Enthralled: Tainted Book Four

Bonus Story!

Author's Note: This takes place after the end of Possessed, Book One, and the start of Coerced, Book Two.  

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Kerry Harker

In the shadows, I stalked my prey as he walked along with a group of his buddies. Only a human, he wouldn't know I was there until it was too late.

"...can't believe what a fool you are around Janie, Nate." A guy with a thin mustache slapped his hand on the shoulder of a dude in a blue jacket. "Reminds me what Tom was like with that little redhead in middle school. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah! That girl!" Nate grinned and looked at the blond walking in the middle of the group. "What was her name, anyway, Tommy?"

"Gemma Shepherd." Tom Blackstone's voice was suddenly a lot quieter than his rowdy friends.

"Oh, you mean Punkin." The fifth guy grinned, flashing bright white teeth in the moonlight. "Remember how Tom used to get us to chant 'Punkin Chunkin' when she walked by our table in the cafeteria? Bro! You were always so desperate to get her to notice you!"

"Yeah." Blackstone looked at his feet.

"Man, I haven't seen that chick since middle school," laughed Mustache. "She's not at Del with us."

"She went to Saint Pat's for their music program."

"Yeah? You still in touch with her?" asked Nate.

Blackstone shook his head, and it was obvious even to me that he wanted to change the subject, but his pals kept dogging him until finally he stopped walking and glared at them.

"She's dead! She was murdered in August!" That shut his friends up right quick. With a heavy sigh, Blackstone ran a hand through his hair. "She went with the choir to a festival upstate. Their bus broke down on the way home and they got back to school after midnight. St. Pat's is only five or six blocks from Shepherd's Dojo, so she walked."

"Shepherd's?" Mustache raised his eyebrows. "I took karate lessons there when I was a kid. Paul Shepherd's her dad?"

"Uncle. He raised her after her mom died in a wreck. He was with a group of his students at a Taekwondo tournament in Jersey that weekend. Can't imagine how guilty he felt. He looked raw at the funeral, anyway."

I winced. That was a detail I would never share with Gemma.

Not that she was ever gonna about this little adventure, anyway, I scoffed to myself.

"And she was attacked while walking home?" White Teeth rolled his shoulders and looked uncomfortable.

"Yeah. The police told Paul she called 911 about an injured homeless person she'd found lying on the sidewalk. When EMTs arrived on the scene, they found blood everywhere, pieces of a St. Pat's uniform, and her purse. Two days later, Paul identified her body at the morgue."

No one spoke for a long moment, then Mustache cuffed Blackstone on the shoulder.

"Sorry, Tom."

"Yeah, sorry, man," Nate and White Teeth said together.

"I always kept her in the back of my mind, you know?" Blackstone huffed out a sad little laugh. "Like, some day, after she had time to forget how much of an immature jerk I was, I'd drop by the dojo and try to talk her into a date. Pisses me off that I never got the chance to even apologize."

Well, son of a whore.

He'd loved her. I couldn't kill him for that. I wanted to punch him in the throat, but I couldn't kill him.

I can still put the fear of Hell into him, though, I cheered myself up.

I quickly formed a plan to follow him home and do just that, but then their conversation took a turn that stopped me cold.

"I'm sorry she died like that, but it could have been for the best that you never saw her again." White Teeth shoved his hands in his pockets. "You might have dodged a bullet. Maybe she turned into a real witch."

"No way, bro. Not her. She was too good. Too sweet. She didn't deserve to die like that." Blackstone shook his head violently. "The worst part is, I can't forget how my dumb kid self treated her. I'd give anything to go back and change that."

He wasn't lying, either. I could see the shame in the tight lines of his face and the bitter regret in his eyes.

It was a look I saw a lot in my own mirror.

"Anyway," he cut his eyes over at his friend in the blue jacket, "moral of the story, Nate: Stop being a fool around a girl you like and ask her out before the opportunity disappears forever."

They started walking again, ragging on Nate again, and I sighed.

I'd snuck out of the Sanctuary to take care of someone for Chessie, then figured that, since I was already AWOL, I might as well hunt down Blackstone, too. I'd hopped a flight outta Miami and arrived in White Plains with every intention of pulling his guts outta his nose for hurting my girl's soft heart.

And now here I was, standing in the middle of Greenwich freaking Connecticut, my prey right in front of me, and I couldn't so much as break his fingers.

I, too, knew the razor claws that tore you up every time you remembered how you hurt the one pure thing in your life. At least I had her forgiveness, even if I hadn't done nearly enough to earn it. Blackstone would live the rest of his life without that mercy, which I reckoned was punishment enough.

Besides, my angel is waiting for me to come home to her, I smirked, something else you'll never know.

Taking a soundless step back, I faded into the deepest shadows and let my prey go.