by C. M. Carney
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
The Boxed Set.
Barrow King Title Page
Barrow King Copyright
Barrow King Dedication
Barrow King Chapter 1
Barrow King Chapter 2
Barrow King Chapter 3
Barrow King Chapter 4
Barrow King Chapter 5
Barrow King Chapter 6
Barrow King Chapter 7
Barrow King Chapter 8
Barrow King Chapter 9
Barrow King Chapter 10
Barrow King Chapter 11
Barrow King Chapter 12
Barrow King Chapter 13
Barrow King Chapter 14
Barrow King Chapter 15
Barrow King Chapter 16
Barrow King Chapter 17
Barrow King Chapter 18
Barrow King Chapter 19
Barrow King Chapter 20
Barrow King Chapter 21
Barrow King Chapter 22
Barrow King Chapter 23
Barrow King Chapter 24
Barrow King Chapter 25
Barrow King Chapter 26
Barrow King Chapter 27
Barrow King Chapter 28
Barrow King Chapter 29
Barrow King Chapter 30
Barrow King Chapter 31
Barrow King Chapter 32
Barrow King Chapter 33
Barrow King Chapter 34
Barrow King Chapter 35
Barrow King Chapter 36
Barrow King Chapter 37
Barrow King Chapter 38
Barrow King Chapter 39
Barrow King Chapter 40
Barrow King Chapter 41
Barrow King Chapter 42
Barrow King Chapter 43
Barrow King Chapter 44
Barrow King Chapter 45
Barrow King Chapter 46
Barrow King Chapter 47
Barrow King Chapter 48
Barrow King Chapter 49
Barrow King Chapter 50
Barrow King Chapter 51
Barrow King Chapter 52
Killing Time Title
Killing Time Copyright
Killing Time Dedication
Killing Time Mailing List
Killing Time 1
Killing Time 2
Killing Time 3
Killing Time 4
Killing Time 5
Killing Time 6
Killing Time 7
Killing Time 8
Killing Time 9
Killing Time 10
Killing Time 11
Killing Time 12
Killing Time 13
Killing Time 13
The Lost City Title
The Lost City Copyright
The Lost City Dedication
The Lost City Chapter 1
The Lost City Chapter 2
The Lost City Chapter 3
The Lost City Chapter 4
The Lost City Chapter 5
The Lost City Chapter 6
The Lost City Chapter 7
The Lost City Chapter 8
The Lost City Chapter 9
The Lost City Chapter 10
The Lost City Chapter 11
The Lost City Chapter 12
The Lost City Chapter 13
The Lost City Chapter 14
The Lost City Chapter 15
The Lost City Chapter 16
The Lost City Chapter 17
The Lost City Chapter 18
The Lost City Chapter 19
The Lost City Chapter 20
The Lost City Chapter 21
The Lost City Chapter 22
The Lost City Chapter 23
The Lost City Chapter 24
The Lost City Chapter 25
The Lost City Chapter 26
The Lost City Chapter 27
The Lost City Chapter 28
The Lost City Chapter 29
The Lost City Chapter 30
The Lost City Chapter 31
The Lost City Chapter 32
The Lost City Chapter 33
The Lost City Chapter 34
The Lost City Chapter 35
The Lost City Chapter 36
The Lost City Chapter 37
The Lost City Chapter 38
The Lost City Chapter 39
The Lost City Chapter 40
The Lost City Chapter 41
The Lost City Chapter 42
The Lost City Chapter 43
The Lost City Chapter 4
The Lost City Chapter Epilogue
The Lost City Chapter Epilogue
Mailing List
BONUS CONTENT
Dead Must Die Title
Dead Must Die Copyright
Dead Must Die Dedication
Dead Must Die 1
Dead Must Die 2
Dead Must Die 3
Dead Must Die 4
Dead Must Die 5
Dead Must Die 6
Dead Must Die 7
Dead Must Die 8
Scene
Scourge of Souls
LitRPG GRoups
Gamelit Groups
Acknowledgements
The Realms
Omnibus Volume One
By
C.M. Carney
The Realms Omnibus Volume One - by C.M. Carney
www.cmcarneywrites.com
© 2018 C.M. Carney
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact: [email protected]
Cover by Lou Harper.
Dedication
To my amazing readers.
I could not do this without you.
The Boxed Set.
Barrow King
Killing Time
The Lost City
BONUS CONTENT
Dead Must Die
C.M. Carney’s Mailing List.
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Barrow King
Book One of the Realms
by
C.M. Carney
Barrow King - Book One of The Realms by C.M. Carney
www.cmcarneywrites.com
© 2018 C.M. Carney
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact: [email protected]
Cover by Lou Harper.
https://coveraffairs.com/
Dedication
To my father, Kevin Carney.
I could not have written this book without you.
I miss you, Pop.
1
The shadows crept in from the corners, stretching, grasping at Brynn as she walked down the dim hallway past dozens of secure doors, trying to ease calm into her frayed nerves. Sweat chilled her. The small hairs on her arms stood on end, leaking heat into the cool air.
There wasn't much time. Let it be enough. Please be enough. She cursed her clacking heels, advertising her presence to anything with even the most dullard of ears. She rounded a corner, forcing calm into her nerves and the smile that had charmed millions warmed her face. This is it. This is the last chance. It goes to shit if I fail.
Reynolds looked up from his desk. Brynn’s grin grew wide and warm. She liked Reynolds. Better still, he liked her. A deep breath brought calm to Brynn’s mind, but all Reynolds saw was t
he way the silk of her blouse expanded.
“Good evening, Miss Caldwell,” he said, shifting his gaze to her eyes in embarrassment. “I didn’t expect to see anyone in the Dungeon, tonight of all nights.”
“How many times have I told you to call me Brynn? At least when we’re alone.” Brynn grinned, a crooked smile bringing a flush to the burly man’s face. Her touch to his arm, such a simple gesture, so easily missed, became Reynolds’s entire world.
Damn. How easy deception comes these days. Brynn swallowed her doubts. There was too much at stake for guilt to turn her course.
After a moment, Reynolds’s regained his professionalism. Brynn saw the man bury his desires under a veneer of responsibility. “I thought everyone was up at the gala?” His tone hovered on the border between curiosity and suspicion. Brynn had to ease those thoughts back.
“You know Mr. Bechard, always some last-minute tweak.” To heighten her authority, she held up the pulse drive, forcing her hand steady. It was a perfect copy of the one that Alistair carried at all times. A master key to the Realms.
Reynolds nodded and sat upright. Brynn didn’t think the ex-military man could be more at attention. Even he knew the tiny device was the literal key to power. Brynn inserted the pulse drive into a slot on Reynolds’s security desk. A tense moment hung heavy in the air before a panel swooshed open on the blast-grade metal door. A biometric scanner powered to life, the green glow adding a sinister hue to the room. Reynolds stood and held his hand over the scanner.
Reynolds hesitated, and Brynn saw his shoulders tense. She could almost see his thoughts. Why would the VP of public relations need access to the room behind this door? He paused, palm hovering over the sensor as doubt thrashed through his brain.
Brynn’s mind was lightning, seeking an out. "And here I thought I was higher up the corporate ladder," Brynn said, adding a sexy pout to her voice. "It should be Schechter down here, not me." Brynn paused, finger to lip. "But Mr. Bechard said I'm the one he trusts, so I guess that’s something.”
Reynolds’s shoulders relaxed. He too thrived on the approval of Alistair Bechard. Reynolds's reverence was almost religious, akin to being chosen by God.
Brynn heaved a silent sigh of relief as Reynolds activated the sensor pad and turned with an intense stare. He held the handle in a fierce grip, muscles tensing and releasing as his mind battled.
“Typical Alistair. I’m sorry, Mr. Bechard,” Brynn said, mustering schoolgirl embarrassment at her calculated faux pas. “He probably decided the Dragon’s Claw Inn needed cream colored curtains instead of eggshell.”
A smile crossed Reynolds’s face. Everyone at Sacrosanct Integrative Networks knew the big boss’s obsession with perfection. Bechard had a literal army of programmers, but they had only the smallest input on the project. Bechard handled all the core coding. Reynolds chuckled a tad. “That’s what makes him the best. Always willing to go that extra inch.”
“Paint the underside of the drawers,” Brynn said, repeating one of Alistair's favorite mantras.
“Paint the underside of the drawers,” Reynolds said in response as if it were a religious phrase. He pulled the door open with a fluid motion. Brynn flowed past, tracing his arm with a light touch as she passed.
This has to work, Brynn thought, forcing calm with a measured and confident pace. She neared the corner. One more turn and her quarry was hers. Reynolds’s sharp voice called out.
“Miss Caldwell.”
Brynn took a slow calming breath as she turned back, remembering the man’s history, the man’s training. Brynn knew the things he could do. She smiled as he came into view.
“Don’t take too long,” Reynolds said. His intense stare chilled Brynn. Had she conned Reynolds, or had he been playing her? Seconds became hours before a grin eased Reynolds’s face. “If anyone deserves the party upstairs, it’s you.”
Brynn masked her relief under a veil of embarrassment. “I’m just a girl who talks to people, Reynolds. I’m the least important cog in this machine.”
“You’re much more than that, ma’am. Much more.” Reynolds smiled and eased the door shut with a hiss and a metallic clang. Brynn’s heart raced. Locked in a literal dungeon. Cool and dark with no way out.
Brynn turned the corner and entered the Nexus Chamber. The long room pulsed with heat despite the frigid air pulsing from the vents. Long rows of linked quantum cores shot into the distance. The quantitative power in this one room was staggering. Brynn walked up to the control dais as a large holo-vis projector came to life.
Brynn inhaled, gripping the pulse drive in her fist. Reynolds feared the small device as much as she did. It was the key to a new world. A world unaware of what was coming. She shook with the full understanding of the desperate gamble she was taking. One that may very well cost her life. A gamble that might save millions more.
Brynn plugged the pulse drive into the slot on the desk. Swirls of light pulsed inside the small device and, a moment later, a calm voice rose in the room.
“Access granted. Welcome back, Mr. Bechard.”
Brynn glanced over her shoulder one last time, knowing she was alone but still needing to look. She pulled a second pulse drive from her bra and knelt. Gentle pressure against the dais caused a panel to slide open. Brynn plugged the second drive into the backup access port and stood.
Brynn’s fingers sped across the keyboard seeking the hidden directory Sean had installed. His risk was as big as hers, bigger even. If Alistair knew what Sean had done, what she did now, both would disappear. Brynn was sure of that.
A prompt shone on the holo-vis. UPLOAD PATCH? A blazing YES blinked in time with her thundering heart. Her finger hesitated over the panel. Thump, Thump. Blink, Blink. Thump, Thump. Blink, Blink. Her finger spiked down, and the patch cycled into the quantum core. It wormed its way into the billions of lines of code, altering the tiniest fraction of their purpose.
A moment later, the upload finished and the second pulse drive ran a purge, erasing any evidence. Only Reynolds knew she had been here, and he was so in awe of Mr. Bechard that he would never speak to the man unbidden. The risk was minimal. It had to be.
Brynn allowed herself one last look into the infinite worlds contained in the room. I have no choice. Alistair Bechard must be stopped.
Brynn pulled the pulse drive from the core. A deep sigh released pent up tension. The release that comes with knowing whatever happened now was out of her hands.
“It’s up to you, Finn,” Brynn said to the empty room. “I’m so sorry.”
2
Finn’s mind found solace in the menial task of emptying the bar’s dishwasher. The gentle hum, the sluice of warm water, and the waves of steam rising from the spinning contraption was a salve to his nerves. He was so lost in this rare moment of calm he didn’t hear Doc.
“Earth to John. Hello, John.”
Finn looked up and gave the haggard man an embarrassed grin. He still wasn't used to being John. His training and experience usually made slipping into an alter ego as simple as pulling on a pair of socks. It troubled him that this time was different.
“Sorry, Doc. Didn’t sleep so well last night.”
“Yeah, you look like shit, buddy,” Doc said with a grin and a heft of his empty pint glass. Finn grabbed it, held it up to the spout, and flipped the tap open. Amber liquid flowed into the glass. “Got a lady friend keeping you up all night?”
Finn chuckled. He liked Doc. He was a kindred spirit. A man who’d screwed his life up as much as Finn had. Yet, as he set the fresh pint in front of the older man, Finn couldn’t help wishing that his demon was as simple as alcoholism.
“No such luck, Doc. The ladies aren’t scrambling to get with lowly bartenders.”
“Stop playing coy. I may be a drunk, but I’m no idiot. You’ve got many a hidden depth to you.”
Panic rose in Finn as he eyed Doc. The man had been a McHenry’s regular years before Finn bought the place, so the likelihood of him being a plant were slim to non
e. Yet professional paranoia had helped Finn live this long.
“Don’t be so uptight, lad. A man is entitled to his secrets. Especially in this world. I have a few dark ones I keep to myself, too.” Doc raised his pint in a knowing salute before taking a sip.
But you don’t, Finn thought.
Doc’s once a week ritual, fueled by guilt and alcohol, was to regale Finn with the tale of his downfall. The man had once been a brilliant surgeon but alcohol had seeped into his soul and a mother had died on his table. Doc didn’t even fight the inquiry. He’d forfeited his medical license the very next day. Now he spent his days at Finn’s bar, watching soccer and trying to drown his demons.
Finn started cutting fruit for the day.
“Can I turn on the news?” Doc asked.
Finn nodded. He had long ago given Doc access to the large holo-vis behind the bar. It popped to life and CNN came on.
“This is Snapper Carr, reporting from outside Sacrosanct Integrative Technologies,” a young man with a winning smile said. A crowd of angry protesters gathered in front of the stunning modern skyscraper. “Today, after a successful six-month beta test, the Realms was set to go public. The world’s first Neuro Integrated Massive Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game has wowed critics and beta players alike. Industry experts expected it to be a multi-billion-dollar money maker for Sacrosanct Founder and CEO, Alistair Bechard.”
“I never understood these games.” Doc said.
“Never been my thing either,” Finn said. “But I get it. Who doesn’t want an escape from the drudgery and pain of the real world?”
Doc nodded and hoisted his beer in salute. Screams of anger and pain brought his attention back to the newscast. The crowd pushed forward against the wall of riot cops as rocks flew over the shield wall. An improvised Molotov cocktail exploded against the building. The cops pushed into the crowd, riot shields smashing and advancing.
“Jesus,” Doc said, drawing Finn’s eyes to the holo-vis.
“It’s just a game, isn’t it?” Doc asked stunned.
“Things have become violent here,” Snapper Carr said, ducking as a rock whizzed a bit too close to his head. "All because this morning, instead of opening the Realms to the public, Sacrosanct cut off all access. A short press release from Sacrosanct blamed the shutdown on a temporary glitch, but rumors swirling on gaming forums claim that access to the game has been blocked, perhaps permanently. The Sacrosanct leadership has been silent, unseen since the beta launch, giving some credence to the rumors. The question on many lips: What is Alistair Bechard hiding?”
