Capture Excerpt

Happy Friday y'all! Since I'm an avid reader myself I know how bad it can suck to wait for a follow up on a book. A few of you have asked about the follow up to Magicals so I decided to give you guys a snippet from the upcoming book Capture. I hope you guys enjoy it and the new character!

Arabella

Someone behind me asking if I was going to go inside the store snapped me out of my own head. I didn't know what had happened but it was almost like I had felt the connection. I was scared to be hopeful because what if I had just imagined it? What if I was starting to go crazy from his absence? If I had felt the connection then there was hope that maybe he wasn't as far as we had all feared. Then another thought slammed into me that drained my body of its oxygen. If that was him then he was in an enormous amount of pain. That sent my heart pounding against my chest, a lump formed in my throat. I cleared it quickly glanced back and apologized to the guy behind me. Once I was inside the store I headed for the last aisle.

As I stood there against the book shelves still trying to get my heart rate back to normal, a guy came around the corner with a stack of books in his arms. He either was a heavy reader or he worked here. His eyes met mine, at first they startled me. They were ice blue but rimmed with heavy eyeliner.  They were a bit startling to be honest and the eyeliner only made them seem lighter. He was rather pale skin wise, he had had two piercings, one on each side of his bottom lip...what were those called? Snake bites?  His bangs were longer than the rest of his hair and black, mostly pushed to the right side under a striped beanie. He had on a black Motionless in White band t-shirt with a black zipper hoodie over it, black skinny jeans ripped at the knees. The last thing I noticed were his black and white skater sneakers with lime green laces.

His eyes roamed over me and I felt my cheeks warm as I blushed. Then he smirked at me, showcasing a dimple on his left cheek. I wasn’t sure why he was smirking but I looked back into his ice blue eyes but now that he was more visible under the direct light of the aisle I saw what I thought was eyeliner before was actually eye lashes. His top eyelid had  eye lashes that any girl would have been jealous off, so dark and thick. I was part Italian and mine weren’t even close to his.

“If you’re looking for the books with all the pretty pictures they’re on aisle two cheerleader.” He said. His voice was deep and raspy. It was intriguing and at first I wanted to hear him say more but then what he had said started to sink in. Cheerleader? Books with pretty pictures? What the hell? Did he think I was dumb? And I didn’t look like a cheerleader.  I felt my eyes narrow and my arms crossed over my chest defensively.  He stepped in front of me and for whatever reason I found myself breathing him in. He smelt musky and earthy. I liked it but then it jogged the memory of his smell and that damn lump was back in my throat. I had to focus on something else so I wouldn't break.  I noticed as he placed a book back on the shelf that his nails were painted black and both of his ears had large gauges.  When he turned around he was just inches from me, I noticed his cheekbones were high and slender and his eyebrows were just as dark as his eye lashes. I had never been one to like the whole emo look but on him I hated to admit it worked. 

"You can count can't you cheerleader?" he paused waiting for me to answer but I wasn't go to dignify his snarky question with an answer. "This is aisle thirteen, you need go eleven aisle's to the left." He said talking slowly as if I was actually dumb.

I was angry now and insulted. "For your information, I was looking for War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I don't need books with pretty pictures. I haven't since I was about four. And I'm not a cheerleader." The tone of my voice even shocked me. It came out firm and harsh which I wasn’t expecting. Apparently, this guy found it amusing because that smirk was back and so was the dimple. For whatever reason I felt myself wanting to lean forward and touch it. I mentally slapped myself for even thinking that. 

He leaned forward "Whatever you say...cheerleader." The hint of mint on his breath had my heart pounding in my chest again. I gripped the shelf closet to me. He walked past me then turned back around. "Tolstoy is here on this shelf, in the T's, which comes after S, in case you forgot."

That was it. Something in me snapped. I whipped around "What is your deal? Do you treat all your customers so rudely?"

He stayed silent for a minute looking over me again. "No just the ones that seemed a little lost without their clique and pom poms."

I stalked towards him. "You don't even know me." 

"I guess we should all be thankful for the little things shouldn't we?" He paused, pulled his bottom lip between his teeth then finally released it. He reached up and held out a copy of War and Peace. I studied him then decided if he wanted to be rude then I could be to. I crossed my arms over my chest and refused to take the copy he tried to hand to me.  "Look I think this book is way, way over your head but you seem determined to read it. So, here take the damn thing but don't come back crying saying it's too much." He was still holding out the book towards me.

"I've already read the book. I just wanted it to add to my collection." He raised his eyebrows like he was shocked. "Don't be so shocked. I'm sure even you can manage to be wrong sometimes."

He chuckled and both of his dimples showed. "You're right I guess I can be. Its this whole thing about you that screams miss popularity. I usually run from girls like you."

"Girls like me?" I asked.

"Yeah the messy bun, the hipster glasses, all the fancy clothes and that fancy coffee drink in your hand. Everything that I avoid." he replied.

Ugh! He was so infuriating. I yanked the book from the stack in his arms and stormed around him. Just as I was about to turn off the aisle I turned back to see him watching me. "I wore the "hipster" glasses before they were popular." As I walked away I heard him chuckle.

As I was standing in line I got a text from MaKayla saying she was on her way back. I told her I was at Beyond the Cover checking out now. As I stepped out of the store I saw MaKayla pulling up. I quickly made my way to her car. Just before I got inside I felt the funny feeling of being watched again. I turned around but saw nothing. 

"What's wrong?" MaKayla asked.

Scanning one more time while getting in the car I told her "Nothing. Just a feeling". As she backed out of the parking space I spotted him. The emo guy from the store standing at the window watching me. Suddenly, I was covered in chills. I turned to ask MaKayla if she felt anything but the red rim around her eyes stopped me. She had been crying but why?

Until next time...