*~*Down to My Soul by Kennedy Ryan Promo – Guest Post, Excerpt & Giveaway*~*

RHYSON

She doesn’t wear my ring. We never stood before a preacher. The only vows exchanged were between our bodies; between our souls. But she was mine and I was hers until I ruined it. I have to believe that every day, every step, every breath brings me closer to making things right.  To making her mine again.

KAI

I’ve seen promises broken.  I know love makes no guarantees. But things were different for Rhys and me, until he lied, and I walked away. Only there’s a chain between our hearts that I can’t break. Even if I forgive him, a shadow from my past hangs over us; over this love that reaches all the way down to my soul.

In my Soul Series, music is almost as much a character as Rhyson Gray and Kai Pearson, the hero and heroine. Music has always played a vital role in my personal life. I was in the band from elementary school until college. Symphony, marching band – you name it. I was in it. And I sang in groups and on various projects my whole life. At one point I thought I might pursue it professionally. But I had never written about it. That changed last year when I wrote My Soul to Keep, book 1 of the Soul Series. My passion for and experience with music influenced the way I told the story in subtle ways. For example, using musical terms to describe emotions or situations.

I think the most crucial role music plays in this series is how it defines Rhyson and Kai individually, and how it connects them as friends and then as lovers. Rhyson was a piano prodigy, playing Beethoven by three years old and on stages all over the world by the time he was 11. Music was his passion, but also his job. He walked away when he was 16, from his career as a pianist and from his overbearing parents. He returned to it years later, establishing his own brand in the mainstream and became famous on his own terms. He loves music more than anything. For Kai, who comes from a small Georgia town, she has danced and sung all her life. It has been an escape and it has been her dream. A dream she delayed when her mom was diagnosed with ALS. When her best friend heads out to Los Angeles to pursue his big break, she stays behind in her small town for another five years taking care of her mother. Ironically, it’s one of Rhyson’s songs, Lost, that gets her through that tough season. She never imagined she would meet one of the most gifted musicians of her generation, much less that they would become friends. Much less that they would become lovers. Much less that they would become everything to one another. This excerpt gives a tiny glimpse into how music bonds them from the very beginning.

            “Look, I may not have been lining up for your autograph or anything last night like everybody else, but I do love your music. I’m a fan.”

            “Sure you are.”

            “I am.” A grin as wide and sweet as licorice spreads across her lips.

            “Okay, fangirl. What’s your favorite song?”

            “Not the one you think.”

            “How do you know what I think?”

            “You probably think it’s one you won a Grammy for or one of the ones that went platinum, but it’s not. It wasn’t even a radio release.”

            “All right, hit me with it. What’s your favorite?”

            “Number nine on your first album.”

            I couldn’t have heard her right. No one says number nine. It’s one of the most personal songs I ever wrote. So personal and so mine that no one ever gets it. The producer at the time called it a self-indulgent choice, but I insisted we include it.

            “‘Lost’?” I ask, just to make sure. “‘Lost’ is your favorite song?”

            She clears her throat before speaking.

            “‘I’ve lost my way. I stumbled into the woods, but can’t see the forest for the trees. How did I get here? Where am I going?’”

            The first line of “Lost.”

            “Why is that your favorite?”

            “I fell asleep to that song for months when I was taking care of my mom. There I was, still living in a tiny Georgia town and working at Glory Bee, my mom’s diner. Making biscuits before sun up, dancing only when I could squeeze it in, and taking care of Mama in her final days. It was overwhelming and it all had to be done, but it was nothing I had ever planned to do. That song was how I felt. I loved it because I was so lost.”

            She lowers her head, blinking fast and pursing her lips. I don’t think she means for it to, but her voice falls to a whisper.

            “Because sometimes I still am.”

            As much as she lights up a room, dancing, laughing from time to time, I’m beginning to see that just beneath the surface of Kai, there is as much shadow as there is shine. I don’t know if it’s because of her mother’s recent death and the long illness that came before, or if it’s more than that, but I connect to it. As someone who had to battle my parents in open court for my freedom and survival, I understand shadow. I could step into it with her, or I could pull her out.

            “My favorite line of that song is the last one,” I say.

            She lifts her eyes to mine, and we build a smile together.

            “‘Now I see the light,’” we quote at the same time.

            I roll up my sleeve, baring my forearm to show her the ink there. She traces the line from the song, creating mayhem on my skin under her fingers.

            “Believe it or not, that’s my favorite from the album too. No one else has ever…well, no one ever says that’s their favorite.”

Her fingers drop away from my arm, and her eyes drop away from my face. I screw up my nerve to say what needs to be said before she walks away from me.