Just then, Bastian ran down the hall, weaving through the last of the horde, and pulled Derek off the other witch, who started to scramble away.
Derek. Sam blinked a few times, trying to verify that she wasn’t imagining this. Derek was there and Bastian was holding him back….
But Derek didn’t look right. For one, he was shirtless and in his chest, there was an ornate symbol carved. It almost looked like a flower, but it was hard to tell because he was moving so much.
Sam moved to stand in front of him, still convinced her eyes were playing tricks on her. Derek was dead. There was no coming back from the dead.
But if Claudia had brought him back, why wouldn’t she say anything? She had apologized, as if she’d done something wrong.
“Derek,” she said, finally finding her voice. He was still pulling against Bastian’s grip as though he were an animal, solely focused on killing the witch who was now long gone. It was only then that she managed to get a good look at Derek’s eyes. They were pitch-black, not a hint of white showing. “What happened to you?” she breathed.
“He’s not your Derek,” said Bastian, sympathy evident in his voice. “This was Claudia’s last act. He’s our weapon now.”
Angela drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and looked out over the empty field in front of her. She wanted to know what was happening. She wanted to know where Sam was. She wanted to know how long it would take Claire to wake up. “This is such bullshit,” she muttered before she pushed open the car door and stepped out into the cool morning air. They were miles away from where they’d dropped off Sam. Well away from where the fighting would be, and considering they were in the middle of nowhere, no one could guess their hiding spot.
Well, unless they used magic. Because who knew what the rules were when magic was involved?
“Get back in the car,” said Dante from behind her.
She rolled her eyes. “Why?” She turned to face him and motioned to the empty field surrounding them. “There’s no one here. We’re in the middle of nowhere. Hiding. I promised I was going to help Pierce and here I am hiding.”
“You were trying to help him,” pointed out Dante.
“And I failed. We all failed.” Saying it out loud just brought all the pain back. She’d never joined the military but had always felt a bit like a soldier since she joined the force. A feeling brought home when she’d gotten shot. But she’d never truly felt like she was losing the war until right now. “Pierce is gone. Claire is laying half dead in the backseat, and for what? Abigail is going to kill her. It’s only a matter of time. We’re not strong enough.”
“You can’t just give up,” said Dante.
“I’m not giving up!” Her shout seemed to echo off the trees in the silent morning, silencing even the birds. “I’m being a realist. What chance do we really have? We’re running from ass-kicking to ass-kicking and I’m really not seeing the point anymore. And you’re here for no reason at all.”
“I’m here for Claire,” he said through clenched teeth.
Angela let out a snort and immediately regretted it.
“What?” said Dante.
“Nothing.”
“No. Tell me,” he said. “Tell me how stupid I am for doing this.”
“I—” She didn’t want to say the truth, but right now she was suffering through a serious lack of filters. “Claire has bigger things than you on her mind. And you don’t know the first thing about relationships and you’re just pretending you know what you’re doing. And both of you are unhappy but too afraid to admit it because you don’t want to make the other person unhappy, but you’re both failing because you’re already unhappy. It’s stupid.”
Dante took a step closer, suddenly reminding Angela that she was standing alone with a witch who wasn’t only taller and stronger than her, but had the ability to make her do anything he wanted. She was pretty sure she could kick his ass no matter his physical strength, but the mind control thing was a bit of a curveball. She pretended the magic didn’t exist and tilted her chin to look up at him.
“Are you calling me stupid?” he asked carefully.
She wanted to shake the guy. She really wasn’t qualified to be giving anyone relationship advice. But he didn’t need to compel her to tell him the truth this time. She leaned in even closer and said the next few words carefully. “I think she deserves better than you. And I think you deserve better than her.”
The sun rose high enough to shine on Dante’s face. His green eyes stared down at hers and she had to suck in a breath. She couldn’t believe she’d just said that to him, and the shock of pain in those eyes made her feel damn guilty. It might’ve been true, but she should’ve found a nicer way to say it. “Dante—” She reached out and set a hand on his arm. He didn’t move closer or farther away. He also didn’t say anything.
And she didn’t say anything either. She didn’t want to hurt him anymore, but she meant everything she said. So all she did was remain there, giving him the small touch for comfort. And maybe touching him was comforting her too. She hated his powers, but it was damn convenient to have around.
The sound of a car door had her and Dante jumping apart. They both turned to see Claire stepping out of the backseat on shaky legs. Half a second later, Dante ran to her side. “Hey, I’m here.”
Angela thought Claire would ask logical questions, like “Where the hell am I?” and “How long was I dead?”
But the girl instead looked right at Angela and in a calm voice said, “I need to talk to Sam.”
Sam ran her hand over Derek’s forehead, but he didn’t seem to be warming up. She took a deep breath, but nothing was really helping her to calm down. He was alive and sleeping for the moment. She should feel nothing but relief, but her gratefulness to have him back warred with the knowledge that people didn’t just come back from the dead.
Derek winced and crouched over as though in pain. Sam jumped up as though there was something she could do to help, but he still seemed to be sleeping. A bad dream maybe? She had no idea what he’d been through during his time out….
The door cracked open and Sam turned to see Claire there. Sam held a hand to her lips, signaling Claire to be quiet as she made her way out of the room and pushed the door shut.
“Hey,” she said in a hushed voice as she pulled Claire in for a tight hug. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
Claire was stiff in her arms, letting Sam know that something was off. Nothing could really go right at the moment. “How’s Derek?”
Sam let Claire go and twisted her fingers together. That was a loaded question. “He was tired,” she answered honestly. “But he knows who I am, so that’s a plus,” she said with a smile that she knew didn’t reach her eyes. It was a sad state of affairs when someone not having amnesia was one of the best parts of her day.
Claire’s eyes were sympathetic as she took it in. “I’m sorry about your grandmother.”
God, Sam was trying really hard not to think about Claudia. Especially the part she played in her grandmother’s death. “Thanks,” she said weakly.
“I saw her.”
That shocked Sam out of her grief. “What?”
“When I was out. Claudia came to me. It’s how I knew she was gone.”
Sam’s mouth fell open, but no words came out.
“She told me what we need to do. How to beat the darkness.” Holding her breath, Sam waited for Claire to finish. Claire closed her eyes as though working up the courage. “She said we need to bring him back.”
“Derek? He’s already back.”
“Not Derek. He was only phase one. Jackson. We need to bring Jackson back from the dead.”
~~~THE END~~~
The conclusion of The Bewitching Hour series, RAISE HELL, is coming September 2017!
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The conclusion of The Bewitching Hour series, RAISE HELL, is coming September 2017!
Samantha Harris
has spent her entire life hiding. Hiding from her family. Hiding from her gifts. But now everything has changed and it’s about time she takes control of her life once and for all.
Detective Derek Pierce upholds the law. Right, wrong. It’s always been simple. But death has a way of changing a person. As he learns what his resurrection truly means, the only thing keeping him sane is the constant presence of Sam in his life.
Except all that is complicated when an old enemy comes back in the picture. And the price of peace might be more than either Sam or Derek are willing to pay…
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Check out all of Mallory Crowe’s Books!
Bad Boys of the Underworld (A Paranormal series)
Finding Fire
Daring Fire
Binding Fire
Ruling Fire
Stealing Fire
The Bewitching Hour Series (A Paranormal series)
The Bewitching Hour
Burning Gold
Long and Lost
A Little Wicked
Raise Hell (Coming September 2017!)
Billionaires In The City Series
Teaching The Boss
Teasing The Boss
Tempting The Boss
Devereaux Billionaires Series
Touching Jace
Trusting Michael
Testing Luke
Taming Rourke
Fractured Farrells; A Damaged Billionaire Series
Ruthless
Reckless
Remorseless
Restless
Relentless
The Stolen Hearts Series
The Cocky Thief
The Beautiful Thief
The Dangerous Thief
The Reluctant Thief
A Little Wicked (The Bewitching Hour Book 4) Page 17
