SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits by Sheri Whitefeather, Maureen Child, Caridad Piñeiro, Erin Kellison, Erin Quinn, Lisa Kessler, Chris Marie Green, Mary Leo, Cassi Carver, Janet Wellington, Theresa Meyers, Elisabeth Staab Page A
Authors: Sheri Whitefeather, Maureen Child, Caridad Piñeiro, Erin Kellison, Erin Quinn, Lisa Kessler, Chris Marie Green, Mary Leo, Cassi Carver, Janet Wellington, Theresa Meyers, Elisabeth Staab
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with touching concern. Even that bothered Gracie.
“I’m fine, I guess. It was scary.”
“It was exciting,” he teased. “Got our blood pumping.”
“It did more than that. I thought we were going to die, Brendan. That hole . . . It’s not right. It felt like something was in it.”
“You’re just freaked out, babe. It’s pretty out there. Wait until you see it in the daytime.”
“I don’t ever want to see it again.”
Brendan made a hushing sound. “I’d say you need to. You don’t want to be afraid of something like that, do you? Trust me, babe. We’ll go see it when the sun’s out.”
“I don’t think so,” Gracie said, putting a stop to it right there. “By the time the sun comes out, we’ll be gone.”
Analise shot her a grateful glance, but Brendan seemed distressed. “I made a mess of things, didn’t I?” he said, looking at Analise. “I wanted to surprise you for your birthday, and instead, I just fu— screwed everything up.”
“It’s not your fault,” Analise said grudgingly. “It was a cool idea.”
“You think so?”
Analise lifted one shoulder and Brendan stared at her with pleading eyes, and for a moment, Gracie was almost moved. They were young, but maybe he really did love her daughter. Maybe Gracie had let her own past influence her opinion of this kid. Yes, he was too old, already out of school, not smart enough for Ana by far. Not worthy of Gracie’s amazing daughter. She’d resented him, wished that Analise would kick him out of her life.
Brendan knew all that without Gracie ever having to say it, but he’d treated her daughter with respect, brought her home by curfew, and never gave Gracie an excuse to forbid Analise from seeing him.
Right up until he’d absconded with Analise and brought her here, of all places. To the one town Gracie never wanted Analise to go to.
As if hearing her thoughts, he shot Gracie a sly look that she didn’t understand until he moved his hand to Analise’s abdomen and asked,
“What about the baby? Is the baby okay?”
Diablo Springs: Chapter Eleven
May 1896
Colorado
I turned slowly. The mountains caged me in a valley filled with scrub in every direction. I had survived the violence of the outlaws, but I would not survive this. I’d left behind the flames that had chased me from my family’s burning camp, but I couldn’t stop running. The vision of my mother, slaughtered, crushed beneath the burning wagon, unborn baby dead inside her . . . It would haunt me forever. I knew I would always remember her, not as I’d known her alive, but as she’d been in death.
So I ran. I didn’t know for how long or how far. The sun had arced across the sky and night had fallen more than once, but time had no meaning to my pain. I didn’t know where I was, how to get back to where I’d begun. My only thought had been to flee, like a coward.
I didn’t even know if there were bullets left in the rifle I had taken from the wagon. At least I knew how to shoot it, though not with any skill. I even knew how to load it, if I’d had more bullets. But at that moment I didn’t care. The knife hung in the pocket of my skirt, sheathed in its heavy leather. It felt like an anchor, pulling me down into the depths of this horror. It banged into my leg as I charged across the desolate valley between the foothills, punishing me for my weakness with every step. My thigh would be black with bruises. I was glad of it.
Dusk hung heavy in the sky again, like a gray velvet curtain with a tiny, intricate pattern of rhinestones glimmering in the weave. I knew later the stars would be like diamonds glittering so bright they hurt the eyes. Where would I be when they came out? Where was I now? I hadn’t seen another living soul or even a sign of life since I’d left the camp.
As the silvery light crept over the lavender sky, my eyes caught on a wisp of smoke in the distance that had been invisible to me before. Had I run in circles?
“I’m fine, I guess. It was scary.”
“It was exciting,” he teased. “Got our blood pumping.”
“It did more than that. I thought we were going to die, Brendan. That hole . . . It’s not right. It felt like something was in it.”
“You’re just freaked out, babe. It’s pretty out there. Wait until you see it in the daytime.”
“I don’t ever want to see it again.”
Brendan made a hushing sound. “I’d say you need to. You don’t want to be afraid of something like that, do you? Trust me, babe. We’ll go see it when the sun’s out.”
“I don’t think so,” Gracie said, putting a stop to it right there. “By the time the sun comes out, we’ll be gone.”
Analise shot her a grateful glance, but Brendan seemed distressed. “I made a mess of things, didn’t I?” he said, looking at Analise. “I wanted to surprise you for your birthday, and instead, I just fu— screwed everything up.”
“It’s not your fault,” Analise said grudgingly. “It was a cool idea.”
“You think so?”
Analise lifted one shoulder and Brendan stared at her with pleading eyes, and for a moment, Gracie was almost moved. They were young, but maybe he really did love her daughter. Maybe Gracie had let her own past influence her opinion of this kid. Yes, he was too old, already out of school, not smart enough for Ana by far. Not worthy of Gracie’s amazing daughter. She’d resented him, wished that Analise would kick him out of her life.
Brendan knew all that without Gracie ever having to say it, but he’d treated her daughter with respect, brought her home by curfew, and never gave Gracie an excuse to forbid Analise from seeing him.
Right up until he’d absconded with Analise and brought her here, of all places. To the one town Gracie never wanted Analise to go to.
As if hearing her thoughts, he shot Gracie a sly look that she didn’t understand until he moved his hand to Analise’s abdomen and asked,
“What about the baby? Is the baby okay?”
Diablo Springs: Chapter Eleven
May 1896
Colorado
I turned slowly. The mountains caged me in a valley filled with scrub in every direction. I had survived the violence of the outlaws, but I would not survive this. I’d left behind the flames that had chased me from my family’s burning camp, but I couldn’t stop running. The vision of my mother, slaughtered, crushed beneath the burning wagon, unborn baby dead inside her . . . It would haunt me forever. I knew I would always remember her, not as I’d known her alive, but as she’d been in death.
So I ran. I didn’t know for how long or how far. The sun had arced across the sky and night had fallen more than once, but time had no meaning to my pain. I didn’t know where I was, how to get back to where I’d begun. My only thought had been to flee, like a coward.
I didn’t even know if there were bullets left in the rifle I had taken from the wagon. At least I knew how to shoot it, though not with any skill. I even knew how to load it, if I’d had more bullets. But at that moment I didn’t care. The knife hung in the pocket of my skirt, sheathed in its heavy leather. It felt like an anchor, pulling me down into the depths of this horror. It banged into my leg as I charged across the desolate valley between the foothills, punishing me for my weakness with every step. My thigh would be black with bruises. I was glad of it.
Dusk hung heavy in the sky again, like a gray velvet curtain with a tiny, intricate pattern of rhinestones glimmering in the weave. I knew later the stars would be like diamonds glittering so bright they hurt the eyes. Where would I be when they came out? Where was I now? I hadn’t seen another living soul or even a sign of life since I’d left the camp.
As the silvery light crept over the lavender sky, my eyes caught on a wisp of smoke in the distance that had been invisible to me before. Had I run in circles?
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