Green Goo Goblin: Jas Bond, #1

By Gretchen S.B.

My life is one giant cycle of group deniability…

 

As a magic-less son of a witch owning a store full of magical objects isn't easy. But with my unhelpful rottweiler Bailey and a handful of supernatural staff, we've sold everything from elfin wedding china to a life-size dwarven statue we don't like to talk about. Everything is going smoothly until a goblin customer starts coughing up a disgusting green goo. Little did I know as I watch that liquid spew from his mouth that his presence and that goo was going to send my life into a tailspin, leaving me in the crosshairs of a murderer.

 

Check out the goblin and the goo he produces in Green Goo Goblin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gretchen S.B.
• Release date: May 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201886998

Gretchen S.B.

Gretchen is a Seattleite that loves her home. She has a day job as a Program Coordinator a local university. She is a struggling Indie Author, struggling as in she is trying to make her living writing books. She loves to read, write and create characters. As well as knit and binge watch Netflix. She is also on a sporadic book blog and internet radio show with some of her college friends. She currently lives with her husband and their mischievous Rotti mix, who always seems to find something new she shouldn't be chewing on. Gretchen loves to hear from her readers.

Book preview

Works by Gretchen S.B.

NIGHT WORLD SERIES:

Lady of the Dead

Viking Sensitivity

A Wolf in Cop's Clothing

Visions Across the Veil

Hidden Shifter 

Berman's Wolves Trilogy:

Berman's Wolves

Berman's Chosen

Berman's Secrets

Berman’s Origin 

Anthony Hollownton Series:

Hollownton Homicide

Hollownton Outsiders

Hollownton Legacy

Hollownton Case File 

Lantern Lake Series:

Pizza Pockets & Puppy Love

A Flurry of Feelings

Teacher’s Crush

Pugs & Peppermint Sticks

Moving Home for Christmas

Mayor May Not

Building a Holiday Miracle

Romance Novellas:

The Tongue-Tied Hunter

Poker in Portland

Big City Bachelor

Jas Bond Series:

Green Goo Goblin

Spectacle Stealing Supernatural

Book Burgling Blood-Magic

Acknowledgments

THANK YOU TO MY EDITOR Lacie at Pelican Proofing and proofreader Rose David. You ladies made this book readable for everyone.

Thank you to Get Covers for giving this book such a beautiful cover. I want to add a thanks to my beta readers for letting me know this story is worth reading.

As always, thank you to my friends and family who cheer me on as I work toward my dream of being a full-time author.

Last of all, but not least, is the Hubster. Although he hates to be mentioned, he deserves credit for all his support.

Chapter 1

GREAT, I MUTTER, GLANCING down at Bailey, my ever-present rottweiler sidekick. A goblin. Here's hoping he’s not of the human-hating variety.

As per usual when I speak to Bailey, she turns her head slightly from where she lies on her giant pillow behind the counter. When it becomes clear I am not talking about food, she huffs slightly and goes back to staring at whatever she stares at in the back part of the shop.

Goblins are one of the supernatural species notorious in their hate of humans. They tolerate witches and wizards, but they do so with open disdain. I, Jas Bond, am no such thing. As a male child born to a long line of witches, magic is not something I can wield. For this reason, the goblins who come into my store, as well as several other species, usually don’t try to hide their disdain at my mere existence. Forget the fact they are coming into my store because –oh no– that apparently doesn’t matter. Neither does the fact I am known, like my mother and grandmother before me, for hunting down all sorts of supernatural related items.

As my train of thought begins to derail, the short man yanks open the front door to my shop, Fix ‘n’ Find, sending the bells above the door jingling. I plaster on a strained smile.

Good morning, let me know if you need any help.

He merely grunts and heads toward the far corner of the shop opposite me where I keep two bookshelves of old, enchanted and unenchanted books of various uses. Since we are slow this time of day, I eye him warily over my laptop. I was about to do inventory on several boxes of new items I procured from varying estate sales over the course of the weekend but that can wait. Though it is prejudice, there are several species that when they enter the shop, I don’t want my attention divided.

Oh, I don't believe the goblin will steal anything from the shop, but I don’t want my back to him in case he has a distaste for human life.

The goblin is short, five-foot-even, if he is lucky. He has a plethora of warts across his face and neck. I can see scruffy, scraggly, dark red hair. He is wearing a button up and slacks. I quickly look down at my laptop because like people, outright staring at various creatures tends to make them uncomfortable.

It is not me seeing them as they enter the shop that makes them uncomfortable. It is because I can see the real them that is a problem. Though I myself am not considered a magical creature, I was born from a very strong line of witches, one of the three strongest witch families in the world. I am also my mother's only child. My father was human, and since being a witch travels down the female line, my genes err on the human side. However, I have one weird quirk I inherited from, who knows where, because both of my parents take credit. I can see things as they actually are. Most mythical and supernatural creatures wear some form of glamour so they can walk around in everyday society without alarming the humans of their presence. For whatever reason, as far back as I can remember, I can see through glamour. It was terrifying when I was little, as there are some pretty nightmare-ish looking creatures in the world. As I’ve gotten older, I guess the novelty has worn off and now I know to keep my mouth shut when someone doesn't look like what they seem.

I wear a ring my mother made me on the middle finger of my left hand. If I press the ring with my thumb, I get a glimpse of what the glamour is supposed to look like. That way, should someone ask me for a description, I can give the description that would be most helpful to them, whether that be the human-facing image or their actual nature.

Many creatures in the supernatural world find it a little too disconcerting that I can see through their magic.  I try not to bring it up and in turn, those who know about it pretend it doesn't exist. My life is one giant cycle of group deniability.

How many volumes of Geyser’s journals do you have? the goblin’s craggy rumble comes from the other side of the store.

I rack my brain then curse at