Lia’s eyes opened suddenly, revealing inky black pools. She reached up and took Saunders wrist, squeezing through the bandage until he grunted with pain. A howl slipped from him as his head wrenched back, and fur crawled up his neck in thickening lines, encircling his mouth as it tried to elongate into a muzzle.
Lia refused to let go of Saunders, even when his fingers around her throat began to mutate into claws. She stared ahead with foreign eyes and a blank expression that Dr. Delph found all too familiar.
The earth shook, and he wrapped his arms around a tree trunk to keep from falling to his knees. Rough bark rubbed his cheek raw, and the edges of his vision trembled as limbs groaned overhead. A crack ripped down the path he’d just tread, splitting the ground open like crumbling cake batter as it progressed toward Lia and Saunders.
“Delph!” Selena shouted as she came up behind him, steadying herself between two trees. Her fingers dug into his shoulder and she pulled herself over to share his tree, quickly wrapping her tattooed arms around the span of trunk above him. “If we survive this, I’m going to kick your ass,” she growled in his ear.
Chapter Twenty-three
Lia thought it would be painful, letting Daisy fill her head. The visions always hurt, and it hadn’t exactly tickled when the doctors prodded her with their needles and instruments. She’d come to associate all mental invasions with torture, so the delicious power that now coursed through her was exhilarating.
Daisy was still annoyed and reluctant, but she was prepared to see this through. She rocked to the front of Lia’s mind like a typhoon searching for shore. The wind whipped around her face, and Lia felt a laugh work its way up her throat, where Saunders’ fingernails dug into her windpipe.
Lia wanted to understand the ghost’s ability, but her power was steeped in chaos. She was deranged, every emotion layered on top of rage. It was as if her existence was fueled by vengeance. If she let go of that, she’d be lost forever to this world, left to walk unheard and unseen. Sadness floated to the top, but it carried less weight and was soon replaced with Daisy’s go-to wrath.
The ground felt unsteady beneath Lia’s feet, but she stayed planted, feeling the pull of the moon drawing her upright. Saunders’ claws cut into her skin, but the pain wouldn’t register. She was too powerful to be hindered by such trivialities. Daisy’s thoughts melted into own, until she could no longer distinguish where they overlapped.
“Make it stop!” Saunders demanded, his hot breath assaulting her ear. His voice had a gravelly undertone, like he was slowly losing it. “Make it stop,” he said again, more pleadingly this time.
“I will,” she whispered, turning slowly in his failing grasp. She leaned against his chest intimately, tucking her hands up under the collar of his torn uniform shirt. It was coming apart as his bones and muscles tried to realign themselves.
The ground fractured, running in a line between their parted feet and quickly growing into a dark chasm. Saunders tried to step back as it spread, but Lia held fast to his collar, pulling his face closer to hers over the void as the earth opened beneath them. His terrified eyes locked onto her, and then the ground dissolved under their feet and they fell into darkness.
* * * * *
The tremble in the earth slowly decreased, replaced by the softer pitter-patter of dirt clumps and rocks as they bounced off the sides of the rift. Somewhere deeper in the cavern, a gurgling trickle sounded, feeding into a heavier sloshing noise. Lia couldn’t see it, but she knew that water was rising beneath her.
A spongy jumble of tree roots coiled around her body. She could barely see to untangle herself, relying solely on the thin lines of moonlight that reached beyond the crusty opening of the earth. Daisy was gone, taking her confidence along with her power, and Lia was left alone with the fear knotted in her stomach and the ache of her wounds. She didn’t know if she had the required strength to climb out of the hole she was trapped in.
“Lia?” Dr. Delph shouted down to her. He was alive. She still couldn’t believe it.
A flashlight strobed through the chasm and fell on Saunders’ mangled form. Several branches pierced through his chest, almost as if they had all landed just right on their way down. Lia shivered, wondering if that was Daisy’s doing.
Her eyes refused look away from Saunders. She didn’t even recognize him anymore. He’d died halfway through his transformation and was neither man nor beast at this point. His golden eyes were vacant, and the peppered color of his hair had spread over his entire body, disappearing under the tattered remains of his uniform.
“Lia?” Dr. Delph’s flashlight landed on her next, and she squinted up at him.
“I’m okay,” she said, her voice trembling unevenly. She shielded her eyes with a shaky hand and noticed the blood pooling in her nails. Her skin felt too tight, like it had been baked to her body by the fire of Daisy’s rage.
“Here,” a feminine voice called out. A rope slapped against Lia’s arm, and she grasped it before it could fall away. She coiled it around her waist and one leg, not wanting to take any chances with her wavering strength. Then she gave it a tug.
“Okay,” she called back, clutching the rope tightly with both hands.
“Easy,” Dr. Delph grunted at the woman as they heaved Lia upward.
When she neared the opening, Dr. Delph dropped the rope and reached down to take her by the arms, pulling the rest of the way out. He crushed her to his chest and ran his hands down her back and over her shoulders, quickly moving on to her arms and legs.
“Are you all right? Anything broken?” he asked as he smoothed the hair away from her face.
Lia shook her head. The woman standing behind Dr. Delph was backlit by the moon, her red hair glowing softly. She glared down into the hole, illuminating Saunders again with a flashlight. “This is not how I wanted to spend the last night of the full moon.”
“Dr. Delph? Councilor Chase?” Another woman slipped through the trees. Lia recognized her voice from that morning, when she’d arrived in Spero Heights. The woman tucked a first aid kit under one arm as she steadied herself against a tree and stepped over a crack in the ground. “Is everyone okay?”
Dr. Delph pressed his lips together. “No,” he said. “She’s lost a lot of blood, and she’s going to need stiches.”
Lia shook her head to protest, but when the red-haired woman slid to one side, allowing the moonlight to spill over her shoulder, she caught sight of herself. Her skin was covered in weeping gashes. Dr. Delph helped her stand, and she swayed on her feet, lightheaded and nauseated. The woman with the first aid kit gave her a pitying smile.
“Let’s get you back to the clinic and have a look,” she said sweetly, reaching for Lia’s arm. Dr. Delph knelt down and scooped up her legs instead, cradling her in his arms.
“I’ve got her.” He turned toward a narrow path in the woods. “Let’s go.”
The redhead huffed behind them. “Zelda,” she snapped, making the other woman jump. “Flash your headlights in the woods west of town before you head to the clinic. Logan will know what it means. This close, he’ll be able to track me down and help clean up this… mess.”
The other woman nodded. “I can do that.”
“Hurry,” Dr. Delph added. He turned and began carrying Lia back toward the road. “Use the back parking lot,” he shouted over his shoulder. “We’ll be waiting in the kitchen. I’ll get started cleaning her abrasions.”
Lia tucked her head in under Dr. Delph’s chin as he carried her through the woods, stomping over the underbrush. His breath grazed her forehead and pushed her hair back. She grinned against his neck, not even minding the ache that ran through the entire length of her body.
So this is love, she thought, holding onto him with what little strength she had left. Though it wasn’t just Dr. Delph that her heart swelled for. The women in the woods… the people of the small town… they stuck their necks out for each other. They protected one another and safeguarded their secrets.
It had
been a very long time since Lia had felt the familiar warmth of a family, but now that she did, she could trust in what it meant. This was home.
Epilogue
Dr. Delph closed his eyes and smiled up at the afternoon sun, enjoying how his spine stretched as he bowed it back into camel pose. Lia and Zelda mirrored him on either side, their yoga mats rolled out over the grassy lawn of the square.
Lia had been at Orpheus House for two weeks now. She swore that the sauna massages were more than enough to get her through the drug withdrawals and vision symptoms, but Dr. Delph had finally convinced her to give yoga a try too. And Zelda pushed the idea along by promising to practice with them.
Selena lay sprawled out on a quilt a few yards away, the twins drooling and cooing beside her. She yawned and rubbed her eyes before snatching up a rattle as it rolled off into the grass. Billy gurgled at her and reached for it.
“I’ll be right back,” Dr. Delph said, smiling at Lia and Zelda as he stood. “You’re doing great.”
He cut across the lawn and joined Selena on the quilt, pausing to make a silly face at the babies before he addressed her. “We should have another meeting soon,” he said.
“What for?” Selena was still angry with him, though it was hard to blame her.
“I just want to be sure we haven’t forgotten anything…” his voice trailed off thoughtfully.
Their cover-ups usually didn’t call for measures so drastic, and he was extra anxious about this one, seeing as how in involved the woman who had taken over the center of his universe. Every breath conjured her in his mind, and his heart ignited when she glanced his way, a knowing smile curling up the corners of her mouth.
Selena yawned again. “Everything is taken care of. The car is at the bottom of the river. Logan took a chainsaw to the tree it hit. His pack ate the rest of the evidence.” She paused to give him a bewildered look. “I still can’t believe you wouldn’t let me keep the gun. An untraceable weapon would have been nice to have around for emergencies—”
Dr. Delph shook his head. “Not worth the risk.”
She huffed and raised an eyebrow at him. “The only thing you need to worry about now is staying on my good side. We’re in this crap together, so you better start acting like it. No more secrets, bucko.”
He grinned at her watered down language. She’d been trying extra hard to keep her tongue in check when the twins were present, though she more than made up for it when they weren’t around.
“She’s cute. I’ll give you that,” Selena said, glancing over the lawn to where Lia and Zelda had rose up into downward dog. “Nice ass!” she shouted, sending Zelda tumbling back to her yoga mat. Lia blushed and lowered herself more gracefully.
“Honestly, Selena?” Dr. Delph struggled not to smile.
“What?” She gave him an innocent grin. “Ass isn’t a curse word, is it? No, it’s not,” she baby-talked down at Emma. “Ass is just a donkey. Hee-haw.”
Dr. Delph chuckled under his breath. He’d never been happier, and not even the grim visions the Fates delivered to him could change that. He was just glad to have them back in his head. Their reasons for abandoning him were still unclear, but he could safely assume it was either due to his potential death or blossoming love life—maybe both. It didn’t really matter. Whatever the universe brought down on them, he knew they’d get through it. Together.
“Graham called,” he said, taking Selena’s rejection of secrecy to heart. “He’s coming back this week.”
Selena snorted. “About damn time. If he misses the fireworks display, the Midnight District is going to have a riot.”
Dr. Delph winced as he recalled his morning vision. “I think we might have a riot on our hands anyway. He’s not coming back alone.”
Selena’s eyes narrowed. “You said he didn’t find the missing vamp.”
“He didn’t.” Dr. Delph swallowed. “He found someone else.” There was more to it than that, but he’d said enough for now. The day was too beautiful to spoil completely.
Selena sighed and sat up on the blanket. The wind whipped playfully at her spiky hair, but it did little to smooth the creases cutting across her scowling face. “Thanks for ruining my Saturday, prick.”
Dr. Delph shrugged and reached back to let his hair down, shaking out his messy bun and combing his fingers through his tangled tresses. “You said no more secrets.”
Selena stuffed toys in a diaper bag and began buckling the babies back in their carriers. “Well, at least your new lady friend will be able to see this one before it hits us, right? I mean, as long as she’s as sharing as you are.” She rolled her eyes.
“I don’t know.” Dr. Delph frowned.
“What do you, you don’t know?”
He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I mean, we’ll have to see if Lia’s visions are capable of predicting supernatural deaths as well as human deaths.”
Selena growled softly. “Well, that’s just great. Real useful one you’ve got there, doc.”
“Technically, vampires are already dead. It complicates matters,” he said. Then his brow scrunched as he turned to look up at her. “Also, we’ve never put conditions of usefulness on our citizens before. This is a safe haven. The only ones sworn to serve and protect are you, me, and Graham. When someone else lends a hand, it’s out of the goodness of their heart.”
He was talking about Zelda and Logan, of course. And the snarled expression on Selena’s face proved that she knew it too.
“Yeah, yeah. They’re coming over for dinner tomorrow. You can save your preachy crap for another day.”
Dr. Delph grinned, pleased to know that she was trying to mend ties with her brother. He was leading a new life, one that wasn’t orchestrated by his overbearing sister. She still had trouble reigning in her alpha blood, and it was clear she’d never submit to him or join his pack, but Dr. Delph was hopeful that they could at least remain civil. They were family, after all. And family had to stick together.
He smiled down at Emma and Billy in their carriers, cooing and babbling as they sucked on their fingers. They seemed so happy. They were too young to realize that their real mother had been sacrificed on the altar of a corrupted coven, that Selena had slaughtered their abusive father. That conversation was years away, but it would come, and Selena would need her brother close by when it did.
“Leaving so soon?” Lia asked as she joined Dr. Delph and Selena, helping them roll up the quilt. “They’re getting big,” she said, glancing down into the carriers with an adoring sigh.
Dr. Delph hadn’t told her of the child he’d seen in their future. Some things were best left to surprise. He wanted her to feel the weight of that joy all at once, to see the delight in her eyes when she felt their unborn child awaken inside her.
Dr. Delph stood and Lia smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling. He tilted his head against hers, brushing her lips with a quick kiss.
“Gross,” Selena grumbled as she looked away from them and tucked the quilt down in the twins’ diaper bag.
Lia didn’t take her eyes off Dr. Delph, but an impish smile pinched her mouth. “Nice ass,” she said, turning Selena a shade of red that Dr. Delph was sure hadn’t been named yet.
Coming soon…
THE MIDNIGHT DISTRICT
A SPERO HEIGHTS NOVEL
Graham Pierce, the beloved mayor of Spero Heights, has finally returned home… but he’s not alone.
After a wild vampire chase prompted by one of Dr. Delph’s visions, he stumbles across an apocalyptic affair resulting from his failure. The vampire in question is dead, leaving a curiously strong vampling in his place. Graham can’t explain his fascination with her, and he has no idea what bringing her back to his quiet little haven in the mountains could mean for him or for all of Spero Heights.
Eliza Wilson shouldn’t have gone to her ten-year class reunion. Certainly not right after losing her job, and most definitely not after being served divorce papers by her husband’s attorney and latest conquest. When her hig
h school stalker corners her in the parking lot for a little love bite and she wakes up without a pulse, that’s the last straw. Hell hath no fury, because she brought it all back with her.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is book number ten for me. You’d think I’d have a pretty good system and schedule down by now, but I find I’ve just become more accustomed to the way deadlines whoosh past me and disappear over the horizon.
Luckily, I have an amazing critique group and beta readers who don’t mind editing and proofreading at the very last minute (okay, they probably do mind, but they deliver anyway). I promise to make the New Year’s resolution stick next time, guys. Cross my heart!
Extra big thanks to my grammarly astute husband, the epic Horsemen of the Bookocalypse, and Andrea Cook, who did another awesome Twitter countdown (complete with manly yoga pics a la Christian Delph).
And finally, thanks to all of my dedicated readers! I hope this ten-book journey has been just as much fun for you as it has been for me. Now on to the next ten!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
International best-selling author Angela Roquet is a great big weirdo. She collects Danger Girl comic books, owls, skulls, random craft supplies, and all things Joss Whedon. She's a fan of renewable energy, marriage equality, and religious tolerance. As long as whatever you're doing isn't hurting anyone, she's a fan of you, too.
Angela lives in Missouri with her husband and son. She's a member of SFWA and HWA, as well as the Four Horsemen of the Bookocalypse, her epic book critique group, where she's known as Death. When she's not swearing at the keyboard, she enjoys painting, goofing off with her family and friends, and reading books that raise eyebrows. You can find Angela online at www.angelaroquet.com
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