Excerpt teaser #4 for Savage Fire

Nine days.

My short story collection, Savage Fire, will be released on May 31st as an eBook. I have posted a rough copy of the cover and three excerpts, which you can find on the blog without being Sherlock Holmes or anything. Today, I decided to do a bit more straight horror (not heterosexual horror, but horror that is more mainstream). It has a nasty beast in it.

Remember to watch on Twitter for the hash tag #savagefire, which I am using for tweets and hints about the collection. When the eBook is available for pre-order, I'll tweet about it. When the book is available, I'll tweet about it. I think it is safe to say that I'll tweet too damn much about it, but twitter is a stream rushing away, so close your eyes and wait a moment, and my useless tweets will have floated away.

An excerpt from Without Remorse, a beastly treat from Savage Fire:

            "You misunderstand, daughter." Fernand looked at her, tears streaming down his face. "He says that I may stay, if you will accept Stephen's offer of marriage."

            Gabriella leapt to her feet. "What? Never. Stephen is a brute. No woman will have him."

            "There is no choice, Gabriella." Pain scored Fernand's face, and he gripped her hands in his. "We cannot fight him."

            "Then we shall leave. We can make a new start elsewhere, Father. I can work as a seamstress, and you…"

            "We can never leave this land." His words came out with such force that Gabriella stepped back, and ran into the counter. She had not seen that wild look in her father's eyes before, and his vehemence scared her.

            Fernand made a visible effort to calm himself, and went on. "I hoped not to tell you, Gabriella. The reason we did not sell our land when your mother was ill, the reason we had to take on those debts, is because of a dark secret in our family."

            He paused. Gabriella waited in silence, fearing to hear what he had to say, but anxious to know what terrible fear her father harbored.

            "Many years ago, your great-great-grandfather, Rudolf, lived in this house. He was a stubborn man, quick to anger. Nobody knows what your great-great-grandmother saw in him, but she bore him three children and never said a word against him in public.

            "One night in late November, a storm blew up…"