom with me slung over his shoulder. The next thing I knew
we were standing in the tub. He continued to hold me like a sack of rice.
“Cole?”
He
slid me down his chest so I stood in front of him with his arms keeping me from
moving.
“Cole?”
He
reached behind me.
I
glanced up at the showerhead, then to the knob next to me. “You wouldn’t!”
“Want to bet?”
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Damned When
I Didn't?
Avery had big plans for after high school. She and her best
friend were supposed to spend two incredible weeks over the summer at her
friend’s condo in Key West, and then it would have been off to college. But a
freak accident ended those dreams. She could still make the trip only she’d
have to do it with her new friends. Hmm, this could be a fun adventure for
another book. I might have to play around with that a bit.
Avery has a kind heart, although she’s not perfect. She
hasn’t always made the best choices, and she has at times been a bit selfish.
But she’s learning, and she’s trying to do better. Death, for her, is a second
chance.
Thanks for being a part of the tour!
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