Page 2 of Winter Unleashed
“Break time’s over,” Stella said before disappearing, only to reappear in front of me a second later.
I expected it and stepped to the side just in time for her fist to hit the tree. She moved so fast she wasn’t even a blur and landed a right hook to my cheek.
“Have a good day, Red,” Liam called as he strolled past us toward his house. “Don’t go too hard on her, Stell. We have a date tonight.”
“Okay! Bye, Liam,” Stella shouted at his back while dodging my punch. “You’re going to have to be faster, Ember.”
“It’s the crack of fucking dawn, and I just woke up.” My voice was strained because she had her hand wrapped around my throat. She used her hold on me to lift me so my feet dangled.
She tilted her head and pouted at me. “Is Ember Steele, the Vinura, making excuses?” She unceremoniously dropped me. I stumbled but didn’t fall. “You’re the second most powerful shifter in the world. There are no excuses. You have to kick ass.”
“You’re right, I know. I think I’m spending too much time doing Liam and not enough time training.”
“Maybe, but now’s not the time for girl talk.” She did her teleportation thing again and smacked me upside the head. “That was to knock some sense into you. Snap out of it and get with the program, Em.”
We went a few more rounds. I landed some pretty good hits before she was sure I’d had enough. As we walked back to the house, she slid her arm around my waist and leaned her head on my shoulder.
“I’m so glad we’re friends again,” she said.
“Oh yeah, me too. For sure.” I may have said it sarcastically, but I’d meant every word.
Our lifelong friendship had hit a snag when she’d kidnapped and tortured me and a dozen or so other shifters. She’d sworn Cybil, the self-proclaimed vampire queen, had taken over her mind and used her body as a surrogate to do horrible things.
After we’d caught her, Stella spent weeks trying to get me to believe that she’d had no control over her actions. I was dead set against it. But then she’d risked her life to prove she was telling the truth. It was hard not to forgive her after what she’d gone through to help me.
She was completely different from the Stella I’d grown up with. Maybe not completely, but she was no longer the shy, goody two shoes from my past. She was kinky and feisty as hell now, but her compassion and capacity to love were still there.
“No more attacks before I’ve had my coffee,” I said when she stopped at the patio table to kiss her mate, Philip.
As I continued making my way into the house, I heard her snort out a laugh. “We’ll lose the element of surprise if we set time boundaries.” Stella called back. “Morning, noon, or night. Inside or out. I’m coming for you. You need to be better prepared, Em. Em? Did you hear me?”
I flicked her off as I stepped over the threshold into the house. I closed the doors behind me, cutting off her laughter.
During my shower, I nibbled my lip while I thought about what to say to Patricia. I’d used the whole ‘my house burned down’ excuse longer than I should have, and she’d busted me when I’d accidentally told her how much I loved my new office space after the rebuild. The next time I missed my deadline, I told her I had family issues. A sick relative always does the trick. But I was running out of lies and even if I had more, the guilt of lying was getting to me.
I’d started writing because I had needed income. No one in the Cullum County packs would hire me because they’d all thought Artemis had cursed me in utero. Curses are contagious. At least you’d think they are from how the shifters in my community had treated me. But it was hard to blame them for their silly superstitions when they also thought Artemis was a goddess who controlled the moon—She was really Queen of the Fae… I still wasn’t clear on why they didn’t know that bit of information.
With everyone thinking I was a cursed freak, self-employment had been the most reasonable choice. But I had no clear talent for anything other than kicking ass and screwing. The jobs that revolved around those skills hadn’t seemed like smart choices.
Then I remembered how much I’d always loved creative writing in school. It was a way to slip out of my miserable reality into another world I’d created. My passion for it had shown through in my writing, and I’d gotten top grades on all my assignments. So, I sat down and started writing. The first book flowed out of me and at the end of two months, I had a completed manuscript. That’s when I searched for an editor and found Patricia. A human, single mother working her way through grad school by editing books written by independent authors.
After giving myself a stomachache and a bloody lip from worrying about what to say to her, I decided I would tell her as much of the truth as I could. Once dressed, I bit the bullet and called her. She answered on the second ring.
“Hey Patty,” I said.
“Hey Em, what is it this time?” From her tone, I could tell she was upset with me.
“I’m sorry for being so flaky lately. I have a lot of shit going on right now.”
“Listen, Em, I understand life can be hard. Trust me, I know. I’m just not thrilled about the lying. But I also understand you don’t have to tell me what’s going on in your life. And I know you’re a writer, but stop making up stories and be real with me. At least as real as you’re comfortable with.”
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll be straight with you. I’ve lied to you until now because I can’t tell you what’s really going on. All I can say is my life has become a major shitshow and I’m working on getting it straightened out. I don’t want to lose you as an editor, but I can’t tell you when I’ll have the next pages for you. I can’t stop writing because I need the income, but I also can’t promise I’ll meet my deadline.”
“All right, calm down. Thanks for coming clean,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. “Why don’t we do this? I’ll take you off my schedule for now, and when things settle down in your world, reach out to me and I’ll fit you in.”
“Really? You’re okay with that? How will you fit me in? I don’t expect you not to take on another client to fill the missing income gap.”
She chuckled softly. “I never said I wouldn’t take on another client. It will work out. Touch base with me once you have your shit figured out. Besides, the money you sent me will more than cover a few months while I wait to hear from you.”