{"id":336,"date":"2010-05-31T20:55:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-01T01:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chloeneill.com\/?p=336"},"modified":"2010-05-31T20:55:00","modified_gmt":"2010-06-01T01:55:00","slug":"twice-bitten-teaser-no-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chloeneill.com\/?p=336","title":{"rendered":"TWICE BITTEN Teaser No. 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s June 1 [or at least late on May 31!], and that means it’s time for another TWICE BITTEN<\/a> teaser! Enjoy, feel free to pre-order your paperback or e-book of TWICE BITTEN<\/a>, and stay tuned for the next teaser on June 15!<\/p>\n

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And by the way, to answer a reader question, TWICE BITTEN<\/a> should be available for iPad, Kindle, Nook and Sony e-reader (even if the pre-order links aren’t yet live). <\/p>\n
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I walked to the kidney-shaped pool, then knelt beside it and trickled my fingers across the surface of the water.<\/div>\n
\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t look up when I heard soft footsteps.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a nice evening,\u201d he said.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it is.\u201d I flicked the water from my fingers, then stood up again. Ethan stood on the other side of the water in his suit pants and shirt, hands tucked into the pockets of his pants, hair tucked behind his ears, gold Cadogan medal peeking from the triangle of skin at the hollow of his neck.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYou left?\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I nodded. \u201cFor a little while. Just to clear my head.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He cocked his head at me. \u201cShifters?\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I assumed he was asking if they were the reason I needed space. \u201cSorcerers,\u201d I corrected.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cAh,\u201d he said, then lowered his gaze to the water. \u201cMallory?\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. Mallory.\u201d He knew we\u2019d fought. I doubted he knew that he\u2019d been what we\u2019d fought over. Part of it, anyway.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He crossed his arms over his chest. \u201cThe transition can be a challenge for friends. For loved ones.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it most definitely can,\u201d I agreed, then opted to change the subject. \u201cWhat are you doing out here? Shifters?\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d he mimicked, a hint of a smile on his face. \u201cShifters.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the shifters have it right,\u201d I said. \u201cI mean, heading off into the woods, keeping to themselves.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYour theory being that if you don\u2019t have contact with anyone, you can\u2019t be hurt by them?\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That was a very astute conclusion for a four hundred-year-old vampire who usually seemed clueless about human emotion. \u201cThat would be the idea, yes.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

This time, when he looked at me, there was sadness there. \u201cI don\u2019t want to see you become cold, Merit.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cNot wanting to be hurt isn\u2019t the same as becoming cold.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cNot at first,\u201d he said. He walked to a low, brick wall that surrounded the pool and leaned back upon it, ankles crossed in front of him, arms still crossed over his chest. And then he looked at me, the pool lights making his eyes glow like a cat\u2019s. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow that you\u2019ve finally completed the change, beware the creep of insensitivity. Humans accept the concept of death; they may not wish for it, but they recognize that the decay of the human body is an inevitability. Vampires, on the other hand, have the possibility of immortality. They implore strategy to protect it, and they often forget about the details of life between the change and the aspen stake.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He shook his head. \u201cYou are a wonder of vampiric strength. And yet, you treasure your humanity, and care greatly about those who were in your life before your change.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cQuit flirting with me, Sullivan,\u201d I dryly said, but I wasn\u2019t kidding. Ethan was seductive enough even if he was being snarky; I\u2019m not sure I was prepared for complimentary Ethan.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m being completely honest,\u201d Ethan said, lifting a hand and holding up two fingers. \u201cScout\u2019s honor.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I made a doubtful noise, then glanced up at the sky. The indigo of evening was beginning to shift and fade into something lighter as the earth turned on its axis.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe should get inside,\u201d I suggested. \u201cUnless you want to test that sunlight allergy issue?\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll pass,\u201d Ethan said, standing and holding out a hand. I walked past him, across the back yard and to the brick patio that spanned the back of the House, then to the back door. He reached out as we reached the door to grasp the handle before we went inside\u2014but he stopped before opening it.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I glanced over.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not your father, you know.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It took me a moment to find words. \u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m capable of giving you a compliment and being completely sincere about it.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I opened my mouth to snipe back, but I realized he had a pretty good point. Offering a compliment to goad someone into doing something was just the kind of thing my father would do. I gave Ethan credit for recognizing the difference.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThen thank you,\u201d I told him, a hint of a smile at my lips.<\/p>\n

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It’s June 1 [or at least late on May 31!], and that means it’s time for another TWICE BITTEN teaser! Enjoy, feel free to pre-order your paperback or e-book of TWICE BITTEN, and stay tuned for the next teaser on June 15! And by the way, to answer a reader question, TWICE BITTEN should be[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[139,362],"class_list":["post-336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-teaser","tag-twice-bitten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chloeneill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chloeneill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chloeneill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chloeneill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chloeneill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.chloeneill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chloeneill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chloeneill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chloeneill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}