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Leigh Evans’ Mystwalker Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

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Danger of Destiny by Leigh Evans // VBC ExclusiveThe VBC team has fallen for Leigh Evans’ Mystwalker series. We love her take on werewolves and magic, and from the get-go we were all sold on Hedi. Heroines that bring the snark go over well here.

To celebrate the release of the fourth and final Mystwalker book The Danger of Destiny (get it now), we have an exclusive excerpt from the novel (because you deserve a sneak peek) and we’re giving away the complete series.

If you need to catch up on the series, the giveaway has you covered, or you can always jump to VBC’s reviews of The Thing About Weres or The Problem with Promises.

EXCLUSIVE VBC EXCERPT FROM THE DANGER OF DESTINY

Though, you see, there it was— another tiny crack in the mental image I’d held of what Trowbridge, aka the Son of Lukynae, Hero Alpha of the Raha’ells, would be like in Merenwyn. I’d figured he’d be impatient. Feral. Violence simmering, glinting eyes showing hints of his undomesticated masculinity, musk so strong that it made me damp.

He wasn’t.

He was . . . pragmatic. Calculating. And mostly, very damn quiet.

Huh.

I listened to the sound of the water running over the river’s rocks. It was clean and fresh, a cheery chortle versus an outraged thunder. Merry’s chain tightened, signaling she was on the move again. I could feel the pinch of her little vine- tipped feet as she minced down my arm for a better

view of the valley.

Why was Trowbridge balking now? For the first time in a couple of hours, we were on a section of cliff that had great handholds. We could make it down to the valley below without loss of limb and life. And even more important, the freakin’ River of Penance had worn out some of its anger. Sure, it was moving fast, but we could ford it. And even if we lost our footing, the other side could be reached in a few determined strokes— after all, the river didn’t look that wide.

I kept my eyes closed, careful not to look at him. “Is this because you’re afraid of water?”

“I’m not afraid of water.”

“I’m a great swimmer,” I told him. “If you lose your footing, I’ll tow you.”

“That’s. Not. Going. To. Happen.”

“So it is about you drowning.”

“You do remember that I’m an Alpha, right?” I heard Trowbridge murmur mildly. “And that I’m used to—”

“Ordering people about like a puppet master.” The sun was pleasant on my back.

“Choosing the correct path for my pack.” He shifted, releasing a thread of scent that slid along my arm in an invisible caress. “People used to jump when I spoke.”

“Not. Going. To. Happen.” My empty stomach rumbled.

Trowbridge’s head swiveled, his blue eyes narrowing on me. “Where’s your chew stick?” he demanded.

“It was bitter.”

“Chewing it will make your belly hurt less.”

“I’m not hungry.” But my words came out sharper than I meant— he loves me— and so I softened my tone. “I’m tired. That’s all.”

He chewed on his toothpick for a thoughtful moment, his gaze roving over me. His eyes missed nothing. My bundled feet, my sweaty hairline, the pulse at my throat, the sunburn that made even smiling hurt.

The shuttered look in his eyes hurt me. Because I couldn’t shake the thought that he understood something I didn’t and instinct told me that I wasn’t ready to ask what

it was. After a beat, he turned his head to study the scene again. “Something feels wrong down there, Tink,” he said. “And I can’t put my finger on it.”

Crap. That was different. Merry scuttled for a more secure perch as I went up on my elbows. “What am I looking for?”

“Not sure,” he said, his head swiveling. “But it’s too quiet.”

I scanned the valley. The river was blue; the firs were green; the forests on the other side of the river stretched for eternity and beyond. I tucked my hair behind my pointed Fae ears and concentrated, trying to listen over the sound of the river rushing over the rocks.

He was right.

Missing were the ambient forest noises. The tweet- tweet-tweet of the cardinals having the last word about who’s the prettiest; the rustle of leaves as squirrels moved along the wood’s arterial highway of thick tree boughs searching for nuts and other delights.

I shot a glance at Trowbridge. His chin was tucked in, his focus intent: a wolf tracking sound that still eluded my Fae ears. “Something has spooked the wildlife.”

I went back to studying the terrain. Nothing, nothing—

Something.

At least five miles north of us, a flicker of unexpected light. Very tiny, very brief. As small as a speck of glitter. What was that? A trick of light? The sun reflecting off a weapon? I focused on that spot, willing for the flash to happen again. And it did, not a second later, except this time it was an elf- sized fistful of flickers, clustered over the distant notched treetops. I leaned forward, my own eyes slitting.

“Trowbridge,” I said, pointing to far- off trees. “Do you see it?”

He squinted, then gave his head a rough, impatient shake. “Show me.”

“Look northeast and concentrate on the tops of that stand of firs. You have to really focus to see it. Look for a blurred sheen over the horizon. And— there! See those tiny flashes?” My finger outlined its shape. The almost translucent haze was moving fast, heading in what looked like

a zigzag pattern. “What is that?”

“Some short of Fae shit,” he said under his breath.

“Have you ever seen it before?”

Grimly he shook his head.

I watched it for a while. “It reminds me of that alien movie with Arnie.”

“Huh?”

The scar on my wrist was aching faintly. “You know, when Arnie’s staring at the trees and he realizes that there’s something off?”

Predator?” He twisted to stare at me. “We’re in Merenwyn where we’re at the top of the wanted list and you’re thinking of some old Schwarzenegger f ick?”

“If the sun wasn’t reflecting off its glittery bits, I’m not sure if we’d have seen that thing. At first glance it’s more of a pixilation than anything else. A blurring of the defined edges. It moves fast. What do you think it is?”

“There are no aliens running around Merenwyn, Tink. There’s just a lot of Fae shit.” Abruptly Trowbridge rose to his feet in a fluid motion of muscle and grace.

“You realize that I find the term ‘Fae shit’ vaguely insulting, right?” My fingers went to the pointed peak of my ear. I’m half Fae and half Were.

Trowbridge began pacing. Six steps in one direction, hands jammed in back pockets, a turn, then six steps back to me. A short but energetic circuit.

Kind of mesmerizing, really.

All those muscles, all that grace.

I rolled on my side, planted an elbow, and propped my head on my palm to watch him. He was either thinking or worrying. Whatever the distinction, my mate was walking and just watching him made my feet hurt. Despite the swaddling insulation of Trowbridge’s socks and two layers of fleece jersey, they were sore. Fully washable 60 percent cotton does not measure well against shoe leather.

I cleared my throat. “Are we crossing the river here or not?”

“Fucking jeans,” he said, yanking them upward again.

That would be a no. “I can’t see how a tiny bunch of sparkles in the sky—”

“Listening to my instincts has kept me alive over here.”

I rolled to sit and stared at the vista on the other side of a river whose rightful name should be Frustration, not Penance.

“We’re not going to get to Daniel’s Rock to night, are we?” My voice was small.

“Not until I understand what’s going on down in the valley.”

I drew my knees up and leaned my chin on them. “Can I see the rock from here?”

His knees brushed mine as he sank to his haunches beside me. “No, but you can see the Two Sisters. Daniel’s Rock is right behind them.”

“What sisters?”

“See those two hills?” he asked, lifting an arm to point across the river.

I twisted my head slightly, searching for two rounded humps that could be potential siblings, and came up empty. He glanced at me, then muttered out of the side of his

mouth, “You need to look farther east.”

East?

Oh, my word. The twin peaks— and they were peaks, not hills— were decidedly east if one was thinking of foot power. But hadn’t I noticed those two snow- topped dames a couple of hours ago? If so, we’d been performing a long, lazy loop around them all freakin’ afternoon. My gaze flicked to his. “How much of a detour did we take today?”

“It was worth it,” he said, lowering his arm. “Everything on the other side of the river is Fae territory. The area’s populated with farms. We can’t pass as one of them. I haven’t got the ears, and we haven’t got the right clothing.”

But I was an excellent thief. I could have raided someone’s clothesline. “And what’s this territory?”

“All the land on this side of the river belongs to my pa—” He stopped himself, mid- word.

He didn’t have to finish it. I knew he was going to say “pack.”

“This is Raha’ell territory?”

“Yeah.”

Oh. Joy.

GIVEAWAY

One lucky VBC reader will snag copies of all four of Leigh Evans’ Mystwalker novels: The Trouble with Fate, The Thing About Weres, The Problem with Promises and The Danger of Destiny. Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

21 Responses to “Leigh Evans’ Mystwalker Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway”

  1. I’m new. I’ve had the series on my TBR list for a while but haven’t gotten around to reading them. Thanks for the excerpt and giveaway!

  2. Katie says:

    Love series and would love to win!

  3. Lenna Berry says:

    I have only read The Trouble With Fate and I loved it, just waiting to get the rest of the books, but it was hard to put down.

  4. erinf1 says:

    I’m new to this series and I would love a chance to read it!! Thank you for such a fun post and giveaway!!

  5. Liz S says:

    I’m new to this series. Enjoyed the excerpt. Will have to add to my TBR pile. Thanks for the giveaways!

  6. Barbara Elness says:

    This series has been on my radar, but I haven’t had a chance to read any of the books, so I guess you’d say I’m new to the series. 😀

  7. Jasmine says:

    I’ve never read a book from Leigh Evans but after that excerpt it looks like I’m going to have to fix that and quickly! This series looks like a great place to start too!

  8. Felicia Sidoma says:

    I am newbie and I am so looking forward to reading this series.

  9. Lori A says:

    Brand new to this series and very intrigued!! Please gimme?!

  10. Alison says:

    Argh, not seen this series before.

    I really liked the sound of this – I liked that the alpha is not some testosterone filled jerk – but I’m a bit OCD about reading series in order so I really hope I win …

  11. Pamela says:

    Love reading series books. Haven’t seen this one before, but do like the repore of the chacharacters. Thanks for this chance to win. .

  12. Aliyah says:

    I’m new to the series but totally looking forward to it.

  13. Damaris says:

    I am new to the series. It’s been on my TBR list. So I hope I really win!!! Thanks for the giveaway. 🙂

  14. Sarah E says:

    I am new to the books! Thanks for the giveaway! It’s exciting!!

  15. Theressa says:

    This looks like an awesome series- I would love to add it to my collection 🙂

  16. JenM says:

    I read the first book and enjoyed it, but like so many other series, I never followed up with the next ones. I’d love to win the whole series now that it’s complete and finish it off.

  17. Kamla L. says:

    I’m new to the series but I love UF and PNR. The Mystwalker series sounds like a fun one.

  18. bn100 says:

    new to them

  19. anne says:

    I am new to this series. Thanks for this great giveaway.

  20. Stephanie F. says:

    I’m hooked on the series. Love the writing and the characters.

  21. Ann S says:

    I’ve read the first two, I need to catch up now that book four is out!

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