The Passage of Pearl Read online

  When a special agent comes into the bookstore Justin works in looking for ‘The Gates of Dawn’ and tells him that it’s a dangerous artefact that needs to be destroyed, he isn’t sure what to think. The only thing he’s sure of is that he hasn’t been as discreet as he’d always believed and the sorceress has just offered him a legal citizenship if he’ll help her locate a book that isn’t real. She’s also mentioned that if he doesn’t help her, she’ll get him arrested and thrown in jail.

  So what choice does he have? Together they set off to locate a book that most likely doesn’t exist before it kills again.

  And there you are. That’s the general, spoiler-free synopsis for ‘The Gates of Dawn’ and why I needed to write ‘The Passage of Pearl’ first. I needed to know how the book worked and what it is in more detail.

  Acknowledgements

  My thanks go to the Crowdfunding Creative Jam on Dreamwidth and to jjhunter in particular for the prompt. My thanks also go to Clare K. R. Miller, Becca Lusher, M. “Pantha” Cleaton and others who prefer to remain anonymous for their wonderful beta reading efforts. Thank you! I could not have made this story as creepy as it is without you!

  My thanks also go to everyone who’s put up with me pestering them about what kind of additional information they’d like in a book like this.

  About the Author

  Lynn O’Connacht has an MA in English literature and creative writing, but wouldn’t call herself an authority on either. She currently resides on the European continent and her idiom and spelling are, despite her best efforts, geographically confused, poor things. Her tastes are equally eclectic, though fantasy will always be her first love. She has been chasing stories one way or another since she was old enough to follow a narrative.

  Connect with Lynn online:

  http://www.leoconnacht.com

  http://twitter.com/lynnoconnacht

  Thank you for reading!

  Books by Lynn

  Courage Is the Price

  Feather by Feather and Other Stories

  The Passage of Pearl

  A Promise Broken

  Tales of the Little Engine

  Copyright 2014 © Lynn E. O’Connacht. All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Lynn E. O’Connacht.

  Cover art by Sergey Nivens from shutterstock.com.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  This file is licensed for private individual entertainment only. The book contained herein constitutes a copyrighted work and may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into an information retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electrical, mechanical, photographic, audio recording, or otherwise) for any reason (excepting the uses permitted to the licensee by copyright law under terms of fair use) without the specific written permission of the author.

  Please report errors to Lynn E. O’Connacht at [email protected] so that they can be corrected in future versions. She would also love to hear comments!