Charm City (The Demon Whisperer Book 1) (18 page)
Read Charm City (The Demon Whisperer Book 1) Online
Authors: Ash Krafton
Chiara watched Simon smooth a few crumpled bills he'd found in his pockets and shook her head. "So. You barely have enough for your cigarettes, let alone a ticket back to Baltimore."
"Yeah, well." He scratched his nose. "I guess we'll have to ask Mack for a ride. That money, it was always for her. Or, at least her family. I wanted to do something for them, but never knew what. Not until you came along."
She squelched the unbidden flip her stomach made when she considered Mack and his "rides". Swallowing thickly, she persevered past the thought. "So. You do know the taste of hope, after all."
"I wouldn't call it—"
"Yes, you would. You just aren't brave enough to admit it. You're a silly superstitious man, Simon. You can't destroy a hope simply by admitting it exists."
"That's where you're wrong, love." The smile he gave her wasn't cocky, or sarcastic, or lopsided with boyish glee. It was heavy, one of sadness and resignation and acceptance. It was the smile of a man who knew exactly where he stood and wasn't proud of it. "You
can
jinx things. I should know. I made a career out of doing it."
She reached for his hand, squeezing it. "Well, you can rest that fear now. Sarah is safely home. You can't jinx a hope that has already been realized."
He turned the key and shifted into drive, pulling away. "It does feel weird to be able to breathe all the way in, you know?"
"What next, now that your demon has been banished?"
"I don't know about that. I think he'll be closer behind than ever."
"Oh. Bal." She lowered her eyes. Couldn't tell him the whole truth, could she? Couldn't say
while in Hell, I stopped by my dad's place and asked him for a favor. Balazog won't be a problem anymore.
She couldn't tell him, not without telling him how and why and who she really was. "Right. I'm sorry. I hadn't meant—"
He shushed her with a lopsided grin. "It's okay. This is my life. It's hunt and be hunted. The problems don't go away just because we set one lost girl to rights."
He stretched his arm over the back of her seat.
"Onward and upward. Clean slate. Well…" He winked. "Cleaner, anyway. It's time to see what else needs correcting. But first things first."
He rounded the corner and pulled into a convenience store parking lot. "I need a fresh pack of cigs. Back in a flash. You won't even know I'm gone."
Chiara watched him saunter in, saw him chatting with the cashier at the counter. Their eyes met through the window as he waited for his change and he smiled at her.
Suddenly, a look of sheer terror crossed his face. A split second later—
A tug on her hair, hot breath on her cheek. Someone leaned forward from the previously empty back seat.
Her breath snagged in her throat, and all she could do was stare at Simon, his awful, telling expression, caught between one thought and the dreaded next.
The stranger wrapped her arm around Chiara's neck and chuckled, the sound dark and brittle. "Hello…Daughter."
Chiara screamed, terror flash-flooding through her.
And then, with a thunderous crash, her senses faded and she knew nothing more.
Simon watched helplessly from the checkout counter. The blinding light filled the car like a silent explosion. Cigarettes forgotten, Simon bolted outside, screaming her name.
When the light shrank, the car was empty.
She was gone.
The story will continue
in part two of The Demon Whisperer series
MURDER THE LIGHT
Ash Krafton
is a speculative fiction author from the Pennsylvania coal region. If she's not writing, it's probably because she's distracted by all the cool junk on her desk or by the stacks of books that have grown up around it.
She writes novels, short fiction, and poetry for mostly adult audiences. (She's
mostly
an adult.). Some of those novel titles include:
The Books of the Demimonde: urban fantasy trilogy
Enter the world of the Demimonde.
Look outside your window. Same old town, same streets, same people, same stories you've lived all your life. Or... are they?
Sophie Galen is an advice columnist from the suburbs of Philly. Like many sensitive women, she's done her best to create a shelter for herself in order to live in a safe, predictable world, protecting her vulnerable self: her mind, her heart, her soul.
Then he came into her life and blew the walls in.
When Marek Thurzo arrived, he brought with him all the secrets she never wanted to know: the world outside was not what she thought. There were people and creatures and powers she'd never dared to believe exist and at the very center of this humongous supernatural web was one single person.
Her. The Sophia. The one hope for redemption for the Demivampire race.
Some days, she still can't wrap her head around the whole thing. Other days...
...she's ready to do whatever it takes to protect her demivamps, no matter the obstacle, no matter the enemy, no matter the personal cost.
While meeting her deadlines, of course. Who says a girl can't multitask while saving the world?
Bleeding Hearts (Demimonde #1)
WORDS THAT BIND: paranormal romance
Social worker Tam Kerish can’t keep her cool professionalism when steamy client Mr. Burns kindles a desire for more than a client-therapist relationship—so she drops him. However, they discover she’s the talisman to which Burns, an immortal djinn, has been bound since the days of King Solomon…and that makes it difficult to stay away from him.
Ethical guidelines are unequivocal when it comes to personal relationships with clients. However, the djinn has a thawing effect on the usually non-emotive Tam, who begins to feel true emotion whenever he is near. Tam has to make a difficult choice: to stay on the outside, forever looking in…or to turn her back on her entire world, just for the chance to finally experience what it means to fall in love.
She also writes New Adult spec fic as AJ Krafton.
THE HEARTBEAT THIEF
(Victorian fantasy) is a little bit Jane Austen, a little bit Edgar Allen Poe, and a whole lot of stealing heartbeats in order to stay young and beautiful forever... How far will Senza Fyne go to avoid Death?
"There was something smart, ominous, and romantic about this strange story..."
The Heartbeat Thief by AJ Krafton
rated
4.5 stars on Amazon
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