You cant go home again, p.22
You Can't Go Home Again, page 22
part #3 of Liars and Vampires Series
“Hey, why don’t we plan to have a video chat like, once a week or something? Pick a night that works for both of us,” I suggested. “I could show you my room, our house. Take you around the town. Let you see some palm trees.”
Gen’s eyes lit up. “Oh my gosh. See something other than mountains and hills? I might not be able to handle that.”
After another round of hugs, an increasingly emotional goodbye that I was struggling to keep under wraps—
“We’ve got to move, Cassie,” said Iona.
My stomach sank. Of course. Dawn was coming. These guys needed to get someplace safe.
“We’ll talk soon,” I said to Gen, tears burning my eyes. “I promise.”
She grinned. “You better.” Extricating myself from her hug—the hardest thing I’d done tonight, by far—I turned to Lockwood. “She’s all yours.”
He smiled. “Thank you, Miss Cassandra.” He stepped forward, placed a hand on my shoulder, and then extended his free hand to me. It was balled around something. He looked expectant.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Something I … procured. Off of your friend. When she and I got in a tussle. It fell off her wrist when she ran. I picked it up … thought you might like to have it.”
Inside his hands was a simple silver bracelet. It had the letter J inscribed on the small silver heart dangling from it.
My fingers curled over it and I held it to my chest.
“Thank you, Lockwood.”
I reached up and threw my arms around his neck.
He hugged me back.
“And thank you for taking Gen home. And getting me here. And saving my life, like, what … three times?”
He shook his head. “It was nothing.”
“And I’m sorry …” I said. “I … don’t care what you are, that you aren’t human …”
“No offense taken, Miss Cassandra.” His eyes sparkled.
I moved my attention onto Iona, who was standing beside the window, peering over her shoulder out into the waning night.
“Hey …” I said slowly.
“Hey,” she said. She did not turn to face me.
“I just …” I started. Suddenly, words didn’t seem sufficient enough. “Thank you,” I said finally. “For everything.”
“You’re welcome.” No emotion.
“When are you guys heading back to Florida?”
“Tonight,” she said. A little flicker of irritation creased her eyebrow, for only a moment. It was a long drive, I supposed, and she’d be spending trunk time with Mill again, which was hardly her favorite activity.
“Where are you going to stay?” I asked.
“Someplace dark, I hope,” she said. “I think Lockwood booked an AirBnB for us. Some place with a spacious basement.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m looking forward to not sleeping in a basement. Or a trunk.” She shook her head. “My adventures with you really are the worst. Daylight and fire and trunks with lunkheads.” She jerked her head toward Mill, who was a scowling only a little at her.
“I can totally understand that,” I said. She’d been through a lot for me.
I glanced over at Mill again, and caught him staring at me.
“Oh, go talk to him,” Iona said, tossing her silvery hair over her shoulder. “We don’t need to sit here and make painful small talk. It’s done, we won. Go … play or whatever.”
I looked her in the eyes, trying to really convey my thanks. “I am grateful for you, for your help. I hope you know that.”
She rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “Go.”
Very aware of everyone trying to not look at Mill and me as I stepped over to him, I shrugged my shoulders. I don’t know why.
“So …” I said.
“So,” he repeated.
And then I stood on my tiptoes, ignoring the pain in my legs as I stretched the muscles and burnt skin, and kissed him.
For a third kiss, I still felt every touch, every beat of my heart, every starburst in my mind.
“I’ll see you soon …” I told him in a low voice. “I promise. When you get back …” My heart sank. “And I’m done being grounded. So … two hundred years? That’s ‘soon’ to vampires, right?”
He smirked and planted another kiss on my forehead. “I’ll be waiting.”
I turned to the others. “That goes for the rest of you. Once my grounding is done …”
Gen laughed. “If your mom doesn’t kill you.”
She wasn’t wrong.
I watched with growing sadness as they all clambered into the stolen Lexus … borrowed, as Lockwood kept reminding me; he intended to return it as soon as Mill and Iona were down for their rest.
My Uber driver showed up at the exact time that Lockwood had ordered. I handed the driver a twenty, telling her that she could keep the change.
I watched my little hometown out of the window of the car as Ariana Grande played on the radio. I missed this place, I really did.
But now … there was something else there. Pride? A protectiveness?
I had saved the town. We had saved it, really. These people, who had not known the true danger they were in, were all safe now. Soon they’d realize that those crazy Eurotrash people who were causing such havoc in town were gone.
Life could return to normal.
All those except the families of those who were lost.
My throat tightened.
We had avenged them, though. Damn it, but we had.
Their families would never know, of course … but it had to count for something. All of this did.
The bed and breakfast appeared all too quickly, nestled in some trees along a quieter part of town, overlooking the lake. It was a beautiful place, and I had walked by a thousand times but never stayed there.
I thanked my driver in a fog, and made my way inside. The receptionist gave me directions to the right room—13—and I climbed the stairs, my dread growing, turning me more and more leaden with every step … down the hall …
Then I stood before it, in a wood-paneled corridor with trodden-flat blue carpet—knocking—
The door was yanked open.
She stared at me, fire and fury written all over her expression.
“Hi, Mom.”
Chapter 40
I liked to read. I always had, ever since I was a kid. But it was something that was a lot more fun to do when I had the choice to do it. Not when it was literally the only thing available to me.
I sighed, lying back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling.
The steady hum of the air conditioner running through the house was the only indication that time was actually moving.
Somehow, almost a week had passed since our return from New York. After the worst fight I had ever had with my mom in my life—perhaps even more epic in its horrificness than the confrontation on the night my lying came out—she’d ushered me to the airport and we got on a plane, where she ignored me the entire trip.
I got the same speeches from Dad when we got home. Everyone was mad. Everyone was disappointed.
But I had saved the day, yet again. I held onto that truth and took the brunt of their assaults with as much humility as I could.
A month’s grounding without my phone seemed like a weak punishment, but it wasn’t until that she told me I’d be confined to my room whenever I was home that I realized I was basically locked in jail. I was allowed to come out to use the bathroom and eat. Nothing else. I was just zoning out, ready to fall asleep out of sheer boredom rather than sleepiness, when—
Tap-tap.
The window.
I glanced at my clock. It was almost midnight.
Wow, more time had passed than I had thought. Iona’s moonlight blonde hair swayed in the wind, waiting for me just outside the pane. I slid open the window and the warm night air rushed in.
“Good to see that you’re still alive,” she said, assessing me with sad, icy blue eyes.
“Yeah, it’s been a bit of an interesting week…” I said, smiling. “No phone, no internet, no TV, no mercy. Glad to see you’re home and well. Staying out of trunks and basements.”
Her eyes glimmered. “It’s good to be back.”
I heard that. As much as I had hated Florida, as close as it brought me to Draven, it had been comforting to be back. “Sooo … what brings you to my window tonight?”
Iona stiffened. “I hadn’t heard from you.”
“Haven’t had a phone. Except during school hours.”
“Ah,” she said, looking past me to the bed. “What are you reading?”
I followed her gaze to my book resting there. “Little Women.” Her eyes kind of lit up. “You read it?”
“A long time ago,” Iona said, in a misty, far-off sort of voice. When she was alive, I took that to mean. “Do you like it?”
“It’s all right,” I said. “Not quite in the modern style.”
She nodded, once, a little sadly. “Well. I suppose I should go.” Her cool gaze flicked up to me. “I just wanted to check in on you. Make sure you were … all right.”
“Mom didn’t kill me,” I said, “though I’m pretty sure she thought about it, because her eyes? Way scarier than any of the vampires we fought in New York.”
Iona didn’t even crack a smile. “I should go,” she said again.
And I realized …
“Hey, Iona?”
She stopped, halfway to turning to leave.
“…Would you like to come in?” I asked, tentative.
She looked at me, utterly stiff, not a hint of emotion anywhere on her pale face.
“Maybe … braid my hair?” I asked, feeling like I was just throwing things out there in hopes she didn’t slap them back in my face. “Or … or…talk about boys?”
She just stared back, unspeaking. I worried she was going to just say, “No,” and turn and drop off the rooftop into the night, because she was Iona and of course she wouldn’t be interested in doing any of those stupid, little girly things I’d just suggested—
But then she smiled.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I would.”
And I stepped back from the sill to let her in.
Cassie Howell Will Return in
Lies in the Dark
Liars and Vampires, Book 4
Coming July 17th, 2018!
Get it here!
Author’s Note
Thanks for reading! If you want to know immediately when future books become available, take sixty seconds and sign up for my NEW RELEASE EMAIL ALERTS by CLICKING HERE. I don’t sell your information and I only send out emails when I have a new book out. The reason you should sign up for this is because I don’t always set release dates, and even if you’re following me on Facebook (robertJcrane (Author)) or Twitter (@robertJcrane), it’s easy to miss my book announcements because … well, because social media is an imprecise thing.
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Cheers,
Robert J. Crane
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Editing and formatting was handled expertly by Nick Bowman of nickbowman-editing.com. Sarah Barbour did another heavy editing run through, with a final proofing pass by Lillie of lilliesls.wordpress.com. Many thanks to all of them.
Once again, the illustrious illustrator Karri Klawiter produced the cover. artbykarri.com is where you can find her amazing works.
Thanks to the great Kate Hasbrouck, my co-author (yeah, her name's not Lauren – there are reasons, we'll talk about it someday), who has been a wonderful collaborator.
And thanks as always to my family—wife, parents, in-laws and occasionally my kids—for keeping a lid on the craziness so I can do this job.
Other Works by Robert J. Crane
World of Sanctuary
Epic Fantasy
Defender: The Sanctuary Series, Volume One
Avenger: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Two
Champion: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Three
Crusader: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Four
Sanctuary Tales, Volume One - A Short Story Collection
Thy Father’s Shadow: The Sanctuary Series, Volume 4.5
Master: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Five
Fated in Darkness: The Sanctuary Series, Volume 5.5
Warlord: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Six
Heretic: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Seven
Legend: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Eight
Ghosts of Sanctuary: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Nine
Call of the Hero: The Sanctuary Series, Volune Ten* (Coming Late 2018!)
A Haven in Ash: Ashes of Luukessia, Volume One (with Michael Winstone)
A Respite From Storms: Ashes of Luukessia, Volume Two (with Michael Winstone)
A Home in the Hills: Ashes of Luukessia, Volume Three* (with Michael Winstone—Coming Mid to Late 2018!)
The Girl in the Box
and
Out of the Box
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
Alone: The Girl in the Box, Book 1
Untouched: The Girl in the Box, Book 2
Soulless: The Girl in the Box, Book 3
Family: The Girl in the Box, Book 4
Omega: The Girl in the Box, Book 5
Broken: The Girl in the Box, Book 6
Enemies: The Girl in the Box, Book 7
Legacy: The Girl in the Box, Book 8
Destiny: The Girl in the Box, Book 9
Power: The Girl in the Box, Book 10
Limitless: Out of the Box, Book 1
In the Wind: Out of the Box, Book 2
Ruthless: Out of the Box, Book 3
Grounded: Out of the Box, Book 4
Tormented: Out of the Box, Book 5
Vengeful: Out of the Box, Book 6
Sea Change: Out of the Box, Book 7
Painkiller: Out of the Box, Book 8
Masks: Out of the Box, Book 9
Prisoners: Out of the Box, Book 10
Unyielding: Out of the Box, Book 11
Hollow: Out of the Box, Book 12
Toxicity: Out of the Box, Book 13
Small Things: Out of the Box, Book 14
Hunters: Out of the Box, Book 15
Badder: Out of the Box, Book 16
Nemesis: Out of the Box, Book 17
Apex: Out of the Box, Book 18
Time: Out of the Box, Book 19
Driven: Out of the Box, Book 20
Remember: Out of the Box, Book 21* (Coming July 3, 2018!)
Hero: Out of the Box, Book 22* (Coming September 2018!)
Flashback: Out of the Box, Book 23* (Coming November 2018!)
Walk Through Fire: Out of the Box, Book 24* (Coming in 2019!)
Southern Watch
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
Called: Southern Watch, Book 1
Depths: Southern Watch, Book 2
Corrupted: Southern Watch, Book 3
Unearthed: Southern Watch, Book 4
Legion: Southern Watch, Book 5
Starling: Southern Watch, Book 6
Forsaken: Southern Watch, Book 7* (Coming August 7, 2018!)
Hallowed: Southern Watch, Book 8* (Coming Late 2018/Early 2019!)
The Shattered Dome Series
(with Nicholas J. Ambrose)
Sci-Fi
Voiceless: The Shattered Dome, Book 1
Unspeakable: The Shattered Dome, Book 2* (Coming 2018!)
The Mira Brand Adventures
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
The World Beneath: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 1
The Tide of Ages: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 2
The City of Lies: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 3
The King of the Skies: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 4
The Best of Us: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 5
We Aimless Few: The Mira Brand Adventures, Book 6* (Coming in 2018!)
Liars and Vampires
(with Lauren Harper)
Contemporary Urban Fantasy
No One Will Believe You: Liars and Vampires, Book 1
Someone Should Save Her: Liars and Vampires, Book 2
You Can’t Go Home Again: Liars and Vampires, Book 3
In the Dark: Liars and Vampires, Book 4* (Coming July 17, 2018!)
Her Lying Days Are Done: Liars and Vampires, Book 5* (Coming August 2018!)
Heir of the Dog: Liars and Vampires, Book 6* (Coming September 2018!)
Hit You Where You Live: Liars and Vampires, Book 7* (Coming October 2018!)
* Forthcoming, Subject to Change
Robert J Crane, You Can't Go Home Again
