Wednesday, Hump Day. Time-to-share-a-snippet day. Today’s THEME is a bit of a **JUMBLE** but I managed to JUMBLE a bunch of words together to produce a snippet for your enjoyment. As a set-up, I will only say that Sade and the Scooby Gang are on the trail of the bad guy…
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Sade unlocked the door and pushed it open. Pistol in hand, she went high and Caleb went low. This was probably overkill, considering she was with the four monsterteers. Sinjen, Roman, and Nikos stood back, watching. And probably smirking. She didn’t care. She was in charge and they were doing this by the book. So by the book, their entry had been postponed until a federal judge signed the search warrant.

A few lights set at odd angles gave a ghostly glow to the space. She checked nooks and crannies, following Caleb’s lead. “Anything?” she whispered.

He shook his head. “Nothing. No one is here.”

Lights flickered on overhead. She glanced back. Nikos stood by a light switch. She’d been told this was an art gallery. What spread around them was a jumble of…stuff. Statues? Twisted metal…sculptures? She had no clue what to call half this stuff. There were paintings though. Stuff perched on shelves, pedestals, easels, the floor.

One painting caught her attention. She approached and stood about four feet away from it. Head tilting this way and that, Sade studied the painting—a surrealistic mishmash of…tulips? She glanced at the title card: Across the Atlantic. Well, that made sense. Not. What did tulips have to do with the Atlantic? What was most of this junk? Avant garde, she reminded herself. No one was supposed to understand this crap.

Roman’s voice drifted over. “She’s feeling guilty.”

“There’s no reason.” Caleb was quick to refute the gargoyle.

“Were you not attacked? While you were with your mate. Who is human and therefore vulnerable.”

“It’s not her fault.”

The voice of the werewolf, who was both her FBI partner and her foster brother, pulled her back to reality. They were rehashing a conversation they’d had on the drive over. Family. Damn straight she was pissed at Trane for going after her family.

“But you are not related to her,” Nikos said.

“Family isn’t blood. Not always. Sometimes, family is what we make it,” Caleb said.

“When did you get so fu-reaking sentimental?” Sade amended her curse before Roman or Sinjen could express disapproval. Jeez. Gargoyles could be so fucking judgmental and she was convinced Sinjen did it just to aggravate her.

A song played in her head. Gypsies, tramps, and thieves made for interesting family values. She’d learned that families came in all shapes and sizes. Her gaze hit this motley crew—vampire, gargoyle, werewolf, and that damned infernal dragon. The only one missing was the fae who drove her crazy. Why the hell did Nikos keep showing up? Beyond his desire to get into her pants. Sade snorted. Yeah, like that had a fucking chance in a hell frozen over. Where the hell was Ariel? He was always around when she didn’t want him underfoot. Except for now. She glanced at Sinjen, who stood aloof from the discussion. She caught her hand mid-gesture as it rose to rub the ache in her chest. Forcing the now-fisted hand into her pocket, she worked hard to shove the damn doubts and uncertainty from her mind. He’d left her but he came back, she reminded her heart.

None of this mattered. She had a job to do. Villains to catch and put in jail. Crimes to solve. People to protect—magick and mundane alike.

Family isn’t blood. Except it was. Blood. Sweat. Tears. And she would shed every drop of hers to keep her family safe. She knew what she had to do. The only obstacle to her plan involved the four Magicks who’d come to stand beside her, also staring at the painting until it began to resemble a stained-glass window. Glamour.

“Do you see it?” she whispered.
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And there you have a peek into the current action. This is from Chapter 37 but there are no real spoilers here. Anyone familiar with the books knows how Sade feels. She’s like me that way. Family can be blood but it can also be by choice. The family we choose with our hearts is just as important as those we share DNA with. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. What about y’all? Writers, any jumble words? Readers, what book is on top of your jumbled TBR pile?