Avenging Autumn (25 page)

Autumn smiled.

Vivian Winters.

“Autumn,” said Robert, a warning tone in his voice. “I told you I wouldn’t be involved in any murder.”

“I know what you said,” she replied dismissively. “Feel free to leave.”

“And those are The Company of Tooth and Claw. You’re not supposed to get involved with them!”

“They offered to help me, and I needed their help.”

Blake looked at her. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Absolutely.”

Autumn waited until the other woman was close enough to hear, and then she called out, “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist coming to watch. Your own stupid pride would want to watch me mourn my father and put him in the ground.”

Vivian glared at her. “You bitch!”

“We’re not here to throw names at each other. You’re only here to die. You hurt so many people—people I love—and I won’t let you continue.” She pulled the gun from beneath her jacket and pointed the muzzle at Vivian.

Vivian’s eyes widened, her already pale face growing even paler. “You can’t kill me! I have the body your friends tried to hide. The police will find it, and you’ll all end up in jail.”

“At this point, you being dead will be worth a few years behind bars.” She settled her gaze on Ollie in leopard form. “Ollie, if you please?”

The leopard snapped at Vivian’s heels, forcing her farther forward, closer to the grave.

“No, no, please!” she panicked. “I’ll tell you where the body is. You don’t have to kill me!”

Autumn shook her head. “It’s too late for that.”

Ollie snapped again, driving Vivian toward the open grave.

“Please,” the woman begged again. “Please, please.”

Autumn gave a cold smile. “That’s right, beg for your life, the way my father would have begged for his. I’ll show you the same mercy you did him.”

And she pulled the trigger.

The crack went off, crows squawking and rising from the surrounding trees. The people around her flinched.

Vivian’s eyes widened in shock, her hands clutching to her chest. But Autumn’s bullet had hit home, directly into the woman’s heart. She gave one final gasp before she toppled backward and fell down the hole, landing on top of the casket.

Autumn bent to pick up one of the shovels the grave diggers would have used to fill in the hole. “Let’s cover the bitch up.”

Marcus reached down and picked up the other spade. “Gladly.”

Autumn smiled as dirt hit the body with a thump.

––––––––

“I
WOULDN’T HAVE thought you’d want Vivian’s body buried with you father,” said Blake as they left the cemetery.

Autumn shook her head. “My father’s body was never down there. He’ll be buried in the plot he’d bought for him and my mother. The same plot my mother’s body was supposed to be.

“So that casket was empty all along?”

“Yes, just blankets and logs to give it some weight.”

“And what about The Company?”

“I needed help from people who wouldn’t try to talk me out of this. I’m sorry I didn’t confide in you, but the funeral needed to appear as real as possible.”

“It’s okay, I understand.”

Robert shook his head. “Just so you know, Autumn. I don’t appreciate being tricked.”

“In the same way I was tricked about my mother’s death all these years?” she shot back.

“I have a reputation to protect.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about your reputation.”

“Fine, but we made a deal.”

“I know that. I’m not going back on it.”

He pressed his lips together and then said, “It would be too late now, even if you were.”

As she approached the cars, she saw a woman with her own blonde curls, though they’d thinned and gone to white, and her blue eyes, standing before her. The sight of the woman again, so much older, but somehow still exactly the same, felt like a punch in the chest.

Her mother gave a cautious smile. “Hello, Autumn.”

Like what you’ve read? Watch out for the sixth book in
The Spirit Shifters
series,
Autumn’s End
. So you never miss out, make sure you sign up to Marissa Farrar’s new release list to stay updated about new releases, exclusives, and special offers!
www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com

A
special thanks to Dawn Steelman who allowed me to pick her brains when I needed information on the United States correctional facilities and procedures. Your help was much appreciated, and I’m sure all the information you gave me will be used in future books as well.

A big thank you, as always, to my editor Lori Whitwam. You did a wonderful job, as always, of picking up all my annoying British-isms!

Thank you, as well, to my proofreaders, Glynis Elliott and Kim Hayes. I hope you enjoyed this part of the Spirit Shifters series.

And, of course, thank you to my readers. You keep me writing with your loyal support and kind words. I wouldn’t be an author if it wasn’t for you!

If you want to stay updated about my new releases, please sign up to my new release list on my blog. You will receive notification of when a new book comes out, together with exclusive previews and sales!

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Thank you once again.

Marissa.

––––––––

M
arissa Farrar is a multi-published fantasy and horror author. She was born in Devon, England, has travelled all over the world, and has lived in both Australia and Spain. She now resides in the countryside with her husband, three young children, a crazy Spanish dog, and two rescue cats. Despite returning to England, she daydreams of one day being able to split her time between her home country and the balmy, white sandy beaches of Spain.

Even though she’s been writing stories since she was small and held dreams of being a writer, her initial life plan went a different way.

In her youth, inspired by James Herriot, she decided to become a vet, and would regularly bring home new pets to her weary parents. Upon discovering her exams were never going to get her into a veterinary degree, she ended up studying Zoology. Once she completed her degree and realised she’d spent the majority trying to find time to write, she decided to follow her dream of being an author. Seven years later, she was published and two years after that she was able to say goodbye to the day job.

However, she’s continued to collect animals!

Marissa is the author of fifteen novels, including the dark vampire ‘Serenity’ series. Her short stories have been accepted for a number of anthologies including,
Their Dark Masters,
Red Skies Press,
Masters of Horror: Damned If You Don’t,
Triskaideka Books; and
2013: The Aftermath,
Pill Hill Press.

If you want to know more about Marissa, then please visit her website at
www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com
. You can also find her at her facebook page,
www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author
or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.

She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at
[email protected]
.

This eBook 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 purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Did you love
Avenging Autumn
? Then you should read
Cut Too Deep
by Marissa Farrar!

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