Here we are with the fourth and final excerpt from Wolf in the Headlights (Alice the Wolf 4), this time from chapter 47. I hope you’ve enjoyed these previews of the story, and that you’ll consider picking it up for some fun Halloween reading. In any case, now that this is done, I’ve got some paid editing work coming up soon, and then I’ll be getting to work on my next book release, which should be in December if I don’t get too lazy with the editing. But for now, here’s Alice involved in yet another bad day already in progress…
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Okay, I need to think and put together a plan. My apartment is off limits with the cops looking for me, and I don’t want to be seen in town looking like I tripped and fell in a swamp. If I’m dealing with a warlock, I’ll need help from friends better equipped to handle magic. So, that’s Peter, who’s probably at work right now. I can’t fathom a run to Matilda’s, and Sophia is out given that she’s in Philadelphia for an art exhibit. I’ll give her a call after I’ve got some clean clothes, though.
I call Mona’s cell phone first. After two rings, she picks up and says, “Alice?”
“Mona, I need you to pack up a clean change of clothes for me, along with my pelt and my geode. If the cops show up before you leave and ask about me, tell them you don’t know where I am.”
“The cops? What’s going on?”
“I’ll explain once you get to Heather and Jake’s house.”
“But I don’t know where they live.”
“Right, sorry.” I raise my other hand to rub off flakes of drying mud from the back of my neck. “I’ll give you the address, and you’ll need to call a cab. I’ll pay them for the trip, so don’t worry about money. Just hurry, because I’ve got a busy day ahead of me before I can turn myself over to the cops.”
“Can you at least give me some idea of how bad this is?”
“Sure, a monster tried to kill me at school and about forty witnesses saw me fighting at super speeds.”
“Crapsicles,” Mona says.
I bark a laugh. “That’s good. I’ll have to remember that. Anyway, get moving. The longer you sit around, the better the chances are the cops will be paying you a visit.”
There’s an explosive knocking on Mona’s side of the conversation, and she says, “I think they’re here.”
“Yeah, that’s a cop’s knock. Just tell them you don’t know where I am and get rid of them.”
“All right.”
The line clicks, and I call Lilith. She answers, “Alice?”
“Hey Lilith, I need your help again.”
“Oh no, did Regina send someone else to harass you?”
“I’m not sure who sent the killing squad after me, but they dropped a mud golem off outside the school.”
“What?”
“I disassembled it and captured the soul in a crystal, so we have someone to interrogate. I’m running to see Heather and Jake so I can clean up and make a plan before I let the cops take me.”
“What?” Lilith’s voice takes on a shrill quality that makes me pull the phone away from my ear.
“I’ll explain soon, but the short version is, lots of people didn’t run when the golem showed up. Regina won’t have to worry about outing me now, because I’ve just outed myself while fighting with the golem.”
“Shouldn’t you be calling the FBI?”
“I will call Bat later, I swear. But there’s a vampire warlock involved in this mess, and I’m not wearing any charms to protect me against scrying.”
Lilith is quiet for a moment. “All right, I’ll bring you something to fix that.”
“Good, and thank you.” A branch snaps and falls to the ground maybe ten yards ahead of me and I wince. “Lilith, I’ve got to let you go. I’m about to be busy.” I hang up and lower the phone. “I know you’re up there, so you might as well come down.”
The vampire drops from the tree, a pale white blur dressed in all black clothing. He doesn’t bother with speeches before he leaps at me. I sidestep his charge and slam the base of my phone to the back of his head. He crashes to the ground, and I use the pause to pocket my phone and get out my switchblade.
The vampire gets up and spins, glaring until he sees the knife. Then he laughs like I just told a great joke. “Do you think that’s going to kill me?”
I relax into stance. “Nah, but it is going to ruin your day.”
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Wolf in the Headlights is available for $4.99 at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and my blog bookstore. If you review books on your blog, you can request a free review copy by emailing me at zoe_whitten (at) yahoo (dot) com, and if you haven’t read the first three books and want to review the whole series, you can also request them. (In your request email, be sure to post a link to your review page.)
Thanks for reading these excerpts, and for sticking with my blog during my drought of posts. I’m really trying to get my shtuff together and get back to regular posts so y’all have a reason to stop by. If werewolves, witches, and vampires aren’t your things, know that the next book coming out is sci-fi with androids, techno-terrorists, and cyber-politics. As I said before, I’m aiming for a December release, hopefully in time for you to give yourself a book for Christmas.
That’s all for now, and again, thanks for reading my stuff.