An Improper Derailment: Chapter 30

Where Mary tosses her skirts overboard…
_ID ch 30 web image
Catch up with Chapter 29…

Start the series from the beginning…

“My, my, child,” Forsyth clucked as he assisted Mary into the basket. “Your dress is a sight, I do say.”

“You may say, and you may keep your opinions to yourself, sir. I have been living out in the wild my appearance is the last item of concern on a very long list of items.” She snorted delicately out through her nose and observed her new surroundings.

It was shaped much like a gondola in Venice from pictures she had seen. Yet it was woven like a maid’s laundry basket. A plank of study pine created relatively flat flooring.

Marshall rolled over the edge of the basket and lay with his back on the floor and his limbs staying where they fell. “Damn, your timing mister. That was almost too late.”

Distracted by the new man, Captain Forsyth turned his attention away from Mary. Her attention also went to Marshall.

“Your trousers! Are you hurt?”

Marshall lifted his head and looked at her, and then began laughing. His head fell back to the floor with an audible thud. “Ow.” He reached back and rubbed his head.

“Mary, you fussed at the good captain for rescuing us, and yet the first thing out of your mouth is to comment on my clothing. Woman take a look at your dress and then apologize to the good man.”

“Marshall you are in a state. Are you injured?”

“Of course I’m injured!” he bellowed. “I hit my damned head. Mary, are you injured?”

“Why on earth would you entertain that thought?”

“My dear, please,” Captain Forsyth began. “Your skirts are in a considerably worse state than the hem of your companion’s trousers.”

Bristling, Mary glanced down. She screamed as she saw the fabric of her pantaloons and the tops of her boots.

The goo the viscous sauran’s spit at her must have been acidic. The fabric was gone. There was a large section of outer skirt missing, and then her under skirts were shredded, and actively melting.

Suddenly Marshall stood in front of her, his hands on her waist. “Stop screaming. You need to get some of that fabric off before it hits your skin.

“I will not divest myself of clothing Marshall Hunt.”

“Divest yourself of your skirts dear girl, or whatever is eating away at the fabric is going to eat away at your skin,” Captain Forsyth said in a commanding tone Mary had never heard from the man before.

“Pish.”

“Mary,” Marshall chastised her with her name. “Normally I’d be inclined to protect your delicate nature from what I’m about to show you.”

“I’ve skinned a rabbit,” she said indignantly. How dare her assume she was delicate.

“A skinned rabbit is a far easier sight than a skinned man.” With a grunt of effort, Marshall tore his pant leg at the knee, removing the entire lower half of the rough fabric and tossing it over board

“You got some alcohol, or some water? I need to wash what I can off before it eats through the muscle and clear to my bones.”

Mary covered her mouth with both hands, too horrified to scream. Marshall had a gaping wound above his ankle. The hole seemed to be growing in size before her very eyes.

“Out of the way,” Captain Forsyth demanded. “And get your skirts off. Toss them over board. We don’t want that stuff eating away at my airship.”

Mary stumbled back as the captain unstoppered a jug and began pouring it over Marshall’s leg.

He groaned through clenched teeth. “That burns.”

“It burns going down as well.”

Marshall held out his hand, and the captain handed him the jug. Marshall tossed back a quick gulp before handing the jug back. “That’s definitely not smooth.”

“Homemade. Can work as fuel for the balloon in a pinch. How’s that leg?”

Marshall wrapped his hands around his exposed leg above the red oozing patch where skin had been. “I think it’s stopped. Douse me again for good measure.”

Mary stepped out of her skirts. Finding an untarnished area she ripped off a clean section of fabric with considerable more effort than Marshall had shown while ripping at his clothing.

“Here,” she said handing over a few strips of cotton.

She felt ridiculous standing in her pantaloons with only the apron and bustle that had created a fashionable look to her skirts. Fortunately they had not been damaged in the escape efforts. Mary still felt mostly naked, at least none of her skin was exposed.

Once she saw the damage to Marshall’s leg, she didn’t need to be told twice to divest herself of the tainted clothes.

Marshall soaked the fabric before binding his leg. When he looked back up at Mary, he grinned. No doubt entertained by the ridiculousness of her current state of dress.

“I’m afraid I look a sight.”

“I believe we both do,” Marshall answered. “Were you hurt?”

“Only my wardrobe and my dignity.”

Marshall barked out a laugh. “I’m surprised you have any dignity left after the week we’ve have. Captain Forsyth, a pleasure to meet you. Marshall Hunt.” He turned his attention from Mary and shook the captain’s hand.

“Welcome aboard. This has been the most excitement I’ve had in days.”

©2023 Lulu M. Sylvian

Tune in next time to find out if Mary regains her dignity or her skirts.

Immortal Legacies: Author Interview with Silvana Sanchez

Immortal Legacies
A Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy Vampire Anthology

The Prince of Twilight by Silvana G. Sánchez

How I went from slaughtering chickens to beheading vampires 
and ruling them all.

I’m a vampire, but no ordinary one. After all, the Prince of Twilight is a title not easily earned.
No one is who they seem, at least not in my hometown, Mexico City. We have witches and monsters galore walking among us.
Who was to say I’d become one of them?
The Prince of Twilight is a fun fast-paced action-packed adventure that takes place in the heart of Mexico City. When vampires break into the lives of Beatriz and Demián, orphan siblings who live in La Condesa, a world of magic opens before their eyes. Before they even realize it, they’re trapped in a whirlwind of dark magic, curses, and monsters.
Will they survive to the most horrible weekend of their lives? 
 

Keep reading for Silvana’s interview, and an exciting excerpt from Prince of Twilight

 

Cover for Mist Chances

One-click now to get your copy of Immortal Legacies

Interview with Silvana Sanchez

USA TODAY bestselling author, Silvana G. Sánchez writes monsters with a heart of gold, villains who are the heroes of their own stories. 

She lives in Mexico City with her husband Eric, twins Iker (†)  and David, and two Shih-Tzu puppies she lovingly calls her dragons, Wookie and Padme. When not cutting eyes open in her practice as an Ophthalmologist, she’s known to write dark fantasy novels in her writing den. You can find her lurking on her Facebook page and the Reader’s Den, her reader’s group, and on TikTok. Stop by to say hello. She doesn’t bite—not always, anyway.

Q: How long have you been a writer and how did you come to writing?
I started taking writing seriously when I was 9. I submitted a short story to a state contest and won first prize. That got me published for the first time, and I was swept in a blur of TV interviews and such. My passion for writing only grew since then.

Q: What currently compels you to write?
I have so many stories to tell. That, and my readers. They’re the absolute best!

Q: Where do your characters come from?
They come from the world that lives and breathes in my head. Sometimes, I’m inspired by specific people who’ve made an impact in my life.

Q: Who is a favorite character that you’ve written?
Demián from The Prince of Twilight is a little heartbreaker, definitely! And I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Ivan Lockhart, my first antihero. My favorite villains are Gavriil Alexeev and Alisa Lockhart from the Unnatural Brethren series.

Q: What’s coming next for your readers?
My dark fairytale retelling series Cursed Kingdoms comes out 2022. The first book Ash and Snow goes up on preorder starting January!

Excerpt from Prince of Twilight

I give her a stern look. “One ring to rule them all,” I mock in a low-pitched voice, but I crack a smile as my impression of Gandalf the Grey is far from polished.
Melissa bursts into laughter. She leans against me, and I wrap her with an arm in a warm embrace. The fact that I’m able to get that much joy out of her in a moment like this pulls a broader smile out of me.
The metro makes the last stop at Bellas Artes. As soon as the metal doors slide open, the metal monster spits us out into a sea of people. We find each other near the exit, making the climb upstairs on our way out of the station.
It’s a ten-minute walk across La Alameda, then a few more blocks down Independencia avenue until we arrive at the old theatre.
Doves sprint into flight as we reach street level. The symphony of murmurs, laughter, and singing mingles with the sweetness of an organillo playing Las Golondrinas. It’s a cloudy day, and even though it’s noon, the light is dim. It might rain at any moment. But one can hardly expect different weather in the middle of April.
“Let’s stop for a while over there.” I point at a spot in the Alameda, where vendors and demonstrators tangle in a colorful landscape of plants, artesanías, and bright planks of cardboard and fabrics inked with peaceful claims of protest.
We gather under the shade of a jacaranda tree. The kids drop their backpacks to the floor. “Let’s check out our weaponry,” I say, half cynical, half in dread. “Miguel, what did you bring?”
The boy opens his backpack, exposing a pair of holy crucifixes, two flasks of holy water, and a bag of salt. It’s Xóchitl’s stuff. “Is that the exorcised salt?” I ask. Miguel nods swiftly. “Do you guys know how to use these things?”

 

One-click now to get your copy of Immortal Legacies

Immortal Legacies

Embrace the dark. Dare to take a nibble and depart from the mundane.

Join bestselling and award-winning authors as they cross the threshold into worlds filled with mouth-watering creatures of the night. Packed with desire and passion, these drool-worthy vampires are determined to capture the hearts of their fated mates.

Give in to your cravings with Immortal Legacies. One bite could change your life.

 

Immortal Legacies Now Available

ILcover

Available Now!

Click here to get your copy now!

When darkness falls, the vampires emerge…

Romance with bite…

Embrace the dark. Dare to take a nibble and depart from the mundane.

Join bestselling and award-winning authors as they cross the threshold into worlds filled with mouth-watering creatures of the night. Packed with desire and passion, these drool-worthy vampires are determined to capture the hearts of their fated mates.

Give in to your cravings with Immortal Legacies. One bite could change your life.

Happy 1-year Book Birthday Longing

On this day last year Longing was released!

Longing-solo

Shane bumped Justin’s arm with his knee, causing the kid to lose control of his game character.

“Hey, what gives?” Justin complained.

“Let’s go for a ride. C’mon.” Shane nodded his head, indicating they needed to leave. “We need to talk.”

Justin whined, “You’re not gonna talk to me about my dick, are you?”

Shane laughed. “The only dick we’re gonna talk about is your dad. Let’s go.”

Justin shrugged and powered off his game.

Shane drove for about twenty minutes in silence before Justin started talking.

“So I thought you and Mom broke up.”

“We just had an argument, man. It happens.” Shane suppressed a smile. It was good that Justin had started talking. All his informal therapy sessions with Melinda had taught him that much.

“But you didn’t come back. I didn’t think you were gonna.”

“J-man, me and your mom go way back. And I always come back around. Always. You’re my family. You, Stacey, your mom, a little argument isn’t going to drive me away for very long.”

“Then why is Dad divorcing us? We’re his family, and he’s just walking away from us. He’s being mean about it too.”

Justin turned and stared out the window. He shrugged and adjusted in his seat. Shane figured he was wiping at tears. This was all too much for the kid to handle. He didn’t need to hear what Shane thought of the man. He didn’t deserve to be their father. He didn’t deserve their tears.

“Dogstar wasn’t there when we got back. Mom took him to the vet, huh?”

“Yeah, J-man. She got him back home where he belongs.” Shane felt that was about right. He was with them where he belonged.

They pulled into a parking lot in front of a stucco building with a low tile roof. Shane cut the engine off.

“What are we doing here?” Justin looked eagerly from the building to Shane.

“Well, your mom thought that maybe…” Shane shrugged.

“I can get a dog?”

Shane nodded.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Justin ran inside the Humane Society office, leaving Shane to follow him.

The house smelled like garlic and onions when they got home.

“Stacey, get down here!” Justin yelled as soon as they walked in the door.

Lucy came into the living room first. She looked around, and her eyes fell on a carrier case. “I thought you were going to bring home a dog, not a cat.”

“Cats,” Shane corrected.

“You got cats?” Stacey asked as she walked down the stairs.

She went straight to the carrier and peeked inside. She lifted one black-and-white cat out. The animal shivered as she sat and cooed at it, stroking its fur. Justin lifted out a second cat, this one whiter with black markings. The kids sat and held their new charges.

Lucy pulled Shane aside. “What have you done?”

“We got a beautiful little girl,” Shane practically purred. “She looks like an Australian shepherd. It was love at first sight. They let Justin meet a few dogs, but she crawled right in his lap. She’s getting fixed in the morning, and we’ll pick her up after school. The cats were Justin’s idea. He thought Stacey would like the cats.”

Lucy slid into his arms. She felt so right.

“Justin was right, she’s gonna love those cats.”

©2018 Lulu M Sylvian

Read it now
https://amzn.to/2XSCxYt

Happy Book Birthday Dead Sexy

Dead Sexy Now Available!

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Dreams with Peter were not the typical mini-movie style of normal dreams. They felt real. I couldn’t distinguish them from an actual memory. Had they actually happened? Where was the line between dream and reality?

I sat cross legged on my bed. Peter sat next to me, he braced his feet against the floor, and gripped the edge of my mattress as if was all that kept him from leaping off into space. He was overwhelmingly sad, all slumped into himself. I didn’t know what to do for him. Pain rolled off him in tangible waves.

I stroked his back and murmured comforting sounds. I don’t know how long we sat like that. I don’t remember how we got there, but it had been the same for several nights in a row now. Sometimes, I would be tucked up under blankets, sometimes, I would sit next to him. We would sit, and though I don’t remember actually talking, we talked. Peter told me all about his life, and I told him about mine. Tonight was different, he didn’t speak.

I leaned against his back, and tried to rub the tension out of his arm. His grip was so hard I was afraid he would rip my bedding. He snatched his arm up and away from me like a cat. I let him, I didn’t want to hurt him.

“I don’t know what to do for you, Peter.” Probably a stupid thing to say, but I didn’t know what to do. My heart broke for him.

He shook his head. “It’s not fair. It’s just not fair.”

I didn’t exactly know what he was talking about, and yet, I knew he meant having died. When he turned to me, his eyes were rimmed with dark pink. Full of pain and tears.

I adjusted myself on the bed and reached up to guide him down to my lap. His legs stretched out, and hung over the end of my bed. His head rested on my thigh, his breath hot against my skin. With out of focus eyes, he stared into the void.

I stroked his hair, and watched his face. Even in his sadness, he was beautiful, and large. I tried to soothe him until the texture of his shaggy hair made my fingertips go numb. Are men’s heads always so big? Why did I think the weirdest things at the most inopportune moments?

I whispered, “I’d help you if I knew what you needed.”

He rolled his face into my leg. I could feel his body quake.

I curled over him and held him the best I could. He hurt, and somehow, he found me. I felt like there was a reason for this, and I wanted to help.

I rolled over and woke with a snort. My dream of holding Peter was replaced with the reality of my bedroom in the middle of the night and David’s naked shoulder in front of me. I reached up to pet his skin. How different these two men were—one so very real, and one in so much pain.

©2019 Lulu M Sylvian

Available from your favorite online bookseller
https://books2read.com/u/3GeYgd

 

Dangerous, release a year ago today!

dangerous-tiltFamily goof-off and all-around playboy Dante has been tasked with finding the missing branches of the family tree. It’s a big tree, but luckily he’s a trained investigator. What he finds instead is Geena. Only she doesn’t understand how important she is to him and she’s slipped through his fingers. Now he wants to drop all his responsibilities and track her down.

Geena’s traveling companions are the trifecta of feminine beauty. They are thin, rich, and stylish. Everything she is not. She’s shocked when the hot guy starts hitting on her. What she doesn’t know yet is that Dante isn’t just a guy. And to him, she’s not just another in a long string of women in his loose past.

Dante has seen the mate glow and he knows what it means. He needs to convince Geena that this time he’s serious. At the same time, he needs to keep his new family members in check before they blow the family lore wide open and expose their secret.

Now Available as ebook

AMAZON •  KOBO •  NOOK •  IBOOKS • GOOGLE

Cover Reveal: Wolves of Wet Waterfalls

Welcome to Wet Waterfalls,
a minuscule magical municipality,
hidden in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.

Monsters are real, and love is magic.

WWF-poset-web

Wolves of Wet Waterfalls is a sexy hot reverse harem novella series.
The three stories in the novella trilogy are Stealing Joy, Finding Home, and Ending Torment.

stealingJoy-medres

findinghome-medres

endingtorment-medres

 

Available for presale!

AMAZON – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PRNPJPZ
KOBO – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/stealing-joy
NOOK – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130910736?ean=2940161176078
APPLE BOOKS – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/stealing-joy/id1456136609?mt=11
GOOGLE – https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Lulu_M_Sylvian_Stealing_Joy?id=fNWMDwAAQBAJ&hl=en

WIP-It Wednesday

stay up for hours just watching her breathe

I didn’t know how to express the feelings I experienced. Hell, they barely felt like feelings. They felt like exhaustion, commitment, obligation. It was slogging and difficult work.

Anything and everything I had done in my life for the past eight years I revisited with tweezers and magnifying glass scrutiny. How could I have changed the outcome? Why didn’t I have the outcome I thought I wanted. How could I go back and change everything?

I began having dreams where I could time travel and now-me would tell past me to make little changes.

I would wake up because I couldn’t breathe.

My apartment felt confining, constricting. I ran outside just to breathe more than once. I had waking nightmares of dropping Myrna. At those times I would look into the side crib, assure myself that everything was alright, and then stay up for hours just watching Myrna breathe. She was here, she was safe.

I hadn’t forgotten to feed her or change her diapers. I hadn’t left her someplace and then not been able to remember.

I started to look up my foibles so many times. Each time I either couldn’t complete filling out the search field, or I would not click on the links.

When I finally clicked on one of the links I fell down a rabbit hole of patient cure thyself bull. Blogs that looked like they had useful articles denied the existence of postpartum depression, others tried to sell me essential oils to get out of my funk. And too many of them assumed I had a partner who could help me with my burden of guilt.

©2019 Lulu M. Sylvian,currently untitled from the Phantom Stars Trilogy