“Yes, Mary?”
“You mentioned how they discussed a metal called orichalcum in the legends, and that there’s still debate about whether it was platinum or some other alloy, maybe even magical. Have any of the ancient metals been established to have been real?”
Shay chuckled and couldn’t resist drawing from her other life. “Adamantine, long thought fictional, is a real if very, very rare metal, but as to whether orichalcum is real, I don’t honestly know. Historians and archaeologists are still heavily debating that.” She clicked the presentation slides back to a picture of some coins. “Some of the traits associated with the metal suggest something magical in nature, and we might interpret ancient authors’ reports of it being mined out as a reflection of a lack of access to sources on Oriceran or some sort of Atlantean metallurgy magic that modified existing ores.” She sighed. “Right now, the problem is that we still have a lot of gaps in this history, but academics continue to reach out to Oriceran scholars in an attempt to learn more about the fine details of the Atlantean culture from a day-to-day perspective.”
Another student raised his hand.
“Yes?”
When the student asked if Poseidon had been real and an Atlantean, Shay couldn’t help but smile. They might be naïve kids who didn’t know about the darkness in the world, but perhaps they were better for it. They might be able to see truths that her blood-shrouded eyes would never spot.
Shay almost wanted to laugh. Over ten years as a killer, and she’d never thought she’d find something that gave her the same satisfaction.
I don’t know who the fuck I am anymore, and for once that doesn’t scare me.
Later that day, Shay loomed over Peyton’s shoulder in the office.
“Okay, you’ve had time to think about it, and time to set things up,” Shay commented. “We have both confirmed Randy is still looking for you. Even if he’s trying to be more subtle, he’s still there. It’s time for this scorpion to ask you a very simple question: Should I give in to my nature? The offer is still on the table.”
Peyton slowly shook his head. “It’s like I told you before… I just can’t bring myself to let that happen, even with everything he’s done.”
Shay nodded. “That means the only thing left is to divest him of his fortune. Even if he goes begging to your other relatives, he’ll be in a bad position.”
Peyton scrubbed a hand over his face. “Which means he’ll hunt twice as hard.”
“Randy’s not a hacker. All he can do is hire them, and without a lot of money, he won’t be able to.” Shay shrugged. “And I’m hoping he’ll finally take the fucking hint and give up.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
Shay’s expression darkened. “Then he’ll meet me again, long before he finds you, and the only ghost will be him a few seconds later.”
Peyton gave a grim nod and turned back to his keyboard. “Sorry, Randy. I really didn’t want it to go down this way.” He hit Enter and activated the script. “You tried to kill me, brother, so I’m doing the next best thing to you.”
FINIS
Author Notes - Martha Carr
Written August 7, 2018
The countdown begins till the move into the new house! Appraisal next week and an actual closing date, at last…
Plans are already afoot for big gatherings like a weekly Sunday dinner. When I lived in Chicago in a tiny apartment my kitchen was always full of people. If someone wanted something out of the stove, everyone on that side had to get up first. For the first time in my life, I will have an actual dining room. Okay, empty at first but not for long.
A fellow author already lives in my new subdivision and has the lowdown on gatherings. A friend emailed me with info about nearby yoga classes that are donation-based, and another group has started monthly dinners at different restaurants near my new home.
That’s what happens when we get bold enough to step out and make a change when things are okay but could be better. Doors fly open.
I like bold moves. I like writing my female lead characters as bold women who you would want as a friend and you know if there was trouble, they’d be running ahead of you to check it out. Bold moves take an internal operating system that doesn’t ask, what can I lose, but instead is forever curious about what could be gained.
A system that operates off trust that in the end things work out.
That’s how Michael Anderle and I work together, mixed with some swearing and a very healthy sense of humor. The swearing is just for fun too and I’d like to say it’s Anderle but if you’ve read The Leira Chronicles you know that would make me a fucking liar.
Things don’t go the way we want to all the time – covers are late, or a blurb needs to be rewritten or the wrong book is sent out. But, we look at what we can do to fix things, come up with solutions that put our readers first, ask for help from the right sources… and keep moving.
Doesn’t slow us down from looking for the next bold move and seeing how we can reach out to fans more, write more good books and just keep going. Even when we spend money on things that don’t pay off, we sort through it, take away some lessons, adjust, shake it off and see how we can optimize what we did do.
The results speak for themselves. We have some of the BEST FANS out there and the ranks are growing and we’re having a blast in the Facebook Fan Groups sharing our lives and giving away prizes and answering goofy polls, plus chatting about all those books.
Back to the topic of the new house. By hanging out with Anderle for the past
