Free Dark Daze by Ava Delany Page A

to share her
past with a man. Perhaps the closeness, which came from sharing so
much, skewed her intuition, as she’d always feared. Then she
realized the truth. She wouldn’t leave, even if he weren’t in the
equation. This was her chance to change things. Her flips left her
helpless, and this might be her only chance to be powerful. It
might be her opportunity to do something real.
    “What do we do now?” She stepped toward him,
rubbing a palm over his upper arm, and craning her neck to gaze
deep into his troubled eyes. “We can go to my apartment, but it
won’t help us with whatever this is. I’m not buying the bear
thing.”
    “No, we have to go see my mom. She’s been
calling, and it might be because she has some information. Maybe
she painted something helpful.”
    She nodded and followed him into the house.
He threw some clothes into a bag and grabbed the gun, setting it on
top.
    “She lives in the mountains of Wrightwood, so
bring a coat because they get lots of snow.” Ian picked up his
i-com from where the officer left it. “Let’s go.”
    Brie grabbed her purse and followed him to
the car, a mix of fright, shock, and wonder gave the evening a
surreal quality. Buster plodded along next to her, panting as
though all were right with the world now.



Chapter Six
 
    Pain stabbed through her head. Even as she
sat up in the bed Ian had shown her to last night, her reality
shifted. No longer her mind, nor her will…Becoming—
    Andrea woke early Saturday morning, humming
as she went through her morning ritual. She rushed to get back to
Dean and Bowser. They just left to his mother’s house, he and
Brittany. What a cute relationship. This was so much better than
Kingsley’s usual love subplots.
    The author’s protagonists were always good
people. Despite the trouble they went through, they always seemed
clever and sure of themselves. Though there was never a guarantee
they would live in a Kingsley novel, they usually died saving
someone else or doing something heroic, which made the end all the
more heart-rending. She sighed, opened the cover, and flipped to
chapter three. Drawing her feet beneath her, she twisted a strand
of hair around her finger.
    “ After a nerve-wracking drive along dark
winding mountain roads, Dean had finally gotten to his mother’s
house and settled into a long, sleepless night, wishing he weren’t
separated from Brittany by bedroom walls. Now morning had rolled
around, Dean clambered out of bed, tossing off the covers, which
he’d used more as a wrestling partner than anything else. However,
in the brief period before morning when he’d slept, he knew he’d
had a pleasant dream. All he could recall was chocolate brown eyes,
and a dark hair falling over them. There had been something calming
in those soft eyes.
    “ He surveyed his mother’s guest room for
Bowser, who lay in a heap near the heating vent. ‘Looks like you
had a restful evening. No concerns about the creature?’ Bowser gave
a loud yawn, then stretched.
    “ It must have been a bear. What else could
it have been? And what about the calls? Just a prank or was it
something more? He showered, dressed, and headed to the kitchen
where a large stack of freshly made waffles waited for
him.”
    Brain throbbing, Brie came back to the small
room. “What is going on here?” She grabbed her head.
    She tossed her covers off and, wearing the
pajamas Ian’s mother, Delia had given her, she followed the smell
of baking waffles to the kitchen.
    “Eat up, boy-o. You have to preserve your
strength, especially with all the renegade bears out there,” Delia
said.
    Even after their late night arrival, the
wild-haired woman’s smile was as bright and cheerful as her
kitchen. The yellow and white walls made the morning seem far more
chipper than it had been an instant before. Delia used a spatula to
shove several waffles onto her son’s plate.
    “Stop teasing me. It may be funny to you, but
you should see my door.” He