“Alice?” Uncle Logan’s voice was soft as he hobbled to her bedside.
The sobs didn’t stop, even though they made her chest ache and her head feel as if it were bursting.
Uncle Logan wiped the tears away, his haggard face damp as he stared at her. There was no reprimand, no angry order that she quit now. Nor was there pity. Just worry and love shining in his brown eyes.
Alice tried to reach out to him, but her arms hurt too bad. The movement caught Uncle Logan’s eye and he saw the letter unopened in her hand.
“Do you want me to read it?” he asked.
No, she didn’t. She wanted to burn it. Wanted to tear it into a thousand pieces and deny ever seeing the damn thing.
But he took her silence for assent and opened the envelope.
“I don’t know how to begin. I want you to know that I don’t want to leave, but I must. Lionel has blamed himself for what happened to you and has left, though your uncle says he came to the hospital to make sure you were alright. I think I know where he’s gone. We both know he shouldn’t be on his own right now, so I’m going after him. Between the two of us and the information Rose gave me, I believe I can find someone to cure him. When Lionel comes back to Jet City, he’ll be his old self, and you both can be happy together.
I’m not sure I will come back though, for reasons I can’t put in a letter. Maybe someday I’ll be able to tell you, but not now.
You’re strong, stronger than either of us. I know you won’t stop until Phantasm is gone. And if you should ever need me, I will come. But in your pursuit, please be safe and smart. Do nothing with vengeance, nothing without thought.
Marco.”
Feeling nothing was a strange sensation. Alice could’ve accepted anger, devastation, even confusion. But, there was nothing. She stared out the window, aware of tears falling down her round cheeks and Uncle Logan’s calloused hand in hers.
“Alice,” Uncle Logan said after a moment. “What can I do for you?”
The words didn’t penetrate her mind at first. And when they did, Alice felt confused.
“Nothing.”
Uncle Logan nodded, but he didn’t leave. Just held her hand until a nurse came in with a tray of food.
“Here ya go, honey.” She set the tray on a table next to Alice. “Something warm.”
Alice kept her gaze on the window, the smell of chicken soup unappetizing.
“I’ll just leave it here,” the nurse said after a moment.
“Thank you,” Uncle Logan said. “Do you want me to—”
“I love you,” Alice said. “But I want to be alone.”
He hesitated, but finally kissed her forehead and shuffled out of the room.
The soup became a cold, gelled mess in the bowl, whatever tea they’d brought turned tepid and overly steeped. And still she stared out the window.
Sometime in the night, for no reason at all, her mind came out of the fog Marco’s letter had cast, and she accepted that Lionel and Marco were gone.
It was as if someone had punched a hole straight through her chest and she gasped with the sudden pain. The temptation to bury her face in the pillow and cry until oblivion took over was almost too much to bear.
But then, a hint of jasmine invaded her senses.
Once again, her eyes slid to the bouquet, and this time, Alice couldn’t look away from it.
“Do nothing without thought,” she whispered.
Though her body was bruised and broken, her mind was strong and whole. She couldn’t fight right now, but she could think.
Every moment since putting on the cowl ran through her mind. Every time she’d won or lost. The first time she’d seen Phantasm, experienced the Fantasy gas. The assault on the Chronicle. Accepting that Victoria really was Phantasm, and everything that meant.
And lastly, Park Side. All those children, those people who, no matter what they’d done in the past, didn’t deserve what was done to them that day.
Marco and Lionel left her after all that, knowing Phantasm was still alive. Did they believe she’d simply wait for them? Did they think leaving would keep her safe? There was no safe. Not so long as Victoria was free to do whatever her twisted mind deemed righteous.
“So...what do I do?”
Her hands felt too weak to hold a pencil, so she hoped her mind would keep track of all the threads she was now weaving. Ideas were constructed and taken apart, considered and discarded. By the time the sun had breached the horizon, Alice knew what needed to be done. And more importantly, that she could do it alone.
She pressed the button next to her.
“You need something?” a nurse asked.
“Some breakfast? And I need a way to make call, I can’t reach the phone with my arms like this.”
The nurse smiled. “Of course. I’ll get you breakfast, and then we can make that call.”
“Thank you.”
“You need to rest,” Gerald said later that morning.
“And I will. I just need to talk to her.”
Gerald frowned. “You need to know—”
“That’s not for you to tell,” Mrs. Frost said, moving a bit slower than usual.
When she sat in the chair next to Alice’s bed, Mrs. Frost’s wrinkled face scrunched into a painful grimace. Gerald took her hand and closed his eyes.
“Enough of that,” Mrs. Frost said, once the pain had passed. “Let me talk to her, and then you can give her something to make her sleep.”
Gerald nodded and left the room, though Alice could see that he wasn’t at all happy about it.
“What’s wrong?” Alice asked.
Mrs. Frost wouldn’t meet her gaze at first, but then her hard, bright eyes snapped up to Alice. “I am dying.”
Alice gasped. “What?”
“Dr. Allen has kept the cancer from growing too fast, but now...well, he can only make me comfortable.”
“How long?”
She shrugged. “A year? Perhaps less.”
Alice closed her eyes. “I need you to live.”
Mrs. Frost’s hand was soft and strong as it held hers.
“And I will, for as long as I can. But you need to know, Alice, that there is a limit to how much I can put up with. The pain...”
“Of course, I’m sorry.”
“No need. Now, tell me what was so important that I had to miss my breakfast.”
Alice slowly handed her Marco’s letter.
“So, they’ve left you,” Mrs. Frost said once she’d read it.
Alice nodded.
“What will you do now?”
Alice brushed a few tears away.
“I’ve thought about that all night. And I know what I need to do. Someone like Victoria, she won’t stop at an enhanced police force. She’s too ambitious. There’s more, I can feel it. I don’t believe Victoria ever realized that we know who she is — and I need to keep it that way. I also need to make her think that I’m not a threat anymore. So I have time to find out what she’s planning next.”
“Marco and Lionel being gone should help.”
Alice took a deep breath. It wasn’t easy in the best of times for her to admit when she’s wrong.
Best to just dive right in.
“You’ve been right this whole time. I have needed to build up my public persona, not just because the work is important, but it can protect me, throw my enemies off balance, if the person they see is quite different from Serpent.”
Mrs. Frost grinned.
“I see. And do you have an idea of who you want people to see?”
Alice smiled back.
“Yes — I do.”
Thank you for reading Serpent’s Sacrifice. If you could take a moment and leave a review, that would make you my hero!
And if you just can’t get enough of The Vigilantes, you can sign up to my mailing list and receive a FREE prequel novella where you’ll get to see Mrs. Frost as the first Serpent, kicking butt and taking names.
I hope you’ll sign up, I’d lo
ve to get to know you!
Never fear, Alice returns in Serpent’s Rise, available now from all ebook retailers.
Acknowledgment
There are so many people to thank for this but I won’t go all Academy Award long…or at least I’ll try not to!
First and foremost is my husband and kids. They were patient and supportive to a fault through the two years it’s taken to get this published. You three are my greatest loves.
I wouldn’t have been able to get this book out without my fabulous editor, Maria D’Marco. She went above and beyond what I’d asked for, being both encouraging and teaching. Thank you so much!
A huge thanks goes to Todd Downing, who designed the cover for this book, and has been churning out some amazing ones for the future novels. You are a true artist, sir.
The original inspiration for this book was from a little song called “Needing A Miracle” by the geek rock band Kirby Krackle. Thank you guys for producing music that not only lifts my spirits, but inspires me as well.
Joanna Penn provided encouragement and wisdom through her weekly podcast The Creative Penn. Though we’ve never met, I hope some day we can because you are one of the people that has had the biggest influence on my decision to become an Indie Author. Thank you.
To Bryan Cohen and the Selling For Authors Facebook community, you guys are amazing! Always there to help me learn and to encourage me, I couldn’t have done it without you.
Jesse Donovan, erotica author extraordinaire! Though we don’t write in the same genre, you gave me solid advice during the beginning phase of this journey, thank you so much for your time and wisdom.
Jennifer K. Stuller and the amazing founders of Geek Girl Con, you started me on the journey of telling the story of the female hero. Without your book and Geek Girl Con I don’t think I would’ve been inspired to do this. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), the first year I participated in this amazing program was when I wrote the first draft for this novel. Without this program I don’t know if I would’ve had the discipline needed to get started on this journey. Thank you!
Caerly Hill and Meredith McKown, who, along with my husband, were the Beta readers for this. Your honest, yet gentle, critiques helped me carve away the excess and get to the heart of the story. Thank you so much!
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