Excerpt from ONE BLOOD, E. F. Watkins, Ch. 12:
“You’re wearing your glasses again today,” Kat commented, when they met in the museum lobby.
Sharpay used one finger to rebalance them on the bridge of his arched nose. “I mainly need them during the daytime. I have a slight vision problem that is worsened by too much light.”
She gestured left. “Then why don’t we start with the Permanent galleries? The lighting there tends to be more subdued.”
They strolled into the first of these, devoted to Northern and Italian Renaissance art. Now and then, Sharpay would compare a work by a 14th-century Dutch painter to something he’d seen at the Riksmuseum, or an Italian madonna-and-child to one hanging in the Uffizi in Florence. Kat reflected that, instead of her giving him a tour, it was turning out almost the other way around.
“You’re something of a Renaissance man, yourself,” she noted. “Writing criticism on both art and music. What surprises me is that you also specialize in military history.”
“I don’t know…Some would say there’s also an art to war. The strategy involved, judging when and how to make one’s move.”
The comparison disturbed Kat. “No offense, but I don’t feel there’s anything creative or imaginative about war. It’s purely destructive.”
Sharpay glanced at her with the gleam in his eye that she never knew how to interpret. “I see. You don’t think killing is ever justified. You believe in diplomacy, negotiation. But what if you faced a madman -- one with an army?”
Thrown off-balance by the intense turn of their conversation, she sidestepped his question with a joke. “If this is a job interview, I don’t think I want the position!”
Sharpay laughed out loud, a rich sound that echoed through the nearly-empty gallery. “Purely theoretical. But you must admit, your great-great-grandfather took a more direct approach. If you accept the events of his book as fact, he and his friends hunted down and executed a man they thought posed a threat to humanity.”
Once again, Kat thought, she was stuck having to answer for Elias’s bizarre reputation. “If you accept his book as fact, what they executed wasn’t a man, but a monster from some old legend.”
“But you don’t believe that.”
“Of course not. None of the events in that book ever happened. It was either deliberate fiction or a product of Elias’ disturbed imagination.”
Again, Sharpay fixed her with those black eyes, potent even through their protective lenses. “Naturally, you wish to view it that way. Otherwise, you’d have to accept the possibility that your ancestor took part in a murder.”
#
ONE BLOOD, by E. F. Watkins—Short Synopsis
Disgusted with his long, bloodthirsty existence, Jon Sharpay discovers a fresh challenge—the last living descendent of the arch-enemy who nearly destroyed him a century ago. He travels from New York City to Princeton to hunt down Kat Van Braam, a curator at the university’s art museum. But Sharpay also is being hunted, by two men—one determined to avenge the death of his pregnant young wife, the other a foreign agent out to recruit Sharpay’s paranormal skills for an international crime organization.
When Sharpay meets the brilliant and beautiful Kat, his plans for her expand beyond mere revenge. Kat also is drawn to “Dr. Sharpay,” the mysterious Eastern European scholar… until she learns his true nature and identity. Then she fights his enslavement of her will and vows to succeed where her ancestor failed—to keep this creature from ever harming anyone else. But will she be undone by her own “sympathy for the Devil”?
#
E. F. WATKINS BIO
E. F. Watkins specializes in paranormal suspense, and since 2003 has published six novels with Amber Quill Press LLC. Her first, DANCE WITH THE DRAGON, received a 2004 EPPIE Award from the national organization EPIC (Electronically Published Internet Connection.) as Best Horror Novel. Next came the romantic mystery RIDE A DANCING HORSE (as “Eileen Watkins”). Her third book, BLACK FLOWERS, was a Finalist in the Thriller category for both the 2006 EPPIEs and the 2007 Indie Excellence Book Awards. She also has published the paranormal thrillers PARAGON and DANU’S CHILDREN. Her latest, ONE BLOOD, is a prequel to DANCE WITH THE DRAGON and was a Finalist in the Paranormal category for the 2012 EPIC eBook awards. Her website is www.efwatkins.com.
They strolled into the first of these, devoted to Northern and Italian Renaissance art. Now and then, Sharpay would compare a work by a 14th-century Dutch painter to something he’d seen at the Riksmuseum, or an Italian madonna-and-child to one hanging in the Uffizi in Florence. Kat reflected that, instead of her giving him a tour, it was turning out almost the other way around.
“You’re something of a Renaissance man, yourself,” she noted. “Writing criticism on both art and music. What surprises me is that you also specialize in military history.”
“I don’t know…Some would say there’s also an art to war. The strategy involved, judging when and how to make one’s move.”
The comparison disturbed Kat. “No offense, but I don’t feel there’s anything creative or imaginative about war. It’s purely destructive.”
Sharpay glanced at her with the gleam in his eye that she never knew how to interpret. “I see. You don’t think killing is ever justified. You believe in diplomacy, negotiation. But what if you faced a madman -- one with an army?”
Thrown off-balance by the intense turn of their conversation, she sidestepped his question with a joke. “If this is a job interview, I don’t think I want the position!”
Sharpay laughed out loud, a rich sound that echoed through the nearly-empty gallery. “Purely theoretical. But you must admit, your great-great-grandfather took a more direct approach. If you accept the events of his book as fact, he and his friends hunted down and executed a man they thought posed a threat to humanity.”
Once again, Kat thought, she was stuck having to answer for Elias’s bizarre reputation. “If you accept his book as fact, what they executed wasn’t a man, but a monster from some old legend.”
“But you don’t believe that.”
“Of course not. None of the events in that book ever happened. It was either deliberate fiction or a product of Elias’ disturbed imagination.”
Again, Sharpay fixed her with those black eyes, potent even through their protective lenses. “Naturally, you wish to view it that way. Otherwise, you’d have to accept the possibility that your ancestor took part in a murder.”
#
ONE BLOOD, by E. F. Watkins—Short Synopsis
Disgusted with his long, bloodthirsty existence, Jon Sharpay discovers a fresh challenge—the last living descendent of the arch-enemy who nearly destroyed him a century ago. He travels from New York City to Princeton to hunt down Kat Van Braam, a curator at the university’s art museum. But Sharpay also is being hunted, by two men—one determined to avenge the death of his pregnant young wife, the other a foreign agent out to recruit Sharpay’s paranormal skills for an international crime organization.
When Sharpay meets the brilliant and beautiful Kat, his plans for her expand beyond mere revenge. Kat also is drawn to “Dr. Sharpay,” the mysterious Eastern European scholar… until she learns his true nature and identity. Then she fights his enslavement of her will and vows to succeed where her ancestor failed—to keep this creature from ever harming anyone else. But will she be undone by her own “sympathy for the Devil”?
#
E. F. WATKINS BIO
E. F. Watkins specializes in paranormal suspense, and since 2003 has published six novels with Amber Quill Press LLC. Her first, DANCE WITH THE DRAGON, received a 2004 EPPIE Award from the national organization EPIC (Electronically Published Internet Connection.) as Best Horror Novel. Next came the romantic mystery RIDE A DANCING HORSE (as “Eileen Watkins”). Her third book, BLACK FLOWERS, was a Finalist in the Thriller category for both the 2006 EPPIEs and the 2007 Indie Excellence Book Awards. She also has published the paranormal thrillers PARAGON and DANU’S CHILDREN. Her latest, ONE BLOOD, is a prequel to DANCE WITH THE DRAGON and was a Finalist in the Paranormal category for the 2012 EPIC eBook awards. Her website is www.efwatkins.com.
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