She bit her lower lip, shaking her head.
His fingers squeezed hers, hard, almost on the verge of pain. “What did he do?” His voice was a growl.
She knew she had to tell him. “He’s tried to expose you all. He shifted on camera, in front of a live news crew.”
His eyes darkened and he pushed himself to sitting. “That goddamned idiot. I knew he’d try to pull something like this.” Blake reached down and tugged the sensors off his naked chest, sending the monitors into a beeping frenzy.
“What are you doing?” she asked in alarm.
“Damage limitation.” He yanked the drips from his arms, bright red blood welling in the holes that had previously been plugged, trickling down his wrist.
“Blake, you’ve been shot. Stop that! You need to rest.”
He swung his legs off the side of the bed, and despite the circumstances, she couldn’t help but admire the powerful, thick thighs on display. “I can’t. God knows what sort of shit storm Chogan has stirred up.”
She shook her head, frantic. “It’s okay. People don’t believe the footage is real. They’re saying it’s a hoax and the news crew and other eye witnesses were paid off.”
So far, the human nature of trying to rationalize anything not understood had kicked in, and rather than thinking what had happened was real, theories of magic tricks and video doctoring were being batted around.
“It doesn’t matter. There will be other shifters who he’s reached out to who will see the footage and agree with him.”
Called by the monitor alarm, a couple of nurses, followed by a doctor in a white coat, came rushing into the room.
“Where are my clothes?” Blake demanded.
The doctor frowned. “Mr. Wolfcollar, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Getting out of here, that’s what. Now get me my clothes!”
Autumn had gathered the clothes he’d been wearing before he’d shifted from Dumas’ office, knowing he’d need something to wear when he got out. It appeared as though he’d managed to kick off his boots and get his jeans half-off before he’d shifted, but his white t-shirt was basically in tatters. At least he hadn’t been wearing clothes when he’d been shot, so eliminating gun holes and blood from them. However, the reason for his nudity had been difficult to explain to the paramedics. Now, what remained of the jeans, t-shirt, and boots were folded in the small closet in the corner of the room.
Autumn grabbed the items and handed them to him with an almost apologetic smile, though she had no idea what she was supposed to be sorry for.
Blake pulled on the tattered garments, the muscles of his thighs glimpsed between the tears in his jeans, the shredded t-shirt exposing his thickly muscled chest and biceps. The bandages he wore offered more covering.
The result was almost erotic and Autumn swallowed hard.
Blake glanced down at himself as if wondering if he could get away with the attire, and then gave his head a brief, dismissive shake. Clearly, he figured he had more important things to worry about.
“Mr. Wolfcollar,” the doctor said, in an authoritative voice, trying to stay calm though two high spots of color bloomed in his cheeks. Blake towered over him by at least a foot. He wouldn’t be able to physically force him to stay. “If you discharge yourself from this hospital, I want you to know that you are doing so against medical advice. Should something go wrong, we won’t be held responsible.”
Blake glanced at the man as if only just realizing he was there. “Don’t worry, Doctor. I won’t sue, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He grabbed Autumn’s hand, and together they left the room and hurried down the halls of the hospital.
“Where are we going?” she asked, glancing worriedly at the spots of blood which had appeared on the bandages and against the white of the remains of his t-shirt.
“To find Chogan.”
“I thought this whole thing was done with now. Now that Dumas is dead and the others are free.” After everything they’d been through, surely now they’d be able to have some peace, to try to get their lives back to some kind of normality, whatever that might be.
But Blake shook his head and turned to look at her, drowning her in those deep, dark eyes she’d grown to love.
“No, Autumn. This is only the start.”
Like what you’ve read? Book two in The Spirit Shifters Series, Saving Autumn, will be released late 2013. Make sure you sign up to Marissa Farrar’s new release list to stay updated about new releases, exclusives, and special offers! www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com
Note from the Author
This book is a work of fiction, and as such I have taken liberty in some of the names used for my Native American characters in order to fit their guides. Big Lake Reservation is a fictional reservation, but in the area in which the reservation is set there is a real reservation named Red Lake Reservation. This reservation is Sioux, and while I have not specified what type of tribe my own Native American characters have come from, I’m aware that I have used different meanings from different languages from different tribes over the course of the book.
I hope you will forgive me.
Marissa.
Acknowledgements
As much as writing a book can be a solitary process, the publishing of a book is anything but. As always, I would like to thank the little team of people behind me who help turn my manuscript into a novel to be proud of. Huge thanks to my editor, Shontrell Wade, for always managing to stick to my sometimes tight publishing schedule. On this occasion, we had the birth of a baby to try to beat! Thanks to my proofreader, Lori Whitwam, for your sharp eye and kind words. And thanks, as always to my mum, Glynis Elliott, for being a stickler for grammar and my first reader.
I also need to thank my family for putting up with me getting crazy during the editing process, and for putting up with a messy house and frozen dinners during the writing process. Thanks to my husband, Rick, for whisking the kids away when I need just a few hours peace to get things done. This writing adventure would mean nothing without you guys.
And finally, thanks to you, my readers, for all your words of encouragement and constant support. You’ve all helped make my dream of being a full time writer a reality.
If you want to stay updated about my new releases, please sign up to my new release list on my blog. You will receive notification of when a new book comes out, together with exclusive previews and sales!
www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com
Thank you once again.
Marissa.
About the Author
Marissa Farrar is a multi-published fantasy and horror author. She was born in Devon, England, has travelled all over the world, and has lived in both Australia and Spain. She now resides in the countryside with her husband, soon-to-be three children, a crazy Spanish dog, two rescue cats, and six hens. Despite returning to England, she daydreams of one day being able to split her time between her home country and the balmy, white sandy beaches of Spain.
Even though she’s been writing stories since she was small and held dreams of being a writer, her initial life plan went a different way.
In her youth, inspired by James Herriot, she decided to become a vet, and would regularly bring home new pets to her weary parents. Upon discovering her exams were never going to get her into a veterinary degree, she ended up studying Zoology. Once she completed her degree and realised she’d spent the majority trying to find time to write, she decided to follow her dream of being an author. Seven years later, she was published and two years after that she was able to say goodbye to the day job.
However, she’s continued to collect animals!
Marissa is the author of eight novels, including the dark vampire ‘Serenity’ series. Her short stories have been accepted for a number of anthologies including, Their Dark Masters, Red Skies Press, Masters of Horror: Damned If You Don’t, Triskaideka Books; and 2013: The Aftermath, Pill Hill Press.
If you want to know more about Mar
issa, then please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com. You can also find her at her facebook page, www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.
She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at [email protected].
Also by Marissa Farrar
The Serenity Series:
The Vengeful Vampire (free short story)
Alone (free first novel of the series!)
Buried
Captured
Dominion
Endless
UNDERLIFE
(Please note, the prequel to Underlife, Go Back, is now free to download)
THE DARK ROAD
WHERE THE DEAD LIVE
IN THE COMPANY OF THE DEAD
THE BODY FARM
AUTUMN’S BLOOD
The Spirit Shifters: Book One
Copyright © 2013 Marissa Farrar
Warwick House Press
Edited by Wade-Staten Services
Cover art by Marissa Farrar
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.
Publisher’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Autumn's Blood: The Spirit Shifters, Book One Page 21
