Page 1 of Heartbeat Girl

Prologue

LIAM

Four years ago

Rain hammered against my skin. Each drop dampened my clothes and clung to me as if I was something alive and worth latching onto. With eagle’s eye precision, I saw each tiny stream trail down my arms and move through the hairs on my arm. And the sound of the storm? It was deafening if you didn’t know how to drown it out.

But I muted everything around me unless it was music.

Flanking me were Pete and Steve. Together, we looked down at the open coffin resting in the six foot grave we’d dug. Ivory skin covered in a red dress. If those eyes weren’t closed, they’d be the color of blood, and her fangs bared from rage.

The woman was a nightmare, and if I could, I’d kill her myself.

But it was futile for me. Steve or Pete couldn’t either. Bound to our maker, our sire, we couldn’t harm her. Denying her was impossible. We had to follow every word she uttered. So we did what desperate vampires did. We put her to sleep with a witch’s spell. Finding the key to breaking the rules of vampirism was the plan. The goal was to kill Marilyn before she woke.

Until then, we’d live, play music, and never have to kill a soul again.

What a beautiful, tragic way to end a day filled with triumph. All the thunder and lightning cracking across the sky, lighting up the cemetery. But maybe it needed to pour. To cleanse us of everything we’d done for her.

Pete placed his hand on my shoulder. “We’re free.”

“Don’t say it out loud,” Steve whispered. “How long will it last?”

“Maybe a century,” Pete answered, his tone wavering. The witch promised the spell would keep Marilyn asleep for a hundred years, at least.

“It feels too good to be true,” Steve admitted. “Any minute she’s going to open her eyes and end us.”

“We better make the most of our lives before that happens,” Steve murmured.

“No,” I muttered. “We’ll find a way. There’salwaysa way.” There had to be. I refused to believe anything else.

“Others she sired will come looking for us.” Pete spoke the truth.

I wrapped my arms around each of their necks and pulled them toward me. With a grin, I said, “Let them. With where we’re going,everyonewill know us.”

Chapter One

JAYNE

Three and half years later

There were always telltale signs when someone was leaving. Certain habits people had when he or she wanted to part ways. The slow, not-so-noticeable-at-first distance in their smiles. If those half-smiles could speak, maybe they’d say, don’t be mad or I’m sorry. The second giveaway was all the extra attention and presents they gave. I called that the guilty stage. Or the need to not get caught. Or maybe some needed confirmation they wouldn’t be hated when they disappeared.

I spent too much time reading people, trying my hardest to understand their actions. I noticed even the slightest change in someone’s demeanor, and I hated that about myself. Anxiety sucked. Being a people pleaser was the topping on my shit cake. I overanalyzed and got my feelings hurt before there was a reason to be disappointed with anyone. That made it hard to make friends.

But I got close to someone. My boss. Ruth. Better known by her stage name, SoulGoddess. A worldwide sensation, and my best friend. And she was giving me every sign of someone wanting to leave.

When I turned sixteen, my parents died without saying goodbye. What they left me with was a lot of trouble—over one hundred thousand dollars in debt, a car dealership that wasn’t doing so good, and a slew of shady business deals still haunting me years later. But my troubles really started with my uncle, my so-called legal guardian. Poor, innocent me was too wrapped up in grief, so I let him handle the adult stuff—funerals and such. Somehow, he got his hands on my parents’ insurance money and took off when I turned eighteen.

Then those creditors came for me. That’s how I found out the money was missing. Everyone, the credit and finance companies, along with my uncle, felt the funds should have been theirs.

After months of fighting with bill collectors, living with my boyfriend at his mother’s house while working as a waitress, the judge must have believed my story and convinced them to let me pay in installments. Either that or go to jail for fraud. My uncle had friends in high places and got off scot-free while I barely survived. After handling Ruth’s legal issues over the years, I discovered my uncle shouldn’t have gone unpunished.

Back to those telltale signs…

My uncle had them. When my parents died, he was so doting. He bought me clothes, a car, and asked about my school day. He seemed to care that I struggled with their death. He wanted me to feel comfortable and safe. It was a smart move. I suspected nothing during the two years I lived with him. Years later, I realized it was his guilt bothering him. If not guilt, then the man had no heart.

Then came my high school sweetheart and his mother and their obvious clues.