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Title: A Poisonous Journey
Author: Malia Zaidi
Publisher: Bookbaby
Pages: 385
Author: Malia Zaidi
Publisher: Bookbaby
Pages: 385
The year is 1925, a time that hovers
between two catastrophic wars, a time of jazz and sparkle, and a time of peace
and reflection. For Lady Evelyn, struggling to outrun the ghosts of her tragic
past, it is a time of transformation. Left orphaned after a fire when she was
only four, Lady Evelyn Carlisle was raised in London by her stern aunt and
uncle. Now, twenty years later she has grown restless and is keen to escape her
chaperone's grasp. A letter from her cousin, Briony, living with her husband on
Crete, comes at just the right time. Packing what she can, Lady Evelyn makes
off for foreign shores. Welcoming her are not only Briony and her husband,
Jeffrey, but also his handsome and mysterious friends, Caspar Ballantine and
Daniel Harper. Though the latter carries with him tragic memories of the Great
War, Evelyn is glad to be in their company. With the sun warming her back and
the dazzling sea in her sights, this fresh start seems destined for happy days
ahead. Little does she know . . . What starts off as a sunny holiday quickly
turns into a sinister nightmare, when Evelyn stumbles across the corpse of one
of her cousin's houseguests. Drawn into the mystery surrounding the murder, Evelyn
embarks on a mission to discover the truth, forcing her to face her own past as
well as a cold-hearted killer. With the help of her cousin, the handsome local
police detective, and the mysterious Daniel Harper, will she uncover the truth,
before another life is claimed?
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Prologue
Crete 1908
A chill ran down his spine and goose-bumps prickled his skin as the cold
darkness enveloped him, swallowed him, the realm of Hades tormentingly near. He
sucked in a breath of the damp air and blinked furiously, anxious to find his
bearings, to discern hard rocky wall from empty space. It was his fault, he had
dropped the torch and they had no choice but to save the reserve for later. For
their destination. He would manage. He knew the way.
“Andros?” The nervous voice caught him almost
unaware. Andros, Dros, Dros…the echo bounced off the walls around him
and made him feel dizzy for a moment, as though the walls were moving closer
and caging him in. He exhaled, trying to
steady himself. They just had to follow the plan. He was good at that. Good at
being patient, good at doing what he was told, at following directions to the
letter.
“It’s all right,” he tried to sound calm, quelling
his fear as it mingled with the excitement that bubbled inside him, ready to
explode. They were so close now. He could feel the rhythmic beat of his heart
increasing, a nervous echo in his chest. “Stay where you are, your eyes will
adjust. Have patience.” Listening for a moment, he became aware of the labored
breathing of his brother close behind.
He stood still for another moment, no other sounds
dared to intrude, eerie silence, thick with mystery, with secrets to be
uncovered swathed them in its heavy shroud.
The Sirens are calling, only you can hear. Run for safety, or plunge
and fall prey to temptation. His eyes began to adjust, slowly deciphering
the jagged outline of a rocky outcrop above him. It was close. He could feel
it. His muscles tensed, stiff and solid, waves of energy pulsing through him,
barely contained anticipation. Despite the cold, he felt beads of sweat dotting
his brow and running down his temples.
“Andros? I think I see you. Yes.” A few unsure
steps followed these words, and he saw the shadowy outline of his younger
brother, warily moving toward him.
“Come, but beware your steps, a wrong move could
be your last.”
Slowly, with his hands carefully outstretched, he
felt his way forward. The air was growing stale, thick and cloying with dust
and age.
“Are we almost there?”
“Close, very close.”
Breath was quickening, he shivered. So close
now. Everything would change. For a
split, indulgent second, he allowed himself a fantasy of the glory that would
come, of the life that awaited him. Yes, not much further now. His feet, clad
only in his worn leather shoes felt every rock on the uneven ground, a
sensation that gave him comfort, a feeling of awareness that had replaced his
compromised eyesight and heightened his sense of touch. Hands extended, he
reached into the blackness like a blind man. Suddenly they came up against
something. Wall. Hard rock wall. The
tunnel had come to an abrupt end.
“What is this?
Are we lost?”
Andros frowned, small creases folding his
forehead, his brother’s voice behind him a distracting intrusion. “No,” he
answered carefully, unconsciously holding his breath. He ran his hands along
the roughness of the stony wall, seemingly solid and impenetrable, until… Yes,
a smooth oval protrusion in the rock face. Sucking in a nervous lungful of
dusty air, he pushed. The oval receded
into the wall with neat precision. A
momentary silence. Then, as if by some miraculous force, the wall gave way, an
ingenious mechanism. A dense cloud of
dust and debris rose up, sending both men staggering backward, coughing, and rubbing
their stinging eyes. Soon the dust
settled and silence was again upon them. Neither spoke, fear and excitement
taking hold of them. Andros swallowed. It was all coming together. They were here, finally.
“The torch, now.” His voice was almost a whisper, thick with
anticipation. A hiss, and a flicker of
orange light shot out of the darkness, illuminating his brother's dirty
face. Reluctantly the younger man handed
it over. No words were exchanged as Andros took the first careful step, holding
the glowing light before him. He entered
the chamber, eyes wide, barely breathing.
He had found it! He wanted to
shout out in joy, in relief. He had known all along, he had found it.
“So, this is it.”
Andros turned, sensing something strange in his
brother's tone. The younger man's face was still cast in shadow, save for the
glittering eyes, shining in the gloom like those of an animal.
“Yes, this is it,” he turned around again, taking
it in, the glory. His glory. A sudden coldness at his neck startled him, a stab
of pain. And then the blackness
returned. Endless and unrelenting.
About the Author
Malia Zaidi is the author of A POISONOUS
JOURNEY. She attended the University of Pittsburgh, and studied at English at
Oxford University. Having grown up in Germany, she currently lives in
Washington DC, though through her love of reading, she resides, vicariously in
countries throughout the world. A POISONOUS JOURNEY is her first book in the
Lady Evelyn mysteries series. The sequel, A DARKER SHORE will be available
later this year.