Friday, August 30, 2013

Along Came a Spider Blog Tour

Pens and Peonies is super thrilled to welcome back to the blog Kate Serine during her Along Came a Spider Blog Tour! She's agreed to share with us an exclusive excerpt from her latest Transplanted Tales novel, and wow! Just wow!

Here's a bit about Kate:
National Readers’ Choice Award Winner Kate SeRine (pronounced “serene”) faithfully watched weekend monster movie marathons while growing up, each week hoping that maybe this time the creature du jour would get the girl. But every week she was disappointed. So when she began writing her own stories, Kate vowed that her characters would always have a happily ever after. And, thus, her love for paranormal romance was born.



And now... for the exclusive excerpt:

Excerpt from Along Came a Spider (Transplanted Tales #3) by Kate SeRine

Behind me, the door slammed shut, startling a scream from me. I whirled around and grabbed the knob to pull the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. I gripped it harder, my knuckles turning white as I strained to turn the knob, but it was like someone was on the other side, holding it shut. I rattled the door, trying to jerk it open. No go. My chest heaved with panicked breaths as the walls in the tiny bathroom seemed to be closing in, slowly squeezing the air out of the room.

Great—perfect time to become claustrophobic.

“Let me out, damn it!” I yelled, pounding on the door with my fist, trying desperately to keep it together, rein in the fear and not let it take over. I had to keep calm, use my head. I let go of the door and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Okay, okay, okay,” I muttered. “There’s a logical explanation for all of this, Trish. There’s nothing in here with you.”

In response, the lights began to flicker, creating a strobe effect against the bright white tile. I spun around and pressed my back to the door, my eyes searching the intermittent darkness. Well, shit, there went that theory. . . .

“Knock it the hell off!” I screamed. “Leave me alone!”

The giggle came again, bouncing off the walls, the sound distorted and disorienting. The sink faucet splurted to life, spraying out water with such force it overflowed the sink to splatter the mirror and rain down over the lip of the vanity and onto the floor. Then the shower came on, the water so hot, steam began to fill the air almost immediately. I turned back toward the door, fear making me pound on the door so hard, I thought my hand would break. But I didn’t care—I just wanted out.

“Help me!” I shouted over the roaring water, my feet now damp from the overflowing sink. “Someone help me! Please!”

As if on cue, the bathroom door exploded inward, smacking me in the forehead and knocking me on my ass. I slid with the force, nailing the back of my head on the toilet. For one terrifying, dizzying moment, the world went black, but I forced myself to keep it together and shakily managed to drag myself toward the open door. My apartment tilted precariously, and my stomach lurched, but I forced down the rush of vomit and grabbed the doorjamb, pulling myself to my feet.

The moment I was upright, the faucets abruptly shut off and the strobe light ceased, plunging the bathroom into darkness. I stumbled through the open doorway, shaking so violently I was barely able to control my legs beneath me. As soon as I was through the door, I pressed my back to the wall, my chest heaving. I gulped down the bile rising to my mouth and was glad for the distraction of the burning sensation as it went back down. I shook my head. Fuck this! I was taking my cat and getting the hell out.

I pushed away from the wall and all the lights I’d left on throughout the apartment blinked out at once, sending a fresh shot of fear-infused adrenaline through my veins. “Oh, God,” I moaned, dropping back against the wall. I squeezed my eyes shut for a few seconds, steeling my nerves, praying like hell that I wouldn’t see someone standing in front of me when I opened them again. I blew out a couple of quick breaths, then forced my lids open, scanning the room at a quick glance as my eyes adjusted to the darkness.

            “Sasha,” I called, my voice little more than a strained whisper as I continued to watch for any movement. “Sasha!” I heard her answering mew coming from my bedroom and nearly wept.

I edged along the wall, creeping toward my room, and heard a soft thud as Sasha jumped down from her usual perch on the window seat, but she didn’t emerge as I expected. Then I heard her low growl and glanced around frantically, wondering what she saw that I didn’t. A single bead of sweat trickled down between my shoulder blades as if in slow motion, ratcheting up the persistent niggling of dread creeping under my skin. “Sasha, come here, baby!”

With a trembling hand, I pushed open the bedroom door, wishing like hell that I had a gun or a baseball bat. Of course, even as I wished it, I had a feeling neither weapon would’ve been much use against the invisible creature who had invaded my home.

            As the door swung open, I darted inside and flipped on the light. Startled by my sudden movement, Sasha yowled and bolted from the room, nearly scaring the shit out of me in the process. “Damn it!” I cried as I stumbled backward, crashing into the door, the doorknob jabbing me painfully in the kidney. “Shit!”

            I winced at the pain and rushed back through the doorway, only to stop dead in my tracks. The man standing in my living room reached out and pulled the chain of my desk lamp, turning on the light. I gasped at the sight of him. He’d ditched his fatigues and was now dressed in a black turtleneck sweater and black slacks that hugged his athletic physique in all the right places. For a split second I thought he might be a figment of my imagination, but then he pegged me with that intense amber gaze of his, and I knew he was real.

            I was so shocked and relieved to see Nicky, I didn’t even care why he was there. Without stopping to think, I rushed to him, throwing my arms around his neck in a fierce hug, squeezing my eyes shut to hold back the tears. After a brief hesitation, his arms came around me, hugging me back, holding me as I clung to him.

            “Hello, doll,” he whispered in my ear, his voice so soft and soothing, I wanted to melt into him…

~~~

WOW! Thanks, Kate, for that teaser!

Check out her buy links for Along Came a Spider (Transplanted Tales #3):

 
 


~~~

Kate's hosting a giveaway! Good luck!


 
 
~~~
 
Connect with Kate:
 
~~~
 
Thanks for stopping by!
xoxo ~Marisa
 


3 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing the great excerpt and the giveaway. I loved this awesome book and I am looking forward to more in the future. evamillien at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow is right, Marisa. Kate, this sounds absolutely frightening--and that's a good thing, right? :)

    ReplyDelete