Today, I'm bringing you a Shiloh excerpt from the forthcoming Unclean, the sequel to Hexborn. In this excerpt, you get to see how Shiloh met her bird, Honey, who plays a crucial role in the plot of Unclean. Happy reading, and don't forget to pre-order your copy today!
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Shiloh sat down in the shade to rest. Her basket was nearly full of berries, and it had grown heavy on her arm. She leaned against the tree trunk and closed her eyes for a moment.
“What’s the matter, freak? Too weak to carry your basket home?” Meegan taunted.
Shiloh’s eyes snapped open, and she leapt to her feet. Meegan had already snatched up her basket and begun to eat.
“Give that back and leave me alone!” Shiloh cried.
“Make me,” Meegan taunted, mouth full of berries. The girl bent, picked up a rock, and pulled back her arm, preparing to throw it at Shiloh.
A screech sounded overhead, and both girls looked up to see a young falcon dive out of the trees, straight toward Meegan. The child shrieked and dropped both basket and rock in her desperate effort to protect her face.
The raptor kept attacking her until she ran from the clearing, screaming, then it flew to Shiloh’s side and landed lightly on a tree stump. Shiloh’s mouth twitched, and soon a raucous laugh escaped her lips, continuing until tears poured down her face.
“Thank you, my lord birdie,” Shiloh finally told him, her hysteria exhausted, and she offered a curtsey. She bent to pick up a handful of spilled berries. “You want some?”
Carefully, the bird took one berry at a time from her juice-stained hand. Then he watched as Shiloh gathered up the rest of the fruit and refilled her basket for the walk home.
“I’m Shiloh,” the little girl said. “What should I call you?”
The bird shrugged.
“How about Honey?”
Shiloh sat down in the shade to rest. Her basket was nearly full of berries, and it had grown heavy on her arm. She leaned against the tree trunk and closed her eyes for a moment.
“What’s the matter, freak? Too weak to carry your basket home?” Meegan taunted.
“Give that back and leave me alone!” Shiloh cried.
“Make me,” Meegan taunted, mouth full of berries. The girl bent, picked up a rock, and pulled back her arm, preparing to throw it at Shiloh.
A screech sounded overhead, and both girls looked up to see a young falcon dive out of the trees, straight toward Meegan. The child shrieked and dropped both basket and rock in her desperate effort to protect her face.
The raptor kept attacking her until she ran from the clearing, screaming, then it flew to Shiloh’s side and landed lightly on a tree stump. Shiloh’s mouth twitched, and soon a raucous laugh escaped her lips, continuing until tears poured down her face.
“Thank you, my lord birdie,” Shiloh finally told him, her hysteria exhausted, and she offered a curtsey. She bent to pick up a handful of spilled berries. “You want some?”
Carefully, the bird took one berry at a time from her juice-stained hand. Then he watched as Shiloh gathered up the rest of the fruit and refilled her basket for the walk home.
“I’m Shiloh,” the little girl said. “What should I call you?”
The bird shrugged.
“How about Honey?”
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