Sneak Peek 3 of Setting Fire, Book 1 of the Fire Series by Mia Smantz
#thestillwindseries #miasmantz #SashaLiPopova #gamma #reverseharem #reverseharemseries #settingfire
Hello all!
Welcome to the sneak peeks countdown. With the first book of the new series, Setting Fire, soon to be released on September 30th, I'll be posting some snippets from the story to whet your whistles :)
If you're here, then you are getting excited for the release of Setting Fire, book 1 of the Fire Series!
Some notes before we get to the good stuff... my first series, The Cardinal Series is all completed and available on Amazon Kindle Unlimited for free. It's also available for purchase. If you're interested in purchasing a hardcopy set of the first two books, The Cardinal Bird and Cardinal Caged, you can buy the first volume here. This volume is also available in the Kindle Unlimited store if you want to purchase or add to your ten-book Unlimited list to help free up a slot for another great book. I know I always have a hard time trying to cull my ten-book limit. Get the Kindle version here. Soon, I'll be bundling the second volume of the series to include Cardinal of Hope and The Cardinal Sin as well as Cardinal Rose and The Red Cardinal. I'll make sure to announce it on social media.
One more thing before the preview, I created the pre-order for the next book so that I could include the link within the current book, but I haven't been promoting it. But, here it is, the next book in the series:
Setting Fire, Book 1
SNEAK PEEK
Ice slithered down, coiling and curling everything into a frosty freeze.
A quick glance showed the rest of the forest suffered from a similar fate. The trunks of the trees were deep indigo, intermixed with swirls of violet. Ice coated their bark, sparkling in the moonlight. Their boughs were weighed down with thousands of unique icicles, twinkling in the beams of light that filtered through the thick canopy of barren branches. The beauty equaled its deadliness.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but endless, frozen trees bearing this danger in silence.
It was a winter wonderland.
The need to flee rose within me, but my feet remained planted.
The wind whistled its way between trunks and brambles. It tickled the ice and coaxed it into a mesmerizing, playful dance. A smile pulled at my lips as I watched.
The breeze tugged at the ends of my chestnut locks—tinted purple in the cool hues that only appeared in the dead of night under a pale full moon—making them bounce and frolic.
I laughed and combed my fingers through my hair, hissing at the burn. With a quick intake of breath, I yanked them away and stared down at them. A spike of fear needled my heart at the sight.
The tips glittered blue with fast forming blisters that pulsed with excruciating, blinding pain.
I stumbled back a step as a gasp escaped. The heel of my foot crunched on something spiky—frozen blades of grass as sharp as tacks. Alarm continued to rise. All around, unbearable cold overtook the ground. Crackles and fractures rose in a cacophony of sounds as the frost closed in. It coated the thicket and undergrowth in a translucent, sparkling white layer between one breath and the next.
Awestruck, I watched it encroach closer, wasting precious seconds before I snapped out of my trance and reacted to the danger.
With my heart rate increasing, I turned to run. My bare feet barely made a sound as they pounded the forest floor, scrambling to keep away from the impending ice.
Tangles of briars caught at the flimsy nightgown I wore. Scores and nicks lined my exposed arms, but I didn’t slow.
If I did…
Branches stretched out to block my path, forcing me to hunch to get through. The tiny twigs sliced like razors as they whipped across my forearms. After a particularly rough gauntlet of continuous pain, I broke through the dense copse of trees, finally able to see farther than a yard in front of me.
My breath came in gasping pants. No matter how fast I ran, it wasn’t enough.
Instinctively, I realized I couldn’t let the cold reach me. With more breathing room, I glanced over my shoulder to determine if I’d put some distance between myself and the danger.
The thick gathering of trees I’d just cleared shook and trembled before the frost burst through with a vengeance. My eyes widened as my heart skipped a beat.
I picked up my pace.
The wind grew stronger, howling with ferocity. The playful manners and dancing swirls were long gone, and in its place was a rip