Guess who's got only 4 more chapters to write in Gift of Water?

This author girl!

I've made it to the nitty gritty part of Jasmin's story, and Gregor sure is making things super complicated. He might be a smoking hot college professor who enjoys hiking and rock climbing...but he also happens to be weirdly obsessed with a mountain inhabited by a Black Priest. ☠️

That, of course, could mean certain death for Gregor if his snooping irritates the undead priest. Jasmin would rather he play it safe, but we all know how guys are. A little too confident and daring for their own good. 😉

Read on for an inside look at what happened when Jasmin first found out her fake boyfriend wants to climb the peak no mortal dares to climb.

Gift of Water—Sneak Peek #2

When Gregor returned to Kramhof on Saturday evening, he showed up at the bar just before eight p.m. and ordered a hearty dinner before the kitchen closed. The restaurant was busy that night, so we hardly had a chance to catch up, though his aura glowed with satisfaction from having camped for four nights amid the peaks. He ambled toward his garret suite after finishing his meal, admitting to me that his body yearned to crash in a comfortable bed. Then he invited me to scale one of the eastern cliffs as his partner on Sunday morning.

While I was not an expert rock climber, I did own a harness and repelling gear, having ascended the cliff he referenced several times before. So I agreed to meet him at the gazebo for breakfast, and then we could conquer the crag together. That particular wall was of granite and limestone, and it included three climbing pitches, which meant we must change out our ropes twice before reaching the top. On a Sunday there might not be a glut of climbers tackling that cliff, for most of the locals rested on the Lord’s Day.

I had no scruples about mountaineering on Sundays. If Gregor wanted his fake girlfriend to scale a cliff with him, scale it I would. The payoff at the peak would be worth it, since that one still sported a coating of snow.

We reached the mountaintop when the sun stood high in the sky. I dropped my gear, helmet, and bag in a pile near the edge and situated myself upon a smooth boulder many climbers used as a resting place. Now at long last, we could have an extensive conversation, once Gregor finished taking snapshots of the scenery and the cirrus clouds weaving patterns upon the firmament. I smiled as I watched him with his camera, his enthusiasm for nature’s wonder apparent. I could attempt a real relationship with this man, if he’s open to the possibility.

“How about a snack to give us a boost after that climb?” Gregor asked when he approached me with his bag in tow. I had brought only my thermos from my bag, though my stomach gurgled at his question. He sat onto the hard snow beside me and exhaled a protracted sigh.

“Come on. It was easy for you, and don’t act like it wasn’t. I saw you merge your fingers with the cliff face on every step you took. You’ve proved to me that fire and earth combined are far more useful than just one or the other.” I wrinkled my nose at him playfully and brought my thermos to my lips.

Gregor grinned. “I made a present for you while I meandered to Italy and back.” He opened a tiny side pocket of his bag and produced a polished obsidian star with five points, the sunlight catching it as he held it out to me.

My lips parted in amazement as I studied his gift. “Did you make this from the power of your element alone, or did you alter another type of rock to shape a perfect star? Either way, this is a lovely surprise!” I took it carefully and held it to my heart, eyeing my companion with a touch of shyness.

“I conjured it from pebbles in the bed of a stream on that first night, imbuing it with magic and polishing the edges until I felt it captured your generous spirit. It’s been such a joy to get to know you, Jasmin.”

Happiness welled within me, and I leaned close to kiss Gregor’s left cheek. “This is so thoughtful of you, and I’m really glad fate seems to have showered her blessings upon us. I’ve been wondering about what you said at the lake. That there’s a story behind why you’re not married yet.”

He let loose a loud laugh as I tucked his gift deep into a pocket of my jeans. “So we’re at the point in our fake relationship where we discuss body count?”

He spoke in English for some reason, his accent making me snicker. “Well, you can’t keep a witch in the dark when she’s yet to figure out how a kindhearted, twenty-eight-year-old college professor is still single. I’m a lot younger than you, and I’ve been with two guys.” I figured my candidness should break the ice.

To my surprise, Gregor’s cheeks flushed and he pulled a batch of Landjäger from his bag. “Now I feel like a wuss. I’ve only been with two witches myself. No outsiders since I’d have to suppress my element to do that.”

“I don’t have that problem, but both the guys I’ve been with were Teutons, too. Tried it with Rolf for two years, but he’s like family to me. We just aren’t meant for romance.”

“Rolf the bartender?”

“Yep.”

“Wow. That’s just a little awkward. Does he know about—?” He gestured between us, then offered me a handful of jerky.

“He’s the only person in Wildertal aside from the two of us who knows our romance is fake. But don’t worry. Rolf’s not possessive. He knows I want to get out of the village for good.” I chewed on a piece of beef, savoring its peppery flavor.

“Amicable exes. I like it.” Gregor gazed across the surrounding peaks before admitting, “Things fell apart between me and my last girlfriend the year after I finished my master’s. After I lost my—you know, the buddy I told you about at the lake—well, I kind of got deep into distractions so I didn’t have to think about it, or feel. Started delving into my family history and decided to work towards a PhD. I wasn’t giving her the attention she deserved.”

Sympathetic, I laid a hand against his arm. “We all grieve in different ways.”

“I guess that’s true. But it’d be better if I didn’t scare off my other half in the process.” Gregor shook his head and then turned back toward me. “You might not claim molten rock, but you’re a decent climber. Would you mind coming with me when I tackle a higher cliff I noticed on my recent hike?”

“Sure. Name the time and place, and I’m there.”

“So I noticed a place that looks a bit treacherous not far from Wildertal,” Gregor began, fingering a piece of jerky as he spoke.

I raised an eyebrow when he paused to slip the piece into his mouth, an odd hesitation seeming to cloud the space between us. “This is one of the easier cliffs to climb in this area,” I pointed out, unsure which nearby crag had piqued his interest. “There are others without bolts.”

“For sure. I climbed a challenging one close to the border. Do you remember when we ran into each other that day you planned on camping?”

“How could I forget? Pretty sure at least one of my neighbors is still telling that story to anyone who’ll listen.” I rolled my eyes and finished the last of the water in my thermos.

“Do you need any more?” Gregor reached for his bag, revealing three extra water bottles packed amid his other equipment.

In response, I stretched my thermos toward him, conjuring magic from my spirit and calling the frozen water around us to energize me. His eyes widened as my thermos gradually refilled, my water casting a mystical sheen upon my fingers. “Okay then. You said my element’s really useful, but I can’t create drinkable water out of nothing.”

I smirked at him and recapped my thermos, setting it down into the snow. “It saps some of my strength to do stuff like that, but all this snow makes it easier. I’d run out of juice real fast if I tried that in a desert.”

“I need to hike with you more often, since water bottles weigh a pack down.” Gregor looked truly amazed by my practical use of elemental magic. Heat rose in my cheeks and I dropped my gaze to my hands.

“Just bring purifier tablets like normal people do and never go far from a water source. You still haven’t told me what cliff caught your eye last week.”

“It’s a place with jagged boulders along the bottom and deep ridges all the way up to the snow line. The day we ran into each other, were you headed for one of the trailheads past the farm? I came back that way yesterday so I could study the terrain around that cliff. It doesn’t look like a place frequented by climbers.”

Horror surged down my spine as a mental image of that area grew clear in my brain. “This cliff you’re talking about. It’s not the one off the southbound trail around the thick Alp closest to the Atzinger farm, is it?”

“If that farm’s the one we almost invaded before you stopped and asked me to be your fake boyfriend, then you’ve got the right cliff.” Gregor straightened, his shoulders relaxing as though he had feared I would not know which mountain he referenced.

I took a deep breath, suspecting my face had blanched due to the chill coursing through my blood. It felt like sludge, as if my water was on the verge of freezing like my brother’s ice. “You’re honestly wanting to try to climb the side of the peak just south of the thick one? You realize the main trail curves around that Alp for a reason.”

“Because it’s on its way to connect with the Italian route?” Gregor’s brows furrowed as he regarded me, and I shook my head. How much could I say without sounding like a witless witch who believed in local ghost stories? Did Gregor know anything about Black Priests?

“Actually, nobody from Wildertal ever tries to explore that particular Alp,” I said, sticking my fingers between my legs in an attempt to warm them. “There’s been a lot of accidents there when tourists visit the valley. People have tried to scale its cliffs before, but no one’s succeeded. A climber fell to his death there not long ago.”

“So it’s kind of like the east face of the Watzmann? That makes me want to climb it even more.” My companion grinned and raised his face to the sun.

“You’re not getting it. That entire mountain is bad news, not just the cliff you saw. All of the trails go around it, and the elders say it’s a haven of dark magic. Haunted by death. You can ask Jürgen Atzinger if you think I’m making it up. He and his wife have managed their farm since the ’50s, and they know to stay far away from the deadly mountain.”

“Dark magic?” Out of all of the warnings I had given, Gregor had to zero in on the one closest to the truth. “Do you think maybe one of our people cast a blood curse on it in years past to keep hikers away?”

An unusual proposition, but most Teutons believed all Cursed Ones resided in the Black Castle along the German border. Not in the Austrian countryside. “I thought blood curses were cast on settlements, but maybe there was some sort of hamlet on that peak long ago.”

“It’s entirely possible. Lots of monasteries and churches on mountaintops in an effort to be closer to heaven.” My companion’s insight intrigued me, even if I had no wish to ascend a deadly cliff face.

Gregor rose to his feet and stretched, flexing his fingers as he glanced at our helmets lying near the edge of the peak. “I’m going to see what I can do with that crag later this week. You don’t have to come if you’d rather play it safe. I can go solo without a problem.”

“Of course you can, lava hands.” I pushed myself to my feet. “I’m not going to climb that thing, but I’ll keep watch at the base. Just in case."

What do you think will happen when Jasmin and Gregor confront the cliff that claimed a hiker's life several years back? Will they run into the Black Priest himself, or will something deter them from their goal? Does Gregor know anything about Black Priests and their death magic, or is he just an ignorant hiker with a penchant for choosing the worst peaks to climb?

Find out in just 11 days by reserving your copy of Gift of Water right now!

✨ I Need It! ✨

Cherry Pepper Incoming

I need to offer a heartfelt thanks to everyone who replied to last week's newsletter, offering tips and insight on problems with garden bugs. 🪲 It's nice to know I'm not alone in that struggle, as frustrating as it may be. I'll reply to each of you individually once I'm done racing to the finish line with Gift of Water.

In the meantime, yesterday morning I noticed that our single cherry pepper has started turning from green to red at long last! This thing's been hanging out on its plant for over a month now, so apparently cherry peppers are slow growers. And yes, you can see how the problem bugs have damaged all its leaves.

But it looks like my husband and I will get to eat this thing later this week! Have you ever tried a cherry pepper? I can't wait to find out how spicy it is. 🌶

Book Fairs And Giveaways

Be sure to scroll through all the titles in the book fair pictured above, since each one is free with newsletter signup! And since you're already on C.L. Carhart's newsletter, it wouldn't surprise me if you've subscribed to most of these authors' newsletters too. 😉 So grab some fresh stories from the graphic above, or check out a few more book fairs at the links below.

August Fantasy/Sci-fi Romance Sale

Fairy Tales And Fantasy Romance

Other Books You Might Like

Got two vampire tales for you to check out today, because we all need some fangy immortals in our lives. My Teuton witches & priests have vampirical qualities themselves because I enjoy vampire stories as much as the next reader. Now you're in the know about one of my "authorly secrets." 🤩

Meet the Order of the Black Oak: a powerful order of modern-day warriors fighting evil to protect the ones they love.

When wolf shifter and dedicated nurse Rosalie Gauthier returns to her town to take on the leadership of her pack after her father’s illness, her birthright is challenged a tyrannic rival, and marriage to a powerful vampire is her only option to save her family’s legacy.

Bound by honor to his lifetime oath to protect the alpha of the Domaine-Lassalle pack, Mount-Royal Immortal Renaud St-Amand’s duty turns out a whole lot more complicated when he is hit with love at first sight for the future female leader on the day of their arranged marriage.

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MILA

He's the crown prince of a vampire syndicate. An alpha vampire who will rule after his father. One evening, I accidentally trespass on his family estate. Instead of kicking me out, he gives me a tour of his mother's amazing garden. After, he sends me home in a car to keep me safe...and now I'm his newest obsession. I know he's dangerous, but I can't give him up.

GABRIEL

She's sunshine...and I'm night. A field of summer flowers, and I'm the cool green forest. Human, and I'm a supernatural. But from the evening I come upon her trespassing on syndicate property, I crave her with an unreasoning desire that shreds my control—and threatens everything I've worked for.

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That's all for me this week, because I've got to crawl into my writing cave and polish Gift of Water in time to upload on all the retailers. And get the review copies sent out to my awesome ARC team! If you're part of my team, keep an eye on your inbox next Monday for a download link to Gift of Water.

Have a wonderfully weird week, and next time I'll hopefully be able to share the insider info on how a cherry pepper tastes. 🌶

Talk to you soon,

C.L. Carhart

Pre-order Gift of Water:

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This week's book fair:

https://books.bookfunnel.com/35iz10y4kg/2omu7hvkfg