by C A Ardron
Wolf knelt down in front of her and stroked her hair, smiling gently at her tear-streaked face. ‘It's time to stop running.’
Karen didn't think she could speak. She lowered her head, not arguing anymore.
***
Lion really wanted to sleep. He was impatiently waiting for Wolf to radio him, or come through the door, or something. He needed to know what had happened. As angry as he'd been at Falcon walking out without a word, he didn't want to find she'd been waylaid in a gutter somewhere.
He tried to get through some of his paperwork, but his mind kept wandering, so he gave up and settled for an irritated pacing across the small office instead.
He'd foregone his armour after Wolf had left with Jay, no need to stand on ceremony after all. Jay might as well be one of them now anyway.
Lion stopped mid-pace when he heard a polite knock on the door. As he turned towards it, it opened. His eyes widened, seeing Falcon step in.
She looked up at him a moment before closing the door behind her. Lion studied her, she seemed different to before. Her neck was terribly bruised, almost as if something had tried to crush it, and her eyes were red.
It made Lion think she might have been crying, but he threw that thought out straight away. Falcon, crying? Unthinkable.
‘What happened?’ He asked, pointing at her neck.
Falcon instinctively raised a hand to the awful welts. ‘Oh, um, Jackal...found me.’
Lion's eyes bulged in concern and anger.
‘It's okay,’ she assured him quickly. ‘Wolf showed up and chased him off.’
Okay? How could she say that? By the looks of it a few seconds longer and she'd have been dead!
‘I,’ she started to say before he could speak, ‘I...’
Lion frowned, he'd never seen Falcon so hesitant before. She seemed almost timid.
Falcon stood a little straighter and rolled her shoulders, as if in preparation for doing something very difficult.
‘Captain Golden Lion,’ she said, sounding the most formal he'd ever heard her. ‘I wanted to ask you, if the...offer of employment was still...available.’ She lost courage towards the end and the last word came out tiny, almost a whisper.
Lion couldn't keep the smile off his face as she looked at the carpet, unwilling to meet his eyes.
Getting no answer from him, she did eventually glance up and took a step back when she saw his beaming face.
Lion reached behind him for the medallion still sat on the desk and strode up to her, putting it carefully around her neck. Impulsively, he embraced her, grinning as he felt her instinctively tense up.
He released her and stepped back, wondering if his first thought might've been correct. Had she perhaps been crying after all?
He smiled at her warmly. ‘Welcome home, Falcon.’
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christine Ardron, is thirty-two years old, living in Nottinghamshire, England. She enjoys writing fantasy and scifi and very often mixes them together to create unique worlds, characters and storylines.
Christine has been writing for as long as she can remember, and though her true love is fantasy, she delves into many facets of story-telling, including dark scifi, comedy and even the occasional horror.
Christine has also written scripts for amateur theatre companies, and has enjoyed acting and occasional directing. She also enjoys creating dark, philosophical poetry.
She signed for KGHH Publishing in March 2016 and we are delighted to be publishing Predgarians her YA fantasy series. The first book of nine, Jackal's Gambit.
When Christine doesn't have her head in one of her many worlds, she can be found listening to her beloved power metal and offering many forms of tea to anyone who happens to pop in.
OTHER BOOKS BY THE PUBLISHER
MAGIC BOX – BY ADAM LAWERENCE
Have you ever felt bored of your life?
Wish there was something more? You'll wish you hadn't.
Felicity Hannigan & Treymane Boen are shop workers in the local supermarket. Doing their best to navigate the social minefield's & responsibilities of modern life.
Unlikely heroes you might think. But when they stumble across a magical and enchanting secret kept hidden from the world for thousands of years, all that changes in the blink of an eye.
But all things come with a price. Tremayne and Felicity quickly find themselves well in over their heads – and when the fate of the entire world rests upon their unlikely shoulders, they have to think outside of The Magic Box.
Magic Box is the debut fantasy novel by Adam Lawrence, who also is an accomplished artist and designer, is a young writer from Croydon, England.
Writing Sci-Fi, fantasy & horror is his life.
AMAZON UK:
http://amzn.to/2fZcjZA
AMAZON USA:
http://amzn.to/2gV7q5Q
PACK: THE THREE MOONS BY J.B. PEARTREE
PACK is more of a way of life. A great adventure, an adrenaline rush from start to finish.
Not your pretty, teen heart throb movie werewolves. A story that will tear at you tooth and claw.
Who will lead and take on the PACK?
Pack – The Three Moons, is the first of a trilogy by author James B. Peartree. Where James has fashioned a new sub-genre he calls ‘Dysturban Fantasy.’
“Pack – The Three Moons It’s fantasy with bite!” Kensington Gore
AMAZON UK:
http://amzn.to/2pcjhQN
AMAZON USA:
http://amzn.to/2oaBzzQ
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO