Snippet Saturday – Kung Fu Fighting
Jun
16
2012

How about a scene from CHAOS BURNING?

Bound By Magick: CHAOS BURNING by LAUREN DANE
Copyright 2012, Lauren Dane
All Rights Reserved, The Berkley Publishing Group

She halted, digging in her heels, drawing him up short as she did. “Something’s wrong.”

He got in front of her and she snorted, moving around his body. “Kind of my job, Thundarr.”

“What?”

“Cartoon hero. Big barbarian. Sort of like ThunderCats?”

“Did you just compare me to a cat?”

“Concentrate on the real issue please.”

“Let’s get you in the car then. Or back inside. This is serious shit, Lark.”

She grabbed a strand of her hair and twirled it around her finger as she gave him an exaggerated pout. “Really? I’m such a girl, I had no idea.” Her tone went very dry and he knew he was being chastened. But . . . he liked it. “Back off. Your testosterone is messing with my magick.”

“How so?”

She narrowed her eyes and planted her hands on her hips. “Oh my god. Are you arguing just to argue? This is why you’re so hot. Because otherwise no sane woman would tolerate your bossiness. I need to use my othersight. Step back a little.”

Hm. He backed off a little and kept an eye on the immediate area as she did her witch thing.

Her face changed when she opened her othersight. Softened as she gave over to that force inside her.

But it wouldn’t do for him to lose his own damned focus like a pre-maturation wolf. She was his friend. He’d joked with her and smoked cigars with her. He needed to remember that.

“Come on out and fight me,” she called and he growled in response. Not that she seemed to care. She circled the lot, looking carefully. There was a high wall surrounding this part of the property.

The man was annoyed that she hadn’t ceded to him right away. This was his ground, his territory and she was deliberately starting a fight with whatever might be out there in the dark.

The wolf within—his beast—approved of her mightily. She moved like a predator. Her attention was sharp, intent and the magick began to flow from her, filling the space. The scent and taste of it brought the feral part of his senses closer to the surface.

The reaction slammed through his senses, sending him reeling a moment.

And then three males hopped the fence and landed just feet away. All his confusion faded as the warrior took over.

“You don’t hold our chain.” One of the larger males, a mage with a terrible dye job, stepped forward.

She snorted. “Really? I called, you came. Seems to me like I yanked and you yielded.” One handed, she’d tied her hair into a knot and away from her face. The sweet, geeky girl home from a date look was gone, now her features were hard and her stance vibrated danger. She radiated so much violence it set something inside him singing, nearly moving him to howl.

Instead, he moved to her back, pressing his to it. Their magick mingled and he couldn’t resist taking a deep breath, drawing it into his lungs.

“There are really only two ways to end this. I can beat you to a pulp and you can confess your sins afterward. Or you can tell me what you’re doing and if you do it quickly, I may show you mercy. One way or another you’re going to tell me just what you’re doing here. And to be totally honest with you I’d rather beat your ass first because I loathe cowards and cheats.”

“I’m not a coward or a cheat!” The bad dye job male yelled this as he charged at her and Simon moved from her way so she’d have the space to defend. He knew better than to interfere and there were two other males to keep an eye on as well. If they made a single move he’d crush them under his boot heel.

Instead, he watched, impressed by the sweeping kick of her left leg that sent the guy sprawling face-first into the asphalt at their feet.

“Mage, you can’t best me. I own my magick, she owns me. The earth sings through my veins. You have no magick but what you steal. That and I’m pretty badass and you’re a junkie.”

“We’ll see what you say when you meet him.” The male picked himself up and threw a ball of dark, sickly energy at her. She deflected it easily and sent it back, sending him to his knees on a strangled gasp.

She ignored the downed mage and turned to the other two. “Well? Deliver your message like the lapdogs you are. Also, this him business is hokey.”

“We don’t take orders from you.”

She rolled her eyes and much to Simon’s horrified fascination, his cock twitched. He gave himself a stern talking-to, but that part of his body was notorious for ignoring good advice.

“Well then, come on. Show me what you’ve got. I hope for your sakes it’s more than Tweedledum over there. It hurts like mad to eat pavement. He may need a dentist when you leave here. Hope you guys have good insurance over at the villain’s bureau.”

And then she was a blur as she sprang into action. Her magick singed the bricks on the wall behind the males who’d been standing.

“No.” Simon grabbed one of them, a sallow, sweaty fellow in a stained shirt, by the scruff of the neck and picked him up. “It’s not very gentlemanly to attack a woman when her back is turned. At least have the courage to do it fairly.”

The mage tried his magic on Simon, who trusted not only his own magick, but the wards etched into his skin and the ones Meriel had given him. Simon punched him in the face hard enough to render him unconscious and then dropped his body.

That’s when he caught sight of Lark’s impressive left hook as it connected with the mage’s jaw, sending him sprawling backward into Simon’s car.

“You better not scratch my car, human.”

Lark laughed as she danced out of the way of a ball of molten hot magic that barely missed her. He fisted his hands, growling.

“Dude, don’t make him angry, he’s got a wolf inside him. Also he’s nine feet tall and three feet wide.”

“I don’t give a fuck about you and your half-breed friend, bitch!” The mage charged her and she landed a fist to his temple and he went down, his eyes rolling up as he lost consciousness.

“That’s Ms. Bitch to you,” she muttered as she toed him over and pulled a set of cuffs from her bag.
Well now. “Where’d you get those?”

“I told you I had a date earlier. You never know when they might come in handy.”

Hmm.

“Interesting.” Simon looked the three over.

“I don’t have three pairs. It was just a first date and all. Do you have rope or zip ties? Also, a blanket to protect your backseat while we haul them to the Owen building.”

“You sure do come with a lot of trouble.”

She waggled her brows. “Yeah.”

“More fun than I’ve had in a while, though.”

Be Sure to Visit Today’s Other Snippeters!
Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Leah Braemel
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Shiloh Walker
Shelli Stevens
Zoë Archer
TJ Michaels
Lauren Dane

3 comments to “Snippet Saturday – Kung Fu Fighting”

  1. Viki S.
    June 16th, 2012 at 9:08 am · Link

    Thanks for the great excerpt. I have to get my hands on a copy of this!



  2. Diane
    June 16th, 2012 at 5:50 pm · Link

    😮 I’m sure that was more fun than what he’d had in a while, I enjoyed reading it!!!



  3. Melissa Porter
    June 18th, 2012 at 10:35 am · Link

    Oh. I cannot wait to get this one.
    Thanks for the teaser.
    😛