Author: Kayla
Bashe
Title: Screaming Down Splitsville
Publisher: Torquere
Press
Release
Date: 2/24/16
Pairing: F/F
Length: 11,300
words
Categories:
Alternative Universe, Fantasy, Historical, Lesbian Romance, New
Adult, Paranormal
Book/Buy Links
Synopsis
Screaming Down Splitsville takes place
in an alternate 1950s where two groups of people with magical powers fight for
dominance. Flip, a young lesbian, thinks her healing powers are completely
useless. After her escape from a lab, she's been grounded to a safe base, and
while everyone else is on important missions, she keeps the fridge stocked and
fixes the plumbing. However, when a chance coincidence sends her on a solo
rescue mission, Flip has a surprising reunion with a woman from her past.
Unable to speak after a botched cleft palate surgery, Emma-Rose grew up half-wild in the Southern backwoods- until strangers discovered her magical powers and imprisoned her in a laboratory of torture. Her one salvation was the woman in the next cell, Flip. Now Flip's returned, and according to her, they'll both make it to safety. But Emma's plans have failed so many times that she has no hope left to lose.
As the two women seek to evade their pursuers, their friendship rekindles, and they are forced to confront both enemies and insecurities.
Unable to speak after a botched cleft palate surgery, Emma-Rose grew up half-wild in the Southern backwoods- until strangers discovered her magical powers and imprisoned her in a laboratory of torture. Her one salvation was the woman in the next cell, Flip. Now Flip's returned, and according to her, they'll both make it to safety. But Emma's plans have failed so many times that she has no hope left to lose.
As the two women seek to evade their pursuers, their friendship rekindles, and they are forced to confront both enemies and insecurities.
Excerpt
Her eyes were strikingly, startlingly brown, as
sharp as knives. She was dark-haired, tangle-curled, as skinny as a feral cat–
and just as vulnerable.
Flip sat down hard, clapping both hands over
her mouth to stifle a cry.
My Emma Rose, Flip thought. My girl in the next
cell. No one else ever came for her. Had she not known she was here for all
that time? Had she never escaped?
Slowly, she moved closer to the cage. Distrust
flashed over Emma’s face, and she startled backwards. Don’t touch me, her
instinctive sneer said. Yet for all her primal bravery, her thin shoulders
trembled with fear more than cold. Flip dared to spread her awareness. Bruises
speckling her skin, old wounds improperly stitched, intestines that knotted up
for lack of food; a body that was digging into its deepest resources, and had
been for some time. Emma’s chest rose and fell, as if she expected at any
moment to fight for her life.
“Easy now,” Flip whispered. She raised her
hands, splayed her fingers: I am holding no weapon. She took one step forward,
then another. Knelt down, so close that Emma could have raked her nails across
her face. Those eyes, brown as a tiger’s, stared solemnly back.
Consciously Flip slowed and deepened the
rhythms of her body. She sent a wave of power towards Emma, soothing and
comforting. “You remember me, I know you do. If you can still hear me, try to
breathe with me, be with me. I came back.”
Stitches that had been ripped open by
struggling closed neatly together. Bruises faded in seconds. And fierce
tightness began to unwind from bony, pale limbs as the iron shackles of fear
released their hold.
Author
Bio
Kayla
Bashe is a performer/writer studying at Sarah Lawrence College. Her work has
been published by Solarpunk Press, Torquere Press, Vitality Magazine, and tons
of zines. Find her on Twitter at @KaylaBashe!
Author Links
Giveaway
Rafflecopter Prize: eBook copy of Screaming Down Splitsville
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