A Stab at Love
If you're here, it means you preordered Raven's Wrath before it hit bookstore shelves.
Thank you.
Supporting a debut author before release is one of the greatest gifts you can give, and I'm so grateful you've chosen to take this journey with me.
As a thank-you, I'm sharing something I've never released before. Long before Raven's Wrath became the novel you'll read on March 23, 2027, it began as a single short story that refused to let me go.
That little spark eventually grew into the world, characters, and adventure that became Raven's Wrath.
Today, you're getting to read where it all began.
I hope you enjoy this first glimpse into the world as much as I loved creating it.
Happy reading,
Margot
When I started my apprenticeship with the Cursebreakers, falling in love wasn’t listed as one of the hazards of the job. Being burned alive? Sure. Losing a limb? Absolutely. Falling in love—or getting railed so hard you see stars behind the 7-11? Not so much. But here we are.
My dad, if he stuck around, would be so proud I fell in love with one of the vile beings I was trained to hunt. In Dax’s defense, he’s not like the other demons. For starters he has a moral compass. I mean, what kind of hell spawn cares about others and can cook? So his skin is tinted red. It’s hot and I’ve never been one to judge someone based on how they look.
The only problem we have right now is he’s my mark and I’m his.
***
The car door slams, jolting me awake. These days we don’t get much sleep, on account we’re sort of on the run. If Dax’s boss catches wind that he wasn’t able to clear out the San Dangelos Cursebreakers and ran away with one, he would be banished under the surface. Dax has been an obedient half-breed Inferni for his whole thirty years on this shitty planet. It’s about time he started to listen to his human side and do things for himself.
“They were out of grape.” He tosses me a cherry sucker, my new fixation in an effort to give up smoking. The things I’ll do for this guy. I’m being punished because the smell of burnt demons can slightly resemble that of a marlboro red.
“Thanks,” I say. “Where are we?”
“Just out of the city. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Any chance we can crash in a motel tonight?” Sleeping in the junker we hotwired proved to be more uncomfortable than I planned. I must have nodded off sometime after midnight.
“Raven, do you think the Cursebreakers and the Inferni won’t look for us in a motel? We’ve got to give them more credit than that.”
“I mean they’re both run by a bunch of hotheads.” I open the door. “I’m going pee.” Dax grabs my hand and pulls me in for a kiss before I leave the car. Our lips linger and I can sense his urgency. We’ve got to get out of here. I pop in my sucker and leave.
The clerk reluctantly gave up the bathroom key, which is chained to a milk crate–eyeing me suspiciously the whole time. Can’t a girl pee without being harrassed. The door stood out in its Pepto-Bismol pink misery, slathered with the kind of hasty, uneven paint job only a neglectful landlord could love. I gingerly use my elbow to unlatch the door, while balancing the milkcrate key in my arms.
Mid stream, a loud banging reverberates through the single stall bathroom.
“Someone’s in here.” I yell, which is followed by silence. The door explodes inward. Splinters shower the stall as a maroon-skinned demon ducks through the wreckage. Horns curve wickedly, teeth bared in a sneer. My heart slams into overdrive. My gun, still in the car. Idiot. “Just about done in here,” I mutter, stalling.
“Where’s Dax?” He braces the doorframe.
How’d he miss Dax? Our car is right outside?
“Who?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Cursebreaker. The half-breed. Where is he?”
“Oh that guy. I can’t say I’ve seen him.”
“You think you can keep up this little charade, you two have going on? I don’t know what kind of spell you got our boy under, but it won’t last. Dax wasn’t nicknamed the heartbreaker for nothing.”
“He’s my half-breed, ass-hole.” I grab the key off the crate, giving it enough momentum to smack into his face and swing up to the sprinkler system. “By the light and fire of the divine, I bless this water to cleanse and burn all evil. Let no darkness endure its touch. So be it.”
The sweet smokey scent of demon flesh burning does little to curb my nicotine cravings. He stumbles backward, screaming. Out of nowhere, Dax slices his head off with my silver hunting knife. The demon’s head hits the ground with a wet thud. Smoke coils around us, rancid and stinging, but I can’t stop staring. Dax stands there, knife dripping, chest heaving and, god, he’s sexy when he’s defending me.
I bend down and jam my lollipop stick in the demon’s eye.
“God he stinks. Let’s get out of here.” He grabs my hand and we make our way to the exit.
“The bathroom might need some cleaning.” I say to the attendant as we leave.
Dax makes the most of our getaway car, while I pray it doesn’t break down before we make it out.
“Where are we going now?” I ask.
“How do you feel about roughing it?” He chuckles, his thick black hair blowing in the wind. He knows I can hold my own—he’s seen it firsthand. You don’t join the Cursebreakers without learning how to stalk a mark, no matter how ugly or uncomfortable it gets. When I was stalking Dax, I was held up in a tree for nearly 48 hours before I could make my move. Holy water and silver didn’t work on him. His human side made sure of that. So I did the next best thing: I strapped him to a chair. I thought he would be another meat-head demon, ready to suck my soul, but by hour ten, he was cracking jokes about the knots I tied, and by hour twenty-four, he was guessing my dog’s name. I didn’t want to like him, but I couldn’t help laughing.
“Doesn’t matter. As long as I’m with you.”