If you want to take a sneak peek at
Broken Hearts, the first chapter is posted on
Wattpad. Two more chapters will be added later this week.
For those who really can't wait, ARCs are available so contact me if you're willing to write a honest review in exchange of a free copy.
Broken Hearts will be released on September 21 and is currently available for pre-order on
Amazon.
Update: All three chapters are up on
Wattpad. For those who prefer to read it in one go, the excerpt is also available on
Readwave.
2nd Update: I'm adding the excerpt here as well in case the other links don't work for you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Broken Hearts
1
The closer the train got to the
French border, the more agitated Nicholas became. He paced the floor inside the
compartment of his car despite repeatedly telling himself he had no reason to
worry. As part of their deal, Big Dino had arranged it with the authorities so
he could set foot on French soil again without being picked up by the draft
committee or, worse, as a runaway. Being a telecharger these days was too much
of a hassle, but it wasn’t a skill he could unlearn.
A slight lurch of the car brought
Nicholas to a stop. The tracks slowly deteriorated across the continent because
the European United Nation Council was too busy with the war to worry about
anything else. In a few years, they’d have to skip the tracks and roll on
airbags. Not everyone prided themselves on coming as prepared as The
Nightingale Circus.
But Nicholas didn’t want to think
about the war or the bleak future ahead. The present concerned him more.
Sighing, he ran a hand through his dark hair. Was there more gray in it? While
vanity was not one of his many flaws, he couldn’t help but wonder. How much had
he changed in the decade he had spent on the road, touring with the circus?
Would his family recognize him? The memory of the night he had left Toulouse,
just before the draft committee had formed, remained painfully carved in his
memory.
He took a look around his car,
assessing how far he had come. The massive worn out, comfortable armchair; the
table with his last, unfinished project; his trunk of tricks; his coat hanging
on a peg on the wall; and the bed in the back… Not many items, but all of great
importance in his life. Well, less so the bed until recently, but after having
spent most of the afternoon in it with Anya, he’d become rather fond of the old
thing. The wrinkled sheets still smelled of her, the entire room still
impregnated with her perfume.
Nicholas found himself smiling as he
thought about his beloved Russian ballerina. How things had changed overnight!
He’d become the circus manager and gotten the girl. Not that she hadn’t been
chasing him for a while, but he hadn’t allowed anything to happen until he had
something to offer. It turned out he was old school after all. Who would have
thought? His mother would be proud, and his father wouldn’t believe his ears.
Maybe after they delivered the power source and the circus performed a couple
of shows in Paris, they could take a vacation and run south to introduce Anya
to his parents.
“What are you smiling about?”
Nicholas turned to find Anya
standing in the doorway, a mug in hand. The white silk robe invitingly hugged
her perfect figure as she waited for his answer.
“I was thinking about you,” Nicholas
said, only to be rewarded by a delighted smile that formed on Anya’s
heart-shaped face, framed by chin-length brown hair.
He sat in the armchair and gestured
for her to come closer.
“I’m afraid it’s a little cold, but
I had to cross the entire train to get it.” She offered him the mug and climbed
on the armrest of the chair. “Not my fault your car is so far down the line.”
Nicholas wrapped an arm around her
slim waist. “It’s fine.” Without thinking, he stirred the molecules with the
power of his mind until steam rose from the mug. “What’s the news?” He tasted
the coffee. Bitter, but good. “How’s Serioja?”
Anya’s face took on a somber look.
“He hasn’t regained consciousness. They say there’s no way of knowing if or how
the fall affected his brain until he wakes up. It can take up to thirty-six
hours, and then we can start to worry.” She sighed and bit on her lower
lip, a sign she wasn’t happy with waiting and was worried already. “Riella is
with him,” she muttered, frowning.
What annoyed her so much? The
rivalry between two of the three main attractions of the show would never end,
but she couldn’t be jealous. Anya had ended the relationship with the Russian
aerialist when it became clear Serioja had fallen for Riella’s charms. While
they remained friends, she kept acting like an overprotective sister, the way
she always had. Whether it had been guilt or something else that had prompted
Serioja to jump off the high bar and provide the distraction they needed the
other night at the Hrad, in Bratislava, Nicholas didn’t know. Keeping the
crushed man’s organs together with the power of his mind while Rake and Spinner
rebuilt his rib cage had to be one of the goriest scenes he had ever witnessed.
Refusing to think about it more than
he had to, Nicholas asked, “Any other news?”
“Yes.” Anya leaned against his
shoulder with a familiarity she shared only with him, her body pressing warm
and soft against his. “Rake and Spinner managed to detach Cole from the
transporter without causing him further damage. They’re fitting his legs with
braces to reinstate some of his mobility. The fall didn’t affect his arms.” She
raised her long legs and placed her feet in his lap. “They expect a full
recovery in four to six weeks. They estimate he’ll leave in three, sooner if he
finds a job he can do.”
“Good.” Nicholas nodded. One less
thing to worry about, even though Cole wasn’t technically part of the crew.
“And Cielo?” He placed the mug on the table and rested his hand on Anya’s knee,
stroking it through the thin fabric of the robe.
“She hobbles around on her bad leg
and doesn’t let anyone approach Cole. She should be resting, too, but you know
how she gets. There’s no way to reason with her when she’s in this mood.” She
laughed quietly and tilted her head. “Her crush on him is kind of cute.”
Yes, but what was going to happen
after Cole left? He couldn’t stay with the circus forever. It wasn’t his world.
And a heartbroken Cielo was not something with which Nicholas wanted to have to
deal.
“Stop frowning.” Anya rubbed the
spot between his eyebrows. “It’s going to be fine. She needed this. She needed
something in her life besides her singing.” She paused and ran her fingers
through Nicholas’s hair. Her voice softened. “Just like I needed something, someone,
besides dancing.”
Her voice mesmerized him. It might
have worked if he hadn’t experienced the Nightingale’s enthralling voice before
and hadn’t known Anya so well. His eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”
“I was thinking…” She pursed her
lips as she played with the collar of his shirt. “Now that we’re back in
France, you’re going to visit your family, right?”
“We’re not in France yet…” They still
had a few kilometers to go. “But yes, I will eventually. Why?”
“I’d like to go with you, if you
don’t mind.”
Was there a slight hesitation in her
voice?
Nicholas pulled his head back to
look into her dark eyes. “You want to meet my family?”
“Yes.” This time, the answer was
full of confidence. “I’d love that. We can take a few days off, can’t we? After
all, you are the manager.”
The word “manager” rolled awkwardly
on Nicholas’s tongue. He still had to get used to it, but it was true. He was
the manager, and while Big Dino—the owner of the circus—hibernated, Nicholas
could do whatever the hell he wanted … as long as the money kept pouring in.
“Of course you can go with me.” His
arm tightened around her, and he grinned. “Do you plan on asking my hand in marriage,
too?”
“Oh, Nick, what about my
reputation?” Anya playfully slapped his shoulder. “Give a girl at least a
couple of days…” She fiddled with the lapels of her robe, making more creamy
skin available to his hungry eyes. “Besides, we haven’t even slept together
yet.”
“Haven’t we?” Nicholas arched an
eyebrow and tugged on the sash holding her robe closed. “I seem to remember
differently.”
“I meant really slept.” She
rolled her eyes, gracefully waving a long arm. “What if you snore? I couldn’t
spend the rest of my life with someone who snores.”
“I don’t snore.” He pulled her head
down to give her a kiss, to which she answered willingly.
Time stretched while he was
distracted by Anya’s sweet lips. His concerns remained somewhere in the back of
his mind as Nicholas allowed himself to enjoy things for a while.
2
“Ahem…” Someone cleared a rough
voice in the doorway.
He needed to put a lock on that
door, especially now that Anya was going to spend some of her time, hopefully a
lot, in there with him. Nicholas glanced over her shoulder.
Spinner stood across the threshold,
his bulky body filling the doorway. In the dimming light of the afternoon, the
web of thin scars covering the knife thrower’s face and arms were less visible
than usual.
“Yes?” Nicholas took pity on
Spinner, who seemed reluctant to disturb the intimate scene he was unlucky to
witness.
Anya openly glared at him and kept
her arms laced around Nicholas’s neck.
“The custom check…,” Spinner said.
“They want to speak to someone in charge. We thought we shouldn’t wake up Big
Dino just for that. They probably want some bribe not to charge us with
trafficking prohibited goods or something.”
Nicholas hadn’t even noticed the
train had stopped, but it must have because he didn’t feel the hum of the
engine anymore. “All right.” He sighed and disentangled himself from Anya’s
arms. “Duty calls.” He placed a kiss on the back of her hand while she slipped
into the armchair. “Keep my seat warm. I’ll be back as soon as we’re rolling
again.” He shrugged on his tailcoat. It worked for his magician act, not so
much for the new role as manager, but it would have to do. Circus people were
known for being eccentric. He walked towards Spinner. “I’m all yours. Don’t
forget, I’m still new at this and can use all the pointers I can get.”
“Well, just keep them away from Fei
Lin,” Spinner said while they walked in the corridor. “I don’t think she can
handle another dismembering of her bot the way we had to upon returning to
Europe. It was too traumatizing for her.”
“Okay, no Fei Lin.” Nicholas nodded.
“Is she still hiding in the storage car?”
“Yes, and she doesn’t like it, so
hurry. Other than her, we’re clean. Or I think we are. I have no idea what they
added to the transgression list.” Spinner shrugged and opened the front door.
Nicholas stepped out into the chilly
November air and took in his surroundings. There were too many uniforms
gathered on this side of the train. Being busy with breaking into the Hrad then
packing the circus and leaving in a hurry, he hadn’t kept up with the news
during the past twenty-four hours, but France and Germany were still allied and
part of the European Union. While the enemy got closer every day, nothing could
explain this display of forces in the middle of the continent. They could have
only come for them. Or him. A block of ice settled in the pit of Nicholas’s
stomach.
The increasing number of crew
members walking out of the train, determined expressions on their faces,
surprised him even more. Something was up and, unlike him, they knew what it
was. He tossed Rake a glance. The taller knife thrower frowned at the soldiers,
his big hands balled into fists. Although it happened on occasion, Nicholas had
rarely seen Rake ready to murder someone. He didn’t want a bloodbath now.
“I’m Nicholas Renard, manager of The
Nightingale Circus,” he told the officer in charge. “What can I do for you,
gentlemen?”
The officer gestured to the soldier
standing beside him, and this one brought out a scanner and showed him the
readings. The officer nodded. “This says you’re Nicolas Rieux, a class D
telecharger. You failed to show up when the draft committee summoned you seven
years ago. We have your metrics. There’s no mistake.”
Nicholas sucked in a breath. Other
than the fact he had evolved to an F over the years, the information was
correct. But from where did they get his metrics? As far as he knew, he wasn’t
in the system or they would have caught him a long time ago.
“We have an arrest warrant with your
name,” the officer said over the sound of guns being aimed at Nicholas. “You’re
required to come with us … peacefully, if possible.”
Murmurs broke out among the crew.
Nicholas glanced at the guns. Those
were not regular weapons, but were specially designed to target telechargers.
He didn’t feel their presence on the power grid. It didn’t matter. He had no
intention to oppose resistance. There were too many people around who could get
hurt. Besides, he’d always known it would end like this.
The murmurs increased in volume.
Until he left the scene, he was
still manager, so Nicholas slowly turned around.
Behind him, the stilt men elongated
their legs, and the aerialists slipped forward through the crowd. Almost
everyone had exited the train by now. The knife throwers stood immovable in
place, but their knives were never far from reach. At a window, Cielo opened
her mouth.
“Don’t!” Nicholas raised a hand.
Cielo’s mouth snapped shut, but if
her eyes had been as powerful as her voice, several people would have been
lying on the ground already.
Sorry, mouthed Spinner.
They had sold him out. The
realization hit him harder than expected. They had lured him out, knowing damn
well what would happen, and they had let him walk into the trap without a
warning. Sure, their loyalty was to the circus first, and he’d only been
manager for one day, but he’d traveled with the circus for years. The betrayal
hurt.
“Sir?” the officer said.
“It’s all right. I’ll go with you.”
Nicholas turned and presented his wrists to another soldier holding a pair of
thick manacles.
They closed with a click, and
Nicholas’s shoulders slumped. The device inside the manacles annihilated his
ability to manipulate mass and energy. Ever since he could remember, he’d never
been without it. Its absence made him feel empty.
Rake growled.
Nicholas turned again and said with
all the confidence he could muster, “Stick to the schedule, and take the power
source to Paris. Also, wake up Big Dino. We had a deal.”
Rake grunted and crossed his arms
over his chest. The rest of the crew members froze. Well, that cleared up who
was the boss.
Nicholas stepped forward to follow
the soldiers, but Anya’s silhouette, pale and shivering, in the car doorway
made him stop.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said,
repeating the same words she’d told him earlier.
This time, however, they both knew
it was a lie.
3
Hanging on the rooftop of a rundown
building in the middle of the night was a new low for him, but how else could
he protect someone who didn’t want his protection? Dale had stayed in Bratislava,
keeping his promise to Big Dino, who had gone to deliver a second power source
to Paris. So, for the time being, he was stuck.
It should have been an easy job—the
Golden Lady already had guards of her own, and too many people feared her to
try anything—and it was easy … during the day. They inspected jewelry
stores and pawn shops, and he accompanied her to business lunches, which he
wore suits to because of Aurore’s insistence to introduce him as a business
partner rather than a bodyguard. It was boring, but nothing he couldn’t handle,
and it beat fighting on the battlefield.
At night, however, things became
more complicated. After they said good night and each retired to their sleeping
quarters, Aurore sneaked out of her lavish mansion on Venturska Street, paying
visits to various shady characters in the city as she dealt with the less legit
side of her business. She never mentioned her nightly adventures the following
day, so Dale assumed she didn’t want him involved. A bit naïve to believe
something like that could pass by him, and the Golden Lady was anything but
naïve, but as long as she wasn’t in imminent danger, he had to settle for
keeping an eye on her from a distance.
Ten meters separated him from the
frozen ground—an unpleasant fall if he jumped or the roof collapsed under him,
which would have delayed his enhancements’ recovery cycle by days. Since Dale
needed a clean bill of health to receive the command of the top secret plane he
intended to pilot, he kept his joints locked, so as not to tempt fate, and his
senses dialed high as he paid attention to what happened outside and inside the
building.
Surrounded by half of her guards,
Aurore waited near the front entrance, the white coat and platinum-blond hair
making her an easy target in the dim light filling the courtyard. She kept her
hands in her pockets despite her prosthetic arms not suffering from the cold
the way everyone else did. In the freezing November night, the air formed hazy
clouds from their lips.
Inside, the rest of her men turned the
place upside down, searching for something. They must have found it because
sounds of a scuffle ensued, followed by shouting. No shooting, though. If
firearms had been used, Dale would have been forced to intervene before the
enemy became a threat to Aurore, but he stayed put for now. This wasn’t his
problem to solve.
Tadeo walked out of the building,
holding his hand out. Something glinted in his large, meaty palm. “We found the
stones.”
Aurore picked one up in between her
golden thumb and forefinger, and examined it in the pale light coming from a
stray streetlight. “Yes, I had these delivered from Zagreb last spring. They
don’t sell well because they’re expensive, and the potential customers fail to
see their beauty.” She shook her head and let the stone drop in Tadeo’s palm.
“Anything else?”
“Nothing, just the guy who stole
them,” Tadeo said. “By the look of it, he was preparing to rob at least two
more stores. Good thing we caught him in time.”
“I want to speak to him,” Aurore
said.
“They’re bringing him out right
now.”
Thumping came from the stairs as two
of the guards dragged another body between them.
Dale shifted his weight, careful not
to fall through one of the holes in the roof. Other than shaking in protest,
the beams made no sound.
The guards dumped a skinny man at
Aurore’s feet. Grunting, he managed to pull himself up to his knees. He swayed
then muttered something unintelligible and wiped his nose on the sleeve of his
thin sweater. They hadn’t waited for him to grab a coat.
From his vantage point, Dale
couldn’t see the man’s face, but the dark stain left on the sleeve could only
be blood. It did smell like blood.
Aurore made a disgusted face and
took a step back, probably to prevent any of it from landing on her clothes.
“You know, I’m not as upset about the stones as I am about vandalizing those
two pawn shops.” The chill in her voice got the man’s attention. “So, this is
what we’ll do. You tell me who sent you here to mess with my business, and I’ll
let you go.”
Dale had witnessed a similar scene
in a different part of the city the previous night. While the reputation of the
Golden Lady was that of a tough woman, she wasn’t lying. She would let
him go if he told her what she wanted to know. Violence was necessary at times,
but despite her reputation, she tried to avoid it whenever possible. Dale had
learned a few things about the Golden Lady during the couple of days spent by
her side.
However, the man must have missed
the memo because he growled and spat on the pavement. “Fuck you, bitch!” He drew
himself up to full height, becoming taller than expected, and lunged for her.
It took Dale a second to assess the
situation. From the way the man held himself and angled his arm, he had to be
armed. How the weapon had slipped past her guards, Dale didn’t have time to
figure out. Aurore was too close and her guards were too far. He jumped at the
same time she raised an arm to defend herself. Not a gun. A knife then? She
could use some good defense lessons.
Dale landed with a thud right behind
the attacker. Something tore in his side at the impact with the ground, but he
went with the momentum and grabbed the man by the back of his neck, pulling him
off Aurore. He shoved him away so hard, the sound of breaking bones echoed in
the night as the man hit the building, collapsing in a heap, and remained
motionless. Metal clattered on the pavement. Definitely a knife.
In an instant, a dozen guns were
pointed at Dale. Too late, boys. He slowly breathed in and turned towards
Aurore, his fists clenched by his side. There hadn’t been time to pull out a
gun. “Are you hurt?” The words came out in a rush.
She shook her head, eyes wide, lips
parted, and not a drop of color in her face.
They stared at each other, startled,
frightened, and angry.
Dale frowned, ready to unleash his
fury on her. “What—”
Aurore raised a hand. “We’ll talk
when we get home.” She walked up to the fallen man and nudged him with the tip
of her boot. No reaction. “Well, he’s no use to me now.” She let out an unhappy
sigh. “All right. Torch the place and take him to the police station. Let Chief
Horak know I’ll call him in the morning and I’m not happy I have to do his
job.”
Dale didn’t move because those
orders weren’t for him. The air left his lips in small pants, but he displayed
no other signs of exertion.
With a wave of her hand, Aurore
returned to her car. Dale nodded to the driver to get out, his hard stare
silencing any protests, then he slid into the front seat and started the engine
before anyone else could get in. Let them find their own means of
transportation if they didn’t all fit in the other car. He didn’t want them
there. Right now, he could barely stand Aurore’s presence, frozen in the front
seat, without snapping.
The car sped away faster than it was
safe to drive at that late hour. Dale’s hands clenched the steering wheel, his
eyes fixated on the road. A heavy silence fell between them.
When he checked, flames reflected in
the rearview mirror.
