Spooky Legends & Giveaway: Virna DePaul’s Wraith on Kentucky Fried What? “CHOSEN BY FATE”

Today’s Spooky Legend is maybe one you want to read on an empty stomach.  That’s because our guest, Virna DePaul’s Wraith from the second book in the Para-Ops series, CHOSEN BY FATE (available now from Berkley), is talking about the not-so-secret recipe for a certain fast food fried chicken chain.  Not to worry, any queasy readers should perk right up at the giveaway today.  You can win a copy of CHOSEN BY FATE and some swag.  See details below. 

Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways

Wraith on Kentucky Fried What? 
by
Virna DePaul

Five years after the Second Civil War ends, humans and Otherborn— humanlike creatures with superhuman DNA—still struggle for peace. To ensure the continued rights of both, the FBI forms a Para-Ops team with a unique set of skills.  Wraith is the team’s “ghost.”  She’s introduced in Book 1 of the Para-Ops novels, Chosen By Blood, and is the heroine of Book 2, Chosen By Fate, which just came out on October 4.

Like all wraiths, Wraith has no memory of her human identity or past.  Unlike most wraiths, she has refused to assume another name.  Her talent is gathering intelligence and tracking.  In addition, Wraith learned to manipulate ammunition and explosives during the war.  For an undead, Wraith is quite colorful – she cusses like a truck driver, chews cinnamon gum, and loves Abba.  And today she’s here to talk to you…

[I glance up.]

Oh good. You’re here.

[I wave you closer.]

Come on.  What?  Are you scared?

[Grinning, I shake my head, then straighten my shades.  I gesture to my outfit, skin tight black leather and four-inch electric blue stilettos.

Don’t think I got all dressed up for you.  This is what I normally wear.

[I walk several steps before looking back at you over my shoulder.  I sigh impatiently.]

Come.  On.  You act like you’ve never seen a wraith before.  So I don’t have a pulse.  I’ve got blue skin.  So what?  You’re here for a reason and I wanna show you something.

[As I walk, you’re mesmerized by my swaying hips and the shocking white of my short spiky hair.]

I don’t normally bring people along on my missions but…

[I reach into the open door of a computerized vault and pull out a single sheet of notebook paper with notes written in pencil.  Gingerly, I hold it up for you to read.]

This is it.  Signed by Sanders himself.  Don’t worry about the security cameras.  I disabled them before you got here.  Now, let me put this little fellow back in here…

[I place the paper back into the safe, then amble up to you, hands on my hips.]

Let’s go check out the rest of this place.

[I continue talking as we walk.  I have to, in order to make up for your stunned, awkward silence.]

So, you want to know about the KFC urban legend.  At least, that’s what FBI Director Kyle Mahone told me.  He had us meet because I’m the most objective source of information.  I specialized in gathering intel during the Second Civil War.  Plus, as a wraith, the walking dead, I don’t need to eat.  No chance I’ll be biased.

Still, I watch what others eat and I have to say, you people (human and Otherborn) need to take better care of yourselves!  How can you be ready for anything—to run, fight or kill—if you’re eating junk food all the time?  I bet half the time you don’t even know what you’re eating, do you?

[Jerking my thumb, I gesture behind us.]

Take that secret recipe back there.  The not-so-secret main ingredient?  Chicken.  Yet we’ve all heard the urban legend.  The company shortened its name because the government found out they don’t sell chicken. They sell mutant chicken.

Chicken that isn’t chicken.

[I snort.]

What’s next?

A human that isn’t…human?

[I laugh then swiftly turn serious.]

Before you answer that, let’s look at some facts.  What would you call “chickens” kept alive by tubes that pump blood and nutrients into their bodies?  Animals with no beaks, no feathers, and no feet?  Chickens genetically engineered with four or six drumsticks in order to increase profitability?

Sound ludicrous to you?  Well, you need to crawl away from the rock you’ve been hiding under.

Anything is possible.  In fact, the worst is probable.  No one is going to look out for you but you, and that includes what you eat.  Don’t believe me?

I can always introduce you to some friends of mine.  Some members of my Para-Ops team, the FBI’s first special ops team comprised of humans and…what?

How about a dharmire that’s half-vampire and half-human, and lives with the rest of his clan in a Vampire Dome?  How about a feline mage cursed with a sexual heat that lasts for seven days and returns after seven days?  How about a werebeast that transforms into a wolf and can’t be killed in wolf form?  I won’t even mention the gorgeous, delectable, cocky, infuriating human psychic shaman, Caleb O’Flare.

Finally, how about me?

[I tick off a list on my fingers]

Blue skin.  Hazy eyes.  No pulse.  No monitorable brain activity.  No need to eat or sleep.  Can’t be killed by any known means (believe me, I’ve tried).  And I feel pain whenever I’m touched.  For two years, I was tortured and experimented on by a mage wanting to uncover the secret to immortality.  I hear he even got it on video.

Sound like an urban legend to you?  Yet here I am.

[I fling my arms out wide.]

Right in front of you.  You probably never thought it was possible, but it is.  So don’t discount everything you hear.

Take it from me--your health, your very life, might depend on it!

[A crash reverberates from somewhere in front of us.  I whoop and grab your arm.]

Show time!  Let’s go.   

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About the author:

Virna DePaul is a former criminal prosecutor and now National Bestselling Author for Berkley (paranormal romantic suspense), HQN (single title romantic suspense) and HRS (category romantic suspense). Her upcoming release Chosen By Fate (Para-Ops Novel 2) comes out October 4, 2011.  www.virnadepaul.com

Visit Virna DePaul online: Website|Blog|Twitter|Facebook Want to read more from Virna DePaul

Giveaway provided by Virna DePaul

One copy of CHOSEN BY FATE by Virna DePaul & Swag

Available now from Berkley

Description:

Although he keeps company with a vampire and a were, human Shaman Caleb O'Flare can definitely hold his own. But neither his psychic ability nor his healing powers can help his sexy-as-hell teammate, Wraith-a ghost with no memory of her human existence, who cannot experience touch without pain. No wraith has managed to exist past its tenth year, so her time is about to run out. She wants only two things before accepting her fate: to learn her human identity, and experience one night with Caleb...

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**Don’t forget to visit Dark Faerie Tales today for her Spooky Legends guest blog with Regan Hastings and a chance to win VISIONS OF SKYFIRE**