I don't know if she ever loved me, or if I even love her now … but … now I’ll never get a chance to figure her out or talk to her or see what became of her after I died.
“Their ultimate act of cruelty,” I said, closing her glassy eyes and glancing back at the sea of bodies behind me. We needed to clean this mess up and get out of here before any humans stumbled onto us. Not that we couldn't handle them—just that I didn't want to.
I didn't want to hurt innocent people.
“We'll get da Veil Keeper back to da clubhouse,” Reece started as I exhaled and stood up. “And the boys'll take good care of your Mama for ya, no?”
“You're not the president yet, boy,” Fionn said, standing nearby with his officers surrounding him. I heard Reece growl something under this breath about bullshit club business, but I didn't get to see the rest of the argument because a sharp, hot pain exploded from my fingers up my arm.
Glancing down, I realized the Spear of Lug was glowing.
And it was white-fucking-hot.
I tried to drop it, but my fingers were locked, like an electrical impulse keeping my muscles clamped tight. I opened my mouth to ask for help, and then, when the pain ratcheted up, to scream.
The glow from the spear exploded outward, like a bomb going off, killing my vision and blinding me at the same time. Flames rushed across my skin, convincing my mind that I was, in fact, being burned alive.
I fell to my knees, thrashing with the spear still clutched in my hands, feeling my body melt away in the raging flames of magic. It tore through my mind, seared my flesh, invaded my muscles. It was the worst physical pain I'd ever felt in my life, far worse than anything the shadows had ever done to me.
It made me want to die.
That wasn't exactly a thought I was unfamiliar with. Many times over my years in torture I'd wanted to die. Many times I'd felt cheated that the previous death had done anything but give me peace. And I wanted that, a new life, no memories ...
But now Ciarah O'Rourke was being given a second chance, a new life, an opportunity to make things better.
I wasn't about to lose that chance.
Flicking my eyes open, I used every ounce of strength and power I had left to drop the spear. As soon as I did, the pain stopped and I was left lying on the ground with my breath coming in frantic, wild bursts.
Pushing myself up, I glanced around ...
And found that I wasn't in the cemetery anymore.
No, based on the lavender color of the sky, the strange trees with vibrant striped fruit ... and the faerie with skin the color of shadows and neon pink irises ... I had a feeling I wasn't even in the same realm.
The man in front of me knelt down and flashed me a smile with two sharp canines.
“Welcome to Faerie, Veil Keeper.”
To Be Continued …
Book #2 of The Wild Hunt Motorcycle Club
Spirited - The Academy of Spirits and Shadows by C.M. Stunich
The Vixen's Lead by Tate James.
Flip the page for an Excerpt of chapter one
Chapter One
In the background, the shadowy outline of a naked woman haunted a painting of lilies. The rich imagery held me captive. Reportedly the work was worth a few hundred thousand dollars, but I couldn’t decide if it was because of the image or the person who painted it. Maybe both. Whatever the reason, the Beverly Hills gallery had it on its walls, which meant it was without a doubt expensive.
“Nine minutes and thirty-four seconds until security systems are back online. Stop gawking at the paintings and hurry the fuck up!”
How the hell had Lucy known what I was doing? Our comms were audio only. Still, Lucy had a point. I left the painting and crept down the corridor on silent feet. At the end a large, open room held several ostentatious pieces of jewelry displayed in glass cases on pedestals. They were part of a colored diamond showcase in which the wealthy allowed their prized possessions to be displayed for the common folk to drool over. It was a clear night, and the full moon streamed light through the windows. The moonlight refracted against the jewels and created a rainbow of Christmas lights in the darkness.
Pausing at the entrance to the room, I fished my phone out of the pocket in my black jeans and ran an application labeled “You Never Know,” which Lucy had designed to scan areas for hidden security features we might have missed in our mission planning. It took a minute to fully probe the room, and while waiting, I snaked a finger under the short, black wig I wore and scratched at my scalp. Using a disguise was just sensible thieving, but seriously, wigs itched something awful! Maybe next time I would try a hat. The image of myself pulling a job while wearing a top hat or a Stetson made me chuckle.
Seconds later, my screen flashed red with an alert and surprised the hell out of me. It was the first time the app had actually caught something.
“Are you seeing this?” It was a pointless question. She had a mirror image on her computer screen.
“Huh. That definitely wasn’t there a week ago when I did a walk through,” she muttered, and her furious tapping at her keyboard echoed over the comms. “Okay, it’s a laser beam grid linked to a silent alarm that will trigger the security shutters on all external access points. I don’t have time to hack into it and shut it down, so...”
I could picture her shrug and sighed. “So, don’t trip the lasers, yes? Got it. Send me the map.” An intricate web of red lines appeared on my phone, overlaying the camera’s view of the room. If I watched the screen and not my feet, it would be possible to avoid the beams.
Conscious of the ticking clock, I carefully started stepping across the floor. All seemed to go well until I got within ten feet of my intended loot. Suddenly my nose started twitching with a sneeze. “Dammit,” I hissed, then fought to hold my breath.
“What’s going on in there, Kit?” Lucy asked, worry tight in her tone.
I wriggled my nose a few times to shake off the itch before replying, “You know how I often get pretty awesome hay fever in Autumn...?”
Lucy groaned like I was doing this to deliberately test her nerves, but I wasn’t trying to tease her. I might actually sneeze.
“I think it’s gone,” I said, relaxing minutely, and raised my foot for the next step. Of course, Murphy’s Law prevailed, and the second I shifted my weight, the urge to sneeze returned full force. I clamped my mouth and nose shut, but I lost my balance even as I tried to swallow my sneeze. My leg rocked into one of the laser beams.
“Shit!”
“Fucking hell, Kit! You have thirty seconds until you are trapped. Get the hell out, now!” Lucy yelled in my earpiece.