Teaser Tuesday

A tease from Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella (releasing next month! Eep!) There's a reason I'm sharing this - you'll find out Thursday. :)

A little set-up. The first "his" refers to Niko, a fallen soldier. The other male here is Jordan, one of the two main characters of the story, who's been carrying Niko across his shoulders. "Her" refers to Cassandra, Jordan's twin sister and the other main character. This part is told from Cassandra's point of view.

His lids slowly lifted, revealing the familiar green-olive eyes. His entire face contorted with pain but something sparked in his eyes as he seemed to recognize her. Then Jordan dropped him on the ground with a thud. He grunted and passed out.

“Jordan! He’s hurt.”

“He’s probably dead,” Jordan said, collapsing to the ground himself.

Cassandra dropped to her knees next to Niko. He still wore the torn chiton he’d worn yesterday, his muscular chest and torso exposed. Rather than the one superficial cut he’d had before, rows of long gashes covered his chest now, as if long claws had shredded his skin. Blood and pus gushed from the battle wound in his thigh. She pushed his sweat- and blood-matted hair from his neck and felt for his life signs. A heartbeat pulsed beneath her fingers.

“No, he’s still alive. We must get him inside.”

“He won’t be for long. Why bother?”

“Jordan!” Cassandra admonished. “How can you be so cruel?”

“Cruel? I risked my life for him and he doesn’t even have the decency to live long enough to explain.”