Jaxson's Song

Jaxson’s Song

by

Angie West

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any
resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Cover: Angie West. All
models and stock images from freedigitalphotos.net, and Suwit
Ritjaroon.

Copyright© 2014 Angie West

Published at Smashwords

All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without
written permission.

The Shadows
Trilogy

Shadow Cave

Return to the Shadows

Shadow Borne

The Fifth Hour

Incubus

Spirit of the Wolf

Jaxson’s Song

Chapter One

A Dubious
Beginning

K
ate
Delaney took a good look at her
future…and decided that she didn’t want to live.

The last eight months had
been bad enough, but this…this was the last straw. Kate eyed the
ugly, spindly, yellow-and-cream Victorian with disbelief. She
couldn’t live here, she just absolutely couldn’t.

She had to.

This hard knowledge rose
above the shock and shoved its way to the forefront of her mind; if
she wanted to put Lilly through school, the two of them would have
to live in this creepy, sagging, yellow…thing.

“
It’s got potential.”

Lindsey’s voice broke
through Kate’s distress. Potential? Kate glanced at her best friend
before casting a skeptical eye over the house. The potential to
fall down, maybe…

She turned a half step to
the left, toward the taller of the two women who silently flanked
her on the cracked, crumbling sidewalk.

“
You’re sure this place is sound?” she asked. Stability wasn’t
the first word that came to mind when she looked at the
house.

Her cousin Olivia nodded.
“Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

“
The inspection report was good, really?” Kate absently
twisted the gold ring around on her thumb and cocked her head to
one side. Next she tried squinting, but the house still looked like
crap.

“
The file’s in the car,” Olivia confirmed, rummaging in her
square-shaped, plum leather bag and coming up with a tissue that,
much like the house, looked like it had seen better days. “This
place is free of mold, fungus, and asbestos. Dining room and foyer
contain lead paint, but it’s intact. Half of the roof is fifteen
years old, but the furnace and water heater were new in 2008,” she
recited from memory, in full lawyer mode now.

“
Half of the roof? Hey, are you okay?”

“
Allergies.” Olivia smothered another sneeze. “Apparently, six
years ago, Aunt Viola had half of the roof replaced. Not an
uncommon practice for an older woman on a budget, I’m told.” She
shrugged and tucked the Kleenex back into her purse, then closed
the bag with a swift snap. “Well, are you ready to go
inside?”

“
I…” Kate caught her bottom lip between her teeth and shook
her head. “Go on without me, please. I’ll catch up in a
minute.”

Olivia reached out an
ivory, manicured hand and squeezed Kate’s arm, briefly, before
nodding and heading for the house. Lindsey hung back, hitching her
brown leather satchel higher onto her shoulder and inching closer
to Kate.

“
It’s free?”

It was posed as a
question, in typical Lindsey fashion. Kate knew exactly what her
friend was getting at; Lindsey wasn’t asking if the house was free,
she was aware Kate had inherited the place. This was her attempt to
help Kate focus on the brighter side of the situation. And it
worked, sort of.

“
Well,” Kate sighed. “There is that.”

“
You don’t have to go in there, you know.” Lindsey wound the
thick, pliant leather purse strap around one tan finger. Iridescent
pink polish caught the combined light from the bright, late
afternoon sun and the street lamps that were just beginning to kick
on. “Not yet, anyway. Come back to Georgia tonight. You can sign
the papers, then we’ll pick up Lilly and head back home tonight.
You’ve got, what, another three weeks before the fall semester
starts, right?”

“
Two and a half.” Kate’s lips curved wistfully. “Thanks,
Linds, but I can’t. I’m supposed to be at the hospital
tonight.”

“
Already?” Lindsey groaned, visibly dismayed.

Kate nodded. “One of the
nurses went on emergency sick leave. They called the hotel last
night and asked me to fill in. I couldn’t really afford to say no,
so…” She shrugged, letting the rest of the sentence hang in the air
between them. Neither needed a reminder of Kate and Lilly’s current
less-than-ideal financial situation.

“
Okay…well, in that case, we’d better get this over with, so
you can catch a few hours’ sleep before your shift. If you’re sure,
I mean? Because you and Lilly can stay with me; You’re my best
friend, and I feel like Lilly is my little sister, too. You know
that. I’ll make room. We’ll get by.”

Moisture stung Kate’s
eyes. She blinked rapidly to clear her vision and pulled Lindsey
into a quick embrace, accepting that neither Olivia nor Lindsey
intended to let her have those coveted “alone” minutes right now.
It was probably just as well. Dwelling on the hours, days, and
weeks ahead was probably a pointless waste of time.

“
Thanks, Linds, but no, we can’t. Besides, everything is
already set up here and…it’s what Mama would have wanted, for Lilly
and me to be more or less financially stable. For Lilly to finish
school. It’s what Mama would have done if she were here. We will be
fine,” she said, raising her chin a couple of notches and narrowing
her violet eyes.

“
If you change your mind…”

“
I won’t,” she said automatically, then gave a quick smile in
order to erase the hurt look from her friend’s face. “I won’t need
to change my mind, because everything will be okay.
Promise.”

“
Then let’s do this, eh?” She held out one arm, which Kate
accepted, laughing a little as they made their way up the broken
sidewalk.

“
So, how many words do you think there are for
‘
run down’?” Kate asked,
slowly getting into the spirit of her friend’s
enthusiasm.

“
Hmm.” Caramel-hued skin glistened in the fading sunlight and
one finger tapped plump, pink lips as she seemed to devote great
consideration to Kate’s query. “Definitely
‘
established neighborhood,’” she
giggled.

“
Too easy,” Kate scolded. “Olivia already gave us that
one.”

“
Oh, right, right. Okay…
‘
urban.’”

“
Yeah, but not always.”

“
Most of the time, which is close enough,” Lindsey argued
good-naturedly, her flip-flops slapping against the faded, white
porch. “Fine, then…distressed.”

“
Ghetto,” Kate countered, squinting at the abrupt change from
light to dark, hot to cold, as they entered the dusty
foyer.

“
Neglected, impoverished.”

“
Slum.”

“
It’s not that bad.”

“
No, but it’s damn creepy,” Kate said, rubbing her hands up
and down her arms, referring to the house now. “Wow.” One hand came
up to rest against faded, antique rose-and-stem wallpaper, and the
other tucked a wayward section of tawny hair behind her ear. “This
is just…eerie.” She moved her head left then right, for a panoramic
view.

“
A little. Probably because it’s got that whole musty,
abandoned thing going for it right now. I could stay, we could pick
up Lilly, grab an early dinner after this, and you could go sleep
while Lil and I fix the place up a little. You know, replace light
bulbs, open windows.” She shivered again. “Jeez, why’s it so cold
in here?”

“
No, not that,” Kate murmured, leaving the foyer behind and
taking a few tentative steps into what looked like an old-fashioned
sitting room. “Look at this place…”

“
Yeah,” Lindsey walked ahead a few paces and trailed one hand
along the wine-and-cream colored floral print sofa. Delicate dull
gold buttons marched up the arm rests, its faded splendor matching
the rest of the room. “It’s not that bad. This stuff is actually
kind of pretty.” She frowned. “I’d expected the inside to look even
worse than the outside.”

“
So did I. But it looks like time hasn’t touched this place
in…” Kate blinked and shook her head. “At least fifteen years,” she
finally said, drinking in the grimy, pink-champagne Tiffany lamps
which framed the same settee that had graced the same corner of the
room the last time she’d been in this house.

“
The place looks like all it needs is a good cleaning,”
Lindsey repeated. “And as it just so happens, I’m free tonight.”
She smiled, bumping her hip lightly against Kate’s side.

“
Thanks, but no, you’ll miss work tomorrow if you stay
tonight.”

“
So?”

“
I’m fine, Linds. Really.” Kate gave her friend a small smile
as they left the sitting room and ventured down the long, central
hall off the entry foyer.

“
Okay, okay. I give up. But if you need me, you’d better call
or text, or e-mail. Hell, send smoke signals if you have
to.”

Kate snorted and led the
way up the stairs. “Smoke signals? Let’s hope it doesn’t come to
that. Livi!” she called.

“
Up here! In the back bedroom!”

She picked up the pace,
glad she’d opted for sneakers versus heels that morning. The
staircase was huge, wide enough for Kate and Lindsey to walk side
by side, and it was long, easily twenty steps to the second
floor.

A memory flashed through
Kate’s mind. Her and Lilly as children, legs stretching wide as
they took each deep step, childish voices keeping count as they
climbed.
Twenty-six
. The answer came to
Kate suddenly as they reached the second-floor landing. Lilly’s
raspy childhood soprano echoed through the more remote corners of
her mind. There were twenty-six steps here.

The second floor was even
colder than the first…

“
I’m over here, ladies.” Olivia’s muffled voice carried
faintly down the hall.

“
Either the AC in this place is top notch, or the house is
well-insulated,” Lindsey remarked, mirroring Kate’s thoughts and
shivering a little. “Who would have known we’d need sweaters in
Florida?” she teased, turning left, toward the sound of Olivia’s
voice.

They found the blonde on
all fours, crawling the perimeter of the bedroom at the end of the
hall.