The Quick and the Dead

by D. B. Sieders

Canaan recoiled and fell. Blood sprayed from him in a thick mist that sifted through the air. His jacket was torn, red strips gaping like an open wound over his muscled abdomen.

  It happened so fast that she wasn’t sure how exactly the minotaur had hurt him. But maybe he hadn’t. The viperous demon was laughing full-bodied, shaking, hissing. The minotaur’s efforts to kill him… They amused him.

  And then he sobered, fury burning in the depths of his eyes. “Well, you sssu-ure do know how to put on a s-sshow,” he said, arms swept out wide as he gestured to the chaos Gisele had caused.

  “Happy to oblige,” she scoffed, and surely would’ve crammed her foot further into her mouth if the fire breather hadn’t chosen that moment to spew a mushroom cloud of death at her face. With a yelp, Gisele dove back toward the center of the stage, ribs throbbing, heart thumping as she stood on shaky feet.

  Considering she was up against thirty-some Curators, the others could have rushed her. Instead, they retreated warily, giving her a wide berth.

  Good. Let them cower. Let them see what they were up against—a girl with a banged-up sword who had held her own against a monstrous minotaur.

  It was almost laughable. Except that she could feel her own violence like a dark aura, swelling within her.

  The minotaur bellowed again, but in pain rather than anger. His thick fingers tore at his pelted chest, now misted with blood. Gisele cringed, hating that he was hurting because of her, that he might soon be recaptured by the Curators working to surround him. Mardoll or not, now was the time when she should probably run like Hell. But she needed the payoff from this contract job if she was ever going to strike out on her own. And she was just battered and ticked off enough to want some revenge—for the both of them. Oh yeah, she was going to make these dill-weeds regret ever tangling with her.

  “You have what I came for.” Gisele raised her sword at the ringmaster. “I want it back.”

  “Hate to sssa-ay, little s-sstealer. But the head don’t belong to you.” Canaan spat at their feet, and the dirt began to sizzle and melt as his saliva ate a shallow hole into the ground. He patted the left breast pocket of his tattered jacket. “I’ll keep it ss-safe right here.”

  Okay, so his spit was corrosive. That wasn’t great. But he still had the curio on him. And that was.

  “I’m not going to ask again.” She closed the distance between them as the minotaur lunged for the ringmaster from behind.

  Canaan sidestepped the beast easily, fluid as a dancer. Gisele kicked hard at his crotch, but he saw it coming and twisted, taking the blow in his thigh. He spat at her, and she screamed as his saliva seared through her once-white T-shirt and into her left shoulder. Then he grabbed her by the throat, and she reacted on autopilot from years of self-defense training, swinging her elbow into his jaw with as much force as she could muster. The impact knocked him backward, and she was free.

  The minotaur used the opportunity to grab Canaan around the shoulders, a meaty arm encircling his neck as he dragged the ringmaster around to face Gisele again. Canaan struggled and cursed, but the minotaur held him firm, an expectant look on his dark, cow-like features. His eyes flicked to the sword in her hand.

  The beast flexed his arm, squeezing Canaan’s neck until the man’s sallow face turned bright red.

  Gisele had never killed anyone before and wasn’t keen to start now, though if anyone deserved it, it might be the ringmaster. She had, however, beaten a bloody life lesson into more than one street punk in her line of work and had no qualms about dishing out some punishment in order to get the curio. The minotaur would just have to settle on some broken bones for his revenge.

  Surging adrenaline drowned out the pain in her body. She inhaled deeply as her cracked ribs began to mend, hurting worse than the initial injury. With a grimace, she threw her whole body into a kick to Canaan’s knee that cracked the joint with a sickening pop. His ensuing wail was music to her ears.

  “That’s for tossing me in a fighting pit,” she said. “And this is for the minotaur.”

  She snapped the heel of her hand up into Canaan’s crooked nose.

  Hot blood gushed onto her palm, scorching the skin. She wiped her blistered palm on the leg of her jeans, cursing. Even his blood was venomous to the touch. No wonder he looked like his skin was flooded with bile.

  “Holy Hell-balls,” she breathed, but neither Canaan nor the minotaur seemed to hear her. One of them was laughing again, and the other braying, cradling his arm where it had been sprayed by the ringmaster’s blood.

  A gust of fire blasted past her shoulder, narrowly missing the edge of her hair. The strongman closed in, grabbing for the minotaur’s half-cut horn.

  Her plan was rapidly unraveling…for the second time in one night. She needed to wrap this up and get the hell out of Dodge with the curio safely under her arm.

  Or at least, that was the idea. She found herself having second thoughts when Canaan speared up and then up again, much taller than he’d been before. He swung side to side, arms dangling, the movement hypnotic. And then he rose even higher, straightening to look down on her with spittle-flecked lips split in a sneer.

  “Sss-surely that iss-sn’t all you’ves-s got,” he taunted, eyes flashing murder.

  The words slurred out slower around two new bone-white fangs. As thick and long as her forefingers, they curved over his jaw, downright wicked looking. The demon had begun to shed his human appearance in favor of his true, more lethal form.

  He snickered, darting a fat, forked tongue to lap the drying blood from his upper lip. “S-shall I introdussshe you to my widowmakers-ss?”

  Don’t stop now. Keep reading with your copy of HOUSE OF ASH & BRIMSTONE available now. And sign up for the City Owl Press newsletter to receive notice of all book releases!

  Want even more urban fantasy? Try HOUSE OF ASH & BRIMSTONE by City Owl Author, Megan Starks. And find more from D. B. Sieders at www.dbsieders.com

  Hell has come to collect, but Gisele Walker has no plans to pay the debt.

  Being a paranormal bounty hunter is flirting with death, even for a half-demon like Gisele Walker. An orphan with no memories of her childhood, she’s spent the last decade working for the foster father who saved her from the city’s streets. But when she’s partnered with Shade, an infuriatingly handsome demon who’s keeping secrets, her jobs spin sideways.

  Determined to ditch Shade, Gisele takes a contract to steal a mysterious curio and accidentally opens a portal to Hell. As a nightmarish ghoul hunts her down, and parts of Baltimore burn to the ground, she finds joining forces with Shade may be the only way to undo her unleashed mess.

  A white-hot attraction ignites between them, until Shade’s secret is exposed. The contract bringing them to Hell is nothing more than a ploy to lure Gisele to Hell’s royal court, where her devilish brother and aunt lie in wait. It’s a family reunion that has her wishing she’d remained an amnesiac orphan.

  To save herself and Shade, Gisele must face her past and venture into the twisted heart of the demon court where she was nearly murdered a lifetime ago.

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  Acknowledgments

  I thank my amazing community of writer friends, colleagues, and publishing partners. This book took a long time to finish, mostly due to a breast cancer diagnosis in April of 2018. I put my life and writing on hold to focus on treatment decisions, planning, surgery, radiation, and recovery. I came back to writing in order to escape into a fantasy world of my own design that, while dark, would always be safe. This fictional world is one where I have control. The reaper lives only in my head, the ghosts fleeting images flashing thr
ough my mind, Vivian’s tragedies and triumphs exist as bits of data stored on my computer and on various external drives. But knowing they were still there, waiting for me, was a gift and a comfort. Coming back to this world allowed me to heal a little more. Healing is a long-term process, a lifelong process, as I’ve learned that cancer is forever.

  That doesn’t mean that cancer wins. It means that I’ve had to find my new normal as a cancer survivor. Along the way, I’ve come to know and love a wonderful, beautiful community of survivors. They are strong, smart, happy, funny as hell, and have taught me that life can and does go on and it is still amazing and full of possibilities.

  Thanks to Victoria Raschke for beta reading and giving me wonderful, constructive feedback.

  I am grateful to my editor, Tee Tate, for her work on this book. She came to me after the first two books in the series with an open mind, boundless enthusiasm, and a wealth of ideas on how to make the project better, richer, giving each character an authentic voice and agency. Thank you to City Owl Press for being an amazing publisher. Tina Moss and Yelena Casale were supportive in spite of the delay, and stood with me, offering encouragement, support, and love. Thanks also to Mibl Art for the gorgeous cover art. This one is my favorite!

  And, as always, thank you to my family for giving me the freedom to be a writer, and to my furballs for keeping my lap warm. I have the best job and support system to sustain it!

  About the Author

  Award-winning author D.B. Sieders was born and raised in East Tennessee and spent her childhood hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains and chasing salamanders, fish, and frogs. She loved to tell stories while sitting around the campfire.

  She is a working scientist by day, but never lost her love of telling stories. Now, she’s a purveyor of unconventional fantasy romance featuring strong heroines and the heroes who strive to match them. Her heroes and heroines face a healthy dose of angst as they strive for redemption and a happily ever after, which everyone deserves.

  www.dbsieders.com

  About the Publisher

  City Owl Press is a cutting edge indie publishing company, bringing the world of romance and speculative fiction to discerning readers.

  www.cityowlpress.com

  Additional Titles

  WAKING THE DEAD

  By: D. B. Sieders

  The road to hell begins when the reaper darkens her door.

  RAISING THE DEAD

  By: D. B. Sieders

  Afterlife management is a tricky business, especially for a living soul broker.

  A TOUCH OF DARKNESS

  By: Yelena Casale & Tina Moss

  USA Today Bestselling Authors

  Cassie Durrett dreams of the darkness. And lives the nightmare.

  Award Winning Urban Fantasy

  EMBRACING DARKNESS

  By: Yelena Casale & Tina Moss,

  USA Today Bestselling Authors

  After a hellish ordeal suffered at the hands of evil, demons haunt Zoey’s every step.

  FREE Short Story Sequel to A TOUCH OF DARKNESS.

  BLACKBIRD SUMMER

  By: Em Shotwell

  When the world fears you, being Gifted is a curse.

  BLACKBIRD FALLING

  By: Em Shotwell

  Hell hath no fury like Delia Caibre—Gifted single mom with the power to make people love her, and a chip on her shoulder the size of the Mississippi.

  FORGET ME NOT

  By: Em Shotwell

  Maybe dating the good guy isn’t so bad.

  BLOOD AND MAGIC

  By: Melissa Sercia

  Gray is a Dhampir—a woman alive, but also dead. With supernatural powers and an insatiable need for blood, her existence is cursed.

  FLESH AND BONE

  By: Melissa Sercia

  Gray’s dark magic has grown stronger and threatens to consume her. But when her partner Aldric mysteriously disappears, she must rely on her powers to find him.

  GODS AND DEMONS

  By: Melissa Sercia

  Will Gray send the demons back to the Underworld or watch her world burn to the ground?

  BLOOD KING

  By: Amber K. Bryant

  While Sybille’s ability to summon and guide spirits of the undead to the afterlife pays the bills, it comes with colossal risks, including becoming undead herself.

  CODE BLACK

  By: Tina Moss

  USA Today Bestselling Author

  Gossip mag reporter Sera Benenati knows a thing or two about unearthing secrets...and burying them.

  FREYJA’S DAUGHTER

  By: Rachel Pudelek

  Well behaved women seldom make history, but they still end up as the monsters of folklore.

  LILITH’S CHILDREN

  By: Rachel Pudelek

  The battle raging between the Wild Women of Seattle and the Hunters has sparked a war.  But will either side survive the new threat that lurks in the shadows?

  ISHTAR’S LEGACY

  By: Rachel Sullivan

  She has one shot to take freedom for herself and every other Wild Woman. But can she succeed with her hands literally tied behind her back?

  FROSTBITE

  By: Joshua Bader

  Getting hired to be a personal wizard for a billionaire may just become a death sentence.

  TWO WIZARD ROULETTE

  By: Joshua Bader

  While working as a personal wizard for a billionaire, the stakes have never been higher.

  FACELESS

  By: Joshua Bader

  The Race is on to Save Colin and Bring Him Back from the Beyond.

  HEART OF MALICE

  By: Lisa Edmonds

  The first time Moses Murphy’s granddaughter killed on his orders, she was six years old.

  HEART OF FIRE

  By: Lisa Edmonds

  When tragedy strikes home and a friend’s life hangs in the balance, Alice must face a powerful adversary.

  HEART OF ICE

  By: Lisa Edmonds

  When tragedy strikes home and a friend’s life hangs in the balance, Alice must face a powerful adversary.

  HEART OF STONE

  By: Lisa Edmonds

  Alice Isn’t Running Anymore.

  HOUSE OF ASH & BRIMSTONE

  By: Megan Starks

  Hell has come to collect, but Gisele Walker has no plans to pay the debt.

  MAD GOD WALKING

  By: Connor Drexler

  A stranger on earth and a refugee from a twisted Sideways world, can Damon save his friends before he turns into the Mad God the Inquisition believes him to be?

  MIDNIGHT DESIRE

  By: Shari Nichols

  Danger and desire collide to form an unlikely alliance between a witch with a sordid past and a special agent who might be her future.

  PURGATORY’S ANGEL

  By: B. Hughes-Millman

  We all have a dark side where inner demons roam. When devils of our nightmares murder in their sleep, only she can stop them.

  RESURRECTION’S ANGEL

  By: B. Hughes-Millman

  Resurrecting your soul from hell isn’t for the weak of heart.

  SOUL OF THE UNBORN

  By: Natalia Brothers

  Can you call yourself human if supernatural forces control your every breath, every emotion, every desire?

  TIDES OF TIME

  By: Luna Joya

  A witchy good girl hiding secrets from her family…

  A reformed bad boy who doesn’t know his family’s hidden secrets…

  TRUTHSIGHT

  By: Miriam Greystone

  Rowan and Amy must join forces with the creatures who were once her patients and fight to uncover the one secret that may be powerful enough to save them all.

  WINTER’S MAGE

  By: Miriam Greystone

  A strange new danger is stirring in the forest . . .

 

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