New Beginnings (25 page)

Slater grinned. “Probably not.”

Fallon rubbed the back of her neck. “So, how
long has Jess known I was heading this way?”

“She mentioned it was possibility a couple
weeks ago. She’s kept it pretty hush, said she didn’t want to jinx
the chance of her best friend moving up to Edenton.”

“Right. And honestly, I wasn’t consciously
driving this way, but when I got to Seattle, I figured I-90 was a
good place to turn east.” A shiver wracked her body as she pinched
the bridge of her nose. “Mind if I sit in the truck?”

Brody was pretty sure she was only on her
feet through sheer force of will. He didn’t wait for Slater’s
response, just scooped her up and carried her to the truck. He did
his best to hide the smile at having her in his arms. It felt like
she belonged there, which should have scared him.

“Sorry,” he murmured into her hair. “You
looked like you were going to fall. We’ll get you to Slater’s in
just a minute. I promise.”

She didn’t open her eyes, just nodded as he
opened the door.

He sat her on the bench inside the truck.
Then he reluctantly released her before taking a step away. “Be
right back.” He shut the door. When she didn’t bother looking at
him, he turned to walk back to Slater.

Slater got the bike on the truck and gave
him an unsettling look. “I know that look, Brody. I know that
feeling.”

Brody knew exactly what he was talking
about. Slater reacted the same way when Jess came to town. But he
couldn’t be mating to Fallon. Could he?

He shook his head. “I nearly killed her when
I slammed into her bike. She gets up and heals me like it was no
big deal, shoves my shoulder into place and puts my wolf to sleep.
Then she blew my mind with the spells she slung around. She was
incredibly fast and obviously knows what she’s doing because she
killed both vampires.”

Slater chuckled. “You’re both in one
piece.”

Brody was surprised to hear his own growl.
“I fucked up. I nearly ripped her throat out when I freaked out and
yanked one of them off her. She already took care of him. I just
didn’t realize it until the bastard burst into ash. Damn it, I
could have killed her.” He wanted to punch something for hurting
his
woman.

His? Where the hell did that come from?

Slater rolled his gray eyes. “You didn’t
know she was going to be on the road, so just stop. For future
reference, you don’t tear a vampire away when their fangs are
engaged. She won’t hold it against you.” He nodded toward the
truck. “Come on. Let’s get back to my place.”

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Preview Chapter 1

Copyright 2013 Brandy L Rivers

This is the current version, it’s still rough

Flashing lights swirled her headache to new
heights as the siren drilled into her throbbing skull.
Perfect,
just what I need, after driving all flipping day.

Amethyst Lakes had just reached Edenton, so
being pulled over just added to the layers of crap she was already
shoveling. Trouble was the last thing she needed, especially after
the mess with her ex-boyfriend and the Silver Council.

Maybe moving all the way to Edenton wasn’t
the best decision, but Amethyst needed a change. Everything in San
Francisco reminded her of Carl and that just made her sick to her
stomach. Her mother had been on her case to do the one thing she
couldn’t stand to do, and when she finally did, it went all
wrong.

She still couldn’t believe he committed
suicide. It just didn’t make sense. He was never
in love
with her.

A giant burly mountain of a man climbed out
of the police SUV, and she just knew he was going to give her
grief. Menace poured off him, and he hadn’t even managed to stalk
to her door yet.

Lovely
.
Little towns are notorious
for dickhead cops with power complexes.

Hopefully Fallon was right, and her being
Other wouldn’t be a big deal. There was a wide variety in Edenton,
and she didn’t have to hide what she was.

Pretending to be human was laughable. Her
purple hair couldn’t be dyed, and no human she ever met had violet
eyes. As a full blooded nymph, she had no glamour. Public school
had been a nightmare because she never fit in.

The cop was almost to the window. She took a
deep breath and hid all emotion before reaching toward to the glove
box.

His big meat hook of a fist pounded on her
window, making it shudder.

Right, probably should have opened that
first
. She immediately rolled down the window and smiled up at
the cop.

“Evening officer.” She didn’t bother lying
and call it good.

His feral energy rolled through the car,
nearly suffocating her. The throbbing vein in his forehead proved
he was close to being in a rage. To top it off, the big brute was a
werewolf, and he looked like he was about to lose control at any
second.

“Do you realize you were going eighty in a
forty?” His jaw clenched, and she was sure he would blow a gasket
if he didn’t calm down.

What was this guy’s problem anyway? She
wasn’t arguing, she was even being nice. So, why did he have to
scowl at her like that?

And okay, she was doing twice the legal
limit. She nodded and plastered a semblance of a pleasant
expression on her face, “I’m sorry, it’s been a really long day and
I wasn’t paying attention. I can get my registration and proof of
insurance. They are in the glove box. My ID is right here.” At
least her voice was calm and cool, even if she would have loved to
slap the cop for the way he glared at her, his eyes searched her
face, seeming to focus on her eyebrow ring and purple hair.

“Why were you reaching for the glove box,
Ma’am?” he snarled his question as if he was ready for her to
attack, and she already noticed his hand was hovering at his gun on
his hip.

Checking his badge, she smiled wider and
squashed any thought of using her natural gifts to get out of the
ticket. “Officer Simons, I was just reaching for my papers.”

“Out of the car,” he barked.

What? Really?
She bit back her
irritated groan and climbed out of her jeep with her hands open and
out, “If you want the registration and proof of insurance, it’s in
the glove box.”

“Why are you being difficult?” he snapped,
getting right in her face as he towered over her.

She wasn’t afraid yet. If she needed to, she
would push right back, but not until he gave her a really damned
good reason. For now, she would cooperate. Maybe he would chill
before things went that far.

She raised one eyebrow, “How so?”

“I’m bringing you in for questioning. You’re
awfully fucking difficult.” He spun her around, and shoved her
against the jeep to cuff her. Then he reached in to grab her keys.
Maybe she shouldn’t have been so calm, because most of her options
just took a hike with those blasted cuffs.

Stunned, she blinked a few times, but she
managed to keep her voice calm, even if the steel burned. At least
it wasn’t as bad as iron. “Why are you doing this? I haven’t done
anything wrong. I’ve been patient and cooperative, and you’re just
bringing me in?”

“Yes,” he snarled and literally dragged her
to the SUV, her feet barely touching the ground. He stuffed her
into the backseat and slammed the door before climbing in and doing
the same to his.

He was seriously stomping all over her
rights, and he hadn’t even buckled her in. What a creep. Hopefully
the rest of the cops weren’t such jerkwads.

If she was lucky, she would figure a way out
of the situation before Fallon found out she was pulled over. She
could just see the woman who was like a big sister, storming into
the station to bust her out.

Taking a deep breath, she calmly told him,
“You can’t do this. Besides speeding, what did I do to you? I plan
to pay the ticket, and I am cooperating. You didn’t even read me my
rights.”

“You aren’t under arrest—yet.”

“Then why am I in cuffs?” At least she held
back her snort, but now she was pissed.

“Just shut up,” he bellowed, making her
eardrums hurt.

She slumped back in the seat and tried to
remain calm.

It was a short trip to the station. He
radiated rage and hate, but she had no clue why. He must have been
having one crappy day. Officer Jackhole screeched into the parking
lot and slammed on the brakes, which sent her face first into the
partition, and it hurt.

While she was still stunned, he yanked the
door open and dragged her out of the vehicle.

This time she snapped at him. “Can you just
take my arm and let me walk before you hurt me? I’m not resisting,
not fighting, just trying to figure out what you think I did.”
There was only a thread of anger in her voice, but as a wolf, he
was going to smell that on her anyways, so there was no point in
hiding it.

He was more than a foot taller than her, and
obviously liked having superhuman strength, because he didn’t let
her walk. He grabbed her around the upper arm and half carried,
half dragged her inside. He definitely bruised her with that iron
grip.

Then he slammed her into a chair as another
big man stormed out of his office. She felt a slight rumble through
the floor, and the air seemed to grow denser as he scowled at
Officer Simons.

Great, more testosterone and more
anger.
At least this one didn’t seem to be pissed at her.

* * * *

“Simons, what the fuck are you doing to this
little lady?” Sheriff Hayden Hunter demanded as he stepped out of
his office. The most unusual woman sat in the seat next to Kevin
Simons’ desk.

She was put there by the big werewolf who
towered over her menacingly. Thankfully she mostly seemed confused,
slightly pissed, but he sensed her distress and pain that she hid
quite well.

He took another look at the curvy little
woman, maybe five foot two tops, with long purple hair, but it was
streaked with lavenders and darker violets that looked too natural
to be dyed. Her eyebrows were a rich purple, and her eyes sparkled
like amethysts. Even her lips were tinged with a hint of lavender,
though she wasn’t wearing a trace of makeup.

In a word, she was breathtaking.

There was a ring in her eyebrow, a little
amethyst stud in her nose, and another placed like a beauty mark.
There were little rings all the way up both ears. He was willing to
bet there were more interesting piercings hidden under her clothes,
which he really didn’t need to consider.

Some sort of fae he was guessing. That would
explain the pain. At least steel was better than iron, but he was
going to resolve that issue as quickly as he could. Besides, he had
a feeling this little woman was the one Slater and Brody already
told him about. Neither of them seemed real sure as to which flavor
of fae she was, and neither Fallon nor Jess offered a hint.

Simons seethed like the brute he was since
finding his wife cheating. Normally he was so calm and gentle. But
since last night, he had become a hulking, raging beast.

His eyes cut down to her, but her eyes were
trained off in the distance. “She was doing eighty in a forty, and
she was reaching for a weapon when I pulled her over.” He growled
down at the woman.

Hayden closed the distance with a snarl.
“Back off of the girl, now.”

She sighed and managed a calm, almost
patient tone, “He stopped me from reaching into my glove box for my
proof of insurance and my registration. I gave him my ID, and he
also has my keys. I told him to look in my glove box for the rest
of my documents. I would have gladly allowed him to search my jeep.
I don’t even own a weapon.”

“I’m sorry for Simons’ behavior.” Hayden
shot him a look, and warned. “And I am sure he will be,” he glared
at Simons, and fought back the urge to smash his face, “after he
thinks his actions through.”

A rough time at home, didn’t give him the
excuse to be an asshole. Softening his expression, he moved his
attention to her. “You’re Amethyst Lakes. Am I right?”

“Yes sir, I am.” She didn’t sound happy that
a cop knew who she was. Hayden didn’t blame her. She already dealt
with the Silver Council, which was basically the mages’ version of
the police, only worse. She already knew that Edenton was chalk
full of Others, and most of them followed different rules. She was
probably worried they might hand her over to the Council, which he
absolutely would not allow.

“Here’s what I’m going to do, Amethyst. I am
going to excuse the ticket this time since Simons flew off the deep
end.” He gave his officer a challenging look, daring him to open
his mouth. When he didn’t, he turned back to her. “Please, do not
drive that fast in my town in the future.”

“Yes sir,” she nodded once, not sucking up,
not offering excuses, but not arguing either.

“Can you come into my office for a moment? I
would like to talk to you for just a minute, and I will remove
those cuffs.” Hayden wanted to take them off that second, but
didn’t want to let Simons know exactly what she was or how bad
certain metals were for her. Unfortunately, he just didn’t trust
his old friend right then.

“Sure.” She stood up and didn’t bother
glancing back at Simons who just glared at her.

“Just through that door. I need to have a
word with Simons first.”

“Yes sir.” She went into the office without
argument, and he shut the door before turning back to Simons with a
lethal glare.

“You need to take some time off. I know your
situation with Stacy is getting to you, but you can’t be pulling
this shit. Miss Lakes is moving into town, and coming from a lot of
shitty circumstances because of an ex-boyfriend. None of it was her
fault. Slater already talked to me about her. She is one of
Fallon’s friends. So you are going to give her a break. You hear
me?”