Duplicity (Spellbound #2) (28 page)

Gray was shaken, not just to see him, but because someone from her past stood not eight feet away in a country so spectacular yet unbearably lonely at times. Here was a personal connection to her former life—albeit an unwelcome one.

Adrian betrayed no signs of familiarity. “What is your name?”

Gray glared at Adrian. His expression remained annoyingly neutral. From below, Hannah and Marco yelled, “Gray!”

Adrian smirked. He turned to his audience. “I don’t know. She doesn’t look gray to me.”

The audience laughed. Worst of all, she heard Hannah giggling before the translator even finished.

“Now then, Miss Gray, if you will step this way.”

Gray wasn’t about to step anywhere near the table with its giant saw. Adrian noticed her hesitance and said, “Don’t be afraid, my dear. I’ve done this a thousand times before… and only caused one fatality.”

The audience laughed.

Adrian reached his hand out. Gray looked from his palm to his gleaming eyes and took a step back.

“It appears the young lady is frightened.”

“Don’t be scared, Gray,” Marco yelled.

“There is nothing to fear,” Adrian called out, sweeping an arm toward the table.

“Go on, Gray!” Hannah hollered.

Could Gray come up with a plan in the ten steps it took to reach the table? Apparently not. She refused Adrian’s hand.

There was no teleporting herself out of this one. Se
ñ
ora Benita would never allow Gray back to the sanctuary and Gray wasn’t about to let Adrian ruin her summer in Spain. There was also the audience to consider, blissfully unaware that they were in the midst of real magic.

Once Adrian’s back turned to the audience he looked Gray over with an intimacy that bordered on inappropriate. At that moment, Gray felt as though she would have been better off facing him in a dark alley than in front of a mob screaming for her blood.

And if she let Adrian put her in the box, it most likely would be her blood.

Adrian’s lips curved up. The fitted suit made him appear older and more menacing than Gray remembered. Gone was the voice of the performer. Adrian lowered his voice. “Go on, Gray, get in.”

That’s it, she was out of there. They could all think of her as a coward. Better a coward than a fool. But as she backed up, Adrian caught her by the arm and hauled Gray to the step ladder. “Don’t ruin my show,” he hissed inside her ear.

The magic continues FALL 2012

ENCHANTMENT

Book Three in the Spellbound Trilogy

nikkijefford.com

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who found paradise in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands where she is, once more, neighbors with Canada. She has a B.A. in journalism from the University of Alaska Anchorage and was an entertainment reporter before returning to her first love: fiction.

After a whirlwind romance in France, Nikki married S
é
bastien in March 2000. They reside with Cosmo the Wonder Westie.

Find her at:

http://nikkijefford.com

http://twitter.com/NikkiJefford

A big Alaskan thank you to my entire family for their enthusiasm and support no matter what genre I happen to be writing. Aunt Carmen, Aunt June, and Uncle Jerry, your kindness fills part of the hole left in my heart since leaving home.

More specifically, thanks to Aunt Carmen for proof reading six of my novels and to Aunt June for her legal advice.

My mom has been my greatest champion. When I was a child, she bought me notebooks and pens, later a typewriter, and after high school, my first laptop. She’s the first person I call to squeal over a five-star review and is so much more than a mother to me. She’s my best friend.

I’d like to pile on a heap of thanks to my brother Vernon for video editing the Spellbound trilogy book trailers. The outcome exceeded my expectations.

I can’t kiss Seb enough for the hours of electronic formatting he’s done on this series (and multiple redoes on Entangled) and for correcting my French.

Many thanks to Bob Friel for his input and direction on all three book covers in the Spellbound trilogy.

Hats off to cover designer Najla Qamber for being such a joy to work with and producing the beautiful cover art that graces this series.

I feel so fortunate to have come across copy editors Christine LePorte and S.M. Boyce. These two lovely ladies made my final manuscript sparkle and their enthusiasm for the series buoyed me beyond words.

This manuscript improved by leaps and bounds thanks to my phenomenally talented beta readers Nicole Steinhaus and Lacy Camey. These women are gorgeous inside and out. I am honored by the time they took out of their own writing schedules to give my book a thorough read-through and critique. Check out their work!

Thank you to friend and author, Lucy Swing, for her help with promoting over twitter and my beautiful blog tour banner.

And finally I want to thank my readers, friends, and the first people to purchase my book. I’m afraid to leave out names, but I want to express my gratitude, in particular, to my first reviewers for taking a chance on a debut author with Entangled: Keren at Gothic Angel Book Reviews, Jessica at Lover of Paranormal, Emma at Emma’s Ramblings on Supernatural Fiction, Brianne at Memories Overtaking Me, Dannielle and the crew at Book Whales, Melissa at Melissa’s Eclectic Bookshelf, Shera at Book Whispers, Mary at Book Nerds Across America, Lili at Lili Lost in Books, Katie at BlookGirl, Jenni at Alluring Reads, Nick at Nick’s Book Blog, Chey at The Hollow Cupboards, Melanie at Book Passion for Life, Marilyn Almodovar at Writing on the Sunny Side of the Street, S.M. Boyce, Lacy Camey, and “Bunny” for writing my all-time favorite comment at Goodreads. If I could grant you all three wishes I would. Instead, please accept my best wishes for all eternity.