Hello, fellow fantasy fans! My name is Cassi Carver, and I’m so excited to be here at Castles & Guns. I write spicy urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and my debut novel, Slayer’s Kiss, will be coming out on February 14th.
I often hear from other writers that they started writing at an early age, and I was no exception. The first book I wrote was a tiny “choose your own adventure” novel, complete with crayon illustrations. But after the early novel adventures, I put down the pen and spent the next couple of decades reading anything I could get my hands on.
At first, my library contained my mom’s hand-me-down Dean Koontz collection—which I loved! It wasn’t Dean’s fault that I could barely get to sleep at night for fear that some monster from the pages was going to be reaching up from under the bed. Then, one auspicious day in my later teen years, I picked up my first romance novel—and the rest is history. After that, scary stories weren’t enough. I needed romance mixed in with all those thrills and chills, and if the hero or heroine had super powers and could kick some serious bad-guy booty—all the better!
So when I finally decided to give storytelling a shot, I didn’t debate for a minute what I would be writing. It is such a joy to bring my characters to life and create worlds where the only limitation is my own imagination. And now, instead of reading stories that scare the pants off me, I get to write about strong, fearless heroines who save the day.
Allow me to introduce one such heroine, Kara Reed, in an excerpt from my spicy urban fantasy, Slayer’s Kiss, which is now available for pre-order through Samhain Publishing…
“Just lie back and relax, asshole. I swear you won’t feel a thing.” Kara adjusted the bindings around the man’s wrists and plunged the syringe deep into his thigh. When the concoction started making its way through his veins, he bucked under Kara’s weight. She stood and put one boot heel against his throat to quiet him as the relaxant started taking effect. “How is she, Abbey?”
Abbey frowned and brushed her red hair out of her eyes. “She’s going to be all right, but I put a call in to 911. We need to hurry.”
Kara glanced at the man lying on the dirty pavement of the alley. His expensive slacks were around his ankles, and after all these years, it still struck Kara as odd that the assailants never fit a certain mold. She and Abbey had taken down everything from homeless men to men who drove hundred-thousand-dollar sports cars. Money didn’t matter, and it wasn’t for the sex. These men wanted power over others. They got off on the degradation and the pain they inflicted.
“He’s ready for you. Let’s help this gentleman get in touch with his manners.”
Abbey tucked a coat around the unconscious victim, shielding her lower half from view of the police officers who would shortly be arriving on the scene. She rose to her feet and walked to Kara. “Don’t bruise his throat, Kare-bear. The knot you gave him with your elbow is bad enough. His temple looks like he got hit with a baseball bat, and we don’t want the police thinking he was the victim here.”
Kara snorted and rubbed her aching elbow. “Yeah, poor little guy. He may need stitches on that pretty face of his. At least he can afford it.”
Abbey knelt and poised her hand above the man, then glanced at Kara. “Are the herbs working yet?”
Kara removed her boot from his throat and gave him a small kick in the head. He didn’t stir. “Yep.”
“Okay.” Abbey brought her hands together above his groin and began to chant.
Kara never tired of watching her best friend work. Abbey’s hair didn’t twirl around her head and fire didn’t shoot from her fingertips, but Kara could feel the energy in the air coalescing around the man.
Abbey’s voice was low and smooth, almost otherworldly in the quiet of the tucked-away street. “From the rod of man, pleasure ordained, but from this soul it gives only pain. Hear me tonight and take back desire. Punish this man and snuff out his fire.”
With the feeling of air being sucked from the space around them, the lust siphoned from the man’s body and lifted high above the alley, rising into the night like a cyclone of misty white light.
“It’s done,” Abbey said. “You can wake him now.”
Kara twisted the cap off Abbey’s water bottle and emptied the contents in the man’s face. He sputtered awake, then groaned and put his hand to his temple.
Kara dropped into a crouch beside him. “Listen to me.” He looked over at her and his gaze locked on her face like a possessed man awaiting a demon’s command. “You never saw us tonight, did you?”
He shook his head slowly. “I never saw you.”
“Good.” Kara reached down to untie his hands and placed the bindings in her pocket. “You’re going to wait here until the police arrive and then you’re going to admit to them you assaulted this woman. She fought back and hit you in the head, didn’t she?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “She fought back.”
“And when you get out of jail, you’re going to make a huge donation to the local women’s shelter.”
“I am,” he agreed.
The sound of sirens filtered into the alley from a distance. “Kara,” Abbey said. “That’s good enough. We have to get out of here.”
“One last thing.” Kara grinned and turned to the man. “When you get to jail, you may have the urge to wink at the really big guys and say, ‘I’m your bitch, baby.’ Got it?”
He held her gaze from behind glassy eyes. “I’m your bitch, baby.”
Kara snickered and stood, hearing the sirens drawing closer. She glanced at her watch. A quarter past midnight. Why couldn’t these perverts wriggle out from under their rocks earlier in the evening? “All finished, Abbs. Now let’s get the hell out of here. I have to work in the morning.”
