Luke Irontree & the Last Vampire War (Books 8-10), page 32
“I’m sorry we haven’t had a chance to really talk much. I’ve just been so tired,” Luke said. He felt unaccountably nervous. It had only been a few weeks since he’d seen Maggie in Paris and sent her home with the bulk of their forces, but he wanted to ensure they reconnected and continued working out the new dynamic of him being in a relationship with Roxi.
“That’s OK. Just being next to you is welcome. How are you feeling?” Maggie asked, a soft smile on her face. He thought he saw a bit of trepidation in her eyes.
“A bit better. It’s good to be up here. It feels rejuvenating.”
Maggie chuckled. “You’ve sure spent enough time up here recovering from various wounds and ailments.”
They walked along in silence, holding hands.
“So,” Maggie broke the silence, “how are things going with Roxi?”
“Good. Though it certainly hasn’t been a typical courtship. I mean, unless you count international vampire wars as normal dating stuff.”
“I would not consider that a normal dating situation. Do you want to keep dating her?” Maggie sounded tentative and nervous.
“I do. I think at this point it’s gone beyond just dating.”
“How do you feel about it?”
“Good. I love her, Maggie.”
“I’m happy for you, Luke. You deserve to have a partner.”
Luke nodded. “I still want to keep seeing you, too. I mean, if you still want to keep seeing me. I know I’m not the easiest person to date. You know, with everything I’m involved with.” He gestured vaguely around him.
“I love you, Luke. I don’t want to stop seeing you, but how does Roxi feel about it?”
“She’s known since the beginning that I’m involved with you and that I love you. We’ve talked about it. She has no opposition to polyamory.” Luke chuckled. “She’s probably like I was before you and I started dating. I don’t think she’s had any relationships in a long time. So, she is not inclined to seek out another relationship, but who knows when she gets settled what she’ll want? Right now, she wants to be with me and is happy for the relationship you and I have.”
Maggie stopped and stepped in front of Luke, reaching up and holding his cheeks in her hands. She tipped her head up for a kiss, which he gladly reciprocated.
“I was worried that since you’d found someone so compatible, that you might not be interested in seeing me anymore,” Maggie said.
“I love you, Maggie. I want to be with you.”
“Good. That makes me happy. I never wanted to deny you a primary partner. I’m so thrilled for you. Roxi seems to adore you. We can work out the details to make sure everyone is satisfied.” Maggie kissed him again.
“I missed your lips.” Luke, his eyes hooded, gave her a soft smile.
Maggie quirked up an eyebrow and one side of her lips. “Just my lips?”
“I missed everything about you, Maggie.”
“If your energy holds up, we’ll have to see how much you missed me.”
Luke laughed at her audaciousness. “I’d like that very much.”
Stopping periodically to kiss, they walked around the trail until it reemerged back in the meadow next to the farmhouse. Luke stopped for another round of beers for him and Maggie, then joined her at the table where Zel and Roxi were talking animatedly in a language Luke didn’t know, though he guessed it was one of the many languages spoken in the South Asian subcontinent. It appeared they’d hit it off. Watching them brought a smile to Luke’s lips. He hoped they’d become friends.
Luke looked around the table at the people he considered his family—Gwen, Pablo, Sam, Delilah and Simone, Maggie, and Roxi—and felt the last of the spiritual weariness that had plagued him for a while wither. He’d nearly lost them all, nearly lost everything. They still might lose everything, but for now, he put those thoughts away for when they could be more carefully examined.
Right now, it was good to be home.
Luke Irontree will return in Ancient Sword Unyielding
Available Now!
Keep reading for a brief excerpt
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank all the people who made this book possible.
Suzanne, your editorial eye has made this book and series infinitely better. Your belief in my vision for these characters has made this a kick ass team effort.
Ravven, your covers are amazing and really capture the essence of Luke and his world.
Amy, you’re my alpha reader and my proofreader. These books wouldn’t be possible without you.
Alan Silverwood, you’re copy edits have really polished this book.
To my critique group, thank you for all your hard work. Your eyes and efforts have made my writing better.
ANCIENT SWORD UNYIELDING
C. Thomas Lafollette
* * *
A Broken World Publication
13820 NE Airport Way
Suite #K395495
Portland, OR 97251-1158
Ancient Sword Unyielding
Copyright © 2023 by C. Thomas Lafollette
ISBN 978-1-949410-91-4 (ebook);
ISBN 978-1-949410-92-1 (paperback)
* * *
Cover Design: Ravven
Developmental Editing by: Suzanne Lahna
Copy/Line Editing & Proofreading: Amy Cissell
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author at editors@brokenworldpublishing.com.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
To Suzanne
We’ve come a long way since I sent you a short novella to edit four years ago. One more, and we’ve finished a whole series together!
Pronunciation Guide & Author’s Notes
Pronunciation: Latin names and words are mentioned throughout the book and are intended to be read with the classical Latin pronunciation. For instance, “c” is always pronounced hard, like a “k.” “U” is always a short “oo” sound. “V” typically sounds like a “w.” If you wish to go deeper, here's a link from Loyola University of Chicago.
Lucius – Loo-kih-oos
Silvanius – Sihl-wahn-ih-oos
Ferrata – Fehr-rah-tah
Jung-sook — Yoong-sook
Roxiustanta - Roks-see-oo-stahn-nah
Surena - Ser-rehn-nah
Selene - Sehl-lee-nee
Le Mousquetaire - Ley Moos-keh-tare
Ahriman - Ah-ree-mahn
Saubarag - Sow-buh-ragk
Latin Words: Latin words are used for effect and to add to the “flavor” of the story, not to reflect Latin grammar, declensions, or conjugations.
Contents: This book contains some gore and body horror. There is also gun, sword violence, and death.
Chapter
One
Luke stared out over the sagebrush and bunchgrass from the ranch’s observation deck, his heart beating faster than it had a right to while standing still. Next to him, Gwen raised a set of binoculars to her eyes.
“She’s going awfully fast…” a woman said, a tremulous note in her voice. “Are you sure she’s an experienced rider?”
“Very,” Luke replied, curtly. He inhaled, then sighed quietly. Trying to be patient with the woman, he reminded himself that their request was a bit unusual. It was a riding and archery school, but they usually required a person to already own their own horse. “She’s a highly skilled equestrian and archer. Your horse is in good hands.”
He’d offered a sizable payment to grease the wheels with the owners of the ranch so Roxi could use one of their horses, though it had been conditional on their final approval after meeting Roxi.
Roxi wove through the junipers and the ponderosa pines, she and the horse hitting their stride as they neared the first target. He looked up at the monitor affixed to a post, along with a bank of several other monitors showing targets spread out over the course.
His chest tightened as he held his breath. Roxi, her curly black hair flying out from under the rim of the riding helmet, rose in her saddle, her legs absorbing the motion of the smooth gait of the horse. As she approached the target, she drew back smoothly and released. Exhaling explosively, he smiled as the first arrow plunged into the center of the target. Gwen squeaked and clapped a few times, returning the binoculars to her eyes to follow Roxi to the next target.
Flying through the course, her control of the horse and the terrain complete, Roxi smoothly bullseyed one target after another to the mumbled approvals of the owner of the ranch. Once she reached the end of the course, she smoothly slowed the horse and guided it along the trail back toward the deck.
When she drew close enough, Luke smiled, responding to the broad grin on Roxi’s face. Gwen clapped and waved at Roxi.
The owner of the ranch, Wanda, joined Gwen’s enthusiastic applause. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone that fast or on target, and certainly not on their first go through the course.”
Luke smirked but kept his eyes firmly planted on the woman he loved.
“Can you ride and shoot like that, too?” Wanda asked.
“No, lance and sword were my weapons of choice,” he mumbled.
“What? I’m sorry, I didn’t quite hear you.”
He shook his head at himself, focusing himself before he revealed any of their other oddities. He’d gotten used to being around people who knew who he was, people he didn’t need to hide who he was from.
“I said I never could get the knack for riding and archery. And she’s a better rider than I am. She was practically born in a saddle. I came to riding later in life.”
“Hmph,” Wanda vocalized, her attention switching back to Roxi. “You were brilliant, dear.”
Roxi dismounted, stroking the horse’s neck as she walked to the railing and tied it down. “Thanks! I felt rusty out there. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to ride and shoot.”
Wanda chuckled. “If that’s your rusty, what can you do when you’re in practice?”
“I’m faster, and I can put two or three on target,” Roxi replied, removing her helmet and wiping the sweat from her brow.
“What?” Wanda furrowed her brow, then laughed nervously. “Oh, you’re joking.”
Roxi smiled indulgently, then laughed along with Wanda. Neither Roxi nor Luke would be winning points for fitting in and acting like normal people today.
“Well, if you’re ready, we can saddle up a couple more horses and start the lessons,” Wanda said, nodding toward Gwen.
Gwen looked nervously between Luke and Roxi.
The corner of one side of Luke’s lip quirked up knowingly. “Would you mind if I let Roxi show me around the course while you get Gwen started?”
“Not at all,” Wanda replied.
Luke squeezed Gwen’s shoulder. “Be sure to pay attention to all the steps and listen to Wanda.”
“Ugh. I know. I’m good at following directions,” Gwen said.
He could practically hear the eye roll in his sixteen-year-old ward’s voice. “I know.”
“She’s in good hands, Luke,” Wanda said, a reassuring smile spreading across her face. “As long as you take good care of my horses…”
“I may not be as exceptional as Roxi, but I’m a very experienced horseman,” Luke replied.
“I’ll keep an eye on him for you, Wanda.” Roxi caught his eye and winked.
Wanda chuckled and led them down to a trio of waiting horses. One was hers, while another—described as slow, patient, and steady—was set aside specifically for Gwen. A tall roan gelding awaited Luke with a calm but slightly wary eye.
Luke pulled an apple from his pocket, cut it in half with a pocketknife, and held out one half on his flat palm. The gelding quickly lipped it into his mouth, crunching it up while eying the other half. Stroking the horse’s cheek, Luke let him finish the remainder of his bribe.
“He knows how to earn trust,” Wanda commented to Roxi.
Soon, Luke settled the blanket on the gelding’s back and had the saddle cinched tight. Roxi, who’d already untied her horse and led it away from the deck, waited for him patiently. He cast a final glance toward Gwen, who was listening raptly as Wanda introduced her to the horse she’d be riding, before he untied his gelding and followed Roxi. When he drew abreast of her and her mare, he stepped into the stirrup and settled himself into the saddle, nudging the gelding into a walk as Roxi set her horse to walking next to him.
She waited until they were out of earshot of the young werewolf before speaking. “Didn’t want to watch her lesson?”
“No, I did, but I think she was nervous about being bad in front of us, so I decided it would be better to leave Wanda to it.”
“But she let you teach her how to fight, and she didn’t know anything then, right?” Her brow furrowed in question.
“Yes, but she’s not an eleven-year-old girl with nothing going on in her life anymore. Also, after your blazing display of speed and skill, she was a bit intimidated about riding in front of you.”
“Hmm.” Roxi said, staring forward as she nudged her horse up to a trot. She remained silent for a while. “I figured she’d want us to teach her since we’re both far more experienced than Wanda.”
Luke chuckled. “I’ve never taught a young girl to ride before. I’ve only forged horse soldiers.”
“You taught her the sword.”
“Yeah, but the situation has changed. Maybe when she feels a little more comfortable after a few lessons, she’ll be ready for us to take over.”
Roxi nodded, picking up the speed of their ride again. He looked ahead but flicked his eyes toward Roxi to check on her. He’d picked up a disappointed note in her voice. Maybe he’d underestimated Roxi’s desire to teach Gwen how to ride, though it was probably more the chance to bond she wanted over the specific need to relay the skill.
“I hate these western saddles,” Roxi mumbled.
“If we’re going to do this regularly, we can see about getting some proper saddles, assuming we can even find what we’re looking for in the US.”
Roxi snorted. “I’ll just make my own. It’ll be cheaper and fit better.”
“I didn’t know you knew how to make saddles.”
Shrugging, she laid her hand on the horse’s neck. “It helped pass the time.”
He nodded along knowingly. During a nearly two-thousand-year life span, he’d learned all kinds of skills to burn time and keep his mind occupied, though saddle making had never been one of them. If he needed a new saddle, he’d just pay someone to make him a custom one.
“I’m going to take another pass through the course.” She pulled the bow from her hip case along with a handful of arrows and set the horse to running, pulling away from Luke.
He gave her a few moments to gain a lead before he nudged his horse into a run, following her at a respectful distance to allow her time to work through whatever she needed to at the moment. Maybe after punching a few arrows into targets, she’d be ready to talk to him.
She’d settled into his house relatively easily, though they’d both been exhausted and needed further time to recuperate after the injuries they’d sustained fighting the vampires, their werewolf henchpeople, and the dark entity in the mountains of Montana. They’d both needed the time and had settled into a lazy domestic bliss, though it had taken all three of them time to get used to being in the house and developing a schedule that worked for the two unemployed adults and the kid currently attending high school.
At the insistence of his friends, he’d taken the time, letting them handle rounding up any vampires they could find. He did regularly join their planning sessions and the higher-level meetings, so he was fully updated on the goings on in the post-vampire attack world of hijacked airplanes and unleashed baby vamps. He hadn’t even made a big fuss over stepping back, unlike the Luke of yesteryear. He’d only resumed leadership when they’d finally found an actionable piece of intelligence in the laptops they’d taken from Le Mousquetaire’s mansion.
So far, their social media campaign was going well with their vampire and vampire hunting videos racking up millions of views, though he didn’t know if the people watching were just there for kicks or actually trying to apply the skills in real life. Jamaal had been forced to increase his tech team to keep ahead of the constant hacker attacks and other attempts to shut down their servers or block people from accessing them.
They didn’t know who the hackers were. They could be vampires trying to keep their secrets safe, or possibly the government trying to maintain the fiction that the various tragedies and violent outbursts were related to drugs or terrorists.
With a quick shake of his head, he focused on Roxi’s hair flying out behind her. On a speeding horse, moving through trees was no time to get distracted. Taking a deep breath, he held it before exhaling, pushing out the tension in his chest that had started to tighten when his mind drifted toward the thoughts he was trying to escape during this little vacation to Bend and central Oregon. Soon enough, he’d have to attend to the next stage in their war against the vampires and the dark god that drove them.
Ahead of him, Roxi had found another gear and peppered the targets, managing two shots per. Sometimes, she’d delay until she passed the target, then turn and take the famous “Parthian Shot,” nailing the target as she retreated from it.
