Echo Into Darkness: Book 2 in The Echo Saga (Teen Paranormal Romance) (36 page)

Mr. McCabe placed his hand on my shoulder. "The Mutila is scattered to the winds, but I believe Keenan and Jaxon survived. They'll be setting up somewhere else, but this will take time. The other factions in your country don't know about you. You are safe for now." He kissed me on the forehead.

I breathed a sigh of relief. This small assurance was what I needed to move on. I found his kind eyes. "Keenan wasn't the one who destroyed Feller Industries, was he?"

Mr. McCabe's mouth curled ever so slightly, that same way Connor's did when he was holding something back. "I'll see you in West Region, my dear."

He glittered and disappeared.

Back inside, Connor and I climbed the stairs to the third floor. When we got to my bedroom, I went straight to the portrait. All the foreign marks that had resembled bruising and cuts were gone. Connor was fine, and now the portrait was returned to its normal state. It had been transmitting his physical condition after all.

"Hey, Connor?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you notice anything odd about that portrait you have of me in your room? I mean, since we've been separated?" I was curious to know if it had been transmitting any physical changes, the way Connor's had to me.

He gave me a guilty look. "I had to put it away for a while. I couldn't look at it after my dad cut us off. Why?"

"No reason," I said.

Connor sat on my bed with his back against the wall. I sat between his long legs and leaned into his chest.

"Are you going to be okay after I go home?" He brushed hair away from my temple, running his fingers through the strands.

"As well as expected."

The healers in West Region had fixed my body, but my psyche would have to heal itself, and that would take time. It would be a while before I slept through the night, before the nightmares faded. Before sudden noises didn't make my heart pound.

Connor shifted and something crinkled underneath him. He pulled an envelope out from under his hips. "Whoops, hope this wasn't fragile."

My name was written on the outside, four simple letters scrawled in red ink. I recognized the handwriting and tore into it. A USB flash drive fell onto the bed. I read the enclosed note:

These are the kids Keenan is looking for.

You have to warn them.

I knew you were the one who could help us.

Gianna

"Connor."

"I see it."

"We have to find these kids. We have to stop Keenan and Jaxon for good."

"I know. We will. But can we take the night off?" He gave a brave smile, meant to hide the strain in his voice. He would need time to heal, too. For every one of my emotional scars, I imagined he had ten.

I answered with a tender kiss. Wove my fingers into his jet-black hair. His tongue tickled mine, and he jerked back. His expression was a mix of pleasure and shock.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

He slid his hand under my shirt and felt my bare back. "Oh, wow," he said.

"What?"

"You can't feel it? Your skin is tingling."

"It is?" I touched my arm but didn't pick up the sensation.

"It must be from using the portal. I thought I was the only one that happened to," he said.

"Is that good? Bad?"

"It is incredibly sexy." Connor closed his mouth over mine and for one glorious moment, I felt what it was like to be suspended in time, tangled in an infinite loop of happiness, merging with the missing part of my soul.

This was what forever felt like.

I was ready for it.

THE END

COMING IN 2015:

BOOK 3 OF THE ECHO SAGA

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Keep reading to enjoy this book’s Bonus Material.

*******

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed
Echo Into Darkness
. If you did, I hope that you:

Spread the word.
Post a review telling others why you enjoyed this story.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you, sweet Chuck, for your never-ending support.

A very special thank you to my core readers, Rachel Bennett, Stefan Feuerherdt

and Dirk Ohling. I could not have written this book without your help.

And thank you Val and Christy, for lighting the way.

One day, everyone will understand.

Echo Into Darkness

Bonus Materials

Skye Genaro's Echo Into Darkness Playlist

Sample Pages from Four First Kisses

About the Author

Skye Genaro's Echo Into Darkness Playlist

"Take Off" by Side FX. This instrumental only song sets the tone for this book.

"Cold Hearted" by Paula Abdul. There's only one contender for this song, and you can guess who this is.

"Toy Soldiers" by Marika. Even though this song is about addiction, the lyrics remind me of Gianna and her struggle to comply with her life in the Mutila.

"Come Undone" by Duran Duran. This song gets me in touch with Echo's fight to hold onto the person she believes she is.

"Dark Side" by Kelly Clarkson. This speaks to the struggle Echo goes through when she feels herself turning to the dark side, leaving love behind.

"Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" by U2. If Connor picked a song for Echo to help counter her darkness, I can see him choosing this one.

"Clarity" by Zedd ft Foxxes. This song embodies Echo and Connor's love.

***Sample Pages from Four First Kisses, an Echo Across Time short story***

Four First Kisses

An
Echo Across Time
Short Story

by Skye Genaro

Also by Skye Genaro:

Echo Across Time, Book 1 in the Echo Saga

Echo Into Darkness, Book 2 in The Echo Saga

After the Dance, an Echo Across Time short story

Anything She Wants

Supernatural Summer

Copyright © 2014 by Skye Genaro

Cover design by Carol's Cover Designs
http://www.carolcoversdesign.com/

In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author is unlawful piracy and theft of the author's intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the author at [email protected], or http://skyegenaro.com.

Thank you for your support of the author's rights.

This story is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Introduction:

In
Echo Across Time
, Echo promises she'll give Becca a ride to McKyla's party, but when Echo doesn't show up, Becca goes without her. What choice does she have? Lucas is going to be there, and Becca is convinced this is the night they'll kiss for the first time. But as she gets closer to the big moment, boys she used to date are popping up everywhere, and her plans are nearly derailed.

*******

Echo and I are officially splitsville. She promised to pick me up for McKyla's party after she and Connor got back from one of their weird mystery dates, and now she's a no-show. She even went all out and gave me her
I know I've let you down in the past and I seriously owe you!
promises.

Now it's almost nine o'clock and I'm stuck at home without a ride. I tried to text her, of course. Four times.

You're coming, right?

My soulmate is waiting!

Where are you??!!

And when I knew she'd abandoned me:

Found a ride. You. Suck.

Echo didn't respond, not even once. How hard is it to stop sucking your boyfriend's face and shoot a text to your now-former BFF?

Enough about her. Tonight is all about McKyla's party. Not because I'm testing a new Wiccan love potion but because Lucas Mill is going to be there.

I cannot get enough of Lucas. All last week, he waited for me outside Advanced Biology, and we've been sitting next to each other in Civics. We've found out we're so much alike it's scary:

We both eat Dijon mustard on our French fries, never ketchup.

We both got the same questions wrong on our last Civics test, giving the same wrong answers.

We both had a lisp when we started kindergarten and went to the same speech therapist. (That's some serious serendipity, right there.)

We went to the same elementary school but never knew each other, even though our parents were friends at the time.

There's only one good reason for all these coincidences: Lucas Mill is my soulmate.

And tonight I am going to kiss him.

I found a ride to McKyla's with Allison Murray. She's one of my clients and I like her a lot, even though she never pays me outright. The last time I gave her a potion, she tried to barter for it by giving me the boots right off her feet. As if I wanted to wear secondhand boots, and what was she going to do, walk barefoot through school the rest of the day? She's a good chick, though, and I was happy for the ride.

McKyla's driveway is jammed by the time we get to her house, and Allison has to circle the block before we find a place to park. When we walk in the house, my eardrums start to throb. Sak Noel is roaring from the speakers, and I get psyched because Lucas loves Sak Noel. Meeting up with a guy for the first time always makes me feel heady, like anything could happen. Now I'm walking into the crowd, looking for my soulmate, listening to the perfect soundtrack.

McKyla's house is enormous—two stories plus a basement rec room—and is spread out like a maze. Kids are packed in as thick as a mosh pit and I silently curse myself for not wearing super tall heels. I'm so short, I can't see beyond the t-shirts right in front of me.

"I see Katie and Elaine. You want to come?" Allison shouts and waves toward her friends. Everyone has to scream at the top of their lungs just to hold a conversation.

"I'm supposed to meet someone," I say and take off into the crowd. I duck under flailing arms—somebody's idea of dancing—and head to the stairs leading to the second floor.

I stop halfway up. From up here, I can see over the crowd. Lucas should be easy to spot, not just because he's well over six feet tall, but because looking across the room is like looking down at one of those world maps, where each country is printed a different color. Except here the countries are cliques, each occupying their own sector, careful not to bleed across each others' borders.

The Emos hang together in band t-shirts, showing off their newest piercings, dancing slow and moody to the fast beat. Like they're being all contradictory or ironic or something. The football team huddles close enough to elbow-jab one another, but not so close to touch; that would be weird. The stoners move together as one mind, peeling away from the crowd, digging out glass pipes and lighting up before they get to the back door.

Looking out over all the kids and their people, and their people's people, all linked tight as a chain fence, I can't help but worry Lucas maybe decided not to come. Rumors would fly about how Becca Kendrick, the freaky Wiccan chick, had crashed the party and was spotted standing alone staring at the tops of everyone's heads.

A group of guys spills out of an adjacent room. There, in the sea of baseball caps, one stands a head taller than the rest. Dark hair sprouts out the back of his cap. Lucas's head pops up like he knows he's being watched. He sees me on the stairs and smiles, and something in my chest does a little fluttery dance.

Lucas weaves through the masses until he's on the other side of the banister. From my perch, I'm looking at the top of his cap. He has to tilt his head back to talk.

"Hulu has lice!" he shouts.

I shake my head. "What?"

He shouts the same, nonsensical words, and when it's clear I have no clue what he's trying to say, he does the sweetest thing. He cups his hand around the back of my neck and pulls me close so he's talking right into my ear. "You look nice."