Nightingale Girl
Page 22
“They never said we’d be ruined for it.”
“Some people never go crazy.” Sparrow’s hand moves to my shoulder; he grips me tightly and pulls me close. “They must be exceptionally bored with themselves.” He smiles; his long lashes brush his cheeks as he blinks. “You’re a free soul. Soon I will be, too.” Sparrow kisses me, desperate and hard and promising.
When his lips leave mine, he starts to hum “Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen from Mars.”
“I’ll be coming back for you,” he promises.
And then—poof—Sparrow is gone.
I find myself alone on the beach. Behind me, there’s a block of hotels behind a row of palm trees. I trudge across the sand and make my way toward one. I check my pockets for my wallet and pull out a few twenties left over from Christmas with Sparrow. I get a single room, double bed, that’s it. Nothing fancy like before.
Sparrow. I ran from all those people in Gouverneur. Ran from a man who I thought was my father. I never thought I’d run from Sparrow.
I open the hotel door to a wicker and pastel room. It’s small and damp and smells like beach must. I unstrap my blade and hide it on the top shelf of the closet underneath the extra blankets. If the cleaning lady finds that, she’ll definitely report me to the authorities.
I shower, rinse the stench of Hell off my clothes, and hang them in the bathroom to dry. The one luxury here is the bathrobe on the back of the bathroom door. I put it on before crawling into bed.
First order of business in the morning is finding a lawyer. The best money can buy. Maybe I could say I was high on coke when I drove through customs. Go to drug court and do some community service. Worked when I was a kid.
I yawn, listening to the sounds of the beach and the parrots squawking in the trees outside my window. I can never escape them. Birds of a feather.
Somehow I sleep.
“Monsters aren’t so bad.” Good ol’ Nightingale is here, haunting my dreams. “Most people are scared of them, but I’m not.” She’s stretched across my bed, her roller skate wheels spinning, legs slowly scissoring. “Most people don’t know the monsters keep us safe at night.” She flutters her downy-white wings. “They hide under the bed to scare away evil things. Protect us from the Demons of Hell.” She turns to look at me, suddenly serious. “He’s your monster now, Meg.” Nightingale winks. “Noah says hello.”
I open my mouth to speak, to tell her I’m sorry, to ask for forgiveness, but nothing comes out.
Seems I’ve lost control of everything, even my dreams.
~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
M. R. Pritchard recently escaped the frozen north and now lives on the sunny gulf coast of Florida. She spends her days reading, writing, and watching the palm trees sway. Having been traumatized by the northern winters for too many years, she frequently experiences nightmares of returning to the land of cold and snow. Her husband guarantees that this will never happen, and for that she is grateful.
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Visit her website MRPritchard.com or her blog http://secretlifeofatownie.blogspot.com/ where she writes about all things books.
M. R. Pritchard would love to connect with you. You can “Like” her Facebook page or “Follow her on Twitter. Visit any of these sites for information regarding previously published works and upcoming projects.
SPECIAL THANKS
Thank you so much for reading Nightingale Girl! I hope you loved this book as much as I do. If you haven’t already, consider reading the first book in this series, Sparrow Man, while you’re waiting for book three to be published. While Nightingale Girl may be read as a stand-alone, there’s plenty of awesomeness in book one that you might be missing, like the story behind the snowy owl and when Sparrow remembers who he is—I love that scene. Get your discounted copy of Sparrow Man here.
To all the fans of Sparrow Man who have waited so patiently for this second book in the series, thanks so much for hanging on! I sincerely hope you’re enjoying the series; I just love getting lost in Meg and Sparrow’s world.
Help an author out and consider leaving a review or telling a friend about this series. Reviews help readers like you find great books and help writers like me fund another amazing story. And I hope to write many more stories about Meg and Sparrow. ☺
To my friends and family who have supported me; to my husband and daughter who have to put up with me on a daily basis; and to my great friend and awesome editor, Kristy, thank you all so much!
Thank you to Nastasya Morozova for another amazing cover illustration!
To the Kindle Press team, Megan and Paul and the rest of the crew, thank you so much for navigating me through this journey and for your hard work and enthusiasm with this project. Kindle Press rules!
OTHER BOOKS BY M. R. PRITCHARD
The Sparrow Man Series:
Sparrow Man
Nightingale Girl
Scarecrow (2017)
Let Her Go (2015 Kindle Scout winning title)
The Royals of Monterra: Forgotten Princess (Kindle Worlds Novella)
The Complete Phoenix Project Series:
The Phoenix Project
The Reformation
Revelation
Inception
Origins
Resurrection
Other stand-alone works:
MUSE
The Safest City on Earth
Look for Short Stories by M. R Pritchard in upcoming Future Chronicles Anthologies