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Blurb:
She'll have to believe the unbelievable to survive.
The doctors have told Kay that she will die
before she reaches her eighteenth birthday. Her mother’s determination to save
her life leads them to a move outside of Asheville, NC to a new set of cancer
specialists in the hopes to help her. But it’s not what Kay and her Mom find in
the doctor’s offices in Asheville that lead them on the journey to save her
before time runs out. It’s what Kay finds in the woods outside of Asheville,
and an inhumanly gorgeous guy named Ryan, instead.
Myths and fairy tales come to life before
Kay’s eyes, bringing her closer to the ultimate cure if she can stay alive long
enough to get there. And if the cancer doesn’t kill her before she finds the
cure the secrets her mother has hidden from her may be the beginning of the
end.
Can
she reach her destiny before tragedy strikes?
Excerpt
All I could think was
that if I concentrated on cleaning his gash then maybe I wouldn’t make myself
look like an idiot anymore. The concentrating helped because I could just feel
his eyes on me. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, or why he was
staring, but I thought it was better to just stay quiet and clean his arm. I
worked quickly and when I was done I looked up into his face with a somewhat
steely determination not to make an ass out of myself anymore today. “Hey, you
think you can handle it if we clean it off with alcohol. I bet it’s going to
sting like a bitch, but I’m afraid it might get infected if we don’t.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” He
said as he concentrated on my face.
“Are you sure? Because
a cut like that, I bet it’s going to hurt. Like hurt a lot.” I inwardly debated
if he was trying to be brave, or if he was nuts enough that he just didn’t
care. My bet was nuts.
Ryan put on a confident
face and said, “I think I can handle it. But if it makes you feel any better I
promise I won’t scream like a little girl.”
Well at least I could
go get the alcohol without feeling like I hadn’t warned him properly. “Ok, wait
here. I’ll go get the alcohol out of the bathroom, and I’ll be right back.” I
headed out of the kitchen and turned right down the hall towards that bathroom.
I snagged it out from underneath the bathroom sink cabinet and hurried back to
the kitchen because some part of my brain still couldn’t believe that there was
an exceptionally hot half naked guy in my kitchen. But sure enough I rounded
the corner and he was still standing there waiting for me. “So, do you want me
to like pat it on with the rag or…”
“No just pour it
straight into the wound. That’s the best way to avoid any infection.” And with
that comment he positioned his arm over the sink so that we wouldn’t make a
mess. I just shook my head. He really was nuts.
“I’m betting twenty
bucks you scream like a girl.” I chided.
“And I’m betting a date
with you that I won’t scream like a girl.” He stared intently at my shocked
face with a cocky little grin as I absorbed his comment in.
“Ok.” Really? I thought to myself. That’s all you can come up with is ‘ok’?
He’ll think you’re oh so smooth now. In fact, I’m sure I just won the ‘smooth
award’ somewhere.
I shook my head and
gingerly started to pour the alcohol into the gash that ran nearly from his
shoulder to right above his elbow. As I braced myself for the scream that I was
sure he had coming, when the alcohol hit his wound he gasped from the pain and
then snapped his jaw shut. His face became clenched and contorted from pain and
his entire body literally locked up in a spasm of sorts. Jerking the bottle
upright and setting it on the kitchen counter; I stared into his distorted
face. He was in so much pain that I had absolutely no idea how he was not
screaming. His body shuddered and then I saw where there were beads of sweat on
his forehead that started trickling down his face.
I inadvertently took a
step back from him afraid that he was going to crack and instead of screaming
throw a punch or something. Then the strangest thing happened; I felt a blast
of hot air that was strong enough to lift my hair a little as if it was in a
breeze and then there was a rich smell of some kind of flowers I couldn’t
identify that practically engulfed my senses. My body started tingling in
response to something, and I felt a flash of heat ripple through me. Then as
quickly as it had started, it was over. I looked around my house somewhat
wildly for a minute trying to figure out what just happened. “What was that? Ryan
did you feel that?”
“Feel what Kay? The
alcohol burning the crap out of my arm. Yes, I most certainly felt that.” He
was looking at me somewhat analytically, and I thought that maybe he was
thinking that I belonged in the loony farm or something.
I was seriously going
to have to reread the side effects of that new medication I was on. Maybe I was
having hallucinations? But it felt so real. In fact, my body was still humming
with something that I couldn’t place.
“Right, you’re right.
It must have been the heater coming on or something. I just wonder when my mom
got that smelly thing. It has such a strong smell of some kind of flower.” I
started scanning the wall outlets for an air freshener plug in and then the
counters for some kind of new smelly candle. Nothing. There had to be an
explanation for it. The hot air came on and hit whatever air freshener Mom had
put out, right?
“Kay, are you all
right?” The way Ryan was watching me now I was obviously never getting that
date. What a freak he must think I am.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.
Sorry, I guess I’m a little out of it today. How’s your arm? I guess we should
wrap it up now.” I reached for the ace bandage and shook my head to clear the
crazy fog that was still in there. I glanced up into Ryan’s face before I
touched his arm just to make sure that he was ok with me trying to take care of
him.
He
must want me to stand, like, fifty feet back so he didn’t catch my crazy.
Author
Bio:
Jessie Lane is the writing team
of Crystal Leo and Melissa Pahl. The two sister-in-laws share a great love of breathtaking
romance, cliff hanging suspense, and out-of-this-world characters that demand
your attention or threaten to slap you around until you do pay attention to
them. Because really, it is ALL about the characters. (They’re kind of
megalomaniacs)
When not losing themselves in a
story, they remember they have real lives. Crystal lives in Kentucky with her
husband and two little girls who plot daily the many ways they can drive their
poor mother crazy. At the end of the day, Crystal calls Melissa and threatens
to ship her two nieces to their favorite Aunt with lots of air holes punched
through their box. Melissa answers Crystal’s crazed calls in Washington state
where she lives with her husband and big furry baby of a Rottweiler named
Yuffie, and reminds her that children are not shippable.
This
is their first novel, but they are all geared up and excited to be releasing
other projects soon!
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Website: http://jessielanesite.blogspot.com/
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