Blood of Saints

by Maegan Beaumont

  “I want pancakes.”

  “Pancakes, huh?” He pulled a hand free, stooping to fetch her hat. She caught his smile as he bent and it bolstered her. Gave her hope.

  “Yup.” She nodded, taking the hat he offered her and tossing it over her shoulder. “And I want them every day, for the rest of your life.”

  “Every day—for the rest of my life.” He reached for her, pulling her into his arms, grinning like an idiot. “I think I can help you with that.”

  “Promise?” she said, slipping a hand along the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

  “Promise,” Michael whispered, right before he kissed her.

  About the Author

  Peggy Coleman Photography

  Maegan Beaumont is the author of the award-winning Sabrina Vaughn thriller series. Her debut novel, Carved in Darkness, was awarded a gold medal by Independent Publisher in 2014, as well as being named a Foreword Book of the Year finalist and Best Debut Novel of 2013 by Suspense Magazine. When she isn’t locked in her office, torturing her protagonists, she’s busy chasing chickens (and kids), hanging laundry, and burning dinner. She is almost always in the company of her seven dogs, her truest and most faithful companions, and her almost-as-faithful husband, Joe. .

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my wonderful friends and family for making allowances and for keeping me sane, even when it seemed like a lost cause. If it weren’t for you, I’d be lost. Melissa—my partner in crime. My writer peeps—Susana, Mary, Linda, and Holly—who aren’t afraid to tell me when it’s shit. Janey Mack—one of the most talented writers I know. Les Edgerton—the most supportive and encouraging man I’ve ever met. You give till it hurts, Les. Don’t think I don’t notice.

  So much love to my wonderful husband, Joe, who is more supportive than I deserve, and to my long-suffering children, who gauge my mood with the question, “How many words did you write today?” I could write a million words a day and not count myself more blessed than having you at my side has made me.

  For my dad—thank you for the hot meals, the after-school pick-ups, the Sadie-­sitting, and the way you look at me when you think I’m not looking. Knowing I make you proud is what keeps me going.

  Thank you to my wonderful team at Midnight Ink—Terri Bischoff, my badass editor (with the flask to prove it!) who fights for her authors every day, and Nicole Nugent, who takes the messes I give her and makes them into real, live books! Thanks to Katie Mickschl, the best freakin’ publicist on the planet, and rest of the MI crew that I’ve never met but who I know work hard for me.

  Thank you to Miss Mary Lillie, for catching all the things I don’t. (SO. MANY. THINGS.) My fantastic agent, Chip MacGregor, for being the kind of agent every writer dreams of.

  And for you Annie. We’re not in each other’s lives every day, but we are in each other’s lives forever. I’m so glad Mrs. Carter asked me to be your tour guide—hope you don’t hold it against her too much and that I’ve been half the friend to you that you have been to me. Here’s to the next thirty years …