Twelve Shades of Midnight:

by Liliana Hart

  WTF? How was this fair? I’d done my task. I should be free to leave and go on my merry, vapid, lonely pathetic way. Wait...did she say choose? I had a choice? Was this a win-win? I could say I wanted to stay here, but everyone would assume it was because I didn’t want to hunt down the deadly weapon. Finding the syringe was sure to get me killed. Think, think, think…No one would really know I wanted to stay. I had feelings for all these idiots and I wanted to get to know my father, not to mention have sex by the river…

  Shitballs. Feelings were messy and emotions were dangerous. However, when I weighed it with being alone and most likely dead, the choice was clear. I would stay. They small fact that I wanted to stay would be my secret.

  Pretending to debate the merits of the choice in my head was kind of fun. Everyone in the room was on pins and needles—especially Mac. He stared at me hard, willing me to stay with him. Inhaling through my nose and blowing the breath out loudly between my lips, I spoke. “I will stay.”

  The roar of joy was deafening. Shouts of glee and hugging and crying commenced. I was fist-bumped, bear hugged and tossed around like a doll. Finally, I ended up in Mac’s arms where I was kissed so thoroughly I forgot my name. My dad stepped up and put his arms out for a hug. Slowly I went to him and it felt so right—so wonderful my eyes filled with tears. Fabio turned to my wolf while I was still in his embrace.

  “I was wrong,” Fabio said to Mac as I tried to calm my heart and brain. “You have my blessing. However, if you hurt her I will smite your ass to hell and back.”

  My father shook Mac’s hand and the truce was sealed.

  “Noted,” Mac said.

  WTF?

  Baba Yaga pulled me to her and I ducked so I didn’t lose my left eye to her pointed knocker. “I have always believed in you. It delights me to see that you have learned to believe in yourself.”

  “Was that my task?” I asked, shocked it was that simple.

  “Yes, the rest of what you did was your fate.” She winked and kissed my cheek. “And your mate is hot!”

  “He is not my mate,” I insisted loudly. “We’re just dating.”

  “Good luck with her,” Baba Yaga told a delighted Mac. “She’s a handful.”

  “I will take care of her and will defend her with my last breath,” he told the most powerful witch in the world.

  My insides tingled and my woowoo clenched. Baba was correct. He was freakin’ hot.

  “Of course you will,” she said with a bit of witchy steel in her voice. “I would have never allowed her in your presence if I didn’t know this to be true. Zelda, you must use your magic to protect the balance and destroy anything in the area that is deadly to our races. Capisce?”

  Wait one cotton picking minute. I was stuck on the first part of her sentence. She knew all of this was going to happen?

  With the flourish she was known for, she and her entourage disappeared in a cloud of crouch smoke before I was able to ask another question or demand answers.

  “You realize she kind of screwed you over,” Simon said as he and Chuck began to clean up the carnage.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, still shocked by the events of the evening—mostly that this was my new home. “Don’t clean up. I’ll use some magic to clear out the shit show.”

  “You’ve done enough tonight,” Fabio cut in. “Allow me.”

  With a flick of his hand, silver and gold sparkling mist covered the room. Everything was returned to its former glory and all the blood and carnage disappeared. My dad had some awesome magic. I hoped he would still make me pancakes and steal fantabulous designer duds for me…time would tell.

  I was delighted to realize I was wrong about Simon’s skunk girlfriend. She wasn’t dead, but she was still badly injured. I had work to do.

  “Line all the wounded up. Do it fast before I change my mind and go after the fucking syringe,” I told the crowd.

  “Did you not take in what I just said?” Simon asked as he helped his girlfriend to the line.

  “Nope. Explain,” I said as I began to heal a mangled fox.

  “Baba Yaga,” he started.

  “Call her Booby Yumpy,” I corrected him, then I winced in pain as the fox’s cracked skull mended. I quickly blasted and swore my way through the rest of the wounded. Which left only Chuck with a large tear in his belly.

  “Oooookay.” Simon grinned. “Booby Yumpy really gave you no choice at all.”

  “How’s that?” I grunted as I fixed the bloody hole in Chuck’s stomach.

  “She told you to protect the area. She told you to maintain the balance and destroy anything in the area that threatened our races.”

  “Yes. And?” This cryptic shit was giving me more of a headache than healing head wounds. “Spit it out,” I demanded.

  “The syringe is in the area. It will be your responsibility to find it and eliminate it,” Simon said as he backed away. My magic turned from lavender to green and began to shoot erratically around the room. Shifters ducked for cover.

  “That is so fucking unfair,” I shouted. “She is such a bitch. I had no choice at all. I’m going to die finding the syringe.”

  “You will not die because you will not be fighting alone—ever again,” Mac said with authority.

  “You heard her,” I snapped. “I have to do it by myself.”

  “No. That was the first choice. You rejected the first choice. You chose to stay. You have a very large extended family now who will have your back.” His eyes were warm and filled with something I was afraid to name.

  I calmed and peeked around the room. Shifters nodded and stood tall. I was amazed and humbled. How did this happen to me?

  “I will defend you and help you,” Fabio said as he dropped to his knee.

  “So will I,” Chuck and Simon called out and then bent down like my father.

  They started an avalanche of shouting. Every single shifter in the room called out their support and then went down on bended knee. Mac stood beside me and took it all in.

  “You are loved,” he whispered.

  I wanted to ask him if he meant by him, but I wasn’t ready to have the tables turned back on me. Raw emotion was tricky and I wasn’t sure I knew what love really meant…yet. But just maybe I was willing to try.

  “Can we still go to the river?” I asked shyly.

  “Would you like that?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

  “Would you?” I countered.

  “More than anything in the world,” he assured me as the crowd cheered. It was a little disconcerting to know we were getting whoops and whistles for going off to have sex in a public area, but I didn’t care. I wanted this man more than I wanted the new Prada bag that wasn’t on the market yet.

  “We can’t mate yet,” I told him seriously.

  “Yet?” His joyous smirk made me giggle. “There’s a chance for me?”

  “Possibly, but you have to pass some more tests and take me out on fifteen dates where no one dies. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  His kiss was downright lewd and I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me out of the bar and into the cold Halloween night. I said goodbye to no one. I couldn’t see anything except the strong, beautiful man in front of me. We would definitely have fights if we were mated. I could feel it in my gut, but we would also have joy and some of the greatest sex ever.

  “Would I really have puppies?” I asked. He stopped and chuckled.

  “No, Zelda. We will have human babies, but they will be very special. They will be shifters with healing magic.”

  “Did you say babies?”

  His sexy grin melted me. “Yep.”

  “I’m agreeing to nothing,” I snapped as he plopped me on his motorcycle. “I’m just on a fact finding mission.”

  “Whatever you say.” His voice was gruff and my panties dampened.

  “Just get on the bike and drive,” I said as I punched him and he threw his head back and laughed. “Now.” I was seconds from jumping
his fine ass in the parking lot. We needed to get to the river immediately.

  “Will do, my love. Will do.”

  Epilogue

  Dear Aunt Hildy,

  I know it’s a little odd to write to you considering you’re dead and I have no clue if you will ever see this, but I wanted to put down in words what I wish I could say to you.

  I would have loved to have known you. Watching the replay of your death was one of the worst moments of my life. I want you to know that I got the fucker who killed you and took your magic. He’s with the Warlock Council. I am sure he has wished for death many times over. Those old bastards are scary.

  I took your magic back and it’s inside me. It comforts me to know I possess part of you. I would much prefer to have you with me, but if this is the way it was meant to be just know I will take good care of it and do my best not to blow up the continental U.S. However, I can’t promise that I can control that.

  Most of this adventure has been a clusterfuck, but I am still alive to tell. I found my father, your brother, and I’m dating Mac. I thought you might like to know that. As far as Fabio, or “Naked Dude” as I like to call him goes, we are taking it slow. He likes to shop for me and he makes outstanding pancakes. He misses licking his balls, but I’m sure anyone would. I’m beginning to think we can make the family thing work. I can’t seem to bring myself to call him Dad, but he seems to be getting used to “Naked Dude”.

  I plan to stay in Assjacket, West Virginia for the time being. I think I’m happy which scares the hell out of me, but I want to give it a chance. Mac thinks I’m his mate, but he still has fourteen death-free dates to go before I will give his claim any serious consideration. He has sworn repeatedly that we would not have puppies, but I am still searching for proof.

  I’ve made real friends here and I’m proud of the way I use my magic. I refuse to share these facts with anyone but you because you’re dead and real emotion is shaky territory for me. I’m not ready to go there yet.

  I promise to take care of the shifters. I am going by Shifter Wanker, not Shifter Whisperer. It’s a long story, but trust me, the name suits. I will find that fucking syringe and I will destroy it. I so wish you were here to help me, but I know that’s impossible. Even though I didn’t know you I miss you terribly. Thank you for the beautiful home. However, I wish you were a size four because you had rockin’ taste in clothes.

  I did get a TV. Actually “Naked Dude” probably bought it with bad credit cards. I can’t believe you lived without one. I would love to watch Project Runway with you. Or Spongebob. Regrets are for pussies and I am not a pussy. I send you my love and hope you are in a beautiful place. I will cherish our home and keep your spirit alive.

  Currently ‘“Naked Dude” is soundproofing his bedroom. Apparently Mac and I are loud…

  xoxo Zelda (the Shifter Wanker)

  I flicked my finger and a burst of icy pink and silver crystals flew through the room. I grinned. It was Hildy’s magic. I’d gained colors that I never knew existed. A sparkling mystical breeze picked up the note and with another flick of my hand the note magically disappeared into the universe. There was no telling if it would fall into Aunt Hildy’s hands, but for some bizarre reason…I thought it just might.

  The End

  (for now)

  Note From the Author: If you enjoyed this ebook, please consider leaving a positive review or rating on the site where you purchased it. Reader reviews help my books continue to be valued by distributors/resellers and help new readers make decisions about reading them. You are the reason I write these stories and I sincerely appreciate you!

  Many thanks for your support,

  ~ Robyn Peterman

  Find Robyn online: Facebook | Website | Twitter

  Find more books by Robyn Peterman: Amazon

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to so many. Writing may be solitary, but it takes a hell of a lot of people to help finalize the finished product!

  Donna McDonald, I would be toast without you. You are my friend, Mystery Science Theatre partner and so much more. Thank you. Rebecca Poole you are a cover guru and I don’t want to do a book without you! Mary Yakovets, your editing rocks! My beta readers, Jennifer, Christi, Kellie and Wanda, you are the BOMB! My Pimpettes are my backbone and I am humbled by your support. My family makes everything worth it and I adore you!

  And my readers...I would be nothing without you.

  THE SCHOOL

  Ann Voss Peterson

  Copyright © 2014

  You get out only what you put in…

  Chapter One

  “It’s in there. I swear.”

  Josh Meier shot his friend Gertie a scowl, then glanced back at the abandoned school. Shadows from the building stretched along the ground as if reaching for them. And although Josh knew his fear was kind of dumb, especially for a third grader, he shifted his foot on the pedal of his bike, ready to take off at any second. “How do you know?”

  “Saw it.”

  “When?”

  “Last night.”

  “Last night?” He tore his attention from the school and stared at Gertie. “What… in your dreams?”

  Her big, brown eyes darted to the ground, her black hair swinging forward to hide her face. “My dreams are true sometimes. You know it.”

  Josh wanted to say she was crazy, lying even, but he kept his lips from moving. Hadn’t she told him two years ago tomorrow that his dad wouldn’t be coming home? Hadn’t she told him she’d seen his dad falling in her dream?

  Josh remembered the heavy ache in the bottom of his stomach when his mom had awakened him that night and hugged him harder than ever. When she’d told him Daddy’d had an accident. That he’d slipped on the rocks at Devil’s Lake.

  Josh had been mad at Gertie for a long time after that, even though he knew it wasn’t her fault. She’d just told him what she saw.

  He stared at the school, not moving. “Ian went in, and he can’t talk anymore. He just stares at something no one else can see.”

  “If you don’t want to go, don’t go.”

  “Not saying that. But I can’t get in. Doors are locked.”

  Gertie shook her head. “This one isn’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Just do.”

  Josh tried to swallow but his throat was sticky. He wished he had a piece of gum. “Didn’t they take the books out of the library when they closed the place down?”

  “Nope. The school died. The books died.” Fat teardrops filled Gertie’s eyes and she brushed them away with the back of her hand. “But you can save them. That’s what I saw.”

  “Why me?”

  “Dunno.”

  “Why not you?”

  “Dunno. But I think it’s because of the special book. Your dad’s book.”

  The special book. Gertie didn’t have to say which one. They both knew. The one dad used to read to him. The one with the stories and the drawings. The one that made his mom smile even through her tears the day his daddy was taken away in a box and lowered into the ground.

  The one that might make her smile again.

  “Okay. I’ll go.”

  “You sure?” For the first time this whole afternoon, Gertie actually looked scared.

  “What do you mean, you sure? You’ve been trying to talk me into it.”

  “Have not. I just told you my dream.”

  Josh gave her a look. Gertie didn’t play weird games like this. She was usually pretty cool, for a girl. “What gives, Gertie?”

  She shook her head hard, the force almost knocking her skinny little body off her feet. “Nothing. In my dream, you saved the books. I just got a feeling. I… I don’t know.”

  “That I’m going to end up like Ian?”

  “It’s just a feeling.”

  Now Josh felt more scared than before. But thinking of the book, thinking of his mom, he knew he had to do this anyway. “That book was my dad’s. We only borrowed it to the school. And then
they closed the school down.”

  Her shake turned to a nod.

  “They should’ve given it back.”

  Another nod.

  “It’s been two years, you know. Two years tomorrow.”

  He wasn’t talking about the book now, or the school, and Gertie nodded like she understood. She was good at understanding. “You miss him,” she said.

  Now he was going to cry. He gripped his handle bars super hard and made the tears go back. “If it’s there, I need to get it.”

  “Yes,” Gertie said, but she still looked worried.

  No, not worried. Afraid. Sad. And when she lurched forward and gave Josh a big hug, her long hair tickling his nose, he couldn’t help thinking of the way his mom had hugged him when his dad died.

  Awkward.

  Clumsy.

  Holding on as if he was the only thing she had left in the world, and she was afraid she’d lose him, too.

  Josh swung off his bike and let it drop to the ground. He didn’t look at Gertie, not even a glance. If she knew how shaky his legs felt, she might hug him again, or tell him not to go, or say something that would make him cry. Scooping in a deep breath of fall air, he forced his feet to move in the direction of the school.

  Ten feet from the door, he was trembling so bad, he was afraid he wouldn’t make it.

  Five feet, and he almost turned around.

  Then his fingers were on the handle, hot from the afternoon sun.

  He pulled the door, and it opened, just like it had every day last year when he used to come here for school. He willed himself to step inside and let the thick glass close behind him.

  The school looked empty, lonely even, and sounded quiet as anything Josh had ever heard. Not that he could hear much with his heart thumping so hard. He stepped forward into the darkness, his shoes scuffing and squeaking a little on the floor. The air felt super still and smelled like a wet basement and dust and… cookies.