Hard Day's Knight (Black Knight Chronicles) Read online

  “No promises on the biting,” I said as we started toward the waiting car.

  Greg limped past us, leaning on Mike and yelled “Shotgun!” back over his shoulder at us. I didn’t mind.

  “So there’s just one thing I don’t understand…” I said in a low voice as Sabrina and I walked down the steps into the glow of the sunrise.

  “Just one thing?” She asked. I punched her lightly on the arm, and she staggered a few steps sideways. Sometimes I forget that I’m not punching Greg.

  “When you were taken, and Mike got thrown out of the gym, he mumbled something about you being an innocent.”

  “Yeah?” She had that look that women get when I’m about to ask something that often ends up with me getting slapped.

  “And if I remember right, there were certain criteria for being a sacrifice to raise this demon, and one of them was a very specific brand of innocence.”

  “Yeah?” She repeated, and unlike Mike, Sabrina had obviously mastered the art of raising only one eyebrow.

  “So by being part of the sacrifice, does that mean…” I trailed off and Sabrina interrupted me.

  “Let’s put it this way, Jimmy-boy. If you finish the question, you’ll never know the answer.” She kissed me lightly on the lips, and we got in the car to go home, riding off into the sunrise like good vampire heroes.

  Acknowledgments

  I just wanted to take a few minutes to thank the folks that bought my first book, The Chosen, which was a heck of a learning experience. I applied some of that learning here and hopefully the book is the better for it. I once again owe a big thanks to Lindsay Birmingham for my fantastic cover, this time under a crazy deadline. And Rob Siders again proves to be the digital manipulation ninja for getting this out in ebook format.

  The folks on the KindleBoards forums were also a big help in my development as a writer and an independent self-promoter. If you’re looking for a great place to find new books, check them out.

  This book was written, like my others, with headphones screwed on tight, mostly to the soundtrack to the Broadway show American Idiot, with a lot of Ray Wylie Hubbard, Michael Franti and Roger Creager in the mix as well.

  About the Author

  John G. Hartness is the author of The Chosen, a novel, and Red Dirt Boy and Returning the Favor and other Slices of Life, collections of short stories and poetry. His writing has been featured in the literary blog Truckin’ as well as various gambling websites around the internet. John studied theatre at Winthrop University and has been very active in the Charlotte and North Carolina theatre communities. An avid music lover, John spends way too much money on music will happily trade book copies for CDs. John lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife, Suzy, their cat and dog. This seems short but I don’t know what else to write, so you should follow me on Twitter or look me up on Facebook or read my blog if you care that much. But you shouldn’t. Really. Why are you still reading this? Go out and ride a bike or something. Geez.