In a Heartbeat: A Valerie Hannigan World Novel (Not a Valerie Hannigan Novel)

By H. Elizabeth Dunn

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796030259

H. Elizabeth Dunn

H. Elizabeth Dunn was born and raised in California, but military service gave her a world view and many, many years in the Midwest. Now, back in SoCal, she spends her time writing, driving for Uber and trying to figure out how to get her stuff back from Ohio.

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OTHER TITLES:

From Sugar To Shifters (2013) (A Valerie Hannigan Novel-Book 1)

Shifting Gears (2015) (A Valerie Hannigan Novel-Book 2)

When The Shift Hits The Fan (2017) (A Valerie Hannigan Novel-Book 3)

Shift Happens (2017) (A Valerie Hannigan Novel-Book 4)

Tough Shift (2019) (A Valerie Hannigan Novel-Book 5)

IN A HEARTBEAT

A Valerie Hannigan World Novel (Not a Valerie Hannigan Novel)

H. Elizabeth Dunn

Copyright © 2019 by H. Elizabeth Dunn.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2019905110

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-7960-3027-3

   Softcover   978-1-7960-3026-6

   eBook   978-1-7960-3025-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 04/25/2019

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 In The Middle Of Nowhere. In The Middle Of Everything.

Chapter 2 You Drink, And I’ll Drive

Chapter 3 We Can Get Blood Out Of Anything

Chapter 4 Possessive, Protective. Passed Out.

Chapter 5 Splinters

Chapter 6 Clan Master. Whatever.

Chapter 7 Ye Smell O’ Wet Dog

Chapter 8 The Word, Mr. McVie, Is Chaperone.

Chapter 9 No! Wait! Don’t!

Chapter 10 Who Let The Dogs Out?

Chapter 11 Congratulations!

Chapter 12 Ye Been Shot! Yeah, I Know!

Chapter 13 Vampire Hearing.

Chapter 14 Was He Serious? Yes, He Was.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Throughout my modest career, well let’s say hobby, I’ve had a few avid supporters. Some have doubled as editors and continuity handlers, some give me positive feedback and encouragement, mostly it’s all of the above.

I want to thank Kathy, Vincent, Darrien, Elisheva and Darcy for your ongoing support and, sometimes unknowing contributions to my creative process. Without you this would be a lonely and slow world of writing.

Over the last few years writing has been especially difficult because of the personal heartache I experienced. This hurt impinged on the part of me that needs to feel free and invincible in order to dive into that creative well and go places that simply don’t exist all the while creating experiences that are grounded in the real world.

I know I’m coming out on the other side of the hurt and this book is proof.

So, please, enjoy this latest offering and, as always, thank you for your support.

CHAPTER 1

In The Middle Of Nowhere. In The Middle Of Everything.

I sat on my barstool, and yes it was mine. The vinyl was still intact. And all four little rubber covers on the feet were present and accounted for. My stool was stable, comfortable and the metal rungs around the legs were the perfect height for my feet to rest and my guitar to set comfortably on my thigh as I played.

The stool was locked up at the end of each night and didn’t even get to come out if I didn’t work. As I said, it was mine, and nobody disputed it.

Not even Mike, the owner of, wait for it: Mike’s Place.

He had a good sense of business and people. Hence me sitting on a stage, nicely bathed in several soft spotlights, an acoustic guitar in hand and my voice unobtrusively wafting through the air.

Three nights every week I waited tables from 4:00pm until 9:00pm, then took an hour break and sang from ten to eleven and Midnight to 1am.

Three years and never a sick day. Vacation yes, sick no.

The customers seemed to like me whether I was singing or waiting tables.

The guys? Well, at 5’6", and 135 pounds of well sculpted woman with straight, auburn hair that braided down to my ass, and emerald green eyes that regularly reduced men to babbling teenagers with a glance, the guys simply lusted after me.

I can up sell a cup of coffee and dessert to a full meal without breaking a sweat, and add a bottle of wine to any ticket, any time.

I am one of the best Mike had hired in his 20+ years of operating the place.

Mike loves me. Not the getting busy kind of love, but like a father. The feelings are mutual. He saved my life.

As a man, Mike is tall, strong and rules with an iron fist. As the alpha of a pack of werewolves, he is huge, strong and rules with an iron fist.

I scanned the crowd with a practiced eye and smiled as two men entered the bar. I dubbed them Brain and Brawn.

Brain was a lean six feet two inches, pushing one eighty. Brown and brown, nondescript really, but there was an underdeveloped predatory feel about him. Someday, if he were really, really good and he got what he wanted, he would be a serial killer.

Brawn was just that. Six feet five inches if he were an inch and easily topping 350lbs. That would be 350lbs of muscle. The boy worked out. Probably bench-pressing Hondas (the car, not the motorcycle) as a warm up and going from there.

There wasn’t much in his eyes. No malevolence, no violence waiting to slip Brain’s leash. Whatever Brain asked, Brawn would do, because Brain would never make him hurt anybody good. No really! Just ask him! They all deserved it.

Mike glanced up from behind the mahogany and brass bar. Twenty feet of polished luxury without being pretentious. The back wall was completely mirrored, and the shelves that lined its length, was crowded with the best and the slightly less than best that the alcohol world had to offer. The bar was also buried three rows deep in patrons and wait staff trying to get drinks from the 4 bartenders that would make a load of money on a Thursday night.

The barroom itself sported high top, round tables of steel with sturdy padded stools arranged for maximum occupancy and ease of wait staff movement. The tables were bolted to the floor.

If you can’t pick it up, you can’t use it as a weapon.

The concrete floors where easy to clean, the floor drains were discrete, and the hoses hidden. There hadn’t been bloodshed in the place for three years. That would be the length of time I had been in his employ.

I’m not simply a great waitress and a talented entertainer, I ensured a lack of violence in Mike’s Place.

I made eye contact with Mike, kept my voice steady, and felt the words from Desperado, by The Eagles or Linda Ronstadt as might be a person’s preference, down to my soul.

With that nearly imperceptible glance, Mike knew.

Potential trouble had just walked in the door.

Of course, potential trouble had walked into the bar two months ago and was still showing up regularly, like tonight.

He pulled the darkness around himself like a second skin. The averting magic wasn’t so much magic, but a power that was associated with his kind and his age. I called it magic, but Mike assured me that vampires, like shifters didn’t possess magic. I thought it was bullshit, but who’s going to argue with a werewolf?

Not me. Never mind. I argued with him all the time just for fun.

I understood vampires as much as anybody but, his age and how the whole power acquisition thing worked, I hadn’t a clue. I could see the ebb of the darkness as he allowed his waitress to be aware of him and attend him as a patron, or flow back into the darkness and watch her and me.

Every motion of my hand over the strings, every movement of my body in time with the music, he watched. He studied, and when he left he would barely remember anything about me.

The more he showed up, the more I both wondered why he continued to come and anticipated his presence.

No supernatural being should even want to enter those doors once, let alone regularly for two months.

Something was wonky with my magic, I knew it, and I needed to fix it. Then he wouldn’t come back.

Between the thought of losing my audience eye candy and the two problem children that took a table against the wall just inside the bar from the restaurant, I wasn’t happy.

Neither was Tommy from the looks he was giving me now. He too, was behind the bar. As Mike’s second in command he did a fine job in everything he undertook, that included annoying me.

He had set his sights on me three years ago and was showing no signs of letting up.

The entire pack of werewolves had adopted me, and every unattached male had made a play for me after I had healed, but the minute Tommy stepped in, all others stopped. He wasn’t the alpha, but the alpha treated me as a daughter and not a potential mate, so Tommy had the second right of refusal.

Unfortunately, I kept refusing him and it wasn’t working. The werewolves were fiercely loyal and passionate. I had seen the love and devotion between mated pairs, and it was an amazing sight.

Tommy would treat me well. With an unyielding devotion to see me happy, sated and protected. He was gorgeous, muscled, intense blue eyes, sandy blonde hair that made him look like a California surfer rather than a werewolf.

However, the brother vibe just hung there in my mind and nothing he could do would change that.

The vampire however, well he was a different story. No brother vibe there.

He seemed to notice the odd pair walk in and give the place the once over. He always had the table half way up the far wall, between the exits. I found it strange that he seemed to be so aware of the place and of me each time he came. He shouldn’t. Not all the magic was shorting out though. He still ordered food he wouldn’t eat and beverages he wouldn’t drink even though I was pretty certain vampires didn’t partake in human food. Brittany would give him a to-go container as he got ready to leave.

Brittany was a pretty little twenty-something with bright blue eyes and naturally blonde hair. She had a smile that spoke of a loving upbringing and hope for the future. Life hadn’t beaten her up, and I hoped it never would.

The other waitress in the bar looked no worse for wear, but there was something about her that the vampire just didn’t seem to trust. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t trust her either. Sherri did her job and did it well, but that’s all you could say.

The drool worthy vampire kicked his chair against the wall and crossed his long legs as Brittany started to turn away with more than enough money to pay his bill and leave her with a sizable tip. She had nearly turned around when he touched her gently on the arm.

I don’t know what they said, I was too busy trying to remember the lyrics to the song I was singing, but he gestured towards me, and then Brittany glanced my way with a smile.

Was he asking about me? If so, that was a bad sign. Darn it! Why had I waited so long to even think about renewing the wards around the property? Why? Because, the vampire is hot.

Brittany had walked away, and now the vampire was studying me. I tried to focus on my playing and singing. Occasionally, I would glance to Mike behind the bar and Brain and Brawn, but the vampire was unnerving me. This was my last song, and then I would head to the roof and stakeout the parking lot.

If anything was going to go wrong tonight, it would be out there.

Finally, I put away my equipment and headed to the roof. I was downwind of the parking lot, so I was certain that the vampire wouldn’t scent me and ruin the surveillance.

Mike had once told me that I was very difficult to scent, and Tommy couldn’t scent me at all. However, I wasn’t taking any chances with the vamp. I wondered what he smelled like.

I wanted to find out, and I wanted to ask him questions, like, are you single? And then, I would re-ward the property.

We had made eye contact. For the first time in two months he had actually seen me. There was no haze in his dark eyes this night and I wondered why I wasn’t panicking to take down the wards around the property down immediately and reset them.

Honestly, I should summon a low-level demon with warding proficiency to do it for me, but-.

I shook myself back to the rooftop and surveillance. Those two men spelled trouble for somebody and I could smell it on them. Actually, I could feel it. I didn’t know why. It started once I recovered, and now I just sensed when somebody walked into the bar looking for trouble. Then again, my wards usually kept the trouble makers away.

The late spring breeze picked up. Somebody had their fireplace going. A twinge of jealousy caught me. Sitting in front of a fire sounded interminably good right now.

The heavy leather jacket protected me from the chill of the evening air and could protect me from a lot more, at least better than the tank top I was wearing underneath.

I wondered if my magic would protect me from the vampire outside of the bar property. I was sure the jacket wouldn’t protect me from an angry vampire.

I had been watching him for months as he sat and did…nothing. Hung out, listened to me sing, got between me and the drunks that occasionally staggered toward me with too much liquor fueled enthusiasm.

Tommy had scented my arousal for the vampire on more than one occasion and tried to use my desire for another to his advantage. I wasn’t simply horny. I wanted the vampire.

Witches and Vampires didn’t really get along, but neither did Valkyries, Weres, Demons any number of fairy folk and anyone else. Occasionally, alliances were forged in the worst of times, but for the most part it was tolerance at best, murderous hatred at worst.

Basically, it boiled down to who did what to whom, when, and how long could they hold a grudge.

He still shouldn’t be coming back. It wasn’t safe. Not for him and certainly not for Mike’s Place.

I continued to watch from the roof as the vampire exited the place and headed to the van, where I had just noticed Brain and Brawn loitering discretely. I couldn’t see what they were doing, but the vampire was interested and heading their way.

Neither could I see any of the roving werewolves who did circuits around the parking lot. Where the fuck were they?

The gentle night breeze played with the loose strands of hair at my neck. It was cool, but if I didn’t have to spend too much time just sitting around, I’d be fine. A hot cup of tea, a bath, 20 minutes of meditation, and a good night’s sleep was what I was hoping for, but it was looking like that piece of paradise would be delayed.

My view to that area of the lot wasn’t the best and I lost sight of every person I’d been watching. I stood as several strange noises assailed me, and then a strangled scream, followed by the smell of burning flesh.

I didn’t think about moving in on what I knew was a bad situation, I simply did. From the roof to the Dumpster to the ground. I was human. My father was a Marine and raised me as one. It served me well, like now.

When I rounded the van cautiously, the vamp was staked to the ground. Both hands, both shoulders, both thighs run through with silver coated stakes and he was pinned. His gut was a bloody mess and the hilt of a small silver dagger showed that a blade was perilously close to his heart. One wrong move and the blade would kill him. Permanently.

He was at the mercy of a man who killed for fun.

Brain hovered over the blood drenched vampire with a crossbow and Brawn stood by his side.

I didn’t think that taunting a vampire was ever a good idea. That was exactly what Brain was doing as Brawn kicked the downed vamp in the ribs.

How the vampire managed to remain silent was beyond my understanding. The look of agony and murderous rage was easy to see.

The taunting continued and Brain didn’t seem to be able shut up for a single moment.

Brain was an idiot. My Own Worst Enemy by Pink played through my mind and I thought I would add it to my repertoire.

Both men were fully enamored with torturing the vampire when I stepped soundlessly around the van and laid Brain out cold. It took a lot more finesse and a good possibility that I had more than a few bruised knuckles, but Brawn went down with a hefty thud. A quick glance at the mess that was a barely conscious vampire was a horrific sight. It was going to take a lot of effort to free him, after that I had no idea what it would take to keep him alive, or less than truly dead. He was losing blood quickly.

His eyes shifted and a barely audible, no passed his lips.

The pipe caught me in the shoulder as I leaned out of the swing of a third man I’d had never even seen. He hadn’t been in the bar and I’d failed to see him during my surveillance from the roof.

The brunt of the force dented the side door of the van.

I recovered quickly ignoring the pain and grabbed the pipe. I held onto it steadying Brawn’s twin and giving me the opportunity to deliver a couple of vicious kicks to his head. I was very glad that I maintained my flexibility, he was huge, and I couldn’t imagine any woman giving birth and raising two giants, unless she was a giant herself. They were human, but it baffled me.

Unfortunately, he shook of the blows as if they were simply annoying. He didn’t even seem to notice the small cut over his eye.

He swung again, and I dove out of the way and further from the downed vamp. No