by Amy Lane
“I’m Shepherd, and this is Jefischa.” Shep spoke hesitantly, then looked at Jefi to see if this was the right time. Jefi shrugged and nodded, and Shep reached out his hand to Green’s cheek. The elf’s eyes widened, but he allowed Shep to cup his cheek and then lean in to kiss his temple.
“Adrian says ‘Hullo, luv,’” Shepherd said carefully. He was unprepared for Green to close his eyes and trap Shepherd’s hand against his cheek with his own trembling hand. Green pulled in a breath that quivered, and let it out slowly.
“Hullo, beloved,” he said softly, savoring Shepherd’s touch as though it were Adrian’s own. “Hullo.” Shepherd’s palm grew wet with tears, but he didn’t move it, not for a long time.
ADRIAN KNELT on the floor of his room in heaven and pressed his palm against his viewing window as though he really could touch the elf’s cheek. “Hullo, luv,” he whispered. Through a trick of perspective, for a moment, just a moment, it looked to Saint Peter as though their flesh was really touching. For a moment, Adrian really did hold his beloved’s face in the palm of his hand.
“Yes,” he said out loud to Peter, although Peter noticed he never pulled his attention from the tableau below. “Yes, it was worth all of it, everything, just for this moment.” Blood-brine tears dripped onto the back of his hand; he wiped them on his T-shirt and then put his hand back to pretend he truly touched his lover’s flesh.
Saint Peter watched soundlessly, understanding and accepting at once. Idly he wondered who else needed the prompt to fall, to take a “flesh vacation,” as he’d started to think of them, but the question could wait. The fact was, the vampire’s ghost didn’t really need guarding, and Adrian deserved some time alone.
Saint Peter blinked and disappeared, and Adrian continued his vigil at the window to the world of Green’s hill.
More from Amy Lane
Little Goddess: Book One
Working graveyards in a gas station seems a small price for Cory to pay to get her degree and get the hell out of her tiny town. She’s terrified of disappearing into the aimless masses of the lost and the young who haunt her neck of the woods. Until the night she actually stops looking at her books and looks up. What awaits her is a world she has only read about—one filled with fantastical creatures that she’s sure she could never be.
And then Adrian walks in, bearing a wealth of pain, an agonizing secret, and a hundred and fifty years with a lover he’s afraid she won’t understand. In one breathless kiss, her entire understanding of her own worth and destiny is turned completely upside down. When her newfound world explodes into violence and Adrian’s lover—and prince—walks into the picture, she’s forced to explore feelings and abilities she’s never dreamed of. The first thing she discovers is that love doesn’t fit into nice neat little boxes. The second thing is that risking your life is nothing compared to facing who you really are—and who you’ll kill to protect.
Little Goddess: Book Two
Vol. 1
Cory fled the foothills to deal with the pain of losing Adrian, and Green watched her go. Separately, they could easily grieve themselves to death, but when an old enemy of Green’s brings them back together, they can no longer hide from their grief—or their love for each other.
But Cory’s grieving has cut her off from the emotional stability that’s the source of her power, and Green’s worry for her has left them both weak. Cory’s strength comes from love, and she finds that when she’s in the presence of Adrian’s best friend, Bracken, she feels stronger still.
But defeating their enemy is by no means a sure thing. As the attacks against Cory and her lovers keep coming, it becomes clear that their love might not be enough if they can’t heal each other—and themselves—from the wounds that almost killed them all.
Little Goddess: Book Two
Vol. 2
Green and Bracken’s beloved survived their enemy’s worst—with unexpected vampiric help.
But survival is a long way from recovery, and even further from safety. Green’s people want badly to return to the Sierra Foothills, but they’re not going with their tails between their legs. Before they go home, they have to make sure they’re free from attack—and that they administer a healthy dose of revenge as well.
As Cory negotiates a fragile peace between her new and unexpected lovers, Green negotiates the unexpected power that comes from being a beloved leader of the paranormal population. Together, they might heal their own wounds and lead their people to an unprecedented place at the top of the supernatural food chain—a place that will allow them to return home a better, stronger whole.
Little Goddess: Book Three
Vol. 1
Corinne Carol-Anne Kirkpatrick started out in the Sierra Foothills expecting nothing from life—and still ended up disappointed. One touch on the hand from a friend—and free use of fang from a lover—was all it took to make her look below the surface of the world she thought she knew.
Soon Cory isn’t just seeing the different world of Green’s Hill, she’s a part of it, wielding the same power that so enchanted her, and learning, lover by lover and heartbreak by healing, that nothing in life is given and even things earned can be taken away at a moment’s notice.
With magic in her heart and the men who love her by her side, Cory—and all the denizens of Green’s Hill—set out to hold on to life, love, and happiness with all the strength she can summon with touch, blood, and song.
Goddess help anyone who gets in their way.
Little Goddess: Book Three
Vol. 2
Corinne Carol-Anne Kirkpatrick started out in the Sierra Foothills expecting nothing from life—and still ended up disappointed. One touch on the hand from a friend—and free use of fang from a lover—was all it took to make her look below the surface of the world she thought she knew.
Soon Cory isn’t just seeing the different world of Green’s Hill, she’s a part of it, wielding the same power that so enchanted her, and learning, lover by lover and heartbreak by healing, that nothing in life is given and even things earned can be taken away at a moment’s notice.
With magic in her heart and the men who love her by her side, Cory—and all the denizens of Green’s Hill—set out to hold on to life, love, and happiness with all the strength she can summon with touch, blood, and song.
Goddess help anyone who gets in their way.
AMY LANE is a mother of two college students, two grade-schoolers, and two small dogs. She is also a compulsive knitter who writes because she can’t silence the voices in her head. She adores fur-babies, knitting socks, and hawt menz, and she dislikes moths, cat boxes, and knuckle-headed macspazzmatrons. She is rarely found cooking, cleaning, or doing domestic chores, but she has been known to knit up an emergency hat/blanket/pair of socks for any occasion whatsoever, or sometimes for no reason at all. Her award-winning writing has three flavors: twisty-purple alternative universe, angsty-orange contemporary, and sunshine-yellow happy. By necessity, she has learned to type like the wind. She’s been married for twenty-plus years to her beloved Mate and still believes in Twu Wuv, with a capital Twu and a capital Wuv, and she doesn’t see any reason at all for that to change.
Website: www.greenshill.com
Blog: www.writerslane.blogspot.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amy.lane.167
Twitter: @amymaclane
By Amy Lane
LITTLE GODDESS
Vulnerable
Wounded, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
Bound, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
The Green’s Hill Novellas
Published by DSP PUBLICATIONS
www.dsppublications.com
Published by
DSP PUBLICATIONS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dsppublications.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictiti
ously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The Green’s Hill Novellas
© 2016 Amy Lane.
Cover Art
© 2016 Anne Cain.
[email protected]
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact DSP Publications, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dsppublications.com.
ISBN: 978-1-63216-170-3
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63476-019-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015921078
Published June 2016
v. 1.0
Litha's Constant Whim 1st Edition published by Dreamspinner Press, June 2010.
2010 Cover Art by Anne Cain, [email protected].
I Love You Asshole! 1st Edition published by Dreamspinner Press, May 2011.
2011 Cover Art by Anne Cain, [email protected]. Cover Design by Mara McKennen.
Guarding the Vampire's Ghost 1st Edition published by Dreamspinner Press, October 2010.
2010 Cover Art by Anne Cain, [email protected].
Printed in the United States of America
Table of Contents
Blurb
Author’s Note
Litha’s Constant Whim
Whim—Offerings
Charlie—Covenants
Whim—Sacrifices
Charlie—Discipleship
Whim—Suppliant
Daniel—Gifts
Whim—Blessings
I Love You, Asshole!
In the End
A Ten-Year Vampire Primer
Darkness, Blood, and Filtered Light
Roomies
Benefits
The Rhythm of Years
Tragedy and Hope
Ultimatum
Better and Worse
Guarding the Vampire’s Ghost
Prologue: A Brief Window into the Great Quarrel
Part I: Failing
Part II: Falling
Part III: Flying
Part IV: Landing
More from Amy Lane
About the Author
By Amy Lane
Visit DSP Publications
Copyright Page