“Benjamin,” I say, “I’m Stixx. Earned that name when the River Reapers MC patched me in ‘cuz I play with matches. I gave myself an X for every building I burned down to save someone from a rapist.” I lean into him so that we’re close enough to kiss. “I don’t give myself Xs anymore. It’d just get outta control. But I still burn down buildings to cleanse the world from people like you. So I’m gonna ask you again, Benjamin. What’s the alcohol content in your gel?”
I tip the lighter toward his hair, let it catch just enough to roll over his gelmet in a whoosh. The sour stench of burning hair stings my nostrils. He screams, not that anybody out on the floor can hear him, and a dark wet stain blooms across the crotch of his pants.
“You’re just full of piss, aren’t you?” I flush the urinal, dipping his head to extinguish him. His skull cracks into the porcelain. The weak flow of water flushes his waste, but barely douses his hair. Flames engulf his scalp, the smell of roasting skin and sweat wrinkling my nose. I drop him onto the floor, stepping back so I don’t catch. Mark, the MC’s treasurer, won’t be happy if I rack up an emergency services bill, never mind all the damage that comes with fire: ash, smoke, water. While Benjamin writhes on the floor screaming, I check the bathroom for an extinguisher. There isn’t even a sprinkler.
That’s a code violation.
“Did you inspect this building?” I ask him, but he’s not moving. “Benjamin?” I nudge him with the toe of my boot. Right on cue, my fire runs out of gel fuel and blinks out. Benjamin doesn’t move.
I check the pulse in his wrist, his neck too raw to find one. There’s none.
“Whoopsie.”
Forget Mark, now I’ve gotta deal with Ravage, the president of the MC.
The door starts to open, music blasting in, and I slam it shut with my boot, throwing the lock.
“Out of order!” I shout, texting on my phone with one thumb. My other hand tugs at my hair. I didn’t think this through. The way he ran his mouth about Lucy, all I saw was red.
Killing a man in the Mermaid during broad daylight could get me kicked out of the club—or worse.
Arsonist’s Lullaby release update
August flew by! I’m calling this my whirlwind summer because doing three signings was not on my bingo card for 2026! Signings look a lot different now: a cooler full of Pedialyte, a whole bunch of meds and timers, and sometimes two assistants. Even with all my dunnage, it was pretty awesome. In case you missed it, I signed at Barnes & Noble in Cheshire, Mini CT BookishCon in Torrington, and Dee’s Blind Dates’ Book Swap & DIY Totes Workshop in Wallingford. The River Reapers are taking over the state!
With all this extra activity, I’m a little run down. I anticipated my lupus flaring, so I’m pacing myself, and my doctors are taking really good care of me. A flare is still a flare, though. To give myself enough time to rest, recover, and finish up my revisions so that Arsonist’s Lullaby is its very best, I’ve pushed back the release date to October 25th.
If you already pre-ordered on Kindle or Kobo, you received an email notifying you about the date change.
He falls first so hard, he can’t even speak to her
I don’t mean to snoop, but with Lucy sitting at the bar, I tower over her. Her phone’s right under my nose. There’s a shot of her napping with Olivia’s orange cat asleep on her head. I stifle a smile. She holds up the phone for Olivia to see. “When did you take this?” she laughs.
Hanging around would be weird, so I don’t hear her answer. In another life, I’d stay, make a joke about how the cat feels right at home. She’d swat at me, her nose crinkling and the corners of her mouth lifting.
I’ll never get another opener like that again.
One of the biggest changes I made during dev edits was writing a whole new Chapter 1, in Stixx’s POV instead of Lucy’s (her opener is now Chapter 2, and you can unlock that soon). This new chapter is live on my author website!
A wish for my 38th birthday
It’s my birthday tomorrow! Right now, Arsonist’s Lullaby has 5 Kindle pre-orders, 2 on Kobo, and 38 ARC applications. I’d love it if we made it to 25 ebook pre-orders and 50 ARC apps by my birthday!
I’ve got a fun pre-order campaign dropping soon, and all of these numbers count toward unlocking goodies… including some more chapters.
Last call for BOGO
This is your last chance to buy one, get one 50% off the River Reapers MC series on Kobo. This sale also applies to my Stagwood Falls: Love in Ink series. I don’t know when my publisher will run another sale like this, so definitely scoop them up!
A one night stand shifts into a wild ride when the president of the MC’s son and VP’s daughter inherit the sins of their fathers.
I’m full of secrets, and I’m gonna start spilling soon! Stay tuned for fall and 2027 event announcements, and the Arsonist’s Lullaby indie store pre-order campaign.
It’s gonna be lit. 🔥
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