“Smith is the one that murdered Renfield?”
My mind flashed back to the remains of Renfield’s burned and tormented body, and I closed my eyes. He was one of the few good ones, and now he was gone, just so a half-demon asshole could prove a point. If Smith wasn’t already dead, I’d have shot him.
“Yes. From what Smith’s surviving goons told us, Ren wouldn’t give him the combination to your vault door. He knew he was going to be used for the sacrifice, so he took your secret to the grave.”
Dracula closed his eyes for a moment, then let out a long sigh. “He was loyal. He was a good man. Very good. And he has been avenged.”
“To some degree,” I said.
“What do you mean?” The full attention of the King of the Vampires was on me, and I could almost feel his mind pressing against me.
“I mean that there’s no way Smith was working alone. Smith was a Homeland Security Supervisory Agent. He ran the entire Charlotte Field Office. Every one of the Cambion we fought tonight was an agent. This shit is not just one guy, Luke. I have no idea how high up in the government this goes, but just because Harker killed Smith doesn’t mean that Orobas’ plan is done. I bet that demonic motherfucker is off somewhere working on his Plan B. We need to find him, and all his fucking minions, and finish this once and for all. And we have to make it look like they were all corrupt because that’s the only way Harker can ever come home.”
“We’re going to need help. And I’m going to need a place to stay. My house seems to have come down with a bad case of the inferno.”
I tossed him my key to Harker’s place. I figured he wouldn’t mind. He pulled out a cell phone and started tapping at the screen. “Who are you calling?”
“Reinforcements,” he said. “This is too big for just the two of us. I should have done this seven years ago, but Quincy talked me out of it. I’m calling in the Shadow Council.”
Only the Beginning
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About the Author
John G. Hartness is a teller of tales, a righter of wrong, defender of ladies’ virtues, and some people call him Maurice, for he speaks of the pompatus of love. He is also the best-selling author of EPIC-Award-winning series The Black Knight Chronicles from Bell Bridge Books, a comedic urban fantasy series that answers the eternal question “Why aren’t there more fat vampires?” In July of 2016. John was honored with the Manly Wade Wellman Award by the NC Speculative Fiction Foundation for Best Novel by a North Carolina writer in 2015 for the first Quincy Harker novella, Raising Hell.
John is the author of the Bubba the Monster Hunter series of short stories and novellas, the Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter novella series, and the creator and co-editor of the Big Bad anthology series, among other projects.
In 2016, John teamed up with a pair of other publishing industry ne’er-do-wells and founded Falstaff Media, a publishing conglomerate dedicated to pushing the boundaries of literature and entertainment.
In his copious free time John enjoys long walks on the beach, rescuing kittens from trees and recording new episodes of his podcast Writing Rants, where he provides writing advice laced with a lot of profanity every two weeks. He’s also a member of the Authors & Dragons podcast, with a bunch of other writers who are way better and funnier than he is. John is also a contributor to the Magical Words group blog. An avid Magic: the Gathering player, John is strong in his nerd-fu and has sometimes been referred to as “the Kevin Smith of Charlotte, NC.” And not just for his girth. He can be found online at www.johnhartness.com and spends too much time on Twitter, especially after a few drinks.
For more information about appearances, signings, and other silliness, feel free to follow John on Twitter (@johnhartness), or on his website www.johnhartness.com.
Heaven’s Door Copyright 2016 by John G. Hartness, licensed in the US by Falstaff Books, LLC. All stories contained herein are works of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places or events is purely coincidental.
Also by John G. Hartness
Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter
Year One
Raising Hell
Straight to Hell
Hell on Heels
Hell Freezes Over
Year One - A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Collection
Heaven Sent
The Black Knight Chronicles
Volume 1 - Hard Day’s Knight
Volume 2 - Back in Black
Volume 3 - Knight Moves
The Black Knight Chronicles Omnibus Edition
Volume 4 - Paint it Black
Volume 5 - In the Still of the Knight
Volume 6 - Man In Black
Black Knight Shorts
Movie Knight - A Black Knight Short Story
Black Magic Woman - A Black Knight Short Story
Gone Daddy Gone - A Black Knight Short Story
Knight UnLife - Collected Black Knight Shorts
Co-Edited with Emily Lavin Leverett
The Big Bad: An Anthology of Evil
The Big Bad 2
Bubba the Monster Hunter Short Stories
Season 1
Voodoo Children
Ballet of Blood
Ho-Ho-Homicide
Tassels of Terror
Cat Scratch Fever
Love Stinks
Hall & Goats
Footloose
Sixteen Tons
Family Tradition - A Bubba the Monster Hunter Prequel
Final Countdown
Scattered, Smothered and Chunked - The Complete Bubba the Monster Hunter Season 1
Season 2
UnHoly Night - A Skeeter the Monster Hunter Short Story
Love Hurts
Dead Man’s Hand
She’s Got Legs
Howl
Double Trouble
Elf off the Shelf
Casket Case
Stone Cold Crazy
Rest High on That Mountain
Bad Moon Rising
Grits, Guns & Glory - The Complete Bubba the Monster Hunter Season 2
Season 3
Moon Over Bourbon Street
Night at the Museum
Midsummer
Beauregard the Monster Hunter Short Stories
Fire on the Mountain
White Lightning
Moonshine & Magic - The Collected Beauregard the Monster Hunter Stories
Other Work
Headshot
Balance - Tales of Alternate Reality
Genesis - Return to Eden Book 1
The Chosen
Returning the Favor and other slices of life
Red Dirt Boy
The Christmas Lights
Queen of Kats Book I - Betrayal
Queen of Kats Book II - Survival
Cinched: Imagination Unbound (Editor)
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Changeling’s Fall
The Eisteddfod Chronicles Book I
By Sarah Joy Adams
&
Emily Lavin Leverett
Her Faerie Tale is getting awfully grim.
Deor Smithfield had it all figured out. She had a great education, a new job teaching at a good university, and a plan to move across the country to start her new life.
Then her body betrayed her, and she seemed to be falling prey to the same wasting sickness that killed her mother. When medical science failed her in spectacular fashion, Deor's grandmother told her that her long-lost father was more than just another deadbeat dad - he was a faerie, and she's a Changeling, half-human, ha
lf-fae.
Now Deor has to rush to Faerie in search of her missing father before his magical parting gift kills her. She's in a new world with no friends, no money, no job, and only a few days to find her disappearing daddy before she's kicked back out into the mundane world to die.
Oh yeah, and somebody's hunting Changelings in Faerie.
Changeling's Fall is the first volume of the Eisteddfod Chronicles, the stunning debut contemporary high fantasy series from Sarah Joy Adams and Emily Lavin Leverett.
Available now in print and digital from Falstaff Books! WWW.FalstaffBooks.com.
Available now from Falstaff Books
Pawn’s Gambit
The Pawn Stratagem - Book I
By Darin Kennedy
Steven Bauer always thought chess was just a game…
Until the sultry brunette in the little black dress did her best to incinerate him.
Yesterday, he was just an ordinary guy. Today, he is the White Pawn, a combatant in a nightmarish game of chess where people are the pieces, and the world is at stake. To survive the deadly Black Queen, Steven must pull together the rest of his Pieces.
The Knight, a grieving teenage boy caught up in a web of gang violence.
The Queen, a young woman at death’s door, her body ravaged by leukemia.
The Bishop, a disgraced priest haunted by visions of the Game.
The Rook, a suicidal drunk reeling atop a storm-ridden skyscraper.
But Steven isn’t the only one looking for his team, because the Black Queen already has her Pieces assembled…
Pawn’s Gambit is the first book in The Pawn Strategem, a new contemporary fantasy series from author Darin Kennedy (The Mussorgsky Riddle).
Available now in print and digital from Falstaff Books! WWW.FalstaffBooks.com.
Available now from Falstaff Books
This Giant Leap
By Edmund Schubert.
"(Edmund Schubert is) a writer I stay up late reading" Faith Hunter, NY Times bestselling author of the Jane Yellowrock series.
Acclaimed editor Edmund R. Schubert hangs up his editorial hat to explore issues both global and personal in this exquisite short story collection. Life, Death, Aliens, Zombies, Love, Loss, Apocalypse, Space Travel - these are just a few of the topics Schubert looks at in This Giant Leap. In this volume readers will find science fiction, horror, fantasy and new genre blends, all told with Schubert's characteristic heart and glorious writing style.
“Edmund Schubert writes with flair, with wit, with stunning imagination. His plot lines twist and surprise and, ultimately, satisfy. And his characters remain with you long after you’ve stopped turning the pages. Savor this collection, but beware: When you’re done with these, you’re just going to want more.” — David B. Coe/D.B. Jackson
Available now in print and ebook from Falstaff Books. WWW.FalstaffBooks.com.
Heaven's Door (Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Book 6) Page 12
