The Wolf's Daughter (The Tala Chronicles 1) (11 page)

“And Tala,
whatever the death certificate said, there was nothing natural about your
mother’s death.”

She trembled. “It’s
impossible. I don’t believe it.”

“She threatened
to reveal certain things. But if it gives you any consolation, I didn’t get any
pleasure from killing her. Certain nothing like the kind I got from killing the
Violent Maker in Boston last week. And as you well know, your mother wasn’t a Violent
Maker but a pure Violent. She would have killed you if you hadn’t moved away.”

“I’ll get you
for all of this, even if I have to come back from the grave.” She spat in his
face, and he slapped her.

“I’ve saved the
best for last.” He rocked on his heels and chuckled.

She fisted her
hands. “What is it, you despicable piece of garbage?”

He sneered. “Now
is that any way to speak to your father, Tala?”

“My father?” Her
heart sank, and she struggled to breathe. “No, you can’t… You’re ly-lying. It
can’t be true.”

“It is and it’s
time.” Sharp stared into her eyes. “Now I get to kill you.”

Then Sharp looked
confused.  

“He changed you,
didn’t he? You’re not a Violent Maker anymore.” He shook her.

She glared at
him. “That’s right.”

“Where’s your
amulet?”

“You’re too
late. I threw it in the fire. Destroyed it.”

“Hmm. So I can’t
take power directly from you, and I can’t get your amulet now. But it doesn’t
matter, because I’ll get an amulet. Even if I have to rip apart your house to
find one.

“You’ll never
find one.”

“Oh yes I—
Willis slapped his forehead. “What am I thinking? I’ll just filch Gregory’s.
Then I can search your house at my leisure. I’m still going to kill you, though.”
He put the gun back in the holster and then put his hands around her neck. “Hands
on is always so much more pleasurable.”

She struggled,
but he wrapped his hands around her neck and started squeezing. His face
contorted into a demonic grin, and he opened his mouth, showing his teeth.   

“Stop!” a male
voice said.

“Matt!”

Sharp let go of
her, and she dropped to the ground. She rubbed her neck and coughed.

He barreled toward
Matt, who just stood there. Sharp leaped for him, but Matt aimed a gun at Sharp,
shooting him when he was in midair. Sharp fell without any more movement.

Matt sprinted to
him, crouched, and put two fingers to his neck. Then he checked Gregory. He ran
to Tala, who was getting up unsteadily.

“Matt!”

“Both of them, no
pulse.” He gave her a bear hug, and she returned the embrace.

Tala sobbed. “He
killed my grandmother and Debbie. And Edgar’s daughter.” She put her face in
her hands. “He even killed my mother. And tonight he killed my Uncle Gregory.”

“Shh,” he said
while holding her. “He can’t kill anyone else now.”

“Matt, he even
told me he’s my real father.”

“Maybe he was lying.
Don’t even think about it right now.”

“How did you know
where to find me?” She sniffed.

“Vanessa called
me. She said she couldn’t reach you on the cell phone. She was frantic.”

Tala nodded. “I
dropped it when I fell in the water.”

Matt wiped the
tears from her face. “We went to the hospital, and Edgar drew a map for me.”

“They let you
see him?”

“Well, I said it
was an emergency.” He sighed. “Let’s sit down for a minute. I think I ran the
whole way.”

“How is Edgar?”

“Still seems
weak, but the nurse said he’s doing a little better.” He smiled. “Edgar made me
promise I’d find you.”

“I’m not looking
forward to telling him Sharp killed his daughter. In fact, I don’t think we
should tell him.”

Matt nodded. Then
he stared at her. “I’m feeling a little strange right now. Your eyes don’t seem
lighter, though.”

She gave him a
half smile and touched his face. “No, Matt. Don’t worry. It’s just from all the
excitement. Gregory changed me before he died. I won’t be setting anyone off
anymore.” Tala shrugged. “Feeling normal with me feels strange to you, that’s
all.”

“But what if
there are others like the way you were?”

Tala put her
hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Then we’ll figure out a way to deal with it. Maybe
Gregory isn’t the only one who can change people like I was. He also said he’d
heard of...those who could change
you
, but he didn’t know where they
were.”

Matt kissed her
lightly on her forehead. “Tala, I want to face all this with you. I know we can
solve this together.”

“I’ve been
waiting so long to hear you say those words.” She hugged him. “Should we call
the police?”

“Yes, I’ll
notify headquarters. There’s no sense in telling them about the paranormal
stuff, though. They wouldn’t believe it, and we’d be marked as crackpots. I’m
sure I’d lose my job. Still, I’d rather stay here tonight with you in the
cottage. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

Tala smiled. “We
have our whole lives for that now.”

***

Sharp floated in
a haze of knowing and unknowing, but aware of Tala’s and Matt’s words. Gregory’s
body lay next to him. Excruciating pain shot through him, but he moved slowly,
reaching for the amulet. If he survived, he’d make sure they wouldn’t have
their whole lives for anything.

About the Author

Originally from
New York City, Patricia La Barbera moved to Oklahoma with her husband when they
were newlyweds. She spent eleven years of discovery there and developed a deep
respect for Native Americans.

When they moved
to Florida, she went back to college and received a BA and an MFA in creative
writing. Besides being an author, Patricia’s a freelance editor, specializing
in genre novels and short stories. She’s a member of the HWA and MWA and has
had fiction and poetry published in a variety of journals and three
anthologies. Patricia’s also a writing-contest judge.

In addition to
the first three books in The Tala Chronicles, she’s written a mystery novella,
The
Celtic Crow Murders
.

Patricia’s
grateful to her hometown fire department who sponsored the first writing
contest she won for her fire-prevention essay when she was in the third grade.
And she forgives the teacher who told her in front of the class that she must
have had a brain tumor when she wrote a story about a cat from outer space. But
she does wonder what that teacher would think about her paranormal romance
novels.

Patricia now
lives on the west coast of Florida with her husband and her mews, Maeve. She
loves the sunshine and swimming in the gulf.

Patricia hopes
her readers enjoy her stories as much as she enjoys writing them. She’s working
on the fourth book of The Tala Chronicles. Learn more about the author by
visiting her website. www.patricialabarbera.com