A
Phoenix is Forever
By:
Ashlyn Chase
Publication
Date: 3/26/2019
She
didn't see this hot cop coming.
Dawn
Forrest is ready for a big change. She's determined to put her
criminal past behind her and only use her extraordinary psychic
abilities for good from now on.
Luca
Fierro is a Phoenix shifter and rookie cop with something to prove.
The last person he should tangle with is a newly reformed bad girl,
especially one as irresistible as Dawn. But he needs her help to find
a missing child, and every minute counts. This case is going to put
their skills to the test and force them to keep their sizzling
attraction at bay...
EXCERPT
Instead
of going straight home, Luca parked nearby and started to walk off
his hurt and frustration. He wasn’t in the best part of town, but
he didn’t care. He wasn’t in the best mood either. How the heck
had he gotten to this point in his life? Up until a short while ago,
he had been hopeful about his future. Now, he wasn’t so sure. Still
wearing his police uniform, he stuffed his hands in his jacket
pockets and walked aimlessly with his head down.
Half
an hour later, nearing the fountain of the Christian Science Center,
a popular destination for tourists and locals alike, he barely
noticed the regal elegance of the domed structure overlooking the
calm reflecting pool. But in the quiet of the early morning, his ears
perked up in sudden alert when he heard a woman’s strained gasp.
He
glanced up and saw a young woman standing near the fountain. She was
about five six with short, spiky brown hair, wearing a black leather
jacket. Neck tattoos and a lot of piercings gave her a bad-girl
vibe, but what was even odder was that she was staring right at him,
wide-eyed. Then she passed out.
“Shit,”
he muttered and ran over—faster than a human could. Worried
she could wind up with a concussion, he cradled her head before she
hit the pavement. He shook her shoulder and shouted, “Hey! Are you
all right?”
Eventually,
she opened her eyes. Big gray-green eyes. Unusual. Supporting
her back, he helped her sit up.
“What’s
the matter?” He was tempted to ask if she’d ever seen a cop
before, but that was because he was in a crappy mood. Sarcasm aside,
he was trained not to assume what was going on in a person’s brain.
Asking open-ended questions would gain more information.
“I…saw
blood.” She paused and closed those big green eyes again, taking a
deep breath. “I always faint at the sight of blood.”
“What
do you mean? You saw an accident or someone get hurt?” Luca gentled
his voice in concern. Perhaps she’d
witnessed a murder and had a delayed reaction.
She
shook her head and reached out to grasp his hand. “Look, this may
sound crazy,” she said, “but I’m a psychic. I saw you walking
this way, and I got a dreadful feeling. Did something just happen to
you? I see auras and have premonitions. Your aura is just…well,
terrible. Then I had a vision. I saw you covered in blood.”
Blood?
Luca helped her to stand. He believed in psychics—the genuine kind.
After all, he was a shapeshifter, and he came from a family of
shifters. But there were a lot of charlatans out there.
Given
where his head was at after just being dumped by Lisa, he could only
imagine what kind of energy he was giving off, let alone his aura…but
blood? This chick could just be some wacko.
He
folded his arms. “Do you want money to tell me more?”
“No!
I’m not like that. I help people. Maybe the accident I just saw is
something you can prevent from happening.”
He
cocked his head. “You saw an accident? Where?”
“On
a side street. It looked like an older part of town. They were just
kids. Maybe sixteen or seventeen at the most. It looked like they
were drag racing. A little kid rode his bike into the street and he
was struck by one of the cars.”
“What
does that have to do with me?”
“I
don’t know. Sometimes I see through other people’s eyes. I think
I was looking through yours.”
Luca
wanted to stay openminded in case she was the real deal.
“Some
more weird energy is clinging to you,” she went on, her expression
seeming earnest. “I think it has to do with other people in your
life. Your aura is red. Angry. But it feels justified—and not just
that. I-I feel as if someone is out to get you.”
Who
could be out to get him? Was it just his fellow cops, taking
advantage of the rookie? Doubtful. That was just for their own
chuckles and part of the usual hazing. Something all newbies went
through.
No,
his dark mood was due to getting dumped. Lisa had acted strange that
morning, but he didn’t see her as a danger. Did she have someone
else already, and maybe that someone considered him a threat?
He
was still mulling over the possibilities when the spiky-haired
girl pulled out a card and wrote her name and number on the back.
“I’m
sorry if you think I’m trying to take advantage of you. I’m not.
Knowing that cops are usually close-minded about psychics, I wouldn’t
have even bothered, except I think you’re in danger. And those kids
certainly are.”
Glancing
at the card, he saw the name she’d written. Dawn
Forest.
He flipped the card over. It read ScholarTech:
Academic Software for Brilliant Minds.
“Is
that your real name?”
“Yeah.
If I were going to come up with a fake name, it would be better than
that.”
“You
mean something exotic, like Zelda
the Magnificent?”
She
laughed. “No. Something like Susan Jones. I don’t think my mom
realized how many times people would ask me if my name was fake or if
my middle name was ‘inthe.’”
“So
you work at this software company?” He wondered why someone who
looked like her, with her tats and piercings, would be working for a
company that created academic software.
“Yes,
I just started there last month. Someday, I’ll get my own business
cards instead of the generic ones.”
“Your
look doesn’t exactly scream ‘corporate head office.’”
“Well,
your assumption is outdated,” she retorted, hands firmly on her
hips. “I have a college degree and was top in my class. Not to
mention, I’m the only person at ScholarTech, including the
engineers, who can recite the entire software manual by heart.”
“Wow.
And you’ve only been there a month? How did you learn everything in
so short a time?”
“I
have a photographic memory.”
“You’re
a psychic and you have a photographic memory? Shouldn’t you be
raking in the big bucks on Wall Street?” Luca flashed her his
trademark grin. It usually got him out of hot water. She smiled back
and visibly relaxed.
He
took a good look at her, past the tats and piercings and spiky hair,
and noticed how pretty she was. Her nose was slightly turned up and
covered with cute freckles. The tiny diamond stud in her left nostril
almost got lost among them. Her hair made her look like a pixie.
Maybe the badass tattoos and piercings were a way to counteract all
that cuteness and be taken seriously.
“So
do you do anything with your psychic talent, professionally?”
“Like
working at a tea room? Or doing parties? No.”
“Anything
other than stopping strangers on the street?”
She
looked at her feet and kicked at the pavement with the end of her
leather-booted toe. “Sometimes. If friends ask me for help, I
do what I can for them.”
There
was something about her body language that had him questioning that
statement.
He
tucked her business card into his jacket pocket. “It was nice to
meet you, Dawn Forest. I should be getting home though. I worked the
night shift, and I need to get some sleep.”
“Okay.
Watch your back,” she said and returned to her spot by the fountain
to retrieve her backpack.
Award winning author, Ashlyn Chase specializes in characters who reinvent themselves, having reinvented herself numerous times. With a degree in behavioral sciences, she mainly worked as a psychiatric nurse and Red Cross RN. She’s happily married to her true-life hero husband who looks like Hugh Jackman if you squint. Visit her online at https://www.ashlynchase.com/
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