Welcome to…my 300th blog post ^_^ It’s been a busy, hectic week in this little corner of the globe. I’ve gone up against 100,000 (or so) words with just the strength of 300 spartan keys to tell my tale. (I figure…3 computers, an average of 100 keys per keyboard…) We fought it out in the hallowed valley of Thermopylae…or maybe Salt Lake, because that’s a lot closer to home for me.

But on a less muddled note…it is my 300th blog post. And…it’s Brenda Drake’s “Can You Leave us Breathless?” blogfest. I love this idea. From Brenda’s Blog “It can be scary. It could be a romance. A thrill ride. A twist. It can be any genre. All you have to do is make us gasp. You can end with a cliff hanger. You can get gory. Whatever. Just leave us breathless.”

Below is an excerpt from early on in Uriel’s Fall. In case you’ve been fortunate enough to not be spammed with my pitch at every turn ;-), Ronnie is a holding cell for demons…and they whisper in her head. That’s internally. Externally…she feels emotion physically and has discovered some people – the children of gods – are super painful to be around because of the emotions they embody. She thinks one of them is following her.

***

Ethereal scalding blades scored my bare neck and I whirled, expecting to see creepy diner guy on the steps behind me. The stairwell was empty, but the feeling didn’t subside.

More slices flared across my hands but there were no red welts when I looked down. I forced myself to keep walking, listening to every footstep and creek as I made my way to my apartment.

Something lapped at my mind. Soothing but frightening. Black liquid. I pushed inside, bolting the deadlock behind me for the first time since I’d moved in.

Paranoid, much? The whisper carried itself on the black waves

It wasn’t paranoia, I was just being safe.

We could go back out there. Make nice. Invite him in for tea. Devour his soul.

What the hell?

I’m kidding. I know you’re a coffee girl.

I kicked my shoes off, letting them stay where they fell. The pain pulsed, intensifying for a moment before ebbing again. There was no way I was arguing with a voice in my head, regardless of how coherent it was. Something black flickered behind my eyelids. An oily visual of the power nudging my veins. It was aloe against the emotional void. I smiled, breathing in and out and feeling the cooling relief wash over me.

See, this isn’t so bad, is it?

The whispered question floated on the edges of the soothing inkiness.

My eyes snapped open. The voice was the same as the power. I felt both at my core. Was the demon trying to take me over? Was that what this was about?

Oh, come on. Really? I’m not even one of them.

I focused on the black wisps, the way I would if I was extracting a demon from a human. They ran far and deep in my veins. I tried to grasp at loose wisps and pull them away and the pain returned. Scalding blisters that weren’t there racing across my back and legs.

Something shattered, pulling me from the painful meditation. The dark strands spilled back through my veins, chasing away the heat. There was no one in the apartment. What had I heard?

My eyes grew wide when they landed on the door. Tiny fractures and missing chunks covered my ward. I didn’t even know that was possible