Shadows of Asphodel comes out next month, if all goes according to plan! (And believe me, that plan includes me biting my nails.) To whet your appetite for dieselpunk romance, here’s a teaser from Chapter 3 of the book, starring Wendel the (charming bastard) necromancer and Ardis the (stoic badass) mercenary.
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Wendel stood, his face only inches from her own. The smoldering in his eyes made her mouth go dry. He didn’t smell like blood and death, as she had expected, but like rain on pines. The train swayed along a curve in the tracks, and she gripped the table beneath the windows, afraid she would lean on him.
“I promised you,” he whispered, “that I would repay my debt to you. I owe you the courtesy of saving your life in return.”
She didn’t blink. “And after you save my life?”
“After?” He furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
“Will you turn on me, and kill me in my sleep?”
His eyebrows shot skyward. “Why?”
“I have no reason to trust you,” she said, through gritted teeth.
“Then I will earn your trust.” He met her gaze. “Will you let me do that?”