Page 51 of Twilight Echoes
“It’s been two days,” Avery said.
Darrell cleared his throat, licking his dry, cracked lips. “Two days?” he asked in the faintest of whispers.
“You’ve been out in a deep sleep for that long.” Warm lips touched his cheek, and he let out a moan, enjoying the tender touch of his mate.
“What happened?” He tried to focus on the body he knew lay next to him on the… a soft bed? Sofa? Where the hell was he? He blinked a few times, squeezing his eyes tight, but still, he couldn’t make out anything. “Where am I?”
“The Ferguson farm. In Vermont,” a familiar female voice said. “Trask and my father thought it was the safest place. Unfortunately, the paranormal and human worlds are all abuzz about the second pairing of the Fated Moons and some creatures are scared of what might be coming.”
“Our children will be good, not evil,” he managed. “Was the spell reversed?”
“Yes,” the male voice said.
Darrell knew that had to be Albert, meaning he wasn’t dead.
That was good news.
“Avery?”
“I’m right here,” she said, her hand rubbing up and down his bare chest.
Bed.
With Avery.
Half-naked? With her father in the room.
That’s embarrassing.
He rubbed his eyes before trying to shift to a sitting position.
“You shouldn’t be moving,” Albert said.
Darrell didn’t listen as he pushed a pillow behind his head, pulling the covers halfway up his body. A wave of nausea hit his stomach. He swallowed as colors and shapes formed.
Albert sat on the foot of the bed and Avery next to him.
“I feel like I got hit by a truck,” Darrell managed, taking the glass of water Avery offered. “I take it Avery succeeded?”
“I did,” she said, smiling. “No one in your pack has any more symptoms. Merlin is doing well, and his coven is slowly returning to normal.”
“And what about Regan and her family?” Darrell asked. He didn’t wish the worst for them, but he certainly wanted justice.
“The family was able to keep Regan alive until a few weeks before your father died, which sent the spell into action. My father said right before Regan passed, they harvested parts of the spell and cast them into her sister.”
“That’s fucked up. What kind of parent would do that to their kid?” Darrell asked.
“They thought if they could keep their family from dying from the adverse effects of using blocked black magic, it would give them time to find an antidote without coming to me,” Albert said.
“The rest of the family has been taken into custody,” Avery said.
“I need to call my mom.”
“She’s downstairs with mine?—”
“My mother is here?” he interrupted Avery, trying to hide his mortification. God only knows what his mother might have told his mate.
Or her family.
