Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Price of Salt (The Grim Arcana #1)
    The Price of Salt (The Grim Arcana #1)
    The Price of Salt (The Grim Arcana #1)
    Ebook57 pages36 minutes

    The Price of Salt (The Grim Arcana #1)

    By Geoffrey Thorne

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The city of Arcana sits on the edge... of this world and the next... of magic and physics... of everything you wish for and everything you fear.

    It is a wonderful place, full of sorcerers, magical creatures and even the occasional god.

    It is a terrible place, full of sorcerers, magical creatures and even the occasional god.

    Everything that has ever terrified anyone from under a bed or the creepy house at the end of the street or their own nightmares has passed through Arcana before coming into the world.

    It is ruled by the Arcanas, major and minor, powerful beings who keep the peace between dark and light. Neither good nor evil they watch over the city that bears their name enforcing the Law of Balance with swift, often brutal, hands. Or talons.
    But, lately, the Arcanas have been slipping.

    The Balance isn't being protected as it should. Demons not only walk the Earth they sit next to you at the diner, licking your soul.
    It's bad; Book of Revelations bad. Mayan Calendar bad. Necronomicon bad.

    The Balance is shifting.

    Someone has to keep the Balance if the Arcanas won't.

    Someone has to protect this world from the things of the Other.
    That someone is Grim.

    He and his friends- Dex... the tough guy, Flora.. the witch, Sherman... the thief, Belladona... the huntress and Mr. Sun... the merchant- place themselves in the breach, holding back the dark things and the bright things before they can get into the world.

    The Grim Arcana tells their stories. Find out who lives, who dies and who (or what) the hell Grim is anyway in these stories set in a world that is enough like ours to be familiar but different enough to steal your soul.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Winterman Project
    Release dateJan 5, 2010
    ISBN9781452474298
    The Price of Salt (The Grim Arcana #1)
    Author

    Geoffrey Thorne

    Geoffrey Thorne is an American novelist and screenwriter. Thorne was born in the United States. After a successful career as a television actor, Thorne began writing professionally, winning Second Prize in Simon & Schuster's sixth annual Strange New Worlds anthology with his story "The Soft Room." He went on to publish more stories in several media tie-in anthologies as well as the Star Trek: Titan novel Sword of Damocles. Other stories he has written include contributions to MV Media''s anthology Steam Funk, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and the neo-pulp webzine Astonishing Adventures! Magazine. As a screenwriter, Thorne has worked with Kickstart Entertainment, Disney and Cartoon Network to develop several properties for television in both live-action and animated formats. He was a writer for Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien & Omniverse and seasons 3,4 and 5 of TNT's Leverage. In 2014 Lion Forge Entertainment and NBC-Universal tapped Thorne to reboot the global fan favorite TV series, KNIGHT RIDER in comic book form. Thorne is the co-creator of PHANTOM CANYON, an audio drama from Pendant Productions set to debut in 2014. Thorne is also a co-founder and writing partner of GENRE 19, a studio he formed with artist Todd Harris in 2008.

    Read more from Geoffrey Thorne

    Related to The Price of Salt (The Grim Arcana #1)

    Titles in the series (4)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Fantasy For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Supportive Husband

      Sep 12, 2023

      There were less intimate places available, so it was odd when a woman took the seat directly facing mine across the subway aisle. I looked up from my book and right back down: a couple of months before, we’d gone home together. She had a Southern acc

      22 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Thing That looked Like Me

      Sep 28, 2021

      The Thing That looked Like Me
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Devil You Know

      Jul 10, 2021

      I met the Devil today. He was walking down main street, right by the undertaker in B____, which is a little town near here, and which, for obvious reasons, I’d better not name. I recognized him straight away because he had furry legs with hooves for

      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Me & Davey Waters

      Jan 15, 2023

      Me & Davey Waters
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Good Guysfinish Last

      Oct 6, 2020

      Good Guysfinish Last
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Gnome

      Oct 1, 2019

      The Gnome
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      One Cool Dude

      Feb 27, 2020

      One Cool Dude
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Sleepwalk On The Wild Side!

      Mar 7, 2024

      Sleepwalk On The Wild Side!
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Carrie Fountain

      Mar 1, 2020

      Outside Dublin, Texas the radio stationsdisappear and I’m left alone with the faintvoice of a call-in psychologist talkingto a man in Cleveland about the voiceof the self, the narratives that voicetells, how they can be sharp and wrongand cut to the

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Lockdown

      Aug 31, 2020

      You keep a secret safe, wrapped up in the back of a drawer in your mind, all tied up in metaphorical ribbon and string, for 14 years. And in the space of three days, it unravels. How did that happen? I’ll tell you how. I was up a ladder, that’s how.

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Never Done THAT

      Oct 20, 2020

      Never Done THAT
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Duplex

      Jun 9, 2020

      I moved to Los Angeles to sing. When was this? August? June? I was twenty-nine, and those were shapeless months, when the days blended together and I refused to pull them apart. My landlord was unusually close to her adult son. His name was Jeffrey,

      21 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Wicked SECRETS

      Sep 28, 2022

      It is fair to say that there is a lull in business at the charity shop. In fact, this sudden and unforeseen downturn in trading conditions is so pronounced that my colleague Grace abandons the safety of the counter every so often, goes to the door, a

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Do-Over Romance

      Aug 5, 2024

      A Do-Over Romance
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Naomie Harris

      Oct 27, 2019

      Naomie Harris
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Noises In The NIGHT

      Aug 18, 2021

      Noises In The NIGHT
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Ice cream DREAMS

      Aug 4, 2021

      Ice cream DREAMS
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Dissonance At Dinner

      Jul 21, 2022

      Dissonance At Dinner
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      What Just Happened?

      Apr 9, 2021

      What Just Happened?
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Q-tip Options

      Oct 10, 2023

      I am not a good person. Abby was at my door. My reaction when I saw her should have been more charitable. She was young and cute and needy, but all I wanted was a nice relaxing day at home. When the police questioned her, I should have let them take

      16 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Pleasure Palace

      Sep 1, 2022

      Pleasure Palace
      15 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Mr D goes TOPLESS

      Apr 26, 2023

      You should probably read these opening paragraphs while hiding behind the sofa because disturbing images might be involved. You’ll risk it anyway? Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you. We have a full-length mirror in our spare bedroom, and the other day

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Idiots

      Feb 26, 2021

      The Idiots
      18 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Witness

      Jun 9, 2020

      My sister threw open the door so that it banged against the little console table she kept by the entrance. “Silas,” she said breathlessly, before even removing her coat, “I have to tell you something.” Which was enough to make me feel trapped, as tho

      25 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      NEVER Done That

      Mar 4, 2020

      NEVER Done That
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The July War

      Sep 8, 2020

      In summer, our neighborhood quiets in phases. The quieting begins in May. Schools give their older kids, the seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds, a month off to prepare for the baccalaureate exams. Following a ritual as old as our parents, the students

      21 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Price of Salt (The Grim Arcana #1)

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Price of Salt (The Grim Arcana #1) - Geoffrey Thorne

      The Price of Salt

      By Geoffrey Thorne

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright © 2006 Geoffrey Thorne

      Somebody with a death wish was leaning on my buzzer.

      Now, I'm a reasonable sort, fair minded, some might even say staunch, but that sort of wake-up call– screaming angry hornets- at that hour– like three in the morning– that kind of behavior will get anybody's back up.

      Couple that with the fact that Priscilla had been at me again– something about me not respecting her life choices or some other kind of crap– so I'd only actually made it into my bed at like midnight anyway. When she gets a mad going it takes a while for her to blow herself out. Three hours of sleep after a taste of Hurricane Pris and I probably would've dropped my own mother for looking at me crossways.

      Better be good, I said into the intercom once I managed to make it there. I mean really good.

      It took me a few seconds to remember that I had to depress the button marked LISTEN before I could, so I missed the first part of what he had to say.

      "– us in, man," said a voice I found a little familiar. We're in deep shit.

      Switching to the SPEAK button I said, Who’s this?

      Bobby, man, said the static crackled voice. Come on. Let us in.

      A picture of a skinny twitchy white guy who looked like he'd been constructed from a bunch of hastily assembled birch saplings popped into my head. Bobby Locane. The Bug. Yeah, I knew him. I knew him well enough to know that, if he was in deep shit, he probably deserved it.

      Who's us? I said.

      Me and Queen, said Bobby through the static.

      Oh, great. Queen Babs and freaking Bobby the Bug Locane. Just what I freaking need at three fucking o'clock in the morning.

      Why do these idiots always come to me when they get in over their heads? It's not like I can do anything to make them smarter or faster or capable of telling the truth. And why in the hell do I always let them in?

      Yeah, all right, I said into the speaker. Two minutes.

      Bobby the Bug was just like I remembered him– short, skinny and running a twitch that would make an epileptic look like a statue. His girl, a piece of Goth jailbait named Barbara something who made everybody call her Queen, towered over him the way a big lump of vanilla ice cream towers over a dish. They both looked and smelled like they'd been spit out the wrong end of a sewer pipe.

      Jesus, I said, taking a step back. Bathe much?

      It was useless. Their stench was like a live animal, clawing at me, trying to pull me in with them.

      Sorry, said Bobby the Bug.

      Damn it. Their crap covering was dripping on my throw, leaving a mark that I knew would never ever come out.

      Let's have it, I said retreating to the kitchen for some water. I wasn't wasting any more time on these idiots than I absolutely had to.

      Bobby started talking right away. Well. His version of talking. What it really was was a stream of unbroken syllables that sounded a little like words if you had the time and patience to wade in and decipher. I had neither.

      Shut up, I said to Bobby. He did. Then I turned to Queen Babs. She was quaking too; enough to make her look like a blurry TV picture. You. Talk. And make it quick.

      We need to see Grim, she said. Bobby says you know him.

      Bobby talks too freaking much, I said, shooting him a look that told him I'd be discussing his fat mouth with him later.

      We got this thing, she said. This box. We opened it and Vinnie–

      Vinnie? I said, cutting her off. I thought I knew who she meant but I wanted to be sure.

      Vinnie D, she said.

      Vinnie D– D for Dietz– Big Vinnie to his friends of whom he had none. That's who was missing from this picture. Vinnie was one of those wannabe Wiseguys who was always looking for and never finding the angles. He was also a total half-wit but, compared to these two, he was like Hawking and Chaucer in one chubby rat-like body.

      What happened to Vinnie, I said.

      The two morons exchanged a glance and something definitely passed between them. If they'd had brains I would have thought to ask about it but, of course, they didn't. Eventually Queen Babs went on.

      He had this box, she said. Said he got it off some homeless guy. Said it had money inside.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1