He nods, and I make my way over to the battered blue structure. The window is cracked and covered with dirt. It’s early and there are no signs of life. I tap lightly on the window several times until a head pops up.
“Liora, what the hell?”
“Corrine, I have to talk to you, now. It’s urgent. Get dressed and get out here.”
“Is everything okay? What happened?”
“Just get out here now!”
Thirty seconds later Corrine is sitting beside me on the porch in sweats and galoshes, her stringy hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, her bruised face barely hidden behind her thick lenses.
“Corrine, we’re getting out of here. Right now. Me and Kieron—”
“Kieron’s back?” she asks, looking around.
I nod. “Yup. And we’re leaving. Now. We’re going to California to live. Los Angeles.”
“Now?”
I nod again, and she frowns. “So you came to say goodbye.”
This time I shake my head. “Nope. I came by to get you. You’re coming with.”
Her jaw drops and her bruised eyes open wide. “What?! No. I can’t possibly…”
“Yes, you can and yes, you are. No arguments. It’s all taken care of. We have plenty of money, so no worries in that department. I’ll buy you anything you need and totally take care of you. Come on, Corrine. You don’t really want to stay here, do you?”
She puts her head down and shakes it back and forth.
“So you’ll come then?”
She slowly raises her head and shrugs, then nods.
“Great! Let’s go!”
“What, now?”
I nod and stand up, waving my hands impatiently.
“Geez, Liora,” she says. “What’d you guys do… rob a bank? Kill someone?”
I cock my head to the side. “Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything to you.” Almost everything.
“Give me five minutes.”
I rejoin Kieron in the car. Three minutes later a happy Corrine skips towards us wearing a baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and carrying an army duffel bag.
“Just tell me this,” she says as we head out on the open highway. “Are we fugitives from the law?” The thinly veiled excitement in her voice suggests she wouldn’t mind if we were.
“From the law? No.” Kieron and I exchange a quick look. “But Corrine, there are some things you need to know. I’m going to tell you something that is going to change your life. It will alter the world as you know it. But know this…I am your friend, and you have nothing to fear from me, now or ever. I care about you… it’s very important you know this.”
I can’t see her eyes from behind her dark glasses, but I hear the brave apprehension in her voice. “What?”
I take a deep breath. I have to tell her. It’s the only way. And I have to tell her before we get too far away in case she totally freaks out and wants to go home.
“Well, it’s kinda hard to say. I’ve never told anyone my secret before. No one who wasn’t like me,” I add with a quick glance at Kieron. The love I see in his eyes gives me the reassurance I need to continue.
“You see, Corinne, I’m different from other girls…”
Epilogue
Kieron wraps his arms around me as we gaze out over the ocean. “It’s so pretty here,” I whisper, marveling at the way the setting sun casts pinkish-orange streaks over the sparkling water.
“As gorgeous as this is, it doesn’t hold a candle to you. I swear you get more beautiful every day.” He nuzzles my ear and strokes my hair. A contented smile passes my lips and I turn to give him a small kiss. It’s been almost a week since we left the cabin in Virginia, and our road trip will soon be over.
The end of one life. The beginning of another.
“You guys look like you’re posing for a postcard or something,” Corrine says as she emerges from the rest stop bathroom. “It’s almost enough to make a girl want to die of envy…maybe jump into the ocean, just to be put out of her misery.” She winks to show me she’s only joking.
I smile back at her. “Sorry.”
“So we’re really almost there?” she asks, excitement lighting up her face.
“Maybe another hour. Two, tops,” Kieron says.
“Well, let’s get a move on then. Liora, I love you, but I’m just not looking forward to being stuck in a car with Lucky again. She tells the worst, most inappropriate stories. Let’s get to our new home, A.S.A.P.” She grins, pushes her glasses up over her freshly healed eyes—compliments of Lucky I was told—and heads to the car.
I turn to Kieron, savoring the feeling of the sun’s warmth on my skin, and Kieron’s love in my heart. “Do you really think this will work?” I ask him for the dozenth time.
He smiles and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me close. “Yes, I do. We’ll be together, and that’s all that matters. I love you, and I always will.”
As his lips press down on mine, I feel the now familiar flutter deep inside and think how lucky I am to be with him, despite the craziness of our worlds. I kiss him passionately, not having the heart to tell him that he’s wrong…about us being together being the only thing that matters.
Because there’s something else…something I’ve come to realize deep within my soul, and without a shadow of doubt. I don’t know how it happened, or when. But it did. Something so unbelievable and earth-shattering, it will change all of our lives forever…for better or worse.
I place a gentle hand on my belly and smile up at the man I love.
End of Book 2
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Penelope King graduated from the University of California, Irvine. She lives with her family on the Carolina coast and writes novels full time.
authorpenelopeking.blogspot.com
Also available:
A Demon Made Me Do It (Demonblood Series #1)
Witchy, Witchy (Spellbound Trilogy #1)
Coming Soon:
Kiss the Crystal Sun (Spellbound Trilogy #2) – Feb 2012
Untitled (Demonblood Series #3) – Summer 2012
A personal note from Penelope:
From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank you for welcoming my stories and characters into your life. I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. As an “indie” author, the best way others can be made aware of our work is through positive word of mouth and feedback from happy readers. Leaving a quick review on the site you purchased this from goes a long way in helping me get my work out to other readers. If you think someone else might enjoy this story, I encourage you to express your thoughts.
Thank you so much for your support, and stay tuned for the next installment of this exciting series!
~Best Wishes and Happy Reading~
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