Very happy to have the next installment of “Taken by the Lion God” out the door this morning. Callie Shaw’s latest mythological monster adventure will be hitting the virtual shelves today and tomorrow, and as the story goes live I’ll add links here. In the meantime, here’s the cover and an excerpt!

The serpent leered at Callie from a tree limb fifteen feet above.

“Why are you doing this?” she shouted.

“Because I know what I want, and I get what I want,” the serpent answered. He began to make his way down the tree. “Some kind of salacious dream you were having, no? You made those simpering soft sounds I like, like you were quite enjoying whatever was happening.”

“You are disgusting,” Callie said.

The serpent slithered to a coil at the edge of the clearing. He stared hard at Callie, unblinking.

“But you need me now,” he said.

“I don’t need you. I’ll never need you.”

“Veles is a god, too, naive one. He can do just as many wonderful things as your silly cat friend here.”

Callie studied Mios. He was as frozen as when he was a statue, although his chest rose and fell softly. Her throat hurt with worry. This wasn’t how her adventure was supposed to unfold. She was supposed to learn to live with him. Be his equal. Learn to love him.

Love? The word surprised her. It terrified her, until she realized that it wasn’t the bond that was so frightening – it was the idea of loss.

“What do you want me to do?” she said. Her shoulders slumped.

The serpent’s smile curled higher.

“All you have to do is follow me back to my den and allow me one simple pleasure,” he said. “And please know, madam, that I would never intend any harm.”

“What kind of simple pleasure?”

“It’s a secret,” the serpent hissed, curving away into woods. “Follow me…”