by Justin Sloan
She had since learned that being a vampire didn’t mean you had to be evil. It didn’t mean you had to be a dick, either, though none of the men in her life back then had made her think otherwise.
Now she had returned to her homeland, and it felt more foreign than ever.
Why had she made this trip, she asked herself for the hundredth time. Something inside had just yearned for it, she decided finally, especially after being separated from her friends for so long. She had to believe they were safe, had to believe that they would make their way back to New York or Prince Edward Island and that she would one day return to find them happy and well.
She still had the comm device. She picked it up, gazing at it. A couple of calls had come in from Sandra during the journey, but Valerie hadn’t been ready to talk to her. She hadn’t wanted to admit she was going back to France, because it seemed…weak. She shouldn’t have felt so compelled to return, but she had.
A word that popped into her head: closure. That was a large part of it, she was sure.
Closure. She had to see this place one last time. Find out who she had been here, so she would know who she could be going forward. There would be no more ignoring her past, trying to pretend it didn’t happen. It was part of her, and had helped her become the woman she was now.
As she flew past, she noticed a couple of early risers glancing up at her, intrigued. She smiled and pulled her head back inside so that all they saw was the small airship. Turning to the west, she allowed herself one last glance at the Eiffel Tower, remembering that long-ago kiss with Sandra as they had sat together sharing that same view.
How far she had come since then, and yet part of her was that same woman, although now she had a purpose. It wasn’t to fit in, to explore herself or her sexuality, though she was sure there would be time for that at some point. Her purpose now was to be part of something bigger. She would do everything in her power to protect the people of Earth, and at that moment promised herself she would find a way to get into space to join that war.
Maybe that would be with TH and his followers, or maybe Michael would come back for her.
A thought hit her, and she pulled out the comm device again. What if Michael had returned, and that was why Sandra had been calling? What if Valerie had missed the call, and Michael was leaving without her?
She made for the old military compound, her last stop. She had to know if Michael had accomplished his goal and dealt with the Duke.
When she finally spotted it, a white-grey building hidden in the trees, she took the comm device and called Sandra.
“Tell me Michael hasn’t returned,” Valerie barked immediately.
Sandra paused, silent, then said, “What? No, but…Val?”
“What is it?”
“We might be in trouble here. We’ve put the word out to Colonel Walton to see if they have anyone who can help, but it would be great if you could make it back here too.”
“For what? What’s happened?”
“It’s the final showdown. Every group of indies, all the local nomad tribes, bandits, Were clans, and even some Forsaken, have joined forces and called us out for one final battle.”
“You must’ve pissed them off good,” Valerie exclaimed, shaking her head. “But this could be the best thing. End it once and for all, right?”
“So you’ll come?”
Valerie looked down at the military compound, seeing no sign off life, none of the early morning training she had been used to for most of her life. It looked vacant; totally abandoned. She didn’t need to see more than that.
“Girl, I’m on my way.”
Valerie adjusted her course. She had seen enough. When she first arrived she had thought about walking the streets of Paris, smelling its scents and remembering what it had been like, but now she found none of that mattered. Her closure came in the form of remembering that her friends needed her, and she damn sure wasn’t about to let them down.
“Farewell,” she said with a final glance at her home country. “Au revoir.”
Epilogue
Toronto
Staring out into the night, Robin thought for the thousandth time that no matter how much she loved it here, her calling was elsewhere. She had to be part of something bigger. With her powers, and after experiencing the way Valerie devoted herself to making the world a better place, Robin knew that was her path as well.
Her parents were safe. She had seen to it, and now it was time to see that the rest of the world was safe too.
Hitching her pack onto her shoulder and checking that her assassin garb was fastened properly so she safely could venture into the sunlight, Robin stood in the doorway, contemplating leaving without saying good-bye. It would be easier that way, wouldn’t it?
She had just turned to go when she heard someone clearing his throat.
“It’s going to happen this way,” her father began, stepping into the dim moonlight, which was coming into the room through the gaps in the blinds.
“Dad…”
“You want to fight to save the world? Fine, but then so will we.”
She frowned, confused.
“Your mother and I have been talking, and we agree that this place holds too many negative memories for us.” He cleared his throat again, then stepped forward and held his hand out for her pack. She gave it to him.
“So, what now?”
“We go with you to New York,” he replied. “We bring guns and ammunition, the first shipment of many we’ll oversee from New York, with people we trust managing this side of it here. We’ll establish a system of trade to ensure that New York and Toronto stand as two beacons of freedom and security in this crazy world.”
She blinked, unable to come up with any reason this wasn’t a good idea.
“And if I don’t stay in New York?” she asked.
“You do what you have to do, and you can leave knowing we’re surrounded by people you know and, I hope, trust. You have to leave for some time? Fine, but at least you know where we’ll be, and we’ll know you have a place to come back to, with easy access.”
They stood there for several moments, Robin’s breath coming heavily, and then finally she ran forward, wrapping her arms around her dad in a tight embrace.
“So you agree?” he asked.
“I love it,” she confirmed, and then sighed with relief. She had looked forward to going to New York, and couldn’t be happier about her parents coming as well.
The one question nagging at the back of her mind was how she felt about Valerie being there.
She decided that was a topic to be dealt with when and if it came up.
For now, she had a road trip with her parents to prepare for.
Author Notes - Justin Sloan
Written August 29, 2017
This is the life, isn’t it? I write books about characters I love, share them with readers I love, and then we all just sit back and enjoy life? Ha. If only it were that easy—but it can be, as long as we keep a positive mind. So much drama and B.S. is going on around us. I truly believe we just need to be kind to others and do what we can do to make the world a better place. So much of it is out of our control.
So, why stress?
I will continue to write books I love, and try to keep a positive style throughout, ALWAYS bringing you a happy ending (or at least what I consider a happy ending). I don’t want to be the writer who depresses the hell out of you. If you want that, I have written one or two books that have moments that are dark (Land of Gods? Mohira—under a pen name), but you know what? They always go to an uplifting place and, I hope, will make you a happier person.
I have so many reasons to be happy with life right now! As you may know, I went to writing fulltime recently. That’s why we’ve been able to bring you these extra books relatively quickly, and why I’ve been able to work on some other projects on the side. My Syndicate Wars series (more coordinated by me than written by me) has done quite well, and we’re doing spinoffs on that like Michael And
erle has done in the KGU world. I have brought two collaborators to the Creative Writing Career podcast to chat about it—you can check that out and tell me what you think. I’m excited, because I’ve been reading their stories and they rock. Then there are my spinoffs and solo series, including one that has magic in space, and another that is more paranormal in space (there are dragons too, but don’t tell anyone!).
And of course… OF COURSE there are amazing things coming down the KGU pipeline. As if you didn’t have enough other books from all of these collaborators, there will be a scifi one coming soon (probably with PT Hylton), and before that Craig and I will release something that bridges that gap. I also still have two Age of Magic books to do, and a very amazing narrator is reading those audiobooks for us (Kate Rudd is sticking with these Reclaiming Honor books, so I wanted to get someone different for those ones, to differentiate the series).
So yes, I’m loving fulltime author life. I was pretty worried, because I sold a screenplay a while back and was supposed to do three rewrites on it. Now it’s time, as they want to shoot soon, but if I had a job there would be no way I could fulfill the commitment. Thanks to you all and Michael and my ability to be fulltime, I can actually do those obligated rewrites without serious upheaval.
We’ve been talking about what to do if all of these books continue to sell as they have and (I hope) sell even more as my solo series come out, and one idea is we relocate to Carlsbad or Santa Monica—be a bit closer to Disneyland for the kids (Yeah, right! Of course it’s for me), and closer to Los Angeles in case the screenwriting thing kicks off. Maybe get back to acting, too.
On that note…did you know I used to act? Yeah, when I was in the Marines I would go to auditions all the time, and even had some small roles. I was in the Lacy Peterson movie as a policeman, as well as a lot of shorts and things like that. Nothing big, but I was an extra on the Veronica Mars show for a bit, which was cool. And while doing that, the casting agent had me and a bunch of other actors pretend to be terrorists in a fake Afghan town, for Marines to come through and train. We would use paintball guns and ambush them, and they would put us in handcuffs and / or kill us with paintballs. Those were fun times! I only mention it because the other day one of my readers looked me up on IMDB and was like “Whoa, how come you never talk about that stuff!” So there you go, consider it talked about. That might be something I’d like to get back into at some point too. I can imagine it now, sitting at a café working on my next Michael Anderle collaboration, then running over to audition for my role in the next Michael Anderle film or HBO show—right? RIGHT?
Let’s make it happen!
I’ll work my angles if you keep working yours (yours, by the way, are to just do what you’ve been doing—reading the books, being awesome fans and friends, and helping us out with word of mouth and reviews).
I think we have the better end of that deal, but hey, if you want to write too, jump on in. It’s a very fulfilling life and / or hobby. There’s now a Facebook group for fan fiction in the Kurtherian Universe, if you want to join us there. It hasn’t really gotten off the ground yet, but maybe you can help us out with that! https://www.facebook.com/groups/TKGFansWrite/
Thank you for sticking with me! Wow, can you believe we’re about to move on to book eight already? It’s been a really exciting journey, and we’ve seen some fun reviews along the way. Some of you did NOT like Valerie exploring herself. LOL. I mean, wow! In my mind, these characters have to be real people, not just robots or cutout dolls I can play with. Their emotions and everything they’re dealing with have to be in the story. Maybe this is because that’s what I enjoy reading? Also, probably because I enjoy writing it. If I’m not enjoying writing or reading my own work, you can bet it would be dry.
Plus, let’s be honest—my books would be very short if there wasn’t any of that stuff in them. I can only write an uppercut or teeth tearing out a throat so many ways. But I’ll try to come up with new ones, I promise!
In the meantime, I would sincerely appreciate it if you would leave a review for this book on Amazon. Also, check out the Facebook page (Reclaiming Honor), and feel free to roam over to www.JustinSloanAuthor.com to see what else I am up to. Thanks!
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
August 31st, 2017
First, THANK YOU for not only reading this book - but also sticking until the end and reading these author notes as well!
One more book. That’s it.
One more book to wrap up Valerie’s story before she meets that ‘special someone’ in Michael’s life…But, unfortunately, you will have to wait until TKG21 for the unfolding of that story.
Sorry! (Yes, I HAVE read the reviews that were not pleased with Craig not sticking in more information. You will have to let me unveil that in the final book of Bethany Anne’s first series. Can’t be jumping the line now.
Right now, I’m typing this after a day of conference calls, meetings, etc. etc. and even though it has been a 12 hour day so far, (like Justin) I’m not complaining. This is the most fantastic opportunity anywhere.
For those wondering about Darkest Before the Dawn - The Second Dark Ages Book 03 (Michael’s Return) I am co-authoring it with Ell Leigh Clarke and we are finishing the beats today (two of the calls) and tomorrow.
Then, “It’s WRITING TIME!”
Yes, I totally was thinking of the THING from Fantastic Four when I typed that. Hell, I can still hear Ben Grimm’s voice in my head.
I’m curious. How many of you visit Las Vegas? The reason I ask is I have a completely OFF THE WALL idea about creating a location near downtown where I could put a publishing … workspace? That I and other authors would use, and also mention when we would be in town to meet with fans.
I realize it’s a kooky idea. But, you know, I rather like it.
Come to Vegas, gamble your money, see the shows, visit LMBPN World headquarters of The Kurtherian Gambit and Oriceran Universes and get a t-shirt, right?
SNICKER! I just thought “And get a picture with a life-sized (but HEAVILY Photoshopped) cut-out of the Author while you are here!” Plus, when I am in town, I’d go hang there from time to time and work…And just meet people.
I doubt anything will come of the idea, but you know… We (the authors and you the fans) have done some pretty crazy stuff before so I wouldn’t put it past us.
LMPBN Publishing (my company) is closing in on our best month ever, and all I can say is THANK YOU.
Without your support, and crazy reading abilities and talking us up, we can’t do what we do, and I wouldn’t be blessed to give back to these authors who are making it happen every damned week.
In September, we are planning TWELVE releases. That is a record for us and we are looking at a time when we will have to separate the calendars between the two Universes.
That time isn’t now, but I imagine it will be here by the end of the year.
If you are in Europe during the Frankfurt Book Fair, let me know. I’d like to setup a small get together with you!
October 11th-15th 2017 (http://buchmesse.de/en/tickets/ )
ESPECIALLY if you live in Frankfurt, let me know!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
Justin Sloan Social
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Michael Anderle Social
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Books by Justin Sloan
The Hidden Magic Chronicles
Shades of Light
Shades of Dark
Shades of Glory (2017)
FALLS OF REDEMPTION (Epic Fantasy Series)
Land of Gods
Retribution Calls
Tears of Devotion
Tribulations Past (2017)
RECLAIMING HONOR
(A Kurtherian Gambit Series - vampires and werewolves)
Justice is Calling
Claimed by Honor
Judgment has Fallen
Angel of Reckoning
Born into Flames
Saved by Valor
Defending the Lost (2017)
MODERN NECROMANCY (Urban Fantasy Trilogy)
Death Marked
Death Bound
Death Crowned
ALLIE STROM (Urban Fantasy Trilogy)
Allie Strom and the Ring of Solomon
Allie Strom and the Sword of the Spirit
Allie Strom and the Tenth Worthy
Michael Anderle
Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include:
First Arc
Death Becomes Her (01) - Queen Bitch (02) - Love Lost (03) - Bite This (04)
Never Forsaken (05) - Under My Heel (06) - Kneel Or Die (07)
Second Arc
We Will Build (08) - It’s Hell To Choose (09) - Release The Dogs of War (10)
Sued For Peace (11) - We Have Contact (12) - My Ride is a Bitch (13)
