Believe in the magic of wordsGreg Jenkins is a lonely bookstore owner, with only a cat for company.  He longs for love, but no longer believes it's possible.Enter romance author Susannah Hayworth, who agrees to write a story in the bookstore before a live audience.  As a writer, she works magic with words, creating characters who seem more real than your next-door neighbor.  And now the audience wants her to create the perfect woman for Greg...If you enjoy stories of hope, and believe in the power of words, you'll love this new short story by Gary Jonas and Barb Hendee.

What price would you pay for eternal youth?Would you be willing to feed on the energy of people around you even if it drains them of their free will?Would you be willing to kill?This short story originally appeared in the collection Quick Shots by Gary Jonas, so if you own that, you already have this.Note that this includes a bonus excerpt from Modern Sorcery, the first novel in the Jonathan Shade series.

A RITUALISTIC MURDER Stephen Noble, a board member of Dragon Gate Industries (DGI), is decapitated. DGI, a front company for wizards, decides to provide executive protection services for Noble's son, Graham, and daughter, Rayna. But Graham doesn't trust wizards and refuses their protection, so DGI hires Jonathan Shade and his team to keep the Noble family safe. GUILTY CLIENTS The Nobles are from the other side of the Dragon Gate, and in that dimension, they committed crimes against the Marshall Clan. And now the Clan has come through the Gate to exact their revenge. While Graham and Rayna were too young to have been a part of the death and mayhem in the other land, honor dictates that they must pay for the crimes of their family. INHUMAN ATTACKERS How can Jonathan protect clients who are willing to kneel and accept death at any moment? How can he and his team handle thirteen deadly warriors willing to die to accomplish their goal? And how can Jonathan defeat the deadly creatures the Marshall Clan has brought with them to our world? Creatures that will destroy anything in their path as they seek their prey.

Magic can be deadly... When Private Investigator Jonathan Shade's ex-lover walks into his Denver office asking him to prove her father didn't commit the murder that dozens of witnesses saw and security cameras captured, Shade finds himself in the thick of magical intrigue. In a world where evil warlocks refuse to die, magically engineered assassins deal merciless death and ancient myths aren't quite so mythical, only Shade and his sexy partner, Kelly, can stop a power-hungry sorcerer from taking over the world. Too bad Shade doesn't have any magic.About the AuthorThey say that truth is stranger than fiction. Some of the following is true.  For example, Gary Jonas writes fantasy novels such as Modern Sorcery and One-Way Ticket to Midnight.  Well, that’s sort of true.  The truth is that he’s already written those, but he will write more unless he gets too bored.  But we’ll call that an example of true.  Gary’s wife is Jessica Alba.  Sadly, this is false.  Jessica Alba won’t return his calls, but that’s the way it goes, and no, the restraining order doesn’t prevent him from going to California. Gary is an author for Sky Warrior Books.  This is also true.  In our quest for world domination, we know that having someone like Gary at our side during a zombie apocalypse is pretty useful.  We can at least throw him in front of the zombie hordes while we run away screaming. It’s not that we don’t appreciate our authors.  We just know our limitations.  Gary, however, has added a number of true and false questions for us to puzzle over.  Here are three; can you pick out the false one? 1. Gary’s stepmother hired a stranger to shoot off her foot with a shotgun. 2. Gary dreams of creating a religion so he won’t have to pay taxes and, in spite of the fact that he writes fantasy, people will believe him and pay him lots of money. 3. Gary dressed in drag and appeared on stage in front of a large audience telling a popular fantasy author that he wanted the author to lick his beaver, and raised his skirt to reveal a stuffed beaver hanging there ready for action.  Which is false?  None of them.  Which is why Gary is part of the Evil Overlord plan and a valued minion. His other works include the upcoming Quick Shots, a collection of short stories and Modern Sorcery, an urban fantasy series.  Check out his website http://www.sff.net/people/gary_jonas/ Oh, and don’t tell him about the zombie hordes.

"He stole my heart, Mr. Shade. I want you to find him and steal it back." The dead won't stay buried in Denver, so Jonathan Shade isn't too surprised when a dead woman shows up wanting to hire him. A necromancer stalker has stolen her heart--literally--and she needs it if she's going to live. But Shade's jobs are never simple. The dead won't leave him alone. They work for a lovesick goddess who wants Shade to turn over her former lover. Chased by zombies, and then by an army of skeletons, Shade and his magically-engineered partner, Kelly Chan, fight to stay alive. Keep your hands and feet in the vehicle at all times, and hang on, because there are no safe exits on the Acheron Highway...