Kiera Hudson & The Adoring Artist (Kiera Hudson Series Three Book 3) (15 page)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Kiera

Sensing that I was no longer in danger from Potter, the wolf slowly retreated back into my mind. As she went, I felt my body change – shape-shift once more back into my human form. Kneeling beside Potter, I placed my hand against the side of his face. The skin beneath the hair that covered it was too hot to touch. He felt as if a fire raged deep inside of him. Would the wolf come back? If it did, would Potter be able to
push
it away again? And what if he couldn’t? Would the desire to kill me consume him again? If it did, what then? Would Potter want to kill and slaughter innocent people just like my brother Jack had? He twitched on the ground before me, like he was experiencing some violent nightmare. Would Potter win out this time? Would he ever learn to control the wolf – tame it? Because I feared that the creature that now dwelt deep inside of him would never leave without a fight – without killing him. I believed that it had been the wolf that had brought him back to life. And if I were right, what would the wolf want in return to keep its host alive? Would the wolf want Potter to kill for it?

Kneeling beside Potter, I looked back into the valley. I looked toward the hills that circled me on all sides. I watched for any signs of that white wolf. Did the ghost of Lilly Blu have a plan for Potter – a plan for the both of us? Was that why she had saved Potter’s life – brought him back from the dead? Did the wolves now have a confederate – someone like them who could infiltrate The Creeping Men? Was the white wolf’s intention for Potter to become her spy to help seek revenge against Murphy – the man who had killed her in this world? And how would Potter be able to refuse? He was now a wolf just like her – just like me. How could I ever return to The Creeping Men? How could Potter? For if they knew what we were, we would both be dead. We were now nothing more than fugitives, on the run from the people we had both once loved and still loved.

Murphy would come looking for Potter. When neither of us returned and Murphy had regained his strength, he and the rest of The Creeping Men would come in search of us. Perhaps at first they would think us hurt or injured. But how long would it take for them to grow suspicious? How soon would it be before Uri and Phebe raised the alarm that I had not returned to my room at the Crescent Moon Inn? Christ, they interrogated me about my whereabouts and plans at every opportunity.

But I couldn’t return to the inn. I couldn’t take Potter back there. The inn would be the first place that they would look. And even if it wasn’t – where could I hide a man that had become a wolf – a dangerous killer – lurking deep inside of him. Where could we both shelter safely until I had figured out what to do next? And what of Sophie? She was carrying Potter’s baby. They were soon to be married. Something told me that she would never stop looking for Potter. But where was I to hide him? I knew no one in this
where
and
when
. I had no allies and no friends. I had no safe place to run to. I couldn’t think of anywhere that I could keep Potter restrained and unable to hurt anyone until I had figured out…

…but there was somewhere. How hadn’t I seen it?

Stooping low, I heaved Potter up into my arms. The hair covering his body felt coarse. With the stars still scattered across the sky overhead, I looked up and closed my eyes. I pictured the Vampyrus in my mind. She strode forward, hair long, black, and shimmering blue. Her wings fluttered about her bare shoulders as they now did mine as I raced up into the night sky, Potter held tight against me.

I dropped out of the night, soaring low over the wall that encompassed Bastille Hall. I flew close to the ground, wanting to be unseen. Through the trees, Bastille Hall sat on the far side of the vast lawns in darkness. There were no lights burning from within and I guessed that both Ms. Heather Locke and Miss Amanda Lovecraft lay sleeping inside. The last time I had been in the woods surrounding Bastille Hall, I had been saving Miss Amanda from being taken by the creatures known as the Leshy. She was one of them and they had wanted her back. But it wasn’t the cover of the woods I was searching for. It wasn’t in the shadows that the trees offered where I planned to hide until I had figured out what to do next. I was heading for the outhouse at the edge of the treeline where Edmund Lovecraft had kept his daughter chained like a prisoner so that she couldn’t cause harm to herself or anyone else. Just as Potter now struggled with the creature that dwelt inside him, so too had Miss Amanda. She had been consumed by the Leshy. But she had learnt how to master that beast so they could share the same body and soul. Potter would now have to learn how to do the same.

Landing in the dark at the edge of the treeline, I carried Potter toward the unused outhouse. I looked back over my shoulder, just to make sure that I hadn’t been seen. When I felt sure that I had reached the outhouse undetected, I opened the door and crept inside. The bed where Miss Amanda had once been chained to by her father was still in the corner, as were the chains. Bending at the knees, I carried Potter to the bed. I laid him on it. He murmured something to me but I couldn’t quite hear what. Taking the chains, I placed them to his wrists and ankles then locked them tight. Satisfied that he was secure, I looked about the room. It was perfect. Before his death, Sir Edmund Lovecraft had covered the windows with wooden boards and they were still fixed firmly in place. No one would be able to see in. I looked down at the hatch in the floor that led to the tunnel which in turn led back up into Miss Amanda’s bedroom. I doubted that she still used the secret passageway. Why would she ever want to return to the place where she was held captive like an animal for so long? Surely that horrific chapter in her life was closed forever.

I turned around at the sound of chains rattling and looked back at the bed. Potter was sitting up, his back against the stone wall. His eyes shone bright again and he was grinning. But it wasn’t like any grin I’d ever seen on Potter’s face. This grin looked cruel and unkind.

“You were wise to chain me up, Kiera,” he said, his voice a low snarl. “But you can’t keep me chained up here forever. And when you do set me free, the first thing I’m going to do is to rip your fucking heart out.”

With his eyes burning into mine in the darkness, Potter released a cruel and heartless chuckle. And in his crazy and wild looking eyes, I could see the pain and the misery he wanted to cause me. I could see him slowly torturing me, I could see him…

I looked away. I couldn’t bear to look into Potter’s eyes and see the brutal death he had planned for me. 

To be continued…

‘Kiera Hudson & The Secret Identity’

(Kiera Hudson Series Three) Book 4

Coming Soon!

Pre-order now from:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.ca

Amazon.au

Want to read more about Jack Seth in his
pushed
world, flip the page to read the first three chapters from ‘Hollow Pit’ (The Jack Seth Trilogy) Part One!

Hollow Pit

(The Jack Seth Trilogy)

Book One

BY

Tim O’Rourke

Copyright 2013 by Tim O’Rourke

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organisations is entirely coincidental.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Story Editor (Hacker)

Lynda O’Rourke

Book cover designed by:

Tom O’Rourke

Copyedited by:

Carolyn M. Pinard

[email protected]

For Jack’s Fans!

Authors Note

After the publication of
‘Dead Push’ (Kiera Hudson Series Two) Book 7
, I was surprised by the number of emails I received asking if that was the end for Jack Seth. I honestly had no idea how many people really enjoyed reading about him. Ever since he made his first appearance in
‘Vampire Hunt’ (Kiera Hudson Series One) Book 3
, I had always enjoyed writing about him. I enjoyed the character so much that I decided to have him play a major role in ‘
Kiera Hudson Series Two’
. I think Jack is one of those characters you either love or hate – or perhaps it’s more a case that you
hate
to
love
him. He really is a despicable guy with very few redeeming qualities – but there is something about him – and like all those people who emailed me or left messages on facebook – I wasn’t quite sure if I’d had enough of Jack either. I wanted more Jack too!

There are several characters, in both
Kiera Hudson Series,
I enjoy writing more about than others (although like my own three sons, I love them all equally, but perhaps for different reasons). Some of those characters I have wanted to take further and look more into their backgrounds and understand them better. I have certainly taken that opportunity with the novellas I have written about Potter. So, as I wrote the last few lines for Jack Seth in
‘Dead Push’
, I had the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that there were more stories about Jack that I could tell – his story wasn’t quite told. I had explored his past in great detail in
‘Dead Seth (Kiera Hudson Series Two) Book 4
– but what about his future? Where would he go, who would he meet and what would he do once he had strayed away from that railway station at the end of
‘Dead Push’
? I had to know and I guess some of you did too.

I didn’t want to take Jack back into the current Kiera Hudson Series and he didn’t want to go back either. He was quite glad he had been
pushed
. I think we both felt that he had done all he could in that particular layer. Jack felt he left the series on a positive note after trying his very best to redeem himself. But for me that was his story – his further redemption was in his future and not in his past. So, Jack would move on into a different
where
and
when
from the other characters in the Kiera Hudson Series.

So this novella is the first part of Jack Seth’s search for redemption and to finally rid himself of the Lycanthrope curse that has plagued his soul since he was just a boy. That has been his struggle, his demon and his story. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why so many people out there like him so much, despite his horrendous flaws - because we all struggle with our own demons every day of our lives. Jack just struggles more than most.

I have tried to write this novella so that if this is your first visit to Kiera Hudson’s world (this is just a thin slice of it) you will be able to enjoy this story without having to have read any of the previous books. For those Kiera Hudson junkies out there who just can’t get enough (and that is probably the demon you’re struggling with) there are certain things you will read and notice in this novella that I hope will give you a real kick and a knowing smile.

Either way, I wanted to thank you for reading this book (what would be the point in writing any of them if I didn’t have you guys to share them with) but most of all, I really hope you enjoy reading further stories about our anti-hero, Jack Seth, as he explores this new
where
and
when
.

Take care and keep
pushing

Tim O’Rourke