EXCERPT RELEASE ~~ TORN (Fire Born #2) by Laney McMann #YA

Hi, everyone.

Today, I am thrilled to release the excerpt for TORN,

the 2nd book in The Fire Born Novels series.

Below is the first chapter.

Hope you like it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ONE

Layla

Sunlight seared my face, and my fingers dug into hot sand before a cool shade fell over me.

“Teine?” A soft voice called my name. Someone pulled on my arm.

My head lolled to the side, but my neck caught on a crick and refused to move further than a couple of inches.

“Teine? Can you hear me?” Soft wisps tickled my face, even as my head pounded above my left ear.

My eyelids opened and closed, scratching against the corneas like sandpaper—my mouth dry, like paste. Though blurry, a figure loomed over me.

“We have to go. Hold on to me.” A gentle squeeze of my hand made my fingers flex.

“Max …” My voice cracked, word slurred; my tongue seemed too large for my mouth. I raised my arm, but it thumped to the ground at my side with the weight of a lead pipe.

“Shh. Do not let go.”

My heavy arms swung up on their own. I attempted to clasp my hands, to entwine my fingers, but they slipped back down to my sides with a dead thud. Vision refusing to cooperate, my eyes slipped in and out of focus. “What … happened?”

“You will be all right.”

“Max?”

“Shh. Save your strength.”

Oh, god.

Max.

I fell … We fell. It was so hot. Too hot, and …

#**#**#

“Layla!” Max’s voice tangles in my head along with a rush of wind whistling in my ears and the roar of fire surrounding my body.

 “I’m coming!” The pulse of pure energy surging through my veins is a fear I’ve never known—a heat I can’t control.

Where once white sand once stretched for miles, a war scene bristles. Dunes flattened to nothing. Bits of charred lumber and ash blanket the beach. Sea oats have been ripped free by their roots and lie smoldering, bright red embers shining up like sinister eyes.

The explosion has unleashed an acrid off-charge, tainting my surroundings in tendrils of fire and smoke streams. Sparks sizzle through the atmosphere, leaving traces of color in the air ahead of me, brought on by wicked lightning strikes illuminating the sky.

Streaks of green and white flash in all directions—fingers of electricity lacerating the clouds—like a fireworks display gone wrong.

Growls of building thunder vibrate my body before falling silent, and a cackling laugh echoes around me, taking my attention to the dune’s edge.

Crows line the shore, still as statues—miniature militant soldiers. Ebony feathers lay, as if methodically placed, around a broken body carpeted in withered gardenia petals. Blank, flat crystal grey eyes stare fixed and unmoving.

Cold shock ricochets through my core. “One will kill the other. Say goodbye to your beloved.” The voice, so foreign yet chillingly familiar, snarls inside my head.

A guttural vibration quakes the sky.

The atmosphere shifts, and the heavens erupt.

“Max!”

#**#**#

“Shh, Layla, I’m right here.” Max’s face swims into view, stained in soot and blood, his dark eyes gazing down. “Are you okay?” Breathing hard, he crouches over me as I lay in the sand, the outline of his silhouette darkening by the sun at his back. “We need to get out of here.” He scoots forward. “Can you stand?” His fingertips brush my hand, and his firm hold makes me gasp. His gaze roams over my body—my face. Black irises taking over from the usual light grey … “Why are you looking at me like that?” His voice echoes around me as if he’s screaming, but I can barely hear him.

“You were dead,” I say in a whisper, staring up at him. “I saw you—before. Lying in the sand.”

“What?” He sweeps away the loose hairs sticking to my cheek. “I’m right here.” Concern deepens the contours of his face, and his brow crunches into a scowl as he puts a palm over my forehead. “Did you hit your head?” Cradling his arms underneath my body, he lifts me off the sand, up against him.

“Promise you’re not dead?” My voice slurs.

He chuckles, eyes darkening further. “Promise.”

Layla and Max are back September 8th, 2014.

May 12, 2014 | Categories: A Fire Born Novel, Author, Fire Born Updates, J Taylor Publishing, TORN, Upcoming Releases, Young Adult Novels | Tags: Author, Author of The Fire Born Novels, Fiction, J. Taylor Publishing, laney mcmann, Layla and Max, The Fire Born Novels, TIED by Laney McMann, TORN (Fire Born #2) by Laney McMann, TORN Excerpt Release, YA Fiction, young adult paranormal romance, young adult urban fantasy | 2 Comments