I’m here.
The sound of his voice was instant relief. Marci didn’t have personal experience with sensory deprivation, but she was pretty sure staying too long in places like this was how people broke. “I need to get out of here.”
I know,the spirit growled.I’m trying. But I don’t know what to do. I can’t reach you.There was a long pause after that, and then,Maybe I can send you some help.
That sounded promising. “Help would be great. I’m literally in the dark here. What did you have in mind?”
You’ll see,he said, his voice strained, like he was pushing very hard.As you gave to me, so I will give to you.
The spirit’s words were strangely ritualistic, and deep in Marci’s mind, his reassuring grip began to vanish. “Whoa,” she said nervously. “What are you doing?”
What I have to,he said.I can’t get to you, so I’m sending someone who can.His voice grew more distant with every word, growing softer and softer, even as he started to shout.I give it back! The price is returned! The bond is broken!
“What?” she yelled back. “No! That’s not what I want!”
It’s the only way,he cried, his tiny voice desperate.Trust me!
She did. Shehad, but this was too much. “Don’t leave me alone!”
I won’t, he promised.But you have to remember, Marci. Remember him, so he can guide you back to me!
That sounded terrifyingly final, but before Marci could scream at him to stop, Ghost’s hand vanished from her mind.
The moment he was gone, the endless emptiness roared in to fill the void. Marci staggered as it hit, clutching her head, but there was nothing to clutch. She had no head, no hands, no body at all, and now no Ghost, either. She was alone, utterly alone in the yawning emptiness. But just as she began to panic, Marci realized that wasn’t quite true.
There was still no light or sensation, so she had no explanation for how it worked, and yet she knew with absolute certainty that there was now someone else here with her in the dark. He was actually standing right in front of her: a stocky middle-aged man with brown eyes and brown hair that was touched with silver at the temples. How she could see all of that without light, Marci had no idea, but there he was, smiling at her with a wide, easy, laughing smile that was as familiar as her own face. And as Marci instinctively smiled back, everything she’d forgotten came rushing back.
“Daddy.”
The memories landed like punches in her mind—Bixby, fleeing Las Vegas, her childhood, blowing up her stupid, ugly house—they were all back, and at the center of everything was the man in front of her. Her father. Her poor, murdered father, who she’d left forgotten in the desert. How had she forgotten?!
Tears tumbled down her face. The sudden wetness was the first physical feeling she’d had in this place, but Marci was too gone to care. She barely even registered the fact that she could see her body again as she threw herself into her father’s arms. “Daddy!”
Aldo Novalli hugged her close. “Hello,carina.”
The familiar endearment sent Marci to pieces all over again. She shut her eyes tight, clutching her father in the endless dark as she cried all the tears she’d forgotten for the father she’d lost plus more for the spirit that she could no longer feel.
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for readingNo Good Dragon Goes Unpunished! If you enjoyed the story, or even if you didn’t, I hope you’ll consider leaving a review. Reviews, good and bad, are vital to any author’s career, and I would be extremely thankful and appreciative if you’d consider writing one for me.
The fourth Heartstriker novel,A Dragon of A Different Color,is finished and available now! Keep reading for a sneak peek of the first chapter, or check out one of my other completed series. Simply click over to the “Want More Books?” page in your eReader’s table of contents, or visitwww.rachelaaron.netto see a full list of all my books complete with their beautiful covers, links to reviews, and free samples!
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Thank you again for reading, and I hope you’ll be back soon!
Yours sincerely,
Rachel Aaron
Julius isn’t finished yet! Introducing
A DRAGON OF A DIFFERENT COLOR
To save his family from his tyrannical mother, Julius had to step on a lot of tails. That doesn’t win a Nice Dragon many friends, but just when he thinks he’s starting to make progress, a new threat arrives. Turns out, thingscanget worse. Heartstriker hasn’t begun to pay for its secrets, and the dragons of China are here to collect. When the Golden Emperor demands his surrender, Julius will have to choose between loyalty to the sister who's always watched over him or preserving the clan he gave everything to protect.
Keep reading for a sneak peek at the first chapter, or go to Amazon.com toget your copy now!
