Sunday Snippet: Zane's Ghost

It's been a wild and busy week! I'm buried with work projects, which I'm thrilled to have—even if I could use about four more hours in each day. Good problems to have.

Had a slower than normal television viewing week, but I kind of expect that when I'm trying to keep plates spinning with work and only have a small wobble here and there.

I caught two episodes of Hawkeye and I'm kind of bummed there's only one left. I'm loving this show a lot.

Caught the season three premiere of Harrow and I already intensely dislike the new boss. That said, I kind of love the shifting dynamics of the character relationships. Fern could grow up just a little, but I like where everyone else is for the most part.

Watched another episode of Blue Heelers and liked the way everything played out. Really good case of the week on this one.

Enjoyed another MasterClass lesson with Neil de Grasse Tyson. Learned about cognitive bias and have a much better understanding of how that works.

Caught another episode of Young Wallander: Killer's Shadow. Poor Kurt gets his ass kicked on a regular basis. Glad to see Reza get bumped up to detective. Poor Rusk has a lot going on at the moment.

Got two more episodes of Classic Rugrats in and thoroughly enjoyed. I love the call outs to stuff from my younger years. That's why the original show is genius. Enjoyable for parents and kids.

Watched another episode of Chicago Med and things got interesting at the end. Not sure I'm down with Will possibly hooking up with Agent Lee. Really kind of squicked out by Nat's involvement with the dad of her former patient. But I love the whole saga of Daniel's ex and everything that's going on with that.

Enjoyed another episode of The Snoopy Show. I like how the short vignettes are themed around a topic. This one had Halloween stuff and it was a lot of fun.

Caught another episode of Loch Ness and I'm kind of amazed how things are moving forward but at what seems like a maddeningly slow pace. A couple of big reveals in this episode.

Finished up season seventeen of Silent Witness and should start eighteen this week. Have to say I quite liked how this one ended. Glad Jack will be sticking around.

Watched another episode of Classic Who. Poor Seven just doesn't have a lot to work with. That said, I'm kind of enjoying this arc.

Enjoyed another episode of The Laundry Guy. I think I could honestly watch multiple seasons of this show. Patric needs his own YouTube channel. I'd totally subscribe.

Also watched another episode of The Hardy Boys and have a lot of love for this show. It's so much fun to talk to my brother about the episodes after we see them. Brings back a lot of eighties memories.

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Zane's Ghost, a novella that puts the characters in a quandary over a loss.

Here's the mini-blurb:

When Zane Warchild goes down in the line of duty, Kella Fine blames herself—after all, she realizes her mistake when she crosses a personal line and steps way back from Zane. Gray Warchild grows quickly tired of Kella wearing her guilt like a badge and putting his brother's ghost between them.

And a snippety peek…

Thirty minutes after she got the call from one of the task-force members, Kella couldn't shake the all-consuming numbness. Or the feeling of responsibility—which she pinned on like a badge in her brain. Zane's dead … and it's my fault.

Sitting in her dark living room, she rewound her last conversation with him.

You know, one of these days a bullet is going to find you if you're not a little more careful.

No way, babe. I'm untouchable.

Apparently not so much.

She twisted a coil of hair around her finger. "Why the hell did I tempt fate that way?" She should've just wished him luck with the raid.

But he'd goaded her. And she let him. Even after she'd promised herself she wouldn't play the Zane game anymore. Because the lather-rinse-repeat angle exhausted her.

She almost didn't answer the door when the bell rang. But she needed to move. To do something other than sit alone in darkness.

When she answered, she found Gray standing outside.

Shit.

Guilt kicked her in the gut and she had no clue what to say.

His haggard gaze met hers. "Can I come in?"

She stepped back and let him enter. Her heart hammered against her ribs, the weight of the last few months wearing through her composure. Trembling fingers closed the door with a hard bang.

Gray turned, grasping her elbow. "Are you okay?" He raked his free hand through his hair. "Geez, stupid question. Forget I said that." Shrugging out of his jacket, he shook his head.  "You just lost the love of your life. Of course you're not okay."

A bitter taste filled her mouth, but she automatically took his jacket. Hesitating only a moment, she decided she needed to address what he'd said and set the record straight.

Draping his coat over the back of a chair, she faced Gray. "Here's the thing … Zane isn't—wasn't—the love of my life." She finished the sordid statement. "In fact, we weren't partners anymore because I put in for a transfer three months ago."

Gray and Kella have a lot to unpack and it's not going to be an easy road to travel, especially because Kella is very gun shy about getting involved with another Warchild.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin