Badlands Witch: A Cormac and Amelia Story Page 9
“What is it?” he prompted.
“Did you know? Could you guess what had happened, that she aimed for you and struck me instead, with that trap?”
“I knew it must have been something like that. She was shocked to see me walking around. She thought she’d left me for dead.”
“Yes, I think I know when that happened. We had. . .some sort of connection. Nothing like what you and I have, but she could sense me. I could push her.”
“I noticed.”
All in a rush she said, “You could have left me. You could have walked away. Your mind, your body could have been your own again. I know I have been a burden to you, and you were free at last—”
He got up from his spot and settled on the ground next to her. Right next to her. He moved with the intention of getting her to stop talking.
“But you didn’t walk away. . .” she continued. “You came back for me.”
He took her hand, which was just a little chilled, and maybe even trembling. He touched her chin. Leaned in, waiting for her to pull away. Expecting her to. But she didn’t, so he kissed her. Realized he’d been wanting to do that a very long time, just to see if he could.
She put her arms around him and kissed him back. The touch was a spark that shocked them both. They lay back together, cradled on the grass. Clinging to him, she pressed her head to his shoulder. Here, he wasn’t injured.
“I can feel you,” she whispered. “I don’t have a body, I am not real, how can we feel this?”
He rested his chin on her head. She tucked so neatly in his arms. “I don’t know.”
“Sensation is a response to stimuli detected by the brain. We can’t simply be telling our brains that we feel this—”
He could smell her hair, a scent like wheat in sunshine. It shouldn’t have been possible, but there it was. “I don’t know anything at all.”
“You came back for me,” she said again.
“You could have kicked me out of my own body, but you didn’t.”
“I would never.”
He held her close. “Neither would I.”
The valley wasn’t real. It wasn’t. But maybe it meant something that they imagined it together. The sunlight was warm, and Amelia felt solid enough in his arms. He wouldn’t ask questions.
Suddenly, she sat up on an elbow and looked down at him. “Might we go see the bison in Custer State Park on our way home? And Mt. Rushmore, we must see Mt. Rushmore.”
He hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. They’d probably need to get a ride home with Ben, which meant coming back for the Jeep, or towing it, or something. He didn’t want to think about it. He just wanted to be. “Didn’t we see bison when we went to Yellowstone a year or so back?”
“No, because we were there at night and too busy battling the hosts of Hell.”
He chuckled. Everything she’d seen and done, as powerful as she was, and all she wanted to do now was go look at buffalo. He couldn’t argue with that. “Fine. Okay, we’ll go see the bison.”
To read more about Cormac and Amelia, look for “Long Time Waiting,” available as part of
Kitty’s Greatest Hits.
Coming in 2020
Discover the thrilling, deadly chronicles of the noble immortal who becomes Rick, ally of bestselling author Carrie Vaughn’s fan-favorite werewolf, Kitty Norville.
Ricardo de Avila would have followed Coronado to the ends of the earth. Instead, Ricardo found the end of his mortal life, and a new identity—as the Immortal Conquistador.
For over five hundred years, Ricardo keeps unwillingly upsetting the established order. He has protected his found family from marauding demons, teamed up with a legendary gunslinger, appointed himself the Master of Denver, and called upon a church buried under the Vatican. He has tended bar and fended off werewolves.
Life for a vampire is long, but it is never simple.
Pre-order The Immortal Conquistador now
Other Books by Carrie Vaughn
Carrie’s Website:
www.carrievaughn.com
Carrie Vaughn is best known for her New York Times bestselling series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk radio show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. Her latest novels include a post-apocalyptic murder mystery, Bannerless, winner of the Philip K. Dick Award, and its sequel, The Wild Dead. She’s written several other contemporary fantasy and young adult novels, as well as upwards of 80 short stories, two of which have been finalists for the Hugo Award. She’s a contributor to the Wild Cards series of shared world superhero books edited by George R. R. Martin and a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop. An Air Force brat, she survived her nomadic childhood and managed to put down roots in Boulder, Colorado.
Badlands Witch
Copyright © 2019 by Carrie Vaughn, LLC.
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names, locations, and events portrayed in this book are fictional or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Credits:
Cover Design: Joe Campanella
Interior design and formatting by:
www.emtippettsbookdesigns.com