Excerpt: Holding the Link (Prophecy Book Two)

HOLDING THE LINK BY HOPE WELSH
HSW BOOKS
Copyright This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to an online retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity between actual persons living and dead is purely coincidental. Any use of locales, establishments, or events are used fictitiously. 2 Copyright © 2013 Hope Welsh Cover Art © 2013 ninjaMel Designs ISBN 978-1-890785-90-1 E-book ISBN 978-1-890785-91-8 Print Edition

Chapter One

Cole stood at the single window in his living room, staring out into the night. The streets were still busy with cars, despite the late hour. All in a hurry to be somewhere, he was sure, but for now, they were stuck on the roads, following like ants in a trail as they mindlessly headed wherever. He hated the city.
Streaks of light filled the night sky with the threat of the promised storm. It fit his mood perfectly. He turned away from the depressing view and paced around his lonely apartment, a scowl darkening his face as he drove his hands into his pockets, fists clenched. He had yet to figure out why Lana insisted on keeping her apartment instead of moving in with him.
While he realized they’d only known each other a short time—a little more than a month—they were meant for each other. She was the mother of his unborn son. What is she waiting for? What was it going to take for her to believe that he wasn’t going anywhere? This was the first night they’d actually spent apart. He didn’t like it one little bit.
This new feeling of loneliness unsettled him and wasn’t something he was accustomed to. As a shifter, he’d always been fine with nothing he was accustomed to. As a shifter, he’d always been fine with nothing but his own company. It wasn’t as if he had a lot in common with the majority of people. But Lana was different—she understood him—and he understood her. Or thought he had. Until tonight.
A deadline.
A deadline on a website she could just as easily have worked on here at his place. He’d already set her up a computer system in the home office he never used. And, of course, he’d have been glad to stay at her place if she really wanted to work from her own desk in her own apartment.
He had to admit her place was quite a bit cheerier. His living room sported nothing but an old gray couch, a second-hand coffee table and a big-screen television on the wall. The television almost brought a grin. Lana hadn’t been able to resist teasing him about his ‘man cave’ television.
The almost-grin faded before it could fully form. He wondered if there was something going on with her that he didn’t know about. She’d seemed a bit distant for the last few days and that thought terrified the living hell out of him. He’d sensed that something was bothering her, though she hadn’t said anything.
There was no way he could even imagine being without her now—even when she did things like this that infuriated him. She and their unborn child had become his life. She’d already agreed to marry him— though he wasn’t sure he’d actually have accepted a refusal. They were meant to be together and they both knew it.
A big part of him was damn tempted to get dressed and go to her place. It was barely eleven—he doubted she’d be sleeping yet. That was one of the things they had in common: they were both night owls. It was one of only a hundred ways they were so well matched. He looked down at the phone sitting on the coffee table with another glare and picked it up. He punched in the speed-dial for her cell.
Lana sat at her desk looking outside. She’d put her desk here in front of the window because it made her monotonous computer work more enjoyable when she could look out and see the real world out there.
The streaks of lightning in the sky were becoming more frequent, though she couldn’t hear the thunder yet—the storm was still a ways off. She rubbed her arms against a slight chill and wondered why she had been so darn determined to be home alone tonight. It seemed strange not to be either at Cole’s place, or at him being at hers. She sighed. Part of her was terrified at how quickly he’d become so important to her. They’d come together so fast—a matter of days. Who in the world developed any kind of lasting relationship when they’d only known each other a short time before becoming so close? A big part of her wondered if they’d grown so close because of the circumstance of their meeting. She’d heard someone in her apartment— rather her dead mother had warned her someone was inside—and Cole had literally come riding to the rescue. They’d barely been apart since.
A month.
For almost a solid month, they’d been with each other. Self-employed, her career allowed her to work anywhere, and he hadn’t had any cases in his detective business. She still believed he was waiting to be sure the danger that had brought them together was over. She’d had the same thought herself, though there was nothing she could put her finger on to make her think it might not be. There hadn’t been more dreams or incidents that would make her unsure—but something didn’t seem finished. It was a vague, persistent feeling that she simply could not shake.
There was still the voice in her head that told her this relationship had happened too fast, too. Lana had always been one to listen to her own subconscious. Something wasn’t right—she just didn’t know what.
She glanced down at the computer monitor on her laptop. It was barely eleven, and she was more than a little surprised that he hadn’t called her since she’d insisted she needed to get a job done. It was true—she did have a website due, but she could have easily done it at his place. Or he could have come home with her.
Cole was not happy that she wouldn’t move in with him. She just wasn’t ready. It was too damn fast. What if he realized he’d made a mistake later? What if he later realized that only the danger they’d faced together had brought them together or that there was really no substance beyond that? How could they not have become close quickly 5 substance beyond that? How could they not have become close quickly when they’d fought an ancient evil shapeshifter together?
When the sound of You’re the One That I Want filled the living room, she couldn’t help but smile. Cole had, of course, put it on there himself. She picked up the phone on the third ring. “Hi,” she said softly.
“Whacha doin’? Did I wake you?” Cole asked.
Lana almost sighed. Just his voice, with that barely there Southern drawl, was enough to make her heart beat a little faster. Every once in a while, the Georgia in him came out.
She flicked the button to save the very little work she’d accomplished over the last two hours and swiveled in her chair away from the computer. She tugged on a curl that hung over her shoulder. “No, I was awake. Just working,” she lied. She wasn’t working—she was moping, but she didn’t want to admit that.
“Guess you don’t want me to come over?”
Lana didn’t answer immediately. The thing was—she did want him to come. “Do you want to?” she finally said.
“Now, that’s a silly question if I ever heard one.” His voice was laced with humor and just a touch of exasperation.
She had to chuckle at that, and her heart lifted. “Then come,” she said simply.
“Be there in twenty,” Cole replied quickly, his voice pleased. “I’ll be waiting,” Lana said and disconnected the call.
Okay, so she was a wimp. She couldn’t seem even to spend one night away from him. What did that say about her? But then, she reminded herself, he’d called her, hadn’t he?
When the phone rang again, she frowned. The caller came up as ‘Blocked’, which made her nervous. Her hand shook as she pushed the button to accept the call. “Yes?” Calls this time of night were never ‘good’ news.
There was a long silence. Lana was just about to hang up, thinking it was a wrong number, despite the prickle of unease that sent a chill up her spine, when she heard a distorted, mechanical voice. “You’re dead.”
Lana instinctively looked at her window, then the door. “Who is this?” she demanded, her tone stiff. “What do you want?”
“You’ll find out soon enough, bitch. You’re dead,” the voice threatened.
Before she could comment, the call ended. She stared at the phone for a long moment, panic filling her. She clasped the phone so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Quickly, she raced around the apartment and checked the door and all the windows—they were all locked. She was safe. Cole would be here in just a few minutes. She wondered if she should tell him. It might have just been a crank call. The world was filled with sickos that delighted in causing fear.
She’d almost convinced herself that that was what it was when the phone rang again. ‘Blocked’ was once more the caller’s ID. “Leave me alone!” she all but yelled when she answered.
“Do you think a locked door or window will keep you safe?” The voice was the same. It sounded like he must be close, though. How else would he know she’d just checked all the doors and windows? For the first time, she wished she owned a gun. It hadn’t occurred to her to get one, but now she seriously considered it. Or maybe a huge dog. “Who are you?”
“Your death.”
If she hadn’t been so terrified, she’d have rolled her eyes at that statement. She felt her skin grow cold as goose flesh covered her arms. “Go to hell,” she said, disconnecting the call. She wasn’t going to answer it again. There was no way either she or Cole could trace the calls—and the cops hadn’t believed her about her mother. She didn’t think the police would believe her this time, either. She decided she wasn’t going to tell Cole. He’d overreact and either want her to move in with him, or he’d insist on staying with her. Not that she minded that, but she didn’t want it to be out of his sense of protectiveness. He had an innate protective nature that sometimes annoyed her, but it humbled her, too. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind he’d give up his life to protect her. She wasn’t going to let that happen.

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