Free Danville Horror: A Pat Wyatt Novel (The Pat Wyatt Series Book 3) by Laura Del

wants a depressed Matron of Horror.”
    “Did you just say Matron of Horror?” Tina giggled.
    I closed my eyes, realizing that I had. “I’m going to have to be more careful around Cindy.”
    “Wait a minute,” she said as she sat down on the chair, “you’re the matron of honor? I thought that was gonna be Jessica’s thing?”
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it was Pops idea.”
    She cocked a black brow at me. “What? She doesn’t have friends of her own?”
    “Don’t be like that,” I huffed. “She’s very nice, Tina.”
    Her eyes widened. “I thought you didn’t like her?”
    “I didn’t, but I think she’s good for my father. Besides, she seems kind.”
    “Okay. Who are you, and what have you done with Pat Wyatt?”
    “Ha. Ha,” I laughed without humor. “Very funny.”
    “Seriously, what happened?” she asked, placing her hand on my knee.
    “I don’t know,” I admitted. “She just seems different.”
    “I noticed that too,” she agreed, taking her hand away, and then she looked down at her feet again. “Pat?”
    I tried to catch her eye, but she avoided her gaze. “Yeah.”
    “Speaking of different,” she continued, kicking the ground like a two-year-old, “what happened to Samuel?”
    “Huh?” I asked, confused.
    She finally looked up, and I could tell she was trying to say something without saying it. “When he came to visit me to try to change my memory… thanks for that, by the way.”
    “I said I was sorry.”
    She waved me off. “I know you are. But when he came by, he seemed sad. Not his usually cocky vampire self. Did something happen between you two? I mean, besides you being an idiot and being alone with him, and him trying to break your arm.”
    “Wrist,” I corrected, and she glared at me.
    “You know what I mean.”
    “Yes,” I breathed, “I know.”
    “So?” she prompted.
    “I couldn’t tell you. He seemed like his normal jerky self when he had my wrist in a vice grip.”
    She folded her arms, frowning. “Yeah, well, he seemed awfully depressed when he was talking to me. Maybe he has some mental issues or something.”
    “You’re just figuring this out now?”
    “That’s not what I mean, Patty,” she huffed. “And you know it.”
    I looked down at my now bruised wrist, taking a breath. “What are you saying? That he’s bipolar or something?” I saw her nod in my periphery. “A bipolar vampire. That’s just great,” I muttered.
    “Now, I don’t know if that’s his real problem or not,” she amended, “but he just seemed like a different vampire. I mean, he even told me that he was so grateful to you for saving his life. Now, does that sound like the bastard you married?”
    I closed my eyes. I had totally forgotten that I killed Herb, and that I didn’t tell Tina that her fiancée was dead. Before I could explain to her what happened, the doctor walked in, and Tina moved her chair back to give him room. It was what I had feared most; the wrist was fractured. Meaning, I needed a temporary cast for a week and then I would have to come back to get the real thing put on for six weeks.
    I thanked the doctor for telling me what I already kind of knew. Then he told me that he had to get the “cast master.” It was the worst joke ever, but I still laughed. Finally, he left Tina and me alone again.
    It was time to tell her, whether I was ready or not. “Listen, Tina, I have something to tell you.”
    “There’s no need,” she interrupted me. “Samuel also told me about Herb and what you did.”
    I closed my eyes, feeling so guilty that I just couldn’t look her in the eye. “I’m so sorry.”
    “Why?” she asked, and my eyes shot open. “Oh, come on. I know why you killed him, and it wasn’t for your blood sucking ex-husband. It was so he wouldn’t hurt me ever again. See what Mr. Satané doesn’t get is, you didn’t save his life, you saved mine. And,” her eyes welled with tears, “I am so grateful to you, Patty. Who