by W. J. May
Heidi screaming for help as Seth and Nate struggled with Eleanor. I heard her cry out followed by a thump and I knew she was down, but her heartbeat said she wasn’t dead. A second later both Seth and Nate rushed down the stairs to help me with Brent.
An ambulance was coming to the house, I could hear its siren. Dad stood waiting at the top of the stairs checking Heidi over. “Bring him to the kitchen and set him on the floor.”
Dad hurried over and checked Brent’s vitals. “He’s lost a lot of blood. We need to get him to the emergency room now for a blood transfusion.” He glanced up as the siren grew louder. “I already called.” He stared at all of us. “He’s going to be okay.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief and almost collapsed against the wall as tension and anxiety left me. Suddenly, the headache in my head throbbed and threatened to knock me out. I slid against the wall to the floor, unable to stop the noise from everywhere explode in my ears.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Seth
It was over an hour before the doctor told us Brent was going to be okay. Aside from severe blood loss and a mild concussion from the car accident, he was going to be fine. Zoe lay resting beside Brent in the hospital room. She’d somehow been unable to control all the noise and damaged an ear drum. Well, that’s what one of the doctors said and when he went to check it again, she was fine. She had a bad migraine they were medicating, but she was going to be okay also.
Heidi was fine as well. Eleanor had used chloroform to knock her out and the next thing she remembered was Zoe waking her up. Eleanor hadn’t had time to drain any of her blood.
“You know, you can let me go,” Heidi said. “I’m okay. Dr. Landers checked me out, remember?”
I reluctantly removed my arm from around her shoulders. “Sorry.”
Heidi shrugged and then she smiled shyly. “I didn’t say you had to let me go.”
I smiled and put my arm around her shoulders again. She rested her head on my chest, her eyes closed. Even though she wasn’t hurt, she was exhausted, and I didn’t blame her. We all were. “When I realized you were in that basement…” I shook my head. Words didn’t even begin to describe the terror I had felt. “I’m just relieved you’re okay.”
She smiled. “I like you too, Seth.”
“Huh?”
“You know what I mean.”
I smiled. Rylee had been sexy and glamorous, but I mostly liked her because she was out of my league and definitely not interested in me. Heidi was sweet. I could see myself with her forever.
I kissed her gently and she sighed, relaxing into me. It felt completely right, more right than anything else I had felt, and it was perfect.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Zoe
“How are you?” I asked as I stared at Brent lying beside me. My head no longer felt like it was exploding.
“Weak, human. Normal.” He scoffed. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
I smiled. “I could say the same for you.”
“I’m so glad it was me she kidnapped and not you,” he whispered, running his fingers through his hair. “I wouldn’t have been able to save you like you saved me. Hell, I wouldn’t even be able to function if I lost you. You’re really everything to me, Zoe.”
I didn’t know how to respond. I didn’t want him to hurt, ever. I also wanted Kieran. I couldn’t love both of them, it wasn’t right. “I didn’t deal with your disappearance very well either. Just ask Dad. I got grounded.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. It’s kind of embarrassing.”
Nate knocked on the side of the door. “Am I interrupting something? Or can I see my little brother?”
Brent rolled his eyes. “Come on in.”
He pulled up a chair on the other side of Brent. “So, you can see through walls, now.”
Brent looked at me, his eyebrows high. “You the only one who knows? Or do all the doctors know?” Brent smiled sheepishly.
“Dr. Landers and Seth told me. No one else knows. But I’m repainting my room in lead paint.”
“It’s not going to work.” Brent grinned tiredly.
He smiled. “Isn’t that the only substance Superman can’t see through? What if I bring a girl over?”
We all laughed. “I don’t want to look into your room, bro,” Brent said.
“Zoe? Brent?” Kieran stood at the doorway of the room, looking more put-together than we had seen him since before his father’s body had been ID’d. He wore dark blue jeans and a clean t-shirt with his hair combed back and clean-shaven.
I kind of missed the scruff. My heart sped its rate and I glared at the monitor keeping track of it beside the bed. “Did you make bail?”
“No,” he said. “I got a deal. I’m a criminal consultant. Kind of.” He lifted up a pant leg to show a tracking anklet. “The police are interested in my psychic ability. That’s what they’re calling it.” He winked at me. “Three years of good behavior and trying to help them solve some cases.”
I held my arms open and he came over to hug me. “It could be worse.”
“Yes,” he said. “I’ve started the process to become an American citizen to help simplify the conviction process.” He glanced at Brent and Nate, who were watching us intently. “Can I talk to you alone?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I pulled the finger monitor off and slipped my feet out of the hospital bed.
“Careful, Zoe,” Brent cautioned, his voice full of concern.
“I’ll be okay.” I slipped my arms through Kieran’s and leaned on him as we made our way to the door.
We moved outside in the hall and closed the door to the room. No one else was around. We had complete privacy.
“I missed you,” Kieran said. “I still do.” He smiled. “Brent really likes you, you know. I knew that from the first day.”
I blushed. “I know. I’m not sure what to do.”
“You can’t love both of us, Zoe.”
I stared at the floor, unable to answer.
“I don’t want you to wait for me, Zoe. I can’t take care of you like Brent can.” He smiled and lifted my chin with his finger. “I got your letter, by the way. I’m really glad it’s possible to get rid of the radium halos. I don’t want to now, obviously, but who knows after my sentence is up. Are you planning to do it?”
“I don’t know.” It was so dangerous having the powers. Eleanor was the tip of the iceberg of people who would covet something as unique and valuable as the radium halos. At the same time, it was pretty cool just having powers. I felt that as long as we all stuck together as a group, it would be okay. “I used to know, but everything’s gotten really complicated.”
He nodded. “I know.”
I bit my lip. “I’m sorry. About everything.”
“Zoe.” He leaned close, our lips inches apart. “I love you more than anything. I always will. I want you to be happy. How can I make you happy when I really only have a mile radius from the police station? I can’t take you on dates or cook for you anymore, not to mention help you train or even just be there for you.”
“I loved you for so much more than that. You know that.” I swallowed, my eyes falling to his lips.
“I know,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “But if we stayed together it would just be ugly in the end.” His lips touched mine.
Warmth shot through me. A delicious hunger licking at my insides begging for more. My hands found their way around his neck.
“Kieran!”
We pulled apart as a police officer at the end of the hall tapped his watch.
“Eleanor’s in prison. She won’t be coming out for a long time. Apparently she has to spend some time in the psych ward. She’s been mumbling about radium theories and halos. Dr. Landers had to have her committed.” Kieran grinned. “I’ve got to go.” Kieran pressed his forehead against mine. “I just came along to see the end of this case through.” He kissed my forehead.
He grinned as he started walking toward the police of
ficer. “I’ll be around.” He turned and jogged down the hall.
It was over now. The first phase of my new life with radium halos was done, and hopefully the worst of the trouble was behind us.
All of us had changed since that fateful day in the mine. Not necessarily for the better. But all of us were stronger and less naive. We were more careful, as well as more alert. Time would heal and break us. And we would all go through it together.
The End
Conscience – Book 4 Coming Winter 2015/2016
Chapter 1 Excerpt Included!
BONUS EXCERPT!!
FIRST CHAPTER (rough draft) of the BOOK 4 IN THE SERIES
Chapter One
Kieran
“All right, Scotland yard,” Officer Davis said. “You’ve said goodbye to your girlfriend and you’ve closed the case. Time to go back to your cell.”
“I’d appreciate it if you called me Kieran, officer,” I said. “I’d hate to for see your death.”
“I’d watch your mouth if I were you,” he snapped, shoving me roughly in the direction of the cells. “You’re just a glorified convicted killer whose now threatened an officer.”
I clenched my jaw. And you’re a dickhead making racist remarks and practicing police brutality. I wisely decided not to say anything though. Most of the officers at least didn’t go out of their way to bully me, but Davis had been on a power trip since I was assigned to him a couple of days ago. Because I was considered a criminal consultant, I didn’t have a partner like consultants do in TV, but I did have to have an officer responsible for me and Davis was less than happy about the arrangement so he was making me miserable. Or trying to, at least. I’m not sure I could feel any lower anyway after saying goodbye to Zoe, probably forever. Knowing she had moved on with Brent. I shuddered.
Davis led me down a hallway to what used to be an old storage room but what was now my new home. Elliot Lake didn’t have the space to house long-term prisoners in the regular cells, especially ones who were best kept out of the way, like me. Because of the radium halos floating in my blood, I was more valuable than an original DaVinci painting on the black market. That required more protection than what most of the prisoners had, so whether I liked it or not I got special treatment.
Davis unlocked the several locks on my cell door before opening it to reveal a small cot and thin blanket with a portable toilet chair right next to it. Aside from a small stack of books on the bed, it was depressingly empty. I wished more than ever that the story I told Zoe about being allowed to go wherever within a mile of the station was true.
Davis took off my tracking anklet and shoved me into the room before slamming the door. I sat down on my bed and looked at the books. While most convicts went to an actual prison and got access to a library among other things, I was able to check out three books per week from the public library to fill hours of free time. I had chosen two of the thickest novels I could find as well as a book on meditation and yoga. I had to learn how to control my power somehow. Even though some medical experts were being compiled to study me and help me, I needed to do something in the meantime. Random spurts of visions weren’t going to help me if I was supposed to prove my value to the police.
I sighed and stretched before stripping off my t-shirt and tossing it on the bed before getting down on the floor and doing sit-ups. Working out would also help me keep my sanity for the next few years I would be stuck in here. However, as soon as my bare back touched the cement floor, I froze and closed my eyes. I was in a hospital room but I knew immediately it wasn’t me but someone else’s eyes I was seeing through. I was handcuffed to the bed, but only on one side. I reached up and grabbed a bobby pin from my hair and inserted it into the lock of the handcuffs. It only took me a second to be free. I got up as quietly as I could so I wouldn’t tip off the police officer waiting right outside my room. I looked at the window. I was on the first floor of the hospital but the window was locked. I looked back at the police officer. I could see his chest moving up and down evenly and I knew that he was asleep. I looked around the room and grabbed the heart-rate monitor. I picked it up as carefully as I could and then slammed it through the window as hard as I could. Before the officer could even come into my room I was out the window and running as fast I as I could to the woods.
I jerked back to reality quickly and I was back on my back in my cell, breathing hard. I stood up and started pounding as hard as I could on my door. “Help!” I shouted. “Help!”
More by W.J. May
Rae of Hope
The Chronicles of Kerrigan
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The Chronicles of Kerrigan
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Book IV - Royal Tea - Now Available
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Book V - Under Fire
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Book VI - End in Sight, Coming Fall/Winter 2015
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Hidden Secrets Saga:
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Like most teenagers, Rouge is trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to be. With little knowledge about her past, she has questions but has never tried to find the answers. Everything changes when she befriends a strangely intoxicating family. Siblings Grace and Michael, appear to have secrets which seem connected to Rouge. Her hunch is confirmed when a horrible incident occurs at an outdoor party. Rouge may be the only one who can find the answer.
An ancient journal, a Sioghra necklace and a special mark force life-altering decisions for a girl who grew up unprepared to fight for her life or others.
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What happens when you fall for the one you are forbidden to love?
Erebus is a bit of a lost soul. He's a guy so he should be out to have fun but unlike the rest of his kind, he is solemn and withdrawn. That is, until he meets Aurora, a law student at Cornell University. His entire world is shaken. Feelings he's never had and urges he's never understood take over. These strange longings drive him to question everything about himself
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Courage Runs Red
The Blood Red Series
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When Kallie lands a college interview with the city's new hot-shot police officer, she has no idea everything in her life is about to change. The detective is young, handsome and seems to have an unnatural ability to stop the increasin
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