QK Round 3: Bounty and the Beast vs Switchers

Title: Dangerous Beasts
Entry Nickname: Bounty and the Beast
Word Count: 85,000
Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance

Query:

Exiled beast charmer Leena Edenfrell is in deep shit. Empty pockets force her to sell her beloved magical beasts on the black market—an offense punishable by death—and the Charmers Council hires a lethal assassin to exact punishment. With the realm’s most talented murderer-for-hire nipping at her heels, Leena makes him an offer he can’t refuse: a promise to procure a handful of mythical creatures in exchange for her life.

For assassin Noc, murder comes easy and pays well. But only fools pass up the chance to own rare and powerful magical beasts, even if that means lying to one enchanting charmer. Agreeing to Leena’s terms, Noc plans to keep the bounty live on her head until the creatures are his. Two paychecks, one job, no sleep lost.

To hunt for creatures, Noc and Leena embark on a quest across the countryside of Lendria. But traps capture more than beasts, and ensnared hearts are hard to untangle. Banished by the people she loved, Leena has no desire to take her heart out of exile, yet Noc is nothing like the monsters on the Council—or so she thinks. Bound by the magic of the assassin’s oath, Noc can’t renege on the contract for Leena’s head unless he’s willing to sacrifice his own. But neither can tame their growing feelings, and the ever-watchful Council demands blood. With Noc’s hands and heart tied, and Leena dodging enemies at every turn, no manner of beasts or money can protect their hides.

First 250:

By the time evening fell, three things were certain: the gelatinous chunks of lamb were absolute shit, my beady-eyed client was hankering for more than the beasts in my pocket, and I was being watched.

Two out of the three were normal for my after-hours dealings.

Sliding my meat to the side, I propped my elbows against the heavy plank table. My client lasted two seconds before his gaze roved to the book-shaped locket dangling in my cleavage. Wedging his thick fingers between his shirt collar and neck, he tugged gently on the fabric.

“You have what I came for?” Nasally and high-pitched, his voice grated along my skin. A businessman. A rare visitor in Midnight Jester, my preferred black market bar. My pocket hummed with the possibility of money, and I fingered the copper key hidden in my pants.

“Maybe.” I nudged the metal dinner plate farther away, and the gray meat jiggled. “How did you find me?” Dez, the bartender, sourced most of my clients, but a businessman? Neckties and Midnight Jester didn’t mingle. Shady with a side of grime, the regulars were as dirty as the floors. I shifted in the booth crammed against the shiplap wall, and the cracking black cushions creaked.

The unseen pair of eyes lingering in a dark recess of the bar burrowed further into the back of my head. Faint movement from the shadows flickered into my awareness. Movement that should have gone unnoticed, but I’d learned to be prepared for such things.

Versus

Title: The Switcher Chronicles
Entry Nickname: Switcher
Word Count: 96,000
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

Query:

Cade Hightower is a professional body switcher, paid to step into a client’s body and take his place in the dentist’s chair or at the in-laws’ dinner table. It’s a rare, well-paid skill—and the only one Cade has—so he’s willing take some risks to get the job done, including the ever-present danger of not getting his own body back. Cade takes all the precautions he can to keep his skin safe, no matter who’s wearing it, but there are no guarantees.

Cade and his older sister Daphne have drifted apart in the last ten years, but after a death in the family, she wants to repair the estrangement. Unfortunately, Cade still resents Daphne for putting ambition ahead of family. When he was thirteen, their mother got sick, their father ran off, and Daphne left him with his no-good uncle while she pursued her career in injectable magic. Now she claims she’s worried about his dangerous job, but where was she when he was a lonely, scared teenager who needed his big sister?

When a new client makes an unusual request—find out who’s swindling rich old people out of their fortunes and their lives—Cade goes undercover the way only a body switcher can. As he gets closer to the truth, Daphne worries Cade could get killed while Cade faces the danger he’s tried so hard to avoid—permanent body theft. Cade suspects the thief is someone Daphne loved and Cade hated, someone they both thought was dead. Convincing his sister he’s right could shatter their fragile relationship, and he doesn’t know if finding the truth—and finishing the job—are worth driving her away for good.

First 250:

I had been back in my body for twenty-four hours, and the mosquito bite between my shoulder blades itched like a rhino’s hide in a drought. The next time a client took my body camping while I did trust falls at a corporate retreat in his, I was going to add a bug-spray requirement to the contract.

But ignoring annoyances was part of my professional skill set, so I focused on getting the bus washed and ready for my next job, whatever that turned out to be. When the phone rang, I was balanced on an over-sized tire, squeegeeing the giant windshield. I jumped to the asphalt to take the call. The screen said, "Private Name Private Number." I got that a lot.

“Cade Hightower,” I said.

Harlan Ambrose’s voice on the line was deep and quick. “Cade, bro, what’re you doing?”

“Washing the bus, sir.”

“Hey, do me a favor and go inside. Got a job for you.”

I looked at the cracked asphalt under my feet. A high school parking lot on a Sunday was as private as the surface of the moon, but arguing with clients was bad for business. With a mental shrug, I climbed the three steps into the school bus I’d converted into my home. I settled in the swivel recliner anchored to the floor and put the phone back to my ear.

“I’m inside, sir. What’s this job?” My foot rattled against the floor. Ambrose was a good client, but talking to him on the phone gave me hives.