Death Wish - Megan Tayte
Blurb
IN SEARCH OF THE MEANING OF DEATH, SHE’LL FIND THE MEANING
OF LIFE.
Seventeen-year-old Scarlett Blake is haunted by death. Her estranged sister has made the ultimate dramatic exit. Running away from school, joining a surfing fraternity, partying hard: that sounds like Sienna. But suicide? It makes no sense.
Following in her sister’s footsteps, Scarlett comes to the isolated cove of Twycombe, Devon, with grand plans to uncover the truth. Alone. But she hasn’t reckoned on meeting two boys who are determined to help her. Luke: the blue-eyed surfer who’ll see the real Scarlett, who’ll challenge her, who’ll save her. And Jude: the elusive drifter with a knack for turning up whenever Scarlett’s in need.
As Scarlett’s quest for the truth unravels, so too does her grip on reality as she’s always known it. Because there’s something strange going on in this little cove. A dead magpie circles the skies. A dead deer watches from the undergrowth. Hands glow with light. Warmth. Power.
What transpires is a summer of discovery. Of what it means to conquer fear. To fall in love. To choose life. To choose death.
To believe the impossible.
Seventeen-year-old Scarlett Blake is haunted by death. Her estranged sister has made the ultimate dramatic exit. Running away from school, joining a surfing fraternity, partying hard: that sounds like Sienna. But suicide? It makes no sense.
Following in her sister’s footsteps, Scarlett comes to the isolated cove of Twycombe, Devon, with grand plans to uncover the truth. Alone. But she hasn’t reckoned on meeting two boys who are determined to help her. Luke: the blue-eyed surfer who’ll see the real Scarlett, who’ll challenge her, who’ll save her. And Jude: the elusive drifter with a knack for turning up whenever Scarlett’s in need.
As Scarlett’s quest for the truth unravels, so too does her grip on reality as she’s always known it. Because there’s something strange going on in this little cove. A dead magpie circles the skies. A dead deer watches from the undergrowth. Hands glow with light. Warmth. Power.
What transpires is a summer of discovery. Of what it means to conquer fear. To fall in love. To choose life. To choose death.
To believe the impossible.
Author bio
Once upon a time a little girl told her grandmother that
when she grew up she wanted to be a writer. Or a lollipop lady. Or a fairy
princess fireman. 'Write, Megan,' her grandmother advised. So that's what she
did.
Thirty-odd years later, Megan writes the kinds of books she loves to read: young-adult paranormal romance fiction. Young adult, because it's the time of life that most embodies freedom and discovery and first love. Paranormal, because she's always believed that there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy. And romance, because she's a misty-eyed dreamer who lives for those 'life is so breathtakingly beautiful' moments.
Megan grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in Robin Hood's county, Nottingham. She lives with her husband, a proud Scot who occasionally kicks back in a kilt; her son, a budding artist with the soul of a paleontologist; and her baby daughter, a keen pan-and-spoon drummer who sings in her sleep. When she's not writing, you'll find her walking someplace green, reading by the fire, or creating carnage in the kitchen as she pursues her impossible dream: of baking something edible.
Thirty-odd years later, Megan writes the kinds of books she loves to read: young-adult paranormal romance fiction. Young adult, because it's the time of life that most embodies freedom and discovery and first love. Paranormal, because she's always believed that there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy. And romance, because she's a misty-eyed dreamer who lives for those 'life is so breathtakingly beautiful' moments.
Megan grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in Robin Hood's county, Nottingham. She lives with her husband, a proud Scot who occasionally kicks back in a kilt; her son, a budding artist with the soul of a paleontologist; and her baby daughter, a keen pan-and-spoon drummer who sings in her sleep. When she's not writing, you'll find her walking someplace green, reading by the fire, or creating carnage in the kitchen as she pursues her impossible dream: of baking something edible.
Social media links
Buy links
Excerpt
Waves everywhere, swirling,
surging, seething – a raging melange of foam and salt and inky water biting at
me, pulling at me, thrusting upon me a solitary invitation:
Death.
As
I fought to remain on the flimsy polystyrene surfboard that seemed more bucking
bronco than wave rider, I thought: That’s how easy it is – you just let go.Just release
the grip on this world that in recent months had seemed so much an effort, and
sink into the blue, beneath the waves, where chaos and fury turned to quiet and
calm. Like she did.
Was drowning as they claim? I
wondered. The easiest way to die – peaceful? How would it feel to give up all
the dragging myself through the day, all the struggle to evade the aching void
inside? A relief?
Another wave rose me up and
slammed me down with breathtaking power. Its force stirred me. You could say a
lot of things about Scarlett Blake – she’s a loner, she’s a wallflower, she’s a
menace in the kitchen – but no way was ‘she’s a quitter’ on the list of
character flaws.
‘Screw you!’ I shouted through
the spray.
Funny, sounded like someone
shouted back. But who else would be out in this tumultuous sea at six a.m. on a
summer’s morning? Solitude was the entire point of hauling myself out of bed in
the still-dark and picking my way down the cliff path to the beach just in time
to see the horizon light up with the first burnt-orange glow of the rising sun.
No one to see me make a damn fool of myself on my first surfing attempt.
‘Trying… yourself killed?’
Definitely a voice. Male. Angry.
Scanning the surroundings for the
source proved difficult while lying stomach-to-board. On an upward surge I got
a glimpse of the Devonshire cliffs that fringed the cove, all dark, jutting
rocks topped by bushes of gorse, and then a flash of the beach. On a downward
plummet there was nothing but eye-burning, throat-choking seawater.
‘Forward… next wave!’
The voice was closer now. There
was an edge to it beyond the anger. Something raw.
My eyes picked out a black form
between the waves. Someone on a surfboard, paddling it expertly seaward. I took
one hand off the board to push sticky tendrils of hair from my eyes. Rookie
mistake. Turned out holding on one-handed was impossible. The board shot
upwards, out of my feeble grip, and then it was just me and Old Man Sea.
Kicking frantically, I tried to
keep my head above the surface, but the waves were burying me, one after the
other, only a second or two to come up for air before the next one hit. Far
away now were thoughts of letting go – I was fighting furiously for life. Never
in my seventeen years had I been so desperate. But my legs were tingling with
effort, and I knew it was just a matter of time.
When
the final wave broke me all I could think was, Sienna. With her
name on my lips I inhaled a lungful of water and I sank…
… for all of a second before
something grabbed the back of my t-shirt and hauled me upward. Coughing and
spluttering, I emerged from the blue and was pulled roughly onto a board, my
leg shoved over so that I straddled it. I had the fleeting thought that this
board was much sleeker and more substantial looking than the one I’d just lost
before my rescuer settled pretty much on top of me and started paddling toward
the shore.
With him in command, we crested
waves and glided down the other side with apparent ease, though I seemed unable
to match the rhythm of our motion and kept taking in great gulps of brine. Over
the sound of the waves and the wind and the splash of powerful arms cutting
into the water to propel us along, I picked out low, irate grumblings.
‘… idiot tourists… total waste of… all we need…
another bloody drama…’
Finally, we reached the shallow
waters and he slid off the board and pulled me off to walk to the beach. But my
legs didn’t seem willing to respond to basic instructions like ‘walk’ or even
‘stand’ and breathing between wrenching gasps had become a challenge, so he
threw an arm around me and half-carried, half-walked me, dragging his board
with his spare hand.
Ten steps up the beach he let me
down onto the sand.
‘Head down,’ he commanded.
‘Between your legs. Cough it out.’
I did as I was told. Liquid spilled
out of me with each retching cough, and the cool air I gulped in burned my
throat. I fought the panic, I fought the pain, focusing instead on the shells
and stones strewn around. Finally, breathing won out.
‘You okay?’
I was reluctant to look up. For
starters, I knew I must look a mess – long hair plastered to my head rat-tail
style, face flushed and salt-burned, eyes teary and bloodshot. And then there
was the fact that this guy, whoever he was, had just saved my life, and was
evidently pretty mad about having had to do so.
‘Hey, you okay?’
I lifted my head slowly. Took in
broad thighs clad in black neoprene; hands reaching out, palms raised; a wide,
muscular chest; a striking face – rugged, square jaw, full lips, ruddy cheeks,
Grecian nose bearing a thin scar across the bridge, thick black lashes framing
eyes… oh, his eyes.
I opened my mouth, tried to
speak, but I was paralysed by his gaze. All at once I was home in the cottage,
tucked up beneath the blue patchwork quilt of my childhood; I was watching my
grandmother remove vanilla-scented fairy cakes from her powder-blue Aga; I was
running through a meadow of sky-blue forget-me-nots with my sister – free,
exhilarated, happy. The memories took my breath away. I felt the familiar burn
in my tear ducts.
His eyebrows pulled together and
he placed a hand on my trembling knee.
‘Are. You. Okay?’ he said with
exaggerated care, as if he were speaking to an elderly lady having a turn at a
bus stop.
I blinked, cleared my throat and
managed a husky, ‘Yes. Th-thank you.’
Concern melted into exasperation.
‘What’s the deal,’ he demanded,
‘out there on your own, clearly no idea what you’re doing, children’s play
surfboard… you got a death wish or something?’
I cringed. I’d known the board
was short, but I’d thought it was me-sized – at five foot three, what use was
some enormous board?
‘I’m sorry.’
‘You would’ve been sorry if I
hadn’t seen you.’
‘I just wanted to get a feel for
it. I didn’t realise it was so rough out there.’
‘Rough? That’s not rough. Not
even optimum surfing weather. Piece of cake for someone who actually knows how
to surf…’
He paused when he saw a tear
escape my eye and roll traitorously down my cheek. Furrowed his brow, combed
his fingers roughly through dark hair that was drying fast in the breeze.
‘Listen, I didn’t mean to…’
I
brushed the tear away furiously. Enough with
the vulnerability.
‘Right, well, thank you…’
‘Luke. My name’s Luke.’ The
stress lines in his face smoothed out and his lips curved. Like this, smiling
and relaxed, his scrutiny was a touch less unsettling. ‘And you are…?’
‘Thank you, Luke, for your, um,
help, but I’m sure you’ve better things to do, so I’ll just be…’
Before he could protest, I
launched myself to my feet. He instinctively rose with me, and my water-fogged
mind registered belatedly that my rescuer was a giant of a guy – my head was at
the level of his chest. As I looked up to take in his stature I staggered
slightly and he reached out to right me, but I stepped backwards. I didn’t need
his kindness.
He looked awkward, unsure of
himself, as he towered over me. ‘Hey, will you be okay?’
‘Yes, yes, I’m fine. I’ll just
head home.’
‘You live close?’
I pointed vaguely west. ‘Yes, not
far.’
‘Up there?’ He looked
puzzled, and then interest sparked in his eyes. ‘You mean the Blake place?’
Busted. Of course being vague was
pointless. My grandparents’ ramshackle cottage on the western cliff was the
only building up there.
I
made a noncommittal mnnnhnnn noise,
but Luke was not to be deterred.
‘But that place has been empty since…’
He
was looking at me now with such scrutiny that I took a further step back. I saw
the cogs turning in his mind as he took in the classic green Blake eyes and
then compared her –
short, spiky red hair, eternally crimson lips, tall and impossibly slender –
with me – petite and curvy, hair more blond than auburn reaching to the base of
my spine and a pallor worthy of a vampire. His eyes widened.
‘Scarlett? Scarlett Blake!’
There was shock in his tone, and
then sympathy.
