A Promise of Fire (36 page)

The beast pivots. One of its huge heads lunges for me, and I spring back, pain pulsing in my thigh. Its jaws snap, and I back away. Six black eyes track me. They’re as dark as the rest of the beast, only with a shiny, liquid gleam.

“We don’t have to fight.” So saying, I raise my sword.

The middle head attacks. I shoot to the side and bring my blade down hard on that skull. The impact jars me from teeth to toes.

In the flickering torchlight, I see a flash of dark horns—long, smooth, and curved low over the beast’s skull. A quick sweep of the torch reveals horns protecting all three heads. They arch back over the heads and bend downward toward the jaws, protecting the vulnerable necks.

While I’m assessing the situation, the monster brings its clubbed tail around again like a battering ram. There’s just enough room in the tunnel for the maneuver and nowhere for me to go. The cramped quarters work in my favor, though, because the thick, muscular part catches me in the middle while the bony club scrapes a deep furrow along the tunnel wall. I have just enough time to curl inward and throw myself backward to better absorb the impact.

I fly through the air and land sprawled on the ice on my back, the wind knocked out of me. I slide what feels like a mile down the tunnel before the top of my skull cracks against the wall. Bright lights explode behind my eyes. Pain roars through my head as momentum carries me around in a hard arc, and the rest of my body slams into the icy barrier.

For a second, there’s nothing. No air. No light. No sound. Then I suck in a huge breath, and my stunned body jolts back to me. Groaning, I roll to my knees. Pain grips my head. Everything spins. I touch the sorest spot and feel the start of a huge knot, warm and wet.

I tighten my other hand around a familiar hilt. Somehow, I held on to my sword. The torch lays far down the tunnel, dimly illuminating the advancing monster from behind. I blink, trying to chase away the dizziness, but my head throbs. I can’t focus on the beast, but I know it’s coming for me, hulking, huge, and snarling snorts and growls that remind me of Cerberus.

Hades left me his guard dog for eight years, and I needed him a grand total of once. The Hound of the Underworld would come in really handy right now, and yet he’s nowhere to be found. I’ll never understand the Gods’ sense of humor, or irony, or whatever it is.

Real fear, the kind I recognize like an old enemy, takes root inside of me. I’m so completely outmatched right now, there’s a good chance I’m going to die.

Breath of Fire

Coming January 2017

Click here to order

This book may never have seen the light of day without the incredible network of people surrounding me. Thank you to my wonderful agent, Jill Marsal, who read my manuscript and immediately decided she wanted to help me get this story out into the world. You gave me hope and made all those hours of work worth it the instant I got your first email. Also, thank you to my fabulous editor, Cat Clyne, this novel’s most enthusiastic cheerleader. I couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated, discerning, and patient editor. The entire team at Sourcebooks has lifted me up and carried me forward. It’s been thrilling to know how many people are excited about this book! A special thank-you to Dawn Adams, Sourcebooks Casablanca’s talented art director, and artist Gene Mollica for creating such an awesome cover, and also to Amelia Narigon for her tireless efforts to spread the word about this book. I would also like to express my particular gratitude to Dominique Raccah for taking a keen interest in this project.

To my friends and first supporters, Natasha Hall, Hannah Douglas, Marie-Laure Herrault, Marlyse Megelas, and Naomi Moulton—thank you for listening to me talk about my writing way back when it wasn’t much more than a dream and we were giggling around big glasses of wine in tiny Parisian apartments. Thank you also to my friends Janet Skeslien Charles and Catherine O’Sullivan Wagner for reading all or parts of this manuscript and offering vital feedback, and to my cousin Leda in Athens for coming to my rescue on the Greek words I peppered into the manuscript. Any mistakes are entirely my own.

My family has been my cheering squad from the time I first started seriously pursuing publication, reading my writing, offering me invaluable constructive criticism, listening to my hopes and worries, and generally putting up with a (tiny) bit of neurosis. My parents, Iris and Fred Beckwith and Alan and Mary Blackmer, have given me endless guidance, love, and support. My sister, Alexis, is an incredible, real-life superhero who has somehow found the time to offer me insightful comments on hundreds of pages while also managing a full-time job, a household, and two young children. Thank you!

Sébastien, you always cheer me on, and I love the “happy first place” picture you drew for me when I won my first Romance Writers of America contest. And Séraphine, thank you for understanding that Mommy needs to work. You two light up my life.

Most especially, thank you to my hero/husband, Jean-Patrice, who works so hard both at the office and at home in order to give me the time I need to write down the stories in my head.

And finally, thank you to my amazing friend Callie Burdette. Your enthusiasm, support, perceptiveness, sharp writer’s eye, and spot-on critiques have helped me through the most exciting yet daunting period of my life. I’m not sure I could have done it without you.

Award-winning author Amanda Bouchet grew up in New England and studied French at the undergraduate and graduate levels, first at Bowdoin College and then at Bowling Green State University. Amanda moved to Paris, France, in 2001 and has been there ever since. She met her husband while studying abroad, and the family now includes two bilingual children who will soon be correcting her French.

A Promise of Fire
won several Romance Writers of America chapter contests, including the Orange Rose Contest and the Paranormal Category of the prestigious Golden Pen.

Amanda would love to connect with her readers. Visit her website at
www.amandabouchet.com
and say hello on Facebook (
www.facebook.com/AmandaBouchetAuthor
) or Twitter (
@AuthorABouchet
).

Thank you for reading
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