Dark of the Moon: Uncollected Anthology: Paranormal Pirates

By Debbie Mumford

The final "dark of the moon" before the rising of the light at the Vernal Equinox brings danger to the Pacific Northwest. Detective Gus Collier, his ghostly partner Sarah Allen, and their fellow seventh-sevenths face yet another supernatural invasion as demonic pirates threaten the Oregon Coast. Gus and his team are all that stand between the residents of the Columbia Gorge and horrific death. Will they be able to stop the piratical demon horde? The events of that single, moonless night will tell the tale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WDM Publishing
• Release date: Mar 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201049829

Debbie Mumford

Debbie Mumford specializes in speculative fiction—fantasy, paranormal romance, and science fiction. Author of the popular Sorcha’s Children series, Debbie loves the unknown, whether it’s the lure of space or earthbound mythology. Her work has been published in multiple volumes of Fiction River, as well as in Heart’s Kiss Magazine, Spinetingler Magazine, and other popular markets. She writes about dragon-shifters, time-traveling lovers, and ghostly detectives for adults as Debbie Mumford and contemporary fantasy for tweens and young adults as Deb Logan.

Book preview

Dark of the Moon

Dark of the Moon

A Gus & Ghost Story

Debbie Mumford

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Epilogue

UNCOLLECTED ANTHOLOGY

Also by Debbie Mumford

SEVENTH sample chapter

About Debbie Mumford

Prologue

Darkness swirled around the demon prince as he paced through the beach grass at the edge of the sandy strip that was the shore of the tiny island. Frustration seethed as he stared east toward the shore of the mainland where electric lights blazed, pushing the night’s shadows back toward the prince. So close. His prey was so close. And yet moving water separated him and his horde from the succulent meat to be found on that well-lit coastline.

He threw back his head and roared his rage to the night sky. The curved ram’s horns adorning the blood red flesh covering his skull reverberated with the sound; the undergrowth along the shoreline rustled as the horde of minions cowered from his wrath.

All his plans. All his carefully laid plans had come to naught. If he didn’t find a way off this island, he and his minions would perish. They required meat. More, they needed human souls to nourish and strengthen them. To provide the power to open a permanent portal to the Otherworld.

His roar of frustration split the night yet again as he remembered the sacrifice he’d made to open the portal at midwinter. His favorite female; his youngest offspring; destroyed at the most auspicious moment of the longest night of the year to open the way to the bountiful meat and power of the mortal world.

And all for naught.

He and his horde of minions had arrived in the mortal world, but on a small, deserted island off the coast of what the humans called North America. Close enough to see the lights of their cities, but separated from that succulent source of sustenance and power by moving water.

Rage built within him yet again. The portal had snapped closed unexpectedly. The sacrifice he had provided had not been enough even to bring all of his horde through the veil. The ones who had managed to make the transition were stranded. No way