Excerpt 2: By Daylight Come

By Daylight Come is available April 5 from Ellora's Cave. I've got two excerpts posted. One more adult than the other:)

Enjoy!
Tielle

Tina listened to her nieces giggling as she walked up the stairs to the attic. It was almost time for their parents to come get them after their evening with “Aunt-T”. About once a month, Tina took the girls for the evening so her sister and her husband could be alone. She usually tried to do it on the weekends but a Thursday night worked as well. Only one more day of work before the weekend.

“Hey guys, it’s almost time to go.”

“Wait. Aunt-T, you’ve got to see this.”

Katrina, the oldest, lifted a heavy leather-bound book from her lap. Tina had never seen it before but the attic held treasures from generations past and no one really knew what was up here.

“What did you find, sweetie?”

“It’s a book of magic,” Elena announced, her eyes wide and filled with wonder.

“Magic? I didn’t know there were any magic books up here.”

Her crazy great-aunt Hilda had owned the cabin/house in the woods for thirty years. Upon her death, she’d willed it to Tina and her sister. Tina loved the isolation, even if it did mean an hour-long commute to work. The forest and the silence were worth it. She’d bought her sister’s half of the cabin a year ago but still hadn’t gone through her aunt’s cluttered attic.

“It’s dragon magic,” Katrina said. She traced her fingertips across the elaborate dragon embossed on the cover. “Isn’t it beautiful?” The awe that filled the child’s voice aroused Tina’s curiosity and she sat down beside her niece and looked over her shoulder.

“It’s a lovely book. I’ve just never seen it before. I didn’t know it was up here.”

Katrina pushed it into her lap. “You should say a spell.”

“Me?” Tina tried to push the book back.

“Yes,” Katrina said. “There’s a spell in here to call your true love. You should say it.”

Tina shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“But Mom says you need a man,” Elena piped up.

Tina tried not to glare at her six-year-old niece for the words her mother had put in her mouth. Especially since it was true.

“Come on, Auntie. It will be fun.”

Elena jumped up and down. “I wanna see a dragon.”

“A dragon. Right.” Tina looked into the hopeful faces of her nieces and sighed. She was a sucker for cute. “Fine, let’s see this book.” She flipped open the pages. Dragons illuminated every page along with words written in elaborate script. Spells to vanquish your enemies, create a storm and…Tina stopped on the page. Call Your True Loves.

“That’s the one. Come on. Read it.”

Tina ran her finger down the page. It seemed innocuous enough. Entertainment for the girls. Elena jumped up and down until Katrina—older and wiser at age nine—pulled her down beside her.

“Don’t distract her. It’s magic. She has to concentrate.”

It was all Tina could do not to roll her eyes. Concentrate? To read a “magic spell”. Yeah, right.

“Okay, here goes…

“By Dragon’s Light and Dragon’s Fire
Bring me now my heart’s desire
Warrior, Maiden, Protector, Three
By daylight come my Loves to me.”

She finished the words and waited. And waited. The girls sat silent, listening intently to every creak the old house made. A heavy weight clogged the air around them.

The doorbell rang, shattering their anticipation.

All three gasped.

“He’s here,” Katrina breathed, her eyes popping open wide. Elena jumped up and started to scream. Waving for her niece to be quiet, Tina leaned over and peeked out the window that looked down on the driveway.

“Sorry to disappoint you. It’s your parents. Come to take you home.”

“But where is he?” Elena asked as Tina gathered the book and followed them down the stairs.

“Maybe it doesn’t work immediately. Maybe you have to wait,” Katrina said, obviously still hopeful.

Tina smiled. “Well, then I’ll keep waiting.” Yeah, right. I’m done waiting for Mister Right. I’m looking for Mister Well-Hung. But my nine year-old niece doesn’t need to hear that.

She set the book on the couch and nagged her nieces to gather their stuff before opening the door and greeting her sister. Pam looked remarkably satisfied and a little rumpled and Tina couldn’t resist saying so. Pam smiled.

“It’s amazing what having the house to yourself for five straight hours will do for you.” Her husband, Mike, stepped out of the car and waved. He also had an air of relaxation about him.

“Glad somebody’s gettin’ some,” Tina said with a smile.

Pam laughed. “You could be, too. You just need to get out there.”

“I’ve been ‘out there’. I didn’t care for it. And what’s this business about telling your girls I need a man?”

“You do. It’s got to be lonely living all the way out here by yourself and wouldn’t it be nice to have a man to cuddle up next to on cold nights when your heating goes out.”

“The only man I need when my heating goes out is the plumber.”

Pam shook her head. “You’re missing out. I think you should reconsider some of the men in town. Dane watches you like you’re ice cream on a hot day.”

Tina felt the center of her stomach fall away at the mere mention of his name. Dane Sheridan, sheriff, stud and…ex-husband to one of her best friends. Despite the intense attraction between them, that alone kept her from following through. Still, there had been that one time when they’d almost…

The girls came to the door, their backpacks slung over their shoulders. Tina ignored her the brief, erotic stilted memory and with hugs and kisses, sent them on their way.

The house was quiet when she walked back inside. She missed the girls when they left but also enjoyed the silence of her own space. Strolling into the living room, she stopped at the couch and traced her fingers across the cover of the book. The luminous eyes of the dragon seemed to stare at her—wise, solemn eyes with pale purple sparkles.

“Right,” she said aloud. “I’m looking for a purple-eyed dragon to save me.”