Goldilox and the Three Scares Event and Giveaway: Sandy Williams!

Welcome!

Here at Goldilox and the Three Weres we LOVE Halloween! So we wrangled up some willing authors and put together some fun posts and giveaways for you all! 

Our theme for the event this year is What Scares You? 

Check back every weekday between October 20th and October 31st to see which authors are visiting and the awesomeness they are each giving away!

Today's author is:

Sandy Williams!

  

Sandy has graced us with a short Halloween story with Naito and Kelia, two beloved side characters from her Shadow Reader series. If you're unfamiliar with the series, this trilogy is one of my all time favorites...ENJOY!

Naito shivered when he stepped out of the In-Between, but the chill disappeared the instant he saw Kelia. She stood arms crossed, lips pressed, in the center of the room. Her silver eyes were locked on him, not on the fissure disappearing behind him or on Aren, who gave a short laugh and retreated to another room. Naito almost called him out for that. He’d saved Aren’s ass twice on that raid. The fae owed him.

Slowly, Naito unbuckled the belt that held his sword and knife. He kept his gaze on Kelia, not just because she was fast and fierce and could take him out easy if he let his guard down, but because she was Kelia - slender, spirited, sexy - and there’d been a few minutes on the raid when he’d thought he’d never see her again.

She remained silent when he tossed the weapons belt onto the couch, but her eyes narrowed. That was a good sign. It meant she was annoyed, not pissed off. The question was, what had he done?

“I thought you’d be in the Realm,” he said.

“No.” Her answer came quick and abrupt.

“Is it Lorn?” he asked. This time, she rolled her eyes. “It’s usually Lorn.”

“It hasn’t been Lorn since you threatened to duck tape cell phones to his head.”

The Crown of Phones, Naito had called it. If he ever got silver shackles on Lorn, he’d do it.

But the threat wasn’t what kept Lorn away. It was the fact that every time the fae came near, Naito took Kelia to bed. Since Lorn was her bond-mate, Kelia’s emotions had an effect on him. Distance helped diminish it, and Lorn tended to flee the second Naito kissed her.

He wanted to kiss her now, so he said, “I wish it was Lorn.”

She rolled her eyes again, but this time she was grinning.

“So what did I do?” he asked.

“It’s what you didn’t do,” she said. “You didn’t tell me it was Halloween.”

He had to bite back a laugh. He turned toward the kitchen in an attempt to hide a smile, filled a glass with water, then schooled his expression before he faced her again. She stood there, a deadly fighter who was charmingly obsessive about everything human.

Damn, he loved her.

“I didn’t know I was supposed to tell you about Halloween.” He leaned against the cabinet.

“Humans walk around dressed like monsters and vampires and fairytale characters. Of course you were supposed to. I don’t have a costume.”

“It’s a holiday for children, Kelia.”

“I saw costumes for adults.”

“You-” He looked out the window. It was still light outside. His mental clock might have been off - it was hard to keep track of the right time when fae fissured him to the Realm and back so often - but it looked too bright to be close to trick-or-treating time. She couldn’t have noticed costumes on the street, which meant…

“You went to the mall.”

Her eyes widened a fraction, then she pursed her lips in a I-didn’t-intend-to-reveal-that way.

He set his glass aside and moved toward her, scanning her for tech, which always accidentally fell into her hands when she went into stores. There wasn’t anything he could see, and there definitely wasn’t anything in the pockets of her tight black pants, but her shirt was loose and flowy. He ran his hands over her ribs.

“My edarratae are fine, Naito.”

“Lorn said-”

“I know what he said, but it’s fine. My magic is fine.”

She’d almost killed her mind with tech in an attempt to break her life-bond with Lorn. That had only been a few months ago. She needed to stay away from cell phones and computers and electricity. Hell, she shouldn’t even be in his house. The Realm would heal her faster.

She let out a frustrated groan and moved away.

He didn’t want to argue. He wanted her.

He followed her back into the living room, his gaze locked on her swaying hips. When she stopped and turned, he put his arms over her shoulders, locking her in place. “Why don’t you dress up as a fae?”

“Boring,” she said, accepting the change-of-subject-peace-offering.

He drew a finger along her jaw and watched tendrils of blue lightning flicker across her skin. “I don’t think it’s boring.”

“That’s because you’re human.”

“You like human.”

“I do,” she said, in a tone that sounded like she’d just come up with an idea.

He grinned. “You’d never pass for one of us. You’re too beautiful.”

She stuck her thumbs in her pockets and tilted her head to the side, trying her best to impersonate a human. It didn’t work. It made her look exotic and cute.

His grin widened. Kelia hated it when he called her cute.

She must have realized what he was thinking. She dropped her hands to her sides and stood straighter, chin jutted out in a dare.

He laughed. “What do you want to be for Halloween, Kelia?”

A slow smile curved her lips. “I bought a costume.”

“Bought?”

“Borrowed permanently.” She made a dismissive gesture then held out her hand. “It’s upstairs.”

Something glinted in her silver eyes. He curled his fingers over hers. “Am I going to like it?”

Lightning leapt from her skin to his then back again.

“Come see.”

She led him to their room. He closed the door as she reached into the closet and pulled out the…

… the costume. Woah.

He was almost certain the blue lightning on Kelia’s skin leapt into him from across the room.

“Do you like it?”

He loved it. He loved her.

“Put it on,” he said. “So I can rip it off.”

Thank you SO much to Sandy for that special story...LOVE Naito and Kelia so much!

Sandy graduated from Texas A&M University with a double major in political science and history. She thought about attending law school. Fortunately, before handing over her life’s savings, she realized case studies weren’t nearly as interesting as novels and decided to get an MA in Library Science instead. She worked as a librarian until her husband whisked her off to London on an extended business trip. She’s now back home in Texas, writing full-time, raising twin boys, and squeezing in time to play geeky board and card games like Settlers of Catan, Dominion, and Runebound.

Sandy Williams is giving away any one book in her Shadow Reader trilogy!
Winner chooses one:

  

This giveaway is for United States residents only.

(Winner must be 13 or older)
All of the Goldilox and the Three Scares giveaways end at 11:59pm on November 7th!

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