And now, she was having to say goodbye.
True, it wasn’t right that minute, but it felt like it.
After the contracts were signed, it would be full swing trying to find a place to live and get everything organised for the long-term trip. My last act before I left home would be to lie to everyone and convince them that I was going to my happy ever after, when I was really heading into the unknown. To a fight to prove to the man I loved that he was an idiot for treating me the way he had.
“I’ll stay in touch,” I said as my own tears started to form.
“I know. And so will we. It’ll just be different.”
We both stood and moved around the desk to hold each other.
“I just can’t believe how grown-up you are now.”
How grown-up Emmanuel would have been. I heard the words she didn’t utter—a silent understanding between the two of us that we would never forget him.
“Make sure you wear your bracelet all the time,” Mum said as we pulled apart.
I fiddled with the bracelet on my left wrist. The reminder of Emmanuel’s gift, and the one thing that could save my life in an emergency.
“Always,” I confirmed. It usually only came off for photo shoots and charity events at home. There was no reason being overseas would be any different.
“I’ve got your plane tickets organised.”
“You didn’t even know I’d sign the contracts.”
She gave me a sad smile. “I know you too well, Phoebe. You don’t change your course once it’s set. You’ll fly out on the twenty-ninth.”
“So soon?” It was only a few weeks away, and only a week after Nikki’s first birthday.
“Sorry, honey. That’s how soon they want you.”
“Wow.” It was hard to believe I would be saying goodbye to everyone so soon.
“You should probably go Skype your boy before it gets too late. Tell him the good news.”
I forced my lips into a smile. “Yeah, I should.”
“Phoebe, is everything okay?”
My smile was watery at best, but I nodded anyway. “Of course, Mum. Why wouldn’t it be?”
After all, I was only leaving behind everything I’d ever known for the certainty of heartache.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
STAY TUNED FOR MORE OF PHOEBE REEDE: THE UNTOLD STORY
PHOBIC
PHOEBE REEDE: THE UNTOLD STORY #2
JANUARY 2017
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ALSO BY MICHELLE IRWIN
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It's all going according to plan until he receives an assignment that is inconceivable to him. He has to find a mate for Becca, within whom lives the reincarnated soul of his one true love. Bound by his duty to find her a match, he must resist her charm and suppress his own desires. It is his job and he cannot fail, even if his own paradise now seems lost.
For a cupid, falling in love is against the rules.
Isn't it?
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For countless millennia, she's helped her assignments find truth in their experiences and improve their lives. Once, she'd been tender and caring, but humanity's misuse of free will and her own missteps have left her jaded.
Now, all Amity allows is the truth. Get in, get out, and never let them know that she’s there. That’s the motto she's lived by for years. She considers her latest assignment nothing more than the next in a long line of jilted lovers that she’s had to help. When her presence exposes more than either of them was ready for, will they be able to find the truths hidden deep within the other? Or will the fallout leave them both in tatters?
The truth will set them free.
Won’t it?
Through the Fire (Daughter of Fire #1)
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Evie Meyers’ life is one spent on the run. Every minute of every day, her life is in danger if anyone should suspect the truth about her ancestry. Her father was willing to risk everything to keep the truth hidden, even from her, but the lies he fabricated were exposed when her high school crush, Clay Jacobs, inadvertently stumbled upon her secret. His discovery puts Evie at risk from a secret organization tasked with washing the world clean of nonhumans—and Clay is one of its deadliest soldiers. Forced into a war she doesn’t understand, all because of what she is, Evie is left with no choice but to flee with her father to escape persecution.
When Clay reappears in her life, battle scarred and mysterious, Evie is unprepared and terrified as he forces his way back into her heart. When the battle catches up with her, and a tragic accident tears apart the peace she discovered, she finds herself alone and without the protection of her father, or her lover. Now, she needs to keep her secrets hidden and learn to survive on her own in a world that wants her dead, all while searching for the missing piece of her heart.
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Into the Rain (Daughter of Fire #3)
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Igniting the Spark (Daughter of Fire #4)
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Besieged by Rain (Son of Rain #1)
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Clay Jacobs harbors a dangerous secret. Evie, the object of his teenage obsession, isn’t human. But instead of destroying the supernatural threat, as he’s been instructed by the Rain—the organization he belongs to—he let her escape.
The memory of the one who got away not only haunts him but holds him captive and assaults him nightly. Unable to escape the visions, and the guilt, he races across the country to locate her and correct his mistake. Instead of the monster he expects, he finds a woman who ensnares him with her charms. In her embrace, Clay dares to imagine a different life. One free of the constant need to kill.
His family—and the oaths he made to them—is not so easy to escape though. When the past catches up to him, it won’t only be his happiness but also the life of his lover at risk. What will it take to free himself from the grip of the Rain?
Among the Debris (Son of Rain #2)
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Clay Jacobs and Evie Meyers are on the run. Together. Being hunted is almost worth it, so long as that remains true. It’s too much to hope that it can last.
Only weeks after their reunion in Salem, his family strikes, and Clay is torn from his lover’s arms once again. Alone, his certainty in their love falters. Everything he thought was true is called into question. Could his family be right? Could he have been caught in Evie’s spell?
Clay’s obsession with finding the truth leads him on a hunt across the globe. The answer will either bring him closer to freedom or destroy the remnants of his shattered heart. His quest may prove more difficult than he imagines when some people will go to any lengths to keep the truth hidden.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Irwin has been many things in her life: a hobbit taking a precious item to a fiery mountain; a young child stepping through the back of a wardrobe into another land; the last human stranded not-quite-alone in space three million years in the future; a young girl willing to fight for the love of a vampire; and a time-travelling madman in a box. She achieved all of these feats and many more through her voracious reading habit. Eventually, so much reading had to have an effect and the cast of characters inside her mind took over and spilled out onto the page.
Michelle lives in sunny Queensland in the land down under with her surprisingly patient husband and ever-intriguing daughter, carving out precious moments of writing and reading time around her accounts-based day job. A lover of love and overcoming the odds, she primarily writes paranormal and fantasy romance.
Comments, questions, and suggestions for improvements are always welcome. You can reach me at [email protected] or through my website www.michelle-irwin.com. Thanks in advance for your correspondence.
You can also connect with me online via
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Phase (Phoebe Reede: The Untold Story #1) Page 33