Hearts & Wishes
© Shiloh Walker
sequel to
Make Me Believe
ebook
unedited!
No wise elf wanted to draw the humans’ attention.
Hiding and skulking in the shadows simply wasn’t the way her
father’s men would operate. But if it wasn’t them, who was it?
The watcher–
Goose bumps broke out over her skin as she thought of the
presence she’d sensed the past two nights. When his crawling,
evil presence had woken her that morning near dawn, Holly had
finally forced herself to face an ugly fact.
Whoever this was, he was searching for her. Specifically. He
might not know her, but he felt her, the same way she sensed him
and he wouldn’t give up until he found her. As his presence
seemed to draw nearer and nearer, Holly had acknowledged it
wouldn’t take the man that much longer to find her.
She had little choice.
As much as she hated the thought of returning home, she wasn’t
about to risk putting her life into the hands of the watcher. He
felt too foul, too corrupted.
Too evil.
It was time to go home.
Tears stung her eyes as she turned onto Bourbon Street. If she
was smart, she would have gone home that morning when fear had
pulled her into wakefulness. Or at least sent word.
Her father would have men at her side within seconds. She would
have been safe.
But isolated, once more. It hadn’t seemed so much to want one
more day. Cold, ugly energy reached out, drifted across her
neck. Hissing in reaction, Holly sped up her pace. Wanting that
one more day shouldn’t have been asking too much.
“Damn you,” she whispered under her breath, sending one more
look over her shoulder. She saw no familiar face, saw nothing
but the endless crowd and not a one of them seemed to notice
her. But the press of evil had gotten stronger and–
“Hello, Holly.”
Whipping her head around, she plowed straight into Rhys’ arms. A
wolfish grin curved his lips and before she could even squeak
out his name, he had lifted her in his arms and covered her
mouth with his. Her head spun as Rhys spun her around. Without
taking his mouth from hers, without looking around, he started
to walk. The crowd seemed to part for him. Within moments, the
noise was already fading as he carried her through the streets,
turning seemingly at random. And still, his mouth was on hers,
his tongue rubbings against hers, one arm banded around her hips
and holding her body weight while his free hand touched every
inch of her that he could reach.
By the time he tore his lips from hers, she was gasping, panting
for air and already so damn hot, she thought she might explode.
His face filled her vision as she stared at him. “Damn it,
Holly, I’ve been out of mind worrying about you,” he muttered.
He lowered her to her feet and her legs wobbled. Sagging
backward, she braced herself against the crumbling brick wall at
her back and took a second to look around–and try to level out
her breathing.
They were in an alley, but it was far from deserted. Halfway
down, there were a couple of guys standing around smoking, not
even glancing their way. Judging by the smells wafting through
the open door beside them, they worked in a restaurant and were
using their fifteen minute break to take in as much nicotine as
possible. A little farther down the alley were two more
people–one man kneeling in front of another. Holly’s eyes popped
wide as she realized just why one of the guys was kneeling. He
was busy giving the other one a blow job.
Blushing furiously, she jerked her head to the other side and
looked towards the mouth of the alley. Two more men there,
arguing in low, furious tones. A weird smell tickled her nose
and she watched as one man reached into his pocket and brought
out something in a small plastic bag, waving it in front of the
other man’s face.
Drugs, she realized. Looking back at Rhys, she asked softly,
“How did you find me?”
A slow, teasing smile curled his lips. She watched, frozen, as
he reached up and tucked a stray curl behind her ear, his
fingers lingering on the slight point. She had enough human
blood in her veins that her ears were just a little pointed, not
so very different from the typical human’s. Her mixed blood had
let her mingle among the humans with ease. But they were damn
sensitive–Holly never even realized how sensitive until Rhys
leaned in and nuzzled her neck, then caught her lobe between his
teeth, biting just a little too hard.
“I dreamt of you last night, precious,” he whispered in her ear.
He leaned in, crowding her body back against the wall. Reaching
up, she fisted her hands in his shirt and stared at him as he
straightened and looked down at her. “I dreamt of you–lying in a
chair and outside your window, jazz played. I dreamt of
you–touched you...”
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