“Tobias may be a terrible shot, but I’m not,” she tells Hawk.
Kari rounds toward us, keeping Jada and me at her back.
“Tobias, reach into my purse and get my e-port. Call the police. Have them send an ambulance. I think I just nicked his aorta, but if he doesn’t get help soon, he’ll bleed out.”
Stunned, I just stand there for a moment, watching her stand over Hawk.
“Go!” she yells.
Snapping out of my daze, I do as she says. I grab the gadget and start dialing.
“Jada,” Kari says, still fully in control, “walk over there and get that gun.”
Jada
Like Tobias had, I just stare at Kari, dumfounded. Has she honestly just taken down my captor... with a BB gun?
“I got him covered, Jada. He’s not gonna lay a finger on you,” she says with so much conviction that it’s impossible not to believe her.
With my legs shaking, I make a large arch around Hawk. His limp body crashes to the floor. Dark burgundy blood begins to pool around his head. He’s wheezing and moaning, but he is clearly too hurt to stand up.
Still, my legs tremble as I walk around him and approach the gun. I feel like I’m outside myself, not feeling my body move through the space. It’s like one bad dream that I can’t wake from.
Bending down, I pick up the gun off the ground, surprised by how light it is. Amazing how something so deadly can feel so delicate in my hand.
Carefully, I aim the barrel to the ground and hold it as far away from my body as I can. Circling back, I inch my way over to Kari, terrified I’m gonna trip and end up killing someone with my clumsiness.
When I’m a few steps away, I hold it out to her like it’s a dead mouse, not wanting to hold it one second longer, but before I can hand it to her, Hawk’s hand juts out suddenly and grabs my ankle. I scream at the feel of his fingers against my flesh. Tobias flies to my side, but I hold out my hand to stop him.
I raise the gun to Hawk’s head. “Let. Go. Of. Me.”
Tobias freezes at my fierceness.
“Jada, please,” Hawk gurgles. “I love you. I just wanted you to love me back...” His voice is so laden with grief that I almost believe him.
Almost.
“I said let go of me.” I bring my second hand around the gun to steady my aim.
With a great sigh of defeat, his grasp on my ankle weakens before he finally he releases me and collapses back to the floor.
Tobias rushes to my side and takes the gun from me, shoving me behind him like a human shield. But it’s not needed. Instantly, I know the worst is over. The nightmare is over.
Kari switches guns with Tobias, making sure she has the more lethal of the two. Surprisingly, Tobias doesn’t seem affronted by the switch at all.
I curl my arms around Tobias from behind and squeeze him tightly, breathing in his earthy scent. I’m safe.
“Thank you for finding for me, Tobias.”
His free hands curl around mine. I can feel his pulse quicken against my skin upon our contact. He turns to meet my eyes.
“I will always find you, Jada. Always. Our souls are bound together forever. Nothing can keep us apart for long. Not even death. No matter what happens to us, I will always find you again.”
His words ring deep into my soul. He’s right. Leaning against his solid frame, I know with absolute clarity that I will never lose this man again. Even our inevitable deaths will be but a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things.
I embrace him, closing my eyes, contented. We will be pulled back again to each other, no matter how many obstacles try to get in our way. Of that there is no further doubt.
Hawk
Get up off the floor! Stop being so weak! It’s just a flesh wound. Get up and claim what’s ours!
Opening my eyes, I see Jada wrapped snuggly in Tobias’s arms. Where there was rage, there is now only understanding.
Tobias was meant for her. Not me. Not us, Seth. It’s as clear to me now as the pain coursing in my veins. I have been such a fool.
Blood pools near my eyes, but I can’t move away from it. I can’t pull my gaze away from my best friend and his girl. They will be happy now.
Just like that, Seth fades away from the corners of my mind and so does the world.
Finally, peace.
Chapter Twenty
Jada
The wedding is set to happen in just a few short minutes and all I can focus on is Janelle’s dress. She’s managed to spill cranberry juice all down the front of the once-spotless flower girl dress. Her white flower girl dress.
Around me is nothing but chaos as people rush to get water, towels, seltzer, anything to try and get the stain out. Only Janelle and I are calm. I know Janelle didn’t mean to spill the juice. She’s four and still clumsy when it comes to all things liquid. She reminds me of myself at her age.
Still, those around us frantically try to “make it better.” They’re afraid the day will be ruined now. Nothing could ruin this day. I’m marrying the man of my dreams, and a little juice isn’t about to stop that.
Beside me, Kari frowns. Her eyes dart to the clock, then to Janelle.
“Always drama with you, isn’t there?” She winks.
I start to laugh as she suddenly pulls the veil from my head.
“Ouch. What are you doing?” I rub at my scalp where she ripped out the bobby pins holding the lace veil that had been, until a moment ago, anchored firmly on my pageboy styled head.
“Oh, you know you hated that veil anyway,” she murmurs, pulling out the remaining pins.
It’s true. I did hate the veil, but that seemed like hardly the point.
With expert ease, Kari wraps the sheer veil around Janelle’s dress, draping it in a crisscross pattern—perfectly masking the juice stain. Spinning Janelle around, she ties the ends into an elegant bow. She steps back and admires her work as I stare at her, mouth agape. It’s stunning. Absolutely stunning.
The crowd around us stops talking and just stares at the transformation.
“How did you—” I start to say but have no idea how to finish the thought.
Kari just shrugs. “I grew up on the stage. You learn to make do. After all, the show must go on, right?” She gives me a kind grin and gestures to the doorway leading into the church. To Tobias.
Giddy with her new dress, Janelle gives Kari a great big hug, then comes over to tug at my hand.
“Come on, Mama, Papa’s waiting.”
Tears dance behind my eyes. I rub the growing baby bump and bend over to kiss Janelle.
“You’re right, baby girl. Let’s go find him.”
She picks up her flower basket and runs off ahead of me to take her place up front.
“Thank you, Kari,” I choke out when she starts to follow after my daughter.
Kari gives me a small nod, then disappears into the church to take her place as maid of honor.
After a moment, the sound of the music swells and I know it’s time. My feet begin moving of their own accord, and I don’t resist. I let them pull me back again, toward the only man I’ll ever love—in this life and the next.
Epilogue
September, 2047
Janelle
The hum of the cafeteria is maddening. You would think the noise buffers plastered overhead would absorb some of the ruckus, but the relentless chatter of pathetic high schoolers abounds, flooding my ears with childish gossip.
One more year, Janelle. You can handle one more year in this hell.
Stabbing my spork into the dehydrated food on my tray, I groan. Although it has all the nutrients I need for the afternoon, I can’t stomach this crap today. It tastes like chicken-flavored cardboard. I can wait until I get home and have my parents homegrown potato soup. It’s much more appetizing than this mandated mess they call lunch.
Shoving the tray aside, I lean back in my chair and wish the day were over so I could chill out at home. I know it’s not cool for a teenager to actually enjoy their ho
me, but my folks are kinda awesome, and my brother, Saibot... well, he’s annoying, but all little brothers are. Some could say the same about me, though. I’ve never been one to bend to people’s opinions of what they want me to be. I make waves. Ruffle feathers. Tick people off. So what if I don’t have any friends? I don’t want them if they think like the rest of these close-minded douche bags.
If it weren’t for my folks, I’d probably give up on ever finding a person that actually “gets” me. But because my parents are the most in-love people I know, I figure it’s only a matter of time before someone like that turns up to love me the way they love each other. That said, I guess I can handle hanging out in this grotesque purgatory of humanity, knowing soon I won’t be alone. Soon my Twin Flame will find me. I just can’t see him yet... Sucks, but that’s how my visions work. I see snapshots. Bits of time. Not every single moment of the future, just parts my brain thinks I need to know. Not very helpful actually. More of a pain in the ass than anything.
I sigh, waiting for the day to be over. Maybe Ms. Kari will come pick me up and bring me to her new dance studio where I could hang out and dance my butt off. She just opened the studio a month ago, and already she has a huge waiting list to get in with her. She’s still got some serious moves for an old lady.
Yawning, I slouch in my chair and take in the view. From my vantage point in the corner of the café (the corner I claimed as my own last year because no one bugs me here), I take in this year’s crop of freshman. Each kid that walks in is sadder than the last. All of the freshman are trying to “one-up” the other with this year’s fashion or gadget trend. It’s pathetic. Don’t they realize when they graduate, no one will care? I’ve seen kids go insane from the pressure to fit in here. And for what? It’s just so stupid. Is it any wonder why I sit alone in my corralled-off area and shake my head at all the sheep?
A freshman boy starts to head my way, probably not seeing that I’ve already claimed this spot. For a moment, he looks hopeful. Then as he gets nearer, a light goes off in his head, like he’s just now figured out who I am. He stops midstride, then turns around and away from me as fast as his feet can carry him.
I can’t help but laugh. I tend to scare people away just because I can see into the future. You’d think they’d want to know what their fate was. Oh well, their loss. I wish I could tell how my fate was gonna work out, but it doesn’t seem to work that way. At least I know my folks are gonna be with me for a long time, even if they don’t want me to tell them their future.
I’m itching to tell them that Ma’s about to write a book about her life that’s gonna make us millionaires, but they hate to know what’s coming up, so I just sit with that little gem in the back of my head and plan out the designs I’m gonna have for my new room once the book drops next year.
From the corner of my eye, the one I’ve been having visions of for weeks walks in. I think her name is Jenevra? She looks as scared as a drowning rat. Her hands are trembling slightly against her tray as she scans the room for a place she can disappear into. Poor thing. She hasn’t been “claimed” yet by any of the other cliques. That’s just ‘cause they don’t know what to make of her. She lost her parents in a car crash just before summer was over, so no one knows how to talk to her.
I can relate, well, sort of. I’ve lost a parent too. My biological dad died when I was only three, but I can’t be sad. I never really knew him, and besides, his lung saved my father’s life. From what little they tell me about him, he wasn’t well-liked. They hardly ever talk about him. It’s times like that I wish I could see the past.
Focusing back on the girl, I notice she has jet-black hair, like, so dark it looks like someone dropped a bottle of ink on her head. And she’s pale, white-bread pale. Her whole aura is crying out to be swallowed up by any of the groups around her, anyone to reach out a friendly hand and take her in. Tragic. No self-confidence.
Someone shouts her name from across the room and I glance up. My eyes follow to where she looks. Ugh! It’s Hunter Walsh. I frown. He’s a sophomore and a prick with a capitol P. Every girl he’s ever dated has ended up with strange-looking bruises that look oddly like his fingerprints all over their arms. But he’s super popular, so the girls keep coming to him.
I look back to my wet rat. The hesitation in her eyes is obvious. She doesn’t want to go to his table. She can sense he’s trouble, but she doesn’t know what else to do. She’s weak. Vulnerable. Just the sort of woman a guy like Hunter could sink his talons into.
Of course, I have no choice. I have to save her.
“Jenevra!” I shout, standing up. “Over here.”
She meets my gaze. A thick wave of relief floods over her. Her dark-blue eyes flick back and forth between the two tables—hesitating.
Make the right choice. My eyes burn into hers. I have much to tell you about your future.
She rocks against the balls of her feet for a moment, unaware of the gravity of the choice she makes in this moment.
I hold my breath as her feet push forward and away from Hunter, unknowingly breaking any hold he may have had on her life.
I break out into the only real smile I’ve ever had at school. The best friend I’d been waiting for pulls up a seat next to me.
Life is just about to get good.
The End
Author Bio
Danielle Bannister is a work-from-home mom of two children, Tristan and Marina, living in a small coastal town in Maine with her husband Jason and bunny Floppinator. She has her BA in theatre, her Master’s in Literary Education, and has written two other novels, PULLED and PULLED BACK as well as a collection of short stories entitled SHORT SHORTS.
You can follow her writing struggles on her website at:
http://daniellebannister.wordpress.com/
Or find her on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pulled-a-novel-by-Danielle-Bannister/127944507296637
Or Tweet her @getpulled
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BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
1. All three novels focus on the idea of Twin Flames. Do you believe they exist? Have you ever witnessed a Twin Flame?
2. In the novels, the main characters struggle with self-worth. Has there ever been a time where you’ve had such struggles?
3. Abuse is a major theme in all three novels—physical, emotional, and self-inflicted. Why do you think so many turn to violence as an answer to their troubles?
4. Some of the characters in this series can see into the future. Would you consider that to be a gift or a curse?
5. What would you do if you met your Twin Flame on the side of the road?
6. Is there any burning question you want the author to answer for you? Feel free to e-mail her at [email protected]
Don’t forget to check out Danielle Bannister’s latest project! She’s co-authoring with fantasy bestseller Amy Miles in a brand new journey: THE HALLOWED REALMS TRILOGY.
NETHERWORLD: BOOK ONE
The dead shadow my steps, beckoned by my call.
It is my curse, my destiny.
I am a Banshee, a slave to the dying.
Aed, god of the Netherworld, has chosen me as his bride, but my heart belongs to another—a mortal whose eyes pierce the veil between our worlds. Our love is forbidden among the Hallowed Realms.
With Aed, I’d be free of my curse but bound to the Netherworld for all eternity. With Devlin, I’d risk his life if my betrothed discovered my betrayal. Can I accept my fate at Aed’s side or risk everything for love?
The first book, Netherworld, will follow Taryn as she struggles to find her place among the dead and the Land of the Living. It promises action, romance, and a smattering of good Irish mythology!
Taryn’s journey continues in book two, Hallow Earth, and concludes in the dramatic story of the Isle of Glass.
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Pulled Back Again Page 15
