“Erkens,” I said, my voice hoarse enough it sounded more like Darth Vader than me.
He walked over, giving a nod of approval to see us both up. “I’m glad you’re awake. We need to talk.”
“About?” Ian asked a little sharply.
“About what happened in the woods. I have never seen a woman in white’s spirit fade without a fight. What happened?”
“What happened, is Spencer Ezra came along,” Ian snapped, his arm around my shoulders going tight. “I always knew there was something off about him. Now, it’s obvious. He’s a monster.”
“No, he’s not,” I disagreed, determined not to allow Spencer to be burned at the stake for witchcraft or whatever people did these days. “He’s a good man who was raised in a crappy home. I know something about that. I want you to leave him alone. His sister is the only monster in his family. He’s not.”
Erkens narrowed his eyes at us. “Then what is he?” he asked, his jowls quivering.
“He’s off limits, that’s what he is,” I stated bossily.
Erkens frowned, yet there was something about his eyes which told me the truth. He was amused. He was simply comfortable in his grumpy mask. “I’m an old man,” he said and folded his arms over his slight paunch. “I’m too old to be running around all over this city chasing the monsters people hire me for. I could use a colleague who has an understanding of the technology I hate and enough nerve to walk willingly into dangerous situations to save people’s lives.”
I stared at him. “Are you offering me a job?” I asked, not at all sure what to think.
His scowl deepened, so did the amusement in his eyes. “And if I was?”
I glanced at Ian who gave me an ‘if you must’ look. I pursed my lips and shrugged. “I’d tell you that your computer needs to be replaced and your cell phone does too. I’d also tell you that I’m not a secretary. After all that, I’d say yes.” I held out my hand between us with a smile.
He harrumphed, his lips quivering up in the tiniest smile ever seen on earth as he shook my hand. “Now if you wouldn’t mind getting your lazy butt off that hospital bed, you and I have some work to do.”
And that was the first day I began working for TC Erkens. It was a rocky road although it was full of adventure, excitement, and happiness. For the first time in my life, I had found my place in the world. I was a paranormal investigator . . . or I was about to be.
EPILOGUE
Emma Gregory’s eyes fluttered open. She shuddered with cold and also with fear. The world around her was black as death.
Panic settled its way over her. She gasped, waving her arms around that dark place to find something. Nothing was near her, though.
She stopped after a moment, her mouth falling open. Gasped. She had gasped. She could feel the ground under her feet, smell the woodsy scent of the air around her.
She opened her mouth and words formed on her lips, as clear and distinct as if she was alive. “Where am I?” she asked, simply for the joy of being able to speak.
Emma jerked back in horror as whispers filled the air around her. She hadn’t expected to receive an answer to her question. It seemed she was not alone in that all-encompassing darkness.
“Murderer,” the voices around her whispered and the cold became even more profound.
Her mind flashed to the boy she had seen at the party, then to the other boy from her brother’s class. They were right. She was a murderer. She couldn’t even remember why she had done it, only that the rage had taken over her and she had allowed the power inside her to rise up.
Power. She’d had so much power. There had been strength she’d never possessed when she’d been alive. There had also been the ability to go wherever she’d wanted to go.
The air around her began to lighten. Slowly, it went from the black of pitch to the foggy gray of a rainy day. That was when she saw them.
There were people all around her. There were fangs, claws, disfigured faces, hunched bodies, and blood. She took a step away, horrified by all she saw.
“A woman in white, right?” a voice asked from behind her.
Emma whirled around to find a girl a few years younger than her with bold red eyes, blood stained fangs, and scaly wings that looked to have come from a dragon. She stepped away or tried to. The girl flapped her wings and remained directly in front of Emma.
“The first day is always the hardest,” she said in a cheerful tone. “See, this place is where they send us when we’ve killed. Looks to me like you’ve done that,” she said with a motion to Emma’s hands.
She looked down, startled to find that her hands were covered by blood. She hadn’t noticed it before. That blood remained in place even after she rubbed them on the white dress she wore.
“I . . . don’t understand,” Emma said as images began to float through her mind. “I did kill two guys. I was trying to show them how I died.”
The girl shrugged her shoulders in an unconcerned way. “Well, get comfortable. I’ve been here for twenty-seven years. It gets super boring. Maybe that’s part of our punishment.”
Emma threw her hands up in frustration. “Punishment? How did I even get here? Why am I being punished for showing them how I died?” she yelled, doing her best to ignore the weight of guilt that pressed down on her shoulders.
The winged girl rolled her eyes. “Listen, princess. We’re all here because we’re murderers. This is where they send us to keep us from killing anybody else. The Exilers are there to keep the balance. Without them, we would rule the world.”
Exilers? Emma thought back, her mind fixed on Spencer Ezra. An Exiler? What was that? And why had he done it to her? He had tried to tell her she was in danger the week before Dylan had murdered her.
Tears formed in her eyes. She knew why she had been exiled. The two boys she had killed had no more deserved to die than she had. She had taken the choice from their hands. She was indeed a murderer.
She turned her eyes around to look at the monsters who surrounded her. She felt a wave of guilt and revulsion pass over her. How long would she have to stay there? Was it possible to escape?
Emma closed her eyes and thought about Maddie. It was how she had gotten to her friend before. Nothing happened. She was still in that horrible monster-prison.
Maddie, please find me. Get me out of here. Please, Maddie, she thought, her body crumpling to the ground.
Would Maddie hear her? Could she save Emma from that place? Would she? Emma knew that if anyone could, it would be Maddie. Madison Meyer was the kind of girl who never gave up. Emma prayed that would hold true after the things she had done.
Author’s Note
“Hi, I’m Shannon and I’m addicted to writing. “
There, I said it. I love books. I love the escape from reality. I adore fantasy worlds.
My plan with this series is to keep it going for years on end. I hope to publish one or two of these books a year, interspersed through the rest of my series’.
I really hope you like it. These characters, the good, the bad, and the grumpy, they all move me in some way. I hope they do for you as well. Please let me know what you think of them by leaving me a review on Amazon, or Goodreads, or anywhere else your heart desires!
Weblog: www.authorshannonreber.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14219796.Shannon_Reber
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Shannon-Reber-1450668291923946/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShannonArtWrite
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorshannonreber/
Acknowledgements
There are SO many things I have to thank my best friend for. All her help with my books is the one that’s most dominant in my mind at this point. This story came into my mind but she helped talk me through it, plot out better ways to tell it, and put up with all the name changes I made. She wins the award for best friend ever, though also for best editor ever. Thank you as always, Ruth. You are my hero!
https://www.f
acebook.com/ruthlesseditor/
To my beta readers, you guys are amazing. Thank you for the advice and the help in making this story as great as it is. (I say that with full humility, really.)
And to everyone who read the book, thank you. You guys are amazing.
Other books by Shannon Reber
www.amazon.com/author/shannonreber
The Exiler (A Madison Meyer Side Story)
The Black Merchant (A Madison Meyer Mystery Book 2)
The Dark Spirit (A Madison Meyer Christmas Story)
The Infernal Goddesses (A Madison Meyer Side Story)
The Thirteen Bends (A Madison Meyer Mystery Book 3)
In The Works (The Light Bearer Prequel)
In Their Midst (The Light Bearer Book 1)
The Key (reprogramming the gods Book 1)
Friends and Foes (The Druid Heirs book 1)
Life and Loss (The Druid Heirs book 2)
Peace and Peril (The Druid Heirs book 3)
The Druid Heirs (The Complete Trilogy)
Ill-Fated (The Cintamani Chronicles Book 1)
Ill-Omened (The Cintamani Chronicles Book 2)
Ill-Starred (The Cintamani Chronicles Book 3)
Misery (A Short Story)
Cadger (The Annwyn Revolution Book 1)
Illusion
Gray (Awakening Book 1)
White (Awakening Book 2)
Black (Awakening Book 3)
The Stockades (The Uniters Code Book 1)
The Sepulcher (The Uniters Code Book 2)
The Stronghold (The Uniters Code Book 3)
The Sanctum (The Uniters Code Book 4)
The Shrine (The Uniters Code Book 5)
The Uniters Code (The Complete Series)
The Seer (The Seal of Solomon prequel)
The Puppeteer (The Seal of Solomon Book 1)
The Gatekeeper (The Seal of Solomon Book 2)
The Fire Wielder (The Seal of Solomon Book 3)
About the Author
Shannon Reber was born a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . or her imagination was anyway. She lives in western New York with her husband and a wide variety of both real and imaginary friends who often battle it out for dominance in her head. Who needs another normal person in this messed up world? Read her books, or the evil overlord will take control of her mind!
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