Retention: The Darby Shaw Chronicles, #4.6

By Liberty Speidel

Darby Shaw hasn't exactly had the easiest few weeks.

Her partner dying in her arms, only to revive him the following day, and then agreeing to date him…not exactly normal. But realizing that they have the power to connect telepathically with each other, well that requires training to harness properly.

Which is exactly what Darby and her partner/boyfriend, Mark Herman, are doing.

Until Mark inadvertently transfers his memories of sleeping with her best friend, Genova, before they got together.

Darby could deal with the knowledge. But seeing it isn't something she's prepared to deal with.

Mark knows he screwed up, but can there be a way to make it right? If he can't, Darby's friendship with Genova might be fractured…forever.

If you've enjoyed urban fantasy and paranormal mystery series The Darby Shaw Chronicles, this is a perfect continuation of the story of superhuman detective Darby Shaw. Download Retention today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Liberty Speidel
• Release date: Jul 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393582489

Liberty Speidel

Liberty Speidel thought she found herself years ago. But she recently discovered she's not the person she believed. Always striving for more understanding of self, Liberty writes tales of people discovering themselves—and others. A native Kansan, Liberty lives with her muggle teenage daughter, hobbit preteen son, and their menagerie of pets. (And, yes, her name really is Liberty.)

Book preview

Also by Liberty Speidel

The Darby Shaw Chronicles

Emergence

Retaliation

Capitulation

The Darby Shaw Chronicles Box Set *

Omission *

The Last First Date

Retention

Escalation **

The Shadowed Sol

Echoes in the Void **

ALSO BY LIBERTY NELLE Pennington

Ozark River Romances

Love’s Current

No Accounting For Love

Loving A Fractured Heart

* Also available in paperback & audiobook

** Also available in paperback

A note to my readers:

First, thanks so much for choosing Retention to read! It means a lot that you’d choose my book over any other.

I would be thrilled to get to know you through my newsletter. No spam—promise! You can sign up here. It’s a great way to learn about new book releases, giveaways, freebies, and most importantly, join the exclusive Facebook group for my books.

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy Retention!

~L.S.

For Amy

Thanks for being Genova to my Darby.

You’re exactly the type of sister I would have picked for myself.

I’m glad we chose each other for friends.

~ LS

CHAPTER 1

Darby

Istormed out of the little den, through the living room, and out the front door before I slowed and bent over. I’m not going to throw up, I told myself, breathing in the cool night air of late October. Brandon Fischer, one of my many mentors, had Halloween decorations outside his home. A robotic skeleton activated and cackled when I came within its sensor’s sight.

Darby! More than one voice called from the porch.

Get away! I yelled back at the people who had followed me. I can’t unsee that!

Behind me, my three companions conferred, but I could sense it was Brandon who approached—not my boyfriend, Mark Herman, or my best friend, Genova Murphie. Mostly I could sense it was him by the lack of sensing. He was the only one I had no inkling of a mental link to.

Darby, Brandon laid a hand on my back.

I continued to take deep breaths, uncertain whether my dinner was going to make a reappearance.

He said, That was an accident. It shouldn’t have happened. Mark has no control, and it popped through.

I squeezed my eyes tightly closed. But the images returned.

It’s not everyday you see your boyfriend making love to your best friend...through his own eyes.

I shuddered, bile rising in the back of my throat. No, I couldn’t unsee that, and I was barely holding on.

You should have blocked him, I said quietly. Now tears threatened to fall. Great. I’m supposed to be this big, bad superhuman cop, and I was crying and about to vomit because my boyfriend had accidentally shared his memories of sleeping with Genova seven weeks ago, before we were dating.

"I should have, yes, but even I was