Dorian shrugged and placed the samples into a small metal box.
“Chaos of the mind, my only solace from a hell created in paradise.”
My whole body stopped moving away and stood there, eyes wide at the man before me.
“I take it you finished that wretched journal, from your tense posture.” He turned and faced me with a look so at odds from the usual indifferent mask I’d become accustomed to.
“You?” I felt my heart hammering in my chest.
“I am Delphi, and my work is not done. I will not fail as I have before. His blood was the key all along. And thank you for getting rid of Nathan for me. Couldn’t have him killing off all of my potential recruits.” He smiled, which strangely made him seem devilishly handsome, in an evil villain sort of way. Then, in a flash of light, he was gone. Along with our blood samples.
I ran into the computer room, where no one was sitting. I hit a button that would call everyone here immediately.
Within ten minutes everyone was sitting in the chill room waiting for me to tell them what the emergency was. I stood and looked everyone in the eyes.
“The book Janie gave me led to your ultimate bad guy. His name is Delphi. He’d continuously hunted those his brother had cared for and killed them to stop the favored brother from succeeding in his in mission given to him by his parents. The journal was old, dating back to the fifteen hundreds, but I ran into Delphi tonight, and he isn’t done.” I looked straight at Draco, having figured out Dorian’s words before they all arrived.
“Dr. Dorian is Delphi, and he’s been stopping Draco from bringing heroes into the light since the beginning.”
Draco’s body froze, and everyone else’s shocked face turned toward his.
“How do you know?” His voice shook, and I knew he was connecting dots like I had.
“When Nathan thought he was going to die, he gave me a parting gift. A quote that I read in Delphi’s journal, and then Dorian said it out loud today. He was just in our medical room, and he stole the blood samples Esme had taken. He disappeared in a flash of light before I even knew what had happened.” I knew his flash of light departure would seal the deal with him being the bad guy they had been searching for, but nothing could have prepared them for the fact that he’d been hiding in plain sight. Hell, he had even helped us.
“I’m going to kill him.” Draco stood, shaking with rage.
“You can’t just kill Seahill’s chief physician of their world-renowned hospital. I want him gone too, but we can’t touch him right now, and he knows it.” Phillip got up and stood in Draco’s way. Draco stared down the man and then stormed off.
“He won’t do anything tonight, but this hits him hard,” Rose commented while staring at the door that Draco had passed through.
“So, what do we do now?” Leon asked, and Lilith leaned into his shoulder. Everyone felt what I was feeling: betrayal and self-doubt. Dorian had fooled us all, and we were reeling in that knowledge.
Phillip looked at everyone, and for the first time in his life, he had nothing to say. Mina looked like she wanted to comfort him but stayed sitting next to her brother, who was taking the intruder coming in without his knowledge just as hard as the reveal of the bad guy.
Asher was the one to open his mouth first.
“Everything will come to pass in due time. We can’t touch him, but we can prepare for what he has planned.”
I walked over and sat in his lap, kissing his lips quickly for knowing just what to say.
“He’s right. It’s what we always do. Just like the last time and the time before that. We keep fighting, we keep protecting mankind, and we ready ourselves for the upcoming battle of night. The shadows are now gone, and darkness is coming for us all.”
Rose gave us hope in her words, and I felt them seep into my soul. We would prepare, like she said, because she was right: night was coming.
Asher hugged me tight, and I knew that as long as we had each other in the starless future, we would spark and light up the darkness.
Because we were Heroes.
The End
Sneak Peek of Night, the Final book in the Hero Society Series.
Esme
I hated it when he looked at me like that.
Like I was a child who liked playing doctor on her parents’ living room floor.
I’d worked hard to get where I was today, and when he gave me that face I was tempted to throw it all away just for the satisfaction of smacking his handsome face.
“If you keep staring at me like that, you’re going to have a coronary over there.” Dr. Dorian turned to walk away after setting his charts down at the nurses’ station. He walked around here like he was better than everyone, and I couldn’t wait for the day someone knocked him off his high horse.
“What I wouldn’t give for a piece of that man. I bet he fucks like a savage in bed after being all uptight and reserved at the hospital all day.” I turned to stare at my coworker and friend, Melissa Ann, who was watching Dorian’s form retreating down the hall.
“Are you kidding? That man would probably never even stoop low enough to sleep with someone. Really, I think he is asexual,” I commented and began reading over my next patient chart. But Melissa wasn’t done with this topic.
“I’m a married woman with one toddler and a baby on the way. Let me daydream about the good doctor being a beast in the supply closet. If you were the more adventurous type, I’d tell you to hit that between shifts, and then you could go back to spitting at each other.” Melissa had just found out she was pregnant a month ago and was thrilled, despite her dreams of Dorian.
I’d had those dreams too, when I first moved to Seahill and was looking for a fresh start. Hoping to live out the rest of my short life the way I wanted to, free and falling in love.
For the first week, I thought maybe he could have been the one to help this little mouse of a girl come out of her shell and experience life at its fullest. But he shot me down with a raised eyebrow and a sneer.
I was too innocent and not worth a quick fuck in the on-call rooms.
Yeah, it hurt, but I didn’t let him see that. Ever since then we’d been civil but there was an underlying feud between us. He liked to push my buttons, and I would ignore him.
“Never in a million years,” I told her as I spared a glance to the doctor as he stood in front of a room, looking over their paperwork. His head snapped, and his gaze collided with mine. His eyes narrowed as if he knew from afar that I wanted to poke him with the pen in my hand. Then those eyes flared with something I couldn’t read, and he disappeared inside the patient’s room.
“Girl, deny it all you want, but this tension you two have for each other is going to come to a head one day, and I suggest you use it in the way the good Lord intended us to utilize that passion instead of killing each other.” Melissa went back to her work, but I stayed there staring at the space where Dorian had been.
I was still voting for smacking him on his scruffy jaw over screwing him between patients.
More Books by Jessica Florence
The Final KO
I fight bitches for a living.
Which makes finding a decent guy hard when you're a female MMA fighter. None of them have been my equal. I yearn for a man who can push me to reach new heights and challenge me. A man who will treat me like a lady then lift me up by my ass and impale me against the wall.
But when Arson Kade, MMA's top fighter and notorious manwhore, declares he's that man for me I have my doubts. Any sane woman would.
There seems to be more to Arson than the rumors that surround him, but will it make me fall hard or run for the hills?
I know I've got no choice but to hold on for the ride.
It's the main event and my heart's on the line.
But will it be the Final KO?
The Final Chase
I never thought a wallaby, Henley shirts, and a horse’s rectal exam would have anything in common.
Turns out they did.
>
Jake Wild. Owner of Wild Rescue for exotic animals.
He’s everything I’m not, my polar opposite.
I’m heels and my salon,
he’s dirt and his creatures.
But much like the animals he cares for, he’s got that carnal edge.
He’s the type of man you crawl on your hands and knees for with your ass up in the air.
He bites, he's on the hunt, and now I’m his prey.
A chance meeting and a bet started the undeniable attraction between us.
But I’m not giving my heart and soul away that easy, he’s going to have to catch me first.
It's the ultimate game of cat and mouse.
But will it be the Final Chase?
Long Drive
There is a long road in everyone’s journey in life.
For some people, it’s a way to get from one place to another.
For others, it’s a search for one’s purpose in existence.
For me, the road was where I could find peace.
When everything in my life had shattered, I turned to the road.
And that’s where I met him.
Killian Lemarque.
A beautiful truck driver, and my salvation.
One month on the road together is the deal, and when it’s over, I will have hopefully figured out what I’m going to do about my torn reality.
But sometimes the road can change everything.
One Month. One Truck. One Long Drive.
How You Get The Girl
As Hollywood’s hottest actor, getting a woman in my bed is never a challenge.
Then I spotted her at a bar—she wanted a man for the night, and I jumped at the chance to fill the role. I gave her Joel Kline’s best, and she smacked my pretty face.
But don’t worry, that’s not the end of our story. Her brand of crazy inspired me, and I had to see her again, no matter the cost.
Now, Alessandra Rose is my lead makeup artist for the next four months.
Literally, her job is to touch me every day for the duration of filming. Sounds like a win, right?
Nope, she stops me at every hint of a flirt. I’m in uncharted waters for once.
Joel Kline’s famous techniques to get the girl are failing me. It’s no longer about those sexy Brazilian lips, or her fiery spirit that gives me a hard-on.
It’s about making her banana pancakes after she spends the night in my home.
It’s about knocking down those walls around her, claiming her as mine.
She’s going to fight me, of course, unwilling to accept that it’s not all an act.
But I’m not going anywhere; that’s how you get the girl.
Guiding Lights
He sings of suffering. His eyes hold the pain of living in sorrow.
The moment our gaze meets recognition flares within.
We are tortured souls drifting in a sea of darkness.
He knows I have secrets that I'll never tell.
I am numb.
I am broken.
I am dirty.
I can never be the guiding light through the darkness he thinks I am.
I have forsaken my past, I rely on keeping myself shut off.
But he has secrets too, secrets that would destroy everything I have left.
I wish things were different, that maybe we could be each other's lifeline.
But destiny drags us down like an anchor.
The broken can only drift in the sea barely staying afloat.
Blinding Lights
She dances with a passion I'll never know.
Seeing her again tears me at the seams.
She was never mine.
My soul is stained with the darkness of death.
I have killed.
I have tortured.
I have lost.
Her soul is too bright for the shadows within,
and her determination to be the flame in my heart could kill us both.
Still, I want her, I crave her.
But not even her blinding lights can fight away the darkness threatening us both.
Eventually, everything gets snuffed out.
Weighing of the Heart
What happens when the myths of old become reality?
Thalia Alexander has lived her life in peace until her twenty-fifth birthday when she has a strange dream about a man.
A tall, dark, and sexy man that shows up at her work the next morning.
Tristan Jacks is trouble with a capital T, but for some strange reason she is drawn to him like nothing she has ever experienced before. He has this possessiveness and adoration for her that she can’t explain. It’s like they have known each other forever.
Thalia’s strange dreams continue to stalk her as her relationship with Tristan builds to be a love that will last the ages.
And when those dreams and reality start to clash, will Thalia be able to handle the truth?
Could the world of ancient myths truly exist in modern times?
Evergreen
It was supposed to be an easy stakeout.
Until a bunch of bachelorettes mobbed me, changing my life forever.
I couldn't get Andi Slaton, with her red hair, blue eyes, and cotton candy-flavored lip gloss, out of my head.
But when she offers herself to aid the FBI to help me take down the biggest criminal family in Tampa, Florida, my very sanity is put to the test watching her spend time with my arch enemy.
She's everything I want, I will be everything to her.
We will be Evergreen.
Playlist
Human- Rag‘n’Bone Man
Legend _The Score
Human- Christina Perri
Slow Hands- Niall Horan
Heroes- Zayde Wolf
Madness- Ruelle
When Worlds Collide- Powerman 5000
The Heat- The Score
Castle- Halsey
River- Bishop Briggs
Acknowledgements
I’ll never say it enough but thank you to every single one of you who picked up my book and checked it out. You did something I can never repay, you gave me and my story a chance.
Thank you so much.
To my fairies, thank you for letting me kill some of y’all. It was fun ??
Kristen Aka K-Mazz, this book wouldn’t have made it through if it wasn’t for you helping me see the smaller picture. You helped me find a way to get over my own pressure. You are my boo.
Amelia Hutchins, you keep me going, and you are my person. Thank you for being there
All of my lovely bookstagrammers and bloggers, guys… none of this would be possible without your help. I am so honored that you have given me the time of day. You guys are everything!
To my hubs and child. I love you both, thanks for supporting me even though you just really want me to play barbies or do work at night. ??
About the Author
Jessica Florence,
Writer of Alpha Males & Fairy Tales
Author <3 PotterHead<3 Movie Geek Extraordinaire.
When she's not writing her next invigorating story. You can find her running her own business, and spending time with her husband and daughter in southwest Florida.
Jessica loves to interact with her readers, find her on
https://www.facebook.com/JessicaFlorenceAuthor
Www.JessicaFlorenceAuthor.com
[email protected]
https://twitter.com/florence_jess
Dusk (Hero Society Book 3) Page 16
