#SaturdaySpotlight is on Raquel Byrnes and Chasm Walkers

Good Morning from lovely Sam Rayburn Lake in SE Texas!

Been a beautiful couple of days if you don't count the severe UTI that had me down for the count yesterday. All is well though and a shot + 10 days of antibiotics should have me good as new before long.

You may recognize today's guest. Raquel Byrnes who visited us in March and April, returns with Chasm Walkers, book 3 in her Blackburn Chronicles so please welcome her back!

Charlotte Blackburn—Legend, traitor, the Order's worst nightmare—she escaped the torturous experiments by the villainous Viceroy Arecibo, but is forever changed. Now, she battles to retain her humanity as she fights to survive among the wild sky settlers of Outer City. But an old threat emerges and Charlotte must choose between revenge and redemption.

Ashton Wells has one purpose: Stop Europe's Coalition forces from slaughtering the citizens of The Peaceful Union to prevent the spread of the Trembling Sickness. But his plan to overthrow The Order from within is thwarted at every turn by his ex-love, Charlotte Blackburn. A woman he betrayed. His treachery resulted in her capture and now she will stop at nothing to destroy the Order—even if it means all-out war with Ashton.

Hunted by the brutal Viceroy and struggling to regain memories of the pat two years wiped by The Order, Charlotte must fight to master the devices and startling abilities thrust upon her as a result of her capture. As Charlotte and Ashton endeavor to discover the real reason for what was done to her, they uncover an unfathomable plan against the most innocent of outer City's citizens.

With ruthless enemies mounting against the struggling citizens of Outer City, Charlotte must brave the terrors of the churning sea and face her darkest truth to retrieve a strange submersible machine—a device that may very well be humanity's last hope of survival.

Excerpt: A man infected with the sickness, a Trembler, writhed in a large cage near the gate. He gnashed his teeth and flailed his blue-skinned arms through the bars at the terrified passersby. Black eyes roving, a shudder wracked his body breaking bone. Keening with pain, he fell to his knees, still clad in the trousers and fine shirt he’d been wearing when the strange affliction overtook him. At least a dozen more cages lined the fence leading to the entrance.

A soldier wrestled with a screaming woman as he tried to shove her into an empty cage. She shook in his arms, her low moan a dead giveaway of her condition.

“They check for signs of the Trembling Sickness in the camps now too. All of us daily, even if we are already cleared,” Cephas muttered next to Riley. “They dragged a poor woman out yesterday because she was shivering from the cold. We haven’t seen her since.”

“It will get worse.” Riley turned at the grating sound of an iron-clad ship pulling into port. A stream of Peaceful Union citizens poured out of its hold. More refugees from the failing nation come to seek aid and shelter in Europe after the massive Reaper attack crippled half of the city-states of their country. “Won’t be long until it is not just Spain and Portugal, but all of Europe that starts to turn entire ships away on the rumor of sickness.”

“That is my fear,” Cephas muttered. “Or worse. Why waste time going through each camp person by person? How long until they slaughter all of us just to be sure?”

Fear eroded the fabric of decency. How long until it ripped apart humanity entirely? The line moved up, and Riley turned to show the guard his armband.

“Face.” The guard demanded, stepping forward and shoving Riley in the chest with his rifle. “Show me your temples.”

“What?” Cephas asked, startled.

Before Riley could remove his hat, the guard knocked it off. “Your temples and your fingers. Now.”

Riley stepped forward, nearly nose to nose with the guard, and held up his hands.

“No blue, see?” He stared him down, his anger barely contained. “I’ve been cleared.”

“You present every time you enter, or leave the camp,” the guard snarled. “Or you get shot. You choose.”

“We do not have a problem here.” Cephas picked up Riley’s hat, handed it to him, and then held his hands up as well. “I am not sick. He is not sick.”

The guard glanced at Cephas and then back at Riley. He turned, muttered something in Spanish to his man at the gate, and then motioned for them to enter.

Riley stepped past him, his gaze locking with the man as he went. Out of habit, Riley’s hand went to his hip, where his weapon would normally rest in its holster.

Cephas’s mouth twitched nervously as they side stepped the row of guards into the camp.

Walking through the gates, Riley paused, taken aback by how much had changed in the two months since he’d been here. Hundreds of new tents filled the area, makeshift shelters made out of sails and sheets and whatever else the refugees could find. Thousands more people had arrived. How would he locate one man in this sea of people? More importantly…how would he do it in time? He blew out a breath of frustration.

“You know for sure your contact is here?”

“Well, yes, I believe so, but that is what I wanted to speak with you about…” Cephas pulled a roll of crumpled aethergraph paper from his pants.

“Is he here or not?” Riley eyed the missive, waiting. “What are you not saying, Cephas?”

“Yes, he is here or he was a few days ago. I believe he is in the northern quadrant but there is something you must read first.”

Riley shook his head. “No time.”

“You will want to know this, Sheriff. Please, it is news from back home.”

“I just left Outer City a week ago. What could have gone wrong in the time it took the dirigible to fly here? Besides, Deputy Kiril is capable of handling whatever it is.”

He tried to continue, but Cephas stepped in his way.

“But it is why you are here. The reason you came all this way, Sheriff.” Cephas shoved the paper in Riley’s hand. “It is Dr. Bartlet. She sent this aether missive a few days after you left Outer City to come here. It is coded, but I deciphered it. Sheriff, it says they found Charlotte Blackburn.”

Riley’s world stopped. His pulse rammed in his ears, and all sound fell away. He took the message from Cephas with shaking hands. Gaze traveling the etching left by the electric rods of the machine, he traced the words on the paper with his fingers. Not believing, he read it again, making sure he understood every word.

You were right, Riley. She was exactly where you thought. We found her. We have her.

“They…” Riley tried to form words but his mouth was dry, his breath coming in hitches. He staggered, gripping the paper, unable to think. “She’s safe?”

“Go,” Cephas said, patting Riley on the shoulder. “Hurry back to Outer City. She is waiting for you.”

A deep ache in his throat made it impossible to answer. He nodded mutely, blinking rapidly as he tilted his face to the sky. Fine flecks of snow fluttered onto his skin, melting in the heat of his exhaled breaths. Two years in the grip of a madman and she had survived. His mind churned with anguish at the terrors she must have endured, but right now all that mattered was one thing.

Charlotte was alive.

All three of the Blackburn Chronicles including The Tremblers, Wind Reapers and Chasm Walkers can be found HERE

Raquel Byrnes writes across several genres including YA Steampunk, Fantasy, and Gothic Mystery. Critically acclaimed for her edge-of-your-seat stories with complex characters and heart pounding thrills, she is always looking for another adventure in which to partake. She is the author of the romantic suspense series, The Shades of Hope trilogy, which sold into foreign translation and garnered international acclaim. Her fourth and fifth books, a Gothic series called The Noble Island Mysteries, were hailed by critics as, "a perfect blend of suspense, intrigue, and creepiness that will draw you into a dark world...keeping you frozen until the final conclusion..."

When she's not writing she can be seen geeking out over sci-fi movies, reading anything she can get her hands on, and having arguments about the television series Firefly in coffee shops. She lives in Southern California with her husband, six kids, and various reptiles.

Find her on the web at: http://raquelbyrnes.com/ or https://twitter.com/raquelbyrnes and on Amazon on her  Author Page

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Hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll check back each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God Bless.

PamT