Blog Tour Stop - Excerpt from Royal Spy

I'm hosting a stop today on the blog tour, and I'm excited to share this excerpt with you! There are actually three excerpts going live today, and while you can read them separately, if you read them in the following order, you'll get a look at a larger scene!

I've got part 1

Singing Librarian Books has part 2: https://singinglibrarianbooks.com

Wishful Endings has part 3: https://www.wishfulendings.com/2021/05/read-excerpt-from-this-new-ya-fantasy.html 

Enjoy!

EXCERPT: Warehouse Raid Part 1

Desfan crouched lower to the ground as he picked his way to the back end of the alley. The smell of refuse, rotten food, and worse burned his nose, and he tried not to think about the puddles lapping the sides of his boots. That briny scent definitely wasn’t seawater.

  He was glad the weak light of the moon didn’t reveal much; he didn’t want a close look at what hid in the shadows of this forgotten alley.

  He reached the corner and raised a closed fist. The silver light was dim, but the men behind him halted at once and followed his lead as he pressed his shoulders against the stone wall of the warehouse. A breeze swept up from the harbor, delivering a breath of fresh, salty air. He closed his eyes and could almost imagine he was back on his ship.

Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and his grin was unstoppable.

He only felt a little guilty that he hadn’t woken Karim, but his bodyguard had become even more protective of Desfan since he’d been named regent. He was a year older than Desfan, and had been his bodyguard since Desfan was fifteen. There was no way Karim would have allowed him to join this middle-of-the-night excursion. But Desfan refused to miss it. Not when he was so desperate to do something.

He strained his ears and, after a moment, determined there were at least two guards on the warehouse door. They weren’t speaking, but one shuffled his feet restlessly, and one a little further away kept clearing his throat.

Desfan lifted two fingers. From his periphery, he saw the nearest soldier nod.

His pulse thrummed with a fast tempo he loved. Danger, adventure, risk—he needed this.

With a flick of his brown fingers, Desfan sparked the attack. He was the first to round the corner, simultaneously drawing the two swords sheathed across his back. The twin blades cut through the air as he shifted his grip on the leather-wrapped hilts.

The two guards at the door were startled by the sudden appearance of the city guard and reacted too slowly. Desfan’s swords tapped both their throats, stopping their shouts.

He smiled. “Keep quiet, and you can keep your heads.”

The man on the left gulped.

“How many men are inside?” Desfan asked, his voice low.

The one on the right stammered. “I—I don’t know.”

“Hm. How disappointing.” Desfan shifted his blade, increasing the pressure until a drop of blood appeared.

The man hissed. “Six. There are six men inside.”

“Excellent.” He eased back and one of the soldiers moved to take his place. “As long as they don’t fight, they live,” Desfan said.

Kiv Arcas arrived at his side. “Perhaps you should stay back during the initial sweep, Serjah.”

He shot the man a grin, lightly swinging his dual blades. “Where’s the fun in that?” He used his shoulder to shove open the door to the warehouse and the city guard poured in with him.

A warning shout went up and the cluster of men in the warehouse scrambled for weapons. The lamps hanging on hooks revealed that there were far more than six smugglers. Desfan’s glance placed the count closer to twenty, which would make this a more even match.

Perfect.