Teaser Tuesday

Ok, I know that it isn't quite Tuesday yet, but I wanted to post this before I forgot in my rush to get to work in the morning. This is my first attempt at a "Teaser Tuesday" so be gentle. Here is a small snippet from chapter 1 of Project 3 (titled Muse at the moment):


A skittering noise in the corner drew her attention, and she caught a flash of white fur as one of the ratcatchers went about its deadly work. Mink. Once, they were called mink. There was a pained squeak, and the faint scent of blood reached her. A tiny life cut short under the sharp fangs of a predator. It made her smile softly. That was how things should be. The hunter always triumphed over the prey.

As if it felt her gaze, the white ratcatcher scampered out of the shadows, back arched playfully. A spot of bright red marred its fur beneath its black mask. Kneeling, Artemis scooped the animal into her arms where it curled contentedly. She stroked the fur, smelling the pungent musk it emitted. It brought back faded memories that drifted away like smoke when she tried to grasp them.

There was a forest once, the floor dappled with light filtering through the canopy. She remembered running, lithe as the deer she paced, remembered planting her feet and drawing her bow… A hiss of a shaft in the air, the thrum of a string… Blood on her hands… A dark-haired man with swarthy skin smiling down at her, and a blond man with her green eyes full of pain, asking her why… No sooner did she reach for it than it was gone, and try as she might, the lost days would not return to her.

She was not aware of the passing minutes until the clock atop her own tower chimed the final bell. Far below, the Factory groaned and clamored as a team of workers turned the wheel to shut the valves. Beginning at the outer walls, the yellow gaslights dimmed and extinguished, the wave of darkness moving inward. It sped toward the base of the tower, the blackness halted only by the shining Greenery. The greenhouses held the never-ending night at bay, and the tower would gleam throughout the long Dark. Any who might open their eyes would see it, Olympus shining through the night. And within it, their golden goddess, their Lady watching over all.

The ratcatcher was limp in her hands, its tiny neck snapped.