Can you, in less than five words describe your book Dark Child?
Tarot,
destiny, foreboding, Machiavellian…you did say less than five, right? But of
course that means I have to leave out my brooding heroes, and magical runes,
and lots of other fun stuff.
What inspired you to write it?
I
started by writing a single scene about a girl living in a building with a
dangerous secret, a building she should have walked right past without seeing,
like everyone else did. That scene grew into a full length novel. And that
original scene, pretty much unchanged, is still in the final book, in Dark
Child Episode 2.
Without further delay, here's the snippet!
Excerpt
from Dark Child Episode 1
***
Kat turned
her head to see what he was looking at, and saw another man – a very tall, very
well-dressed man – filling the doorway.
And he was
looking right at her.
Director
Norris took a step in his direction, and faltered. “Sir, is . . . is
something the matter? I understood you’d be waiting in the car.”
The man
didn’t immediately acknowledge him.
Norris held
out the sample shipper. “I have the sample right here.”
Finally, the
man broke his unblinking focus on Kat, and glanced at Norris. “I’ll take over
now.” He made a dismissive gesture with his hand, as if shooing away an
annoying fly. “Take that to the car.”
“Yes, sir.”
Director Norris scurried away down the corridor carrying the shipper.
Kat looked
back up at the man in the doorway. “Country club material,” her grandmother
would have said. A perfect match for the limousine outside. Even without his
height, he was the sort of man who commanded instant attention, with all the
confidence of bearing, the charisma, of one used to leading others. But who was he? And why had just seeing him been
enough to make Director Norris jump to do his bidding – behaving more like a
junior associate than the director of an entire research division?
“I am
Ionescu,” the man said, somehow knowing to answer the question she hadn’t
asked. His dark eyes glittered. “Director Norris reports to me.” He took a step
towards them.
“Your name
isn’t familiar, Mr Ionescu,” Paul said, looking baffled. “Do you work in our
corporate head office?”
Ionescu
turned to face him with an expression of mild surprise, as if he’d only just
noticed him standing there. “Indeed,” he murmured. “Would you excuse us?”
Kat saw the
strangest expression cross Paul’s face. Shock, then an odd blankness, then
bewilderment. “Of course,” he said, and walked out of his own office without
another word.
Kat
swallowed, and felt a flutter of nerves as Ionescu again turned toward her with
those darkly fascinating eyes.
“Ms Chanter,”
Ionescu said, with a caressing smile. His voice was cultured, the vocal rhythm
strangely soothing. If she’d thought otherwise when Paul had first mentioned it
to her, the attention Ionescu was paying her showed that this part of the
meeting was most definitely not an afterthought.
Then a sudden chill ran up her spine.
Ionescu hadn’t been in the room when Paul had done the introductions.
So
how do you know my name?
“I saw your photograph in the foyer,”
Ionescu continued smoothly. “Last year’s employee of the year. Quite
remarkable.”
Again, it was as if he’d anticipated her
question and answered it before she could ask it.
“Oh,” she said, her anxiety dispelled.
“Thank you.”
Ionescu crossed the room to stand in
front of her, and she automatically held out her hand, expecting to shake with
him.
“Meeting you
is a most . . . unexpected pleasure,” Ionescu murmured. She caught a
flash of dark eyes as he bent over her hand with a brief inclination of the
head – a remnant of what perhaps would have been a gentlemanly bow in years
gone past. It seemed perfectly in keeping with the rest of him, somehow.
“P-pleased
to meet you,” Kat said in return, finding herself surprisingly tongue-tied.
Was that
because of his old-fashioned courtliness? Or because he was still holding her
hand? She had no idea of the etiquette on this. Most people she knew just shook
hands and then let go. Should she . . . pull away?
Finally, he
smiled and released her hand. Again, he made that half-bowing motion in her
direction. “As I am sure Norris has communicated, we would be privileged to
have an employee of your caliber join us.”
Kat smoothed her palms down the
sides of her thighs. “The platelet study does sound very interesting, though I
only know the little I’ve read about it in the research bulletin.”
“It certainly is . . . interesting.”
Was there a glimmer of humour in his eyes? “And our research is cutting edge.
Research subjects with blood matching this platelet profile are quite unique,
with a fascinating list of correlating attributes.”
“What attributes do the subjects
share?” Kat said. She couldn’t resist asking the question. Tread carefully, Kat, an inner voice warned.
“Certain dietary sensitivities
and accelerated healing, among other things.” Ionescu’s mouth curled slowly
into a smile. “I’m afraid I can’t disclose any more details in general
discussion. The subjects in this study value their privacy, and we request all
employees to sign a non-disclosure agreement when they join us.” He paused, and
his eyes, thoughtful and assessing, briefly met hers. “Perhaps I should also
mention that this position would attract a significant salary increase.”
“Oh!” Extra money would be nice,
particularly if she had to pay for accommodation in a big city
“I hope I can count on you
accepting our offer?” Ionescu’s voice was smooth as silk.
Kat blinked. It was a little too
early to be asking for a commitment, surely? She wasn’t sure why he was being
so pushy. “As I was saying to Director Norris when you arrived, I’ll need a few
days to think it over. But I’m very grateful to be offered the opportunity.”
For the merest instant, Kat
thought she saw discomfiture on Ionescu’s face, as if he’d actually expected
her to agree immediately, to give her acceptance on the spot. But then that
momentary lapse was cleanly erased, and his expression became benign once more,
so she almost thought she’d imagined it.
“Of course.” Another charming
smile. “Anything involving relocation requires some thought. But I hope you
will not take too long to make your decision.”
Sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing Adina.
If you want to find out more about Adina West and her writing, check out the links below...
Amazon
- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ABSR39C
Amazon
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ABSR39C.
Great excerpt, Adina!
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