Snippet Day! Oath Breaker!

Right! Now that THE SEA WIFE is done and dusted (until editing time!), I'm back to work on Oath Breaker. I missed my witchy girls, and now I'm starting to get into the meat of the story, I'm excited about all the threads I'm weaving and all the trouble I'm causing for Lola and Tristesse. Read on for a taster!

She'd always known Tristesse could hurt her, if she wanted. She'd just never thought she would want to, not since their very first meeting. It was easy, far too easy, to be seduced and pretend that Tristesse was all velvet and silk. It was too easy to ignore the steel underneath.

Lola swallowed hard and went still. "You're hurting me," she said softly. Her wrists ached and her scars itched.

Tristesse blinked and wet her lips. The movement reminded Lola unnervingly of a snake. "There are creatures in the dark that will hurt you far worse," she said, her voice smooth and cold. "This isn't a game, Lola Guntram. Tell me what happened."

"Let me up and I will." It would have been easier just to cave in and tell her, but she couldn't let Tristesse think this was acceptable, ever. She wouldn't share a bed with someone who hurt and scared her.

They stared at each other, seconds stretching out between them. Lola's heart hammered, fright and anger coiling together in her belly. Finally, Tristesse released her and withdrew to the end of the bed. She sat there like a feral animal, hunched and blazing with anger of her own.

"Now tell me," she ordered.

Lola sat up, pulling the duvet around herself as if it would offer any protection. She massaged her wrists, certain she'd have bruises to go with her collection of scars. She told Tristesse, both about the baying that woke her the night before, and the attack just a few scant hours ago. Icy shivers swept over Lola at the thought of what could have happened without the rune protecting the house.

"That's why you wanted the rune on the door, isn't it? You knew that thing was coming! What is it?" she asked, unable to keep the hostility from her voice.

Tristesse hugged her knees, head down, hair hiding her face. "It wasn't here for you."
"That doesn't tell me anything."

When Tristesse did look up, Lola was shocked to see her face streaked with tears. Rage still burned in her eyes, but those tears betrayed an anguish Lola hadn't expected. "It came for me," Tristesse said, voice eerily flat. "And it will keep coming."