vortexes, dragon compounds, and Magellan’s woo-woo magic for a while.”
“I heard you.” Mick lifted a duffel bag from the floor. “I’m packed. So are you.” He lifted a second, smaller one. “Let’s go.”
Without waiting for my response, he carried both bags out the door. I followed quickly, catching up to him in time to watch him load the duffels into the saddlebags on our bikes.
Mick pulled on his driving gloves, gave me a long, heartfelt kiss, straddled his larger motorcycle, and started it up.
I lost no time sliding into the chaps he’d laid over my bike’s seat, tugging on my own gloves, and tucking my hair into a ponytail to go under my helmet. Mick popped on his sunglasses, to look badass as well as keep off the glare, grinned at me, and motioned for me to lead the way.
I started up my Softail, the bike gleaming darkly in the early morning sun. I sent a loving smile back at Mick and headed out of the Crossroads, following the same highway west the goblins had.
We didn’t vanish into the heat waves, but the sun warmed us as it rose behind us, lighting the sky with red, orange, fuchsia, and the gentle blue of morning. It pointed the way west, toward the high volcanic summits waiting for us down the road, and I followed its direction.
We had a lot to talk about, Mick and I—our upcoming wedding, fixing the hotel, his worry about our lifespans, and other nitpicky problems a Stormwalker and her dragon might face. But for now, I was with the man I loved, and we were heading out to be alone, to be just Mick and me.
“Woo hoo!” the voice of the magic mirror yelped from the mirror on my bike. “This is awesome. Now we’re going to have some adventures!”
I heard Mick laughing—he had a bit of the mirror on his bike too.
Then Mick pulled in beside me, and we headed into our future together.
The End
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading! I’m always delighted to return to the world of Stormwalker and revisit Janet, Mick, and their many friends, old and new. I live very close to the setting of Janet’s Crossroads Hotel, and it’s a thrill to write these stories set in my own backyard.
Apart from the fictitious towns of Magellan and Flat Mesa, and Hopi County itself, the rest of the settings are real. Many Farms, Janet’s hometown, is not far from Chinle, which sits on the edge of the beautiful Canyon de Chelly, a winding river canyon well worth a visit. The salsa restaurant Gabrielle mentions is Salsa Brava, in Flagstaff, which does indeed have an extensive salsa bar and some of the best carnitas I’ve ever had. The restored hotel in Winslow that Janet mentions, the La Posada, was a Harvey Girls hotel and has been beautifully redone. It’s an excellent base from which to visit northern Arizona landmarks such as Meteor Crater, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, the Homol’ovi ruins (where some of the action of Firewalker is set), and up into the Indian lands.
But who knows? If you follow highway 99 south of Winslow, maybe you’ll come upon another narrow road heading east, which will bring you to a crossroads containing a biker bar and an old hotel, where the paranormal is real …
I was inspired to write this series by the landscape itself. In northern Arizona, which is a very different place from southern Arizona, a high-elevation sweeping plateau leads to even higher mountains, steep canyons seem to drop from nowhere, and rapidly changing weather fills the huge skies.
Coyotes howl in the darkness and crows and ravens call in the mornings. You can hear Janet’s father’s flute on the wind, answered by a long roll of thunder. I imagined Janet, a young woman on the brink of her life, speeding down the back roads on her motorcycle, followed by a hard-faced, black-haired man with dragon tattoos …
I plan to continue the series—I have too many potential stories in my head for these characters in this place not to. All books will be in e-, print, and audio.
The next book is Dragon Bites, which will be followed by several more. Keep checking my website: http://www.allysonjames.com for publication dates and more information on the entire series, or sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/47kLL to be kept informed of forthcoming titles, pre-orders, audio editions, and other news.
Thanks for reading, and happy wandering.
Allyson James
Books in the
Stormwalker
Series
By Allyson James
Stormwalker
Firewalker
Shadow Walker
“Double Hexed”
Nightwalker
Dreamwalker
Dragon Bites
“A Little Night Magic”
in Hot for the Holidays
(short story “prequel”—Jamison and Naomi’s story)
And more to come!
Shifters Unbound Series
w/a Jennifer Ashley
Pride Mates
Primal Bonds
Bodyguard
Wild Cat
Hard Mated
Mate Claimed
Perfect Mate (novella)
Lone Wolf
Tiger Magic
Feral Heat
Wild Wolf
Bear Attraction
Mate Bond
Lion Eyes
Bad Wolf
Wild Things
White Tiger
Guardian’s Mate
Shifter Made (short story "prequel")
And more to come!
About the Author
Award-winning author Allyson James is a pen name of New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ashley. Allyson has written more than 85 published novels and novellas in romance, urban fantasy, and mystery under the names Jennifer Ashley, Allyson James, and Ashley Gardner. Allyson’s books have been nominated for and won Romance Writers of America’s RITA (given for the best romance novels and novellas of the year), and several RT BookReviews Reviewers Choice awards (including Best Urban Fantasy, Best Shapeshifter Romance, and Career Achievement in Historical Romance), and Prism awards for her paranormal romances and urban fantasy.