Secrets of the Deep (74 page)

“Let me do this for you,” Archie murmured. “I’ve had to deal with bodies in cadaver lab. You shouldn’t have to—”

“No,” Jake said gruffly. “It’s my father, I’ll do it.” True, he did not have a scientist’s objectivity like Archie. Nor did he know in what state of decay one might find a corpse that had been dead for a full twelve years.

The next moment might well be one of the worst of his whole life. After all, he had dreamed of meeting the elder Jacob Everton face to face many times, but never as a skeleton.

Reminding himself, though, that his Lightrider father would not have been proud of a coward, Jake laid hold of the casket’s lid and struggled to brace himself for whatever he might find. Then—almost violently—he lifted it.

Archie and Dani both gasped, but Jake stood speechless. His jaw dropped. He turned his head, letting his gaze travel swiftly down the length of the casket.

White satin lining. Small blue pillow embroidered with his family crest. Other than that…

It was empty.

Jake spun around and stepped blindly across the little aisle to his mother’s coffin. It was painted white, the corners adorned with little roses.
Please, please, don’t be in there. If there’s any chance she’s still alive…

Tears rushed into his eyes and he wavered at the mere thought, the hint, the slimmest possibility of actually having a mother.

But he forced himself to do it–to face her rotting corpse if that was what it came down to. For she might well be inside there. After all, his father had been the stronger specimen. Maybe the Dark Druids had only needed one.

He stood there agonizing, unable to do it, his stomach in knots, fears like banshees screaming through his mind. But he just had to know, for once and for all.

Please,
please…

“We’ll help you,” Dani said softly, seeing him falter.

He glanced at her, teary-eyed. She knew how it was. She had lost her mother, too. Jake clenched his jaw and let his friends help this time, and together, they lifted the lid off his mother’s coffin.

An oath escaped him; Jake staggered back in shock, shaking in his shoes.

Empty.

Archie and Dani stared into the coffin, but Jake stepped away, routed.

“Oh my God,” he uttered, his mind reeling. “My God,” he said again. He half staggered out of the mausoleum and took a huge gulp of the dewy morning air.

Then he stared unseeingly into the ever-burning memorial flame.

They’re
alive.

The End

The Inside Scoop on The Gryphon Chronicles

The Gryphon Chronicles series will have a total of seven books (six main novels plus the Christmas novella). That means that after SECRETS OF THE DEEP, there's only ONE more to go—the big finale! Keep an eye on the
E.G. Foley blog
or
Facebook page
for further updates. You can also sign up for the
E.G. Foley mailing list
to receive an email alert as soon as the next book is available. Thanks for reading!

In case you
missed it…

It’s Jake’s first Christmas with a family, but nothing’s ever quite what you’d expect. Celebrate a Victorian Christmas with a Gryphon Chronicles holiday novella.

JAKE
&
THE GINGERBREAD WARS

Peace on Earth,
Goodwill to Men…And Gingerbread Men?!

Santa’s Horrid Little Helper

Wanted
!
Humbug, the disgruntled Christmas elf.

Reward
:
One Christmas wish granted, courtesy of Santa.

Humbug hates being a Christmas elf. Instead of making toys, he’d rather make mischief. Angling for a new job in Halloween Town, he sets out to prove he’s frightful enough for the task by ruining Christmas for as many people as possible – until Jake and his friends capture him. The kids set out on a rip-roaring adventure to the North Pole to hand the troublemaker over to Santa and collect the reward. But the way is fraught with danger, leaving them to wonder if they’ll make it back in time for Christmas…or if they’ll even make it back alive!

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

E.G. FOLEY is the pen name for a husband-and-wife writing team who live in Pennsylvania. They've been finishing each other’s sentences since they were teens, so it was only a matter of time till they were writing together, too.

Like his kid readers, “E” (Eric) can't sit still for too long! A bit of a renaissance man, he’s picked up hobbies from kenpo to carpentry to classical guitar over the years, and holds multiple degrees in math, science, and education. He treated patients as a chiropractor for nearly a decade, then switched careers to venture into the wild-and-woolly world of teaching middle school, where he was often voted favorite teacher. His students helped inspire him to start dreaming up great stories for kids, until he recently switched gears again and left teaching to become a full-time writer and author entrepreneur.

By contrast, “G” (Gael, aka Gaelen Foley) has had
one
dream all her life and has pursued it with maniacal intensity since the age of seventeen: writing fiction! After earning her Lit degree at SUNY Fredonia, she waited tables at night for nearly six years as a “starving artist” to keep her days free for honing her craft, until she finally got The Call in 1997. Today, with millions of her twenty-plus romances from Ballantine and HarperCollins sold in many languages worldwide, she’s been hitting bestseller lists regularly since 2001. Although she loves all her readers, young and old, she admits there’s just something magical about writing for children.

You can find the Foleys on
Facebook
or visit their website at
www.EGFoley.com
. They are hard at work on their next book.

Thanks for Reading!

Also by E.G.
Foley

The Lost Heir
(The Gryphon Chronicles, Book One)

Jake & The Giant
(The Gryphon Chronicles, Book Two)

The Dark Portal
(The Gryphon Chronicles, Book Three)

Jake & The Gingerbread Wars
(A Gryphon Chronicles Christmas)

Rise of Allies
(The Gryphon Chronicles, Book Four)

The Haunted Plantation
(50 States of Fear: Alabama)

Bringing Home Bigfoot
(50 States of Fear: Arkansas)

Leader of the Pack
(50 States of Fear: Colorado)

The Dork and the Deathray
(50 States of Fear: Alaska)

Copyright © 2016 by E.G. Foley.

All Rights Reserved.

Cover Illustration by Josh D. Addessi and Victoria March.

Cover Design by Kim Killion.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, recorded, or stored in any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, except for brief quotations for review purposes.

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