“So you’ll get help taking down a cartel, but not fucking moving?”
“Yeah, something like that. I was just trying to help a friend out.”
Trey laughed. “That’s what I respect about you—it’s always about watching out for your homies. That’s pure-ass motivation, and I can respect that.” Trey grinned. “And keep on doing it, big man.” He stood.
“Got to go?”
Trey nodded. “Didn’t mean to stop by and run, but I’ve got a big fish I need to snag tomorrow and I have to run down some contacts so I don’t embarrass myself by kicking in the wrong door. You ever do that shit?”
“Mistakes happen. Don’t worry about it. You’re doing great. I didn’t know how this would work, but it’s better than I could have ever imagined, and that’s because I didn’t have to sit there and change your fucking diaper from the beginning. Thanks for not being a stupid piece of shit.”
“No, you’ve got it all wrong.” Trey saluted. “Thank you, James. For once, my Nana not only loves me, she’s proud of me.” He turned and left, closing the door behind him.
James considered what Trey had said. The Harriken were destroyed, and the Nuevo Gulf Cartel were bleeding out. The cynic in him told him that it wouldn’t make a difference, that criminals always filled the vacuum, but at the same time, maybe he’d played some small part in helping make the world a less shitty place.
Not trying to do anything but live my life and protect my friends and family. I can’t help it if these sonsofbitches keep getting in my way.
Two minutes later the doorbell rang again.
“What, did he forget something?”
James searched around for a rogue wallet or phone before opening the door.
Shay stood there holding a large bag. She stepped into the house, weariness evident on her face.
“Not gonna say anything, Brownstone?”
“Welcome back, and what’s the name of your research guy?”
“Why are you asking me that?” She eyed him with suspicion.
“Uh…” James rubbed the back of his neck. He wanted to confirm it was the real Shay, but he also didn’t want to let her know that he’d convinced Peyton to hold back information. That might lead to trouble.
Shay smirked. “Don’t try and tell me you forgot, Brownstone. You don’t forget shit.”
James shrugged. “I wanted to check that you are actually you.”
“Ah. I was wondering when you’d get around to admitting about that bullshit.”
“You knew?”
The tomb raider grinned. “Peyton told me about my little impersonator and the AET taking her down.”
“I took care of all that shit for you while you were away. I hope you’re not too pissed at him.”
“Let’s just say that I made it clear that he works for me, not you, and that if there’s shit that will affect me I need to know about it.”
James grunted. “Sorry.”
Shay headed over to the couch and plopped down. She crossed her legs and set the bag down next to her.
“Not a big deal. Besides, you cleaned up the mess before it even affected me. I have to give you credit. Sending an AET team after someone is a little slyer than I’d have pegged you for.”
James sat down on the other end of the couch. “You can’t solve every problem by punching or shooting it.”
Shay shrugged. “Sometimes you need someone else to shoot it.”
“Yeah, in this case.” James chuckled. “Mack told me she was powerful. She would have been a level six if she had been a bounty.”
“That meant she could have given you a run for your money.”
James nodded. “Maybe. I didn’t think she’d be so tough. I feel kind of shitty about it.”
“About what?”
“Cops getting hurt.”
Shay sighed. “That’s on them. They have procedures and all that shit, and it’s not like you haven’t done tons for this city—despite some of those same cops trying to take you down. Besides, no one died, so don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“If you say so.”
“Do you have any idea who the woman was?”
James shook his head. “No clue. Probably just another assassin.”
Shay peered at James. “Peyton wasn’t all that clear how you knew she wasn’t me.”
“She kept coming on to me, going on about how I was her strong man and everything.”
Shay laughed. “Seriously? That bitch should have done more research before she pretended to be me.”
“Yeah, she was way too nice to be you.”
“Fuck you, Brownstone.” The woman rolled her eyes, but her expression remained playful.
They sat there in comfortable quiet for a while before James cleared his throat.
“Did you find the last two cartel leaders?”
“Yeah, I found the last two and handled them.” Shay shook her head. “It’s kind of weird.”
“Weird?”
“You have to understand that I didn’t use to worry about shit other than the job. I didn’t worry about myself and my life. I didn’t really have goals. I just kind of existed.”
James nodded. “Can’t say I was all that different.”
“But now everything’s different. Not like I’m gonna go around screaming my name at the top of my lungs, but without the Nuevo Gulf Cartel there’s no one from my old life looking to kill me. It makes me think a lot more about my future.”
“Does that change anything? About your life, your job, where you want to live?”
Shay shook her head. “Nope. The cartel pushed me over the edge, but I was already teetering. I didn’t want to end up bleeding out in my kitchen. You see, a conversation started inside me the day I decided to stop being a killer, but I don’t think I finished it until this Europe trip.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve finished that long and hard conversation with myself, and I’ve realized some shit. Important shit about myself and who I am.”
James nodded. “Like what? Did you find out you’re an alien too?”
Shay laughed and batted James in the shoulder. “You wish, Alien Boy. I’m a hundred percent human.” She let out a contented sigh. “No, what I realized is that the old person is gone. The killer. Only Shay Carson, tomb raider, remains.” Shay winked. “Not that I can’t still kick ass when I need to.”
“Shit’s changed a lot for me, too.”
“Yeah, I know.” Shay gestured around the room. “You’ve got a new house and a new daughter. And…” She furrowed her brow. “One question, while I’m thinking about it. You knew that woman wasn’t me because I don’t try and stick my tongue down your throat? Is that the idea?”
James shook his head. “No. It’s not like that. She was trying too hard, and a bunch of little things were off.”
“Like what?”
The bounty hunter scratched his nose. “She kept calling me James and not Brownstone.”
“You notice that kind of thing?” Shay looked surprised. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”
The woman laughed. “Because you’re clueless.”
James grunted. “I’m not clueless.”
“No, you’re definitely fucking clueless about a lot of shit, which is why I was so annoyed with you when we first met, and I’ve seen you get confused by other shit. I don’t know if it’s an alien thing or a growing up in orphanage thing or an eating too much barbeque thing, but your mind works in strange ways sometimes.”
“Hey, you can never eat too much barbeque. You can eat too much pizza, though.”
Shay rolled her eyes. “Yeah, keep telling those lies.” She sighed. “The copy did get one thing right. I want to copy something from the copy.”
“Huh?”
“James isn’t such a bad name, and it sounds weird calling you Brownstone when I live in a brownstone.” Shay smiled softly.
The sound of his first name on her lips warmed him more than he expected.
The bounty
hunter chuckled. “Your choice, but I don’t mind.”
Shay rose and sauntered to the front door. She locked it. “Anyone else stopping over tonight?”
“Nope. I think everybody’s hit me up for the day.” James picked up the bag. “What’s in here? 440 nylon, probably holding a few things, but no guns or knives. I haven’t heard the clink.”
Shay smiled. “Yeah, it’s not much. It’s a toothbrush and a few other things like that.”
“A toothbrush?”
She laughed. “See, you really are clueless. Yeah, a toothbrush for when I stay the night. And just so you know, James, my toothbrush will be on the right.”
“Oh. I get it now.”
She sashayed over to him with her hands on her hips. “Now, one other thing. I’m tired of waiting.” She grabbed the back of his neck. “And it’s time to stick my tongue so far down your throat it’ll curl your toes.”
FINIS
Dark Is Her Nature
Alison’s journey continues in The School Of Necessary Magic. Book one in this new series, Dark is Her Nature, and is available exclusively at Amazon.
Pre-Order Now at Amazon
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
June 7, 2018
First, THANK YOU for not only reading this story but reading these Author Notes, as well!
This book was a bit difficult to do. Not because the characters are ‘finished,’ but because we are doing SO MUCH with this small family. Alison now has her own series (The School of Necessary Magic), we are revealing how the bounty system came into being twenty years ago (Justice Served Cold – Rewriting Justice Book 01), and we are pulling back the covers on what Shay is doing when she is not dealing with James and his coat (I Fear No Evil series, about to publish book 3).
Turns out she is hunting treasures. Go figure.
However, there is a wish involved, and I think those that are aware of the wish will be doing what is necessary to acquire it.
Including the Drow.
I don’t know if you are familiar with Drow characters, but I happen to find them fascinating. We finally get to see a Drow in action and frankly?
It can be a little scary.
I believe that the Drow on Oriceran are very haughty, because they are brilliant with magic and are physical badasses. They do have a form of honor, in that they are very legalistic. They follow the letter of the laws (that they want to) but are HAPPY to turn it on people. That is why the Widowmaker has a twisted desire to drink the blood of her marks but ONLY if they break their vows.
For me, it brought up an interesting question with police work. There will never be any trace of a body with a kill from the Widowmaker. The absolute best they could hope for would be video proof, and she could not know about the video or she would make it go away.
If she is aware of video, she could use magic to hide what is going on. How would you nail an Oriceran?
I bet you would get an Oriceran detective—sort of how the Oricerans needed a human detective to solve the killing of the Light Elf Prince.
On the personal front, I just got back from three weeks of traveling (Pittsburgh, Boston, New York), meeting dozens of people and reuniting with a couple of dozens I already knew. If someone (other than Future Me) had explained what writing about a woman named Bethany Anne would do for my future and the future of my family?
I think I would have started sooner.
Brownstone’s success is a particularly edifying one for me. Given that the idea had germinated for a year, and it being (technically) my second effort to create a new series completely outside The Kurtherian Gambit, I was on pins and needles until the reviews spoke.
Well, actually I suppose the sales spoke, but the reviews are a good indication of the sales.
As we go into the second arc (books 5-8), I am very pleased to admit that James Brownstone is kicking ass on the charts.
Thanks to you!
Further, Alison’s book just went up (and all sorts of mayhem with Amazon’s delivery of the pre-orders and early orders ensued, thus screwing up our review average.) For whatever reason, Alison’s story has intrigued a LOT of readers. Martha and I are both elated, but frankly a bit surprised.
It’s only been forty-eight hours since it started selling, but I’m (crossed fingers) hoping that in two weeks I can still say ‘h#ly crap!’ about the sales we have yet to understand (they’re about fifty percent higher than I would think the book would generate.)
And Amazon has fixed the reviews issue. (Some fans gave the book one-star reviews because they received the wrong book. This wasn’t an LMBPN issue, and Amazon is still looking into why it happened).
They should realize I’m going to stay on them for leaving one-star reviews up on the book when it was their mistake that caused the fan frustration.
FAN FUN!
Are you going to be in or around Las Vegas on November 8th, 2018? We are looking to get a few fans (ok, two hundred or more) to come to Sam’s Town between 3 – 5 pm for a free time for both Authors and Fans which will include book signings, meet & greet, and interacting together. For those who are already coming, THANK YOU.
You will help us figure out what to do in 2019 for a fan-freaking-tabulous time. I will be there, Craig Martelle, Martha Carr and a @#@#%@# load of other authors will be joining us. (There will be over five hundred there earlier in the day, so we hope to have a bunch stick around and party like it’s 1999.)
Check with your favorite author and ask ;-)
Join us!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
PS: HAVE YOU GOT A STORY IN YOU?
If you (our fans) are inspired by our Oriceran universes, you can join the fun! The Kurtherian Gambit Fans Write for Fans Anthologies have both gone best-seller, and we now have an Oriceran version in the works. You can find the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/OriceranFansWrite/, or check in with us at the KGU Fans forum at https://www.facebook.com/groups/TKGFansWrite/.
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)
I Fear No Evil
* Martha Carr and Michael Anderle *
Kill the Willing (1) - Bury the Past, But Shoot it First (2)
School of Necessary Magic
* Judith Berens *
Dark Is Her Nature (1)
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)
Other Books by Michael Anderle
Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include:
Death Becomes Her (1) - Queen Bitch (2) - Love Lost (3) - Bite This (4) - Never Forsaken (5) - Under My Heel (6) - Kneel Or Die (7) - We Will Build (8) - It’s Hell To Choose (9) - Release The Dogs of War (10) - Sued For Peace (11) - We Have Contact (12) - My Ride is a Bitch (13) - Don’t Cross This Line (14) - Never Submit (15) - Never Surrender (16) - Forever Defend (17) - Might Makes Right (18) - Ahead Full (19) - Capture Death (20) - Life Goes On (21)
TH
E KURTHERIAN ENDGAME
Payback Is A Bitch (1)
THE SECOND DARK AGES
*with Ell Leigh Clarke*
The Dark Messiah (1) - The Darkest Night (2) - Darkest Before The Dawn (3) - Dawn Arrives (4)
THE BORIS CHRONICLES
*with Paul C. Middleton*
Evacuation (1) - Retaliation (2) - Revelations (3) - Redemption (4)
RECLAIMING HONOR
*with Justin Sloan*
Justice Is Calling (1) - Claimed By Honor (2) - Judgement Has Fallen (3) - Angel of Reckoning (4) - Born Into Flames (5) - Defending The Lost (6) - Saved By Valor (7) - Return of Victory (8)
THE ETHERIC ACADEMY
*with TS Paul*
ALPHA CLASS (1) - ALPHA CLASS: Engineering (2)
*with N.D. Roberts*
Discovery (3)
TERRY HENRY “TH” WALTON CHRONICLES
*with Craig Martelle*
Nomad Found (1) - Nomad Redeemed (2) - Nomad Unleashed (3) - Nomad Supreme (4) - Nomad’s Fury (5) - Nomad’s Justice (6) - Nomad Avenged (7) - Nomad Mortis (8) - Nomad’s Force (9) - Nomad’s Galaxy (10)
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
*with Natalie Grey*
Risk Be Damned (1) - Damned to Hell (2)
~THE AGE OF MAGIC~
THE RISE OF MAGIC
*with CM Raymond and LE Barbant*
Restriction (1) - Reawakening (2) - Rebellion (3) - Revolution (4) - Unlawful Passage (5) - Darkness Rises (6) - The Gods Beneath (7) - Reborn (8)
THE HIDDEN MAGIC CHRONICLES
*with Justin Sloan*
Shades of Light (1) - Shades of Dark (2) - Shades of Glory (3) - Shades of Justice (4)
STORMS OF MAGIC
*with PT Hylton*
Storm Raiders (1) - Storm Callers (2) - Storm Breakers (3) - Storm Warrior (4)
TALES OF THE FEISTY DRUID
*with Candy Crum*
She Is The Widow Maker Page 20