Dearest Echo,
My sweet mountain nymph.
I pray this letter is never needed, and after your sixteenth birthday, there will be no reason to keep it since your father and I will have had the chance to tell you everything. If this letter was still behind the bread cubby then we failed you.
I’m sorry for that. So much more than you will ever know.
You have always been a special girl, but if you’re reading this then you know you are undoubtedly more special than anyone could imagine. We learned you were going to have powers when I was pregnant with you. A young man who came with his family to convert us to the ways of Christianity pulled me aside and told me about you. He had the power of divination. He told us of the wonders you would do for mankind and beast alike once you turned sixteen. He told us that the burden placed on your shoulders would come with a price. He did not say what, but after we left their tent, we decided we wanted you to have a normal childhood, and we would tell you on your birthday when the change would come.
I’m sorry we didn’t get the chance to tell you about your powers, to tell you that I was like you. We knew there was a chance that you wouldn’t have any gifts in your genes, with your father being simply human. But after speaking with that man, we knew you had taken after me.
We love you so much and know that whatever you set your spirit on, you will succeed. Live strong and love hard.
With all the love we possess,
Mom and Dad
P.S.
My animal was a bear, and no matter how long I’ve been gone, know that my bear is strong within you, keeping you safe like us mother bears do.
I sobbed.
I sobbed so hard that all I could do was hold onto Asher and drench his shirt with tears.
My mother could change into a bear, my favorite animal form to be in.
Asher rubbed my head soothingly as I cried for my parents, for my past, and for my future. I wished I would have known why they’d kept this secret about my powers from me. I wished I’d have known about hers, and what they knew of my future. Her voice was still fresh in my memory from reading the letter, and I didn’t want to ever forget it. She was there with us in that moment, I knew it. Whether there was an afterlife or nothing at all, I felt her spirit with me. Smiling at me, knowing that at last I’d found the truth.
Once the tears began to dry, my resolution began cementing itself to my soul. I sat up from Asher’s torso and began thinking about my next move.
“Badass mom, just like her badass girl.” Asher leaned in to kiss my forehead, and I instantly felt better.
“Thank you for finding this for me.” I would never be able to repay him for this treasure from my parents, but I also knew I would never need to. He did it out of love, with nothing wanted in return.
Asher loved me, and I knew it. I tasted it on his blood when we first had sex in the woods. He hadn’t told me yet, but I knew anyway.
“The flyer.” The memory struck me that he’d handed me a flyer, too, which must have been important as well if he singled it out from all the other things in the house.
“Yeah, that,” he commented and retrieved it.
He handed it to me, and I knew my face relayed my puzzlement as I read the flyer.
It was about an event at the river, a baptism for those who had lost faith and wanted to be wiped clean of their sins. Seahill Community Church.
“Wasn’t that the name of—”
“Sarah and Robert Burke’s current congregation. Yep. Looks like I have a connection after all.” While it may not be the Burkes since they weren’t there at the time, there was still something going on down town and I was going to get to the bottom of it.
Asher and I left my childhood home and drove back toward the city just as dusk descended. A time of transition, and I could feel it in my bones that something big was coming. Changing, molding the world for night.
I would be there to stop it.
But first we had a party to attend.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Echo
“Welcome to our first Hero Society Christmas party!” Phillip smiled bright and gave both Asher and me hugs as we stepped out of the elevator and into the hall with the four rooms.
He ushered us into the chill room, which had been rearranged to make room for a massive Christmas tree with presents underneath.
“Yay, you made it!” Lilith rushed over and gave me a big hug, Rose right behind her, waiting for her turn. Both women had welcomed me into their lives without any doubts. For the first time in forever, I could say that I had girlfriends. I looked back at Asher, with him clasping hands with Draco, Leon, and Charles in a very bro type of way, and felt happiness creeping inside me.
“Ooh, you got us gifts!” Lilith squealed and quickly took the large bag of wrapped presents off my hands and set them under the tree.
Mina and AJ were sitting on the couch in matching elf onesies. Both raised a can of soda to me in welcome, and I smiled. Those siblings were something else.
“All right, all right! Now that everyone is here, I have some things I’d like to say before we party hard.” Phillip stepped in front of the room and demanded our attention.
Everyone was dressed cozy and had looks of contentment on their faces.
Asher stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“I’d like to welcome Asher officially to the Hero Society.” He clapped, and everyone did their own little cheer for another member to the crew.
“Second—I know you guys aren’t all for my little speeches, but I’m going to give one anyway. I’m proud of you all. I know it’s not easy right now. The world isn’t taking too kindly to us, but you’re still fighting despite your fears. Thank you for that, thank you for being the heroes I knew you all could be.” Phillip’s eyes glistened, and I understood the feeling, especially after today.
This was his family, Asher and me included. He was like our mother bear, guiding us, trying to keep us safe as best as he could.
“To the Hero Society!” Rose lifted her tea cup, and everyone nodded.
“To family,” I added, and it was the most vulnerable I think I’d ever felt.
“To family,” Draco echoed, giving me a head bow of respect. Lilith was next, then Rose, and once the others all said it, Asher whispered the words into my ear.
“Now let’s eat and be merry.” Phillip grinned and headed for a table that was against the wall to the left that was filled with an assortment of foods and drinks.
Everyone filled their plates and ate while telling stories either from their past or from recent events. Draco had gone with Phillip and Rose to their parents’ house after Sunday service, and apparently her father and Draco had gotten into it about history. What the books say versus what really happened. Janie had been brought up, and I learned she was spending the holidays with her parents, which made me happy. Laughter filled the room, and I rested against Asher’s warmth, my belly full and my heart bursting from the love in the room.
“Okay, I haven’t ever had a real Christmas before, but I know this is the part where we open presents,” Lilith stated and started to move toward the lit-up tree with a bright star on top.
I don’t know how I did it, but I’d managed to find the time to shop for everyone. It had been a long time since I’d celebrated anything, so I hoped I did all right when it came to the gifts department. Asher had joined the Society as his gift, which was nice.
Lilith passed around the wrapped presents like an excited child, and I prayed this party was one she would never forget. Everyone deserved to be loved and cherished like this group did for each other.
Rose liked her blossoming teapot set I got her, and Draco smiled that his woman was happy. He liked the old knife I’d found when I was at my parents’ house.
“It belonged to my dad,” I told him, and he understood the gravity of the gift.
“I’m honored.” That made me smile; I knew he would like it.
Everyo
ne was happy with their gifts from each other and some even made my cheeks hurt from grinning so much.
Like Leon’s his-and-her-set rings he’d made himself, claiming they needed rings but didn’t have any.
Phillip spoiled everyone with gifts he knew that we would like because he could see what we needed down the road. No guess work like the rest of us had to do. He’d gotten me a voucher for unlimited leather jackets from my favorite store in the city. It was something I splurged on, even though I went through several a year from my uncontrolled changes.
Asher had gotten a plant, which he loved, of course. Nature was his thing.
I knew when Lilith opened my gift because she shrieked like a banshee.
“No fucking way! Echo, you sexy beast, I can’t believe it!” She pulled out the vintage Barbie skates from the box, waving them over her head. They were hard to find, but I saw them in a consignment shop, and I knew they would be perfect for a woman who had to grow up too quickly.
“Tomorrow, we are going to the rink,” she said to Leon, and he agreed with a smile, willing to do anything for his wife.
“For you.” Asher’s hand came into my view with a little box sitting on top of his palm. I wasn’t sure what to expect from him, but I knew that whatever thoughts I had in my head were wrong. Asher wasn’t predictable like that. I opened the little box and smiled.
A key to the bar, and one to his home, were attached to a paw-shaped pet tag that read “Snow White” on one side and “My kitten forever, till death do us part” on the back.
“I love you, kitten,” he whispered in my ear, and even though I knew it, I loved hearing him say it. I turned to look at his face and saw everything I’d never known I’d wanted until him.
“I love you, magic boy.” I smiled and kissed his lips sweetly before jumping up.
“I need to pee, I’ll be right back,” I told him and left everyone to go find the bathroom. I knew there was one down in the training room, but I couldn’t remember if there was one behind the other doors or not. The first door I’d opened was the computer room, that didn’t have a bathroom, and the second door I pushed open I stood in the doorway for a few seconds before shutting it as quietly as I could and rushed away from the scene I’d just witnessed.
Mina on the counter in the kitchen, with Phillip between her legs, hands around her waist, pulling her elf onesie-clad body as close to his as she could get, kissing like they’d been holding back their feelings until that moment.
I did not see that one coming.
But then I seemed to be missing a lot of things that were right in front of my face lately.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Asher
Our time at headquarters came to an end with love and smiles on every face. Echo kept giving Phillip a knowing look, and I guessed she knew something about the master of the universe that everyone else didn’t.
Once we got home, I did something I hadn’t before, when it came to her. I made love to my woman, giving it to her slow and full of the love we both confessed that night, until we were nothing but a sweaty mess in a maze of sheets.
A few days went by and she’d been busy with the police department, who were getting ready for the big Seahill New Year’s Eve party. New York had once been the hot spot for ringing in the New Year, but Seahill had quickly taken over the big day, even with the uproar of haters of people with gifts. Echo said they were still expecting the night to be a madhouse.
My bar was packed like it had been for the past few New Year’s Eves. I turned on the only TV in the room, changing it to the channel where the ball would drop from the Griffin Enterprises building, signaling the New Year.
I wished I could spend it with Echo, but after the bar closed and the people started to head out to celebrate in their homes, she would be back in my arms.
The booze was flowing, and the registers were ringing. This night was going to set my bar in a good place for months.
“Some water, please,” a feminine voice called out from my right. My head registered it as familiar and my head snapped up from the glasses I’d set out. Sarah Burke was sitting there, alone.
“Mrs. Burke.” I filled her a glass of water and set it in front of her gloved hands. Apparently she’d just gotten here.
“Thank you.” She took a sip and looked like she wanted to chat with me, but I was too busy for that.
My employees were rushing around helping people left and right. Tonight wasn’t the time for conversation.
“I can see you’re busy, but I came to warn you about Echo. I called the police to let them know what I’d heard, and they said they would have it covered, but I wasn’t convinced.” Her words were rushed, and urgent.
“What is going on?” I stopped everything I was doing, focusing on the energy around her and around the room, scanning for danger.
“A man came in and confessed to my husband that he had voices in his head and couldn’t stop thinking about killing all the people with powers tonight in the city square when the ball drops. I didn’t catch his name, and my husband wouldn’t tell me. He’s still keeping secrets, but I’ve felt the pain of losing someone close to you, and I couldn’t let someone else go through that. Innocent people will probably die tonight. You need to tell her; I know she will take me seriously.” Her face held the horror that was settling in my chest. My Echo was in danger, and everyone else in that square was, too.
“Is there anything else you can tell me about the man?”
“He’d been a part of our church before Robert took over as pastor, and I saw him a few times after he started coming back. But something about him told me to stay away. I remember his eyes leering on Amanda though. I meant to get his name, but I had more pressing matters going on.” Like her husband cheating on her, and Amanda’s passing.
“Is there anything else? What does he look like?” I was hanging on by a thread, the need to run to the square and shield Echo with my body burning through me like a wildfire.
Sarah nodded, and leaned over the bar slightly so I could hear better.
“He wears dress clothes, and black polished loafers like Robert’s. He has a bald head, and not in great shape. His mannerisms were methodical and have always seemed off to me. I’m sorry I don’t know his name. Robert usually kept me away from him, now that I think about it.”
Dread raced through my veins and a sinking feeling in my stomach settled like a stone in the water.
“Do you know if he is a doctor?” Please say no. Her head tilted to the side and then her eyes widened. I knew the answer before she even opened her mouth.
“You might be right. I think he is. Sometimes he’d wear a white jacket, and I vaguely remember Amanda murmuring about knowing him from work. Oh God, do you think he had something to do with Amanda’s murder?”
“I’ve got to go,” I told her and grabbed my jacket.
I told my employees I was leaving, and they knew how to handle the rest of the night. We had a backup bartender they would call in to help until closing.
Racing to my car, I opened her up and peeled out of the parking lot, calling Echo’s phone over and over but with no answer. The square was probably too loud for her to hear it.
Phillip answered on the first ring and told me he’d dispatched everyone to the square but didn’t know who he was looking for. I told him everything I knew about Dr. Bellmont, the ward doctor that had been Amanda’s boss and lover. My hands gripped the wheel tighter as another thought ran through my head. He wanted Echo. He tried to kill her and had sent her flowers.
Echo was his next target, and he was going to take out whomever necessary to get her.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Echo
Almost everyone was on patrol tonight; Seahill Square was a madhouse. Everyone was celebrating the New Year and it was nice to see everyone getting along.
But we were still ready for any disturbances.
I was standing in front of the crowd, next to the barrier erected near the ball, eyes
scanning for anything suspicious, when a blur moved past my peripheral vision.
Leon was standing in front of me with an alarmed face.
“Leon?” I was confused as to why he was here; this type of scene was definitely not his.
His blond hair was disheveled, as if he had just rolled out of bed.
“That pastor’s wife came to Asher about the crazy doctor. She said he was talking to the pastor about killing people tonight. Here.” His words were rushed, and his face scanned the crowd, looking for the doctor. But Leon hadn’t met him before—only Asher, Draco, Rose, and I had.
Everything I’d been thinking fell into place in my head. Dr. Bellmont was the killer, and he wasn’t going to kill everyone tonight. There was something bigger than him happening tonight.
“We can’t evacuate this many people without panic.” I looked around for the chief— he needed to hear what I had to say.
The people started to count down as the ball above me began to descend.
“Keep your eyes open for anything suspicious. Are the others around? Have Rose feel for any dangerous emotions. I already know Phillip is trying to find the best outcome for this night. Lilith needs to get to a high point and watch. They could get trampled if the crowd gets scared.” I was nervous but focused. I hoped that Sarah Burke was wrong, and that nothing would happen tonight, but an instinct inside me suggested otherwise.
Leon nodded and then was gone.
“Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!” The happy screams were deafening as couples grabbed each other for kisses and hugs. I think there were even some strangers exchanging kisses.
Confetti started falling from where the ball met the end of its countdown pole.
I waited among the drifts of colored paper falling around us, so far nothing was happening. If someone was going to cause chaos, one would have thought it would have been at midnight. Bigger show and all.
Dusk (Hero Society Book 3) Page 13
