Author: Sophia Beaumont
Title: The Spider’s Web
Publisher: Torquere Press
Cover Artist: Kris Norris
Release Date: May 4, 2016
Heat Level: 1
Pairing: m/f
Length: 59,000 words
Genres/Tags: Contemporary, Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
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Synopsis
After being released from a Toronto psych ward, Evie decides that her life needs a drastic change. Moving 500 miles east to stay with her aunt in Montreal, however, is not turning out as expected. Though she loves the city, she can’t outrun the problems that drove her to the edge in the first place. Recovery might be a little easier if not for Micha. Handsome, kind, always willing to help Evie or cheer her on--and completely invisible to everyone else. He seems to think he’s some kind of guardian angel, and she might need one now that things have gone from bad to just plain weird. It started with the spiders--ghostly spiders that showed up out of nowhere, swarming over Evie while she was home alone. Then the owls started following her. Her search of answers dredges up past lives, secret societies, and one very angry goddess. She’s going to need help from some very powerful friends if she wants to make it to her next birthday, but when one of those friends is the goddess of the underworld, she might need more help than a guardian angel can provide.Excerpt
The shawl was nearby. Practically
laying on the ground, I reached out a hand for it. The girls were too busy
kneeling in rapture. The gathering had taken on a feeling of a tent revival,
except instead of healing the sick they were planning on turning me into bar-b-que.
Kelly's eyes had taken on the same ethereal glow as those of the owls; she was
beyond the cares of the mortal world. Whatever she was doing, it seemed to be
having an effect.
I threw the shawl. It hit Kelly full
in the face. She stumbled, her words becoming incoherent as she tried to pull
it off, but it clung there like a wet towel and wouldn't let go, tangling into
her short hair and catching on the sequined collar of her dress.
In the split second distraction, I
rolled away from the initiates and barreled through the women behind us,
knocking them down by crashing my shoulder into their knees and hips. They were
packed so closely that where one went down, another two would follow.
I came up sprinting, diving for the
elevator with them hot on my heels. I slammed my hand against the button, but
the door didn't open. There was no way that I'd be able to wait for it come up
from the lobby, but there were no stairs that I could see from this side of the
cafe.
Miraculously, Kelly was still
trapped in the shawl, the knitting forming a net that covered her from head to
toe.
I thought of my torn poncho, and the
things that Kelly had said about my former incarnations powers.
I don't know how I did it, but the
next thing that I knew the green and white awning had collapsed, trapping half
of them in a makeshift net. I was so close to the wall that I was barely spared
injury.
The elevator door dinged open behind
me. I dove inside. As soon as the door shut, I ripped off my heels. When it
reached the first floor, I bolted out the door barefoot, ignoring the stares of
the people around me, pushing past shocked tourists and horrified locals.
I ran straight into traffic as I
shot down the street, narrowly missing being run over by a bus. I was certain
that the owls were overhead, tracking my every move. I had to get off of the
street.
Places d'Armes Metro station. I was
through the doors and taking the escalator two steps at a time down to the
platforms.
They knew where I lived. They'd
found me there before, and their creepy spiders--their legion--had been in the
house.
The train pulled up as I careened
onto the platform. I skidded to a halt, catching myself on one of the poles
inside. I collapsed into one of the hard plastic orange seats. I had the car to
myself. I covered my face, trying to catch my breath and figure out what my
next move would be.
"Micha."
The air beside me cooled noticeably,
drawing goosebumps on my skin. He knelt in front of me and took my hand.
"What do I do?" I asked. I
was tapped out. My mind had stopped working, drawing a blank.
"I need a safe place. But where
can I go?"
The only other person that I knew,
that I trusted in the city, was Adam. I didn't want to put him in danger, but I
didn't know what else to do.
I got off at my usual stop, but
walked down to his building, just two streets over. One of the lights in the
upstairs windows was still lit and from the backyard I could hear what sounded
like another party.
I knocked on the front door. No one answered.
Peering around back, I saw that I
was right. Probably twenty people were gathered in what appeared to be an
impromptu end-of-the-year bash. Strings of lights were hanging from the trees.
Beer bottles were all over, coolers open to the night air. I hid in shadow for
several moments, watching, until I saw something move out of the corner of my
eye. It was only a beetle, but for a second I thought it was a spider and
nearly panicked.
Adam appeared on the back deck, beer
in hand, peering at me over the railing. I saw him and nearly broke down.
"Evie! Are you alright? I thought-"
"I tried to come here, first,
but he didn't understand me," Micha said.
"It's okay." I squeezed
his hand.
Adam came down the steps and lead me
towards the back door. "Inside. Come on." He ushered me in without so
much as a word to the party goers.
"Come on. Up here." He
pulled me into what I assumed was his bedroom. Closet sized, with posters from
comic book movies on the walls and an old Mac desktop in the corner, and a tv
propped up on milk crates housing DVDs and video game cases.
He sat me down on his bed. As soon
as the door was closed I started to cry. I bawled. I don't know for how long.
Adam knelt beside me and put his arms around me. I was shaking. When I could
breath enough to speak coherently again, I spilled out the story of the evening
and how it had all gone terribly wrong. Adam stared at me, wide-eyed in
complete disbelief. I don't think he would have taken me seriously at all if
not for his power.
"Don't worry," he said.
"Just...don't worry for right now."
He laid me down, stroking my hair.
"Just relax. It'll be fine. They won't find you here," he said.
I felt my muscles relax. My mind was
still worried, but it was distant.
My eyes drooped. He covered me with
his blanket. "We'll talk in the morning. We'll get this figured out."
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Meet the Author
Author and designer Sophia Beaumont has long dreamed of faraway places, both real and imagined. She writes from her home in Ohio and hopes to one day live somewhere with a palm tree in the front yard.Twitter | Tumbler | Blog | Goodreads
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