Why, hello, everyone! I’ve been busy running all over the world the last few weeks, but I’m back to writing and I wanted to give you all a sneak peek of Part II of my upcoming release ‘Of Fog and Fire’ for WIP Wednesday this week. The first part of this story appeared in the last anthology I participated in, Twist, and I was planning on writing a short extra for the individual release but the story took over and now there’s a whole other part to the book.

This part follows Bryant and Phee as they deal with political upheaval in the city after the uprising, and let’s just say neither of them are making friends with the opposition. In this scene, their friends Easton and Regan have come to the apartment to warn them of something.

Enjoy, and watch my page for information on the upcoming release! *heart*

—

Easton walked further into the apartment, dropping onto the couch and propping his dirty boots up on the pristine coffee table. “But we’re not here to talk about that, we’re here to talk about the fact that you two have seriously pissed off the COF supporters. You may as well have painted targets on your backs like some old cartoon and stood outside and asked them to come after you.”

“I don’t care what they’re threatening, Danny boy, I’m not backing down on one of the few campaign promises Parks made that we might actually be able to fulfill this year.” Bryant wandered past them all and back into the bedroom to put the gun away. When he stepped back into the living room he had a shirt on and Easton looked pissed.

“Even if it means they hurt Phee? Fuck, Holbrook, I thought you’d do anything to keep her safe. You certainly always have before now. All I’m asking is that you wait a couple of days until we get them squared away. I’ve got my whole team trying to figure out where they’re going to be so we can catch them with enough evidence to take them all down.” Easton rolled his eyes, “If you don’t want to protect Phee for your own sake, at least think of me. If Regan loses her best friend I’ll never hear the end of it!”

Phee grabbed one of the pillows off the couch and threw it at Easton’s face, irritated that he’d accuse Bryant like that over some bullshit threat, “Shut up, Easton!” She snapped at him and he caught the pillow and glowered at her.

“What? You think I’m kidding?” He pulled it into his lap and leaned forward. “These guys aren’t messing around, and if they do get their hands on you and Bryant continues to be Captain Noble of the New Democratic Fellowship over here, then who knows what they’ll do to you. This is fucking serious!”

“I can’t just run away every time they threaten me, or Phee, or anyone, it doesn’t work that way. These guys don’t get to control how the NDF works, or what we do, by playing dirty. If I let these threats work this time, then what happens next time? What happens when they try the same shit on an even bigger issue?” Bryant was clearly frustrated, and his argument made sense. It would just be a lot easier to agree with him completely if the threat hadn’t been made against her. She didn’t want someone to try and use her against him.

“And what happens if you lose Phee while you’re standing on your principles?” Easton went for blood, and Regan groaned off to her right.

“That’s not going to happen. Bryant loves Phee and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Right, Bryant?” Regan’s voice was hopeful, and the words stuck in Phee’s chest like she’d swallowed wrong. As much as she wanted to act calm and casual, she still snuck a glance at Bryant. His forehead was creased and he pushed a hand into his hair – wait, he was thinking about it?

“Bryant?” She asked and he looked over at her with a pained expression.

“Baby, I can’t cancel the improvement project, you know that. It’s going to take three months to complete as is, and if they keep delaying it we’ll have nothing to show for Mitchell Parks’ first year in office.” He stepped closer to her and she nodded. “I’m sure it’s a bluff, it’s just a bullshit bluff because nothing else they’re doing is working.”

“I don’t understand why they’re fighting it so much.” Phee grumbled against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Because they don’t want to pay to fix what doesn’t affect them. Most of these downtowners have never even been to the southern district of the city, and so they don’t want to spend any of their tax dollars ‘fixing other people’s problems’, or at least that’s what they keep shouting in front of the news cameras.” He pressed a kiss to her hair, “It’s okay though, it will just take time for them to come around.”

“They’ll never come around, Bryant. I’ve been telling you and Parks from day one, they only understand one thing. Brute strength. If we don’t make a show of power then they’re never going to back down. Just have Parks give me permission to take my soldiers after them, we’ll destroy them and no one will ever -”

“No. For the last time, Easton, no. We will not follow in the Cabal Of Freedom’s footsteps, rounding up and killing anyone who disagrees with us. They have a right to complain on television if they want to, they have a right to accuse us of misusing funds by funneling them to the southern districts, and as much as I hate it they even have a right to argue about how they liked the COF better.” Bryant sighed against her as Easton huffed out a bitter laugh from the couch.

“Do they have a right to kidnap your fiancé, Holbrook?” Easton asked it in a mocking tone and Regan shoved his shoulder. She was snuggled up next to him now, and it was still sometimes weird for Phee to see the two of them together. Supposedly they loved each other, but then again they were both so loud and brash that maybe they were the only options for the other. At the moment though, Regan didn’t look so cuddly. She looked like she was about to smack Danny Easton across the face.

“No one is getting near Phee.” Bryant’s voice was hard, and it made her feel safe to have his arms around her as he promised to protect her, regardless of his earlier comments.

“Damn right they’re not, because you’re going to come with me and let me take you two to a safe house. I can show you the intel I got early this morning and maybe get it through your thick skull about how serious these COF-rebirth people are.” Easton had that trademark growl to his voice, peppering his comments with vitriolic undertones, but it was just because he cared. He was a bastard, but he really did care about them and in that instant – when his mouth was shut – Phee could see what Regan liked about him.

“I can’t just disappear, I have a job to do, I have -”

“A threat against you and Phee. That is what you have, Bryant, and that’s what needs to be priority number one.” He sighed, “After all, I saw the press conference from last night, and she really -”

“That’s over and done with, Easton. Phee and I addressed it last night, and she knows it was wrong of her to react the way she did and she doesn’t plan on it happening ever again.” Bryant shifted to face the couch, but he kept his arm around her waist.

“Ah, is that why there’s a crop and a flogger on the floor behind the sofa?” Easton grinned and waggled his eyebrows, and Phee felt a blush rush up her cheeks. Regan laughed and looked over the back of the couch, her laughter just getting louder as she saw the implements on the floor. “Based on Phee’s face, I think I hit the nail on the head, but regardless you both need to come with me to a safe house. Especially if you’re not planning on cancelling the improvements, Holbrook.”

“I’m not letting them scare me, Easton.” Bryant said it sternly, and Easton just rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, just pack a fucking bag, okay?”

—

I hope you loved this little sneak peek, and I really hope you grab a copy of the book to find out what happens with Phee and Bryant!

Much love to all of you, and since I’m participating in the WIP Wednesday blog hop today, check out these other awesome authors while you’re at it. ^_^