The Ties That Bind (#2, Duster and a Gun)

By Gregory Blackman

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Duster and a Gun:

In 1447, history was rewritten when the Vatican was swallowed whole by the fiery pits of Hell. Demons, ghouls and other unspeakable horrors descended upon the land, preying on humanity; caught in the middle of a battle they knew nothing about. And so began a perpetual dark age, where one’s worth was valued on how well they handle themselves in a fight. Pursuits such as peace and equal rights were put on hold, for larger firearms and the tightening of dictatorships. It was truly Hell on Earth, and Heaven didn’t seem to care in the least.

By the year 2015, it was a perverse world of science, where the hydrogen bomb and steam-powered locomotive exist in unison, corrupted by the will of the supernatural. The Industrial revolution is in full swing, and the only thing faster than the rise of the USA is the inner turmoil that threatens to bring it all apart from the shadows.

The Ties That Bind:

The reaper is back in action in The Ties That Bind and hot on the trail of a demon that has taken everything from him. Horace is going to need every weapon in his arsenal to deal with this new threat, lest he be swallowed whole by the evil that moves to cover the world. He’ll need to turn to friend and foe alike in order to avenge humanity, and when he does, neither Heaven nor Hell will be able to contain his fury. And what does his Order think of deeds done without their consent? Questions are asked when another reaper comes to town and demands more of Horace than he’s willing to give. Has Horace found an ally or is our hero headed towards a fight even he might not win?

Warning: This eBook contains graphic imagery and coarse language.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gregory Blackman
• Release date: May 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301382095

Gregory Blackman

Born in Burlington, Ontario, Gregory Blackman is a business marketing graduate that discovered early on that he wasn’t interested in advertising the works of others and instead sought out to create his own products that spoke on his values, beliefs, and in many cases, his own fears and anxieties. His first novel, Johnathan Rush, released in 2011, was a children’s novel while all proceeding works have been intended for a mature audience. This can be seen in his following Reaper and Kingdoms of Ash series that deal with issues of gender inequality, racial tensions, and mankind’s fear of the unknown. Gregory prides himself on responding to each and every letter sent to him, and incourages all readers to send him their thoughts and questions to [e-mail]

Book preview

Duster and a Gun

The Ties That Bind

By Gregory Blackman

Published by Gregory Blackman at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Gregory Blackman

All right reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form without the prior written permission from the author.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Written in Canada.

Gregory Blackman’s Collection

*Released or Coming Soon*

The Reaper Series:

Duster and a Gun:

Reaper

The Ties That Bind

New Beginnings

Revelation

Reaper’s Dogma

The Kingdoms of Ash Series:

The Unseen

Blood Ties

Tip the Scales

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Duster and a Gun:

In 1447, history was rewritten when the Vatican was swallowed whole by the fiery pits of Hell. Demons, ghouls and other unspeakable horrors descended upon the land, preying on humanity; caught in the middle of a battle they knew nothing about. And so began a perpetual dark age, where one’s worth was valued on how well they handle themselves in a fight. Pursuits such as peace and equal rights were put on hold, for larger firearms and the tightening of dictatorships. It was truly Hell on Earth, and Heaven didn’t seem to care in the least.

By the year 2015, it was a perverse world of science, where the hydrogen bomb and steam-powered locomotive exist in unison, corrupted by the will of the supernatural. The Industrial revolution is in full swing, and the only thing faster than the rise of the USA is the inner turmoil that threatens to bring it all apart from the shadows.

The Ties That Bind:

The reaper is back in action in The Ties That Bind and hot on the trail of a demon that has taken everything from him. Horace is going to need every weapon in his arsenal to deal with this new threat, lest he be swallowed whole by the evil that moves to cover the world. He’ll need to turn to friend and foe alike in order to avenge humanity, and when he does, neither Heaven nor Hell will be able to contain his fury. And what does his Order think of deeds done without their consent? Questions are asked when another reaper comes to town and demands more of Horace than he’s willing to give. Has Horace found an ally or is our hero headed towards a fight even he might not win?

Warning: This eBook contains graphic imagery and coarse language.

Table of Contents

Duster and a Gun: The Ties That Bind

Gregory Blackman

01 The Sunflower Statesman

02 No Child of Mine

03 Drowned Sorrows

04 Unfinished Business

05 The Ninth Circle

06 Witches and Warlocks

07 Down the Hatch

08 Free Falling

09 I Used to Know You

10 Long Road Ahead

11 Not Welcome Here

12 New Directions

13 War Cry

14 Just Let Go

15 Everything for Nothing

16 Crossroads

Chapter One

Duster and a Gun: The Ties That Bind

Gregory Blackman

The Sunflower Statesman

The front door burst open and the torrential downpour outside came crashing inside the Sunflower Statesman. It unsettled the patrons, reminding them of the conditions they faced. It wasn’t the rain that disturbed them; it was the man outside, the one standing underneath the glowing signage in his own shadow that stretched along the floorboards into the tavern.

It was me they feared and they had good reason to. I could see half a dozen men with eyes on me and their fingers clutched tightly on their pistols. Unlike the docile folks of Janestown, these men wouldn’t take more than one eye off me for my entire stay. That was all right with me; that was what I was used to. Reapers might not look any different than regular people, but that doesn’t seem to keep those people from inherently sensing the presence of a dominant predator. That’s exactly what I was—a predator—and I was in the midst of a hunt.

The Sunflower Statesman was a run of the mill establishment, constructed from cheap wood by an even cheaper workforce. A few posters and trophy kills were nailed to the walls, less for show and more to conceal the worst of the rot that covered much of the place. It wasn’t even insulated for the winter months, not that any of the patrons seemed to mind. There were spirits stocked to the ceiling. What more could they need?

The bar stood in the middle of a small waypoint, a mere passing place into the state of Oklahoma, and nothing more. That also meant that the bar’s customers were likely outlaws, ready to jump into the next state when shit hit the fan. That was fine by me. Outlaws I understand.

Howdy, chief, said the bartender who looked to be the owner of the establishment. He was a wiry old man with thick frames on his face and trousers cinched high up his waist. He was exactly the type of man you’d never expect to have a saloon. You look like you’ve been on the road for a month.

Three, I mumbled in a parched, gravelly voice. I’ve been on the road for three months now.

The water poured from my Stetson to the floor covered in dirt and grime by my boots. I doubt anyone gave it much thought the place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in ages. I kept the brim of my hat low to conceal my face in case there were others in the room I hadn’t sized up yet who might be after my head. Oklahoma didn’t seem to care much for my kind and a lot of that resentment spilled over the borders.

Good lord, the shop owner said with a hand covering his nose, and when’s the last time you took a shower?

I couldn’t help but crack a smile at the man’s boldness. Arizona. So, do you have any rooms for rent? I haven’t slept on a bed in weeks.

Somehow that doesn’t strike me as all that surprising, said one of the patrons through pinched nostrils. This is a watering hole, friend, and not some shelter for stinky critters.

The rest of the Statesman’s denizens erupted into laughter, cheering their friend on, fingers still resting on their respective triggers. They didn’t want a fight; they wanted to pick a fight.

The shop owner must have seen my reaction, because he was quick to pipe up and wave his hands in the air. Now, now, gentlemen, there hasn’t been a fight in this tavern for over a decade that I haven’t won and I’m not about to have one now. They didn’t mean anything by it stranger, there’s just not much in the way of entertainment around here. That’s all.

The old man was right. Besides, I still needed something from him and I wasn’t about to start picking fights with only him willing to help one of my kind. I would play by his rules and removed my hands from my duster and turned back to face the only soul I cared about right now.

The name’s Herman, the barkeep said as he went back to cleaning his counter. So you came from Arizona, did ya? Well, what brings you to these parts? Hope you didn’t come all this way for a friendly greeting.

Work, I said stiffly, all too aware of my surroundings. The truth was that I’d been tracking a demon for months now and I’m still nowhere closer to catching up with it. Every time that I’d reach its current lair, I’d find it had just departed the day before. It was a maddening trek that had only served to leave me tired, hungry and dehydrated.

Aye, well that’s one mighty long trip, fellow, said Herman in attempt to break the silence. Unless you took one of those metal contraptions I’ve been hearing about, but by the smell of ya, I doubt that’s the case.

Yeah, it was long and hot ride.

I figured, Herman said with a shrug of his shoulders. I just hope to see one before I pass from this world. There’s nothing like that around here, except maybe Kansas City, but they’ve had that place on lockdown for almost half a decade now.

Is that so? I’d been so focused on the task at hand that I never stopped to learn about the world I was reentering. Years of my life had gone missing and the monster responsible was laughing at me somewhere near.

What have you been working at Chief? asked Herman leaning forward with his head cocked sideways. Word had it that some type of plague took hold there and a bunch of citizens got infected and died, that was years ago, though, and they haven’t told us a damned thing since—.

Yeah, but none of us have caught anything, either, said one of the patrons that was listening in a little too closely to our conversation, so just quit your bellyaching, Herman, we’ve heard it all before.

Aye, that’s true. Herman nodded in agreement. We’re alive… and between the plague, the Indians, and the bandits, that’s really all one can hope for out here on the edge of civilization. So, I’ll ask one more time don’t you get newspapers out there in Arizona?

That was a good question. I’d spent so much time tracking the Abaddon that I’d lost sight of a reaper’s first duty. I was trained to be out there on the front lines, protecting humanity from the supernatural forces that conspire against them.

"It was the biggest story