Sneak Peek at Man with the Axe
- September 20, 2024
Dear Reader,
In the News:
Allow me to fill you in on the news real quick and then we will get to the juicy stuff.
Thread is serializing on the podcast on Substack. If you enjoy audiobooks, please head over and check it out.
Dream Dark has published widely and is now everywhere excellent books are sold.
Dungeon Master is now posting chapters in the Valkyrie Riders Miniseries as I edit the stories. If you enjoy serial reading, Read the Draoithe Saga could be your romantasy reading dream. Read it all and get all the extras in one place. Nothing to download.
Sorceress Valkyrie is in read through mode at the moment, but it's good. I'm really pleased with how fast it's coming together. I still hope to publish Dungeon Master by Thanksgiving and Sorceress Valkyrie by Christmas. Cross your fingers.
Behind the Scenes
On the writing front, I'm back in Kings Wilde this time. A few of you have met Viktor Wilde before, but he demanded I add a chapter to his tale recently. So I wanted to share it with y'all and see what you think. It's rough, but I'm happy with where it went.
In case you needed the inspirational background, I went down a rabbit hole once and discovered all these interesting names for the face cards in a poker game. Those unique nicknames lent themselves to the urban fantasy miniseries, which became Kings Wilde. It all started with Armand King and his brother Nicklaus Wilde. It included their father, Viktor Wilde, and their best friend, Rylan Giovanni. Add in Blade and Razor, the twin dragon necromancers, and you have a truly wild bunch of tales set in Juneau, Alaska.
As usual, the muse is insane and I jump from one tale to the next as I write, but I've narrowed the titles down to the following in no particular order: Man With The Axe, Death Card, The Cowboy, The Monarch, Suicide King, and Joker's Wilde. I created an inspirational digital mood board.
Okay so the legalese first:
Warning:
This is a work in progress and
is subject to change at any time.
Read at Your Own Risk!
Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved.
Sneak Peek at Man With The Axe
Passed Away
Viktor
Several men waited to gain an audience with him as if he were a king and held court. It felt ridiculous to Viktor. But lesser men needed his help, so he put up with it, met with them, and offered what help he could, considering what situation they faced. Favors always paid off later. But that wasn’t why he did it.
He shook his head at his thoughts to avoid them. Things didn’t always go as he desired. Even so, his life was far different from what it had been in his youth. He preferred it to chopping wood to sell to those who could afford to pay him for his labor.
The city was where he belonged, even if the forest still called to him sometimes and had been whence he took his name. Winnie had proved it to him long ago.
Winnie had needed a man who used his brain, not just his brawn. It had been his glimpse of her, so shy, hiding behind her father’s coattails when she saw him looking at her, which solidified his position. She’d been a teen younger than himself, but she’d been everything a man dreamed of.
He became a man, took the surname Wilde, and vowed to win her the day he saw her, all because she needed him to do so. It had radiated from her shy, frightened stare, and he’d felt her need in his heart.
It had taken a long time for him to gain the means to provide for Winnie properly, but he’d been unable to forget her doe eyes from the moment he first saw her.
When he’d asked for her, her cruel father had beaten her, believing the demure woman had encouraged Viktor. Winnie had never spoken to Viktor. He’d only glimpsed her in the street occasionally.
The old grocer had denied Viktor’s request. That was his first mistake. When Viktor learned he’d beaten Winnie because of him, Viktor vowed it would be the man’s last mistake.
The empire he’d built for his stolen bride required his attention. He put his musings aside and had his men admit the next man who’d come seeking his advice or his money.
When he sent Mesmer’s messenger away with money needed to spearhead a new joint venture between the Mesmers and the Wildes, moving black market merchandise up the coast, another hour had passed. Wearily, he desired a bed and the comfort of Winnie. Those who waited could stay or return later, but he needed his home.
His heart told him Winnie needed him. She mattered more. He rose and nodded to his men, and they stepped out of his office into the adjoining room in the small warehouse. Several men remained, patiently hoping for his aid.
He told them he needed to leave, but if they wanted to stay or return tomorrow evening, he would hear their requests. Most nodded. A few headed for the door. A couple took seats to wait, probably with nowhere else to go.
One man spoke with anger, as if Viktor owed him something. Viktor had no debts. Other men owed him. It was why so many sought his aid.
“You say you’ll help, but you run off to find solace with a whore before the night ends.”
Nasty words from a filthy man not fit to know a woman’s touch grumbled into the space behind him. It raised the hair on the back of his neck.
Viktor scowled and turned to face the fool who felt he could disparage Winnifred Wilde, within the hearing of the man who worshiped her. Tired as he was, he wouldn’t tolerate disrespect to the woman who asked him to be kind to those who requested his help.
Winnie’s meekness tempered Viktor as a man and blunted the ruthless edge. She made him a better man than the demon he could be. Those who offered disrespect or threat to her no longer deserved to live in the world she inhabited. He’d decided that long ago.
One of the hand axes he had carried on his belt since he was old enough to wield an axe sank into the man’s skull. When the body fell, he placed his boot on the corpse’s chest and retrieved his blade.
Viktor never said a word. His reputation should have spoken for him. It wasn’t the first time he’d killed men in Winnie’s honor. It wouldn’t be the last, but no one maligned the only perfectly beautiful thing he’d ever found in the world and survived.
“I’ll clean up the mess, sir.”
The man’s words held a thick accent, making Viktor frown as he puzzled out the words.
“The fool shoulda knew better. You never allowed disrespect of signoras.”
Viktor recognized Tomasso Giovanni. The Italian had a pretty new wife, but he’d lost his job and had few skills. His broken English impeded his ability, but he was young, strong, and obviously intelligent.
If he had loyalty, Tomasso might be worth adding to the men who helped handle Viktor’s business affairs. Quality muscle was hard to find.
Viktor nodded at the man’s offer.
“Thank you, Tomasso. Tomorrow, we’ll speak again.”
Fatigue and despair eased away from the man’s face. Viktor had given him hope. The Italian didn’t smile, but inclined his head, accepting Viktor’s invitation.
The body and all traces of what had happened disappeared, but the gossip mill had another tale to whisper. It was the night the king of Juneau’s underworld became known as the man with the axe.
Tomasso rarely ever smiled for anyone but his wife and later his son. Viktor saw the man smile a few times. Once, when they drank together after Tomasso’s wife died, the man admitted he’d made the right choice working for Viktor.
The woman who’d made Tomasso smile and given him a son had lived her life comfortably, wanting for nothing, and Tomasso had been grateful.
It was the quiet, introverted Tomasso who had first left the king of diamonds playing cards as warnings to those who owed money and hadn’t paid on time. He’d been the man behind the moniker Viktor had carried for most of his adult life.
His son Rylan ran around with Nicklaus and the street urchin Armand the two had befriended at school. When Winnie cried because she could have no more children and she worried Nicklaus was lonely, Viktor claimed Armand as his own.
If Tomasso had been less of a man and a father, Viktor would have claimed Rylan as a third son after Tomasso’s wife passed away.
Okay, I'm off to wash the dishes. I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek. May the rest of your weekend be lovely. Allow me to leave you with the earnest, heartfelt plea to be kind and leave your reviews when you read. As always, know that you are welcome to the dream...
Be Careful!
Happy Reading,
Ophelia Kee
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Thank you for your support! Welcome to the dream… Sincerely, -OK
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