It’s been far too long since I posted, and for that, I apologize. Life has been blasting by with my personal life and wedding planning career taking the front seat. Fortunately, I’m back in writing mode and still plan to have Elder released by the end of the year. [Insert raucous cheering here].
I don’t want my fans to go too long without something to whet their Estilorian appetites, though, so I decided to share a sneak peek at the first chapter of Elder. I normally prefer to wait until after editing to do this, but I’m making an exception this time. You can read the uncut Elder prologue here. Also, if you missed the deleted scene from Shift that I posted on The Writer’s Voice earlier this month, you can read it here. (Hint: it involves Tate and Zachariah!).
Without further adieu, please enjoy this excerpt from Elder!

With a little tweaking, this could be Ini-herit!

Chapter One

“Clara Kate. Wake up, Clara Kate. C.K.?”
Blinking away the memory that haunted her dreams, Clara Kate responded to the prodding of her cousin, Sophia, with a low moan. She’d only slept for a couple of hours. She felt like she needed to sleep for a couple of months.
“It’s time to get up,” Sophia said, rubbing Clara Kate’s arm. “Tate and Ariana need us.”
That had Clara Kate pushing herself into a sitting position and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She realized it was still hours before dawn. Her breath floated in a white vapor around her head as she tried to get her bearings.
“Archigos Sebastian is preparing some food for everyone if you’re hungry,” Sophia said. She reached over and removed a dead leaf from Clara Kate’s hair. “And I’m sure we can get him to help you feel more…refreshed before we go.”
“I look that good, huh?”
“You look like you traveled almost three days without sleeping. Oh, wait. You did.”
“Hah. Guess that explains this persistent headache,” Clara Kate said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “It’s been nagging me.”
“We’ve all pushed ourselves hard these past few days.” Sophia reached over and touched Clara Kate’s forehead with the back of her hand. “You do look a little pale. Maybe you should have Ini-herit—”
“I’ll be fine,” Clara Kate interrupted. She offset her rudeness with a small smile. “I’m just exhausted. Using my abilities to imbue so many weapons and then fighting all of those Mercesti really took it out of me. The lack of sleep leading up to that sure didn’t help.”
“Yeah.” Sophia lifted one corner of her mouth, but her eyes continued to reflect her concern. “Some food will probably help, too.”
“Sure. I’ll get some in a minute. I’ve got to find a bit of privacy first.”
“Okay.”
Clara Kate got to her feet, fighting back a groan of discomfort. She seemed to hurt everywhere. She staggered as a wave of dizziness hit her. Sophia reached out and offered her a steadying hand.
“Hey…I know we tease you about your lack of grace and all, but don’t go trying to earn extra credit,” Sophia joked. After a brief hesitation, she added in a quieter voice, “You know, Quincy could always do a little checkup, just to make sure—”
“Thanks, Soph, but I’m really okay. I’ll join you shortly. Save a piece of bacon for me, okay?”
Sophia nodded. “Sure.”
A twinge of guilt struck Clara Kate as she watched Sophia turn and walk back to rejoin Quincy, who stood conversing with a number of other beings near a small campfire. The pair had just avowed themselves to each other a few hours ago. It had been many years coming, even if the timing was odd, what with them in a race to try and save Tate and Ariana and recover the pieces of the Elder Scroll stolen by the Mercesti, Eirik.
Clara Kate was thrilled for Sophia and Quincy, though. They should be off celebrating, not dealing with all of this.
Sighing, she moved deeper into the forest so she could see to her personal needs. She made sure to stay where she could see some Waresti scouts through the trees. Their group had made camp within a thick forest not far from the ancient Estilorian library, which meant there was always a possibility that some of Eirik’s followers skulked about in hopes of taking one of them unawares. Clara Kate was far from defenseless, but after everything that had occurred over the past nine-plus weeks since she returned from the human plane, she knew all too well to expect the unexpected.
Once she finished relieving her full bladder, she rose to cleanse her hands and face with a cloth she’d been provided by Sebastian. Just standing up made her entire body hurt, including parts of her that had no business hurting. As she told Sophia, she was sure it was her extreme exhaustion that had worn her down.
Her cousin’s concern was thoughtful, but Clara Kate knew that if Quincy did examine her and decided she needed treatment for her exhaustion, he would tell her to have Ini-herit heal her. That wasn’t an option. She truly couldn’t bear the thought of Ini-herit touching her.
Even if he did have the power to heal, it wasn’t worth the pain of enduring a touch that was no longer filled with love for her, but with no feeling at all.

 So…what did you think?