The Book of the Ghost

by Eric Asher

  “You’re alive,” Aeros said, his voice filling the tent and bringing most of the beds and fairies in the vicinity to silence.

  “Mostly,” Zola said. “Flying around on that dragon makes me feel like I’m three hundred.”

  “You got Drake here in time?” Vicky said, still hesitant to believe the news Foster had already delivered them.

  Aeros nodded, the granite of his head and neck grinding together with the motion. He turned slightly and held his hand out to reveal one of the beds. Black and white wings hung over the side, and the bandaged chest moved up and down, but the fairy didn’t stir.

  “It was a near thing. I don’t know that he thought he was going to survive. He asked me to give you his armor if he didn’t. Said you’d grow into it.”

  For the first time since the battle had begun, Vicky’s façade cracked. She felt her lip tremble, and clenched her jaw, trying to lock the emotions down like she’d done so many times before. But there were times, when the weight was too much, when the relief at a pause in her nightmare caught her off guard, and she couldn’t stop the tears.

  Sam reached out, put an arm around her, pulled Vicky’s head to her chest, and held her there as thunder boomed above them and the rain beat a staccato on the tent.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Vicky wasn’t sure how long they’d been there when a strong hand gripped her shoulder. She lifted her head and smiled at the wrinkled old man before her. Most wouldn’t believe that the kind smile and diminutive form behind the thick glasses hid the towering form of Wahya, the golden wolf.

  “Little one,” Wahya said, his voice soft, warm, and utterly reassuring. “You’ve done well. I am glad to see you all safe.”

  “Caroline?” Vicky asked.

  Wahya frowned and tilted his head. “She will survive. She may be grumpy for a while, but she will survive. We plan to return to Antietam with Utukku. It’s possible Nudd’s soldiers have not found all of the vaults. If there are any artifacts remaining, we would prefer to claim them for ourselves.

  “I have to talk to Hugh about saving Damian.”

  Wahya leaned against Drake’s bed. “What makes you think they’ll have an answer for you?”

  “Gaia,” Vicky said.

  “The bloody Titan,” Terrence muttered. “A Titan.” He shook his head.

  “Perhaps she has finally chosen her side,” Wahya said. As if that made any sense to any of them. “She would be a powerful ally.”

  “I think she already is,” Vicky said. But she didn’t say it out loud, didn’t say what she’d seen at Rivercene, the golden glow in the innkeeper’s eyes that matched Gaia’s in every way.

  “I don’t think I should leave him here,” Vicky said, looking at Drake.

  “He’ll be safe here,” Foster said, hopping up on the foot of the bed beside Wahya. “Aeros told us what happened. Told us he fought the Beast of Gorias. I would have to explain to you the last thousand years of Faerie history for you to understand how much that says. What you need to know is that Drake and the rider of the beast were once inseparable. For him to strike that fairy down …” Foster shook his head. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

  Vicky smiled at Foster. “Sometimes doubt is all that keeps you alive.”

  “Ah need to get back to Death’s Door,” Zola said, stretching her back and patting Aeros on the knee. “There are too many who know of the old chest.” She said this in a hushed voice, barely loud enough for Vicky to hear her even though she was standing right next to her.

  “I can escort you if you would like,” Aeros said.

  “Ah can take the Ways. There are enough fairies here that someone will open a portal for me. But Ah’d ask of you another favor, rock.”

  “Of course, old maid,” Aeros said, his boulder-like face fracturing into a grin.

  “Take Terrence back to Greenville. He’s the strongest tie we have to Dirge. And Ah’m afraid before this is all over, we’re going to need all of the forest gods on our side.”

  “That’s it,” Terrence asked. “I just go to Greenville and live my death?”

  “Ah doubt very much you will be that fortunate,” Zola said. “Stay with Dirge. Help him if you can.”

  “Come with me, Samantha,” Zola said, dragging the vampire to her feet. “Let’s get you home. Ah’m sure Vik will be very interested to hear the story of what you’ve been up to.”

  Sam gave Zola a nervous smile.

  “Can I ride with you?” Vicky asked, looking at Aeros and Terrence. “I’d like to see Terrence home.”

  “Of course,” Aeros said.

  Wahya put his arm around Vicky’s shoulder. “Until we meet again, little one.”

  She threw her arms around the old wolf, and crushed him in a hug.

  Luna hugged the old wolf too as he turned away, and he scratched her between the ears.

  “See you soon, kid,” Foster said.

  “Bye, Sam,” Vicky said, hugging the vampire. “Try not to kill us, yeah?”

  Sam squeezed her back.

  “That’s safe with me now,” Zola said, patting a fold in her cloak. “You don’t worry your head about that none. We’ve talked some sense into that vampire.”

  Vicky stepped away and smiled at Sam and the old necromancer as Aeros approached her. The stone of the Old God surrounded them, feeling like a slightly hard couch as Aeros folded over them and everything went dark.

  A few minutes into the insane ride of bumps and sudden turns, and whatever else Aeros was doing to them as they flew beneath the earth, Vicky realized this was very much like a roller coaster.

  * * *

  Once they were out of the city and away from foundations and the massive stones of Falias, the ride smoothed out. After a time, the cracks and joints around Aeros began to glow, and the pale green and yellow light accompanied them for the rest of the time underground.

  “What are you going to do?” Terrence asked.

  Vicky sighed and leaned against Jasper as he alternated purring and snoring. “Whatever I have to.”

  “Hugh and Quindaro are both in Kansas City,” Luna said. “You’ll have to go there.”

  Vicky took a deep breath, but she didn’t answer.

  “What’s wrong?” Luna asked.

  “There’s too much in Kansas City,” Vicky said. “The werewolves, the blood mages, the witches, and Camazotz.”

  “You’ll have allies there.”

  Terrence shifted and rubbed his neck. “You need more than that. You need friends.”

  “They are more than that,” Vicky said, her voice quiet against the rumble of Aeros’s movement. “They’re family.”

  Terrence gave her a small smile and patted the top of her shoe. “Even better.”

  “Almost there,” Aeros said, the words filling the small chamber around them. “Hold on. We’re going to shift directions.”

  Regardless of the warning, Luna squawked as she lost her balance at the sudden shift and crashed into Vicky. Jasper vibrated with irritation as the pair smashed into him, waking him up as they all finally landed on Terrence in a tangled pile.

  The ghost cursed, but the exclamation broke down into a laugh as they slowly righted themselves and the shadows of the underground were washed away in the morning light of the ruins of Greenville.

  Terrence hurried out of the crater in the ground as Aeros lifted them up.

  “That was nice,” Luna said, stretching as she stepped out of the old god’s shadow.

  “Thank you,” Vicky said, running a hand across Aeros’s forearm.

  “Terrence,” a voice boomed. “I was concerned.”

  Terrence smiled. “I’m okay. I’m home.”

  “Oh wow,” Vicky said, her eyes trailing up the trunk-like legs of the forest god, the vines forming his joints, and finally the jagged, glowing slashes in the bark that formed his face. “I thought you’d be like Stump.”

  Dirge cocked his head to the side. “I am, somewhat, like Stump.”

  “You’re bigge
r. A lot bigger. Even bigger than Whip.”

  The forest god turned his focus to Vicky and crouched. “You are tied to Terrence.” His eyes followed a thread no one else could see. “I thought only the necromancer could do that.”

  “He did,” Vicky said. “I’m tied to Damian, so I think, through that link, Terrence is tied to me.”

  “Then I hope it will keep him in this plane longer than he would have otherwise stayed.” Dirge turned to Luna. “And you, death bat. You have spent many days in these woods. I remember you, and the family you kept here.”

  Luna eyed the forest god before gesturing to the tree line. “Your forest looks healthier. I was worried after I heard a storm had hit here.”

  Dirge looked at the forest and his harsh expression softened to a smile. “I am well. Thanks greatly to your necromancer.”

  “He is with Gaia now,” Aeros said. “Your goddess protects him.”

  “As she should,” Dirge said. “He is a bringer of both life, and death. Perhaps more balanced than the commoners themselves in that way.”

  “An interesting theory,” Aeros said. “Though I suspect the number of times I have used the word unhinged with Damian Vesik would make me feel otherwise.”

  “Order through chaos,” Dirge said. “You can always find order in the chaos. Come, Terrence. Say hello to the others who dwell here.”

  The forest god reached out with a gentle cluster of bark and vines before Terrence held up his hand. “A minute.”

  He hurried over to Vicky. “No matter what happens, you’ve done more than anyone thought possible. If you need me …” he hesitated and glanced at Dirge. “If you need us, you need only send word.”

  Vicky hugged the ghost. Jasper chittered at Vicky’s heels as Luna said goodbye too.

  Dirge walked with Terrence, sparing only a single glance back as he said, “I fear this war has much life left to take.”

  “I need to get to Kansas City,” Vicky said. “The innkeeper said Hugh has answers I need.” She looked to Luna. “You coming with?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it. And I’m ready to get away from Rivercene for a bit.”

  Vicky nodded. “Aeros?”

  “Not today, little one. Today I must return to Saint Charles. I suspect I know what Zola intends to do, and she would be safer if she had a shield.”

  “You’re the best shield I can think of,” Vicky said.

  Jasper made an irritated squeak.

  “Except for you, furball. Except for you.”

  “Be safe, Elizabeth Gray. Gwynn Ap Nudd still walks this earth.” With that, Aeros sank into the grass without crushing a single flower.

  Vicky frowned at the empty grass and crossed her arms. “My name is Vicky.” She shook her head. “Let’s go.”

  Jasper exploded around them, crushing a great many flowers, before leaping into the air and carrying them toward Kansas City.

  Note from Eric R. Asher

  Thank you for spending time with the misfits! I’m blown away by the fantastic reader response to this series, and am so grateful to you all. The next book of misadventures is called The Book of the Claw, and it’s available soon (or maybe now because I’m lazy about updating these things).

  If you’d like an email when each new book releases, sign up for my mailing list. Emails only go out about once per month and your information is closely guarded by hungry cu siths.

  Also, follow me on BookBub, and you’ll always get an email for special sales.

  Thanks for reading!

  Eric

  The Book of the Claw

  The Vesik Series, book #10

  By Eric R. Asher

  And here’s that excerpt we talked about!

  Days Gone Bad

  The Vesik Series, book #1

  You are cordially invited to the wedding of

  Elizabeth Berry

  and

  Michael William Wagner

  On the twenty third of April, two o’clock

  The Jewel Box in Forest Park

  RSVP …

  “Blah, blah, blah …” I groaned and set the invitation down. “Sam’s going to have an aneurysm over this one.”

  I walked to my old green fridge, popped the cap off a bottle of ale, and started scrounging for some food. I pressed a few buttons on my personal chef, a.k.a. microwave, and turned on the television. It was depressing. Every station was running the latest Amber Alert, flashing the picture of a missing girl with huge blue eyes and the devil’s smile. Hopefully this girl gets a happy ending. The last two sure as hell didn’t. I turned the set off and waited for my gourmet dinner to finish cooking. My phone rang about ten minutes later, interrupting a freshly microwaved chimichanga.

  “Damn, that was fast.” I let the phone ring a few times while I shoveled in a forkful of chimichanga and leaned back on my battered leather couch. My eyes passed over the outdated wood paneling on my ceiling and walls, taking in the meager light from two small lamps while I swallowed my dinner.

  “Hello?” I said with the phone a good four inches from my ear.

  “That, that, that … bitch!”

  I stabbed the fork into my chimichanga and set the plate on my oversized oak coffee table. “Hey, Sam. You got Beth’s invite.”

  She snarled something I couldn’t quite make out.

  I put the phone between my shoulder and ear, and slowly persuaded the coffee table to come closer. “Can I get the English translation on that?”

  Sam puffed into the phone and said, “Don’t start.”

  It was impossible to stifle a chuckle. I could just see her lips curling back and her black hair framing the rage on her face as she yelled into the phone.

  “Thanks, Damian. Some brother you are.”

  “I’m getting the guilt loud and clear. Where’s the spite?”

  “Ah ha … ha … ha. Ass. I just can’t believe it. She was my best friend! She sent the invite less than a week before the wedding! I can’t believe that bitch is marrying my old boyfriend.”

  “You did die, you know.”

  “Not. Helping.”

  “Sorry, sorry. Look, I never had any real issues with Beth, she was always nice and—”

  “Shut. Up. Damian. You’re just saying that because she slept with you.”

  My jaw slackened in mock offense. “Oh, come on sis, it was only one time and—”

  “I repeat, she slept with you.”

  I took another oversized bite of chimichanga before I said, “Comf omf Samf.” I swallowed. “I was a teenager, what was I supposed to do?” Beth was, well, she was a valley goth girl when we were kids. Total wannabe, and the instant my sister told her I could see the occasional phantasm and sometimes hear the dead talk, Beth was all over me.

  Sam’s exasperation came over the phone in a puff of static.

  “I take it you won’t be giving a toast?”

  Sam’s breathing evened out. “Maybe, maybe I’ll tell the guests about the time Beth accidentally slept with Mister Brown—”

  “The math teacher?”

  “—right before I turn the whole effing wedding party into vamps, or, or, give me a minute, I’ll come up with something good. I’ll do something horrible to her wedding. I’ll make it the worst wedding day anyone could imagine. I want it to rain frogs while zombies rise up behind the wedding party and, hell, you just better buy the tux insurance.”

  I choked on a mouthful of ale and blinked at the phone a few times through watering eyes. “You want to know something, sis?”

  “What?”

  “Ale burns like a bitch when you shoot it through your nose.”

  She burst into laughter.

  “Glad I could help.” I rubbed my cheek while my brain scrambled for a way to defuse my sister, the vampiric time bomb. I knew she wasn’t going to let it go and I couldn’t even nudge her mind in a different direction over the phone.

  “So, Demon, are you in? You could bring some zombies. It’ll be a whole new spin on wedding crashers.”

&nb
sp; My eyes glanced down at the invitation as I wiped the ale off my nose. Forest Park, eh? There were a few interesting things I could do there. Art Museum, Zoo, pigeons, all kinds of trouble. I grinned, and I’m sure it was an evil grin. “Tell you what, leave everything to me. I’m not going to kill her husband to be, much to your disappointment, I’m sure, but I’ll make it memorable. Consider it an early birthday present.”

  Silence.

  “How about it, Sam?”

  She sighed. “Alright, but if you don’t make it good, I’ll wrap that bitch up as a present for my new brothers to eat.”

  I stared at the receiver and wondered for a second if my sister was joking. I laughed nervously as my chimichanga curdled in my stomach.

  Grab the first Vesik Box Set on Amazon today!

  Also by Eric R. Asher

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  The Steamborn Trilogy:

  Steamborn

  Steamforged

  Steamsworn

  The Vesik Series:

  (Recommended for Ages 17+)

  Days Gone Bad

  Wolves and the River of Stone

  Winter’s Demon

  This Broken World

  Destroyer Rising

  Rattle the Bones

  Witch Queen’s War

  Forgotten Ghosts

  The Book of the Ghost

  The Book of the Claw*

  The Book of the Sea*

  The Book of the Staff*

  The Book of the Rune*

  The Book of the Sails*

  The Book of the Wing*

  The Book of the Blade*

  The Book of the Fang*