As promised, here's a sneak peek at the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Innocent Blood. Enjoy your Sunday, and happy reading!
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PROLOGUE
Loki
Redmond woke to the sound of a door softly closing. She tossed off the covers
and made her way to the window, welcoming the reprieve from her dark,
disturbing dreams. At least it wasn’t a
vision.
Her
brother Jules stood outlined in the moonlight, his fists clenched at his sides.
A well of sadness opened up inside her at the sight of him standing there with
his head bowed. If her dreams were dark and disturbing, his would be a thousand
times worse.
Loki
rummaged through her chest and donned shorts and a T-shirt. It was already warm,
and the day ahead promised to be blistering. Since they were both awake, they
might as well talk about what was bothering them. She tiptoed down the hall, through
the kitchen, and out the back door. If he woke, Jake would demand to know what
was bothering her, and she didn’t honestly know. Her dreams were most likely
the product of her grandfather’s call for help with an issue on the
reservation. He’d reminded her of her duty to her people.
Her people. Strange that Grandfather
should put it that way. He’d constantly criticized her and her brothers and
shouted more than once that they weren’t true Choctaw. He’d belittled their mother
right up until the day of her death. Loki shook off the emotions churning in
her gut. Grandfather was an old man now, and hating him would only hurt her.
“Hey.”
She approached Jules slowly, aware that at times he walked in his sleep. “Bad
dreams?”
Jules
picked up a rock and threw it into the trees that surrounded the back of the
property. “Horrible.”
“Want
to talk about it?”
He
shook his head. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
Placing
an arm around his waist, she stood with him, just watching the beauty of the early
morning breeze gently swaying the trees. “You didn’t wake me, but even if you
did, I’m glad. My dreams weren’t very pleasant, either.”
“Maybe
you shouldn’t go to the reservation today. After the way they treated us, you
don’t owe them anything.”
Loki
sighed and dropped her arm. “Is that what’s bothering you?”
“No.”
Frustration
overwhelmed her. For years Jules hadn’t said a word, trapped in his own mind
with a horror he didn’t know how to express. All that had changed last year
when she’d brought Jake to Grandpa Zachery’s farm to heal after his wife’s
murder. What was supposed to be a vacation turned into a fight for their life
against a madman and his mother, but for Jules it had been a miracle of sorts.
They’d managed to save Grace, a thirteen-year-old who had been kidnapped and
abused by the serial killers, and her month-old baby, Hope. And Grace had
helped Jules heal. The two of them shared a bond that few people would ever
understand. “I can’t help you, Jules, if you won’t talk to me.”
“Talking
won’t change it, Loki. You and I both know that.”
“No,
but sometimes it helps to share things.”
“Why
do we call this the Redmond Farm?”
Loki
chuckled. “Because Grandpa loved our mother so much that when she married our
father, he changed the name of the farm. Sometimes I think he did it just to
piss off Grandfather Redmond.”
“There’s
something evil about Grandfather Redmond, Loki. Don’t trust him.”
“I
didn’t before, and I’m not going to now.” She studied Jules’s face, looking for
clues about what was truly behind his pain. “If there’s something you know
about what’s going on at the reservation, you should tell me.”
“Have
you ever known something was wrong but you didn’t know what it was or how to
stop it?”
Loki
dropped to the ground, hugged her knees to her chest, and patted the spot
beside her. “You know how my visions work. I get images or feelings, and it’s
always after something horrible has happened. I can never stop it.”
Jules
finally sat beside her. “Some of the spirits are angry. Some are very sad. They
say innocent blood has been shed, and the blood of more innocents will be shed
in the coming days.”
“Have
you talked to Grace about this?”
“She
feels the same thing. I think she knows more, but she’s not ready to share it
yet.”
“Do
you know when this is supposed to happen?”
“Today.”
Loki
shuddered. She and Dadron were leaving for the reservation first thing this morning.
The sun began to rise, but it did nothing to dispel the chill sinking into her
bones and encompassing her. “Does this have anything to do with Grandfather?”
Jules stood, brushed off his jeans, and walked
toward the forest. His voice was sad and filled with pain. “No, but you should
tell Jake you love him before you leave.”
CHAPTER
ONE
The
early morning sun blazed down on the small ravine as Jake Savior knelt beside
Jules Redmond and studied the ground. In a few more hours the heat would be
unbearable. “Anything at all?” Jake asked.
“Nothing.”
Jules stood and wiped the sweat from his brow. “A child couldn’t have gone into
that brush pile without leaving some trace.”
Jake
removed his neckerchief and wiped his face. “So I guess it was a spirit or
ghost or whatever it is you guys see that the rest of us don’t.”
“Loki
doesn’t see spirits.”
“Well,
she certainly saw something, and it’s happened three times now.” Jake started
the slow climb to the road. It had been a long shot, bringing Jules here, but Jake
felt helpless when it came to the things Loki experienced. This one had upset
her more than usual.
“Maybe
it was a vision.” Jules followed close on Jake’s heels.
“Water or beer?” Jake lifted the hatch on the
Highlander and pulled out the cooler. “Is it always this hot here in April?
It’s not even eight o’clock yet.”
“Water.
It’s too early for beer.” Jules took the bottle, splashed half of it on his
face, and drank the rest. “The winter was strangely cold, and no, it isn’t
normally this hot in April. Doesn’t bode well for the summer months.”
Jake
popped the top on a can of beer and took a long drink, his eyes scanning the
terrain. “There aren’t any houses anywhere near here in either direction. If
this is a vision of something destined to happen in the future, where would a
child come from?”
Jules
shrugged and grabbed another bottle of water. “Loki’s visions usually come
after something has already happened.” He pointed at the ravine. “But there are
no spirits here. We could have Grace search the computer databases and see if
there were any car wrecks where a family was injured or died and a young girl
survived and ran away. ”
“Sounds
like a plan.” Jake slammed the hatch. “It’s too hot to stay out here any longer,
and I’m hungry. You want to drive?”
The
young boy’s face lit up. “Really?”
Jake
tossed him the keys. “You’ve got your permit, and you have to learn sometime.”
He held up the beer and grinned. “And I’ve been drinking before breakfast.”
Jules
adjusted the seat and mirrors, waited for Jake to buckle up, and started the
car. “So what exactly did Loki see?”
“A
young girl, maybe five or six years old, running across the road. Loki thinks she
was Choctaw, but she can’t be sure.”
“And
you didn’t see her?”
“Nope.
The first time she screamed stop, I
almost flipped the car in the ditch. Loki ran after her, but she disappeared
into that cluster of brush we just searched.”
“And
is it always the same time of day?” Jules’s eyes locked on the road in front of
him.
“I
never really thought about it, but yeah, it was close to the same time all
three evenings. Dark enough to have the lights on but not totally dark,” Jake
said.
Jake
leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. In the past year, he’d accepted
Loki’s visions, as well as the fact that Jules and Grace saw things no one else
could. For Loki, the visions were simply part of her Choctaw heritage. Grace’s
ability was brought on by trauma and loneliness during the years she was held
captive by a madman and his crazy mother. Jules’s abilities were probably a
combination of his Choctaw heritage and trauma. Jake had learned firsthand what
trauma and grief could do to the human psyche. His friends’ abilities might be preferable
to the insanity that had seized him after his wife’s murder. His heart still
ached for Cara at times, but with Loki’s love, he was healing a little more
each day and building a new life in Mississippi.
“Have
you heard from Loki and Dadron?”
“She
called to say they had arrived. I don’t expect to hear anything else until later.
Cell service out there isn’t the best in the world. She said she’d call if they
were staying overnight.” Jake shot a glance at Loki’s younger brother. Worry
lines wrinkled Jules’s forehead, replacing the earlier gleeful face, and he
gripped the wheel tightly. “Something bothering you, Jules?”
“Grace
says the spirits are restless, and something terrible is about to happen. She
doesn’t know what, but it has something to do with innocent blood.”
“And
you think that has something to do with what’s going on on the reservation, or
the kid Loki keeps seeing?”
“I
don’t know. I don’t think so, but there are those in the tribe who love and
respect Loki, and those who hate and fear her.” Jules’s voice faltered for a
moment. “The hate is because of me.”
“She
only promised to listen to what her grandfather had to say. Besides, Dadron is
with her. He’s not going to let anything happen to her.”
“I
still don’t think she should have gone there.” Jules turned in to the driveway
leading to the farm. “This is not her fight, and she doesn’t owe Grandfather
anything.” He parked in front of the house, turned off the motor, and handed
the keys to Jake. “Thank you. Tell Grace not to set a place for me.”
“Where
are you going?” Jake exited the vehicle quickly, but Jules was already disappearing
into the forest behind the house.
The
door to the farmhouse opened, and Grace came out on the landing. “Let him go,
Jake.”
“Any
idea where he’s headed?”
“He
built a sweat lodge yesterday. He’s gone there to fast and pray for those who
are about to die.”
~ ~ ~
Loki
Redmond grabbed the door handle and held on tight as the vehicle hit a pothole.
“With all the money pouring in from the casinos, can’t they do something about
this section?”
Tim
“Bearclaw” Whitefeather jerked the wheel to avoid another hole. “Politics.”
Loki
glanced in the rearview mirror, meeting Dadron’s angry gaze. She understood his
anger as they passed another section of clapboard houses, the yards littered
with empty liquor bottles and piles of trash. They’d left the more prominent
sections of the reservation over an hour ago and were now traveling through the
parts hidden from tourists. She also understood Tim’s comment about politics.
Even here, miles from what was referred to as civilization, the rich got richer
and the poor continued to suffer.
Tim
pulled into a section of trees and parked. “The basin is about a half mile
through the forest. We’ll walk from here.”
Loki
motioned for Dadron to hang back as she rushed to catch up with Tim. “Why did
Grandfather want to meet out here?”
“You’ll
have to ask him.”
Grabbing
Tim’s arm, she turned him to face her. “I’m asking you. You haven’t said ten
words to us since we got here. We were friends once. And you know how
Grandfather feels about us. Please, tell me what this is about.”
“Nalusa
Falaya.”
“You
can’t be serious.” Loki laughed and shook her head. “Nalusa Falaya is a myth.
Like the boogeyman, something made up by parents to keep the children inside
after dark.”
“We
have two missing hunters, Loki.”
“That
doesn’t mean anything. If they’re unfamiliar with the area, they probably just
got lost out here.”
“We
found the third hunter.”
Dadron
joined them. “Dead or alive?”
Tim’s
jaw set in a hard line, and his eyes darkened. “Mostly dead. We’re wasting time,
and your Grandfather doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Loki
hung back to walk with Dadron. She really didn’t care what her grandfather
liked or didn’t like. Tim had been her cousin Harry’s best friend all through
childhood. They’d gone through the police academy together, and Tim had joined
the tribal police when Harry had moved to Corpus Christi and joined the police
department there. Living on the reservation kept some of the old myths and
culture alive, but no one believed in Nalusa Falaya. “What do you think he
means by ‘mostly dead’?”
“Grandfather
asked you to bring Jules with you, didn’t he?” Dadron asked.
“Maybe.”
Loki watched Tim’s back as he stalked away from them. Grandfather hadn’t asked
her to bring Jules, he’d demanded she bring Jules. He’d wanted all three of
them here. “Don’t worry, Dadron. It will be a cold day in hell before they get
their hands on Jules again.”
