Hi, sweetie.
This week's teaser comes from the next book in the Enders series.
Meet Xandra, the assassin you met briefly in Duke.
I've taken the teaser from the opening scene so you can see her in action.
Enjoy.
ONE
THE TARGET stepped out of the car. The door held open by one of the bodyguards while the other walked ahead up the narrow path leading to the front door of the white two-storey mansion. The glow from the floor-level spotlights accentuated the deep lines in his umber-hued face, making him appear older than in the photograph. The man’s gaze swept up and down the driveway as if he sensed something out of place.
Back pressed against the rough wall, Xandra remained frozen where the shadows swallowed her in the alcove between the brick perimeter fence and the hibiscus hedge. She wore nothing that would reflect the light—dark clothes, a hood over her head and a mask shielding her face. The morning was cool and dark, dawn still a few hours away. Her gaze stayed on him as she mentally confirmed he was the man she wanted.
Dimi Yahya. Forty-nine years old. Six feet tall. Seventy-seven kilos. Grey hair grew at the sides of his neatly cut, short dark hair. His facial hair was shaved off, although a shadow showed on his chin. He dressed in an expensive, dark, fitted suit that would’ve been made especially for him and his polished shoes shone under the streetlamp.
From this distance, his eye colour wasn’t obvious, but it would be brown—she’d seen it in the photograph sent over with his file.
Yahya walked down the narrow path.
Xandra waited for the man by the car to shut the door before squeezing the trigger of the FN Five-seveN with a smooth, even pressure.
Fat drops of rain splattered on the pavement masking the p-taff p-taff of the suppressed gunshots. The man slumped against the side of the car with a dull thud, hit twice in the sternum in rapid succession.
The bodyguard by the front door let out a low curse as he spotted his colleague falling and ran towards Yahya, hand reaching inside his jacket.
Xandra squeezed out another couple of rounds of low-powered, subsonic 5.7mm bullets. The copper-enclosed lead tore through the skin of his back and neck. He collapsed forward, hitting the ground with a muted thunk, arm outstretched toward his boss.
Yahya froze in a crouch behind the car, eyes sweeping the area as he pulled out his handgun and held it ready to shoot. “Who are you? Be a man. Show yourself!”
Melting out of the darkness, Xandra took a measured step forward.
What do you think? Leave me a comment.
PS. This is not the book cover. I'm doing a cover and blurb reveal on July 31st during the Duke book discussion on Facebook. If you haven't RSVP'd for the event, go do it now. There is a $25/ ₦10,000 giveaway.
If you haven't read Duke, grab your copy here.