by C. C. Hunter
Well, not everyone knew, but she didn’t mind teaching the lesson to this ignorant human.
Before she started initiating that lesson he spoke again. “Tell Brandon to stop telling these stories to the police, or they’ll be looking for his body!”
She tilted up her chin, showing him she wasn’t afraid, and well, maybe egging him on. “You know, that’s a threat and I think it’s against the law.”
His eyes glittered with rage. He caught her by her arm. She could have dodged his reach, but nope, she actually hoped he’d give her a little something to justify what was coming.
His hand tightened. “No, sweet ass, that’s not a threat. It’s a promise.”
She lifted one eyebrow, leaned in just a bit, and looked him dead in the eyes. “Wanna hear my promise?”
Chapter Sixteen
His hand tightened on her arm.
“I promise that I’m gonna find out what happened to Linda, so your butt will rot in jail. Oh, yeah, I also promise you that this is gonna hurt!” She lifted her knee with were force and got him right in his gonads.
The man went down to his knees. Between gasps for air, she heard him call her a few names. However, what she mostly heard were the wind chimes playing a beautiful song.
She stepped back and shut the door, and looked back at the chimes. She still didn’t see Linda, but she knew she was there. “You liked that, didn’t you?”
The chimes played louder.
* * *
“Please talk to me,” Fredericka said five minutes later.
Linda’s killer had managed to get his sorry ass and sore balls into his car and drive off. Fredericka walked around the house talking to a ghost who apparently had disappeared. The chimes were still silent. Not the dead kind of still from before, but just silent.
Suddenly remembering seeing Linda outside by the flower bed several times, she walked out.
As she cut the corner, she saw her, sitting there, hugging her knees. Eyes all in the proper sockets.
“Can we talk?” Fredericka asked.
The spirit looked up. “Why can you see me and no one else can?”
“I guess I’m supposed to help you.”
She smiled. “I like what you did to Brice.”
“He … hurt you, didn’t he?” Fredericka asked.
Linda nodded and her gaze moved to Fredericka’s arm. “He hurt you, too.”
Glancing at the bruises, Fredericka said, “This is nothing. But if you can tell me about what he did to you, maybe I can make good on my promise to him. To get him arrested before he hurts anyone else.”
Linda inhaled. “This is where I am.”
Fredericka didn’t understand. “I know, I see you.” She moved in a little closer. She heard a car pull up in front of the house, a different-sounding motor than the one she’d heard the creep drive away in. So she ignored it, because she didn’t want Linda to disappear. “Remember I saw you the other day, too.”
“No, not this me.” She touched her chest, pressing her hand over her heart. “The other me.”
The other you? All of the sudden Fredericka understood. “You mean…”
Linda nodded. “I was … planting the flowers, early in the morning before it got too hot, and he … dropped by. I’d broken up with him and he didn’t want to accept it. He yelled at me, then he … took my shovel and hit me with it.” She glanced at the flower bed. “The shovel is in there, too. And I think I scratched him, so there should be proof under my fingernails.”
“I’m sorry,” Fredericka said, her chest aching and suddenly wishing she’d neutered that bastard instead of just bruised his boys.
“Me, too. There was so much I wanted to do. But I think … I think it’s gonna be nice where I’m going. Isn’t it?”
“I think so,” Fredericka said. She wished she knew more, wished she could offer Linda something more, but she didn’t know for sure, and the last thing she was going to do was lie to a dead person. “I’m kind of new at this, but Holiday—a friend who does this a lot—said you would be happier there.”
Linda stood up. “Will you take care of Brandon? He’s a good guy. Oh, he pretty much takes care of himself. He had to because of his mother. But since he’s met you, he’s been happier. A lot happier. He needs that. He deserves it.”
“He makes me happy, too,” Fredericka said, and right then she heard the footsteps behind her, followed by his voice.
“Who makes you … Who are you talking to?” Brandon asked.
Linda moved a little closer. “You can tell him. He knows I’m here. He talks to me. But I don’t think he hears me. That’s why I started playing the chimes.”
“I didn’t hear your motorcycle.” Fredericka turned around.
“I drove Linda’s car,” he said, looking at Fredericka a little strangely.
“How’s your side?” he asked.
“Fi—” She gasped a little.
His gaze went to her forehead. He was attempting to read her pattern.
“Your…” He touched his forehead. “It’s different.”
She just stood there.
“My grandma told me how to … I never tried. I thought, everyone in the family thought she was crazy.” He continued to stare at her. “Then she wrote it down for me. In the diary.”
He pushed a hand through his hair. His blue eyes looked puzzled and wide. “Don’t stand there and let me think I’m crazy.”
“No, I … You’re not crazy. You are … part were.”
“Part?”
She nodded. “You’re like seventy-five percent human and then were and a little fae.”
“She said that, too.” He nodded. “And you…” He squinted again. “You’re full were?”
She nodded.
He blew out a big sigh then took a long gulp of air. “Shit.” Then he looked at her again. “That really was you last night, wasn’t it?”
She nodded.
He stood there as if thinking. “Can I change into…?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t know a lot about what mixed bloods can and can’t do. But I know someone who does.”
He seemed to contemplate what she’d said. “The school? That’s what…?”
She nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She shrugged. “I was … told it was best if you came to the conclusion.”
“Okay.” He stood there for a second, as if a little overwhelmed, and finally said, “Damn!”
Then he smiled.
She smiled back.
Then he kissed her.
She kissed him back.
And then when that ended—after several glorious seconds, he asked, “Who were you talking to?”
“Just tell him,” his sister repeated and Fredericka winced because she’d forgotten she was there. And that kiss hadn’t been one a sister should have seen. Not even a dead sister.
Fredericka hesitated. How much could he handle in one day? Should she lie? But she needed to tell someone so they could … find the body. Didn’t she? She glanced down at the flower bed, trying to think.
“Hey,” Brandon said.
She looked up. Oh, hell, she sucked at lying. “Your sister. I was talking to your sister.”
* * *
“Do you want to press charges?” the sheriff asked, looking at Fredericka’s bruised arm. Two officers walked past, rolling yellow tape. They had just started digging, looking for Linda’s body.
“Nah, I … think I got even.” She’d told them about busting the man’s balls. So far nobody seemed to blame her. “I mean, unless you need me to.” Standing on the porch, she glanced at Burnett in the front yard talking to Brandon.
Right after she’d told Brandon about seeing Linda, she’d called Burnett for advice on what to do next. He’d shown up ten minutes later with instructions on what to say to the police. Then he’d hung around to make sure it all went smoothly.
Basically, she’d told the truth. Leaving out the ghost part, and perhaps exa
ggerating the boyfriend’s interest in the flower garden on the side of the house. And it worked like a charm, just as Burnett said it would.
“Why don’t we wait and see what we find here,” the sheriff said. She could tell he was still doubtful, not that she blamed him. He hadn’t seen the ghost with her eye hanging out.
Fredericka nodded again and looked at Brandon. She’d noticed him checking out everyone’s forehead. His gaze shifted and landed on her.
He smiled and that was all it took for her heart to fill with some warm emotion. She’d never been one to believe in sappy shit like love at first sight, but she couldn’t deny she’d been drawn to Brandon from the start. Then again, he’d been shirtless and wielding an axe. Most women would have been drawn to him.
Suddenly voices rose at the side of the house. One of the officers called the sheriff over. The words weren’t said, but she knew, and so did everyone else.
Linda’s body had been found.
She saw the look of grief cross Brandon’s face. While she knew he’d wanted to find answers, it still hurt. Considering her own unearthing of answers, she understood that all too well.
When she saw him walk through the garage to go inside, she went in herself.
He was standing in the front room, beside the chimes. She moved beside him and wrapped her arm around his waist.
“I’m gonna miss her,” he said, his voice tight.
“I know,” Fredericka said.
After a few minutes of just standing arm in arm, he looked down at her. His blue eyes were misty with tears. “How did I get so lucky to find you?”
She just grinned. “I’m the one who’s lucky.”
“Do you believe in fate?” he asked.
She nipped at her bottom lip. “I don’t know.”
He ran a finger over her lips. “Don’t worry. I believe enough for the both of us.”
She took in a big breath. “There are still things about me that … that you don’t know. My dad … he was rogue. He did a lot of bad things. And in the were world if you were raised rogue, then you are considered—”
“Stop.” He shook his head. “Do you really think that’s going change my mind about you?”
“I just want you to know in case—”
“All I need to know is you.” He brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. “I know we just started … but I’ve never felt this kind of connection with anyone. Don’t you feel it?”
“Yes,” she said. “I do. But…” She hesitated and then forced herself to say her fear. “What if what you’re feeling is just because I’m were? There are a lot of were chicks out there with good family history.”
“I got a feeling there’s only one Ricka. And do you think I’m looking for family history? I’ve got a pretty messed-up family history myself. I’m looking for someone who makes me happy. Who can make me laugh. Who understands art. Who knows what a scar is … and isn’t. I’m looking for someone who with one look can make my heart feel whole. And that’s you. You do that for me.”
She smiled. “And that’s you,” she repeated. “For me. I’m still just a little scared.”
“Don’t be.” He leaned in and kissed her. The kind of kiss that tasted like promises, love, and a future.
Oh, hell, maybe Fredericka did believe in fate.
Also by C. C. Hunter
Born at Midnight
Awake at Dawn
Taken at Dusk
Whispers at Moonrise
Chosen at Nightfall
Reborn
Eternal
Unspoken
Almost Midnight: The Novella Collection
Midnight Hour
About the Author
C.C. HUNTER is the author of the young adult fantasy series Shadow Falls, including the books Born at Midnight and Awake at Dawn. She grew up in Alabama, where she caught lightning bugs, ran barefoot, and regularly rescued potential princes, in the form of Alabama bullfrogs, from her brothers. Today, she’s still fascinated with lightning bugs, mostly wears shoes, but has turned her focus to rescuing mammals. She now lives in Texas with her four rescued cats, one dog, and a prince of a husband, who, for the record, is so not a frog. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, spending time with her family, or shooting things—with a camera, not a gun. C.C. Hunter is a pseudonym. Her real name is Christie Craig and she also writes humorous romantic suspense romance novels. You can sign up for email update here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
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
Also by C. C. Hunter
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
FIERCE. Copyright © 2017 by Christie Craig. All rights reserved. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
cover photographs: woman © Serg Zastavkin / Shutterstock.com; forest © Stone36 / Shutterstock.com
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eISBN 9781250187260
First Edition: December 2017
First eBook edition: December 2017