House of the Kami — Snippet 2

House of the Kami drops April 28 on my website 

Key dates: 

April 28: Ebook + Merch drops

May 1: Paperback drops on Amazon

May 4: Mini book boxes can be purchased

May 15: Ebook on Amazon (No KU) 

Are you ready?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Back at it again. Here we are, and I'm ready to share another snippet with you. Here we go. It is Sunday. What is it? The 26th. We've got two days until the drop of the House of the Commie ebook. I'm excited. I'm excited. I'm excited. Let's get into another snippet. I'm not gonna hold y'all long. I'm just gonna rattle off dates. April 28th, ebook and merch drops on my website, tierathenovelist.com. Click the link in my bio. May 1st, the paperback of House of the Kami. Remember, black and white cream pages, only six art pieces out of 11 are in that book, but it drops on Amazon. May 15th, the ebook drops on Amazon. Um, no, it will not be on Kindle Unlimited. Alright, there we go. I'm also doing a mini book box. I'm only having five at a time. That is going to drop the first week of May. If you don't get your mini book box within that time, check back the first of June because I will have five more. Because y'all have been asking me, like, oh, I didn't get a chance to get like the special edition one. Can you please still do something else? I want a hardcover. This hardcover is just as nice, it's just not, it's just nowhere near as grand as that one. Um, yeah, that is it. We're gonna shut up now. Let's get into this snippet. The room is too hot. Steam clings to my skin, settles in my lungs, thick enough that every breath feels heavier than it should. The water laps quietly against the edge of the tub, but everything else, everything that matters is loud. Her breathing, the small sound she makes when the pain crests, the way my name leaves her mouth like I'm the only solid thing in the room. I kneel at the edge, my hands braced on the tub, eyes locked on Andromache. I haven't looked away. I won't Maki I murmur, reaching forward, pushing damp strands of hair from her face. Look at me. She does. Always does. Her eyes find mine like they belong there, even now. Sweat on her skin, body straining, lips parted as she fights through another contraction. Something in my chest tightens, sharp and unbearable. I'm here. I tell her softer now, right here, you're doing so fucking good. She exhales low, controlled, her body tightening beneath the water. I hate this. Not because she's weak, but because she isn't. Because she's strong enough to endure it and I have to watch. Useless. Pressure's building. Jiro says behind me, that's good. I barely hear him. I'm watching her hands, the way her fingers twitch, the way they reach. I catch them immediately, letting her grip my wrist as hard as she needs. I've got you. I murmur, push when you need to. She nods. Then her body curls forward and she bears down. A sound tearing out of her that makes something in me want to break the world apart for daring to hurt her like this. That's it. I breathe. That's it, come on. Another push. The water shifts. I see her, Jiro says, heads crowning. My breath stutters. Hope, dangerous, fragile, flickers in my chest. No. I don't trust it. Not after. Again. She cries out, pushing harder this time, her grip crushing my wrist. I don't move. I don't feel it. I lean forward, hands slipping into the water, ready before I even think about it. Waiting. And then she's there. Sliding into my hands, warm, small, too still. Everything stops. My mind doesn't process it at first, just wait. Silence. Hello? I whisper. My hands move, lifting her slightly, instinct taking over where thought fails. Hey. Hey. Nothing. My chest caves in. No, no, no, no. Not again. She's not my voice fractures sharp and wrong in my own ears. She's not breathing. Jiro is beside me instantly. Let me take her. I don't want to. My hands tighten for a fraction of a second because I know this feeling. I know this silence. I know what comes after it. Akata. I let go. What's happening? Andromache's voice breaks behind me. What's going on? I turn to her. And I lie. She's fine. I say steady, controlled. She's fine, Maki. She looks at me like she knows better. They're helping her out of the water, but she isn't looking at them. She's looking past me. At our daughter, still silent. Go to her. She says, voice shaking. Akata, go. I move because she told me to. Because if I don't, I might fall apart where I stand. Jiro and the nurse are working fast, rubbing her back, suctioning, turning her. Come on. He mutters, come on. I stand there, empty, useless. I don't believe in gods. Never have. There's nothing in this world that I haven't been able to understand, control, or destroy if it needed destroying. Power is real. Choice is real. People make things happen. Not fate, not gods. But this is none of those things. My hands curl into fists at my sides. I don't know who to speak to. So I don't. I speak to her. Breathe. My jaw tightens. You breathe and I will give you everything. My throat burns. I will build the world under your feet. I will tear it apart for you if I have to. I glance once, just once, and Andromache, watching, breaking, waiting. I will love her the way she deserves. A breath shudders through me. The way I love you. No, more than that. Something deeper, something final. There is no end to what I will give you. Then a sound. I know. I know you want to choke me because I cut it off right there. Tierra, what happened? Hold on. We saw Akata begging. We saw Akata in like a gentle moment. Girl, why? And all the Akata girls go wild. I did that for y'all, by the way. Okay. It is Sunday, April 26th. Two days. Two days. Until the ebook launches. Um, yeah. I did that. Tomorrow I'm gonna give you one more snippet. No idea what it's gonna be. I'm betting everyone's like, do something spicy. Do something spicy now. If you want something spicy, go ahead and put it in the comments down below. Say, just tell me that's what you want, because I know that's what y'all are waiting on. Until then. I'm so excited for House of the Comedy. I'm so excited to see like what y'all's reception to this is. But yeah, two days until the ebook drops. I have prepared myself for the onslaught. See y'all tomorrow.