Gypsy Witch: A Paragon Society Novel (Book 2)
Page 22
Jimmy had been driving for two days straight, mostly northeast. He figured he was somewhere in Montana or the Dakotas. He stepped out of the car, stretching his back and legs and doing his best to work out the knots and kinks his muscles had worked themselves into. Jimmy was being careful. Even though his car was the only one in the lot, he checked both bathrooms and behind the building to make sure he was truly alone. He waited, patiently watching the highway for a full thirty minutes, but only one big rig thundered past during that time. Scanning the distance for headlights, he saw nothing, but the night shrouded countryside in both directions. He was alone. He was safe.
He pulled a book from the back seat and riffled through its pages, breathing in the scent of the paper, ink, and binding glue.
It was time.
He popped the trunk and stared down at Dahlia's unconscious form. He was giddy with excitement, like a kid on Christmas morning. The moon wasn't full, but it was bright enough that there would be no need for a flashlight. He opened the book to the page he had marked yesterday, checked the directions one more time, and then propped the book open so he could reference it if needed to. He snapped open a large hunting knife . . .
"Hocus Pocus," he said, grinning.
EPILOGUE
Lucy woke up thrashing, her arms flailing at unseen danger. She bolted upright, a scream stuck in her throat. It was dark. She switched on her bedside lamp. The light dispelled the gloom, illuminating her bedroom in a warm glow. Still, it took her a moment to convince herself that there was nobody lurking in her closet or hiding under the bed threatening to kill her.
She was alone.
She pulled at her Wham! t-shirt; it was sticky with sweat and clinging to her body.
"Sooo gross," she whispered to herself.
Her clock-radio said it was just after 3:00 am. Ugh, that was so not rad, she thought.
Even though she was alone, Lucy, still had that creepy-crawly feeling like she was being watched. She went very still and listened for anything out of place, but beyond her bedroom door the house was completely silent, her parents obviously asleep. The only eyes staring at her belonged to Bon Jovi, The Go-Go's and Madonna who all gazed down from the posters that decorated her walls.
A stupid dream.
That's all it had been, but it had been super intense. There was no way she would be going back to sleep anytime soon, so she propped herself up on her pillows and clicked on the TV. She jumped at the sudden burst of noise and had to fumble with the remote to turn the volume down before she woke up the entire house. The TV was tuned to MTV of course, and it being the middle of the night, they were re-running the last Video Music Awards. Ah-ha was on stage accepting one of their many much-deserved awards. Those guys were sooo hot.
But even MTV couldn't help Lucy shake the lingering weirdness the nightmare had left her feeling. She got out of bed and padded to the window, peeking out through the blinds, worried about monsters – big, scary, clawed monsters with glowing eyes and nasty fangs. The backyard was monster free, obviously, but still, a shiver ran up Lucy's spine. She jumped back in bed and pulled the covers around her tight.
She needed to get over it.
Monsters weren't real.
She blamed Brad, he had insisted on a scary movie last weekend and so she had suffered through The Fly, and even sexy Jeff Goldblum didn't help make the experience enjoyable - especially when he had started getting all gross, with body parts falling off. And now she was having nightmares. It might be time to seriously consider if Brad was worth all trouble he caused her. There were a ton of guys who would just die to go out with her.
Even happy thoughts of all the handsome boys that would be lining up to date her couldn't banish the feeling that something was wrong with the world and that the wrongness was somehow aware – aware of Lucy and that it wanted to hurt her.
LUCY
A Paragon Society Novel
**Coming Soon**
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Thank you!!
Thank you, thank you for continuing to follow Orson's journey through the crazy world of the Paragon Society. I hope you enjoyed Gypsy Witch as much as I enjoyed writing it. I want you all to know that I waffled on how much of a cliffhanger to include regarding Lucy's fate at the hands of Jimmy. I think the epilogue helps that storyline and sets up the third book perfectly. I'm already writing the next installment and I'm planning on a late Spring or early Summer release.
If you're enjoying the story, you can make a big difference…
Obviously, the Paragon Society series is not classical literature, but that's okay because I did not set out to write classical literature. My only goal is to tell a fun, exciting and engaging story and hopefully, you agree that I've succeeded in that endeavor.
I'm a pulp fiction writer, and I embrace that title with pride.
Hands down, reviews are one of the most powerful tools in an author's arsenal. I would be tremendously grateful if you could spend a few minutes leaving an honest review. It can be as long or as short as you like. Reviews help me gain visibility, and they can bring my books to the attention of other readers who may enjoy them. Thank you, in advance for your help!
Paragon Society Fans
First, I want to give a shout-out to my advance readers, once again you've proven how invaluable you are as the final group of eyeballs that give my manuscripts the once over, and in the process discover missed typos and even some structural issues. You guys rock!
I love getting to know my readers because without you I'd be mumbling to myself in the dark somewhere. Many of you have already reached out, and I do my best to respond to everyone, but if I missed you, I apologize, please know that I appreciate the time it took for you to send the email and I'm very thankful.
I occasionally (very occasionally - no spam ever!) send out newsletter updates with details on new releases, excerpts from upcoming books, sneak-peeks at cover art and more importantly free or discounted Paragon Society swag.
From time to time I also invite readers to join my (already awesome) advance reader team, which gets them copies of upcoming books before they are officially released - for free.
If this sounds like something you may be interested in, please drop me an email at:
david@davidadelaney.com
Or find me on Facebook @therealparagonsociety
All my best,
David
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copywrite
Dedication
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Epilogue
Back Matter