Spineless: Lonely Souls, #1

By Autumn Reed

Eight years ago, I believed I'd finally found a place to call home. My mother's marriage to Vincent Sharpe meant security and three stepbrothers who were already my best friends.

 

But Mom's mysterious death one week before the wedding turned my world upside down. The day of her funeral, I was whisked away to live with my aunt in Kansas, and I never heard from the Sharpes again...

 

Until a devastating tornado leaves me destitute.

 

Now, Vincent is offering me the opportunity of a lifetime—he'll pay for my tuition and expenses at an exclusive university. All I have to do is move back in with him and his sons.

 

Knowing this is my one chance to discover what really happened to my mother, I grudgingly accept. But if I thought living in the same house with a potential murderer was going to be my biggest obstacle, I couldn't have been more wrong.

 

Leo, Hayle, and Tristin Sharpe are no longer the boys I remember. They're all grown up, with the adult attitudes, tensions, and sex appeal to prove it. They aren't my problem anymore. Yet, somehow, they keep drawing me into their web of drama.

 

I might be the only person who can fix what's broken between them. But I don't trust that they won't shatter me in the process.

 

 

*The Lonely Souls trilogy is a contemporary reverse harem series inspired by the main characters in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...except, this version of Dorothy and her friends is a little twisted.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Autumn Reed
• Release date: Jul 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9798201451080

Autumn Reed

Autumn is a lifelong bookworm with a penchant for sarcasm. She loves cloudy days, fluffy dogs, and murdering succulents. When she isn't bringing daydreams to life on the page, she can be found behind the lens of a digital camera or binge-watching Veronica Mars. To read more about Autumn Reed, visit www.autumnreed.com.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Thea, ten years old

But this is your home.

Home.

It was a strange word. I understood its definition, but that didn’t mean I knew what it meant. Not really.

For as long as I could remember, my mother had dragged me from city to city. From school to school. From roach-infested motel to roach-infested motel. We’d rarely stayed anywhere long enough to have an apartment, much less a home.

I’d thought things were finally changing. That we’d found our place. Our people.

But that had only been wishful thinking. Mom was dead, and I was leaving.

I looked at the three boys who I’d started to view as friends. My best and only friends, really. They were supposed to become my stepbrothers. Now, that would never happen.

"This is not my home, I finally replied to Leo. I don’t belong here."

I’d never belonged anywhere.

Leo, the oldest of us at twelve, stretched to his full height. Then, we’ll go somewhere you do belong.

Like where? Tristin asked, doubt in his voice. He’d never been the type to jump into something without a plan. Not like his half-brother.

The woods. Just until Thea’s aunt goes back to Kansas.

Kansas. The word was enough to make my stomach ache. I’d never been to the middle of the country, but my mother had often talked about growing up on a farm there, and I’d never wanted to visit. It sounded dismal.

We’ll get ca-aught, Hayle piped up, his stutter appearing. That was the first time I’d heard it in a while. It was a sure sign he was uncomfortable with what Leo was suggesting.

Go pack a bag, the eldest brother commanded, ignoring Hayle. We’ll get supplies and meet you in the back in ten minutes.

Deep down, I knew I should resist. But desperate times called for desperate measures. Or so I’d heard from my mother too many times to count. Besides, I’d never been good at telling Leo no.

Okay. I started backing away toward the staircase that led to my room. Ten minutes.

As I walked up the stairs and past a framed photograph of my mother on the wall, I tried not to think about watching her casket being lowered into the ground this morning. I didn’t want to start crying again. The boys would think I was being a baby.

Voices drifted from Vincent’s study, and at the sound of my mother’s name, I paused. A voice I recognized as my almost-stepfather’s said angrily, Goddammit. I thought you said you’d tied up all the loose ends. Why the fuck do I have a voicemail from a detective?

Relax. He probably wants to provide the official cause of death. No one suspects murder, I assure you. The mystery man let out a laugh. By the time I was done, even I was starting to believe her death had been an accident.

Cause of death?

Murder?

They were talking about my mother . . . but what did it all mean?

Vincent sighed. This can’t come back on me, no matter what. Everyone has to believe Amber’s death was an accident.

They will. No one will ever learn the truth.

My heart hammering in my chest, I tiptoed past the study and to my bedroom. I didn’t understand what was going on. Who was that man Vincent had been talking to? And why did they make it sound like Mom had been . . .

I wrapped my arms around my waist, not even wanting to think about the M word. I’d seen enough movies to know what it meant—that a bad man had killed my mother. But, who? And, why? Vincent had told me there’d been an accident. That no one could have prevented it.

He’d lied to me.

None of this made sense. All I knew was that he could never find out I’d eavesdropped. I used to believe he was safe, but now he scared me. I had to get away from him.

As fast as possible, I packed my favorite belongings and lugged two bags downstairs to where my aunt was waiting for me. If we hurried, we’d be able to leave without being noticed.

Without a word, she took one of the bags and pressed on my back to lead me toward the front door.

I’d been right. I didn’t belong here, and it sure wasn’t my home.

If I was lucky, I’d be able to forget this place—and these people—ever existed.

CHAPTER ONE

Thea, eight years later

I want to float away.

That’s how I’d spent my day—considering the best way to finally escape.

It wasn’t that the desire to flee was new. In fact, it had been a constant refrain since I’d arrived on the farm eight years ago.

But I hadn’t spent much time contemplating how I should go. There had been no point. Aunt Emmylou was my guardian, and I had no one else. Running away seemed plenty appealing, what with the homelessness, starvation, and predators on the streets. Yet, I’d never been tempted to follow that road. Shocking, I know.

Things were different now. I’d turned eighteen a few months ago and graduated from high school last week. Technically, I was free.

If only I knew where to go . . . or had any money to get there.

I wasn’t one of those girls who dreamed of a glamorous life in New York City or even a quiet existence in a village by the sea. Probably because I didn’t dream. Well, of anything but leaving this dusty farm behind and never looking back. I’d seen that in my sleeping and waking hours for almost half of my life.

Thea, Aunt Emmy hollered from the barn.

I might have ignored her, but the cow wasn’t going to milk herself. No matter how many times I’d wished she would.

After adding the final touches to the hot air balloon I’d been drawing, I closed my sketch pad with a derisive laugh. I wasn’t even sure what had possessed me to draw it. Heights weren’t my thing, and I’d probably pass out if I attempted to leave the ground in a balloon.

Pushing away from my hiding spot behind the old shed, I dropped the book and pencil into my worn backpack and headed toward the barn.

Aunt Emmy was standing in the entrance, her hands affixed to her lean hips. Her gray hair was pulled away from her sun-spotted face, and she wore overalls and a pinched expression. You should have milked Tessa hours ago. What have you been doing?

I dropped my backpack on the barn floor and made my way toward Tessa. The brown and white cow gave me a disgruntled snort, and I grinned. She’d get over it soon enough. I was mending the fence over by the north pasture.

It was true enough. I just failed to mention I’d finished the task more than half an hour earlier.

My aunt grunted. You need to start pulling your weight around here. There ain’t no such thing as a summer break.

As if I wasn’t already more than aware. I hadn’t caught a break—summer or otherwise—since before my mother died. And even then . . . well, life with Amber Gale hadn’t exactly been easy.

I’ve been up since five. I don’t know what else you want from me.

She released an exhausted sigh, and a sliver of guilt shot through me. It wasn’t that my aunt was a bad person. She merely lacked the empathy and support a mother worth her salt would offer. Her husband had walked out almost twenty years ago, and though she never spoke of him, it was clear he’d left a gaping hole in her life. All these years working the family land on her own had worn her down. Hardened her.

I’d always struggled to understand how she was my mother’s sister. My mother had been beautiful and full of life, flighty and irresponsible. Meanwhile, my aunt was plain and weary, hard-working and strong-willed. The two women couldn’t have been more different.

If you’re planning to leave, tell me now, Aunt Emmy said in a clipped tone.

I inhaled sharply. I’d been expecting her to bring the subject up for months and probably shouldn’t have been surprised she’d chosen a moment like this to address it.

From behind Tessa, I searched for a sign—a single one—that my aunt wanted me to stay. Or even needed me to. I wasn’t heartless. If she needed me, I would find a way to continue helping her, even if that meant attending the nearest community college during the week and returning to the farm on the weekends.

But she provided no such sign. Her face was as devoid of emotion as her voice had been. She might as well have said, If you need something from the grocery store, put it on the list.

Why would I stay?

The words were probably harsher than they needed to be, but I was done trying with this woman. She wouldn’t know true warmth and caring if it bit her in the ass, rattlesnake-style.

With a nod, she started toward the house. I need to start dinner. Let me know when you’re moving out.

And that was that.

She couldn’t even be bothered to ask me to stay through the wheat harvest, which started in a few weeks. It was late this year, due to cooler-than-usual spring temperatures and above-average rain. I hated that I knew that off the top of my head, but I couldn’t help it. Wheat production was the most popular topic of discussion in middle-of-nowhere Kansas.

After finishing up with Tessa, I reached for the one object that meant something to me—my bicycle. I’d saved up for more than a year to buy the bright yellow cruiser and had treasured it ever since. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was all mine. And I could use it to escape . . . at least temporarily.

I might not be able to float away, but I could ride to my favorite spot and pretend.

As I pedaled so fast, I almost lost my footing, I felt all of my frustration and bitterness and loneliness bubble up. I didn’t know who I was angrier with—Aunt Emmy or myself.

Or, maybe, my anger was directed at my mother for dragging me all over the country as a child. For never telling me who my father was or introducing me to any of my extended family.

Better yet, maybe I was angry at the person responsible for her death. I rarely let myself think about the man who had almost been my stepfather or what I’d overheard that day. But the memory never fully went away. It was always there, in the back of my mind, haunting me.

By the time I made it to the creek on the edge of my aunt’s property, sweat was streaming down my face and dampening my shirt. Though we hadn’t gotten into the scorching heat of summer yet, it was particularly humid today, making it feel so much hotter. Even the wind that constantly swept through the plains had deserted us, and I didn’t blame it one bit. I didn’t want to be here either.

Laying my bike on the ground with care, I ran to the creek and splashed water over my face and arms. It instantly cooled my skin and a little bit of my temper.

What was the point in getting upset? I’d always known it would come down to this. I would be forced to strike out on my own with nothing but my secondhand clothes and the will to survive.

Tobias—my best friend—had spent our senior year trying to convince me to move to Wichita with him. It was tempting. I might be a loner, but I didn’t want to be completely alone. Not really.

Still, he’d be attending Wichita State University on a baseball scholarship. And what would I do? Get a cheap, studio apartment near campus and hang out with him between his classes and my shifts at whatever crappy job I could find?

The mere thought of it made me feel more than a little pathetic. I might be a lot of things, but I wasn’t a hanger-on. Tobias deserved the full college experience—dorms and girls and parties. And that wouldn’t happen if he was constantly worried about including me in that life.

I plucked my beach umbrella from its hiding spot and shoved it into the ground. Other than my bike, it was the best purchase I’d ever made. My aunt’s leathery skin was a testament to the result of too many years spent in the sun. I didn’t have the funds or energy to spend on a lot of makeup, but I lathered myself in sunscreen every day.

And I hid in the shade whenever possible. It was difficult, considering I lived in the land of non-existent trees.

Sitting under the umbrella, I stared out over the fields of nothingness before me. The property on the other side of the creek belonged to a farmer who had given up long ago. Instead of golden wheat, the acres boasted nothing but dead grass and cracked earth.

Everything about my view screamed desolation, echoing the emptiness in my soul. Even the sky was gray today, making this landscape—and this life—bleaker.

What was I going to do?

My mind drifted as I attempted to visualize a future I didn’t even know if I wanted. I was only eighteen, but in many ways, it felt like my life was already over. Like it had been over since the day of my mother’s funeral.

The distant sound of a motor caught my attention, and I turned to find a familiar truck barreling straight for me. What the hell was Tobias thinking? If Aunt Emmy caught him driving through her wheat fields, she would skin him alive.

Pushing up from the dirt, I started walking toward him, ready to give him an earful. But, when I caught sight of the looming wall cloud, I stopped short, becoming aware of several things at once. The air around me was too still, and the sky now had a disturbing greenish tint to it. Narrowing my eyes on the wall cloud, my heart began to race. A distinctive funnel shape was forming, which could only mean one thing—tornado.

I watched in horror as the circular motion became more defined and the massive wedge lowered to the ground.

Tobias screeched to a halt a few feet in front of me and yelled through his open window, Get in, Thea. Now!

I started for the truck but paused when I remembered my bike. There was no way I could leave it behind, twister or no.

Running back the other way, I grabbed the handlebars and hopped on, using all of my strength to pedal to my best friend in record time. A sickening roar filled my ears, urging me on, and Tobias met me outside his truck.

With a scowl that looked unnatural on his boyishly handsome face, he yanked the bicycle from my grip and flung it into the truck bed. I would have berated him for his mistreatment of my most-valued possession, but there wasn’t time.

The fields of wheat spread out before us swayed violently, and strikes of lightning illuminated the clouds, which were now a mere shade lighter than black.

I’d seen tornadoes before—this was Kansas, after all. But I’d never seen anything even close to this one. It seemed to swallow up the entire sky with its ferocity.

As soon as I jumped into the passenger seat, Tobias put the truck into gear, and it sprang forward. The pickup was older than the both of us put together, and it had been known to die out of the blue. I mentally willed it to persevere, just this once.

Holy fuck, Thea. What were you thinking, going back for your damn bike?

I turned on him, not caring that we were in the middle of a literal life-and-death situation. I couldn’t leave it behind. You know that.

He shook his head at me, his silky black hair swaying with the movement. You’re one crazy ass girl, you know that?

Yeah, I knew.

Rain pelted the windshield, and I shifted to look out the window. Where are you going? Instead of heading away from the tornado, he appeared to be driving toward it. Or, at least, perpendicular to it.

We’re boxed in here, and we can’t outrun it. It’s gotta be a mile wide.

As the highway came into view, his intention became clear. We were going for the ditch on the side of the road. With all of this open space, it was our best option.

By the time he parked and we hopped out of the truck, I had to assume the tornado was almost on top of us. With the howling winds and darkened sky, I’d lost track of the funnel’s exact location.

Tobias took my hand and sprinted farther away from the storm, dragging me with him. When the gusts became so violent, we could barely stand, I collapsed to my hands and knees in the grass. Lying flat on my stomach, I covered the back of my head with my hands, like I’d practiced during dozens of tornado drills in school.

Dropping down next to me, Tobias plastered his body over mine, protecting me. I wanted to object, but there was no way he’d listen, even if he could hear me above the cacophony.

I’d always heard that tornados sounded like a freight train, but the description didn’t do it justice. Though I could make out the distinctive rumble that reminded me of wheels against a railroad track, it was so much more than that. The roar was deafening and seemed to vibrate through my entire body.

Pushing aside my need to lift my head and look around, I held my breath, waiting to be plucked off the ground and tossed about like the cow in Twister.

As I remembered my earlier wish to float away, I almost laughed. I might not have aced senior English, but I could recognize irony when it smacked me across the face.

Time seemed to slow to a standstill as the storm raged on around us. But, then, in no more than a blink, it was over.

Though the world was quiet once again, Tobias remained on top of me, almost crushing my body with his much bigger one. Unwilling to consider the possibility that something had happened to him, I jerked my elbow into his side, and he let out a grunt.

Get off me, you big oaf. The words came out hoarser than I would have liked, but he still chuckled and rolled to the side.

Sucking in deep breaths of muggy air, I pushed onto my knees and slowly sat back, taking a moment to check myself over. My skin and clothes were caked in mud, but I seemed to be unharmed. Thank god.

Next, I inspected Tobias. His T-shirt was torn, and he had several shallow cuts on his arms and back. But that was it.

I sighed in relief. It could have been so much worse.

Once we were both standing, I threw my arms around his waist. I wasn’t a hugger, but I would make an exception, this once.

Thank you. I tilted my head to look up at him. You saved my life.

I wouldn’t have needed to if you’d answered your damn phone.

My phone?

He rolled his eyes. The sirens went off in town, and I immediately started calling you. But you never answered.

I thought back to earlier. My cell was in my backpack . . . which I’d left in the barn when I’d torn out of there like the hounds of hell were nipping at my heels. Sorry, I forgot it.

I figured.

Tightening my arms around him, I said again, Thank you. Tornado sirens were a wonderful invention for populated areas, but they weren’t any help when you lived in the middle of nowhere.

He kissed my forehead as he peered down at me with puppy dog eyes, an expression I’d been seeing way too often lately. It told me he felt things he shouldn’t. What are best friends for?

I drew away and gave him a wobbly smile.

I loved Tobias. He wasn’t just my best friend—he was the best thing in my life, period. Which was exactly why I would never get romantically involved with him. He was sweet and dependable and loyal. I would only ruin him with my unrelenting bitterness.

We should go. I need to check on Tessa and— I stopped mid-sentence as I finally took in the aftermath of the twister.

Though we weren’t close to the house, the land was so flat, we should have easily been able to see it from here. But there was . . . nothing. No house or barn or shed. No windmill.

There was only a path of razed wheat as far as the eye could see.

CHAPTER TWO

Thea

Why would I stay?

The last words I’d spoken to my aunt reverberated in my head while I watched her casket being lowered into the ground with a staggering sense of déjà vu. I’d thought I couldn’t feel any more alone than when my mother died, but I’d been wrong.

It was like that damn tornado had sucked up my soul and spit out my body. Whatever life had been left in me was missing. I was empty.

Admittedly, Aunt Emmy hadn’t been much of a parental figure, but she had been family. And, now, she was gone.

Even Tobias’s presence by my side wasn’t helping my growing feelings of desolation. He wouldn’t desert me—I knew that. Yet, that knowledge didn’t console me. If I remained in Kansas, I would be nothing more than a burden to him.

It was time to get the hell out of Dodge.

Not literally, of course, since Dodge City was more than a hundred miles away. But close enough for my purposes.

I’d known this day was coming, but I’d assumed I would have more time to figure out my next move. That’s what I got for procrastinating. It wasn’t one of my best qualities.

Tobias squeezed my hand, breaking me out of my reverie. It seemed that the minister had stopped speaking, and people were lining up to pay their respects or something equally futile.

Gritting my teeth to keep from snarling at them, I straightened my spine and nodded at the first person waiting. Might as well get this over with.

What felt like years later but had probably been no more than fifteen minutes, I’d cycled through the entire line of fakes. My aunt had lived in this area since her birth, but I doubted more than two or three of the people who attended the service had ever given a crap about her during her life. And they certainly didn’t give a crap about me.

Pretty sure more people had shown up for Tobias than me or Aunt Emmy. He’d been the most adored student in our small high school, and I wouldn’t be surprised to discover he’d recruited all of his friends for the funeral.

I thought about asking but decided it didn’t matter. None of this mattered. Not the minister’s canned declaration of hope and peace in the afterlife. Not the large bouquets of flowers that someone had donated to the cause. Not even the fact that my only worldly possessions were the tattered clothes I’d been wearing during the storm and my bike, which was no longer rideable without undergoing major repairs.

I was homeless, penniless, and pretty damn close to hopeless.

And I didn’t even care.

What did that say about me?

Tobias draped an arm over my shoulder. Come on, Thea. Let’s get you home.

I don’t have a home, I responded automatically. I was starting to think the concept was as much of a fairy tale as Peter fucking Pan.

You know you can stay with us for as long as you want.

I know.

And, I did. Though I wasn’t close to his parents, they’d always been kind to me. His mom had handled the funeral arrangements, loaned me a dress and shoes to wear today, and spotted me the cash for personal necessities. She’d even found a local farmer to take Tessa, who had managed to escape the barn before the tornado hit and was found wandering around almost a mile away.

Still, I had no intention of overstaying my welcome. By the time Tobias left for college, I would be long gone.

I allowed Tobias to lead me to his truck. Though the tornado had flipped it so it was facing the opposite direction from where we’d left it, amazingly, the old pickup was still in one piece. He’d had to replace two of the tires, but that was it. Apparently, they really didn’t make ’em like they used to.

As we