Before I Fell

by Brandy Greeley

  Before I Fell

  (After Midnight 2)

  Brandy Greeley

  Before I Fell

  (After Midnight 2)

  Brandy Greeley

  Kindle Edition

  © Copyright 2019 Brandy Greeley

  Wolfpack Publishing

  6032 Wheat Penny Avenue

  Las Vegas, NV 89122

  wolfpackpublishing.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, other than brief quotes for reviews.

  eBook ISBN 978-1-64119-598-0

  Paperback ISBN 978-1-64119-618-5

  Contents

  Character Reference

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Get Your FREE Ebook

  About the Author

  Character Reference

  Hades: Lord of the Underworld & god of the dead. Hades, along with four of his siblings, was swallowed whole by their father, Kronos, at birth. Zeus eventually forced Kronos to vomit his children, and together they drove him, and the other Titans, from Olympus – locking them all in Tartarus. Hades wanted a bride and petitioned Zeus for one of his daughters, but when he realized that the young goddess (Persephone) would resist the union, he forcefully kidnapped her, dragging her into the Underworld.

  Persephone: Goddess of Spring, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and queen of the Underworld. She was forced to marry Hades, Lord of the Underworld, when he kidnapped her from Olympus. In a fit of despair, and partly prompted by the grief of her mother, she ate only half of a pomegranate offered to her by Hades himself, thus splitting each year between the Underworld and her home on Olympus.

  Prometheus: He is a Titan and trickster, who is credited with creating mankind from clay. He defies the gods and gives fire and cattle to humanity, an act which progressed human civilization. He’s known for his quick wit, fiery temper, intelligence, and thievery. Because of his criminal nature, Zeus sentenced Prometheus to eternal torment by binding him to a rock, where an eagle (sent by Zeus) would come each day to peck out his liver, only to have it grow back and be feasted on again the next day. He is eventually freed by Hercules.

  Hermes: Messenger of the gods, son of Zeus, half-brother to Hades and known as the ‘divine trickster’, he moved freely between the mortal and divine worlds and conducted souls in the Underworld. He brought dreams and sleep to mortals.

  Kronos: He was a Titan, father of Hades and Lord of Tartarus. He swallowed his children before Zeus cut him open and banished him to the pit of Tartarus, where he ruled over the damned souls.

  Hera: Goddess of women, family, marriage, and childbirth. Sister to Hades and wife of Zeus, she ruled over Olympus as queen of the gods. However jealous and vengeful she was in nature against Zeus’ lovers and illegitimate children, she was also portrayed as majestic and solemn, often seen with animals she considered sacred, such as the cow, peacock, and lion.

  Poseidon: God of the sea, earthquakes and horses. Brother to Hades and Hera, and uncle of Persephone, his symbols were the trident, fish, dolphin, horse and bull. Often seen as lusty in nature, he married several times and fathered at least eight children.

  Emma: Mortal friend of Hades & Persephone, she possesses gifts similar in nature to Hades, which prompts him to bind her to the Underworld forever. She works for the couple, and acts as a voice of reason and calm when Persephone is cursed by Prometheus. Fiery and independent in nature, she’s taught by Hades how to harness and control her gifts, making her a useful ally to the Underworld.

  Maxine: Mortal grandmother of Emma. She refused to board a boat to Tartarus when she died and became stuck, coming and going between the Underworld and mortal realms freely. Mischievous, meddlesome, manipulative, calculating, quirky and a thief, she’s the only soul who Emma begrudgingly accepts as part of her daily life before she meets Hades.

  Barb: Mortal friend of Emma. Manipulative, toxic and self-serving, she uses Emma’s gifts to her own advantage whenever possible, including in her ghost hunting group. Seen as a bad influence by Hades, she’s nonetheless one of the only friends Emma routinely hangs out with while in Portland.

  Sam: Emma’s mortal boyfriend. Sweet, kind and caring, he has issue with Emma’s gifts from the start but attempts to understand because of his feelings for her. He eventually becomes an unwilling and unknowing pawn in the gods’ schemes.

  Declan: Emma’s mortal second boyfriend. Owns a bar down the street from her apartment, he knows nothing of her ties to the gods, or the fact that she can see spirits. Kind and loving, but jealous.

  Dedication

  Thank you to everyone who supported the creation of this sequel, meticulously edited it and re-edited when I was on the edge of exhaustion, and whose belief in me and my skills never wavered, even when I wanted to give up.

  Todd: you’re the best husband and father a girl could ask for. Thank you so much for adding everything you did to the story, without it, it wouldn’t be near as fleshed out. It helped to have that extra set of eyes. Thank you also so much for taking Logan when I needed to dedicate a couple of hours at a time to the manuscript. I know it’s been a rough few months, but I sincerely appreciate all that you do for him and me. Love you.

  Mom: thank you so much for editing the story first, for giving me pointers, and for nudging me to continue making progress where it probably would’ve taken me a few more months to finish. That urge to produce the best product I could was invaluable. Love to both you and dad!

  Finally, to my son, Logan: I love you with everything I am, and everything I want to someday be. You inspire me to be a better person every single day, and I hope that these novels make you proud of your dear old mom. This is for you, Lo-lo.

  Before I Fell

  Chapter One

  Portland, Oregon

  I leaned against a tree trunk, cracking the spine of my book as sunlight filtered through the branches above and I languished in it, turning my face towards the warmth. Weather in the Pacific Northwest was wildly unpredictable, and any excuse to read in the park without getting my butt wet was welcome.

  “You’ll never get a man this way,” Grandma said and I jumped, letting out a little eep of surprise as she joined me on the ground, stretching out her long legs. “If you wait too long, you’ll be a spinster, and who will have you then?”

  We watched people jogging by with dogs and strollers laden with fussy kids and I rolled my eyes on a sigh, sliding a bookmark between the pages.

  I just wanted a little alone time.

  “I’m only twenty-one, Grandma, so I think I have plenty of time to find a man before I die.”

  “By your age, I was already married with two children,” she mused, reaching out to run her fingers through my dark brown curls. “What’s your excuse?”

  “We’ve had this conversation so many times I can’t keep track,” I said, resisting the urge to smack her hand away. “I’m not going to settle down just because you want me to, or because you think that I need a man to be happy. I’ll find him on my own terms, okay?”

  We both glanced up as a man playing bagpipes on a unicycle lost his balance and toppled into a nearby bush.

  She stared at me a moment, lips purs
ed. “I don’t know why you’re being so stubborn, Emma. You’ve been on six dates in the past four years, three of whom didn’t even make it past the front steps-”

  “It’s incredibly creepy that you know that at all,” I muttered under my breath and her eyes narrowed to tiny slits, arms crossed over her chest.

  “What are you waiting for, hmm? Prince Charming? In those clothes?” She added, gesturing to my black skinny jeans and blue button-up flannel shirt and I scowled, popping a finger in my mouth before winding it around a stray piece of hair as she watched, lip curled in disgust.

  “No, his slightly younger brother, Duke Charming. Prince is too self-absorbed for my tastes. Duke has nothing more than a small manor in the country and a closet full of Lumberjack attire, but I’m sure we’ll live happily ever after regardless.”

  The phrase if looks could kill ran through my mind as she skewered me on the spot. “Fine, have it your way, then. But when you end up all alone, with a house full of cats-”

  “I’m a dog person, Grandma. You know this.”

  “-don’t come crying to me because you’re lonely, or sorry that you didn’t listen the first, second, or tenth time I tried to knock some sense into you.”

  “How’s Grandpa?” I asked sweetly-a little too sweet-from the murderous look on her face.

  “Insufferable, but what else is new?”

  I massaged my temples. “You’ve been dead for six years and you still can’t figure out how to get along?”

  “Someday you’ll understand why it’s not that simple,” she said, standing to brush bits of grass off her floral-patterned silk pants.

  “No, I won’t Grams, because I plan on marrying for love, not…whatever the heck it is the two of you had.”

  “Well! If you’re going to continue to be this unpleasant, maybe I won’t come back tomorrow.”

  “And deprive me of the opportunity to be the crazy lady in the park talking to myself? Awe, how sweet! Thanks for thinking of me, Grams!”

  “Like I’d actually give you that kind of satisfaction. Being able to talk to you, no matter how rude or insufferable you are at times, keeps me connected to the world of the living. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost that.”

  “Grandma, all you do when you visit me is complain about my love life, make fun of my lack of friends and wardrobe choices, tell me how writing for a living isn’t sustainable and then cap it all off by haunting every stranger that passes us. You never tell me what you do when you’re not with me, or where you actually live now. Heaven? Limbo? Give me something.”

  “We’ve been over this. You know I can’t talk to you about any of it.”

  “But why? I’ve been able to see the spirit world for the past four years, and I’m no closer to understanding it now than I was then. That’s not fair. You like spending time with me, but I’m not allowed to ask any questions about your afterlife.”

  “Emma, drop it.”

  There was something in her voice-an undercurrent of pain-laced anger that had me pressing my lips together against the torrent of words I wanted to hurtle at her. Grandma was an obnoxious gossiper, but she could keep a secret like no one else could when it really mattered. I wouldn’t get anything else out of her today. Maybe tomorrow.

  “You should probably just go. Someone will eventually see me talking to no one, and I’ve scared enough kids to last me a lifetime.”

  She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes, as I returned to my book. Sometimes ignoring her worked, sometimes it didn’t.

  “There you are.”

  A man materialized to my right, folding his arms over his muscled chest as he gazed down at Grandma with piercing forest-green eyes. He wasn’t like the others-he seemed real, more substantial-and was too flawless-looking for his own good with short, ebony hair that glistened, even in the partial shade.

  Completely out of my league. If I was looking, which I’m most definitely not. Oh, great, now I know that couple passing us can’t see him, which means he’s probably a…what? Soul? Stop eying him like a hunk of meat, Emma! He’s gonna notice you doing that!

  “I knew Jed couldn’t keep a secret, even for an hour,” Grandma said bitterly, stomping up to him as he watched her, a faintly amused smile playing around his full, sensual lips.

  Stop that, right now. Focus. You can’t see him…you can’t see him…

  “You weren’t supposed to leave-I was very specific about that,” the man said, checking his watch. “And if you’re not going to move on, you need to stay put, because I’m too busy to track down every rogue soul.”

  “You wouldn’t deny me the right to visit my granddaughter, would you?”

  He looked at me as I stoically ignored him, deliberately turning the next page. I didn’t know who he was, but he radiated power like a freaking substation, and that scared me to the tips of my toes. Powerful souls were extremely rare, and an even better reason for making them think I couldn’t see them. Grandma was the exception, and if the spirit world knew that I could see them, too, they’d never leave me alone. She didn’t even blab-weirdly enough-not even to Grandpa, which always sent a swift stab through my heart. I missed him, dang it, and it hurt knowing that we could talk, but wouldn’t, because I couldn’t take the risk.

  It’s for the best, Emma. You know this.

  “Why do you do this to yourself, Maxine? She’ll never know you’re here.”

  Grandma glared at me over her half-moon spectacles as I clenched my teeth together, trying in vain to tell her what I couldn’t say out loud.

  If you do this, I’ll never ever forgive you for it, so please just keep your big mouth shut for once. Nod and leave with him.

  “She’s pretending like she can’t see me, but it’s all an act. We have enlightening conversations on a nearly daily basis. Isn’t that right, Emma?”

  I didn’t answer, yawning as I turned another page and the man winged an eyebrow at her, waiting.

  “Say something, sweetheart. He’s the least likely person to judge you for it, and he won’t talk, either.”

  “Let’s go; Jed is waiting for your return,” the man said, taking her elbow gently. Grandma shook him off, staring directly at me, and I could feel the frost in her look like it was a tangible thing.

  “So help me God, Emma! If you make me look crazier than I already am, because you’re scared, I’ll…never visit you again! Yes! That’s what I’ll do. You’ll never see me after today, and you’ll live the rest of your life wondering what happened to me, if I’m happy, or if I’ve managed to come out on top of my Bridge team for the fourth time in a row, which I have. And, when you eventually die, I won’t be there to greet you.”

  “Whoopee,” I muttered, then froze, every muscle clenched around the word. What the hell did I just do?

  There was no way out of it, I had to look and when I did, I groaned as two sets of eyes pinned me to the ground.

  “What did you just say?” The man asked softly like he was talking to himself, and I wished that the earth would reach up and swallow me whole.

  I stood, using the tree for support as I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and smiled, though it was most definitely fake, and definitely going down as the worst moment of my life thus far, including almost dying.

  “I don’t suppose you could just forget that happened and move on?”

  He shook his head slowly, eyes trained on my face, and I choked down a hysterical giggle at the intensity of his attention, dancing in place.

  Great…just great…

  “I’ve-I-oh crap on a biscuit, Grandma! Why did you have to bait me like that, huh? He would’ve taken you away to wherever it is you live now, and I could go on enjoying my day without any more ghostly interference.”

  The man stumbled back, eyes wide. “You can see me? And Maxine?”

  I nodded once and he swept a hand across his face, features troubled. “That’s a unique gift, and a bit unusual for a mortal to possess. But, why would you try to keep it a secret?”

&nb
sp; Wait…mortal?

  “Look, I’ve seen Ghost and Sixth Sense, so I know that if the whole spirit world knew what I could do, they’d never leave me alone. And I want that more than anything.”

  “Where I come from,” he said, stepping towards me as I took a small, hesitant step back. “Abilities like yours are celebrated and nurtured, not hidden and repressed.”

  “That’s great-I can see that your calling worked out well for you. But I never asked for this. If I could give it away somehow, I would in a heartbeat.”

  “Why are you trying so hard to be normal?”

  “Why do you seem weirdly frustrated by it?”

  “Oh, snap, Hades, she got you there,” Grandma said, and I frowned at her.

  “Don’t ever use that word again, okay? You’re one-hundred years-old. Act like it.” I stiffened, pieces slowly sliding together like a crazy jigsaw puzzle. “Wait…Hades? As in, Lord of the Underworld? Please tell me that’s just a weird coincidence, and your parents were into Greek Mythology when they named you.”

  “Nope, he’s the real deal,” Grandma said, rummaging around in her purse.

  “Why are you still around, then? Isn’t he supposed to help you move on to wherever it is you’re supposed to go after death?”

  “She was stubborn. She didn’t want to get on a boat,” Hades said, agitated.

  Grandma smiled and leaned towards me, cupping her hands over my ear. “Because I was going to go to the wrong place.”