The Collectors' Society
Page 35
I stare down at the head of the Collector’s Society in shock. This man, this calm, in control man who won’t even call people by their given names, terrorized a schoolteacher and went by the name of Brom Bones?
“The jerk was trying to steal his wife,” Mary continues. “Well, she was his girlfriend then. So, he and his friends decided to pull a prank. Brom dressed up as this urban legend and scared the guy straight out of town.”
He’d told me once, “Not a day goes by in which I don’t reflect upon the documented follies of my youth, of how abhorrently irresponsible and petty I was in my actions and behavior.”
Why, that stealthy man.
I find myself smiling along with the rest of them. “When Katrina found out,” Mary adds, “Brom got an earful and an ultimatum. It was his first and last time masquerading as something he wasn’t. Although, I suppose he’ll never live this one down now. Perhaps it’s best Katrina isn’t here. She certainly wouldn’t have let him live it down.”
“Mary Lennox,” Victor says as he pulls her closer, “you’re awful.”
She lifts up on her toes and kisses him. “I try my best.”
We spend the rest of the day there, and are rewarded shortly before dinner. Brom wakes up. Not one to waste time on trivial matters such as slit throats and assassination attempts, he motions for a whiteboard and marker Mary had the A.D. bring over.
He writes: Did you get the catalyst?
Truth be told, I am surprisingly unsurprised that this is his first question.
“Yes,” Finn tells him.
Debrief
“You just had surgery,” Finn says, but his father holds a steady hand up before tapping on the word. Like the good sons they are, they tell him all about our adventures in Wonderland. Well, most of them, anyway.
Once that’s finished, he writes: We need to hit the ground running. We cannot afford a single other Timeline deleted.
Of that, we are all in agreement.
He erases his message and writes a new one. Tomorrow, we begin a new hunt.
And so we will.
AS MUCH AS FINN and Victor want to stay with Brom all night, the elder Van Brunt begs Mary and me to take his sons back to the Institute. He writes: They snore.
I allow him this bit of fun at his sons’ expense, even though I know better—at least where it concerns Finn. It takes some cajoling, but his children agree to leave on the condition their father is to expect them in the morning.
Van Brunt gives them a thumb’s up just as his eyes drift shut.
I hold Finn’s hand the entire cab ride back to the Institute. We don’t talk, but there’s no need to. I rest my head against his shoulder, and finally, for the first time in days, he allows himself to relax, even if just by a little.
Later, when we reach our flats, he speaks. “I need you.”
He’s exhausted, yes. So am I. But this is more important. “I need you, too.”
His hands drop to my waist. “Can I finally kiss you now? I feel like I’ve been waiting forever.”
“I believe you kissed me earlier.” Even still, I curl my fingers in his wrinkled shirt so I can pull him closer. “Remember? And there were all those times I kissed you in the shower. We’ve been kissing all evening, to be honest.”
He shakes his head. He looks so tired, so vulnerable in this moment that I can practically feel the strings between our hearts knotting themselves into tight braids. All I want to do is make things better for him.
I kiss him then, one he cannot mistake as anything other than what it is. Slowly, hotly, letting my tongue find his. He and I were never very good at waiting for the appropriate moments for whatever it is that is going on between us. Right now, he ought to be focusing on his father, even though there’s nothing he can do while Van Brunt is still in the ICU. I ought to be heading downstairs and questioning Rosemary. She and I have many things that need to be said to one another. Together, we ought to be laying out a plan to track Todd down. Sleep should be had, to ready us for the coming days.
But right now . . . right now I think I need to kiss this man more.
We go inside my flat this time, barely ensuring the door is shut and locked behind us. Our clothes form a trail to the bedroom, and soon we become those stars he told me about, orbiting one another. He is a gravitational pull I do not think I can resist. One I do not want to resist any longer. Binary stars, he said. I like that.
“Your crown is in here,” he says as soon as we hit my bed. And then, just a second before my mouth finds his once more, he says, “I’m glad.”
We kiss. We touch. We relearn one another’s bodies. We suck, we lick, we stroke, we tease, we yearn. When he pushes into me, we both gasp on cue. We move in perfect synchronicity, and when we explode, we do it in unison.
Tomorrow, we will head out as the partners we are. We will do our best to find Todd. Assignments will be doled out, missions set into motion. We will be tireless as we work together to ensure the safety of Timelines filled with people who have no idea that this man is my north star, or that I am his, or that there are madmen out there who wish them harm. We will take over for Van Brunt until he is back on his feet again.
Tomorrow is the start of our future.
But tonight—this moment—is our present. And I refuse to waste a single second of it.
Curious as to who was featured or mentioned within The Collectors’ Society?
Here’s a list of some of the people and the books they came from.
Abraham Van Brunt (AKA Brom Bones); Katrina Van Tassel
Featured in the short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, found within The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. by Washington Irving
Alice Liddel; the White King; the Mad Hatter; the March Hare; the Caterpillar; the Cheshire-Cat; various other Wonderlandian animals and peoples
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
The Bertram and Price families
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Emma Knightley
Emma by Jane Austen
Franklin Blake
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Gwendolyn Peterson (AKA Wendy Darling)
Based loosely upon Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie
Henry Fleming
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Mr. Holgrave
House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Tom Sawyer Abroad by Mark Twain
Tom Sawyer, Detective by Mark Twain
Jack Dawkins (AKA The Artful Dodger)
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Mary Lennox
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Sara Crewe
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
S. Todd (AKA Sweeney Todd)
Based loosely upon A String of Pearls: A Romance, most likely written by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest
Victor Frankenstein Jr.
Based loosely upon Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
BIG THANKS AND HUGS are sent out to my editor Kristina Circelli, my publicist KP Simmon, and my assistant Tricia Santos, all of whom helped make this book the best it could be. Thanks are also sent out to the very talented Victoria Alday for designing the gorgeous cover and logo for The Collectors’ Society, Stacey Blake for her magical formatting skills, Bridget Donelson for proofreading, and Joanna Ireland for her impeccable Latin.
Jessica Mangicaro, Andrea Johnston, and Tricia, I am so grateful for all the love, time, and feedback you’ve given these characters and their stories.
To the ladies of my lovely street team, the Lyons Pride, your support of me and my books means the world to me. Vilma, Cristina, Caitlin, Ana, Kathryn, Megan, Jessica, Chelsea, Rebecca, Kiersten, Maria, Tri
cia, Whitney, Tracy, Sarah, Amy, Leigha, Nicole, Erica, Heather, Cherisse, Autumn, Meredith, JL, LeAnn, Bridget, Lindy, Gina, Amy, Brandi, Rachel, Ciarra, and all the rest . . . you guys are the best. Seriously. I love dishing books with you guys.
No book of mine could ever be finished without the love and support from my family. To my husband and children, thank you for continuing to share me with my characters. I love that my kids will talk about them with me like they’re real people. To my dad, thanks for listening to me plot out the book and offer up suggestions. And thanks are sent out to you, too (yes YOU), for coming along on this journey.
An enthralling mythological romance two thousand years in the making . . .
"Heather Lyons's The Deep End of the Sea is a radiant, imaginative romance that breathes new life into popular mythology while successfully tackling the issue of sexual assault. Lyons is a deft storyteller whose engaging prose will surprise readers at every turn. Readers will have no trouble sympathizing with Medusa, who is funny, endearing and courageous all at once. The romance between her and Hermes is passionate, sweet and utterly engrossing. This is a must read!" –RT Book Reviews
What if all the legends you’ve learned were wrong?
Brutally attacked by one god and unfairly cursed by another she faithfully served, Medusa has spent the last two thousand years living out her punishment on an enchanted isle in the Aegean Sea. A far cry from the monster legends depict, she’s spent her time educating herself, gardening, and desperately trying to frighten away adventure seekers who occasionally end up, much to her dismay, as statues when they manage to catch her off guard. As time marches on without her, Medusa wishes for nothing more than to be given a second chance at a life stolen away at far too young an age.
But then comes a day when Hermes, one of the few friends she still has and the only deity she trusts, petitions the rest of the gods and goddesses to reverse the curse. Thus begins a journey toward healing and redemption, of reclaiming a life after tragedy, and of just how powerful friendship and love can be—because sometimes, you have to sink in the deep end of the sea before you can rise back up again.
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The magical first book of the Fate series . . .
“Love, love, love this book! Such a fun and exciting premise. Full of teenage angst and heartache with a big helping of magic and enchantment. Can't wait to read the rest of this awesome series! Not to mention... TWO hot boys to swoon over.” –Elizabeth Lee, author of Where There’s Smoke
Chloe Lilywhite struggles with all the normal problems of a typical seventeen-year-old high school student. Only, Chloe isn't a normal teenage girl. She's a Magical, part of a secret race of beings who influence the universe. More importantly, she's a Creator, which means Fate mapped out her destiny long ago, from her college choice, to where she will live, to even her job. While her friends and relatives relish their future roles, Chloe resents the lack of say in her life, especially when she learns she's to be guarded against a vengeful group of beings bent on wiping out her kind. Their number one target? Chloe, of course.
That's nothing compared to the boy trouble she's gotten herself into. Because a guy she's literally dreamed of and loved her entire life, one she never knew truly existed, shows up in her math class, and with him comes a twin brother she finds herself inexplicably drawn to.
Chloe's once unyielding path now has a lot more choices than she ever thought possible.
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Paperback available at:
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Follow Chloe’s story in the rest of the Fate series books . . .
"Heather Lyons’ writing is an addiction…and like all addictions. I. Need. More."
--#1 New York Times Best Selling Author Rachel Van Dyken
"Enthralling fantasy with romance that will leave you breathless, the Fate Series is a must read!" --Alyssa Rose Ivy, author of the Crescent Chronicles
photo @Regina Wamba of Mae I Design and Photography
Heather Lyons writes epic, heartfelt love stories and has always had a thing for words. In addition to writing, she's also been an archaeologist and a teacher. She and her husband and children live in sunny Southern California and are currently working their way through every cupcakery she can find.
Website: www.heatherlyons.net
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