Joanne curled her hands around mine and pulled me to my feet. I was four inches shorter, twenty years younger, and with far less magical aptitude than she, but she punched my shoulder like we were equals. “You okay?”
“I think so.”
“Good. There’s a diner with the best milkshakes in Washington about twenty or thirty miles back up the road. Let’s go there and you can tell me all the ways you’re more awesome than I am.” She turned and slipped back down the mountainside, sending scree in bouncing waves before her. I followed more slowly, testing muscle and reflex reactions in the wake of the beating I’d taken. Nothing hurt anymore. I felt like I was fresh out of bed, ready to face the day.
I picked up a tiny stone and winged it at Joanne, catching her on the butt. She yelped, rubbed it, and turned around. “What was that for?”
“I just wanted to say if I had to slay the demon, you’re buying the milkshakes.”
Joanne grinned and waited for me to catch up. Then she slung an arm around my shoulders and tipped her head toward the distant diner. “Absolutely, darlin’. It’s a date.”
We hobbled down the hill together, and went for milkshakes.
Also by C.E. Murphy
Urban Shaman
Winter Moon*
Thunderbird Falls
Coyote Dreams
Walking Dead
Demon Hunts
Spirit Dances
Raven Calls
Mountain Echoes
No Dominion**
Shaman Rises (Dec 2013)
*contains the novella “Banshee Cries”
**A Garrison Report
Heart of Stone
House of Cards
Hands of Flame
The Old Races: Origins
The Old Races: Year of Miracles
The Old Races: Aftermath
Baba Yaga’s Daughter & Other Tales of the Old Races
Truthseeker
Wayfinder
The Queen’s Bastard
The Pretender’s Crown
Easy Pickings
A Walker Papers/Jane Yellowrock rossover novella
Don’t Read This Book
Dragon’s Lure
The Phantom Queen Awakes
Running with the Pack
How to Write Magical Words: A Writer’s Companion
Acknowledgements
There are literally hundreds of people to thank for NO DOMINION, but some of you have earned a special and particular shout-out:
Russ Smith, a long-time friend who was NO DOMINION’s first backer
Chrysoula Tzavelas, another long-time friend who mananged to sneak in as the last pledge/upgrade
Bryant Durrell, without whom none of my crowdfunding projects would have ever happened, and who also tipped this crazy ride over the $20K mark
Erica Olson, who told me to squee more
Fred Hicks/Evil Hat Publishing, for the InDesign tutorials that helped put this book in your hands
Mary-Theresa Hussey, my Walker Papers editor, who not only edited NO DOMINION as well, but whose faith and interest in the project was such that she bought in—even after I told her I’d send her a copy of it anyway
Kyle Cassidy & Charles Summerfield, for bringing Gary to life in the cover art
Patrick S. Dixon, Angie Middleton & Paul-Gabriel Wiener, for lending me photography for the calendar
Jim Hameister, for going above and beyond the call of duty
Tom & Rosie Murphy, my parents, who not only did beta-reading & editorial commentary on NO DOMINION, but babysat as well, which became critical as the story ballooned from a 30K novella to a 60K book
and
Ted Lee, my husband, who was serenely confident that in fact everyone would like to read Gary’s story, and who was, as usual, right.
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