Today's an exciting one for my writer and fellow blogger friend Kate Evangelista – she reveals an extract from her upcoming young adult fantasy novel, Taste, along with its trailer! And I'm so happy to be taking part in this big reveal. Below, then, you can watch the trailer, and continue on to read a very tasty extract (ahem, pardon the pun!)Taste will be officially released this May.
About Kate
When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.
Check out her website at www.kateevangelista.com
Trailer
Extract
I sat up and followed Calixta’s gaze upward. I rubbed my
eyes. I didn’t know what I was seeing at first. A statue? My brain refused to
snap together coherent thoughts. I
didn’t realize I’d fallen so close to one of the garden benches until I stared
up at the boy that sat on one. He was strikingly beautiful. His tumble of
blonde hair curled just above his sculpted cheekbones. He wore a silk shirt and
a loosened cravat, like he’d become bored while dressing and decided to leave
himself in disarray. His ivory skin and frozen position was what had me
mistaking him for something carved from marble by Michelangelo. Then he
sighed—a lonely, breathy proof of life. If I had to imagine what Lucifer looked
like before he fell from heaven, the boy on the bench would certainly fulfill
that image. My brain told me I had to look away, but I couldn’t.
“Luka,” Calixta said again, her voice unsure, almost
nervous. It no longer contained the steel and bite she had threatened me with,
which made me wonder who the boy was.
He leaned on his hands and crossed his legs, all the
while keeping his eyes fixed on the night sky. His movements spoke of elegance
and control. I’d encountered many people with breeding before, but his took on
the air of arrogance and self-assuredness of someone used to getting what he
wanted when he wanted it.
I only realized I’d been holding my breath when my lungs
protested. I exhaled. My heart sputtered and restarted with a vengeance. Luka
tore his gaze away from the stars and settled it on me. I’d expected
pitch-black irises, like the other Night Students, but blue ice stared back at
me.
“Human,” he whispered.
He reached out, and with a finger, followed an invisible
trail down my cheek. I stiffened. His touch, cooler than Demitri’s, caused warm
sparks to blossom on my face. He lifted his finger to his lips and licked its
tip. He might as well have licked me
from the way my body shivered.
Luka’s curious gaze held mine. “Leave us,” he said, but
not to me.
“But—” Calixta protested like a spoiled child.
He spoke in a language I hadn’t heard before, remaining
calm yet firm. The words had a rolling cadence I couldn’t quite follow, like
rumbling thunder in the distance. They contained a harsh sensuality. The
consonants were hard and the vowels were long and lilting.
Footsteps retreated behind me.
Luka reached out again.
It took me a minute to realize he wanted to help me up.
I hesitated. He smiled. I smiled back timidly and took his hand, completely
dazzled. Even with my uniform soaked from melted snow, I didn’t feel cold—all
my attention was on him and the way his callused hand felt on mine. Without
moving much from his seated position, he helped me stand.
“What’s your name?” he asked. He had a voice like a
familiar lullaby. It filled my heart to the brim with comfort.
I swallowed and tried to stop gawking. “Phoenix.”
“The bird that rose from the ashes.” Luka bent his head
and kissed the back of my hand. “It’s a pleasure meeting you.”
My cheeks warmed. My head reeled, not knowing what to
think. I couldn’t understand why I felt drawn to him. And the strange
connection frightened me.
From behind, someone gripped my arms and yanked me away
before I could sort out the feelings Luka inspired in me. I found myself behind
a towering figure yet again. Recognizing the blue-black silk for hair tied at
the nape, relief washed over me. Calixta hadn’t come back to finish me off.
Demitri’s large hand wrapped around my wrist. Unlike the
night before, no calm existed in his demeanor. He trembled like a junky in need
of a fix. The coiled power in his tense muscles vibrated into me.
“What are you doing here?” Demitri asked.
I didn’t know he’d spoken to me until I saw his
expressionless profile. I sighed.
“Phoenix.”
I flinched. The ruthless way he said my name punched all
the air out of me. “You owe me answers,” I said with as much bravado as I could
muster.
“I owe you nothing.”
He glared. “In fact, you owe me your
life.”
“I don’t think so.”
Ignoring my indignation, he faced Luka, who’d remained
seated on the bench during my exchange with Demitri. “Why is she with you,
Luka?”
“I wasn’t going to taste her, if that’s what you’re
implying,” Luka said. “Although, she is
simply delicious. I wouldn’t mind if you left us alone.”
There it was again. Taste. The word that kept coming up
between these Night Students and I was connected to it in an increasingly
uncomfortable way. To taste meant to sample, but what? My flesh? They had to be
joking because the alternative wasn’t funny.
“The sins of the father …” Demitri left his sentence
unfinished.
Luka’s smile shifted into a snarl. “Obey my command.”
His chin lifted. “Kneel.”
Demitri’s stance went rigid. His grip tightened around
my wrist.
Okay, weird just got weirder. Why would Luka want
Demitri to kneel before him? I thought back to Eli and the others bowing to
Demitri when he questioned them, but they didn’t kneel. Seriously? Were they
all living on a different planet or something?
“Kneel.” Luka’s detestable smirk made his
features sinister rather than angelic. The real Lucifer: a fallen angel.
Without letting go of my wrist, Demitri knelt down on
one knee and bowed his head, his free hand flat at the center of his chest.
“Your command has been obeyed,” he said formally.
Luka nodded once.
Demitri stood up and pulled me toward the school without
telling me where we were going. Not having the time to thank Luka for saving me
from Calixta, I risked a glance back. Luka smiled at me. His smile spoke of
whispers, secrets, and promises to be shared on a later date.
~
