Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)(99)

“But at what price, Perry?”

“I can handle it.”

Burnett was about to argue when his cell rang. Worry creased his brow as he answered. “Yeah? Shit. Anyone hurt?”

Pain flashed in the vampire’s eyes. “Get her to Dr. Whitman’s now.”

*

Miranda dropped her phone on the bathroom counter and started the shower. She stripped down, singing while she did it. “Derivatives,

derivatives. It’s so fun, it’s one prime two plus two prime one.” Yes, she was actually in a good mood.

She’d spent a total of three hours practicing to fight. And Della couldn’t deny she was learning. Miranda also spent six hours studying. And

Miranda couldn’t deny she was retaining information.

Her time with Perry had boosted her morale. The icing on the cake, however, was hearing from Tabitha.

She’d even talked to her dad, who’d returned back home and said her mom was better. And tomorrow her mom had plans to come see her. Not that

Miranda looked forward to the visit, but … Miranda loved her mom. Even with her flaws.

She might not be up for the Mother-of-the-Year award, but compared to Perry’s mom, she should be getting her trophy any day.

Maybe Miranda should have been more upset to learn her relatives were rapists and murderers, but it didn’t sting that much. Call her crazy,

but she couldn’t wait to tell Perry—if for no other reason than to make him feel less self-conscious about his own family.

She’d even asked her dad about the family tree. He said he had the information on a disk at his office in Colorado. His secretary was e-

mailing it tomorrow.

Thankfully, he hadn’t asked why Miranda wanted it. Explaining to her parents about the weird tattoos and that it could mean she was some kind

of a dyslexic mystic witch, didn’t seem like a good conversation. First they’d freak out because of the tattoos. Then her mom would freak

out, in a good way, that Miranda might actually be something worth bragging about.

Frankly, Miranda wasn’t buying that she had any extra powers. The blood test she’d agreed to do tomorrow would give her more answers. But

Holiday had insisted her mom sign a permission slip.

All Miranda had to do was come up with a good reason why she needed a blood test.

Not an easy task. She’d never excelled at lying. Thinking about what all she didn’t excel at brought her back to the crazy idea that she was

mystic.

Would it be cool to have amazing talents other’s envied? Perhaps, but she remembered Tabitha hating her role as high priestess. Gifts

sometimes brought on responsibilities. Miranda would really like to just concentrate on college and … Perry.

Perry and their relationship.

Perry and … sex.

She was ready. The fact that she’d never felt this way when thinking of Shawn confirmed what she knew. She loved Perry.

“Peter.” She smiled thinking of his note.

She’d almost texted him, but remembered he was working undercover. The last thing she wanted to do was put him in any more danger than he was

already in.

She worked hard not to think about that.

Sticking her cast in a plastic bag and taping the ends, she stepped into the steamy shower and closed the glass doors. Hot water hit her

shoulders, and she closed her eyes and let the heat soothe her sore muscles. Learning to fight, even one-handed, was hard work. No wonder Kylie

and Della always looked great in swimsuits. Miranda looked at her thighs. Hopefully she could lose a pound or so before Perry saw her naked.

Then it hit. Fast. Hard. The sense that things were going to be okay dissolved. And it had nothing to do with her thighs.

A dark feeling, a premonition, filled her chest with raw pain. Something bad was going to happen. Or had already happened.

“No.” She tried to push the feeling away. But wishing it away wouldn’t work. She considered calling Burnett. That thought lost momentum when

she realized all she saw was gray mist. She reached out, searching for the knob to turn off the hot water. She found it. The water stopped. The

mist hung on. Then fingers of cold began stroking her skin. Chill bumps chased chill bumps down her spine. Even with a chestful of doom, she

recognized what this was. Death.

She covered her most private parts with her plastic wrapped casted arm and free hand.

“Go away.”

The cold hung on. Got colder. Teeth chattering, she reached for the shower door, but some invisible finger started writing on the steamy glass

right in front of her. Script not just written in steam, but what looked like … blood.

Inhaling, she felt ice crystals form in her lungs. Unable to move, to scream, she watched as what looked like an address was penned on the

glass shower door. Steam made the bloody script start to run. Number by number, letter by letter, it started dripping down the glass.

Suddenly sensing it was important, Miranda repeated it inside her head as she watched the droplets of blood run down the door, onto the shower

floor, and get sucked down the drain.

Now singing the address in her head so she might remember, she bolted out of the shower and screamed.

Della and Kylie were already in the bathroom. Miranda stood there naked, trembling, and singing. “One six nine zero six. One six nine zero