Sunday Snippet: Elemental Healing (a Lantern Jack tale)

Happy Easter to those who celebrate. For everyone else, I hope your weekend is rocking with good vibes!

We got some terrific news this week. My youngest, who will graduate from university in May, got accepted into grad school! She's so excited and will have a Master of Arts Administration when she finishes.

Had a fairly busy week with work projects. Discovered one ended up with a corrupted file and had to fix some weird, random code that inserted itself into the file. What a pain!

Decent week of viewing television. I'll admit some was mainly background noise while I worked on editing. But not bad overall.

Ended up getting two episodes of The Batman in this week. Enjoyed both and should be on track to catch another one this week.

Also caught two episodes of Classic Rugrats. Weirdly, I remember two but from different episodes. They always did two per show and I distinctly remember one from each of the episodes I watched. Weird.

Watched another episode of My Life Is Murder and, once again, enjoyed it. Dueling bakers isn't something I would normally think of as a premise for murder.

Enjoyed another episode of Midsomer Murders. I have one left for this season and then it's time to wait for more again. Good thing there are plenty of other mysteries to keep me occupied.

Started the new season of Silent Witness. Another new face or two for this season and I'm okay with that. I have a feeling things are going to get very interesting this season.

Caught another episode of Death in Paradise. We're getting closer to Humphrey's exit and Jack's entrance. I'll be able to start Beyond Paradise in the near future.

Watched another episode of Elementary. The new vibe between Holmes and Watson is fun. I'm enjoying a slightly softer version of Sherlock.

Started an episode of Peak Practice. I skipped one because I really didn't care one bit about the whole saga of Andrew and Kate. But it's interesting that Will is back. Should be a wild ride.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Elemental Healing, a Lantern Jack tale.

Here's the miniblurb:

Lantern Jack is back to right another wrong. Erica Ellis is a fire demon whose powers are going out of control. She needs intervention and an ancient ritual could save her from harming others. Perth Pettigrew is a mystic knight and knows the old rites. Too bad he's no longer using his gift. It's up to Lantern Jack to bring the two together for some elemental healing.

And a preview snippet…

Erica woke up, thankfully still numb. A full bottle of liquor knocked her back a few hours. She might have to grab more to be safe.

She blinked away the sleep them jolted upright. "What the hell?" An ugly carved pumpkin took up space on the nightstand.

It greeted her. "Hello, I go by Jack."

She rubbed her eyes. "Huh, you're new." She glanced around. "Did Blenden bring you?" Who else could've entered her studio apartment while she slept.

Her low-simmering anger faded. He'd never brought her anything before. If a weird gourd could count as a gift.

Jack tsked. "Blenden didn't bring me. But I am here to help you."

She laughed. "Oh, sure. A creepy jack-o-lantern is going to help me. Right." How, exactly, did the plant think it could assist her?

Jack responded. "You can doubt all you want, but I'm your only hope."

Seriously? Maybe she wouldn't plan on drinking whiskey anymore. Clearly, the potent alcohol had her hallucinating. And gave her a raging headache.

Erica groaned. "I'm talking to a damned pumpkin." She got up on wobbly legs and started for the small bathroom. "What do you know about me anyway?"

Jack filled her in. "I know you're out of control and losing your grip on your ability more with each passing day. How bad do you think it'll be on All Hallows?"

Erica paused then sat down. Hard.

She raked a hand through her hair. "Shit. I didn't even think about that." And she should have.

Jack pushed her. "You need to."

Erica sighed. "If Blenden hadn't bailed, this wouldn't be a problem." Why did her mentor leave her high and dry, especially so close to All Hallows?

Jack made a noncommittal reply. "Maybe he didn't bail. Maybe he did. Either way, you have to step up and decide what to do."

Erica huffed out a breath. "Right because that's so easy to do." She inhaled slowly, trying to find her center. "Fine. Got any suggestions?"

Jack chuckled. "You won't like it."

At this point, Erica didn't care. "I don't enjoy drinking myself to an early death either." And she really hated the idea of being anywhere near as drunk as she'd need to be on All Hallows in order to not hurt anyone.

Jack replied. "There's a place—a rock quarry—about an hour's drive from here. If you go out of control, there's not much you can burn down out there."

Erika considered the idea. Safer to be away from people until—hell, better make that if—she got her ability under control. But she could use help. She didn't want to live at a quarry for the rest of her days.

She eyed the pumpkin. "What about Blenden? If he comes back, he won't know where to find me." She didn't want to believe the grizzled, old demon abandoned her.

Jack made a sound of frustration. "Maybe someone else will show you the way. You can't count on an old fire demon."

Right. As if someone else is going to leap to my aid. Erica had a brief thought about the handsome mystic knight. Too bad he needed an attitude adjustment.

Which led her back to Matchick. "Blenden's the only one who gave a shit. No one else gives a damn about helping me transition."

Jack sighed. "I'm not saying he didn't care. I'm saying he's old and maybe unable to help anymore."

Is that why he hasn't been around lately?

Erica growled on an angry breath. "Fine. But if I have to camp out, I'm not going." She couldn't do tents for obvious reasons.

Jack's face twisted. "There's a small building the foreman used to stay in. It's cinder block so you can't damage it too much."

Erica snorted. "Gee, thanks for the confidence." And why did she feel insulted by a pumpkin?

Jack smirked. "Do you want directions or not?"

Erica got up and started gathering stuff to pack. "Not like I have any other options."

I have so much fun writing the Lantern Jack tales. This one is a little tricky but I'm enjoying it.

 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye