“I kind of see where you’re coming from.”
Thomas barked at a passing car.
Shay smiled at the dog. “Besides, James, Alison’s magic has advanced a lot, and we both spent a summer teaching her to kick ass without magic. She’s helped you on bounties. If anything, at this point the boys should probably be more afraid of her than of you.”
James brightened. “You think so?”
She snorted. “Don’t be too happy about that. She’s growing up, and love and relationships are part of that. Sorry, Daddy, someday you’ll have to let your little girl go.”
“I guess that’s true.” James frowned. “Even if it took me a long time to get into that sort of thing.”
“What sort of thing?” Shay grinned. “Love?”
His face twitched. “Are you gonna give me shit if I admit I still don’t understand a lot of this crap?”
Shay shook her head. “Yeah, I get that, because you referring to our relationship as ‘this crap’ kind of shows you have a longer way to go than you think.” She chuckled. “But I also know you still listen to that relationship podcast, so you’re trying. That’s the important thing, so I try not to bust your balls too much.”
James focused on Thomas’ wagging tail as they turned a corner. “Been thinking a lot about things lately. Was kind of thinking about it before we went to Canada, and then all that annoying shit happened and distracted me, but now that I’m back here, I’ve got plenty of time to think.”
“For a guy who likes things simple, you sure overthink everything.”
He shrugged. “Just saying. Isn’t thinking a good thing?”
“Sometimes. If you’re thinking the right way about the right kind of thing.” Shay nodded. “And what have you been thinking about?”
“The future,” James replied.
“The future?” Shay eyed him, suspicion on her face. “What about the future?”
He nodded. “Isn’t that what you should think about when you’re in a relationship?”
Shay blinked. “That’s…one school of thought.”
James stared at her. Being with Shay made him feel something he hadn’t experienced before he met her. It made him give a shit about living in a way he hadn’t before. Maybe that was love, maybe that was something else. For all he knew, his species might not be capable of love. Whispy Doom seemed far more focused on getting him pissed off than protecting others.
The future. We could have one together. Alison would like Shay to be her stepmom. Father McCartney would probably stop frowning about me shacking up. Is it right, though? I keep telling myself it’s better for Shay to not be married, but she’s made her choice, and she keeps picking me.
She’s smarter than I am. There’s no way she hasn’t thought through all this shit already. I should stop trying to take the choice from her.
James cleared his throat. “Shay, about the future…”
Shay put up a hand. “Wait.”
“Wait?”
She gave him a curt nod and a mischievous smile. “I’m a woman whose whole life has been nothing but a leaf blowing on the wind. If something big, something permanent, is going to change that, I hope the first step in that would be epic. Not just epic. Fucking epic, because then I’d know that the theoretical person who might want to pull the leaf out of the wind understands what they are doing and isn’t just trying to make something complicated simple because it’s convenient for them.” She stared into his eyes. “Do we understand each other, Mr. James Brownstone?”
“Yeah.” James grunted. “I’ll take that under advisement. ‘Fucking epic?’”
Shay nodded. “Fucking epic, and that requires planning.”
Thomas barked and wagged his tail.
Shay grinned. “While we’re on the subject of the future, there are a few fancy restaurants I want to go to while Alison is here.”
James stared into the distance as Shay tortured him with various barbeque-free suggestions.
“Fucking epic?” What do women find fucking epic? What does Shay find fucking epic?
Damn it. Will the relationship podcast help me figure out the best way to propose to a tomb raider?
FINIS
Brownstone on Audio
Have you heard the audiobooks for this series? Book one, Feared by Hell is available now.
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Author Notes - Michael Anderle
November 15, 2018
THANK YOU for not only reading this story but these Author Notes as well .
(I think I’ve been good with always opening with “thank you.” If not, I need to edit the other Author Notes!)
RANDOM (sometimes) THOUGHTS?
Today I received a question from a fan about the Glorious PITA (from TKG21) but the reader was asking because of Payback is a Bitch (TKE01), which made me wonder if the reader had read the first twenty-one books in TKG, or it had just been long enough that she had forgotten the tag for a Kurtherian who had tracked TOM down near Earth. That caused me to question…
Can a series go on too long (even if the stories are good?)
This is, without a doubt, a book-publishing marketing question as well as a more esoteric question on the scope of stories.
I put the caveat about the stories are good to just focus on the number of titles.
I’d be curious as to your thoughts. Feel free to join us on the Oriceran Facebook page to discuss this series, or in the reviews of the series or just wherever you wish to drop a note
HOW TO MARKET FOR BOOKS YOU LOVE
We are able to support our efforts with you reading our books, and we appreciate you doing this!
If you enjoyed this or ANY book by any author, especially Indie-published, we always appreciate if you make the time to review a book, since it lets other readers who might be on the fence to take a chance on it as well.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
One of the interesting (at least to me) aspects of my life is the ability to work from anywhere and at any time. In the future, I hope to re-read my own Author Notes and remember my life as a diary entry.
Dear Mike,
You are sitting in your chair writing at your desk at the Veer. The sun is close to hiding behind the mountains west of Las Vegas, throwing your room into shade (fast!) For some reason, Alexa (Amazon Music) has decided to play American / CW-style music, and I’m finding myself wanting to look out over fields of grain.
Kind of hard to find any fields of grain looking down Las Vegas Blvd South.
Damned country-western music – I’m starting to wave my head back and forth listening. I don’t normally listen to CW music (except Indian Outlaw by Tim McGraw…That shit is the bomb. I’ve no idea how politically correct this song is, but the fiddle and drums and stuff are kickass. Coming from a devout Heavy Metal listener… That’s some righteous music, man. His “get this shit done” attitude in the music speaks to me.)
Ok, I had Alexa play Indian Outlaw. I feel a smirk coming on—just sayin’.
FAN PRICING
If you would like to find out what LMBPN is doing and the books we will be publishing, just sign up at http://lmbpn.com/email/. When you sign up, we notify you of books coming out for the week, any new posts of interest in the books and pop culture arena, and the fan pricing on Saturday.
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
Other Revelation of Oriceran Universe Books
The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone
* Michael Anderle *
Feared by Hell (1) - Rejected by Heaven (2) - Eye For An Eye (3) - Bring the Pain (4) - She is the Widow Maker (5) - When Angels Cry (6) - Fire with Fire (7) - Hail To The King (8) - Alison Brownstone (9) - One Bad Decision (10) - Fatal Mistake (11) - Karma Is A Bitch (12) - Vax Humana (13)
I Fear No Evil
* Martha Carr and Michael Anderle *
Kill the Willing (1) - Bury the Past, But Shoot it First (2) - Reload Faster (3) - Dead In Plain sight (4) - Tomb Raiding PHD
(5) - Tomb Raider Emeritus (6)
School of Necessary Magic
* Judith Berens *
Dark Is Her Nature (1) - Bright Is Her Sight (2) - Wary Is Her Love (3) - Strong Is Her Hope (4) - Wicked Is Her Smile (5) - Strange Is Her Life (6) - Determined Is Her Path (7) - Epic Is Her Future (8)
Rewriting Justice
* Martha Carr and Michael Anderle *
Justice Served Cold (1) - Vengeance Served Hot (2) - Bounty Hunter Inc (03) - Beware The Hunter (4)
The Daniel Chronicles
The Artifact Enigma (1) - Artifact of the Sky Gods (2)
The Leira Chronicles
* Martha Carr and Michael Anderle *
Waking Magic (1) - Release of Magic (2) - Protection of Magic (3) - Rule of Magic (4) - Dealing in Magic (5) - Theft of Magic (6) - Enemies of Magic (7) - Guardians of Magic (8)
The Soul Stone Mage Series
* Sarah Noffke and Martha Carr *
House of Enchanted (1) - The Dark Forest (2) - Mountain of Truth (3) - Land of Terran (4) - New Egypt (5) - Lancothy (6) - Virgo (7)
The Kacy Chronicles
* A.L. Knorr and Martha Carr *
Descendant (1) - Ascendant (2) - Combatant (3) - Transcendent (4)
The Midwest Magic Chronicles
* Flint Maxwell and Martha Carr*
The Midwest Witch (1) - The Midwest Wanderer (2) - The Midwest Whisperer (3) - The Midwest War (4)
The Fairhaven Chronicles
* with S.M. Boyce *
Glow (1) - Shimmer (2) - Ember (3) - Nightfall (4)
Books by Michael Anderle
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit
www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/
All LMBPN Audiobooks are Available at Audible.com and iTunes. For a complete list of audiobooks visit:
www.lmbpn.com/audible
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Vax Humana: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone Book 13) Page 20