Chapter 26
At quarter past nine Doug was settling into seat 22A of Delta Flight 942 with a scheduled stop in Boston, continuing on to Portland. With his jacket off and draped across his lap, Doug leaned back, closed his eyes and tried not to think about Annie. But it wasn’t possible. His heart ached with her absence.
Chapter 25
Doug stood at the foot of the bed watching Annie sleep wondering how his 
life had come to this moment. Ten years gone. From where he stood right now it felt like another life entirely, not his and Annie’s life. They’d been happy, hadn’t they? Or was it all some sort of illusion. Now, suddenly all his hopes and dreams were in jeopardy. Annie had come under the spell of some terrible darkness, factions beyond his worst nightmares wanted his firstborn for reasons yet unclear, De Roché wanted him dead; the hammer blow could come at any moment. The man might not be mortal, perhaps he wasn’t even human. And if he wasn’t human then what of Annie? If she’d come from the seed of a monster then what was she? And what of their unborn child? Suddenly there were far too many questions without answers. Grief wanted to drive him to his knees, but he knew now, more than ever before in his life, that he had to be strong.
Hey, readers. Just a little update on the status of Soul Thief. It’s been a couple of weeks since I uploaded a new chapter. Sorry about that, but things have been crazy around here and I have a gazillion projects going all at once. I’m frantically trying to finish my novel, Cross my Heart and Hope to Die, before Halloween. (It’s a personal goal) Also I’m working on three new stories. Two that will accompany my novella, The Holocaust Opera which is being published by Damnation Books in March of 2011, and one that will be published in a magazine that I cannot name yet. It’s a secret and very exciting. Plus I’ve been working on converting some of my books to audio format. I’m attempting to read them myself and it’s a challenge, but also a lot of fun. Some of them should be available in the near future on sites like I-tunes and various other sites. I’ll keep you posted.
So, as a bonus, this week I have added two long chapters to Soul Thief. Chapter 23 and Chapter 24. Both can be found just below this message. Again, thanks for bearing with me on this. I look forward to your comments.
Cheers,
Mark
Chapter 24
Inside the church the atmosphere was heavy with the scent of flowers. A fat woman in a rose-spattered dress sat at a gigantic pipe organ playing softly. The trio was led by ushers to reserved seats in front, but first they passed by the coffin which stood open.
Chapter 23
The funeral attracted many onlookers. The service was held in a large church surrounded by a huge cemetery. Scores of people were in attendance, so many that most had to stand outside, for there wasn’t room inside the massive cathedral for everyone.