From shot girl to assassin…
When eighteen-year-old Sky Malone left England to work for Emmy Black, she realised her new job wouldn’t be easy. After all, being Superwoman’s sidekick wasn’t a career you could half-ass.
In Virginia, she finds every day is a battle. Against exhaustion, against her tall, dark, and grouchy mentor Rafael, and against the ghosts of her past. And as if that isn’t tough enough, after just two months, she’s flung into the middle of an undercover operation that leaves her fighting not only for her place on the team but for her life as well.
When the Shadows Fall is the fourteenth book in the Blackwood Security series.
Retailers:
Excerpt: The Beginning…
I felt him before I saw him. A dark shadow materialising behind me.
“Your knife’s showing,” Rafael whispered as he took his place by my side.
I’d never seen him in a tux before. He scrubbed up well. One might even mistake him for civilised, but I knew the truth. Tonight, he was a mountain lion forced to play the part of a pussycat, but those claws would pop out at the merest hint of trouble.
As the string quartet in the corner began to play, I glanced down at my dress. Dark grey silk with a tight bodice and a long, flowing skirt edged in black lace, it was easily the most beautiful thing I’d ever worn. And since I’d borrowed it from Emmy, my new boss, it was undoubtedly the most expensive thing too. But sure enough, the edge of a carbon-fibre handle was peeking out from my cleavage. Shit. I shoved it farther into my bra and rearranged the girls.
“Better,” Rafael said.
Was that a hint of a smile flickering at his lips? Yes, I do believe it was. A momentous occasion.
“Stop looking at my tits.”
“Just doing my job.”
Unfortunately, he wasn’t kidding. As one of my mentors at Blackwood Security, the company I’d somehow ended up working for, Rafael’s role—perhaps even his passion in life—involved telling me what to do. Run faster, jump higher, hit harder, get that bullet in the centre of the fucking target, Sky. This morning, we’d started at five o’clock with a ten-mile run, then spent three hours in the gym, another two on the shooting range, and finally got to my favourite part—learning how to ride a motorcycle. After two weeks of practice, I could do wheelies with the best of them.
But tonight? Tonight, we were going to dinner. Three courses plus wine at a flashy awards show, complete with tasteful music, dancing, and—if everything went according to plan—the capture of an art thief we’d been hunting for months.
Excerpt: The Job…
“So where does that leave us?” Alaric muttered. “Why is nothing ever straightforward?”
“Oh, but it is,” Emmy said. “Why are you being so negative?”
Fuck. That was her cunning smile. The one whose appearance usually led to chaos and destruction.
“I’m not sure I want to hear this.”
“All we have to do is steal a painting.”
“You?” Marshall asked. “You would steal a painting?”
“Short-term pain for long-term gain. Is the Master looking for anything in particular at the moment?”
Was it too late for Alaric to stuff cotton wool in his ears?
“There is one job that’s been put out to tender recently.”
“Fantastic. We’ll do it.”
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“I think between us, we’re qualified to nick just about anything. Unless it’s the Mona bloody Lisa.”
“It’s not the Mona Lisa, is it?” Alaric asked.
If you’d like to hear about my upcoming Blackwood news, why not sign up for my newsletter?
I send out a message every couple of weeks, and I promise never to pass your email address on.
Or if you’d just like to chat, you can find me in the Team Blackwood Facebook group