Darkness Wanes (53 page)

The cantankerous woman who’d been Cori’s neighbor for years had decided to move in with her son out of state. If Bartol decided he wanted the place, it would need some work, but at least it would be cheap and mostly private. The real trick would be getting him to move into a place near Cori. He had a few weeks to think about it before the house went up for sale, though.

Emily gasped. “Oh, my God. What is he driving?”

Patrick was just coming down the driveway in a red Hummer, which had extra armor plating installed for our own peace of mind. Emily had wanted a Porsche, but we’d shot down that idea with a majority vote.

“That is your new car,” I informed her.

Her mouth dropped. “Seriously?”

Lucas and I exchanged nervous glances, waiting for her to process the news. We’d agreed if she really hated it that we’d try something else, but we hoped she’d like the Hummer.

“That is so awesome!” Emily squealed.

Taking Gabby’s hand, she raced down the gravel drive where Patrick had parked—there weren’t a lot of open spaces with so many guests around at the moment. She gave her father a hug and then stole the keys from him. Before we knew what she was doing, she and Gabby raced out of there, disappearing in a cloud of dust toward the highway.

“That didn’t go quite how I expected,” I said to Lucas.

His lips twitched. “I’d guessed she wouldn’t stay long, which is why I suggested we wait as long as possible.”

Micah appeared next to us, his band having just gone on break. “Should I go after them?”

Lucas glanced at his brother. “Not yet. I’ve already got the tracking device on, so we’ll give the girls an hour before making them come back.”

For the moment, things had calmed down in Fairbanks. No more fires, kidnappings, shootings, or anything else of an extremely violent nature. Without Grant and his group around to stir up trouble, things had become rather quiet. I didn’t expect it to last forever—humans still needed more time to adjust to supernaturals being around—but at least it meant I could let Emily go out and have some semi-unsupervised fun for one day.

Cori joined us. “I missed you giving her the Hummer, didn’t I?”

“Yep,” I said, glancing over at her. “How’d the conversation go with Bartol?”

She shrugged. “He said he’ll think about it.”

“That’s better than a flat-out no.”

“He can take it or leave it.” Cori sipped from a cup of spiked punch in her hand and stared across the lawn, not meeting my gaze. “I don’t really care.”

“Uh huh.” She cared, but she’d never admit it.

Cori’s eyes widened. “What is your cat doing?”

I followed her line of sight to the food tent. Sable was standing on one of the tables, eating all the hamburgers Derrick had just cooked on the grill. The few she didn’t eat, she tossed down to Gunner, who gobbled them up.

“I’m going to throttle her,” I said under my breath.

Cori laughed. “At least she found a new friend.”

I took off running toward the tent. As I got closer, I saw Kerbasi trying to shoo the cat away. She swiped her paw at him, and he barely missed getting hit with her claws. Of all the things to go wrong at my wedding party, I hadn’t considered this. It was then that a thought struck me, and I stopped in my tracks.

I’d faced all kinds of death and tragedy in my life—obstacles that seemed to rise to insurmountable heights. All the while, I kept wishing for normalcy, but what was it? Maybe it was a teenager running off with her best friend in her new car, or a cat stealing food from the table. Maybe it was helping friends who’d suffered tragedies.

Sure, the cat was a shape-shifter, the teenagers were a sensor and a werewolf, and the friends were all sorts of supernaturals. But if I put all that aside and only looked at them as people, perhaps I’d finally found my normalcy. One glimpse around the yard at all the smiling faces, and I knew I had something amazing here. This was my life, and I could live with it.

I turned back around and returned to Lucas.

He lifted an inquiring brow. “You’re not going to do anything?”

“Nah.” I smiled. “Let the cat have the hamburgers. It just means she won’t have room for cake.”

“I wouldn’t speak too soon,” Lucas replied, gesturing toward the house.

Olivia—unaware of the current troubles—was carrying the cake across the lawn, and Sable had almost reached her.

“Don’t you dare, you stupid cat!” Kerbasi screamed, trailing after the shape-shifter.

Micah’s daughter stumbled as Sable circled her legs and the cake teetered precariously on the tray. Olivia tried to regain her balance, but Gunner joined in the fun and stepped into her path. She fell right over him and the cake went flying directly onto Kerbasi’s Italian leather shoes. The guardian cried out, his expression filled with horror, while I stifled a laugh. I figured I’d wait an hour before telling him there was a second cake stashed away in the kitchen.

Author’s Note

I want to thank all the readers for giving the Sensor Series a chance and sticking with it to the end. As some of you may be wondering, the story isn’t quite over yet for some characters. Early next year (2017) I will be releasing the first full-length spinoff novel in the Sensor World, featuring Bartol and Cori. There will be more books to come after that with other characters. For now, Lucas and Melena’s story is closed. It doesn’t mean for a fact they’ll never get another book, but I have no plans for one at the moment. You will get to see them in the spin-offs, though, so don’t worry that they’re gone forever.

To be sure you don’t miss out on future novels, be sure to sign up for my new release alert list
here
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As a bonus for now, I’m including the holiday short story “An Unexpected Gift” at the end of this book. It was first published on
Nocturnal Book Reviews
. You’ll get to see Kerbasi, Kariann, and an all-new female character who narrates the story. On the Sensor Series timeline, it does fall after Darkness Wanes.

An Unexpected Gift

The sun set hours ago and all Brandi could think about was getting home safely. Not many people braved the streets at nine o’clock on Christmas Eve and certainly not in this weather. Her headlights fought to penetrate the heavy snow swirling in front of her car. She was used to this kind of thing after living in Alaska her whole life, but this blizzard was worse than most. It reminded her of a previous storm—one she did not want to relive again.

Brandi gripped the steering wheel harder as her vehicle briefly lost traction on the road. Conditions were getting worse and she still had several miles to go. How was she ever going to make it? If she’d had the money to replace her tires, she would have, but funds had been tight lately. That was the whole reason why she was coming home so late. She’d worked overtime at the mall in the hopes of catching up on her bills.

A porch light glowed up ahead at a recently built tavern. The place could have come straight out of the Middle Ages with its white-washed walls, dark-wood trim, and a thatched roof that somehow defied all types of weather. It sat on the outskirts of Fairbanks. Brandi had passed it a hundred times, but she’d never had any desire to stop there. Something about the tavern didn’t sit right with her. The place had an otherworldly quality to it that couldn’t be normal.

Tonight, though, it stood out like a beacon—a refuge where she could wait for the winter storm to pass. Any reservations she might have had about the tavern were dwarfed by her need to get off the road. Brandi pulled her car into the lot, managing to find an empty space without too much snow packing it. She zipped her coat up to her neck and pulled her hood over her head before pushing the door open. A cold rush of wind hit her face as soon as she got out and snow stung her eyes. Shivering, she hurried for the entrance. Bars usually weren’t her scene, but she’d make an exception tonight.

Warmth greeted her when Brandi stepped inside. She stomped the snow off her boots on the welcome mat and took a look around. Two large, lit fireplaces set at each end of the tavern made it feel cozy, along with a full house of patrons. The interior appeared just as old-fashioned as the exterior: the same white-washed walls and wooden trim as well as heavy beams running across the ceiling. Most of the lighting came from lanterns set on the tables and concealed electric lights behind the bar.

Her nose twitched at the myriad of scents—wood-smoke, beer, and sweat. There was also a hint of pine coming from the Christmas tree near the door. Overall, the atmosphere was jovial as friends talked and laughed with each other.

Brandi felt awkward and out of place. She avoided meeting anyone’s eyes as she searched for somewhere to sit. All the tables were taken and though she caught a few offers to join others, she ignored them. The voices sounded friendly enough, but something wasn’t quite right. Some sixth sense that told her that she didn’t belong and should leave.

She told herself it was only because she’d avoided being in social settings for so long that she’d forgotten what it was like. Not because she might have seen a flash of overly-sharp teeth on one man or pointed ears on another. If not for the weather, she might have run out of there right then. Instead, she headed for an empty stool near the end of the bar. The storm would pass in an hour and then she could go. She just had to keep calm and avoid drawing attention until then.

A bartender with a thick beard and eyes that reminded her of a wolf appeared to take her order. She managed to mumble a request for whatever was on tap. A moment later he brought her an overflowing mug of room-temperature ale. Brandi grimaced as she sipped it, but she didn’t dare complain.

“You’re a brave little mortal to come in here alone.” This came from a dark-haired man sitting in the next stool over.

She froze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Before Brandi could question him further, he took his drink and left for a nearby table where two women sat. It was then she realized a few too many people were staring at her. Some of them had eyes far too dark to be human. Others stood out because of the vibe of danger surrounding them.

Dear God, had she just walked into a supernatural bar? Ever since sups had made themselves public, Brandi had made a point of avoiding them, but tonight she’d been too tired and scared of the roads to worry about it. Why hadn’t she listened to her instincts when she’d first come into the place?

A tall blond woman who carried herself like she was ready for battle any minute headed toward Brandi. She had the urge to shrink into herself, but she kept her back straight and met the woman’s eyes. They were dark without a hint of color. The kind she’d heard vampires had. It was only her long blond hair falling loosely to her waist that softened her features. Brandi’s hair was almost the exact same shade, but she kept hers cut to shoulder length.

“You didn’t read the sign by the door, did you?” the female vampire asked.

“The sign?” She hadn’t noticed a sign, but she hadn’t been looking for one, either.

“Humans enter alone at their own risk.”

“Oh, I…” Brandi gave a panicked look to the front door. Could she possibly make it through the crowd without anyone stopping her? Patrons who’d appeared friendly when she’d first arrived now looked hungry. Very hungry.

“I’m Kariann,” the vampire said, giving her a smile that didn’t look quite as scary as the others.

“I’m Brandi,” she whispered.

“It’s nice to meet you, Brandi.” Kariann nodded her head. “I’m going to give you a break since it is Christmas and help you out.”

She swallowed. “Help me out? How?”

“If you want to be safe in here, you need a protector. I’ve got just the guy for the job.” Kariann’s eyes flashed with a hint of mischievous humor. There was a joke in there that Brandi had to be missing.

“I’ll just go.” She slid off her stool.

“Nonsense. You can’t leave in this weather.” Kariann took hold of Brandi’s arm and guided her toward the back corner of the room. “I’d feel guilty if something happened to you.”

“Yeah, because staying here with vampires and…other things is so safe,” Brandi said, dragging her feet in the hope it would slow Kariann down.

She’d escaped dying once before, but ever since then she’d been subconsciously waiting for round two. Not that she’d imagined getting killed by supernaturals. Her fears ran more toward winter storms and slick roads. Had she traded one kind of death for another?

“Don’t worry,” Kariann reassured her. “Part of my job is to keep the peace between humans and supernaturals. Just be glad you didn’t come on a different night when I wasn’t here.”

Brandi glanced down at the vamp’s hand on her arm. “Yeah, you’re very convincing.”

“Oh, good. You’ve got a little fire in you. That should help.”

They stopped in front of a small table where a solitary man sat. Long black hair hid his downturned face, but when he looked up, Brandi’s heart leaped into her throat. He was the most beautiful and frightening man she’d ever seen. He had pale skin with an olive tint, square jaw, large nose, and silver eyes that swirled in lazy movements like a snake’s. She had the impression he could kill her in two seconds flat and go on about his business without ever thinking of her again. Kariann wanted
this guy
to be her protector? She was doomed.