Darkening Dawn (The Lockman Chronicles Book 5) (37 page)
Read Darkening Dawn (The Lockman Chronicles Book 5) Online
Authors: Rob Cornell
Tags: #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Thrillers & Suspense, #Spies & Politics, #Assassinations, #Terrorism, #Supernatural, #Ghosts, #Psychics, #Vampires, #Werewolves & Shifters, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Paranormal & Urban, #Superheroes, #Suspense, #Paranormal, #Thrillers, #Pulp, #Superhero, #urban fantasy
Jessie floated above the scene like an out of body experience. She could feel the man’s fear. She could also feel the wolves’ hunger. They had grown fond of human flesh. Not typical of werewolves, but a nasty habit that made for brutal mortal deaths.
These wolves had no right to walk the mortal plane.
Jessie centered herself and tried to draw together the energy she had so many times in life.
And it came.
“Return,” she whispered.
Blue lightning crackled and surrounded the wolves. They howled as the lightning closed in on them, then consumed them.
Seconds later, their bodies transformed into an electric blue mist, which quickly evaporated to nothing.
The wolves’ prey cried out and fell to his knees.
“Thank God,” he said.
Nope, Jessie thought. Just little ol’ me. The Return.
She didn’t stop there. She circled the globe, finding supernaturals of all stripes to Return. Time seemed to evaporate as quickly as the blue mist after every Return. Vampires, weres, goblins, and imps. Nymphs who used their wiles to drain the life force of their victims and trolls who came out from under bridges at night to eat people whole. Ogres who had forgotten the honor of their people and used their strength to take whatever they wanted from weaker mortals.
And then Jessie came upon a gnome, homeless, living in a cardboard box under a Los Angeles freeway overpass. Jessie started to send the poor gnome back to his home where he would be so much better off.
Then she stopped herself.
She realized her uninformed assumption, thought of Elka and her family whom Jessie had condemned because of a similar assumption.
Jessie sank down into the gnome’s mind. She learned his name.
Arntz.
She found a glimpse of his time on the mortal plane. Not long ago he had made a fortune as a film producer. But he had to operate behind the scenes, in secret, so as not to reveal what he really was.
Then others found out.
They drove him away, their fear outweighing their sense.
Jessie asked him, Do you want to go home?
After he recovered from finding Jessie in his mind, he said, I’m gonna claw my way back to the top if it’s the last thing I do. This plane is my home, and movies are my passion.
Jessie could certainly understand that.
No, he said, I don’t want to go back.
So Jessie drifted up and away, leaving the gnome to chase his dream, as was his right. His wishes deserved the same respect as any mortal’s. He meant no harm. He posed no threat.
He would not be Returned.
Chapter Sixty-Six
J
ESSIE BLINKED A FEW TIMES
. She was back at the cabin with Craig and felt like she had woken up from a long nap filled with wild dreams.
Craig touched her arm. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “How long was I out?”
“A minute or two. But you have to remember, time is different here.”
“You can say that again,” she said with a laugh. “I was gone longer than a couple minutes. To me it could have been as long as a day.”
“That’s…” His gaze bounced back and forth between Jessie and the window. Jessie had thought Craig had seen just about anything, considering how long he had worked among the supernatural. She had never seen such a look of amazement on his face. The lines weren’t as deep. And he looked even younger than he had on the last day she had seen him alive.
She wished Mom were here. She would have gotten a kick out of Craig’s reaction. And Jessie had a feeling Mom would have also been proud of her.
Maybe, wherever she was, Mom could see one tier down into the Inbetween like Jessie could see down to the mortal world.
Yes. She can. I know she can.
“Tell me,” Craig said with ecstatic glee. “What happened? What did you do?
“What I was meant to do.” Jessie Lockman turned and looked up at her dad. “I Returned.”
* * *
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Books by Rob Cornell
The Lockman Chronicles
Darker Things (The Lockman Chronicles #1)
Dark Legion (The Lockman Chronicles #2)
Darkest Hour (The Lockman Chronicles #3)
Darkness Returns (The Lockman Chronicles #4)
Darkening Dawn (The Lockman Chronicles #5)
Visit Rob Cornell’s website at
rob-cornell.com
.
About the Author
Rob Cornell is the author of The Lockman Chronicles, a five-book urban fantasy series featuring ex-government agent and monster hunter, Craig Lockman. Raised on a steady diet of Star Wars, He-Man, G.I. Joe, and Transformers, he has always spent much of his time wandering the halls of his imagination, conjuring stories. Nowadays, he writes them down like a responsible adult. He lives in rural Southeast Michigan with his family.
Published by Paradox Publications
Copyright © 2015 by Rob Cornell
All rights reserved.
Cover Design © LFD Designs For Authors
Darkening Dawn
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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