Title: TRAITOR'S HOPE (Blade's Edge #2)
Author: Virginia McClain
Pub. Date: October 14, 2017
Publisher: Artemis Dingo Productions
Pages: 284
Formats: Paperback eBook
Traitors lurk around every bend. Mishi’s mind is betraying her, and she fears her kisō and katana will betray her next. Taka’s heart abandons her for a person she cannot possibly trust. Now that the two friends are obliged to help re-establish peace in the land of Gensokai, the only question is where the next betrayal will come from and if Mishi and Taka will have the strength to survive it.
Novel Novice Excerpt
Mishi
A gentle hand shook her awake. She saw treetops and mountain peaks behind a familiar face.
“Mishi-san?”
Taka's voice was calm and quiet, but her face was pale and she appeared to be shaking. Mishi looked once more at the trees and mountains. There were no buildings nearby, and it didn't feel like cobblestones beneath her feet. They weren't in Rōjū City.
It had been moons since the battle at Rōjū City.
She tried taking a deep breath, and found the smell of pines and horses filled her nostrils once more. They weren't in battle, they were on their way to Rōjū City to see Tsuku-san and the New Council.
“Mishi-san, what happened?” Taka asked.
Mishi didn't like how pale Taka looked.
“Are you all right, Taka-san?” she asked, though she was almost afraid of the answer. “Where is Mitsu-san?”
Mishi felt her own blood leave her face as she considered what she might have done to Taka or Mitsu.
Mitsu appeared beside Taka. He looked ragged, and battered...as though he'd been fighting.
“Do you remember what happened, Mishi-chan?” Taka asked.
Mishi shook her head.
“I saw Rōjū City in the distance and then...I had another waking nightmare.”
“Another?” Taka asked. “This isn't the first time?”
“No,” Mishi replied. “There have been others. Ever since...”
Her voice trailed off as she looked at Mitsu again and she realized who he must have been fighting.
“Did I hurt you?”
Mitsu said nothing.
“Mitsu-san, did I hurt you?”
Mitsu hesitated.
“No...” he began to speak, but Mishi could sense the lie. The kisō that ran through her body shivered, as though a ghost had touched it.
“How bad is it?” she asked, her body beginning to shake as her eyes frantically searched Mitsu for signs of injury.
“Not bad,” Taka replied. “I was able to put you to sleep before you could do too much damage.”
Mishi's eyes snapped to her lifelong friend. She sensed no lie.
“I already checked him,” Taka continued. “Bruises, perhaps a cracked rib. Nothing that won't heal quickly, especially with my help.”
Mishi nodded, although she could already feel the emotion making her throat tight. She had hurt Mitsu-san.
“And you, Taka-chan?” she asked again, her stomach tight with dread.
Taka held up her wrist. A patch of black and blue that would match the shape of Mishi's hand spread up her forearm. Mishi stared at it, horrified at how much damage she must have done if Taka—Gensokai's greatest healer—hadn't managed to undo the injury before it could bruise.
“I will be fine too,” Taka said, her voice calm.
“What have I done?” Mishi felt her stomach turn. She had attacked her friends. She had attacked Taka.
Virginia thinks dangling from the tops of hundred foot cliffs is a good time. She also enjoys hauling a fifty pound backpack all over the Grand Canyon and sleeping under the stars. Sometimes she likes running for miles through the desert, mountains, or wooded flatlands, and she always loves getting lost in new places where she may or may not speak the language.
From surviving earthquakes in Japan, to putting out a small forest fire in Montana, Virginia has been collecting stories from a very young age. She works hard to make her fiction as adventurous as her life and her life as adventurous as her fiction. Both take a lot of imagination.
She recently moved to Winnipeg with her husband (a Manitoba native) and their dog.
Tour Schedule:
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