Spirited (34 page)

Dahla held up the shining soul. “Are you the one called Late? I have brought this to you. It is your soul.”

My soul?

The shadow stepped into the light, and Dahla saw the gargoyle for the first time, stooped and hunched, with bedraggled black wings, fanged teeth, and one dead eye.

My soul was cut from me many years ago. I have no need for it back. This is my home. This is where I belong. The souled have no place here. Go away, you troublemaker. Quit haunting me with long-lost foolishness.

Hearing the harsh and hateful words, Dahla thought for one moment that she had been wrong about the beauty of this soul, but the way the glow brightened in her hands made her know that it did indeed belong to him. “This is yours,” she said, coming close to him. “I come from the Sunlit Lands to return it.”

Late frowned and arched his wings over his head, taking a threatening step toward her.
Do you not fear me? Do you not think I am a monster? A gargoyle? I gave up my humanity to save a woman who cared nothing for me. Why should you, whom I do not even know, whom I have done nothing for, care about my abandoned soul?

At the bitterness and sorrow in his voice, tears sprang to Dahla’s eyes. “I do not know what made you into a gargoyle, but I have seen the beauty in your soul. I’m not afraid of you. You are not what you look like. You are what lies in your soul. You gave it for a foolish woman. I am not a fool. I don’t care what you appear to be. I care who you are.”

With a trembling claw-tipped hand, Late took the soul from Dahla. Suddenly he was surrounded by a bright glow. His wings fell away in a flutter of black feathers. His fangs became human teeth. His dead eye blinked into life. His color, his warmth, flooded into him until he was again himself.

The Caretaker materialized before them.
You are back with us, Late.

Late looked down at himself, astonished. “I am myself again.” He looked at Dahla. “You did this to me… for me…”

Dahla lowered her head. “I fell in love with the man whose soul that was, the beauty in him. It broke my heart that it was lost to my foolish mother. I thought if it were returned, my love would be returned. My heart breaks again that I was wrong.” She turned to go.

Late caught the girl’s arm. “You are Lady Tresska’s daughter?”

She nodded, not looking at him. “I am.”

Putting a gentle hand to her chin to bring her eyes up to meet his, Late smiled down at her and said, “I never thought to see anyone more beautiful than she… until now.”

With a gasp, Dahla gazed into his eyes.

The Caretaker nodded at the boy.
Did I not tell you that the Sunlit places had much to offer? Go with her, Late, and live your allotted time. I promise you that when it is time for you to return here, you will come together, and you will never be alone again.

Late kissed Dahla then, and as his soul blazed within, strengthened by her love, he could again face the Sunlit Lands.

~*~*~

~*~*~*

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Author Biographies

Dawn Dalton
wrote her first monster book at the age of eight, when she discovered writing about them was way less scary than looking for the beasties under her bed. Since then, she’s still leery of things that go bump in the night, but she’d like to think her creepy storytelling skills have improved. After earning a degree in Journalism, Dawn ventured into communications, marketing, and public relations. But her heart has always belonged to fiction.

Though she’ll forever be a BC girl, Dawn now lives in Edmonton, Alberta, with her husband, teenage stepdaughter, and three bullmastiff hounds. When she isn’t working on her latest paranormal story, you can find her reading, watching
The Princess Bride
(again), or indulging in her unhealthy addiction to reality TV. Fans can visit her at
www.dawnmdalton.blogspot.com
.

Dawn also writes adult thriller and paranormal romance under the last name IUS. For more information about her latest adult releases, see
www.dawn-ius.blogspot.com
.

Shannon Delany
was first published in 8th grade with a short science fiction story and greatly enjoyed returning to her roots to write “To Hel and Back.” Delany is currently best known for her
13 to Life
series (teenage, love, loss and—oh, yeah—werewolves!) which was nominated for a YALSA Teen Top Ten and began as the winner of the first-ever cell phone novel contest in the western world. Delany now writes, researches, gives workshops, and raises heritage livestock on her small farm in upstate New York, not far from a town very much like Junction but worlds away from Camp 13. Learn more about Shannon at
http://www.shannondelany.com/
.

Mark Finnemore
lives in California with his beautiful wife Panji, who helped him learn that even the rockiest road can lead to a happy ending. Mark has had short stories published and is currently working on the finishing touches of a novel titled
Love & Taxes
, which he hopes will one day be not only finished, but published and found at your local bookstore as well. Visit Mark at
www.mythic-picnic.com
or
www.genre-trash.com
or
www.love-and-taxes.com
.

Karl Gee
has always worked with design and technology and currently teaches both subjects in upstate New York. He brings his ever-expanding know-how to “To Hel and Back” in the form of Augmented Reality extras. Just go to the website, hold up the icon, and see Shannon Delany’s vision brought to multiple dimensions. To learn more about Karl’s work, visit him at
www.KGeeCreations.com
.

Judith Graves
, author of the
Skinned
trilogy—
Under My Skin
,
Second Skin
, and
Skin of My Teeth
—
reads as much as she writes, devouring at least two books a week. She loves heated debates over character motives. She’s been kicked out of several book clubs for just this reason, but she remains unfazed by book club drama and is furiously writing more paranormal stories. Which hopefully, you’ll read.

Working in a school library, Judith is surrounded by children’s and young adult literature (there’s no escape!). She fosters the joy of reading in students and staff at her school. She helps out with the school choir and drama club. If it has to do with words or music, Judith is around. A singer/songwriter for more than ten years, Judith often writes songs about her characters—because they are beasties of the night, this makes for interesting listening.
www.judithgraves.com

Candace Havens
is a bestselling author of six novels for Berkley—
Charmed & Dangerous
,
Charmed & Ready
,
Charmed & Deadly
,
Like a Charm
,
The Demon King and I
, and
Dragons Prefer Blondes
. Her books for the Blaze line of Harlequin include
The Model Marine
,
Take Me If You Dare
,
Truth and Dare
, and
She Who Dares
,
Wins
. Her books have received nominations for RITAs, the Holt Medallion, and Write Touch Reader Awards. She is the author of the biography
Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy
and a contributor to several anthologies. As one of the nation’s leading entertainment journalists, Candace has interviewed countless celebrities, including Tom Hanks, Nicolas Cage, Tom Cruise, George Clooney and many more. More than 600 newspapers across the country carry her entertainment columns. Candace also runs a free online writing workshop for more than 1800 writers and teaches comprehensive writing class. She does film reviews with the Dorsey Gang on New Country 96.3, and is the president of the Television Critics Association.

Heather Kenealy
Writing since she was a bored nine year old, Heather Kenealy is now a screenwriter from Studio City, whose second big screen film is an adaptation of a very popular video game from the UK. She’s the winner of the Cinescape short fiction contest 2007 and of
The Seekers
competition for MTV Comics and POW! Entertainment to write a graphic novel based on one of Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee’s original ideas. In her spare time, Heather plays X-Men rpgs and reads comic books, and at Hallowe’en, she’s a performer at Universal Studios’ Hallowe’en Horror Nights.

Kitty Keswick
grew up on her grandfather’s California vineyard, where her imagination was her best friend. At a very tender age, she started writing her stories and reading them to the grapes. Kitty has been an Anglophile since age four when she saw Robin Hood and fell head over heels in love. Robin Hood inspired the hero of her first book,
Freaksville
, part of a trilogy that includes
Furry and Freaked
and
Freaked No More
. Kitty lives with a bossy tabby cat and maybe even a few ghosts. She spends her days with werewolves, Valkyries, vamps and other creatures that go bump in the night. Kitty is also the proud owner of an Indie bookstore in Peru, Indiana. Visit her at
www.kittykeswick.com
.

Halli Dee Lilburn
is a writer, artist, librarian, and mother of three beautiful, busy children. She wants to
feel
like an artist, but it gets pretty hard when folding laundry or scrubbing toilets. Her writing career blossomed when her youngest went off to public school, and she found six extra hours a day to write. She lives on a small farm, homesteaded by her grandparents, in the middle of nowhere, Alberta, Canada. Publishing credits included various literary journals and magazines such as
Grey Sparrow Journal
,
Poetry Quarterly
,
Canadian Stories
, and
Canada’s History Magazine
as well as a young adult speculative fiction novel,
Shifters
(Imajin Publishing). Genres included in her repertoire are poetry, mid-grade chapter books, young adult, contemporary, and creative non-fiction. Find her on her blog at
hallililburn.blogspot.com
and on twitter @hallilburn.

John W. Otte
is a Lutheran minister. He attended Concordia University in St. Paul, where he majored in theatre before going on to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He lives in South St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and sons. He joined the American Christian Fiction Writers in 2006. His debut novel,
Failstate
(Marcher Lord Press) stars a teenage superhero who tries to avenge a fallen comrade while competing on a reality TV show. John has a blog called
The Least Read Blog
at
www.johnwotte.com
, which features book, video game, and movie reviews.

Linda Joy Singleton
is the author of more than thirty-five books, including THE SEER series, DEAD GIRL trilogy, and BURIED: Goth Girl Mystery. Free short stories, a contest, book excerpts, and writing advice, can be found at
www.LindaJoySingleton.com
.

Maria V. Snyder
switched careers from meteorologist to novelist when she began writing the
New York Times
best-selling Study Series (
Poison Study, Magic Study
, and
Fire Study
) about a young woman who becomes a poison taster. Born Pennsylvania, Maria earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Meteorology from Pennsylvania State University. She worked as an environmental meteorologist until boredom and children drove her to write down the stories that have been swirling around in her head. Writing proved to be more enjoyable, and Maria returned to school to earn a Master of Arts degree in writing from Seton Hill University. Unable to part company with Seton Hill’s excellent writing program, Maria is currently a teacher and mentor for the MFA program.

However, Maria’s meteorological degree did not go to waste, nope, not at all. And to prove it to her parents… er… because she is still fascinated with the weather, she was able to play with the weather while writing her award-winning Glass Series
(Storm Glass
,
Sea Glass
, and
Spy Glass
) about a magician who can capture magic inside her glass creations.

Maria’s environmental experience also did not go to waste. Her tree-hugging… er… concern about the environment comes out in her Insider books (
Inside Out
and
Outside In
). Trella’s world is completely contained and they must reuse and recycle
everything
. One thing they got right in this otherwise messed-up, dystopian world.