Hello all, and welcome my second installment of checking on the progression of Ashriel’s overflowing cuss jar, lol. Assuming he didn’t break it already. 😉
The vast majority of the human realm has no idea the shima realm, Ejoma, and it’s inhabitants even exist. Beings like vampires, faeries, shapeshifters, witches? Nothing but fantasy to humans.
Our human heroine, Jillian, is no exception. Her main concern is finding a job as a live-in housekeeper somewhere close to her family, and while she loves The Lord of the Rings just as much as the next person, the thought that magic could actually be real has never even crossed her mind.
She’s blissfully unaware of the pending war in Ejoma, or the possible ramifications it could have on the human realm.
Things to know about Jillian:
- She believes her mother might have been right all along. She may actually be working for serial killers this time. She thinks her new employers are a couple of weirdos, but not in a fun way. She’s only half-joking about the serial killer thing.
- She *knows* Ashriel is a giant weirdo. And a jerk. And yet she’s mystifyingly unafraid of him, despite the damage he does to her employer’s home, his insanely rude behavior, and his weirdo name phobia.
- “Weirdo” is now her favorite word, thanks to Ashriel and her new employers.
- She’s thought about quitting, but… It’s fine. Why would she quit? Everything’s…just…fine…
Here’s another excerpt!:
“Can I help you?” she asked, feeling a little nervous with his eyes fixed on her. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but she could practically feel the tension in him, and it was putting her even more on edge than she was before.
“That would be beyond your limited abilities, human,” he said cryptically.
“Do you hear how weird that sounds when you call me human like it’s my name?” Even after all this time, he refused to call her anything except human or pain in the ass human or idiot human for some variation.
“Am I wrong?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Noticed any recent manifestation of supernatural powers? Telepathy? Control of the elements? Shapeshifting?”
She stared at him blankly, fully aware he was being sarcastic. Of course. Thank God she’d decided he wasn’t really a psycho, and couldn’t possibly believe any of those things he’d mentioned were real. This sure would be awkward if she still thought that he was crazy in a small place in the back of her mind. “Not recently, no. You?”
That permanent scowl of his softened fractionally, unexpected warmth creeping into his expression, and he seemed oddly amused by her question. “Not today, but you’ll be the third to know if I do.”
While his comment made absolutely zero sense, the genuine, fleeting half smile he gave her did devastating things to her blood pressure.
More to come!
Until next time, Take Care and Happy Writing! 😀
~~~~~~~~~~
paigeaddams 