Grave Memory: An Alex Craft Novel
Read Grave Memory: An Alex Craft Novel Online
Authors: Kalayna Price
Praise for the Alex Craft Novels
Grave Dance
“The world building in the Alex Craft series is a dense and vibrant tour de force.”
—All Things Urban Fantasy
“Price does an excellent job of keeping the story zipping along while continuing to develop her characters.”
—
Romantic Times
“Price has created an urban fantasy world that is filled with Fae, Dark Fae, and Reapers that will reach out and grab you and keep you hooked to the very end.”
—Night Owl Reviews
“An enticing mix of humor and paranormal thrills.”
—Fresh Fiction
Grave Witch
“Fascinating magic, a delicious heartthrob, and a fresh, inventive world.”
—Chloe Neill,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Biting Cold
“A rare treat, intriguing and original. Don’t miss this one.”
—#1
New York Times
bestselling author Patricia Briggs
“A zippy pace and entrancing descriptions of ‘grave sight,’ which juxtaposes a decaying spirit world on top of ours, will keep readers happily turning pages.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“Edgy, intense…a promising kickoff to a series with potential.”
—
Romantic Times
“Nonstop action that will keep you guessing who the killer is until the end.”
—Night Owl Reviews (top pick)
“Alex is bold, brave, honorable, and a totally down-to-earth woman that I could easily call a friend had she been real. This series is more addictive than chocolate.”
—Huntress Book Reviews
The Alex Craft Novels
Grave Witch
Grave Dance
Grave Memory
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KALAYNA PRICE
A ROC BOOK
ROC
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, July 2012
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Copyright © Kalayna Price, 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
ISBN: 978-1-101-58704-1
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
Printed in the United States of America
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
To the Modern Myth Makers:
Ladies, I wouldn’t be where I am without you.
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks to Jessica for your endless patience. Also for encouraging me out of my comfort zone—the resulting changes took this book to the next level.
To Lucienne, for more than I can possibly list here, but especially for your guidance.
To my friends and family, for your support, your encouragement, and for dragging me out once in a while.
To my very awesome “minions,” who have helped me get the word out about the Alex Craft novels.
And, of course, to you, the person reading this book. Thank you for returning for another adventure with Alex!
“W
hat do you think?” I asked, as I fumbled for the light switch. An incandescent bulb flickered on, and then continued flickering. I frowned at it, but the late-afternoon sunlight streaming through the grimy picture window prevented the gloom from devouring the room.
Rianna peered through the open doorway but made no effort to enter. Her hand fell to idly scratch behind the ear of the barghest who acted as her ever-present shadow. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“The official office for Tongues for the Dead,” I said, waving a hand as if presenting the room.
Rianna had first suggested we open a PI firm that solved cases by questioning the dead when we were still in academy, but by the time I’d finished college, she’d vanished. Three months ago I’d found and liberated her from a power-hungry fae who’d made her a captive changeling of Faerie, and in the wake of recent chaos, we were both healing, adapting, and rebuilding. Which, in my opinion, made now the perfect time to give the dreams of two idealistic schoolgirls a second chance.
Rianna obviously didn’t agree.
“Alex, I think you might need to give your eyes a little more time to recover.”
“This place isn’t
that
bad,” I said, glancing around the room I envisioned would be a reception lobby—you know, if the firm ever became profitable enough to hire a receptionist. My gaze skidded over walls covered in graffitied runes and minor, mostly dispersed, spells before moving on to take in the balding carpet and the piles of beer cans and cigarettes tossed haphazardly around the otherwise empty room. “It just needs a little TLC.”
Rianna cocked an eyebrow, and the barghest, Desmond, who was in his customary shape of an oversized black dog with red-ringed pupils, huffed, making his jowls billow.
“Okay, so it needs
a lot
of work, but the rent is affordable”—barely, and only because my landlord waived the rent on my loft as payment for the last big case I’d worked—“and it’s in the Magic Quarter. A definite perk as we offer magical solutions in our investigations.”
“Alex, this is a seedy back alley on the very edge of the Magic Quarter. We’re about as far as we can be from the heart of the Quarter. No upscale restaurants. No spell boutiques. Not even the kitschy stores hawking overpriced, underpowered charms to norms are out this far.” She glanced over her shoulder at the only other door in the admittedly less than ideal alley and lowered her voice. “And I’m pretty sure that unmarked shop is dealing black magic.”
“Gray actually,” I said and her eyes widened. “Hey, it’s not like I went shopping. I just sensed a couple of mild compulsion spells and a lot of weak love charms when I passed by the shop. I think it’s run by a matchmaker.”