She didn’t tell him that Leon was terrified of the dark and had called her in a blind (no pun intended) panic when the power went out. Tears were shed (his, not hers). She’d spent about ten minutes talking him down off the metaphorical ledge.
Riddick opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when her stomach let out an obscenely loud, gurgling yowl. It sounded like someone had stepped on a phlegmy alley cat. A demon-possessed, phlegmy alley cat. Yikes.
Riddick burst out laughing at her wide-eyed embarrassment and stood up, setting her on her feet. “I’ll go see if I can find some food before your stomach eats itself.”
“That’d be good,” she said, striving for nonchalance, but knowing full well that nonchalance was meaningless when her skin was most likely stewed-tomato red.
With one last quick kiss on the mouth, he wandered into the hall to forage for food. He hadn’t been gone a minute when Romeo limped into the room.
Harper raised a brow at him. “They’d probably give you crutches, you know. You don’t have to hobble around like that.”
He scoffed. “Crutches are for sissies.”
Mental eye roll. And people think women are vain.
He shifted uncomfortably in a way that didn’t look like it was related to his wound. “Harpy, I really am sorry for all of this. I had no idea everything would go so…wonky.”
Leave it to Romeo to sum up everything they’d been through with a word as innocuous as wonky. “I know you are, Romeo. It’s OK. I forgive you.”
His eyes lifted to hers and there was an almost childlike hope in them. “Really? You do?”
“Yeah. But you should probably go before Riddick gets back. I doubt he’ll ever forgive you.”
He winced. “True enough. Will you tell him I’m sorry?”
“Sure.”
Romeo grabbed her and engulfed her in a bear hug that practically squeezed the life out of her. “I’ll miss you, kid.”
On some level, Harper knew she’d miss him too. On the rest of her levels…yeah, not so much.
With a hand on the door, he turned back to her. “Oh, by the way, when Leon gets here, don’t let him give you the antidote.”
“Why not?”
His grin was toothy, charming, and vaguely evil. “’Cause I never gave you the cleaner killer.”
Her jaw dropped. “What? Then what the hell did you inject me with? I passed out, for God’s sake.”
“B-12 and a very mild sedative.” He shrugged. “I was bluffing.”
She knew she was gaping at him like a simpleton, so she forced her jaw closed and asked through clenched teeth, “Why?”
“I could never hurt you, Harpy. You’re as close to family as I’ve ever had.”
Romeo was the best liar in the world, but not even he could fake the sincerity in his tone. A lump started taking shape in her throat.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
He pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to her. She caught it reflexively. Opening her palm, she saw her engagement ring, winking up at her in all its opulent glory.
“You left that at the hotel. There’s a chapel on the first floor of this hospital. I checked it out. You’ll like it.”
Her gaze lifted to his, and his grin dimmed. “Life’s too short.” His eyes shifted to Mischa’s sleeping form, then back to Harper. “And there’s no one on this planet more perfect for you than Riddick. So, you take old Romeo’s advice and slap the matrimonial leg shackles on that boy now, you hear? There’s no reason to wait.”
The lump in her throat filled out, and tears sprang to her eyes. “Damn it, Romeo, you make it impossible to hate you.”
He winked at her. “I love you too, kid.”
And with that, he limped out of her life once again.
Riddick returned a few minutes later with a family-sized bag of assorted snacks. He took one look at her face and asked, “What’d I miss?”
She held up her engagement ring. “I hear there’s a chapel on the main floor.”
His answering smile damn near stole her breath. She squealed when he dropped the bag of food, grabbed her, tossed her over his shoulder, and moved purposefully toward the door.
Mischa sprang out of bed and blew past them in a blur of vampire speed, dragging her IV pole behind her. “Well, what the hell are we waiting for?” she asked impatiently. “Let’s get married.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The little chapel was exactly what Harper remembered from her vision.
The room was cozy by anyone’s standards, with only four rows of dark-stained oak pews on either side of the worn, red-velvet carpeted aisle, but the vaulted white-washed ceilings made it feel a lot bigger than it really was.
The little old man she’d seen in her vision, the one in the antique blue-gray suit, was Pastor Everett, the hospital chaplain. He was Lutheran, but he was very much a live-and-let-live kind of guy, so he was more than willing to perform a nice, non-denominational service for them.
It turned out that despite what movies and television would have you believe, hospitals didn’t hold many wedding ceremonies. Pastor Everett was so happy to perform the service he didn’t even question their disheveled, war-torn appearance. Nor did he question why a vampire dragging an IV pole behind her was asked to give the bride away.
Super cool guy, Pastor Everett.
Mischa placed Harper’s hand in Riddick’s. He grinned down at Harper, and even in a blood-stained t-shirt with an open gash across his forehead, he was still gorgeous enough to drive her pulse into a merry jig.
Harper wished she could look back on this day and say she remembered everything Pastor Everett said. But the only thing she was sure she’d remember forever was looking into Riddick’s eyes and grinning like an idiot until her face hurt.
Riddick had to nudge her when it was time to exchange rings. His was decidedly less fancy than hers, having been purchased in their hotel’s gift shop, but he had assured her the plain gold band suited him just fine.
A beaming Pastor Everett snapped his prayer book shut and joined their hands, raising them aloft. In a clear, authoritative voice designed for a much larger chapel, he said, “Those whom God hath joined, let no man put asunder.”
He cleared his throat and muttered, “Sorry. Couldn’t help but get God in there, I suppose.”
“Amen,” Riddick whispered, gazing deep into her eyes. Then he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her until her knees wobbled and the room spun.
They walked down the aisle as man and wife and were instantly engulfed in hugs from Mischa, Benny, and Leon. Over Mischa’s shoulder, she saw Lucas leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest. His expression was…not exactly happy, but definitely not hostile, either. She imagined that was a victory, given their history.
Harper offered him a tentative smile. He winked at her and gave her a jaunty two-finger salute before disappearing from her sight.
As they made their way out of the church, Riddick said, “So, now that I’m your husband, do I get to know what your real name is?”
Harper groaned. She was hoping he’d forget that she’d legally changed her name to Harper. But she supposed he was right. He’d married her, after all. The least she could do was let him in on her most secret shame.
With a sigh, she said, “My mother swears she had a bad reaction to the epidural they gave her when she had me. She says that’s what made her name me…Destiny Sunshine.”
He blinked down at her, then let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Seriously? Is that why you told me not to call you Sunshine when we first met?”
“Yep.”
He pondered that for a moment. “Well, Destiny isn’t really that bad.”
Her brows raised of their own volition. “Maybe not if you’re a stripper. And it’s certainly not a good idea for a fat kid to be named something so close to density.”
He cringed. “Point taken. So, we never speak of this again?”
“Please.”
<
br /> “Fair enough, but you’ll still always be my Sunshine.” Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her in close and whispered into her hair, “Where do you want to go on your honeymoon, Mrs. Riddick?”
Harper gazed down at her ring, then smiled up at him. “I want to go home. Take me home, Noah.”
Epilogue
One month later
Harper shut the bathroom door behind her and glanced at her watch. “Okay, we have two minutes. Spill.”
Mischa perched on the edge of the sofa in Harper’s office and reached up to adjust her nonexistent glasses. Seemed old habits were hard to break. Even for a vampire who now had super heightened eyesight. “Leon is doing a…good job as office manager.”
Harper smirked. “Bet that hurt to admit.”
She scowled. “I didn’t say he was doing as good a job as I did. He just doesn’t suck at it.”
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it? You prefer to be out in the field now anyway, right?”
Mischa agreed immediately. Since she’d been turned, sitting in the office seemed to make her edgy, restless. And her abundance of patience and newfound vampire strength made her a perfect fit for skip tracing, which pleased Harper to no end.
With Mischa handling the skip tracing, Harper and Riddick handling the investigative work, and Leon managing the office, Harper Hall Investigations was doing better than ever. She was sometimes even busy enough to throw the occasional freelance case to Benny. For the first time, Harper’s professional life was actually orderly and profitable.
And with Leon’s help, they now had a couple of leads to follow that would, God willing, help them track down Riddick’s sister. She’d been named Grace at the time of her birth.
And married life?
Somehow, post-wedded sex was even better than premarital sex. Who knew?
But it wasn’t just the sex. Their relationship and partnership were stronger than ever. Riddick was still protective to a somewhat extreme level, but the fear of something happening to her no longer kept him up at night. He now knew she was capable of taking care of herself, even if he didn’t let her do it often.
The only blight on their lives these days was Hunter’s absence. Even though Mischa didn’t press charges, he’d been tried in Vegas and sentenced to one year in the vampire prison about a twenty-minute drive from Whispering Hope. With good behavior, he stood to be released in another five months. Mischa still hadn’t gone to see him. She needed time, she insisted.
And since Hunter hadn’t tried to contact Mischa either, Harper could only assume he needed some time of his own.
Good thing time was something a couple of vampires had plenty of, Harper thought. She could only hope the knuckleheads would pull their heads out of their asses and make up soon. They’d both end up alone if they didn’t. Really, who else would have either of them, broody bastards that they were.
Mischa tapped her watch with her index finger. “Two minutes is up.”
Harper spun on her heel and darted back into the bathroom, eyeing the little white plastic stick on the sink as if it held the answers to every question in the universe.
In the middle of the pregnancy test, bold as life (no pun intended), was a garish pink positive sign.
Mischa came in and leaned over her shoulder. Her fangs flashed as she smiled wide and hugged Harper from behind. “I told you that you smelled funny.”
Harper laughed, still staring at the test through a veil of happy tears. She swiped at her eyes with her sleeve. “I just thought your fancy new vampire sense of smell was on the fritz. Or maybe I needed a new deodorant.”
“Nope,” Mischa said, awe plain in her tone. “You’re gonna be a mommy. And I’m going to be Auntie Mischa.”
“Riddick’s gonna be a daddy,” Harper whispered.
Then, as if they’d conjured him by talking about him, Riddick appeared in the doorway behind them. He glanced between them. “What’d I miss?”
The End
(But stay tuned for Hunter and Mischa’s story, which is scheduled for release in 2016!)
A personal note from Isabel:
If you enjoyed this book, first of all, thanks! It would mean a lot to me if you would take a moment and show your support of indie authors (like me) by leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Your reviews are a very important part of helping readers discover new books.
Want to know more about me, or when the next book release is? You can email me directly at: [email protected]. Also feel free to stalk me on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SemiCharmedAuthor
Twitter:@izzyjord
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/IsabelJordan
Website: http://www.izzyjo.com/
Thanks so much, and happy reading!
Sincerely,
Isabel
About the author
The normal:
Isabel Jordan writes because it's the only profession that allows her to express her natural sarcasm and not be fired. She is a paranormal and contemporary romance author. Isabel lives in the U.S. with her husband, nine-year-old son, a senile beagle, a neurotic shepard mix, and a ginormous Great Dane mix.
The weird:
Now that the normal stuff is out of the way, here's some weird-but-true facts that would never come up in polite conversation. Isabel Jordan:
1. Is terrified of butterflies (don't judge...it's a real phobia called lepidopterophobia)
2. Is a lover of all things ironic (hence the butterfly on the cover of Semi-Charmed)
3. Is obsessed with Supernatural, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Dog Whisperer.
4. Hates coffee. Drinks a Diet Mountain Dew every morning.
5. Will argue to the death that Pretty in Pink ended all wrong. (Seriously, she ends up with the guy who was embarrassed to be seen with her and not the nice guy who loved her all along? That would never fly in the world of romance novels.)
6. Would eat Mexican food every day if given the choice.
7. Reads two books a week in varied genres.
8. Refers to her Kindle as "the precious".
9. Thinks puppy breath is one of the best smells in the world.
10. Is a social media idgit. (Her husband had to explain to her what the point of Twitter was. She's still a little fuzzy on what Instagram and Pinterest do.)
11. Kicks ass at Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
12. Stole her tagline idea (“weird and proud”) from her son. Her tagline idea was, "Never wrong, not quite right." She liked her son's idea better.
13. Breaks one vacuum cleaner a year because she ignores standard maintenance procedures (Really, you're supposed to empty the canister every time you vacuum? Does that seem excessive to anyone else?)
14. Is still mad at the WB network for canceling Angel in 2004.
15. Can't find her way from her bed to her bathroom without her glasses, but refused eye surgery, even when someone else offered to pay. (They lost her at "eye flap". Seriously, look it up. Scary stuff.)
Table of Contents
Praise for Semi-Charmed, an Amazon Top 100 Best-seller
Acknowledgments
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
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Tw
enty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Epilogue
About the author
Semi-Human (Harper Hall Investigations Book 2) Page 21