Blue: Blue, #1

By Niranjan

With time running out, can he succeed in helping an innocent man avoid death?

 

Five years ago, Aydin failed to recapture Joe after he had escaped prison. Now, Aydin and his team are on the job. But things don't add up, and Aydin doesn't know if Joe is guilty.

 

Aydin's blue eyes could make anyone speak the truth, but first they have to capture Joe. When a member of his team breaks a law, Aydin's boss gives him an ultimatum: two weeks to capture Joe or he would declare Joe a fugitive, to be terminated at sight.

 

Aydin knows that Joe's guilt isn't certain, but can he prove Joe's innocence within two weeks? And what of the strange happenings in Joe's old house?

 

Blue is a science fantasy mystery with flawed characters, past and present timelines, and magic linked to eye colour. If you love mysteries and fantasy, you will enjoy this tale of magic and murder mysteries.

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Geetha Krishnan
• Release date: May 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393048893

Niranjan

An author and editor, Niranjan’s biggest ambition is to have a character named Garth in every book they write. Niranjan writes books rooted in mythical worlds, and their stories are often a combination of magic and futuristic technology. When they are not writing or editing, Niranjan can be found cooking or just lying on their couch watching or rewatching C Dramas and writing fanfiction.

Book preview

NIRANJAN

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First published by Geetha Krishnan 2020

Copyright © 2020 by Niranjan K

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, digital, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Niranjan K (Geetha Krishnan) asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

No part of this text or cover design may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any database for the purpose of training any model to generate text, including without limitation, technologies capable of generating works in the same style or genre without the author’s express permission to do so. The distributor from which this text was obtained does not retain the right to sublicense, reproduce, or use this text or cover design for the purpose of training such generative text or art platforms without the author’s express permission.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.

This text is the sole product of the author’s imagination and creativity and has not been knowingly influenced by the assistance of or generated by the use of generative text commonly referred to as artificial intelligence or large language model. The cover art is likewise the product of the creativity of the artist listed below and has not been knowingly influenced by or generated in part or in whole by any generative imagery algorithm.

Editing by O.R. Faulkner

Cover Design by Christian Willmanns (Taurus Colosseum Front Row)

Formatted by Fair Editions

AI Free Logo by Conrad Altmann

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

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MURDERER!

The woman’s scream was loud, and shrill. Her face twisted, eyes wide with fear and panic. The long red dress with its puff sleeves looked ridiculous on her. She was young, and blonde, with wide brown eyes and a trim figure, accentuated by the dress.

Joe swore under his breath. It was such a mistake coming here, and just the unluckiest coincidence that he should have reached the street at precisely the moment she was there. There was no use worrying about it now. A quick stride brought him to her side. Before she could open her mouth again, his hand was across her mouth silencing her, and his other arm was around her waist.

Stay still or I’ll kill you! he growled menacingly.

She was still, and he could feel the thumping of her heart under his arm. Her eyes were still wide. Night had fallen and there weren’t many people about, not tonight. It made him wonder about her, but he had more important things to worry about. A muttered spell under his breath was enough to knock her out. She wouldn’t wake for another hour at least, but he could hardly leave her out here.

He cursed again, loudly this time. He’d ventured out precisely because there wouldn’t be many people around tonight, but he needed to find a place to lie low until morning. The Night of the Stirthen wasn’t the time to be caught out of doors. He glanced behind at the darkened doorway out of which he had run out of just moments ago. Sven had ensured that he remained hidden from everyone else. Still, Joe could have sworn Paityn had seen him. Whatever, he could not definitely go back or he’d be in trouble, not to speak of Sven.

He cast a spell of seeking. If he could find a patrol cop, he could hand the woman over to them and be on his way. He cast a glamour on himself when his spell found one in the next junction. He hoisted the woman on to his back and used his magic to run lightly across the street, following his spell. The cop was standing under a street lamp, his black uniform blending into the night, except for the gold buttons and gold stripes on his cap. The cap did nothing to hide the brown of his hair or the blue of his eyes, and Joe cursed under his breath again as he came to a stop in front of him.

I found her, two streets over, he told the man, trying not to look him in the eyes. Blue like the sky from the fleeting glance he’d had.

The cop caught her almost automatically and Joe was across the street and speeding away the next instant. The cop would see in a minute that the woman was under a spell and wake her, and she would tell him who Joe was. He wasn’t going to stick around for that. For all his head start, within ten minutes, he could feel pursuit. He cursed even as his lips widened in a grin.

This should be fun. He hadn’t had someone with such strong magic pursue him before. He put on a burst of speed and was near the abandoned temple in a minute, the stone walls rising high, and the metal spikes on top preventing trespassers. Joe used his magic to vault over the spikes and landed on his hands and feet, his knee jarring and ankle twisting. The stone building loomed in front of him, dark and forbidding, but it was shelter. He limped inside, pulling every bit of his magic to keep him warm and hidden. There was a weakness in his body, something cold, and he hoped it would pass soon. The night was cooling rapidly and if his magic decided to act out, he had no way of keeping himself warm.

The darkness inside was absolute and he couldn’t see where the shrine might have been at one time. He sat down, his back to the wall, next to the door. The shrine was likely opposite the door. There was no longer a door of course, the wood having rotted away, but no matter. It would still provide refuge this night of all nights. He closed his eyes, but not to sleep. He was settling in to wait, ignoring the cold that felt like it had seeped into his very marrow.

It was going to be a long night.

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