Excerpt Thursday: CLOAK & GHOST: BLOOD RING

It’s Excerpt Thursday! This week’s excerpt is from CLOAK & GHOST: BLOOD RING, the crossover novel where Nadia Moran meets Caina Amalas.

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“You’re very open with me,” I said.

Caina took another sip of coffee, and I followed suit.

“Three reasons,” she said. “One, if this goes the way I think it will, you’re going to find out all about me anyway. Two, if that little ‘light show’ last night is any indication of the Congressman’s friends, I’m going to need help finding proof against him. Three, I already know quite a bit about you.”

I scowled. “Suppose you researched me, too.”

Caina shook her head. “No. I just paid attention. Watched the details.”

“That sounds like bullshit,” I said.

Caina set down her coffee cup and leaned closer, the cold blue eyes unblinking. I suddenly felt uneasy under that stare, as if there was nothing I could hide from it.

“You just got married,” she said, her voice quiet, “and you miss your husband terribly. He’s probably out of the country. He’s also a wealthy man, familiar with violence, and one with considerable force of personality. Your magic is much, much stronger than normal for a human, but you learned or obtained that power in highly traumatic circumstances. You exercise a great deal, but have trouble eating, and suffer from chronic insomnia and nightmares.”

My unease increased. All of that was exactly right.

“Oh, bullshit,” I said, trying to hide the unease. “I was on the national news. You just looked me up.”

“I haven’t yet,” said Caina, “and I know all that from talking to you. I’ll prove it.” She pointed at my hand. “Your wedding ring. It’s new, not worn at all. That means you were recently married. You keep touching it because it reminds you of your husband.”

“Okay,” I said. “How did you know he was rich and familiar with violence?”

Caina smiled. “An educated guess after talking with you. You wouldn’t marry any man for whom you had contempt, which means no one weaker than you. You might have married for money, but that would be pointless since if you wanted money, you could just Cloak and steal it. Probably your husband is a confident man who is either in the Wizard’s Legion or an independent mercenary contractor of some kind. As for the fact that he’s rich, your coat is new, and it’s an expensive brand. Your shoes aren’t new, and they’re fairly worn. The logical inference is that he bought the coat for you, and its cost didn’t concern him.”

“And the nightmares and insomnia?” I said, voice quiet.

“It’s nine in the morning, and it’s already eighty degrees out, but you’re wearing a sweater and a pea coat,” said Caina. “Wizards sometimes suffer from a form of PTSD where they keep drawing on their magic and make themselves cold. Combined with your powerful magic, that is the obvious conclusion. Nightmares and insomnia are also a common symptom of PTSD.” She sighed. “I hate to say it, but your bloodshot eyes and the dark circles beneath them are additional evidence for that. You also look rather underweight, which means you have trouble eating. I don’t know whether it’s connected to your other difficulties or not, but it seems likely. Then again, it could just be bad gut bacteria.” She shrugged. “How much did I get right?”

“Most of it,” I said, staring into my coffee. “You’re a very dangerous woman.”

“Yes,” said Caina. “I do apologize. I always regret unsettling people like that.”

“No, you don’t,” I said.

She smiled. “It never hurts to be polite.”

-JM