Broken Heart 06 Come Hell or High Water by Michele Bardsley Read Free Book Online Page A

is pretty in its own way, with the glass case showing off our freshly made pies, the red vinyl seats and the gold-flecked Formica tables, and the jukebox in the corner with its old songs. It still plays "Love Me Tender," and "That'll Be the Day," and "Oh, Pretty Woman."
    I feel sad, and I don't know why.
    It's dark, long past sunset, and there is only me, standing in the middle of the street.
    Then I feel the ground tremble and I hear a terrible roar, and the glass blows out and the buildings explode with fire, crashing inward. I fall to my knees and cover my head. I'm screaming, but it blends with other screams.
    When everything stops, I'm shaking so much I can barely lift my head. There is no more fire. Just crumbled buildings, and the smell of brimstone.
    And there are bodies.
    Where did they come from?
    Scattered all around me, they are bloodied and still, with eyes staring up into the night. So many. So many.
    "You did this." A thousand voices from nowhere, from everywhere.
    "No," I cry. "Not me."
    But the recrimination is too sharp and cuts through me. I bleed guilt, and I look up, up into the storm-laden sky.
    It's thundering now, and lightning streaks through roiling clouds.
    Not me, I think as I look around. My friends, my town, my life. I would never do this. How could I?
    Broken Heart is gone.
    Everyone is dead.
    The voices scream their pain and vow their revenge, and I'm lost, so lost in the maelstrom of their accusations. And then...
    It's raining.

Chapter 7
     

     
    "M 'aingeal."
    My eyes opened. I was shaking, my fingers twisted in Connor 's T-shirt. My heart did not move, nor my breath, nor my tears.
    But I felt them all. Phantoms of physical suffering I could no longer feel.
    Oh, but I ached. I was swept away by the power of the emotions still echoing from that... dream or whatever, and I couldn't calm down.
    "You were havin' a nightmare," he said softly.
    "I don't dream," I said. My voice sounded hoarse; it felt like I'd been screaming. Maybe I had. "Vampires aren't supposed to dream."
    He stroked my cheek with one calloused forefinger. "What troubles you, Phoebe?"
    I couldn't tell him. I was embarrassed to be clinging to this man. He held me securely, and he felt so good. I didn't want him to feel good. Shouldn't I be repelled? He'd lied to me in the worst way. Mated. Bonded. Married. It wasn't a drunken Las Vegas mistake. It was a hundred years together. What would happen to us? What would happen to my son? My thoughts circled back to the odd dream... vision... memory.
    "Connor, why did you mate with me? And what does it have to with this talisman?" Each word sounded cracked and rusted, like an old gate that's lost its swing.
    "How are you feelin'?"
    Ah. The ol' change of subject. "I feel like shit. But I'm alive. Undead. Whatever."
    "Ye'll be fine now." His breath ruffled my hair. " ' Tis almost dawn," he said. "When you awaken, we'll talk."
    "Promise?"
    He chuckled. "You know demons never make promises."
    "Well, I'm not gonna bargain with you."
    "Good call," he said.
    I'd slept the entire night, and I was still exhausted. And I still hurt.
    "I didn't check in," I whispered. "I was supposed to call Danny at seven p.m. Jackson will worry. He knows I would never miss a call."
    "You dinnae think the Consortium will cover for you? They wouldna want a worried human nosin' around."
    He was right. If Jackson couldn't reach me, he'd call the backup numbers and get someone at the Consortium. I bet they'd already talked to him. Yeah. They'd come up with a good reason why I didn't call, or they'd glamour him into thinking I had. Vampires from the Family Koschei had uber-glamour - they could mind-whip just about anybody, even over the phone.
    Honestly, I hadn't paid much attention to the Consortium or Broken Heart's paranormal government. The Consortium didn't officially run the town. They were more like a think tank that spent money on research in technology and medicine. They had moved their headquarters to town,