Vigilant (26 page)

Authors: Angel Lawson

BOOK: Vigilant

13.43Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

“You spoil me,” she said, reaching for a fork.

“You have no idea. I recorded all your favorite shows while you were gone and saved them all for when you came back. I’m dying to find out who got kicked off Survivor.”

“You did that for me?” she asked, tears welling in her eyes.

“I love you, Ari. Don’t forget it.”

“I won’t,” she said.

Snuggled next to Oliver, Ari shut out the danger and men with super powers and gifts that made no sense. She shut out the bad guys waiting for their next chance. Because if she learned anything during the past months it was that she wanted to live. She wanted to learn how to feel again, push herself and continue to help those in need.

From now on she would just do it with help.

THANK YOU

Vigilant was an interesting book for me to write. Parts of it were definitely autobiographical. Back in the day I was a juvenile probation officer in Atlanta. There was a Hope (not named Hope) who had a sugar daddy and there was an urban legend about a teenage prostitution ring. To this day I have no idea if it was a real thing or something the girls made up to get out of trouble. My brain told me it was fake. My heart worried that I was wrong.

Sadly, there was no Atlanta Vigilante. I looked Hope up not long ago on a crime website. She’s in jail for assault. I’m not surprised although I wish things were different for her and for all the others. In some ways I feel like since I couldn’t change their lives for the better maybe I could rewrite history, at least fictionally. Hence their inclusion in this book.

I am not Ari although I do have one tattoo in the shape of a star. Writing is weird because you feel like people think you’re just writing about yourself and you are but of course you aren’t. Other than the bare bones of being a caseworker and being in an armed robbery (at an auto parts store) everything else about Ari is fiction. No sneaking out late at night to bars for me. Plus I’ve never had an Oliver although I sure wish I did!

I’d like to thank Sam, of course, for making this beautiful cover and the book inside. She’s truly gifted and I’ve learned to leave our cover conversations to about three minutes long. She knows what I want even before I know what I want and that is true talent.

Thanks to my editor Claire King, my beta readers, Vanessa, Liz, Bev, Alicia and Tracie. They always push me to become a better writer. I appreciate the support of so many readers and bloggers who have supported me without hesitation. Without them I would have quit this a while ago (well, maybe. I’m a creative addict.)

Vigilant is definitely my first Urban Fantasy and my first real “Adult” novel. I didn’t even know what genre to call it when I finished it. My goal is to make Vigilant a series so don’t hate me for leaving threads loose. It was on purpose.

ABOUT ANGEL

Angel Lawson lives in Atlanta with 2 mini-superheroes, one big-superhero wannabe and a growing herd of pets. She spends her day creating art out of words, glue and glitter while chasing away zombies, serial killers and ghosts at night. She is the author of FanGirl, The Wraith Series and an adult romance, Serial Summer. The third book in the Wraith series will be released in December 2013.