SNEAK PEEK: THE VEIL OF SECRETS

It’s COVER REVEAL DAY! So as our gift to you, we’re offering you free early access to chapter 1 of THE VEIL OF SECRETS, the new paranormal thriller by Betsey Kulakowski and JB Caine. What you see below is the beginning of Chapter 1 (on Betsey’s blog). When you reach the end of this segment, click the link, and you’ll be directed to the end of Chapter 1 (on JB’s blog).

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HERE’S THE END OF CHAPTER 1: A STUDY IN CHARCOAL AND BLOOD

Haven’t read the beginning yet? You can find it www.authorbetseykulakowski.com/blog

Click here to read Part 1 of this SNEAK PEEK

She awakened to the sense of being shaken. “Esme! Dammit, Esme!” Eliza’s voice pierced the darkness as the earbuds fell out of Esme’s ears. She opened her eyes to see her older sister’s face, brows knitted with concern.

“I .. I’m alright,” Esme sputtered. “It was just … you know …”

“You haven’t had one of these episodes in a while.” Eliza breathed a sigh of relief. “Here, sit up slowly till the dizziness passes.”

These artistic episodes, as Eliza called them, happened from time to time, and at first their parents had taken Esme to have a full neurological examination. It was only after they were assured that there was nothing medically wrong with her that they’d begun writing the spells off to her artistic temperament.

“Really, Liza, I’m fine. Sorry to have worried you.”

“I was calling and couldn’t find you. You sure you’re alright?”

“Aces.” The younger sister smiled, her blue-gray eyes crinkling up at the corners.

“Okay then. Listen, there’s an Order agent in the study.”

Esme sat up straighter. “Here? Why? Are Mother and Father okay?”

Eliza patted her sister’s hand. “Nothing like that. He came for Sanctuary.”

“Here?” Esme repeated.

“Yeah, I guess he knows our parents. Anyhow, I need to get him into the city, and …”

“I’m coming with you,” Esme declared, making a wobbly attempt at standing.

“I’m not sure you should, Ez. You were just …”

“Nonsense. That’s more reason not to leave me alone than it is not to take me. I’m coming.”

“Okay, okay, come on, then.” Eliza put her hand under Esme’s right elbow and led her inside.

From the front of the house, they heard a door slam. “What in the world?” Eliza began, leaning Esme against the sliding glass door frame and rushing toward the study.

The sight that met her eyes was a horror. A dark stain spread across Niall’s shirt and he spasmed, choking up blood.

Eliza cried out and leapt into action, trying to staunch the bleeding in the chest wound with direct pressure, but as Niall’s life ran through her fingers, she realized it was futile. She wouldn’t be able to save him.

“The Veil …” he choked. “They took it …” Niall grabbed Eliza’s hand and pressed a scrap of black lace into her bloody palm. “You must …” His body seized and then went still.

Eliza’s eyes filled with tears, and she fought back the panic, knowing that there were immediate actions she needed to take. A gasp from behind her told her that Esme had made her way to the study.

“We need to … the Order …” Eliza couldn’t get the words to come out coherently as she turned toward her sister.

“They told me,” Esme sobbed. “They said …”

“Who did?” Eliza stared at Esme’s haunted expression.

“The whispers. They said …” Esme found herself unable to finish. Instead, she held up her left hand, still clutching her sketchbook.

Unlike Esme’s usual flowing style, the charcoal lines were sharp, deliberate, almost violent in their intensity.

Lines forming the unmistakable image of a woman’s face veiled in black, screaming.

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