by M. R. Forbes
"Hey, you have a package for Landon Hamilton?" I asked.
He turned and looked at me. He was young and lean, with a mop of brown hair showing under a company baseball cap. "Yeah. Is he home?"
"He's me."
We started walking towards each other. He held out a slender package, too small to be anything but a letter, or maybe an optical disc of some kind. I took it from him, and signed for it.
"Have a nice day," he said. "Ladies." He tipped his cap to the others as he passed them, and looked back at me with a jealous smile.
"Hang on a second," I said, getting Alyx's attention. She stepped out in front of him, grabbing him and throwing him against the wall, and then locking his arms behind his back. Rose and Elyse came over to see what I had received.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing? Let me go!"
"In a minute," I said. "Maybe."
I tore the strip off the package and slipped it open. There was a piece of parchment inside, light and pale, with scrapes and scratches throughout. Dark stains ran along it in tight, formal cursive.
My Good Friend Landon,
My apologies for bowing out of the party early. I was concerned you might not be very amiable to my decision to do what I wanted, instead of what you wanted. Regardless, I did make a pact with you, and while I have made every effort to ignore my promise, I find that I am barely able to think straight over the last few days. As such, in order to assuage my own pain and continue to try to ruin your existence, I have sent this missive on a journey that will both fulfill my end, and keep you in the dark for a number of weeks.
I only do this because I care.
In any case, here are the names that I promised you.
1. Who cares
2. Who cares
3. Randolph Hearst
4. Who cares
5. Who cares
Not that it matters.
Yours in brotherhood,
Gervais.
P.S. I may have exaggerated the number of demons who knew about the summoning ritual.
P.P.S You may want to sit down.
"Not that it matters?" Rose said, reading the letter over my shoulder.
I didn't have the chance to answer her.
My stomach clenched, my body froze, my blood turning to ice. There was a sudden maelstrom in my soul, a shaking in the balance that caused me to start shivering at the force. I stumbled forward, reaching out to catch myself, only Elyse and Rose's quick reaction preventing me from falling. My eyes closed involuntarily, a dark spot finding purchase in my existence.
Diuscrucis.
A voice in my mind.
A voice that echoed in emptiness, and filled me with hopeless dread.
A voice that cursed me.
Abaddon.
Thank you for reading Evolution!
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Execution (The Divine, Book Six)
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Dead of Night (Ghosts & Magic)
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Geomagnetic reversal. It was supposed to change the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field.
It did a whole lot more than that.
----------------------
Small-time thief and hitman Conor Night thinks having terminal cancer is his worst problem. The illegal treatments keeping him alive are expensive, and the side effects a mixed bag:
Conor can raise the dead.
When a low-end hit points to a high-end job, Conor is suspicious, but it's an opportunity he can't afford to ignore. Armed with a set of soul-sucking ancient dice, a collection of corpses, and the estranged daughter of one of the most powerful wizards on Earth, it will take all of his wit, charm, and magic to navigate the treacherous world of the dominant Houses and either finish the job, or be finished himself.
He's got ninety-nine problems, and dying is only one.
----------------------
Welcome to the world of Ghosts & Magic, a world of armageddon level wizards, gritty street magic, a new definition of human, and a place known simply as 'The Machine'.
Cyberpunk meets urban fantasy in this fast-paced thriller with a 'Shadowrun feel'.
His Dark Empire (Tears of Blood, Book One)
http://amzn.to/1e0T0tz
They told Eryn that he was a cruel and unfair man, that he hunted the magically gifted, and that he named them Cursed for the tears of blood they shed. They told her she needed to keep her power secret, or he would be coming for her next.
No one could say why he took the ones who stayed, or why he killed the ones who ran. No one knew why he forced innocent people into hard labor, or why he kept such a massive standing army. Nor did they know who he was, where he had come from, or where to find him. The only thing they were sure of was that he had been there when they had been born, and he would be there when they died.
Eryn didn't know why she ran, but she swore she would survive. She didn't know the dangers of his roads, or of the monsters that lurked in every shadow. And she would never, ever have guessed that she would find the greatest of allies in the form of a fugitive and murderer.
It could not have been foretold how his actions would change their lives, or how their lives would change the fate of the world.
For nothing was as it seemed in his dark empire.
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"True enough, but you see, a mailing list is very valuable to an author, especially a meager self-published soul such as myself. I don't have a marketing team, and I don't have exposure in brick and mortar stores around the world to help improve my readership. All I have is you, my potential fans. How about a bribe?"
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Silence.
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About the Author
M.R. Forbes is the creator of a growing catalog of speculative fiction titles, including the epic fantasy Tears of Blood series, the contemporary fantasy Divine series, and the world of Ghosts & Magic. He lives in the pacific northwest with his wife, a cat who thinks she's a dog, and a dog who thinks she's a cat. He eats too many donuts, and he's always happy to hear from readers.
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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 Fourteen
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
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Other Books
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About the Author
