* * *
A Generation
of Vipers
A Shifter Shield Novella
Capturing the killer who was stalking the shapeshifter
community s
hould have earned weresnake Lindi Parker and her new
boyfriend,
mongoose-shifter Kade Nevala, a vacation.
Instead it earned them a basket of baby lamias and a
whole heap
of trouble. Someone in the shifter community doesn’t
want those
infants—or Lindi—to survive.
Not knowing who or what they can trust, Kade and Lindi
must use
every skill they have to stop a killer—again.
* * *
Excerpt
"Don't
panic," Kade said that evening as he stirred a pot of his homemade
spaghetti sauce. "It's not like you're bringing all these new lamia babies
home to live in your house. We're going to set up a group home for them, with a
live-in staff. You're their counselor, Lindi, not their mother."
I poured a glass of Chianti and settled in on a
barstool at the island in the middle of his large kitchen. "That's the
thing. I'm not sure a group home is the right way to go with these kids."
"You signed off on it when we came up with the
idea." He narrowed his eyes at me and tasted the sauce, then added
something to it. "Janice thinks it's the best option we have," he
added, knowing that the leader of the shifters' Council had been tutoring me in
all things shapeshifter recently, and that her endorsement mattered to me.
"Yeah, but…" I trailed off, trying to find
the words to explain what I was trying to say.
As usual, I didn't have to find the exact phrase for
Kade to understand. Or any words at all. "You're worried that without a
stable home-life, you won't be able to give these children the same kind of
emotional training that your parents gave you."
I nodded and took a long drink.
"We can provide stability. Everyone wants this to
work."
"Not quite everyone," I muttered darkly.
"Everyone who is directly involved wants this to
work. You cannot be completely responsible for the entirety of the lamia
race."
"It's more than that." I considered what to
say, how much to share of my own recent insights. "We will have plenty of
other weres stepping in to help raise these kids, lots of people to teach them
how to be solid shifter citizens. But until they're grown, I will be the only
adult lamia in their lives. I will be the only weresnake they can model
themselves on. That feels like a lot more responsibility than simply being
their counselor. In that sense, I am kind of responsible for the entire lamia
race."
"Your parents did fine with you, and they're not
shifters at all," he pointed out.
"But they managed it by encouraging me to focus
almost entirely on my human side. I would like to give these children even
more."
Turning down the heat under the sauce, Kade put the
wooden spoon down and made his way around to my side of the counter, where he
spun the seat of my barstool around until I faced him. Then he took my face in
his hands and leaned his forehead against mine. "You'll do a great job
with them."
Then he pressed his lips against my mouth.
As usual, his kiss almost took my breath away. We
hadn't been together long enough for the sense of wonder at his touch to fade.
The sheer heat of our connection didn't show any signs of abating, either. The
brush of his tongue against mine sent sparks shooting through my veins to pool
in the pit of my stomach. It wouldn't take much to stoke that heat into a
raging fire.
But if we did that, his lovely dinner would be ruined.
Not that I was sure I cared.
* * *
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About the Author
Margo
Bond Collins is addicted to coffee (mmm...caffeine) and SF/F television,
especially Supernatural (mmm...Winchesters).
She writes paranormal and contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and paranormal
mystery. She lives in Texas with her daughter and several spoiled pets.
Although she teaches college-level English courses online, writing fiction is
her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any
genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about heroes, vampires,
ghosts, werewolves, and the women who love (and sometimes fight) them.
For
updates about publications, free fiction, and other goodies, be sure to
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