by Lisa Emme
“Mrs. Nash!” I blurted out in surprise. I looked around the room, but Tess was gone, the traitor. Eileen and Christina came into the room. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you. I mean, of course I would expect you to visit your own son in the hospital, I just….” I clamped my mouth shut, biting my lip. I was babbling.
“Relax Harry, dear, and call me Eleanor. We’re family now after all.” She smiled at me.
“We are?” I looked at her in surprise. “You mean because of this?” I tipped my head to the side and put my hand to the mark.
“Well…”
“This is just crazy,” I continued, not waiting for Eleanor to speak. “I don’t care what this mark means to everyone else. I am not Nash’s, uh, Cian’s mate. Okay, so maybe in the biblical sense, but in no other sense of the word. He never even asked me if I wanted this! We’ve never even been on a date!” I started pacing back and forth. “Half the time I don’t think he even likes me and I know that half the time I don’t like him, the pushy bastard, uh, excuse me Eleanor. This is all just…” I threw my hands up. “Just too much.”
“Harry?” Nash’s voice was weak and raspy.
“Cian!” Eileen ran over to his bedside, grabbing his hand, a look of relief on her face.
I drew in a sharp breath and looked at Nash. His eyes met mine. With a shake of my head I turned away. “I have to go. I just….” I shook my head again and brushed past a shocked Christina. “I have to go.”
I pushed out the door and saw Isaac walking down the corridor. Behind me, I could hear Eileen berate her brother. “Whoa, you really fucked up, didn’t you bro?”
Isaac looked surprised to see me. “Harry, what are you doing?”
“I need to leave. Will you take me home?”
“Yes, of course.” He grabbed my arm and began to escort me back down the hall to the elevators.
Leaving the hospital was easier said than done. A nurse chased us down at the elevators demanding that I sign discharge papers. Then she insisted that I had to ride in a wheelchair. Feeling numb, I went through the motions and finally got discharged. Downstairs at the hospital entrance, Isaac bid me to wait for him while he went and got the truck. I sat in the hospital entrance, ignoring the activity around me. I just wanted to get home to my own bed. I needed time to sort out my feelings.
“Excuse me?” A tall, balding man who looked positively ancient, all weathered skin and more wrinkles than a Shar Pei, stepped in front of me. He was dressed in a handsome, black suit and was holding a fedora in his hands. “Are you Angharad Russo?” His voice was smooth and sounded younger than his visage.
“Who wants to know?” Instantly wary at the sound of my full name, I sat up straighter in the chair, prepared to jump up and defend myself if necessary.
The man smiled a thin smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I have a message for your father.” He held out a small, white card, the size of a business card.
I shook my head and held up my hand in a ‘no thanks’ gesture. “My father? You must be mistaken. I don’t have a father.” I turned away, dismissing him.
The man gave a shrug and pushed out his arm, holding the card up closer to me. I looked at him for a minute then grabbed the card. He put the fedora back on his head, tipping it at me in salute, then he turned and left the building.
I looked at the card. It was blank except for a strange sigil in the centre on one side. On the flip side, there was what appeared to be a date a few weeks in the future written in red. I stared at the sigil. It was a stylized gothic-looking butterfly in black ink. On its wings, its red markings had melded to form the shape of a bloody skull. I frowned. What a weird thing to give a person.
I was still frowning at the card when Isaac arrived back to pick me up.
“What’s that Harry?” He gestured to the card as he came around the side of the SUV to open the door.
“I don’t know. Some creepy looking guy in a suit gave it to me.” Isaac looked closer at the card, his eyes widening in surprise. He looked around quickly, suddenly tense. “He said it was for my father,” I added. I shrugged not sure what to do with it.
“We should go, Harry.” Isaac’s normally calm demeanor appeared to have a few cracks. I hopped up in his Escalade and we headed home.
“You’ve seen that sign before, haven’t you?” I asked and Isaac nodded his head in response. “What is it?”
“You had better ask Salvador that.” Isaac turned and looked at me.
“Ask Salvador? I don’t think I’m up for that.” I frowned at the card in my hands.
“No Harry, I think you have mistaken my meaning. You can give the card to Salvador. He will tell you what it means.” He pushed his sunglasses down his nose and looked at me.
“I heard what you said Isaac. But the guy said to give it to my father so why would I…Oh!...Ohhhhh.” I nodded my head slowly, up and down, as the true meaning of Isaac’s words sunk in. “Oh fuck.”
The End
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I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all my beta readers. Thanks for your fresh eyes, suggestions and advice. A special shout out to Tanya and her eagle eyes. I take full responsibility for any mistakes that remain.
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Lisa
About the Author
Lisa Emme is a Canadian who proudly ends her ABC’s with 'zed'. A self-professed book-a-holic, she has spent the last few years trying to stem her book hoarding tendencies by writing her own stories and by avoiding the bargain table at the bookstore like the plague.
A bit of a thrill seeker, Lisa has tried such death defying activities as bungy jumping off a bridge in New Zealand and rappelling down the side of a 17 storey building. She's also single-handedly raising a teenager.
Lisa has worked as a veterinary assistant, playground instructor, bank teller, store clerk, waitress, telephone solicitor, research writer for an environmental think tank, computer programmer, and systems analyst. Her passion however is writing. What else is she going to do during the long, cold prairie winter?
Lisa would love to hear from you. Drop her a line at [email protected] or you can find her online:
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Coming Soon!
Harry’s story continues. Set for release June 2016!
Deadlocked - The Harry Russo Diaries, volume 3
When life gives you brownies, make coffee.
Angharad ‘Harry’ Russo has had a busy week. She’s fended off a swarm of pixies, battled blood-thirsty redcaps and put an end to a maniacal Fae prince hell-bent on eradicating the entire werewolf population. She’s also decided to open a coffee shop. Is it too much to ask for things to settle down so her life can go back to normal?
Apparently it is. As if being metaphysically bound to Cian Nash, the most aggravating yet desirable man she’s ever met, isn’t enough, Harry’s just found out that the Magister, the scariest, most powerful vampire around, is her father. Talk about your daddy issues!
Harry just wants to concentrate on getting the coffee shop open, but between the freaky ghosts that keep haunting her and rogue vampires terrorizing the city, it looks like
normal is a thing of the past.
Also by Lisa Emme
Don't miss Harry's first exciting adventure! Find out how it all began. Available for purchase at your favourite online retailer.
Dead and Kicking - The Harry Russo Diaries, volume 1
What’s a girl to do when her date is D.O.A?
Angharad ‘Harry’ Russo is just your ordinary twenty-something, with one exception - she’s a witch with an out of the ordinary gift. When her blind date goes sideways and she ends up face to face with a dead body, her life starts to go sideways too.
Harry soon finds herself right in the middle of the mayhem, dealing with Cian Nash, a homicide detective that is as aggravating as he is sexy; the biggest, baddest vampire in town; and a parcel of pesky zombies that keep popping up everywhere. It’s all connected to her date’s unfortunate demise, or is there more to it than meets the eye?