Sneak Peek! Fire in the Moonlight

 

Hey everyone! Today I'm bringing you a sneak peek of book 3 of the Georgia Arcana series. It's finally Ness's turn and I'm excited about her journey. If you subscribe to my newsletter, then you already got a peek of what's to come, but if you don't, now's your time to catch up. Keep scrolling for your hint of what's to come. 

Vanessa’s leg bounced underneath the small table as she downed another shot. She’d been in Springbrook for a year and was just as stressed as when she’d arrived. Maybe even more so. Especially with the phone calls she was receiving. She had to figure out how to tell her cousins that the federal government may — or may not — be after them. The last call she’d received from one of her contacts in her old world was worrying. There was now a bounty on her head.

And not Olivia Wick’s — Vanessa Fouche’s.

When she’d run home at her grandmother’s summoning, she assumed that even with the power to hunt her down, he wouldn’t take the time to. This last call disabused her of that notion. How had the warlock found her? The bounty was a problem, but if Zane came here in search of her, it would turn the whole town on its head. She knew the Taylors wouldn’t take it lying down, and she was almost certain her cousins would fight with their last breaths.

Ness felt guilty because it felt like she and her cousins had been fighting from the moment they touched down in Georgia. From the minute her grandmother’s lawyers had found her, Nicole, and Audrey, what should’ve been a simple inheritance had turned into something much more complicated. In the time they had come home, they’d solved their grandmother’s murder, found out Audrey had a secret husband, and rid their family of a centuries-old curse.

 Breaking the curse months ago should’ve freed them from the last bit of danger surrounding the family, and here she was, bringing more.

Shit.

She sighed and waved at the bartender for another shot.

“You need to tell them.” Her grandmother Patsy wavered into view to the right of Ness.

Patsy had been dead a good year but was chattier than ever. Vanessa looked up, and all the spirits she’d picked up in the last six months were staring at her in question. She sighed. She needed to get rid of them, at least the ones she didn’t know. It was the ones she did know that were being bothersome, however.

“No need in getting an attitude with us,” Candace said.

No matter what ritual she tried, Candace was a spirit that refused to leave her permanently. It wasn’t until they’d found old pictures in her grandmother’s safe that she finally figured out who the woman was. She’d been shaken to see a picture of the young woman in Patsy’s things. According to some of the writings she found, the woman had acted very much like Ness. It was eerie. Long ago, her mentor had told her that a person could never tell which of their ancestors would watch over them, and Ness had finally understood that. Candace was a great-great-aunt that she’d never heard of, never mind met in her life.

“Please. Don’t act like you don’t need a guide,” Candace inputted.

Ness rolled her eyes because that much was true. It was perfect, really, that the spirit sent was the one most like her. At times, it felt like Candace was trying to make sure Ness didn’t make the same mistakes she had in life.

 “Can I have a drink and think in peace, please?” she muttered to them.

A chill moved through her before her skin heated. She didn’t even lift her head. Only one person could cause her body to react that way.

“Still talking to yourself, huh?”

She finally looked up, if only to sneak a peek at him. Square jaw dusted with a light beard, his mustache framing full, kissable lips and flawless skin, he was carved by God. Her stomach dipped before clenching. He was still so damn fine. His chestnut brown skin was glowing, or maybe it was just her.

The man had had years to notice her, and Ness could admit to holding a grudge that he hadn’t. As she’d told her grandmother before, Trey was not checking for her. Why, then, did he insist on bothering her today?

She swallowed her drool and cleared her throat. “Don’t come over here gettin’ on my nerves, Trey.”

He smiled, and okay…that smile still worked on her. She sighed and blamed her grandmother. Patsy had been calling him hers since she showed up months ago, making Ness reevaluate the man. Trey was a police officer and thus automatically struck off her list of people to get involved with. She may have long given up a life of crime, but some things were ingrained. So…he was off-limits.

It was best to keep her distance, mainly because she didn’t want him digging around in her past.

Her grandmother scoffed next to her.

He sat down without asking, studying her with those inscrutable dark eyes of his. The puma within her went wild, her magic momentarily flaring out of her control. She gathered it quickly, especially when another spirit showed up behind him. And was that judgment she saw on the face of his ancestor? Either way, she couldn’t afford more shades clogging up her magic. She exhaled, thankful when the bartender dropped two more shots in front of her. She could not deal with her traitorous body at the moment.

“You been in town a year and haven’t been arrested once. Gotta be some kind of a record for you.” He smirked. “What you sulking about?”

This fucking guy.

“I’m not in the mood, Trey. Move around.” She threw back one of the shots.

“Awww, mama, tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.” His eyes were sparkling with mischief, but his face was straight, his voice sincere. It was like he really wanted to fix it. That…

She took a deep breath because she was liable to fall for his game if she wasn’t careful. “What you doing on this side of town? Didn’t your mama ban you from this bar?”

He bit his bottom lip and eyed her. “Why you so mean to me, kitty cat?”

That fucking country ass twang coupled with his deep voice was finna get her in so much trouble. Lord, have mercy. Her hands shook as she cupped her shot glass.

He tilted his head. “How many of them you done had?”

She cursed the goosebumps sliding across her skin at his tone. It was just assertive enough to reach that place inside of her that she mostly suppressed. “That’s not your business, deputy.”

“Only ‘cause you playing,” he rebutted.

Her heart thudded, and her clit jumped — honest to God thumped against the seat of her yoga pants. Was he being for real right now? What did he even mean by that? Trey was potent, the wolf inside of him powerful and oh so very tempting…or maybe it was the four shots.

He held his hand up, and the bartender nodded at him. His eyes never left Ness, and she refused to lower hers. She knew the wolf would see it as a challenge, but she’d never been one to back down...