Shadeland (The Ethereal Crossings, 1)

Shadeland: Book One of The Ethereal Crossings

  D.L. Miles

  Copyright 2012 by Devin Miles

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cover design by yocladesigns.com.

  More by D.L. Miles

  The Ethereal Crossings

  Shadeland

  Fenridge

  Northcliffe

  Glenbrook (coming soon)

  The Dark Origins

  Shimmering

  Igniting

  With Cross & Charm

  The Warden in the Gates

  Shimmering

  Of Noble Chains

  Threads of Chaos

  And don’t miss D.L. Miles’s upcoming serial novel Astral Bodies!

  Prologue

  “You’ll regret this!” she screamed. “I swear I’ll make you regret this bounty hunter!”

  The bounty hunter smashed the door shut after shoving the blue-haired creature inside. The house creaked in protest and a vine fell down over his arm. He brushed it off with a gruff movement, wincing as he reopened a wound the witch had given him.

  “You’re trapped, witch,” he shouted inside. “You won’t be making any more deals now.”

  He had expected her to cry out again, to scream and thrash against the door but she didn’t. She only laughed, “You think you can hold me here? You may be spell-marked, hunter, but I will learn every inch of this hole. There is nowhere anyone can hide from me!”

  He spun on his heel, knowing how right she was. The stars sparkled overhead, not giving away how screwed up the world had become.

  Ever since the freaks came out of hiding his business had been busier than ever. Though he liked to be busy with work, it was getting out of hand with all the vampires, werewolves and every other…Eidolon he had never heard of. The bounty hunter stretched his leg before jumping into his car, feeling the sting of a new tattoo; it might be sore now, but it had saved him from getting his ass kicked by that witch again. Being spell-marked would only protect him for so long from her power.

  His eyes fell over the house, the boarded up windows and the shingles falling off made it look haunted. Well, now it officially is, he thought. It was broken down and the yard was overrun with weeds, the only thing in the garden that looked like they may bloom was the roses set along the fence. He grunted, feeling an open slice on his back as he leaned further into the leather seat. His hand moved to turn the radio on, a voice buzzing into his ear.

  “This so called ‘revolution’,” came a male’s voice, “is really over, isn’t it Jill? I mean, what did they really want? And how can we give it to them? If it means they’ll leave us alone, I’m all for it!”

  “Joe,” said his female companion, Jill, “these creatures, these Eidolon’s, are not monsters. This isn’t some ‘revolution’ in the traditional sense, they aren’t here to…to take over, they’re just making their presence known to us. What’s wrong with that?”

  “That sounds like sympathizer talk!” Joe laughed. “But seriously, look what they’ve done to the world! New York City has had record lootings, Toronto has reported hundreds dead from the stadium fire…and right here in town we’ve had a few fires and even some assaults! If you ask me, they should have stayed in their little island in Bermuda.”

  “The humans are the ones looting,” Jill shouted. “You are the ones attacking us, attacking each other! And this isn’t a ‘revolution’, it’s…more of a coming out party. We are citizens too, and it’s time all you humans know about it! I’m sick of hiding! We outnumber you, yet you make all the decisions!”

  “Jill…” Joe said, obviously taken aback by his co-workers outburst. The bounty hunter clicked the radio off, hearing enough.

  “A coming out party, eh?” he pondered.

  With a turn of the key, the car roared to a start, and he looked ahead at the darkened road, only hearing a residual banging from the witches door. The bounty hunter shook his head and brushed his hair back with one hand as he pulled away from the house, wondering when he would have to come back here. He had a feeling he would be coming back to Ellengale very soon.