#thecardinalseries #miasmantz #calliejensen #delta #cardinalofhope #reverseharem #reverseharemseries
Here's another sneak peek from the upcoming and anticipated release of book 3 of the Cardinal series, due to be released in March! If you haven't ordered your copy of Cardinal of Hope, make sure to do so today!
This excerpt from the book has a little more action than the first snippet! I hope you enjoy!!
The Cardinal of Hope, book 3 of the Cardinal series by Mia Smantz.
Corbin looked around the charred room, his eyes scanning the room as his mind seemed to race with thoughts. “Okay, well, the person hasn’t made a move yet, and if they were going to, they would’ve when I left you alone—fuck.” He startled me at his use of a real swear word instead of his creative PG substitutes. “I’m so, so sorry Callie. I put you in danger!” He whisper-shouted.
“Hey,” I said, “It’s not—”
“Don’t even finish that sentence, Callie. Just, let me beat myself up for a bit. You could’ve been—”
“So could you,” I said. “You were scouting the area on your own. This person could’ve killed you.”
“But—” he cut himself off and shook his head. “Anyway, let’s do what we came to do. Let’s look for the object. The person hasn’t made a move yet, so we’ll just worry about that bridge when we get to it.”
We eased forward, the house creaking and yelling at us for treading on its old, damaged bones.
“Okay, okay, we hear ya, house. One at a time, then,” Corbin said, holding his hand for me to hang back. I wanted to argue, but Corbin had been more than understanding the entire evening. I could give him this. “Watch the window. We don’t want any uninvited guests.”
He toe-heeled his way across the room, taking careful steps and testing an area before putting his entire weight on it. He made it to the bedside table. “It’s not here.”
“Maybe it’s on the floor,” I said, turning away from the window. “The house fell and shifted quite a bit.”
Corbin got down on his knees, lighting his phone up to search the area around the bed and behind the furniture. “I’m telling you, Callie. It’s not here.”
His phone’s light ran across the vanity mirror, bouncing the beam in different directions and lighting up the message I’d forgotten about until just now: Where are you, Callie?
It had been left by the bomber. The bomber was looking for me.
I shook my head, joining Corbin, following almost step for step in his path.
It wasn’t long before I was forced to come to the same conclusion as him. The object was gone. I went to say something, but then there was a deafening snap.
The ground beneath our feet lurched.
“What’s happening?” I asked, catching myself on the table right before I busted my lip on it. The house around us made a terrible grinding, splintering sound. My eyes trailed up to the ceiling, the pressing weight above us suddenly making me very claustrophobic.
Corbin looked concerned. He crossed back over to the window, taking the same established trail we’d followed. He swore, ducking down and coming back towards me.
“What is it?”
“Our mystery guy’s making his move. We need to leave—now,” he said. “We’re going to run as fast as we can. There’s no time to check and see if the floor is safe. I’ll go first. If I fall through the floor, then we’ll know it’s not safe.”
“That’s not funny,” I said, my heart picking up its pace.
“I know,” he said, swallowing before pulling me further into the collapsing house.
END EXCERPT
