Subject: 🔮 Deleted Scene: Conviction 🕵️‍♀️

It could have been much worse...

Welcome to the new and improved newsletter!


Guys, you've inspired me. I've received such a flood of love for the Blood Trails series that I've decided to give you guys what you've been asking for...more Blood Trails!


Starting with some bonus content from Conviction, Blood Trails #9.



If you HAVEN'T read CONVICTION yet, then STOP HERE!!!!!


SPOILERS AHEAD!!!


TURN BACK, YE WHO HAVEN'T FINISHED YET!


All right, you've been sufficiently warned. If you're still reading, I'm going to assume you've finished Conviction.


Or you're like my sib who loves spoilers and you don't care that reading this deleted scene might RUIN Conviction for you.


This scene is from the first draft of Conviction. The initial draft of this book was much darker and much heavier than the one I released. Not in terms of what happened, because the actual events were largely unchanged. It was more the "mood" of the story that changed.


In the first version, certain characters were, quite frankly, really unpleasant. Evelyn was downright cruel, and Deacon... Well, Deacon wasn't anything, really. Just a miserable ball of flesh there to serve the plot and little else. Since the events of the book are already a bit on the dark side, this unpleasantness dragged down the entire book in a bad way. And perhaps one of the least pleasant characters was Andy himself.


I knew it was bad when my beta wrote back to tell me, basically, it was very dark, very depressing, and it would be better if I just killed Andy off because he was no longer the character she knew and loved.


Harsh.


Especially because I love Andy. And I have big plans for him...


Now, I didn't change what happened. I really do know what I'm doing, and I have a plan (it's going to be big-huge, I swear). However, I did take that feedback to heart. When you read my books, I want you to experience a range of emotions, but I always want you to end on a positive note. So, to that end, I reworked a few characters, adjusted their general attitude.


So here's a taste of the Andy that might have been...


Deleted Scene: Dark Andy

(please remember, this scene is unedited and unpolished)


Scene: Shade has just seen the tape of the first murder. In this version, the Vanguard played a larger part, and Andy is now in their custody.


Andy took one look at my face, and then leaned back in his chair. “You saw the tape.”


And just like that, I knew the memory loss was a lie too. He remembered that night just fine. Had always remembered.


I thought it couldn’t hurt any more than that. I was wrong.


Andy shook his head. “I thought it would be hard to lie to you. But it wasn’t. It was so easy.”


His words drove through flesh and blood, sailing straight into my heart with all the finesse of a well-aimed arrow. I made a choking sound, and he shook his head.


“I don’t even feel guilty. I want to. But I don’t.”


And just like that, some of the fury, some of the rage, that had been seething inside of me ever since I heard Siobhan’s name spurted up, splashed into my voice. “Why?” I whispered, staring down at him. “Why did you lie to me?” I took a step forward, making him tilt his head to look up at me. “I would have helped no matter what.”


“I know. I wish you hadn’t.”


He leaned forward until he could reach his head with his bound hands, shoved his hair back from his face. It was strange to see him with mussed hair. Like he was a different person. Jekyll and Hyde.


“I told Mac Tyre I’d confess as long as no one told you about the corruption.” This time when he looked at me, there was pain in his eyes. Real pain. “I just didn’t want you to think about me like that. Not for what little time we had left.”


“You killed Raichel,” I said numbly. “You saw that Mickey wasn’t a kid. You shot her anyway.”


Andy leaned back again. “Yeah.”


Tears slid down my face. “Why?”


“Because I was so angry.” He closed his eyes. “I’ve always been angry, but after Lorelei… I just couldn’t hold it in anymore. None of the ways I learned to control it were working like they used to. I kept watching the kelpies, and I know Siobhan was messing with me. Taunting me. But I knew, I knew that if I stopped watching, she’d kill a kid just to torture me. And when I realized the jockey wasn’t a kid, realized that she was just going to keep pushing me, and pushing me…” He opened his eyes. “I snapped. And I’m not sorry.”


I cried. The tears poured down my face, blurring the image of Andy. I cried and I didn’t care.


“Andy, I’m so sorry. I never should have—”


“No.” He shook his head. “No, don’t you dare blame yourself. This is who I am, Shade. This is who I’ve always been. Who I was always going to be.”


I sobbed.


“Shit.” He sat up and tried to reach for me, was stopped by the manacles. “Shade, come here.”


“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t have time.”


Andy frowned. “What do you mean you don’t have time?”


“I have six hours left.”


“Shade… Shade, it’s over. It’s over and it’s okay. It’s for the best. Siobhan is only going to do what I deserve. I’m fine with it. Really. It’s okay.”


“It’s not okay.” I closed my eyes, let the hot tears wash my face. The pain in my heart tightened and hardened into a ball of pure ice as I turned my back. “But it will be.”


* * *

So what did you think of dark Andy?


Glad he didn't make it to the final draft?


Hoping he'll show up later in the series?


Respond to this email and let me know. If I get enough responses, I might do a video in the Magic, Mayhem, and Murder group to chat about it...

The Future of this Newsletter


Some of you may have signed up for my mailing list when it was only designed for new release announcements. I hope you'll stick around for the new content (starting with this email and continuing next month when I'll show you Shade and Andy's first meeting from Andy's point of view!).


But if you don't want to hear from me once a month (twice in release months) when I send out bonus content like this, then you can always unsubscribe with the link at the bottom of this email. If you decide to go, you can always check my website for new releases or follow me on Amazon, BookBub, or Facebook.


But if you stay, I'll work very hard to make it worth your while...


Yours in magic, mayhem, and murder,


JB