A Bargain of Blood and Gold Read online

  A BARGAIN OF BLOOD AND GOLD

  By

  Kristin Jacques

  Copyright © 2021 Kristin Jacques

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  Edited by Charissa Weaks.

  Cover Design by Mibl Art.

  All stock photos licensed appropriately.

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  Published in the United States by City Owl Press.

  www.cityowlpress.com

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  For information on subsidiary rights, please contact the publisher at [email protected]

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior consent and permission of the publisher.

  Praise for the Works of Kristin Jacques

  “Jacques has a talent for pacing that feels effortless, and moves the story along with snappy dialogue, adorable flirting, and winning found-family relationships. This delightful romp, A Bargain of Blood and Gold, is sure to appeal to fans of Cat Sebastian and Gail Carriger.” – Publisher’s Weekly

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  “Jacques does a wondrous job crafting a world rich with creatures lurking among the shadows… If you love vampires, detective work, mysterious creatures, and a little romance this book, A Bargain of Blood and Gold, is for you! I can’t wait for the next one!” – Jessica Julien, YA Fantasy Author

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  “In a moment when words are greatly needed, I am at a loss to properly articulate the captivating read, Marrow Charm, was for me. The author writes fluently and effortlessly bringing scenes and characters to life in your mind.”– Permanently Booked

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  “I fell in love with the characters within the first few pages of Ragnarok Unwound, and the story had me hooked by the end of chapter one. This is one of those books where I didn’t want to finish it because I didn’t want it to be over.”– The Paper Valley

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  “Zombies vs Aliens is a fabulous mix of rollicking romp through zombie-land, action, and adventure that is pure entertainment.” – Leigh W. Stuart, Contemporary Romance Author

  To my mother, your ghost has been my stalwart companion since this journey began.

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  To Tim, for your patience and your love, through all my hard moments.

  Contents

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  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek of Cinders of Yesterday

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  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  About the Publisher

  Additional Titles

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  Click here to sign up for the City Owl Press newsletter and be the first to find out about special offers, including FREE book days, contents, giveaways, cover reveals, and more!

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  Want even more paranormal romance? Try CINDERS OF YESTERDAY by City Owl Author, Jen Karner, and find more from Kristin Jacques at www.kristinjacques.com

  Paranormal Hunter Dani Black wants nothing more than revenge. Until she meets Emilie.

  A year ago, the rogue Necromancer Spectre murdered her partner during a hunt gone wrong. She's been looking for a way to kill him—and keep him dead—ever since.

  When rumors of a weapon capable of killing anything surfaces in Dawson, Maryland, she sets out on a mission to get her hands on it. While unraveling a web of clues about her own past, Dani runs into the alluring Emilie Lockgrove, eldest daughter of a magical family inexplicably tied to Spectre.

  Emilie Lockgrove survived the catastrophic fire that killed her mother and hospitalized both her and her sister.

  Ten years later, she has returned to Dawson, expecting to confront the trauma of her past. Instead, she discovers magic is real, encountering actual ghosts like the necromancer hunting her family for 200 years.

  Dani intends to kill Spectre…or die trying. Emilie wants to reclaim her life. To survive, they'll need to work together to confront their pasts, break the spell capturing Emilie's magic, and destroy Spectre once and for all.

  BUY NOW!

  Chapter One

  There was a vampire in Cress Haven, and it was Johnathan’s duty to snuff it out.

  “Are you quite certain of this location?” Johnathan peered at his traveling companion as the coach rolled through the unkempt dirt roads. Wilderness surrounded them, the relentless forests of backcountry Maine muffling the rattle and buck of the wheels that spat up a cloud of dust in their wake.

  Dr. Evans raised an imperious brow, thick white mustache twitching over his mouth. “You have my assurances, Prospective Newman,” said the doctor. “The legitimacy of the reports are thoroughly verified before we assign a man on the case. There is a fiend here, squatting among the populace. Multiple victims have gone missing. The fiend appears to have a preference for young ladies. Your task is identification and elimination.”

  “Shouldn’t be too difficult.” Johnathan eyed the roll of handwritten instructions, neat pen scratches detailing all the requisite information he needed for a successful hunt. “The town’s population was barely a thousand souls all told at last census. It’s somewhat baffling why a vampire would settle here. One would think a fiend’s peculiarities would quickly pinpoint its identity among humans.”

  “Careful, Johnathan,” said Dr. Evans, catching his attention. The good doctor only used Johnathan’s first name when he was worried. “A fiend, alone and secluded, possesses a great deal of cunning and trickery compared to the nests we cleansed in Boston and New York. Be on your guard and vigilant.”

  Johnathan blinked. His gaze strayed to the custom-made crossbows lying on the seat beside Dr. Evans. Most Hunters preferred melee weapons to pin their fast-moving prey, but his mentor enjoyed the challenge. He could wield the weapon like no other, a master marksman in archery, skilled at the art of ambushing fiends despite their extraordinary senses. Johnathan always felt safe with the doctor, unless what he feared was the doctor himself.

  That was a circumstance in which he’d found himself a time or two or twelve. Dr. Evans was a mentor, a leader. He was also a killer, and he wouldn’t go easy on Johnathan, no matter how fond he was of his students.

  This assignment couldn’t be that dangerous, or the society wouldn’t have sent someone like Johnathan out here. Would th
ey? The more he thought about it, the more certain he was that Dr. Evans was about to toss him into a pit of vipers. Trial by fire was the truest method of ascertaining if one was suited for the life.

  “Sir?” The thick wool of Johnathan’s trousers wicked the sweat from his palms.

  Dr. Evans’ expression softened. “You’re at the top of your class, dear boy. I have complete faith you’ll turn in a more than adequate performance.” There was a twinkle of sentiment in the older man’s eyes. He clapped Johnathan on the shoulder. “We shall return in a month to retrieve you.”

  “A month?” Johnathan sputtered. “What if I require extraction before then? Or I encounter more than a lone fiend?”

  Affability drained out of the doctor’s gaze. “Adapt. Enlist local aid. Consider this your graduation ceremony. But if you should find the situation beyond your capability, send word through post. Our agents will be here within a fortnight.”

  There was no need for the doctor to clarify further. A call for aid would be considered failure.

  Johnathan swallowed hard, the rumble of the coach accentuating the sensation of the world sinking out from under him. There was nothing outside except trees surrounded by more trees, but the coach was slowing. The conveyance rolled to a stop in the thick of the forest, the setting sun swallowed up by the coniferous treetops, brushing the sky like serrated teeth.

  “The society has provided you with a generous stipend to cover your expenses,” said the doctor, “though we suggest you practice frugality. There is a reputable boarding house at the edge of town for the seasonal woodsmen that should accommodate you.” The coach wobbled to a standstill. Dr. Evans opened the coach door, gesturing with middling patience for Johnathan to disembark.

  The young man hesitated. “It’s almost dark, sir.”

  “Oh, tosh.” The doctor’s expression darkened. He seized Johnathan’s arm with surprising strength for a man his size and stature, before tossing him bodily from the coach. Johnathan’s battered traveling case followed a moment later, bouncing resignedly to a stop on top of his boots. “The town is two miles down the coach road,” said the doctor. “I suggest you start walking, lad, before true nightfall.”

  Without further fanfare, the coachman steered the horses in a wide circle around Johnathan, kicking off at a fast trot back in the direction they came.

  Dr. Evans could have at least left him with a suitable weapon. Even a vial of dead man’s blood, which slowed a fiend’s ability to heal, wouldn’t be remiss. But part of his trial was to find weapons of opportunity in a foreign environment, no matter how sparse that environment.

  Johnathan tensed, seized with the acute urge to chase down the coach and cling to the back all the way to Boston. This wouldn’t do. For one, Dr. Evans would be terribly disappointed in him. For another, it was likely they’d toss him right back out here, this time tied at the ankles.

  He watched the coach until it rumbled out of sight through the trees before he finally turned toward Cress Haven. It was alarming how much darker the forest seemed in those spare moments. Shadows slithered out from between the trees, casting the coach road in intermittent patches of deep darkness. The sun had firmly given up the sky to dusk, the light rapidly fading with each passing second. He needed to get moving rather than stand in the middle of the road like a slab of beef fallen off the butcher’s wagon.

  Johnathan scooped up his valise. The leather case banged against his thigh in time to his steps, a comforting thump as he picked his way over the pitted dirt road. Stones skittered out from under his boots. It would be just his luck to twist an ankle in the dark and fall prey to the local wildlife.

  This was to be his final exam? He doubted the assignment would occupy him more than a fortnight. What would he do for the remaining half of the month? Take up logging, he supposed. Maybe catch a spot of fishing. He’d heard the fishing in Maine was quite excellent.

  That settled it. Hell, in a settlement this small, he would locate the fiend outside of a week. Yes, this would be his final test, and a vacation to boot.

  Caught up in plotting his leisure time, the first howl took him off guard.

  Johnathan froze, eyeing the dense forest with unease. He reached for his boot knife as a second howl split the falling night, an eerie, unnatural sound. Chills rippled under his skin.

  What on earth was that? He’d heard the baying of hounds and wolves enough to compare the two, but this sound matched neither, possessing a quality that spoke to his deep instinct to flee the hungry dark.

  A third howl rose, much closer this time. Something crashed and crackled in the woods a moment before movement made him jump. Johnathan yelped, covering his head as several creatures fled the woods right in his path. He didn’t recognize them at first, not until a fox collided with his legs, panic-blind and snapping at Johnathan’s trousers.

  He jumped aside, wide-eyed, as a herd of deer, several foxes, skunks, and a badger fled past him into the woods on the other side of the coach road. He heard a whisper of sound overhead and glanced up to find the flight extended to winged creatures as well, an assortment of daytime birds, startled from their roosts, mixed with the hunters of night.

  An owl flapped frantically overhead. That worried him.

  Owls were not so easily spooked.

  Johnathan shifted his stance, knife out and ready as he scanned the trees. A prickling sensation crawled along his skin. He had the distinct impression of being watched. By what? Had the vampire come to meet him? Unlikely. Vampires didn’t scare wild animals. The undead were beneath their notice. Only cats reacted to fiends, and it wasn’t with fear.

  Silence swallowed him up, falling thick and heavy, so that his own breath roared in his ears. Johnathan stared hard through the trees, trying to pinpoint the source of the disturbance.

  A harsh chuffing came from his left, close enough to stir the hair at his collar. Startled, he whipped around, fear squeezing his lungs. There was nothing there. Panting, he spun in a full circle, squeezing the hilt of his knife so tight his fingers went numb.

  His frantic gaze connected with a glowing set of eyes within the trees. The snarl made his bladder clench. It was a small miracle he didn’t void his waters as the unseen creature suddenly bounded away. It made no noise as it took off through the bracken, but Johnathan knew it was gone as the weighted silence dissipated.

  It was still several long minutes before the sounds of wildlife filtered back into the night, now fully fallen, and several minutes more before Johnathan’s footsteps resumed, albeit at a much faster pace. He didn’t dare return the knife to his boot until his steps carried him past the first houses of Cress Haven.

  Chapter Two

  Johnathan finally limped into Cress Haven and beheld the lumber town in the faint light of its meager streetlamps. He paused to shake out the sharp stones that had collected in his boots, attempting to gain a proper bearing of his destination.

  Calling Cress Haven a town seemed too generous, though he supposed its clustered population was too dense to be a village. The main street buildings were drab and rough-hewn, a community that had sprung up from necessity over style. The seasonal lumber-mill boarding house at the far end of the lane appeared decent, but even in the dim light, Johnathan could see that the building desperately needed a fresh coat of paint.

  Attached to the boarding house was another rough-hewn building, warm light and laughter spilling into the deepening night. A recognizable and welcome combination. After his odd encounter on the road, Johnathan could do with a pint and respite to ease his nerves, the company of others a welcome idea for once.

  He winced and tucked his weary feet back into his boots, a particularly sharp pebble still stuck in the sole stabbed into the soft tissue of his arch. Johnathan grumbled as he picked his way along the lane. He’d had his fill of fun this evening and prayed the vampire was occupied elsewhere.

  Johnathan paused at the hinged door, taking a moment to straighten himself into a somewhat presentable gentleman. There was
nothing to be done about his sweaty appearance, but at least his shirt was straight, buttons done up neat. Tucking his valise under one arm, he pushed his way inside.

  The heat of the room washed over him, the breath of a great animal. He hesitated, tempted to return to the cool evening air outside, but he needed to secure lodging. Now that he’d stopped moving, the rumble of his stomach made itself known, aggravated by the scent of stew blending with smoke and ale. The patrons of the bar were a mix of well-dressed country gentlemen and grime-ridden workmen, though the contrast seemed to bother neither party as they mingled in clusters around polished tables.

  As Johnathan stood in the vise of indecision, another patron stumbled into him, a grizzled man so bedraggled he could’ve been anywhere from thirty to sixty years in age. The unfortunate man mumbled what may have been an apology as he pressed his filthy hands against Johnathan’s chest, leaving questionable smudges of muck on his dark wool coat.