Raven Maid: Out of the Darkness
Page 16
I turned and smiled at her, getting lost in her eyes. I whimpered, “You have to stop teasing me. I still swear you called me baby and kissed me after I got shot.”
She smiled, moved her lips to within an inch of mine and said through that smile. “You were in shock.” She smirked and then whispered hotly, “Trust me, you'd remember if I kissed you.”
My toes curled as I felt the warmth radiating from her proximity alone, and the heat of her breath causing gooseflesh to race across my skin. She was an evil, evil, woman. I wanted my best friend so bad in so many ways. I was happy when she asked to come with us back home. I was going to ask anyway. Abigail knew who she was, and we needed to protect her. It had nothing to do with the fact I fantasized about her in my dreams. Right?
Rin's voice behind Shannon blurted out, “Oh for fuck's sake. Would you two just rut like bunnies and be done with it?” And she pushed Shan... right into my lips.
We just stood there frozen for a moment. The heat of her soft lips threatening to burn mine. Then she smiled into the inadvertent kiss, and we started really kissing. She seemed as eager as me and I melted into her. Marinette preserve me, I was kissing a yuppie. Then we finally had to break apart to gasp for air.
I may have had a lovesick puppy dog look on my face as I just blinked. Then she said slowly with an out-of-breath smirk, “Sack of milk.”
I grinned and shoved her shoulder, not wanting the contact to end. “Watch it Brooklyn-Barbie.”
I bit my lower lip as I retreated toward the store with her slinging back at me, “Whatever, you walking feather-duster.”
I hesitated at the door, closed my eyes a moment to replay the kiss in my head, then exhaled, “ Soc Au' Lait, indeed.” A slap to the back of my head from Rin snapped me out of my lust filled memory. Then my little pseudo-sister's sarcastic smirk turned into a genuine smile as we headed in. I tripped her as she tried to get to the Hostess rack before me.
That annoying detached portion of my mind putting a damper on the feeling of fun and family I had, knowing that somewhere out there, Abigail was waiting. I just hoped we'd be ready when she came.
The End
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Novels by Erik Schubach
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Books in the Techromancy Scrolls series...
Adept
Soras
Masquerade
Westlands (2017)
Avalon (2018)
Books in the Urban Fairytales series...
Red Hood: The Hunt
Snow: The White Crow
Ella: Cinders and Ash
Rose: Briar's Thorn
Let Down Your Hair
Hair of Gold: Just Right
The Hood of Locksley
Beauty In the Beast
No Place Like Home (2017)
Shadow Of The Hook (2017)
Books in the New Sentinels series...
Djinn: Cursed
Raven Maid: Out of the Darkness
Fate: No Strings Attached (2017)
Books in the Drakon series...
Awakening
Dragonfall
Books in the Valkyrie Chronicles series...
Return of the Asgard
Bloodlines
Folkvangr
Seventy Two Hours
Titans
Books in the Bridge series...
Trolls
Traitor
Unbroken
Books in the Fracture series...
Divergence
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Romance Novels by Erik Schubach
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Books in the Music of the Soul universe...
(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)
Music of the Soul
A Deafening Whisper
Dating Game
Karaoke Queen
Silent Bob
Five Feet or Less
Broken Song
Syncopated Rhythm
Progeny
Girl Next Door
Lightning Strikes Twice
June
Dead Shot
Music of the Soul Shorts...
(All short stories are standalone and can be read in any order)
Misadventures of Victoria Davenport: Operation Matchmaker
Wallflower
Accidental Date
Holiday Morsels
Books in the London Harmony series...
(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)
Water Gypsy
Feel the Beat
Roctoberfest
Small Fry
Doghouse
Minuette
Squid Hugs
The Pike
Flotilla
Books in the Pike series...
(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)
Ships In The Night
Right To Remain Silent
Evermore (2017)
Books in the Flotilla series...
(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)
Making Waves
Keeping Time
The Temp (2017)
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Novellas by Erik Schubach
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The Hollow
Books in the Paranormals series...
Fleas
This Sucks
Jinx (2017)
Short stories in the Fixit Adventures...
Fixit
Glitch
Vashon (2017)
Descent (2017)
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Short Stories by Erik Schubach
(These short stories span many different genres)
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A Little Favor
Lost in the Woods
Rift Jumpers: Faster Than Light
Scythe
Snack Run
Something Pretty
MUB (2017)
Sample chapter from The Pike: Evermore...
Prologue
I sat with the twins Maxine, and Teddy, my niece and nephew extraordinaire in the back room of our bakery The Pike, here at Pike Place Market in Seattle. We huddled around the iPad as we watched Na Na Evermore's latest podcast.
She was sort of the bad girl of the underground music and punk scene here in Seattle. And she had the looks to sell it well. What with her long sweeping black mohawk, the rest of her hair shaved, and those black tattoos all around her neck she wore like a lace collar that made you want to see the rest of them. Her black makeup completed the punk rock clubbing girl look with her leathers.
And if I were ever to travel the spectrum of the dating rainbow, Na Na Evermore would be the type to get my motor purring. She sort of did as it was.
The music world stopped to listen when she spoke. Whether it was about up and coming bands or singers, or fashion style, her predictions may as well have been the law of the land. I don;t think the woman has ever picked a lame duck.
Quack.
I know, I know, don't look at me like that. The Evermore Plain Truth blog and podcasts aren't strictly PG enough for viewing by twelve year olds, but I'm the bad aunt who gets to spoil her niece and nephew and teach them how to make proper mischief before returning them to my sis.
We watched as Na Na thrashed her mowhawk from side to side at whatever underground rave she had been reporting from as she yelled over the thrash metal piece, “Iron Destiny is the shit everyone. If they aren't signed by the end of the year, then I'll retire my dog collar. They have that unique classic sound that they blend seamlessly with the more invasive shredding that is becoming more widely accepted in the scene.”
Some guy wearing far too much eyeliner, and multiple tongue piercings sh
oved his face in front of her camera. She stomped his foot and then kicked him in the butt when he bent over to cradle his foot. He fell into the mosh pit. She yelled over her shoulder, “Instruct him that its fuckin' rude to interrupt would ya?”
Multiple hands reached out and pulled the guy into the mosh pit and she turned back to the camera, then did what only Na Na Evermore could pull off, and she squished her head to her shoulders and scrunched up her face. She could go from badass to infinitely adorable in two seconds flat and that just cemented her as an immortal in the entertainment world.
We all looked up from the pad and shared grins, then went back to watching. She pointed the camera at the stage for a few moments so we could get a taste of the band, then back to herself. She held up her wrist to show off a new heavy silver chain that looked to be constructed of Celtic knots and pointed to it and said, “Remington Creations.”
She was always showing off the latest edgy clubbing gear, and vendors clamored to have her show off their gear. She did reach over a million viewers with each podcast.
Then she said, “I'm going to get back to the performance, so this is Na Na Evermore signing off, I offer no bullshit, just...” We joined in when the people at the rave all yelled, “The plain truth.”
We high fived each other then froze as someone cleared their throat behind us, and my older sis, Zoey, asked in the same voice issued to all mothers, “Really, Eve? Do you really think that the Evermore Plain Truth is something children should be watching?”
We all turned, sharing the universal 'busted' look. I put on my toothiest grin and said, “Absolutely. It is very educational.”
Maxine agreed as she said, “You should have seen her new midriff leather jacket mom, it was sexy, can I get one for the start of junior high?
I dropped my head, shaking it as I muttered, “Not helping, kid.”
Zoey crossed her arms and pointed out expectantly, one eyebrow cocked, “You're twelve, Maximus Prime.”
Max grinned and crossed her arms in an eerie pantomime of her mother's stance. Their dark red hair a mirror of each other's and the slight smirk they shared told you that Max was going to be a stunner like her mom when she grew up. “We'll be thirteen in a week.” She lifted her chin imperiously.
I enjoyed the tremor of a smile, quirking at the corners of my sister's mouth as she tried to play the stern parent. She wasn't fooling anyone, well except Teddy, who was lowering his head and saying, “Sorry mom.” I hugged the poor boy to me and put him in a headlock so I could ruffle his hair. He was getting so big. He was already taller than me, and Max was getting close.
Zoey gave them mercy and pointed at Maxaroonie and said, “No.” Then clapped her hands at all three of us, “Come on, chop chop, the bakery won't open itself.”
We all grinned and got to work.
Once the kids ran out to stock the front cases with fresh pastries and breads, Zo shffled over to me, bumped my hip as she looked at the swinging oor that separated the kitchen from the front room, “Do they know yet?”
I shook my head and grinned up at her. “Nope. I can keep a secret. Besides, Nala is in here frequently with her BFF Madelyn. It's not like it will be the first time the twins stood in shoks like blubbering buffoons at the woman.”
Na Na Evermore's real name was Nala Dupree, and she was actually a really sweet woman who was sort of the opposite of what you would think from a punk princess. She took on a dangerous hardness that was quite impressive when she was defending her friends, but besides that, I think she's actually pretty insecure and lonely in the sea of admirers that flock around her.
She sort of latched onto a couple girlfriends of ours, regulars at the Pike, Madelyn Stone and Officer Danielle O’Brien. And I've seen an almost imperceptible change in her podcasts since. She seems to smile more and do cute things more than she used to. I think it is that that are real friends, not like the ones who like to ride on the coattails of her fame.
A local news channel has pitched a idea to her, to use her insane popularity get her opinions out in a more PG format in a weekly segment they want to call Seattle Evermore, so it didn't interfere with her normal podcasts and blog. And have her talk about local people and businesses that she feels comfortable endorsing.
This was a way for her to expand her ever growing entertainment empire and her brand. I can imagine the copious amounts of money they stacked around her to convince her. The only concession was that she had to curb her proclivity for four letter expressions on the new segment.
After weeks of negotiations, she approached us and asked if we wanted to be the flagship episode of the segment. That she'd feel more relaxed around friends. We could only imagine the boost in sales we would receive from the broadcast. Zoey exploded into a shower of yeses. Iw as afraid I'd have to get a mop to clean them all up.
We decided to keep it a secret from the twins, as Maximilian idolizes Nala, so this would be a great surprise for her.
Zoey and I shared the all knowing sister grin and nod as we got to work. We'd be flooded with our morning regulars in just a few minutes and there were croissants to be baked!