SuNaTran-(AKA Supernatural Transportations) Owned by Cecil Fairchild. Provides car and vehicle service to the supernatural community in addition to magic-users who can afford membership.
The Dark Council- Created to maintain the peace between humanity and the supernatural community shortly after the last Supernatural War. Its role is to be a check and balance against another war occurring. Not everyone in the Council favors peace.
AUTHOR NOTES
THANK YOU FOR reading this story and jumping back into the world of Monty & Strong. With each book, I want to introduce you to different elements of the world Monty & Strong inhabit, slowly revealing who they are and why they make the choices they do. If you want to know how they met, that story is in NO GOD IS SAFE, which is a short explaining how Tristan and Simon got started.
There are some references you may get and some…you may not. This may be attributable to my age (I’m older than Monty or feel that way most mornings) or to my love of all things sci-fi and fantasy. As a reader, I’ve always enjoyed finding these “Easter Eggs” in the books I read. I hope you do too. If there is a reference you don’t get, feel free to email me and I will explain it…maybe.
You will notice that Simon is still a smart-ass (deserving a large head smack) and many times he’s clueless about what’s going on. Bear with him—he’s still new to the immortal, magical world he’s been delicately shoved into. Fortunately he has Monty to nudge (or blast) him in the right direction.
Each book will reveal more about Monty & Strong’s backgrounds and lives before they met. Rather than hit you with a whole history, I wanted you to learn about them slowly, the way we do with a person we just met—over time (and many cups of coffee).
Thank you for taking the time to read this book. I wrote it for you and I hope you enjoyed spending a few more hours getting in (and out of) trouble with Tristan and Simon.
If you really enjoyed this story, I need you to do me a HUGE favor— Please leave a review.
It’s really important and helps the book (and me). Plus, it means Peaches gets titanium chew toys, besides my arms, legs, and assorted furniture to shred.
We want to keep Peaches happy, don’t we?
I really do appreciate your feedback. Let me know what you thought by emailing me at: [email protected]
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Still here? Amazing! Well, if you have made it this far—you deserve something special!
Included is the first chapter of the next Montague & Strong story-SILVER CLOUDS DIRTY SKY here for you to read.
Enjoy!
SILVER CLOUDS DIRTY SKY
SILVER CLOUDS DIRTY Sky
A Montague and Strong Book 4
Faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. -Hebrews 11:1
ONE
I hated teleportation.
We landed on smooth stone and I seriously considered never moving again. I looked up at the night sky. It took a few seconds before I realized we left New York City at dawn.
“Stay in the circle,” Monty said and gestured. Light blue runes floated over us. “I can’t determine the effects on a jump of that scale. It’s safer if you stay inside.”
“Where the hell are we, Monty?” I sat up and really looked around this time. Peaches was sprawled out, stunned, but moving slowly next to me. Beside him lay Michiko, unconscious. I didn’t see Dex. I tried to stand and the ground shifted in several directions, advising me that remaining seated was a good idea right now. “Where’s Dex?”
Monty pointed with his chin while he kept gesturing. We were in a courtyard. A large squat stone building sat in front of us in the darkness. In fact, from what I could tell in the darkness, stone buildings surrounded us.
On the ground a few feet away lay Dex, with a woman next to him. It was hard to make out features, but the chill in the air gave me a clue.
“Monty,” I whispered. “Is that—?”
She looked up at me then and I stared into the eyes of the Morrigan. Her eyes gave off a faint green glow as she laid Dex’s head gently on the stone and approached.
“Which one of you allowed him to cast a spatial temporal circle—using his blood?” she asked with a smile.
That little voice I always ignored suggested burrowing into the stone and hiding. For once, I agreed with it.
“Well met, Morrigan,” Monty said, stepping out of the circle and giving her a short bow.
“That remains to be seen, mage.” She pointed at Dex without turning. “How did this happen?”
“He cast the blood circle to save us,” Monty said, glancing back at the rest of us quickly. “No one tells my uncle what to do or when. You know that better than most. I did my best to limit the backlash. I didn’t know he would be bringing us here or time-skipping.”
“Where is here?” I asked, getting unsteadily to my feet. The ground only wobbled slightly this time. In the dim light, I managed to make out a plaque affixed to the crumbling stone wall next to us which read: Wardrobe Tower-12th Century. “This isn’t much of a wardrobe tower.”
“The damn fool,” Morrigan whispered and stepped back to Dex’s body and knelt next to him. “He has exceeded his capacity and nearly killed himself in the process. What caused him to take such action?”
“We were evading a magistrate,” Monty replied. “One sent to apprehend or eliminate me.”
“That black orb that ate the Goat didn’t say apprehend to me,” I said, walking around the stone wall. Behind it stood a larger structure. “He was trying to kill us—especially you.”
Peaches stirred and sniffed the air. I rubbed his belly as he stood on wobbly legs. Whatever we just did had hit him just as hard as it hit me. Michiko was still unconscious.
“I’ll get you something to eat—as soon as I figure out where we are,” I said, looking at Monty.
“The Consortium will be arriving soon,” Morrigan said, scooping up Dex’s body with little effort. A black raven swooped in and landed on her shoulder. “You will have to find another way to return. Your uncle will be in runic stasis for some time and the Consortium would like to have some words with him—violent words.”
“He managed to anger them again, hasn’t he?” Monty said with a shake of his head.
Morrigan smiled. “He’s your uncle. Why ask questions you can answer?”
“Consortium?” I looked at Monty. “There’s no Consortium in New York.”
The Penumbra Consortium was the older, darker, angrier, European version of the Dark Council—heavy hitters with long memories and longer reach. They oversaw and controlled the Western Hemisphere.
“You are correct, Simon.” Morrigan flashed her green eyes at me and began phasing out of sight, taking Dex with her. “But then again, you are no longer in New York.”
Her voice trailed off in the night as I turned to Monty. “Where did he teleport us?” I said, trying to keep my voice calm.
“It’s more where and when.” Monty adjusted his sleeves. “A blood circle allows the caster to incorporate an additional component to the teleportation circle—in this case it was a temporal component.”
“Don’t magicscience me—where and when the hell are we?”
“He took us to a place of power,” Monty said, looking at the large stone structure in front of us. “That is the White Tower.”
“White Tower as in Tower of London?” I asked incredulously. “He ported us to London?”
Monty nodded. “I would say a few hours ahead since we left New York City at dawn. London is five hours ahead and it’s evening here. I could really use a cuppa.”
“Why would he port us so far away?” I asked. “Even better, how did he do it?”
“I was just about to ask you the s
ame thing,” a voice behind me said. “Welcome to London. You are all under arrest.”
Thank You!
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’m finally beginning to understand that each book, each creative expression usually has a large group of people behind it. This story is no different. So let me take a moment to acknowledge my (very large) group:
To Dolly: my wife and biggest fan. You make all of this possible and keep me grounded, especially when I get into my writing to the exclusion of everything else. Thank you, I love you.
To my Tribe: You are the reason I have stories to tell. You cannot possibly fathom how much and how deep I love you all.
To Lee: Because you were the first audience I ever had. I love you sis.
To the Logsdon family: JL your support always demands I bring my A-game and produce the best story I can. I always hear: “Don’t rush!” in your voice.
LL (the Uber Jeditor) your notes and comments turned this story from good to great. I accept the challenge!
Your patience knows no bounds. Thank you both.
Arigatogozaimasu
The Montague & Strong Case Files Group AKA- The MoB(The Mages of BadAssery)
When I wrote T&B there were fifty-five members in The MoB. As of this writing there are 289 members in the MoB. I am honored to be able to call you my MoB Family. You are the reason I keep writing M&S and you help me make each story better. This is for all of you. I hope you enjoy it.
Thank you for being part of this group and M&S. You each make it possible.
THANK YOU.
To the ART Shredders
Thank you for taking of your time to read and shred this book. Each story is made better by your notes, observations, suggestions, and ideas.
Thank you so much for doing what you do. You have made this book fantastic.
YOU ARE AWESOME!!!
WTA-The Incorrigibles
JL,BenZ, EricQK, S.S., and the Mac
They sound like a bunch of badass misfits because they are. Thank you for making sure I didn’t rush this one. My exposure to the slightly deranged and extremely deviant brain trust that you are made this book possible. I humbly thank you and…it’s all your fault.
Special Mentions
Each book has a group of people that contribute in a special way.
Jim because my brain still melts when we speak lol.
Jen for the ancient post on old languages of the British Isles.
Sue because we magicscienced the hell out of this book.
Please forgive me if I missed a few (I always do).
The English Advisory(TEA)
Aaron, Penny, & Carrie
For all things English…thank you.
DEATH WISH COFFEE
Kane & Sierra for fueling the evenings(and mornings) of frenzied activity with Odinforce & DeathWish blends.
Deranged Doctor Design
Kim, Darja, and Milo
You define professionalism and creativity. Thank you for the great service and amazing covers.
YOU GUYS RULE!
To you the reader:
Thank you for jumping down the rabbit hole with me. I truly hope you enjoy this story. You are the reason I wrote it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Orlando Sanchez has been writing ever since his teens when he was immersed in creating scenarios for playing Dungeon and Dragons with his friends every weekend. An avid reader, his influences are too numerous to list here. Some of the most prominent are: J.R.R. Tolkien, Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Terry Pratchett, Terry Brooks, Christopher Moore, Piers Anthony, Lee Child, George Lucas, Andrew Vachss, and Barry Eisler to name a few in no particular order.
The worlds of his books are urban settings with a twist of the paranormal lurking just behind the scenes and generous doses of magic, martial arts, mayhem, and mischief.
Aside from writing, he holds a 2nd and 3rd Dan in two distinct styles of Karate. If not training, he is studying some aspect of the martial arts or martial arts philosophy.
He currently resides in Queens, NY with his wife and children and can often be found in the local Starbucks where most of his writing is done.
Please visit his site at OrlandoASanchez.com for more information about his books and upcoming releases.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Orlando A. Sanchez
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Published by Bitten Peaches Publishing NY NY
Cover Design by Deranged Doctor Design
www.derangeddoctordesign.com
Blood Is Thicker A Montague & Strong Detective Novel (Montague & Strong Case Files Book 3) Page 18