Sunday Snippet: Breaking Through

Well, 2026 is off to a wonky start. It's like it looked at 2025 and decided to say, "Hold my beer." Not sure that's a good thing.

Weather stayed very cold, which I'm totally okay with. We got a bunch of snow on New Year's Eve and I'm happy to have stayed in and enjoyed ringing in the new year at home. It ended up being a super-busy week with a lot going on but at least I didn't have the crazy back and forth temperatures to deal with. My sinuses really hate that.

Another slower work week, but progress on the three projects I'm working on at the moment. The unexpected stuff kind of messed up my groove, but I got back on track. I'm hoping this week is a little smoother.

Didn't quite make it all the way through my round of shows, but I did get the remaining holiday special in. I also have some new seasons of shows I'm excited about.

I started with Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, and I'm almost finished with my rewatch. I think I have two more episodes left. Then I'll probably watch the fan-funded movie, which is quite excellent.

Finished up the episode of Foyle's War and enjoyed it. I'd forgotten Andrew and Sam split up in this one and I kind of mourn their breakup.

Caught the holiday special of Death in Paradise. Such a good one! Having Selwyn in England added a really nice layer to the whole mystery and tied the episode of Beyond Paradise in nicely.

Started a new two-part Silent Witness and it's a very twisty and turny case. Looking forward to the second part to wrap things up. I also really enjoy the newest addition to the Lyell.

I began season four of Poirot and enjoyed the first episode. Interesting mystery and a lot of fun with Hastings really wanting to talk about his shooting of the alligator-like creature and no one being interested until the very end.

That's all I got in this week on my television shows.

Tonight's post is from Breaking Through, a follow up to Guarded Chance that kind of insisted to be written.

Here's the miniblurb:

Race Markinton finally has Echo Dart, the woman he wants to spend the future with. His one problem? She's been brainwashed by the enemy, and he has to find a way to break through and get his Echo back.

And a sneaky peek…

Echo tried to quell the nervous roil of her stomach after Race sent his extraction team back to the base then asked for a secure communication with their CO.

Race spoke quietly with his dad. "We're coming in under medical quarantine. It's the only way to limit exposure." He frowned then flipped the comm to within the ship. "All right. Go ahead."

Rick addressed Echo. "You understand that medical quarantine means you'll be recalled to active duty?"

Echo tilted her head. "Will be? I assumed from the moment you sent Race, I already was." How else could he justify sending anyone?

Okay … she could see him skirting the edges of protocol because of, well, history. But not even their long-standing relationship gave him completely free rein.

He cut into her thoughts. "Echo, I can't make you active duty until you're cleared. And you may not be. We're in a gray area here. You're an unknown element at the moment, and I'll give it to you straight. You're in for a bumpy return." He paused, giving her a moment to wrap her head around everything. "You need to know I'm happy to have you back in the fold, but until we know more about what's going on with you, I have to stand back and keep some distance."

Her heart sank a little. "I understand, sir. If I'm not considered active duty, what's my status?" She really hoped it wouldn't be prisoner.

Rick sighed. "For now, you'll be listed as reserve standby, which gives you full access to medical but keeps you out of day-to-day operations."

Race glanced in her direction. "Which means you'll be contained but not locked down." He rolled his eyes.

Echo shrugged. "At this point, I only care about fixing whatever they did to me." She met Race's gaze. "Then I can fix what I've done to myself." And fully re-pair her heart and mind.

Race's lips quirked but he didn't comment.

Rick signed off. "Medical will meet you in bay five. I'll be down after Echo's assessment." A brief burst of static ended the call.

Echo awkwardly turned toward Race. "Before we leave the transport, I need you to do something for me." He wouldn't like her request.

Race grunted. "You want me to use ankle restraints, don't you?" His grip tightened on the throttle.

She blinked, surprised. "Uh, yeah. Figured you wouldn't be happy about it."

Race snorted. "I'm not. But the old man called it. You're an unknown element." He lifted a shoulder. "For everyone's safety … especially yours … we're not taking any chances."

She nodded. "Bumpy return." At least until she got her head back on straight.

And he'd stick beside her. Which meant he'd have a target on his back.

She reached out with her pinky finger. "Thanks."

Rafe glanced over then hooked his finger with hers. "For what?"

Echo's lips twisted into a smile. "For getting it. Getting me."

Rafe lifted his chin. "From now on … I'm with you."

Echo couldn't ask for more … having him back in her life might prove to be the greatest gift she'd ever received.

Echo has a bit of a journey ahead of her, but she's exactly where she needs to be.

 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Breaking Through (Book two of Mind Games)

Happy holidays to those who celebrate. We had a lovely day, even if the temperatures were in the mid-teens. It's way better than the minus ten degrees we had earlier in the week.

I had some catching up to do with a work project and didn't get much watched, but I did catch a couple more episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. I guess I'll be watching all next month also because it's going to be removed from HBOMax.

I got to catch a couple of good episodes, featuring The Joker and Harley. Bane made his first appearance and the Clock King showed up again. Harvey and Two Face along with the Riddler both had episodes. And the episode with Baby Doll ended up being better than I remembered.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Breaking Through, a novella in what I'm calling the Mind Games series.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Race Markington finally has Echo Dart, the woman he wants to spend the future with. His one problem? She's been brainwashed by the enemy and he has to find a way to break through and get his Echo back.

And a sneaky peek…

Race followed Echo into the cockpit. "I don't like this. Trussing you up for the flight back to the carrier sucks on seven different levels." They didn't have much choice, but didn't mean he liked it one damn bit.

Echo settled in the copilot seat and slid her gaze in his direction. "Having me as a captive audience? How can that suck?" Her lips twisted in a wry smile. "You can't take the chance I'll go off the track again. Crashing would not be on my list of things to do today. I wanna get the hell out of here." She nodded toward the base of the chair, indicating what he should do.

Heaving a sigh, he approached from behind and used two tether strips to bind her legs to the metal rails. "At least it's a short trip." Unless they encountered enemy fire before they cleared atmosphere.

Echo lifted her chin. "There is that." Her features softened. "Never thought I'd get to go home … even if the welcome won't be warm." She kept her gaze straight ahead.

Race strapped in and started the preflight process. "No one knows the sitrep yet. Not even the old man." They'd have to handle her arrival with some caution.

Echo twined her fingers together then straightened them out. She couldn't do much else with the zip cords around her wrists. Race didn't envy her limited mobility … even if two days ago he'd have been close to thrilled to have her under lock and key.

She finally glanced toward him. "We won't be able to keep anything from anyone when I walk off this ship with my hands bound. The whole saga of Race and Echo is going to begin all over again." Dejection filled her tone.

Race's lips quirked. "Probably. But the sequel's gonna have a different ending this time." He wouldn't give up on her anymore.

Echo tsked. "It might. But there's no guarantee it'll be a happy one." She lifted her bound hands. "We might not be able to figure out how to keep me from maiming and killing people."

Race shook his head. "That's true. But we'll exhaust all options and, if we fail, I'll still be there." He made a controlled liftoff into the lower atmosphere then continued. "Could be interesting to have dinner every evening with a lance corporal standing guard over us."

Echo reacted the way he wanted her to. She sputtered out a chuckle then threw her head back and laughed.

The sound filled him with hope.

This series is taking some twists I didn't foresee and I'm totally okay with that. I think there will be one or two more follow-ups, but the sages are keeping me guessing about that.

 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Breaking Through

Hard to believe November is almost over. I think the whole furnace fiasco made the month seem a lot shorter than it actually was. That and my workload hasn't decreased… not that I'm complaining.

Had a somewhat slower week with television. I stuck mainly to marathons during the day. I did get some old-school Midsomer Murders watched along with several episodes of JAG.

I watched another episode of Riverdale and, man, Edgar is super creepy. Also, I still dislike Hiram with the passion of a thousand suns. I actually loved the whole shakedown of the gargoyles. The filming of that scene had me glued to the screen.

Other than that, I'm halfway through an episode of Murdoch Mysteries and really hoping they're not going to have Julia and William break up over the doctor who has the hots for her. I'd be very disappointed.

I also had a run of Classic Who episodes on Pluto TV. Nice to have that on in the background when I'm getting the dishes done or folding clothes.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Breaking Through, a follow up to Guarded Chance, featuring Echo and Race on the next part of their journey.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Race Markington finally has Echo Dart, the woman he wants to spend the future with. His one problem? She's been brainwashed by the enemy and he has to find a way to break through and get his Echo back.

And a sneaky peek…

Echo Dart came to with a violent jerk. "What the hell?" Zip cuffs secured her wrists and ankles.

Her mind flashed back to the compound and she struggled to get free.

"Echo, don't. You'll only end up hurting yourself."

Race. Memories flooded her brain. (Add in the detail about the sex?) She swung her gaze toward him and bile rose in her throat. His arm sported a bandage and, added to the dull throb along her temple, she put a few of the pieces together. A vague image, just a little out of reach, of her hand closing around a knife hovered in her memory. Fuck. I'm the reason he's injured.

She groaned. "What did I do?" Her eyes slid shut and she resisted the urge to scream.

Race traced a finger along her cheek. "You don't remember?" He kept the touch brief, easing back.

Echo's eyes popped open and she glanced in his direction. "It's there but it's not." She shrugged. "Almost like I can see what happened, but I don't remember doing it." Her shoulders slumped. "That sounds so stupid." The whole being free thing kind of sucked right now.

Race shook his head. "No, it's accurate. That's pretty much what happened." His forearm rested on his knee. "It's like you were acting without volition. You were the one wielding the knife, but your eyes were vacant, lost." His hand absently rubbed at his bandage.

Echo straightened as much as the restraints would let her. "Shit. It figures. The soul mate crap didn't take so they formulated a backup plan." Her gaze met Race's. "Make me kill my fellow soldiers." Fear, real and deep, bit down hard on her heart. "How the hell do I come back from that?" Better yet… how did she stop it from happening?

Race didn't waver. "I don't know. But you will come back, Echo. We'll find a way."

We. We'll find a way.

When he should abandon all hope, he didn't. An odd warmth spread through her. Finally. Finally, she could and would rely on someone to fill the dark places and empty spots in her life. She didn't need a savior, but she wanted a partner; someone to calm the storm or spur her to action.

Race.

Angling her head to the side, she rested it on his shoulder. "You know, I think we will." Reaching her pinkie finger out, she hooked it around his.

A tiny gesture, but until they discovered her trigger, she didn't want to risk too much.

I think this book and the preceding one are going to be in a special group called Mind Games. I have a few different stories started that feature some type of mind-bending trope.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye