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Hi everyone,

I hope you had a great week. I just finished the first round of Alpha edits on Chapter 1, so you know what that means? I've got an excerpt from Chapter 1 for you. Woo! Let me know what you think of it.

Chapter 1 excerpt- Enter the Assassin

Amy looked at her enchanted Jasper and saw a hunched over man with oily brown bangs covering his eyes. “Earl’s wife must be at it again. Will he ever learn?” She shook her head and plastered on a smile before peeking out of her workshop to see him. 

“Hey Earl. Is everything okay? I’m supposed to be closed at this hour.”

Earl sniffled and wiped away tears. “I think she might be cheating on me...again.”

Amy pressed her lips together. “Alright I’ll take this one order just for you, but don’t go telling anyone else about it. If the sapphire didn’t work, you’ll want a black cat’s eye pendant this time. Just trust me on this.”

His lower lip quivered. “Thank you. I’ll do it. How much is it and how soon can you get it to me?” He held out a few twenties.

She accepted his money with a smile  "What you have there will cover it. I'll have it ready for you in a few days." 

“Thank you.” He shook her hand with sweaty palms and plopped the money onto the table before leaving through the front door. 

Amy wiped sweat off her palm. “He’ll never learn will he?”

Once he’d left, she locked the door behind him and went back to her workshop. She held her hand steady as fused the last bit of silver to the black cat's eye gem in a tight circle.  It warmed her hand, purple magic swirling around its surface as she recited the enchantment for wisdom. It wouldn't save his marriage, but the pair of gems would give her some kindness and him some desperately needed happiness and maybe even the willpower to move on from her.

She smiled as she looped a silver chain around the finished pendant and crimped both ends before adding a clasp. When she held the necklace up to the light, a thin slit of white went down the center, resembling the slit pupils of a cat. “Make sure to take good care of him,” she whispered before putting the necklace in a white velvet box and closing it. She packaged the extra watch she’d thrown in as a gift separately for him. 

She thought back to Night as the cat’s eye embedded in the wrist watch. “I hope you’re still alive and out there somewhere.” 

The whistled “cu” of the cuckoo clock made Amy turn to the light lavender walls. “It’s 5:00 PM already? Maybe if I hurry I can catch the tail end of the crafts market.” Amy shoved the finished jewelry into the safety deposit box along with a wad of hundreds from the register before setting the alarm and walking to her car. 

She walked over to the main line of craft shops on Atlantic Avenue, past “The Magic cookie” and the art gallery with a plethora of colorful Corgi sculptures. Amy turned and walked down the huge line of art booths that dotted the bustling street filled with shops and people instead of cars. 

It almost made her feel like she was back in the magic world...almost. 

People creating cartoon portraits of passersby lined either side of the closed street, and one woman bent over a stack of tarot cards. A massive crystal quartz sphere decorated the center of her table. 

A booth with bath bombs and bath salts caught her eye, and she approached the stall, inhaling the heady aromas of vanilla, sage, and lavender with a hint of lemon. Amy held out a twenty. "I'll take the lemongrass and verbena bath bomb please." The woman smiled and leaned into Amy’s ear. "Your bracelet really worked. My crush finally asked me on a date." She held out her silver and rose quartz bracelet and let out an ear piercing squeal.

Amy resisted the urge to cover her ears. "I'm glad to hear that. Thank you again for the bath bombs, Clair." 

She waved. "No problem. Good to see you again, Amy." As Amy walked away, she caught sight of golden eyes and equally golden hair in her peripheral vision, but when she turned back to look at him, he was gone.  

Maybe I’m imagining it, but he looks familiar. The alleys upon alleys of gemstone and jewelry tents called to her, and instead of heading back, she sprinted to a tent teeming with gemstones nesting in the claws of sterling silver dragons .

Alexander's booth also had a rough Labradorite encased in a silver wire cage that resembled a flame. The cage hung from the claws of a dragon. 

She sucked in a breath as she picked up the necklace and nearly choked on the oppressively humid air. It made her long for the chill of gemstone forest, and the crisp air of the cliffs in their clan in the magic realm, but her home was only a smoldering pile of ash because of Opal.

“This one is beautiful, Alex. You’ve really outdone yourself this week.”

He smiled and leaned against the table. “Thanks. They are rather...enchanting,” he said with a wink. 

Amy wrinkled her nose and nudged his shoulder. “Be careful saying things like that in the open, joke or not.”  Amy was tired of running. If Opal wants me to move again, one of us will be dead and it won’t be me. Her tyrannical reign has ruined enough of my life.

He held up his hands. “Sorry. Sorry. It was in poor taste, but if you’re looking for some more jewelry, you should look at the new booth over there.”

Amy followed where his finger pointed. Past the rows of dragon themed necklaces was a new booth with some pewter and sterling necklaces. One of them radiated ice blue magic. Amy shuffled over to the booth and picked up the pendant to check the tag, but there was no price listed. 

The amber glittered gold in the sun. Golden encircled the gem. The chips and scratches on its surface showed its age. The old man running the booth smiled. "Do one of the necklaces catch your eye?" His wrinkled and weather beaten face cracked in a smile. 

She pointed at the pendant. "Yes, I'd like to buy that one." He smiled. "You have good taste dear. I haven't been able to find anyone else with a similar love for ancient pendants all day. People here are only interested in flashy things, but this one had an inner beauty to it. Handle it with care. It has a bit of a temper."

She raised an eyebrow at him and said just low enough for him to hear. 

"Enchantario la vi?" she said, but he just gave her a puzzled look. Her face fell into a frown. I guess my gut instinct was wrong? 

After a long pause he whispered "Nil Avia la vi." Interesting, he was from Avia. That meant he was a weather mage, Then what is he doing with what looks like an ancient enchantress weapon? She thought but didn’t voice her concerns.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?" 

He smiled. "Let's just say that I'm a distant relative of yours and leave it at that." He handed her the necklace. 

“What is this necklace? Was it one of Merlin’s necklaces?”

He gripped his stomach and chuckled. “It was Freya’s of course. Can you not tell by how the gold glitters?”

Amy shook her head. “We never learned about her. Is she a famous enchantress?” 

The man laughed. “Not quite. Take care of the necklace.” 

“What about paying you for it?”

He smirked and for a moment the wrinkles smoothed, and his face looked much younger. “Consider it a gift from a particularly generous family member.” 

“Okay. Well thank you.” She clutched the pendant to her chest as she walked away. When she looked back to wave goodbye to the man, he was gone and the booth had gone with him. Maybe he controlled mist magic?  Also, how am I related to a weather mage?  He mentioned Freya too. How are we related? 

A familiar sight made her back straighten and a flash of yellow-gold passed through her peripheral vision. I wasn’t imagining it. Someone is following me.

Amy picked up her pace and put her hand to the Selenite around her neck to activate its cloaking magic.

She slid through back alleys and hid behind corners. Her house was near the plaza, but she took a roundabout way of getting to her apartment. When she thought she’d lost the person following her, she slowed her pace but kept the cloaking magic up. She wasn't able to see the flash of gold and black in her vision anymore. Either she’d lost them or they were excellent at being undetected. 

As she made her way to her door, she kept the main barriers up and ran into her house. 

She heaved a sigh of relief when she walked into her house, but that sigh turned into a whimper when a voice said, "You didn't really think a barrier like that would keep me out, did you?" 

She whirled around to see a figure, but he looked different from the one at the market. Sandy brown hair fell over eyes that were more hazel than yellow or gold. Her grip on her gem pouch tightened. "Are you here to kill me? If you are then you'll have to fight me till my dying breath. I won't go to Opal willingly." 

His face quirked up in a smile. "Who said I was working for Opal or that I wanted to kill you? Perhaps I’m just here to have a chat with an old friend." 

She cocked her head to one side "I've never met you before in my life." 

He put his hands in his pockets. "You have, but I looked a bit different back then." 

Amy squinted at him trying to figure out where she knew him from, but her eye caught on something in his right hand.

She reached for a gemstone but was too slow. It was a dart and he threw it at her face. "Shit."

She moved to dodge, but her limbs felt too heavy and slow. Why did this have to be a physical fight? I could have handled a magical assault. 

She squinted her eyes shut, but something clattered to the floor at her feet, and she heard a gasp. Amy opened her eyes to see the dart on the floor, glittering gold. The necklace glowed blue in her hand.

The intruder’s lip curled back in a snarl. "Damn. I was too late."

He moved with the lithe grace of a cat, and approached her, getting so close that she could smell the scent of cinnamon wafting from him. It reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t place the memory, and judging by his changed appearance he had to be a shifter. He acts so familiar with me, but I didn't know any shape shifters from our clan. I need to ask Garnet over the phone later. If I make it out of this. 

He tossed a black gem to the floor at her feet. "Perhaps this will jog your memory. The name’s Dusk. It was good seeing you again...Amy." Her face flushed at her name on his lips. It sounded awkward and clunky on his tongue and his words lacked cadence in a way that felt familiar.

“Wait do I know you from somewhere?”

“You knew me before you betrayed Opal and I, but I am not the same person I once was.” Before she could ask what he meant by that his figure disappeared before her eyes. If he’s a shifter, how did he disappear like that? Weird. Amy grabbed the stone he'd left from the floor and turned it over in her palm. It had a streak of light that went through the middle. It was a black cat's eye gem. 

END OF EXCERPT

Oh and I'm still plugging away on Tiktok, so I've got another opportunity for you to come join my madness over there in exchange for the lovely bookish prizes shown below. Ohhhh. Ahhh. Shiny. One of the books is an enemies to lovers romance which ah how appropriate because I'm crafting the start of an enemies to lovers romance in Amy's Rebellion. Oh and there will be a love triangle because why not.

Good luck, and I hope you win something awesome.

Now, I have a question for you. 

What's you're favorite romance trope?

I'm a massive sucker for enemies to lovers, but I also love a good best friends to lovers trope as well.

That's all I've got for you today. Have a great day and stay safe.

Sincerely,

Julia

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