Sunday Snippet: Ghoulish Games (a Lantern Jack tale)

Ugh. Still feeling terrible and under the weather. The respiratory yuck that's going around in my area is awful. I think I'm through the worst. Fingers crossed!

Had a whole slew of new projects land in my inbox this week. I'm so thankful for the work and truly hope I can get back to a normal schedule where I don't crash several times a day and need to rest.

Slow viewing week, mainly due to the aforementioned rest periods. When I only got about two to three hours of sleep at a stretch, those nap sessions were super important.

I started the fifth and final season of Suspects. Wow, brutal opening episode and kind of a heartbreaker. I have a feeling Jack is going to go completely off the rails. And Charlie needs to have a moment to grieve and wrap her head around everything.

I finished the tenth season of Brokenwood Mysteries. I love this show so much. I'll look forward to the next season with lots of anticipation.

Caught another episode of Best in Paradise. I rather liked meeting Humphrey's dad and rewatching this episode ended up being a great reminder of how fierce Florence could be.

Enjoyed an episode of Death in Paradise. I'd watched a little of this one and I'm glad I got to see it from beginning to end. Very twisty plot threads in this one.

Watched another episode of Elementary. Nice to see Mycroft again. Loved the new dynamic between the brothers. Gotta say I'm on the fence with the whole Watson sleeping with Mycroft deal, but we'll see if I come down on one side or the other later.

Caught an episode of The Batman and it's one I remember from my original watch. I liked seeing Dick in school and the double-cross by the Riddler ended up being fun. The ending, though, topped everything.

Enjoyed a Classic Rugrats episode that departed from the normal two to three vignettes. "Finsterella" was such a fun episode of the show.

And that's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Ghoulish Games, a Lantern Jack tale featuring a nymph and a hellhound.

Here's the miniblurb:

Lantern Jack is back to right another wrong. When Glenna Greer finds a man on her doorstep she faces a dilemma. Use her powers to save—which she is forbidden to do—or let him possibly die. The urge to heal is strong in the wood nymph and she risks banishment going against her clan's directive. When she discovers Radbourne Renner is a hellhound, she's really in a quandary.

And a preview snippet…

A pounding head, throbbing pain in his side, and complete disorienting location gave Radbourne Renner his first taste of fear in over a decade. "What happened!" The headache made his brain mushy. "Where am I and how the hell did I get here?" An image of Jared Janko popped into his mind. "Aw, fuck, no.'' His breath hissed out between his teeth. "That asshat is behind this." The throb in his side burned and he put his hand against it. "Shit." His fingers came away covered in blood. He paused, taking a labored breath. "No wonder I'm a mess. I've been fucking stabbed."

Rad had no idea what set Janko off this time. They'd been unfriendly rivals almost since birth. Radbourne tended to avoid tangling with Jared … usually didn't have the patience to deal with the hothead and learned from experience the man had no honor. He had a mean streak, a bloated ego, and fought dirty—the wound in Rad's side a testament to that fact. The head of homestead banned weapons for anyone attending the gatherings.

Rad snorted then winced when another searing stitch reminded him of the gash. "Apparently Janko didn't get the memo." More like the dickhole chose to ignore the head's command.

Then freaked out when and dumped Rad in the middle of nowhere. A vague memory of being dragged to a truck and hoisted into the bed skittered through his aching mind. Trying to get his bearings, Radbourne couldn't get past the pain to scent the way toward home. Or … Janko masked the trail, hoping Rad would perish and leave Jared in the clear. His focus went dark and gray again. Imminent peril had his preternatural senses kicking in.

Radbourne sniffed the air. "There's someone living out here." He followed his nose and nearly fell down in gratitude when a small cottage came into view.

With his vision swimming, he stumbled toward the house and hopefully help. Less than ten feet from the porch, his knees gave out and he sprawled to the ground in a heap. Numb and dizzy, he didn't even attempt to get back up.

He tried to call out, but his voice only gurgled in his throat. "Dammit, so close, so close." He closed his eyes, unable to fight the heavy sensation spreading through his body.

On a long exhale, the black veil of unconsciousness swallowed him whole.

I love writing the Lantern Jack tales. Glenna and Radbourne are getting Jack closer to fulfilling his penance and ready to move on to his afterlife.

 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye