She threw her head back, and a mass of black smoke burst free of Demi’s throat, forming an inky black cloud above her before sinking down in a dull mist. It sizzled and vanished when it reached the floor, leaving behind nothing but a yellow patina of sulphur. Demi collapsed amid the salt and brimstone, no longer restrained by the salt circle.
“How?” Shawna gasped, sitting upright. A pang of emptiness shoot through her heart, but it wasn’t like the coldness she usually felt. “How did you do that?”
“Years of practice,” the priest said, offering her a hand up. “My name is Father Gilbert. Owen sent me. You must be Demi Mondaine. When we met before, I didn’t think you were a hunter. But Owen said you’d be formidable, and he wasn’t wrong. An odd name you have though. We call the ranks of irregular hunters that work with the Church the demimonde. For you to have such a similar name… well, it must be a sign.”
“No,” Demi said, rising wearily up from within the salt circle. “That’s me. I don’t know who the hell she is, but I need a drink.”
“She’s right,” Shawna agreed. “But you can call me Shawna.” Her eyes drifted to the weary woman that had just been freed of the demon. Demi looked every bit as bad off as Shawna.
“Just Shawna?” Father Gilbert asked.
“Shawna Mondaine,” she said, seizing the woman’s surname for her own. “And I could use that drink too.”
***
Demi pulled Doug’s car into a small dirt roundabout off the side of the road. She got out and leaned up against the trunk. The moonlight danced across the rippling waters below. She was a few hours south of Zanesville, following the local roads along the Muskingum River. Father Gilbert had invited them all back to his parish in Baltimore, and while Demi didn’t have anything better to do, she also wasn’t in a hurry to be around anyone else, not after what had happened with Doug. She’d sent Adria off with Shawna and Brooke, and she’d been dodging Owen’s calls all day.
She used to like reminding Doug that she’d saved his life when that nahual had come for them back in California, but that wasn’t fair. She’d been in a bad place for a long time before she’d ever come across anything remotely supernatural. Doug had been the one always looking on the bright side, and she had needed that to keep on going, because hope just wasn’t something that came natural to her. She wasn’t sure if she could keep living this life without him.
With a deep sigh, she looked down to the whiskey bottle she held in one hand and her sidearm in the other. For a moment she wondered whether she should just put an end to all this right now. The clip was loaded with silver bullets, which was appropriate—she was more of a monster than anything she’d ever hunted. She could still hear Doug’s screams when she’d ripped his skin away, his sobbing while she tore him open.
She let the gun slide out of her grip and fall to the ground, and she sank down next to it, raised the whiskey bottle to her lips, and cried.
If you enjoyed this book, you may also enjoy its sister series, The Driest Dust That Blows. Volume I available now on Amazon.
“Dead archaeology is the driest dust that blows,” wrote Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1954.
At the Art Abernathy Archaeological Institute, a renowned collective of archaeologists driven to infuse their discipline with the figurative life Sir Wheeler called for, a more literal sort of death has begun to stalk their ranks.
Kami Abernathy, a brilliant child desperate to step out of her father’s shadow; Anja Prandula, a talented graduate student high in intelligence but low in confidence; and Cayda Sinclaire, a celebrity anthropologist who fears her sudden fame may be due more to her beauty than her academic achievements—three women that have found themselves part of the Institute, whose celebrated founder has recently died under mysterious circumstances.
But the Institute’s new director, Dr. Geoffrey Miller, is digging up more than just the past, and his students are about to learn that some secrets are better left buried.
In this collection of seven stories, follow Kami and the rest of the Institute as they journey around the world and encounter vengeful spirits, haunted ruins, and ruthless grave robbers in a series of adventures that prove archaeology is far from the driest dust that blows.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F3WL1TB
COMING SOON (2021-22)
Demi Mondaine: Volume Two
Demi and Adria return to face down more supernatural threats, this time backed by Father Gilbert and his mysterious organization. But when Demi stumbles onto a case that breaks a centuries-old truce, she may need all the help she can get.
The Driest Dust That Blows: Volume II
Kami is back at the Institute for another summer internship, with an unlikely traveling companion—her junior high bully, Nikki, who has somehow decided she and Kami are now best friends. While Kami navigates the darker side of the Institute and keeps Nikki at bay, Anja is called to help an old friend retrieve a priceless relic, and Cayda seeks help from Ho’Din Orr when a supernatural threat strikes too close to home.
La Muerta
Nicola was a child of privilege, until her ship is hijacked en route to Jamaica. But when the pirates that capture her prove more interested in blood than plunder, she finds herself torn between the man she loves and the vampire intent on possessing her.
The Demon’s Kiss
Amanda is a CIA analyst with dreams of working in the field. When her supervisors select her to lead an operation called Demon’s Kiss, she jumps at the opportunity. But once she realizes the mission calls for her to become a vessel for one of the most powerful demons in existence, Amanda may have to choose between her country and her soul.
Temptress
On the run from a sordid past, Noel seeks solace in a life of prayer. But when she arrives to start her novitiate with a cloistered sisterhood in the Italian alps, she finds herself tempted by a mysterious girl named Paige. Noel knows her relationship with Paige smacks of the proverbial forbidden fruit, but she soon comes to suspect the girl is hiding a far more sinister secret.
Daughter of War
Death is usually the end of the story, but for Geena, it was only the beginning. After being resurrected by a witch known as the Mother of War, Geena finds herself imbued by powers she doesn’t fully understand. But even after the witch is killed, Geena will be hard-pressed to escape the bloody legacy she left in her wake.
Demi Mondaine: Volume One Page 24