Rage (Scarlet Dawson Book 3) Page 22

  As we walk through the Guild, I pass a mirror, and I pause to look at myself. The person staring back at me still looks so different. My dark hair doesn’t bother me so much as seeing my pale grey eyes and my ivy vine all at the same time.

  As Bastian pulls me away, I reach into myself for the power to shift forms and still feel nothing. The empty feeling has now gone. Instead, it is replaced with nothing. Even when I get angry, which considering how clingy Bastian’s been, nothing happens. I’m completely void of any magic and I couldn’t be happier. For the first time in my life, I could almost be considered normal.

  We all climb into a Pack truck, the same one that we’d arrived in all those weeks ago. Phoenix insists on driving just to get away from his brothers, so I climb in the back with the twins.

  The minute Bastian slides into the front and Phoenix sets off, the twins both turn to me.

  “We can give you it all back?” Jackson says.

  “Every bit of power he stole—

  “Nope, not interested,” I say, cutting Trenton off.

  The car goes quiet, but I can hear Bastian’s small sigh of relief.

  “Could you give me super hearing and night vision instead?” I ask after a moment’s thought.

  “We’re not that powerful,” Jackson mutters.

  “But we are God Killers,” Trenton says loudly.

  Phoenix spews a string of curses then says, “Tell that to anyone else and I’ll kill you both myself.”

  The twins both turn to me with smiles on their faces.

  “We know you don’t mean it,” Jackson says softly.

  I sit back in my seat and watch the world go by as we drive towards The Manor, my new home. It feels weird now that Vex is gone, I wanted so much to go back to the way things were before all this started but I was no longer the same person. Before all this I wanted nothing more than to find my family, but now I was content with the people I had in my life; they were all the family I ever wanted.

  I look over at Bastian’s huge frame filing the front of the car and realise how lucky I am.

  Who am I kidding? I’ll give it at least a day before I threaten to move back into my apartment. I love the guy, but he pisses me off like no other person can.

  When we pull up to The Manor, I hop out of the car as Raven launches herself at me.

  “I’m so glad you’re alive,” she tells me as she tries to squeeze the life out of me.

  “Raven, you’ve known we were alive for weeks now,” I say, pushing her away.

  “Yes, but you weren’t here. I’ve got so much to tell you,” she says with a smirk.

  Her smile soon fades when Trenton steps up to her and says, “Raven bird.” He trails a finger down her face as Jackson steps up to her other side and mirrors the movement. The gesture seems extremely intimate. She freezes, her eyes widening as they step slightly into her body. I look over at Bastian and see he is only just emerging from the truck. When I look back, the twins step away quickly as they hear Bastian slam the door of the truck before he looks over at Raven.

  I find the interlude extremely interesting.

  Raven steps away from the crowd as if nothing has just happened. I turn away from her to see Quinn walk down the steps of The Manor, her hand splayed over a small, not that small, bump. She smiles at me as Dante walks down the steps after her throwing his arm around her shoulders and looking extremely smug.

  “Finally,” I mutter, knowing that they can all hear me.

  Jessica, Steve, Cain, and some of the others all come out to greet us too. We barely have the bags out of the truck when we’re swamped by greetings.

  Quinn taps me on the shoulder as I pull my backpack from the back of the truck. “Scarlet, I really need to talk to you. There’s something you need to know before you go inside.”

  I narrow my eyes at her as her attention moves to The Manor door.

  When I turn to follow her gaze it’s to see a small girl around four- or five-years-old running towards us. Her hair is black and her almond-shaped eyes the brightest green. I’d say she had a slightly Asian background, but her skin is as pale as Silas’s.

  The girl launches herself at me and shouts, “Mummy,” her arms locking tightly around my waist her head resting on my stomach.

  I freeze.

  “What the hell?” I say to everyone who has stopped talking to watch me.

  “I thought I asked you to wait inside,” Quinn says to the girl.

  “But I couldn’t wait,” she moans before stepping away from me and flinging herself at Bastian.

  “Daddy,” she says to him.

  He gives me a bewildered look then he sniffs slightly and his expression changes.

  “Jinx?” he says, holding her at arm’s length, studying her face.

  “No way,” I say as Quinn nods her confirmation.

  Dante walks up to me and says, “Remember how you told me I had to stop shifting in front of her because it was freaking her out. Turns out she can do it too. She’s what we Lycans call a Were. We don’t know how it happened, but the other kittens aren’t even related to her. Gerry tested them. She even ages the same as a cat, she should be an adult by the time she’s two maybe two and a half.”

  “What’s a Were?” I ask blankly as Jinx moves back over to me and attaches herself to my leg.

  “It’s an animal that can shift into a Human. We had to research it because we’ve never seen a documented case,” Quinn tells me as she strokes Jinx’s hair.

  “Congratulations, you’ve just become parents,” Raven says smugly, before pulling Jinx away and leading her into The Manor.

  Bastian moves over to me and pulls me to him, his hands resting on my hips.

  “These things only seem to happen to you, wench,” he says, his voice quiet and gravelly.

  “I have no words,” I say, still trying to process that I’d adopted a kitten and that kitten was now a child. A child that was now mine to raise.

  “I think we need a honeymoon,” Bastian says, pulling me flush to him.

  I wrap my arms around him and laugh as I rest my head against his hard chest.

  “Seriously, me and you alone together for over a week? I think I’d kill you,” I tell him as I tip my head up and look at him.

  He eyes me for a few seconds then throws his head back and laughs. “You’re right. Perhaps we can take a short break instead once we figure out this Jinx situation,” he says after planting a small kiss on my lips.

  The End.

  Authors Note

  This isn’t the end for Scarlet or Silence.

  I know I have left several things unresolved, but hopefully, you’ll stay with me over the next few books to see what’s in store for Scarlet next.

  While Sirens Call isn’t a Scarlet Dawson Novel, she will be making a few appearances.

  As for Silence, her story is far from over. Look out for Finding Serenity, a Silence Winterborn Novel.

  Acknowledgements

  A huge thank you to Jessica Allain at Enchanted Whispers Art and Graham Toseland at Fading Street Publishing. Without either of you, I wouldn’t be able to present this book as it should be.

  To Laura Snape, Debbie Brough and Rachel Wilkinson, your opinions and thoughts mean a lot to me. You’re the best beta readers anyone could ask for, especially Rachel who has been with me from the beginning.

  To my readers, thank you for supporting me on my first adventure, I sincerely hope you stay with me for many more to come.

  About the Author

  Nicola lives in Derbyshire, England with her love Lee and cat, Honey. When she’s not at work or writing her own stories, you can find her buying copious amounts of reading material to enjoy in the bath, but most of the time you’ll find her away with the Faeries or living in her own little fantasy world

  Thank you for reading!

  I hope you have enjoyed reading this book, if you can spare a minute, I would really appreciate a short review. Your reviews can help new readers discover independent authors
like myself.

  For updates and teasers on what’s coming next please visit my Facebook page, search @NicolaChadwickNovels