Author: JE PAYNE

—†— CHAPTER TWENTY—⸸— The Trapped Spirit The walk to St. Marys should have been peaceful. Fresh snow crunching under our feet, the late afternoon sun cutting through the clouds in those rare winter moments. Should...

—†— CHAPTER NINETEEN—⸸— It’s Just Sarah I don’t know how long I sat there. It was long enough for the headache to fade though, and slip into a deep sleep. When I finally opened my eyes,...

—†— CHAPTER EIGHTEEN —⸸— Inscribing Coins And 45 ACP I headed upstairs to the apartment, Sarah following behind me. The light coming through the windows had shifted from pre-dawn gray to proper morning, pale winter sunlight cutting...

—†— CHAPTER SEVENTEEN—⸸— A Late Night Visitor The office had settled into an almost peaceful quiet. I sat in my chair, leaning back with my eyes half-closed, letting the exhaustion from the fight wash over...

—†— CHAPTER SIXTEEN —⸸— Once Fallen From Grace I don’t know how long I was out. Could have been an hour, maybe two. The office had grown darker while I slept, the streetlights outside casting...

—†— CHAPTER FIFTEEN —⸸— The Awakening She looked up at me from where she sat on the floor, surrounded by the Codex windows we’d been studying. Dark circles hung under her eyes like bruises....

—†— CHAPTER FOURTEEN —⸸— The Spirit And The Priest Father Marcus sat alone in the rectory, his hands wrapped around a cup of tea that had long since gone cold. The small room adjacent to the sacristy...

—†— CHAPTER THIRTEEN —⸸— Blood And The Arcane I woke to the sound of voices. My face pressed against something soft. A pillow. The floor beneath me was hard and cold. I tried to open...

—†— CHAPTER TWELVE —⸸— The Missing Father I made it back to the office and found my name painted across the window in shiny metallic letters, just like they’d promised. I pulled out the key...

—†— CHAPTER ELEVEN —⸸— Angels In Minnesota The afternoon light sat low and pale against the storefronts, the kind of thin winter light that didn’t seem to warm anything it touched. St. Cloud had a quiet to...