when you are done playing with your dog, Kingsley, I will return for you.”
And what happened next challenged my sanity. The solid man who had been standing before me, faded from view, and the particles of light that had been swarming around him winked out of existence, too.
I was left standing alone in the street.
Chapter Eighteen
I was flying over Orange County.
The wind was cold, but my thick hide kept me comfortable. I was above a smattering of clouds, and far below, Christmas lights twinkled endlessly. From up here, it was very obvious that Californians were very much into the Christmas spirit.
I angled a little higher, caught a powerful jetstream, and was hurled along at a glorious rate. My thick, leathery wings were stretched taut, and a part of me wanted to just keep on flying, endlessly, to continuously trail behind the setting sun, to live in perpetual darkness forever.
A guardian angel had professed his love for me. I suspected it was a misguided love. I suspected he was already well on his way to the dark side, that he had only used me to help facilitate the process. Whatever that process was.
And yet…
And yet, I felt his love for me. It had been real. I had seen it in his eyes, and heard it in his voice.
You can’t fake love.
Or can you?
Yet, he could have gone about it a thousand different ways, a thousand better ways. Any of which would have gotten a better response from me.
We are destined to be together, he had said.
The San Gabriel Mountains appeared in the north, and I followed the contour of the ridge-line, rising and falling with the peaks and valleys, just a few feet above the pines and snow-covered cornices. Yes, even southern California gets snow, four thousand feet up.
I suspected that Ishmael had to break his connection to me, whatever that connection was. I suspected that, as my watcher, he was bound to me as my guardian.
But once I became immortal, all bets were off.
I angled up, followed a mountainous ridge, and when the ridge dropped away, I kept angling up, flapping my wings harder and harder. Up I went, surging through vaporous clouds, blinded, until finally I broke through.
Above me was the half moon, shining brilliantly. I flew toward it, higher and higher, until ice crystals formed on my wings, until all oxygen disappeared in the air.
And there I hovered, briefly, at the far edges of our atmosphere, pondering destiny, until finally I tucked in my own wings and dove down, speeding through the night, faster than I had ever flown before…
After all, Christmas was over and I had a killer to find.
The End
Merry Christmas, everyone!
— J.R. Rain
Samantha Moon returns in
Vampire Dawn
Vampire for Hire #5
Coming January, 2012
~~~~~
Also, read all three “Vampire for Hire” short stories (along with bonus material and deleted scenes) in:
Vampire for Hire: Three Stories
Kindle or Nook
~~~~~
And coming soon:
Vampire Christmas Love Story
by H.T. Night
~~~~~
Also available in ebookstores everywhere:
Honeymoon With the Enemy
Kaitlyn’s Secrets #1
by Elaine Babich
(read on for a sample)
Chapter One
I was beginning to think I had done something stupid. I was regretting I had ever married Danny. He seemed to have changed. He was so different than the boy I had dated. I needed help, but I was in New Hampshire on my honeymoon and hoping I would make it home alive.
It all started the day after our first night together. I thought it was heavenly. We both were virgins and fumbled around a lot and laughed, but we got the job done. I can’t say I saw stars and fireworks, but I was in love, so it didn’t matter.
The next day, I started to notice the change in Danny. He was quiet and not talking. When I asked what was wrong, he snapped at me, which was out of character for him. The previous year, he had treated me so kindly when my friend was dying, that I was sort of shocked at his reaction.
The first night of our marriage, we stayed at the
And what happened next challenged my sanity. The solid man who had been standing before me, faded from view, and the particles of light that had been swarming around him winked out of existence, too.
I was left standing alone in the street.
Chapter Eighteen
I was flying over Orange County.
The wind was cold, but my thick hide kept me comfortable. I was above a smattering of clouds, and far below, Christmas lights twinkled endlessly. From up here, it was very obvious that Californians were very much into the Christmas spirit.
I angled a little higher, caught a powerful jetstream, and was hurled along at a glorious rate. My thick, leathery wings were stretched taut, and a part of me wanted to just keep on flying, endlessly, to continuously trail behind the setting sun, to live in perpetual darkness forever.
A guardian angel had professed his love for me. I suspected it was a misguided love. I suspected he was already well on his way to the dark side, that he had only used me to help facilitate the process. Whatever that process was.
And yet…
And yet, I felt his love for me. It had been real. I had seen it in his eyes, and heard it in his voice.
You can’t fake love.
Or can you?
Yet, he could have gone about it a thousand different ways, a thousand better ways. Any of which would have gotten a better response from me.
We are destined to be together, he had said.
The San Gabriel Mountains appeared in the north, and I followed the contour of the ridge-line, rising and falling with the peaks and valleys, just a few feet above the pines and snow-covered cornices. Yes, even southern California gets snow, four thousand feet up.
I suspected that Ishmael had to break his connection to me, whatever that connection was. I suspected that, as my watcher, he was bound to me as my guardian.
But once I became immortal, all bets were off.
I angled up, followed a mountainous ridge, and when the ridge dropped away, I kept angling up, flapping my wings harder and harder. Up I went, surging through vaporous clouds, blinded, until finally I broke through.
Above me was the half moon, shining brilliantly. I flew toward it, higher and higher, until ice crystals formed on my wings, until all oxygen disappeared in the air.
And there I hovered, briefly, at the far edges of our atmosphere, pondering destiny, until finally I tucked in my own wings and dove down, speeding through the night, faster than I had ever flown before…
After all, Christmas was over and I had a killer to find.
The End
Merry Christmas, everyone!
— J.R. Rain
Samantha Moon returns in
Vampire Dawn
Vampire for Hire #5
Coming January, 2012
~~~~~
Also, read all three “Vampire for Hire” short stories (along with bonus material and deleted scenes) in:
Vampire for Hire: Three Stories
Kindle or Nook
~~~~~
And coming soon:
Vampire Christmas Love Story
by H.T. Night
~~~~~
Also available in ebookstores everywhere:
Honeymoon With the Enemy
Kaitlyn’s Secrets #1
by Elaine Babich
(read on for a sample)
Chapter One
I was beginning to think I had done something stupid. I was regretting I had ever married Danny. He seemed to have changed. He was so different than the boy I had dated. I needed help, but I was in New Hampshire on my honeymoon and hoping I would make it home alive.
It all started the day after our first night together. I thought it was heavenly. We both were virgins and fumbled around a lot and laughed, but we got the job done. I can’t say I saw stars and fireworks, but I was in love, so it didn’t matter.
The next day, I started to notice the change in Danny. He was quiet and not talking. When I asked what was wrong, he snapped at me, which was out of character for him. The previous year, he had treated me so kindly when my friend was dying, that I was sort of shocked at his reaction.
The first night of our marriage, we stayed at the
Similar Books
