by Sharp, Tracy
I hated him.
Strummer had taken Delia from me. He’d sent the spook that had invaded her body and killed her.
“You killed my aunt,” I said to him when I felt him settle in next to me.
“I’m sorry,” was all he said. I thought I heard the whisper of humanity in his voice, a glimmer of remorse. But I wasn’t sure.
I opened my eyes and saw Mick’s face, eyes huge as he stared at me, his mouth hanging open, speechless.
“I’m okay,” I said. I wasn’t sure of that either.
He looked at a girl in the passenger seat. I hadn’t notice her before. Dark hair. She turned to me and I saw my own face looking back at me.
“What the hell?” Mick said, looking from her to me and back again.
I blinked. “Yeah. What the hell?”
The girl grinned. My crooked grin. Her hair began to lighten. Her face rounded out.
A pretty blonde girl smiled wickedly at me.
“Betty,” I breathed.
“Hey girl,” she said, and then giggled.
“That’s a neat trick.”
“I thought so. I don’t do it very often. Shapeshifting makes me tired.”
“It was the only way I could think of to keep your friend alive,” Strummer said. “He’d have ended up with a bullet between his eyes if he’d shown up here.” He nodded to Edward Tanner’s dead body, now a mound covered in snow.
“Fiona made him promise to keep him safe,” Betty said.
My heart leapt. “Fiona? She’s okay?”
Betty dropped her gaze. “She’s alive. Lucian found her. Had her picked up by a couple of his goons.”
Lucian had abducted Fiona from the diner.
“She made a deal with Lucian. She’ll work for him for as long as he wants her to, without escaping, if he let us help you,” Betty said.
“You’re kidding,” I murmured. “Why would she do that?”
Betty shook her head slowly. “I’m not kidding. She considers you a sister.”
I felt my brow furrow. “But I only just met her.”
Betty shrugged. “She has no family. They were slaughtered in a home invasion when she was three. She’d left the house through a door left open, found wandering the streets two weeks later. Her ghosts had hidden her from the men who killed her family. They never saw her.” Betty gestured with an open hand to the gray matter still moving around me. “She sent her ghosts to help protect you.”
My eyes filled. “But Lucian…”
“Lucian has a soft spot for Fiona. He won’t hurt her.” Strummer put earbuds in his ears and sat back. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Lucian’s,” Betty said. “Do you have anywhere else to go?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“We’ll drop your friend off first,” she said.
“No.” Mick shook his head. “She’s staying with me.”
“No,” I said. “I’m not like you. You’ll end up hurt, or worse.”
“She’s right,” Betty said. “There are things out there that will steal her for her energy. Things worse than anything you’ve ever seen. They will kill you for her.”
So those were the things my father had hidden me from. The things Delia had tried to keep me safe from.
“I thought it was Lucian. He’s like…the Devil.”
“No. Lucian is a businessman. That’s all. He can keep you safe from the others.”
“Nobody can keep me safe.”
“I’ll try,” Strummer murmured.
“No,” Mick said. “I’m not leaving you.”
“You have no choice, dude.” Strummer sat up and glared at Mick. “Just walk away.”
Mick jammed on the brakes. The truck lurched forward before stopping. He turned toward us and moved his body between the seats, his face an inch from Strummer’s. “Make me.”
Strummer grinned, tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.
Mick’s eyelids fluttered and he fell forward.
“No!” I reached for him. “What did you do?”
“He’s fine,” Strummer said. “Just asleep. Who wants to drive?”
This was my town. I’d drive myself out of it.
I got out of the truck and Strummer helped me move Mick to the passenger seat. Betty moved to the back.
We dropped Mick off, got him into his house, and left the Navigator parked in the driveway.
Then we got into a black sedan that slid to a stop on the curb in front of us.
The tinted window moved down and Lucian’s dark eyes regarded me coldly. “Get in.”
Without a word, the three of us got into the car.
Why not? I had nowhere else to go.
I sat back, my head resting against the back of the seat, and let Fiona’s ghosts move over me as we headed down the road, leading to places I wasn’t sure I wanted to see, but I no longer had a choice.
As we drove along the road, a familiar figure moving along the side of the road made me sit up and shout, “Stop the car!”
Lucian stopped the car just ahead of the figure.
As the man came up next to the passenger window, I reached out and he grabbed my hand.
“Wentworth,” I began, but my words dissolved into tears. I opened the door and stepped out of the car, stepping into his open arms. I couldn’t find words for what I had to tell him. I didn’t even know where to begin.
“I know, Lorelei.” He broke the hug and looked into my face, his eyes filled with sorrowful understanding. “I know what happened.”
“How did you know?” I said, my voice thick with tears.
He shrugged slightly. “I know many things. I tried to help her, but the shadow spooks almost got to me, too.” He tilted his head back toward Mick’s house. “Your friend will need somebody to watch over him.”
I nodded. “Yes. Would you?”
“I’d be honored. Don’t worry about a thing. It’ll all work out as it should.” With that he gave me a last, long squeeze and let me go. “Go on now. You’ll be fine.”
I stared at him before climbing back into the car.
“It’s time to fight now, Lorelei.” He leaned into the window slightly. “Kick some serious ass.”
I couldn’t help smiling. “I will.”
With that, he nodded once and turned back toward Mick’s house.
And I knew that Mick would be okay.
I moved a hand over Strummer’s, and sent a thought to him. I never knew I could do that, but it worked just fine.
Leo, I said. We need to end him.
His head turned to me and he gave a barely noticeable nod. Whatever you want, Lorelei. I’d do anything for you. You must know that now.
I looked away from him. I couldn’t feel anything. Relief, maybe, that I wasn’t alone at Lucian’s. Strummer was a good ally to have. Maybe together we could make a difference. Maybe together all the kids a Lucian’s could.
There was a lot of bad in the world. We’d start with Leo and deal with the wrath of Lucian later.
Strummer squeezed my hand and I closed my eyes.
I would see Mick again. But for now, I had some training to do.
And a lot of serious ass-kicking.
The End
Contents
Title page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
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