Out today in print! 'Phoenix Rising'

Phoenix Rising 

(Phoenix Rising #1)

https://spsilverpublishing.com/product_book_info/paperbacks-c-83/products_id/1295/

Blurb:

Hex Phoenix, entrepreneur and businessman, arrives in New Orleans to conduct business assisted by his long-time lover, Urbain Fortier. Life would be easy except for one small problem: someone wants to kidnap Hex. Why? Not because of who he is, but because of what he is, the mythical Phoenix.

After escaping his enemies, resurrecting as Conleth Feu d'Oiseaux, and reuniting with Urbain, he is now being hunted by the RIRA. The beautiful Giuliana is also searching for Conleth for reasons of her own. With danger and jealousy surrounding him, Conleth finds once again that being the Phoenix is not an easy life.

Caomhnóir - 36

“My ass hurts,” Thom grumbled early the next morning.

“I’m sorry,” Keegan replied remorsefully. “I didn’t mean to—”

Thom stopped his words with a kiss. “It’s not your fault. I mean my ass hurts, my back hurts, my whole body aches from sleeping on this hard dirt floor all night.”

“Ahh, alright.” Keegan hugged him tightly before saying, “Now, changing the subject, we need to get out of the city without Darius being aware of it.”

“That leaves out the airport. Besides, there’s no way I’d trust a cab now.”

“Agreed. And I suspect the train is out too. He’s going to be watching there as well as the airport if he’s got brain one.”

“Which is debatable.”

Keegan smiled a bit, and then got up, pacing the tiny room. “First to get out of here. They must have a back way or two, in case of emergencies. If we set off alarms, so be it.” 

“And then?”

“I’m thinking a boat. After all there are two rivers here. We should be able to find someone who’s willing to smuggle us out for a price.”

Thom nodded. “I’m beginning to feel like a character in a spy story for real.”

“Right now, mo ghrá, that’s exactly what we are.” Holding out his hand, Keegan pulled Thom to his feet when he took it. “So, let us get out of here and see what we can find.”

The trip back down the tunnels was eerily quiet. When they reached the public section of the castle, Keegan held up one hand to let Thom know to stay where he was. Then, silently, he went in search of an exit they could use, returning a few minutes later to beckon Thom to follow.

“You weren’t kidding about the alarms,” Thom called out as they pushed open the door and klaxons started screaming.

They raced away, zigzagging towards the river’s edge and then down and along the bank. Finally Keegan pulled to a stop. “We have to find an ATM or a bank. We’re going to need cash.”

Looking at the sun, which was barely over the tops of the buildings, Thom pointed out that banks wouldn’t be opening for a while yet. “So, where’s the closest ATM? Between us we should be able to get enough to keep us going for a while.”

It took them a bit of time, but they finally found what they needed and managed to draw out enough money, between Thom’s one card and Keegan’s four, to feel comfortable. Then they walked from there to the quay where Keegan hoped they’d find a boat to rent, or seek passage on.

Luck was with them for once. A man who ran a boat rental concession had just arrived at his small booth. He had two boats available, both motorized. Keegan chose the larger one, filled out the form the man handed to him, showed the man ID in the name he’d put on the form, which was not his own, and paid for a day’s use.

When they were on the river Keegan turned the boat west, telling Thom that, with luck, they’d reach the ocean in a couple of hours if the weather held. It did, and they made it to the point and then carefully, because the waters were roughening, around it. Following the coastline, Keegan maneuvered the boat south until they came to a small coastal town.

“I’m thinking we leave the water and hire a car,” Keegan told Thom as he pulled into a mooring spot beside two other small boats.

“And just leave this here?”

“We’ll call the man to let him know where to find it once we’re on the road again. Not terribly polite, but safer for us.” Keegan tied the boat off and then the two men walked to the road, heading towards the center of town. “We’re in luck,” he said a few minutes later, pointing to a small pub. “We can get something to eat and find out where we can hire a car.”

After a decent pub lunch, they went to a car hire place the waitress had recommended. Using yet another set of ID, Keegan filled out the requisite forms and soon he and Thom were heading out of town.

Caomhnóir - 35

“I’m guessing we’re not heading back to the hotel,” Thom said once they were out of the shop. “And returning to the car’s not an option either I suppose.”

“You’d be quite correct on both counts.” Keegan leaned back against the alley wall as he tried to decide what to do next. When Thom pulled out his cell phone, Keegan immediately took it from him, dropping in on the ground, grinding it under the heel of his boot, and then did the same to his. “That could well be how Darius and his man found us so quickly,” he explained.

Thom nodded. “GPS. But then we didn’t expect trouble.”

“Not here, not now. I do however have to call Alasdair to let him know what’s going on. I still find it hard to believe Darius is so obsessed with me.”

“Why not, I am,” Thom said, smiling. That earned him, despite the situation, a very heated kiss in reply. “So now what?” he asked once he’d regained his composure.

“Now we find a safe place to lie low for the night.”

“There’s always the castle, if we can get back inside,” Thom suggested with a laugh. “You know it inside and out.”

Keegan tapped a finger against his lip. “That could work.” 

“I was kidding.”

“I know you were, but I’m not. Come on. I think, if we hurry, we should get there before they close.”

“Me and my big mouth,” Thom muttered as he kept pace with Keegan.

They made it to the castle without any trouble, arriving twenty minutes before closing time. After a warning from the woman in the ticket booth that they didn’t have much time, she took their money and they went inside.

“Just where are we going to find to hide that they won’t check before closing for the night?” Thom asked.

“Come, I’ll show you.” Keegan led the way down a stone-walled corridor to a door at the end. They stepped into another, darker corridor that sloped downwards, ending up in what to Thom looked like a long, deserted tunnel. Several minutes late they were in a small, empty room. “There is, was an escape tunnel to Irish Town as it was called back then,” Keegan said, sighing a moment later. “Unfortunately it appears to have been blocked off.” He pointed to faintly different colored stonework on the far wall.

“Not quite a four-star hotel room,” Thom said as he took in their surroundings, “but if it keeps us out of Darius’ hands it works for me.”

“Wait here. At least we can have something to sleep on if I hurry,” Keegan told him before vanishing back down the hall. He returned fifteen minutes later with two comforters that he said he’d stripped off of one of the displays in the tourist section of the castle. “It’s early yet, I know,” he told Thom as he spread them out on the dirt floor, “but we’ve nothing else to do so we might as well sleep.”

Thom sat down on one of them, waiting for Keegan to join him, saying as he did, “I can think of something that will kill some time.”

Keegan arched an eyebrow in amusement. “Now why did I think you’d say that mo fear daor?”

“Because you know me well, mo ghrá. Besides, I’ve never made love in a castle before.”

“Nor have I.” Keegan wrapped Thom in a tight embrace. “Therefore,” he murmured before starting to kiss him, “this will be a first, for both of us.”

Caomhnóir - 34

“We may be in a bit of trouble,” Keegan said, his lips pressed against Thom’s ear while watching where they were going.

“Meaning,” Thom mouthed after turning to look at him.

Rather than replying, Thom leaned over to tap the cabdriver on the shoulder. “You’re going the wrong way.”

The driver ignored him, speeding up instead.

“Definitely trouble. Hunker down, and I mean on the floor.”

Keegan didn’t wait to see if Thom obeyed as he climbed into the front seat of the cab. The driver continued staring straight ahead, as if totally unaware that he had company, which suited Keegan just fine. With one hand, Keegan grabbed the steering wheel, using the other to land a powerful blow to the driver’s jaw, slamming his head against the side window. Keegan immediately stomped his foot down onto the driver’s foot, which was on the brake, and steered the vehicle towards the curb, ignoring the honking horns of the cars around them.

The second he had the cab stopped, Keegan was out the passenger door, slinging open the back door. Thom was beside him seconds later. Keegan grabbed his hand, practically dragging him into the nearest shop. “Back door,” Keegan shouted to the startled clerk. The woman pointed and he and Thom raced to it and out into an alley.

Keegan tried two other doors before finding one that would open. Still holding tightly to Thom’s hand, he pulled him inside.

If he hadn’t been so frightened, Thom might have laughed. They were obviously in the back of a sex toys shop, something he hadn’t expected to find in a city like Limerick. Keegan was not in the least amused. All he wanted to do was get them away safely and then try to figure out what was going on. He was just about to move to the front of the shop when a clerk appeared, pointing to a door at the side of the room. Keegan cocked an eyebrow in question and the clerk shook his head, thumbing towards the shop’s entrance. Keegan saw the shadow of a man thrown by the light from outside, nodded sharply, and he and Thom quickly went through the door.

They found a flight of stairs. Racing up them, they arrived in a short hall on the second floor of the shop. At the end was another flight of stairs leading to the roof. Moments later they were outside. Holding up a hand to tell Thom to wait, Keegan stepped to the edge, lying down flat before peering over. He waited there until a man came out of the shop, looking around before getting into to a car idling at the curb a few hundred yards away. Once the car pulled into traffic and drove off, Keegan returned to where Thom stood.

“It seems Darius has taken a leave of absence too, probably without letting Alasdair know if I don’t miss my guess. And he’s got someone helping him.”

“Damn it!” Thom growled as he followed Keegan back into the building. “Someone you know?”

“I didn’t recognize him, no. But it was definitely Darius driving.” He quickly told Thom what he’d seen. By then they were back down in the shop. He strode to the front to find the clerk watching them from behind the counter.

“So that man was looking for the two of you,” the young man said. “At least he believed me when I told him that the backdoor was always locked and alarmed.” He smiled slightly. “I’m hoping you’re the good guys.”

“Aye. Thanks for not giving us away,” Keegan replied.

“Welcome. I’ve seen him around at some of the locals. He’s a bad one, always causing trouble if he can. In case you’re going looking for him, his name is Donal. I’ve got no idea what the last name is.”

“Thanks again. Any problem with us leaving the way we came in?” When the young man shook his head, Keegan and Thom returned to the alley.

Never forget