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Book: Broken Dragon (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern, Book 3) by D.W. Moneypenny
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Authors: D.W. Moneypenny
Tags: Contemporary Fantasy
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restaurants and bars, so he pressed the accelerator a bit. A quick pickup might lead to a good tip. Just as he passed the speed limit by about five miles, a man in a suit and tie ran out of the shadows of a darkened storefront, directly into the path of his yellow Crown Victoria.
Rory slammed on the brakes, sending the car shimmying side to side, but still careening forward with a loud squeal that ended with a sickening thump. The suited man’s body flew more than twenty feet down Hawthorne, where it landed facedown on the center line between the lanes.
Before the cab driver could heave himself from the taxi, several pedestrians from both sides of the street ran into the middle. When Rory approached, he said to the group, “Any of you guys a doctor or nurse? If not, you folks need to back up and give the guy some air. I’ve got the cops and an ambulance on the way.”
A tall college kid in an orange hoodie squatted down, turned over the body and said, “This guy isn’t going to need an ambulance.”
Rory sucked in his breath, bracing himself for the worst, and pulled the college kid out of the way. Lying on the pavement, face up, was the man in the suit. On his lapel was one of those stick-on label name tags with Cameron handwritten on it. Except it wasn’t a man. Where his face should have been was a mass of metal filaments, circuitry and what looked like flickering optical fiber. His legs and hips looked more warped than broken, and there was no blood, although something wet and milky leaked out of his ears.
A loud piercing scream made Rory jump.
A few feet beyond the crowd, which had parted to see what the commotion was about, stood a woman pointing a trembling finger at some debris on the roadway. “It’s his face!”
CHAPTER 11
Mara shook her head while slipping her laptop into its carrying case, which she had on the end of her bed. Rumbles ran through the walls and giggles floated up from downstairs as Sam chased his daughter from the kitchen into the living room. Mornings certainly seemed much noisier with a brother from an alternate realm and a niece from the future in the house. Mara zipped up the case, pulled the strap over her shoulder and turned to walk from her bedroom.
The leather book, the Chronicle of Continuity, sitting on the corner of her desk, caught her eye. She had not given it much thought over the weekend.
She picked it up. Absentmindedly she cradled it in the crook of her hand and flipped open the cover. A couple pages fanned into the air and then settled, displaying one of the passages in Mara’s handwriting. She frowned at it. This haiku had not been there before.
Forget all the fears
Preventing you from learning.
Exchange memories.
She flipped forward and found nothing but blank pages. This was the only addition to the book, sitting on the page across from the previous passage about passengers, dragon’s folly and trails of mist.
From the kitchen downstairs, Diana yelled, “Sam, turn on the TV, and see what the weatherman says about this afternoon. If it’s going to be really bad, I may need to take Hannah shopping for something a little more insulated and waterproof than the jacket she has.”
The commotion downstairs snapped Mara back to reality. She closed the book and slid it into the side pocket of her laptop case. Walking down the stairs, she said to no one in particular, “I guess the quiet Monday mornings are gone forever.”
Diana met her at the bottom of the stairs with a cup of coffee and said, “You’re late. If you want something to eat, you’ll need to fix it yourself and make sure you clean up your mess before you go.”
Mara took the cup. “This will do me.”
She followed her mother into the living room and sat next to her on the couch. They glanced at the muted television set for a second, but an oatmeal commercial was on.
Across the room Sam and Hannah sat together wedged into an armchair. He held something between two fingers above the
Rory slammed on the brakes, sending the car shimmying side to side, but still careening forward with a loud squeal that ended with a sickening thump. The suited man’s body flew more than twenty feet down Hawthorne, where it landed facedown on the center line between the lanes.
Before the cab driver could heave himself from the taxi, several pedestrians from both sides of the street ran into the middle. When Rory approached, he said to the group, “Any of you guys a doctor or nurse? If not, you folks need to back up and give the guy some air. I’ve got the cops and an ambulance on the way.”
A tall college kid in an orange hoodie squatted down, turned over the body and said, “This guy isn’t going to need an ambulance.”
Rory sucked in his breath, bracing himself for the worst, and pulled the college kid out of the way. Lying on the pavement, face up, was the man in the suit. On his lapel was one of those stick-on label name tags with Cameron handwritten on it. Except it wasn’t a man. Where his face should have been was a mass of metal filaments, circuitry and what looked like flickering optical fiber. His legs and hips looked more warped than broken, and there was no blood, although something wet and milky leaked out of his ears.
A loud piercing scream made Rory jump.
A few feet beyond the crowd, which had parted to see what the commotion was about, stood a woman pointing a trembling finger at some debris on the roadway. “It’s his face!”
CHAPTER 11
Mara shook her head while slipping her laptop into its carrying case, which she had on the end of her bed. Rumbles ran through the walls and giggles floated up from downstairs as Sam chased his daughter from the kitchen into the living room. Mornings certainly seemed much noisier with a brother from an alternate realm and a niece from the future in the house. Mara zipped up the case, pulled the strap over her shoulder and turned to walk from her bedroom.
The leather book, the Chronicle of Continuity, sitting on the corner of her desk, caught her eye. She had not given it much thought over the weekend.
She picked it up. Absentmindedly she cradled it in the crook of her hand and flipped open the cover. A couple pages fanned into the air and then settled, displaying one of the passages in Mara’s handwriting. She frowned at it. This haiku had not been there before.
Forget all the fears
Preventing you from learning.
Exchange memories.
She flipped forward and found nothing but blank pages. This was the only addition to the book, sitting on the page across from the previous passage about passengers, dragon’s folly and trails of mist.
From the kitchen downstairs, Diana yelled, “Sam, turn on the TV, and see what the weatherman says about this afternoon. If it’s going to be really bad, I may need to take Hannah shopping for something a little more insulated and waterproof than the jacket she has.”
The commotion downstairs snapped Mara back to reality. She closed the book and slid it into the side pocket of her laptop case. Walking down the stairs, she said to no one in particular, “I guess the quiet Monday mornings are gone forever.”
Diana met her at the bottom of the stairs with a cup of coffee and said, “You’re late. If you want something to eat, you’ll need to fix it yourself and make sure you clean up your mess before you go.”
Mara took the cup. “This will do me.”
She followed her mother into the living room and sat next to her on the couch. They glanced at the muted television set for a second, but an oatmeal commercial was on.
Across the room Sam and Hannah sat together wedged into an armchair. He held something between two fingers above the
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