The Innkeeper Novels & Stories

"Six months." Caroline smiled and slid a set of keys across the desk. "The inn is on Lighthouse Road. You can't miss it—it's the blue Victorian with white trim overlooking the harbor. I'll have the paperwork ready for you to sign tomorrow." Maya pocketed the keys and stood, clutching the envelope to her chest. She made it all the way to the door before Caroline called after her. "Ms. Reeves? One more thing. The inn hasn't been empty since your grandmother passed. There's a handyman who's been maintaining the property—Finn Callahan. He has a key. Eleanor trusted him completely, and I think you'll find him... helpful."

After my sister-in-law Lydia had my brother Caleb's kidney removed and spent three years draining his blood, he escaped back to our hometown barely alive. He lay on a bed at the clinic, holding my hand tight as he said, "Noah, don't go after them. You can't afford to cross Lydia's family." Three days later, he died in my arms. I buried him on the hillside behind the town, under the old oak tree he had loved to climb as a child. On the seventh day after I buried him, a black Maybach stopped at the edge of town. Lydia got out with a frail man who looked like he could fall over at any time. She stood outside my house's door and looked at me. "Noah, where's your brother? Tell him to come o

Minutes later, Ichabod could hear a swift movement behind the shelves and out came a short man in a black tail coat and a large hat which made him look like all those wizards you see in movies like Harry Potter. “Ah! If it isn’t my old friend.” Johhny said cheerfully. “It has been a while since I last saw you. Are you having nightmares again?” “No.” Adams replied, “I would like you to meet someone.” He said, “this is Ichabod Nuel.” Johnny laid his eyes on Ichabod and scanned him from head to toe. A serious smile cracked upon his lips. “Ah. I can see you haven’t come alone young man.”

A master of the inn suddenly came to them. They were expecting him to present what their inn could offer. But the owner said, “Forgive me, visitors. But my inn can no more accommodate all of you. The manor master has purchased it from me so that I can pay all my debts from my neighbors.” “How do you know that we are visitors?” Dilruba asked. “Other than your clothes, you seem to be new in this place. Tell me if you are having a hard time finding an inn. Perhaps I can help you with searching another.”

It was their job to help citizens held in windowless rooms against their will. The opposite door opened with a snap and she jerked around,. The intruder was sinfully gorgeous man, a little older than she, and he was apparently just as startled at seeing her. He stood there for a minute nit saying anything and she stared back st him. He appeared to fill the room. His presence had that impact. The intruder was taller than her five feet six inches by over another half foot. His dark hair was thick and not quite tidy and his oddly compelling eyes were almost brown. His brows had broken and he looked tough if his nose hadn't been broken.

Better than that, how could she help them clear Owen's name if she couldn't even think outside the box. “The head of housekeeping has access to which rooms are occupied and which are empty. But Lenora is not a suspect. She has been here since I opened the place back up after the renovations. She is a sweet grandmother, in her late sixties. She goes to church every Sunday and she brings me homemade pies and plates of fried chicken. At Christmas her and her grandchildren make cookies and treats which they bring to me. I don't think she could do it.” “Okay. But does she tell the workers which rooms to clean?” Liv asks and he nods.

Just reading his mind led me to have more questions than I started with. He released my hand and gestured for me to follow him inside. This changed everything. He knew I was a Hunter, he may not have known I had a contract on his head, but he knew what I was capable of. He knew I had killed his kind. Maybe not how many, but he definitely knew and yet he was still interested in me. Does he have a death wish? I walked by his side through the entryway and into a set of large black double doors that seemed to open on their own. I gasped when my eyes registered the decor in his entryway. It was like I walked straight into a medieval castle.

Diana and Cole approached the innkeeper, a middle-aged man with a bushy beard and a kindly face. "Good evening," Diana said, doing her best to sound confident. "We're travelers, and we're looking for a place to rest for the night." The innkeeper eyed them suspiciously, but nodded. "I have a couple of rooms available," he said gruffly. "But they don't come cheap." Diana dug into her bag and pulled out a handful of coins. It wasn't much, but it was all she had. The innkeeper eyed the coins and snorted. "That'll barely cover a night's stay," he said. "But I suppose it's better than nothing."

M looked bewildered; he looked at the inn keeper asking as if what he should do? I could feel the eyes and the blood thirst and the reaction they have on their faces. All of them have the same reaction. These guys are monsters. The inn keeper couldn’t lift a finger despite being a seasoned warrior. On the top of it, the girl who was not older than twenty-five… if she were to add a bit more power, she could crush his neck and kill him. “Please… please save me?!” the man cried. “August clean the mess outside.” I said and August was quick on his heels. Within ten minutes the uproar quiet down and there was dead silent.

“It keeps the ghosts away.” Downstairs, the inn filled with the low rumble of conversation. When they went to eat, eyes followed them—some curious, some fearful, most unreadable. News had clearly outrun them. Whispers curled through the room like smoke: the witch of the Black Moon, the swordsman who bled for her, the ones who closed the sky. A young boy darted forward and set two bowls of stew on their table. “Innkeeper says this one’s on the house,” he said quickly, then added, “for saving the dawn.” He fled before they could answer.