Blood & Castles

By Kory M. Shrum

Humanity moved on, but no dark secrets can be left behind...

Kal Haven only has weeks to live. What he thought was a minor infection turned out to be a death sentence. Before he can process the news, his old buddy begs a favor. He needs Kal to come to Earth with his ship and retrieval crew and help move Dracula's famed castle off-world. 

Earth is a shell of its former self. Everything of value has been sold to the highest bidder. Dracula's Castle will simply be the latest purchase made by an eccentric trillionaire.

However, Kal quickly learns this is no ordinary shipping job. People have gotten hurt. Others disappeared. 

And what Kal finds beneath the ruins of the ancient relic may be worse than his impending demise...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kory M. Shrum
• Release date: Oct 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393467564

Kory M. Shrum

Kory M. Shrum is author of the bestselling Shadows in the Water and Dying for a Living series, as well as several other novels. She has loved books and words all her life. She reads almost every genre you can think of, but when she writes, she writes science fiction, fantasy, and thrillers, or often something that’s all of the above.In 2020, she launched a true crime podcast “Who Killed My Mother?”, sharing the true story of her mother’s tragic death. You can listen for free on YouTube or your favorite podcast app. She also publishes poetry under the name K.B. Marie.When not writing, eating, reading, or indulging in her true calling as a stay-at-home dog mom, she can usually be found under thick blankets with snacks. The kettle is almost always on.She lives in Michigan with her equally bookish wife, Kim, and their rescue pug, Charley.Learn more at www.korymshrum.com where you can sign up for her newsletter and receive free, exclusive ebooks.

Book preview

for Chris De Francisci

with thanks

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Kal Haven put down the phone and looked out his portside window. Stars stretched endlessly in every direction. A fathomless sea of eternity. And yet...

Very advanced, the doctor had said. Not much time.

Kal considered the roster in front of him, the list of able-bodied men and women waiting for their next assignment. His eyes flicked to the age column.

26

32

46

44

21

31

36

He had twenty years on the oldest of them. And yet...

Very advanced. You should prepare.

The small chamber of his onboard office waited, the ringing silence absolute. Lights blinked along the wall, measuring the room’s pressure and oxygen levels.

You should prepare.

Prepare for what exactly?

He’d prepared for everything a man could possibly prepare for. In the event a space rock tore through the exterior wall of this office, for example, he knew how to strap himself into the chair bolted to the floor. How to commence the sequence that would seal the hole and repressurize the room.

If one of his crew got sick or injured with no doctor onboard—he’d prepared for that, too. And for fuel shortages and food shortages. For in-fighting and mutiny. For loss of communication or navigation systems. For weeks without work or low to non-existent supplies. For getting lost in space. For homesickness, his or another’s.

He’d prepared for everything that could’ve possibly ever happen in a man’s life.

Everything except for his own mortality.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there like that, staring off into the room with only a vague awareness of the hum in his mind. But when the phone rang again he jumped in his seat, jerking to the present.

He considered not answering it. He’d had enough bad news for one day.

But then he