| Excerpts from Solonia Another exciting futuristic romance from Susan Kelley |
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| Enjoy the start of this series with THE GREATER GOOD and THE LESSER EVIL. Both are available in ebook and print from New Concepts Publishing or any reputable ebook retailer. |
| Read an unedited excerpt from One Good Woman |
| Chapter Four Cara stood back and alternating keeping watch to the north and observing the man plucking their dinner from the waves. Brady was a much more interesting sight. He’d shed his boots and rolled his pant legs to his knees. The surf still swirled high enough to dampen his pants as he chased down the scuttling crabs. Four days now, they’d been traveling north. They still were only a few miles from the falls and had yet to find a path up the Cliffside. The cataract was still a faint mumble in the background. Exploring every crevasse and tumble of fallen rocks was a tedious and slow process. At this rate they might be at for months and months. Brady’s spirits were undimmed and his determination grew each day. He acted as if they were on a great adventure with that curious attitude typical of Realm warriors. The challenge of survival and exploration delighted him to no end. Even chasing the ugly crabs, he laughed at their antics and his occasional success. The shell that served as their pot already held a half dozen of the creatures. Only her completely empty stomach allowed her to contemplate eating the bugs. Again. They’d finished their smoked fish two days ago and feasted on the game birds before that. They were surviving on one meal a day for the most part, and she felt constantly hungry. Hungry enough to eat crabs. “Hell’s bastard!” Brady hopped about in the shadows on one foot. An especially, large fat- clawed crab clung to the big toe of his other foot. “Son of a bitch!” He hopped forward and fell into the dry sand on his behind. “Little hellion is taking his revenge on me for eating his friends.” “I thought it only a matter of time until they started hunting you.” Her mouth curved of its on accord. Brady’s infectious good mood made each day more difficult for her to keep her distance from him. Damn his charm. “I’m hardly to blame. If you didn’t eat dozens of the poor things at a time, I wouldn’t have to be so merciless in the hunt.” He grimaced and pried the sharp claws from his toe. His lips pulled back from his teeth in a comic sneer. “I think it’s you they actually want.” He tossed the wiggling crab at her. She jumped back with a shriek that sent him to laughing. “You idiot.” But her heart lightened and their situation seemed less grim than a moment ago. He jumped to his feet and snatched up the crab before it could regain the haven of the waves. He plunked it into their cooking shell. “I think I’m going to grow claws myself if I eat one more of these things.” “We’re not straving.” He snorted. “You’re as sick of them as I am.” “We’ve seen no signs of live any bigger than a hare. Maybe you do some more hunting again tomorrow.” “I can’t believe you’re the one to suggest it.” He raised an eyebrow, but she gave no answer. Truth was, she did feel oddly secure. It was as if they were the only two people in the world. They’d fallen into an easy pattern of taking turns with watch at night and exploring the Cliffside during the day. Would it be so bad if they never found their way back home? They could build a winter shelter, stock up on food, live as…. Live as what? Husband and wife? Brady had pulled on his boots while her mind wandered. He strapped on his gun and sword and checked to see the hand pistol was in easy reach. She picked up the heavy shell with their dinner. The way they’d begun to work together with such ease must have led to her silly daydreaming. “What the hell?” Brady grabbed her arm and tugged her toward a high rocky formation jutting from the white sands. Old habit had her digging in her heels for a moment of resistance before her common sense let him lead her to cover. “What is it?” She set down the shell. “Look between the two white pines.” Many of the trees growing at the bottom of the cliff were pine trees. She squinted against the setting sun and saw it. “Smoke.” The cries of the seagulls suddenly seemed a warning. The tracks they’d made in the sand from the treeline to the sea marked their presence as clearly as if they’d lit a beacon. “Looks like a small fire.” His hand rested on his gun. “I hope we don’t have to make a run for it. My damned toe hurts like hell.” Tension drained from her. Did nothing rattle Brady Gellot? “I’ll cover your backside while you hobble away.” “Don’t joke with me, woman. You never ran from a fight in your life. Go now or wait for dark?” “Lots of open ground between here and there.” “And we’re going to leave tracks in the sand no matter when we go.” “We don’t have any place to hide or run.” He turned his full attention on her. She hadn’t realized how close they were as they crouched behind the rock. His eyes were very clear in the bright sunshine and clear with that honest confidence she so admired in the Realm warriors. So admired and wished she had instead of her angry bravado. “We have to know who it is.” He smiled as if proud of her statement. “I think we’re about to have an end to our tedium. We’ll probably wish we could go back to complaining about boring crabs.” She poked at the shell full of crabs with her foot. It also gave her a reason to look away from him. “Guess dinner is delayed.” “Unless you want to eat them raw. I’ll dump them back in the surf. I hate to let that one bastard get away with assaulting me. Keep a watch.” He glanced once more in the direction of the thin column of smoke. After giving her a quick grin, he sprinted to the edge of the surf. He ran without the slightest hint of a limp. The crabs arched out into the waves as he tossed them out of the shell. Then he tucked it under his arm and ran to their packs. They’d set them in the sand out of reach of the waves. Her heart raced along with him. She watched the treeline and him in turn. He lifted the back and the rolled blankets and sprinted back toward their hiding place. He wasn’t even winded when he rejoined her. And his grin stretched even wider. The newly discovered threat pleased him, the idiot. She couldn’t share his warrior joy. They were only two against this unknown. Brady and other men didn’t appreciate how dangerous the world could be when one was outnumbered by beings stronger and more vicious than oneself. |