Here's a sneak peak of ADOHB, a contemporary/urban fantasy book that will be coming soon to my page!

Also, there are some memes and art at the bottom of this chapter. It's kinda of a long part, since I'm going to be out of town for a week and probably won't be able to post anything until I get back. This is also the result of a caffeine-deprived brain.

I feel a little weird announcing ANOTHER new book, but I am working on Van Terra and Pyramid Chronicles sequels!! Also, this book has been done for a while. I was basically working on Villain Complex and Haunted Blood for most of the first half of this year, which is why I ended up with two full books ready to go around the same time after not posting anything new for a while.

But I'll be totally focused on sequels while a post chapters for this one. VT2 will continue being updated as often as I can, and TPC2 will be ready soon, too! I know I've also been teasing a fantasy series/BR7 rewrite, too, but I'm really going to focus on finishing up these two sequels before I dive too hard into that.

Also, I really didn't have much going on this summer, and I spent the past year really getting back into writing and putting most of my free time into it, hence the abundance of updates and forthcoming stories.

Anyway, onto A Drop Of Haunted Blood!

Felix, who's just learned he has the power to summon the ghosts of magicians and use their abilities, is taken to meet the king of a magical organization called the Bright Guardians.

...

"Wait, I'm actually going to talk to a king?" Frowning, Felix added, "What's he the king of, anyway?"

"The Brightlands," Kendra said. "They're mostly gone now. All that remains is this castle and the property around it."

"But the Bright Guardians are stronger than ever, and the king commands us all," Archer added. "Along with his council."

"Weird," Felix said.

"Weird?" Kendra asked.

"I don't know, it just seems like a weird system to have." Felix shrugged. "Isn't the concept of a monarch kind of outdated?"

A new voice spoke. "The kid has a point."

Felix, Kendra, and Archer turned around. A man had crept up on them without making a sound. He leaned back against the hallway's opposite wall with his arms folded, but it was clear he was the tallest. Unlike the others, his black jacket was zipped up. As his head tipped to the side, Felix realized that his black hair—which was a little longer than Felix's—had an iridescent sheen to it. In the right light, pieces held every color of the rainbow.

"He doesn't know anything about how the King's Council works," Archer said. "And you should watch what you say about them. You know you're on thin ice."

The man snorted. "The ice I'm on is as thin as the Earth's crust."

"What are you doing here, Sebastian?" Kendra asked, her tone far more polite than Archer's.

Sebastian shrugged his broad shoulders. "I heard what happened. Thought I'd drop by and introduce myself." He waved to Felix. "Sebastian Armitage, nice to meet you."

"Uh, Felix Carver." Felix waved back.

"You're wasting your time," Archer said. "The king only wants to speak to us."

"Funny, I heard this was an open meeting," Sebastian said.

"Open meeting?" Archer glanced at Kendra.

Kendra folded her arms and tapped a finger against the sleeve of her jacket. "He's right. The throne room's crowded." She frowned. "Word spread fast."

Sebastian clicked his tongue. "You shouldn't be keeping spies in the throne room, Kendra."

"Like you said, open meeting. And the ant chose to go in there of its own accord." Kendra lifted an eyebrow. "Seems like someone snuck food into a meeting again."

Sebastian reached into his jacket pocket and took out an open granola bar. He took a bite and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Disgusting," Archer muttered.

Kendra looked to the door. "I wonder why the king decided on an open meeting. I thought he'd want to speak to us privately, first."

"I'll talk to him." Archer grabbed the door handle. "Wait here. I don't want everyone swarming Felix."

"I'll come, too!" Sebastian said, ducking in behind Archer before the door closed. Whatever Archer's response was, Felix doubted it was enthusiastic.

"They don't seem to like each other," Felix said.

"They don't," Kendra said. "It's incredibly annoying."

"Whose side are you on?"

"Neither. Archer hates Sebastian for something that isn't his fault, and Sebastian hates Archer for following our rules." Kendra's arms dropped to her sides. "And they both think the other can't be trusted."

...

Here's some sketches of some of the characters in ADOHB! Some are kinda old, but I still think they look alright.

Kendra

Mason

Adrienne

Sebastian

Archer

Also some memes taken from squad-draw and draw-the-squad-like-this on tumblr.

The main trio, Mason, Felix, and Arisa

Kendra and Hana (and Sebastian)

Archer is the only person who takes anything seriously

And that's all until I get back! When I get home I'll post a serious summary of the book so that people can actually get interested in it lmao.

It'll update once a week! There are thirty chapters and it's roughly 96k words, but I might end up splitting some of the chapters into shorter parts as I make my final revisions.