The Dream Thief by Kari Kilgore (books for 10th graders txt) 📕

why you had to move. It's not the well. It's an investigation. The night George came to get you, a lot of people heard screams outside my building. And they found a knife that looked a lot like one I saw Loretta carrying."

Gemma continued to bustle around the space, adjusting the piles, moving stray coins or jewels or rings into the right place.

"Karl, would you be a dear and fetch a few of those bags?" she said. "And don't worry so much. My bobbin is just fine, wherever she is."

Karl shook his head as he got three of the black leather bags stacked just outside the safe door.

"How can you know that, Gemma? No one has seen or heard from her, not even Bill. You know there are dangerous creatures out there."

She started filling one of the bags.

"Of course, but there are good ones, too," she said "That's how I know she's not dead."

Karl held his breath for a second, trying to make sense of the surreal conversation.

"From a good monster?" he said. "I don't understand what you mean, Gemma."

"The big white one I can talk to, remember? When we were out there packing up my things, I took the time to say goodbye and thank you."

"What did it say?"

"I told it why I was leaving," she said. "And that I was terribly worried about my granddaughter. It said, now let me make sure I have this right. It said, ‘No worry, other safe. Across water, all are safe.’ Yes. I believe that was it."

Karl's body alternated between too hot and too cold, and he nearly dropped the heavy bag of coin Gemma gave him. He looked around the room, at the glittering wealth he never would have imagined.

"If Loretta is alive," Karl whispered, "she'd never leave all of this behind. Not for anything."

"Well, I'd say people matter more than coin in the end," Gemma said. "She'll come back to you, dear. Don't you worry."

About Kari

Kari Kilgore’s wanderlust and imagination lead her all over the world on grand adventures. Her heart and family bring her home to her native Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. From that solid base, she and her husband Jason A. Adams bring those adventures to life in fiction.

Kari writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and she’s happiest when she surprises herself. She lives at the end of a long dirt road in the middle of the woods with Jason, various house critters, and wildlife they’re better off not knowing more about.

The Confidential Adventure Club

Want more fiction from Kari, including stories, discounts, and box sets not available anywhere else? Want to hear about locations, research, and other cool things that inspired this story and beyond? All that and adorable pet photos, too?

Join The Confidential Adventure Club and get a thank you gift of a free short story and a whole lot more at www.smarturl.it/c-a-club.

Hope to see you there!

www.karikilgore.com

www.spiralpublishing.net

Also by Kari Kilgore

I hope you enjoyed reading The Dream Thief as much as I enjoyed writing it. Check out more of my fiction at www.karikilgore.com.

The Confidential Adventure Club

Want more fiction from Kari, including stories, discounts, and box sets not available anywhere else? Want to hear about locations, research, and other cool things that inspired this story and beyond? All that and adorable pet photos, too?

Join The Confidential Adventure Club and get a thank you gift of a free short story and a whole lot more at www.smarturl.it/c-a-club.

Hope to see you there!

Novels:

Until Death

Dreaming the Storm: Book One of the Storms of Future Past Series

Joining the Storm: Book Two of the Storms of Future Past Series

Fighting the Storm: Book Four of the Storms of Future Past Series

Novellas:

Songs in the Mountain

Legacy of the Land

Restricted Species

The Becalmed

In the Pines

Into the Storm: Book Three of the Storms of Future Past Series

Short Stories:

Renovations

Intentions

The Garbage Belt

The Seeds of Love

Wicked Bone

The Sound of Murder

Terminalia

Little Five: A Terminalia Story

Reflections

Collections:

Fantastic Women: A Dark Fantasy Novella Trio

Fantastic Shorts: Volume 1 - A Fantasy Short Story Collection

“Kari Kilgore is an author to watch—her lyrical voice a siren song; her insight, conjured voodoo.”

—Richard Thomas, author of Breaker and Tribulations

Copyright © 2016 by Kari A. Kilgore

All rights reserved

Published 2016 by Spiral Publishing, Ltd.

www.spiralpublishing.net

Book and cover design copyright © 2016 by Spiral Publishing, Ltd.

Cover art copyright © 2016 by Andrey Kiselev | Dreamstime.com and gremlin | istockphotos.com

Print ISBN-13: 978-0-9908875-2-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016915454

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.