by A Lonergan
I ran my body up against his as I turned in his arms. He bent low and his nose ran up the side of my neck. The motion made me freeze, then it brought back all the painful memories before he forced a change on me. I jerked back and stumbled over my heels. This was silly. How could I have let him get close to me like this again? I couldn’t deny that he made me curious and he was hot as sin. But that’s what he was, a sin. Something forbidden that was going to get me hurt all over again. He reached toward me but then a body at my back had his hand falling back to his side. I stumbled once again, stupid heels, and the smell of Mav wrapped around me. He smelled like citrus and peppermint. It soothed something inside of me.
His hands wrapped around the top of my shoulders while he guided me back to the bar. Tracey’s straw hung from her mouth in shock. “What the hell was that? I mean, it was hot as hell, but like, what happened?” I didn’t think I had ever heard her so flustered before.
I shook my head before I looked back at the dance floor over my shoulder. Rafe was gone. “I have no idea.” I couldn’t have kept the disappointment from my voice even if I tried.
The rest of the night was filled with the laughter I needed to soothe my soul and confusion about what happened with Rafe. Tracey kept me on the dance floor for the rest of the night, dancing away my blues. But it only kept the blues away for so long. I didn’t see Rafe again for the rest of the night. Even when we said goodbye to the guys and Tracey handed me her keys, he was still missing. Mav and Knox promised to follow us back to my house, where we would be staying. Tomorrow was Cabin Clean Up day and I was anxious.
Everyone said you could see the cabin from the Manor but I sure as hell couldn’t locate it. I was anxious to see where my new home would be. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as Tracey hummed.
“Are you excited for tomorrow?” Tracey’s head lolled on the headrest. A few of her corkscrew curls had escaped their bun and were spiraling wildly around her face. Her skin glistened in the glow of the streetlights I drove under.
“Yes, though I am a bit nervous. Alice said it was in need of a lot of work.”
Tracey winced beside me. “It’s pretty bad off, I won’t lie to you. The kids dare each other to go in there.”
I rolled my eyes. “What are you gonna do? Warn me that it’s haunted?”
Tracey snickered. “Definitely not, Granny already ridded it of the spirits.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. “I hope we have enough cleaning supplies.”
Tracey closed her eyes before she yawned. “I doubt we do. We will be making many trips to the hardware store this weekend. You’re gonna need paint too, have you picked out a color scheme?”
I shrugged. “I’m thinking black with gold accents.”
Tracey cued. “I like the sound of that.”
I smiled and was about to reply but I didn’t get the chance. Everything seemed to go into slow motion as our car was hit from the side. I barely registered the sound of crunching metal as my head bounced off of the steering wheel. Before my body could register the pain from that, my seat belt was ripped tight across my body as the car flipped once, then twice. I lost count as we went over and over. My head smacked the headrest and my neck burned from the seatbelt as the car came to a jerking halt upside down. My vision was blurry and something was dripping down the side of my face. My limbs were too heavy to reach up to touch it. All I could do was turn my head and try to grab Tracey but no matter how hard I tried, my body wasn’t working the way I needed it to.
“Tracey?” My voice sounded foreign and far away.
She was unconscious and blood was flowing from the bottom of her chin. The wolfsbane in her system wasn’t going to let her heal quickly either. What was wrong with me though? Why was everything still so fuzzy and heavy? I pulled at my seat belt as much as I could with my fading strength but it was no use. My head was too fuzzy. I must have gotten a concussion when my head hit the steering wheel the first time.
The sound of crunching glass gave me hope. The Guardians had followed us home. They were here! My tongue felt swollen in my mouth as I tried to yell to them. “In here! We are okay but hurry!”
The door was yanked off of the side of the car and my seatbelt was cut. Before my body could hit the glass, strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me from the wreckage. My head lolled back in relief until I realized the scent wasn’t right. Something smelled wrong. It was the same wrongness from the rogue in my class just a few days before. I pushed away from the body carrying me and tried to blink my eyes open. What was wrong with me?
“Who are you?” My voice was slurred before I felt a pinch on my backside. I felt the liquid heat in my blood and for a horrifying moment, I thought of the night Rafe had forced me to into this life. But that wasn’t what this was and they couldn’t turn me again. No, they injected me with a vial of wolfsbane. They drugged me.
“None of your concern, love. We are going to make sure you get taken care of.” My ears were still ringing and I could hardly understand what he was saying. By the grace of God, I understood what the others said.
“Are you sure she’s the one?” someone else asked.
“You can’t smell it? His scent is all over her.” another one said.
“Are there any claim marks?” The other guy didn’t sound so sure. “There is another girl in the car but she doesn’t have claim marks and has lost a lot of blood.”
A little bit of fight came back to me at the mention of my friend. But no matter how hard I tried to fight them, my body wouldn’t obey. I was a prisoner in my own body. Was this how Carden had felt? So helpless?
“There aren’t any claim marks that I can see.” One of them muttered as rough fingers grazed the side of my neck. The exact place Rafe had run his nose along. “Maybe we should take the other one too, just to be safe.”
“No,” Someone else argued. “The other one smells like the Guardian. We have the right one. Leave the car. Let them find the other girl.”
The man that was holding me spoke to someone else beside us. The only thing I could make out were the different scents of them. “Yes, you heard me right, we have secured Rafe Crimson’s mate.”
To be continued…
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Acknowledgments
During 2020, my life was not what I thought it would be and not because of the pandemic. In fact, as an introverted extrovert, I loved being locked in my house 98% of the time. But in May of 2020, I almost lost my husband. Not to COVID, but to another disease. Another disease that we didn’t know he was fighting until it was almost too late. While my husband was bed ridden, I pushed myself farther into my writing to give me an escape from all the pain and torment I was feeling. We still fight a battle with his disease but thankfully, it isn’t as bad as before and hopefully, it will never get there again. So because of all of this, I know that I have to thank my husband. For not only fighting the three weeks he should have died, but also for still pushing me and believing in me through that tough time. He never once doubted me or told me to stop pursuing my dreams and honestly, I don’t think he ever will. Through this hard time, this book was born. Thank you Brandon for being my fighter. Thank goodness you’ll probably never read this because you will hate these words and all the time I put into thanking you. But you deserve all the praise.
Thank you to my wonderful editor that was obsessed with this book from the very beginning. Brittany, thank you for believing in these crazy ideas and even crazier dreams. Thank you for listening to me rant and sending me pics of hot guys when I’m sad. I will never deserve you. Thank you for being the first official member of the Night Shade fam
ily.
Thank you to my frannnnnssss- Tori and Allison. You fuel my bookish characters with so much depth, humor, and wit. There maybe a few of the characters in this book based off of the both of you.
Thank you to my parents that showed me what a truly health family looked like… eventually ;) IYKYK.
Thank you to my readers, I know without a shadow of a doubt that without you and your constant support and reviews, this book wouldn’t be what it is today!
Thank you to my betas that got to read this first and praise it! I was feeling so insecure before y’all flooded me with love and encouragement.
Also by A. Lonergan
Urban Fantasy YA completed series-
Transfixed: Book 1 in the Witches of Jackson Square series
High Fantasy YA-
Assassin’s Reign: Book 1 in Tales from the Mirror Realm series
Military standalone romances-
Euphoria: Book 1 in the Brothers Bound series
Fairytale retellings-
Ashes to Ashes: Book 1 in the Kingdoms and Curses series
