This week in my current work-in-progress...

I got to have some real fun with Fin. He's had a rough start to this book due to how things were left in The Raven Queen, and with Del on her own (temporary) journey, he's left to his own devices. And for Fin, that means finding a bit of trouble, of course. Here's a snippet from this chapter before "shit-ith hit-ith the fan-ith." I don't know why, but him getting into trouble is so much fun to write. Ha!

Opening the tavern door, I tugged my hood over my head to hide my hair before I stepped inside. I’d never thought much about my copper curls growing up. Now they were a nuisance that made me a walking target wherever I went.

The Silver Bow Inn was just as I remembered the last time I was here with Callon and Lyra—it was a dimly lit, crowded tavern tepid with body heat that smelled of sweat and stale beer. Only this time the sickly sweet tinge of a strix-laced cigarette smoke lingered in the air, and immediately, I sought the one face I was on a mission to find. 

As I made my way through the tavern, I counted nearly a dozen Sierra guards in their green armor mingling with merchants weary from a long day around the card tables and bar tops. Their boisterous laughter was loud and strangely comforting, and for a moment, I could almost imagine I was just a random lout on his way home from a long day, stopping in to blow off some steam.

Instead, I kept a low profile and made my way around the room, headed for an empty table in the corner. For six days I’d been stuck with Callon and Kalliope’s bickering, and I finally got a temporary reprieve. 

“Something I can get for you, love?” the barkeep asked. Her round cheeks were flush, her hair frayed from its braided crown around her head, and the stale beer wafting off her stained apron was nearly enough to turn my stomach.

I nodded and slid a coin onto the table. “An ale. Please.”

The barkeep set a mug down on the table with a clatter, louder than was necessary, and it was all I could do not to glance around, ensuring unwanted eyes hadn’t already found me. As she filled the mug to the brim, however, I went relatively unnoticed and rested my elbows on the table, taking a big gulp.

“Keep ‘em coming,” I told her, a little breathless, but my attention was fixed on the table in the center of the room and the portly, blue-eyed drunk; he sucked on a strix-laced cigarette.

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I tried not to give too many spoilers away. But if you're a paid member at any level you have access to the entire early draft, so you can get a full peek behind the curtain there, if you desire. 😘