Gap Quest: Uncollected Anthology, #29

By Dayle A. Dermatis

Gap Walker Daisy Rowe uses a liminal space to move between Portland, Oregon, and the magical counterpart of OtherPortland.

 

Her goal right now, though? Get home from her work at a brewery, shower, and snuggle up to sleep with her partner.

 

The Lord of UnderPortland has other ideas. Such as sending Daisy on a quest to find something that sounds impossible.

 

But nothing is impossible in UnderPortland….

 

A striking new urban fantasy series from the author of the popular Nikki Ashburne books!

 

"Gap Quest" is part of Uncollected Anthology, Issue 29, Magical Quests.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Soul's Road Press
• Release date: Dec 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215976876

Dayle A. Dermatis

Dayle A. Dermatis is the author or coauthor of many novels (including snarky urban fantasies Ghosted and the forthcoming Shaded and Spectered) and more than a hundred short stories in multiple genres, appearing in such venues as Fiction River, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and DAW Books.Called the mastermind behind the Uncollected Anthology project, she also guest edits anthologies for Fiction River, and her own short fiction has been lauded in many year's best anthologies in erotica, mystery, and horror.She lives in a book- and cat-filled historic English-style cottage in the wild greenscapes of the Pacific Northwest. In her spare time she follows Styx around the country and travels the world, which inspires her writing.To find out where she’s wandered off to (and to get free fiction!), check out DayleDermatis.com and sign up for her newsletter or support her on Patreon.* * *I value honest feedback, and would love to hear your opinion in a review, if you’re so inclined, on your favorite book retailer’s site.* * *For more information:www.dayledermatis.com

Book preview

Gap Quest

GAP QUEST

UNCOLLECTED ANTHOLOGY 29: MAGICAL QUESTS

DAYLE A. DERMATIS

Soul’s Road Press

CONTENTS

About This Book

Gap Quest

Uncollected Anthology

Ghosted

Chapter 1

About the Author

Also by Dayle A. Dermatis

Be the First to Know!

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Gap Walker Daisy Rowe uses a liminal space to move between Portland, Oregon, and the magical counterpart of OtherPortland.

Her goal right now, though? Get home from her work at a brewery, shower, and snuggle up to sleep with her partner.

The Lord of UnderPortland has other ideas. Such as sending Daisy on a quest to find something that sounds impossible.

But nothing is impossible in UnderPortland….

A striking new urban fantasy series from the author of the popular Nikki Ashburne books!

Gap Quest is part of Uncollected Anthology, Issue 29, Magical Quests.

Praise for Dayle A. Dermatis

Dermatis has a love of lush language….

– Tangent Online

GAP QUEST

My name is Daisy Rowe. I’m an apprentice brewer in Portland, Oregon; an occasional off-the-books private investigator (ssh!); and a Gap Walker.

More on that last bit later.

Right now, I was busy contemplating whether I was going to punch someone.

I’d been walking home from Brew and Bros, the bar where I worked. Three in the morning. Autumn in Portland: cool, rainy, easing into the longest dark nights. Streetlights glittered on the sodden pale yellow and red leaves that had begun to litter the sidewalks. A car, rare at this time of night, drove by on a nearby street, tires shushing on the wet pavement.

I tilted my warm face up into the coolness, letting the mist-like rain wash away the sweat from slinging brews and bussing tables. I was looking forward to throwing my hop-stinky clothes in the hamper, showering, and curling up in bed with my partner, Mel (who, unlike me, worked normal hours).

I turned the corner onto our street. Our house, a grand Victorian with a hedge of roses—normally crimson, now dormant—blooming along the edges of the lawn, was halfway down, a grand lady in the middle of a row of grand ladies.

(How an apprentice brewer and a vet could afford a house like that in the middle of Portland is part of the Gap Walker