Taming the Heart (Creatures of the Night Book 2) by Tisha Wilson Page B

mother didn’t ask her why she was rolling around in a wheel chair. In her mother’s mind Miranda was still the head cheerleader in her high school. It was always hard to see the look of dismay on her mother’s face when she had to explain the accident to her all over again. Sometimes it was easier just to tell her that she was resting her legs and back in preparation for the next competition. She had been a fierce competitor and her mother wouldn’t argue with her logic in wanting to rest, ridiculous as it may have sounded.
    “And in other news coming out of Madison, Wisconsin, West Point graduate, Katie Jamison, and her family were killed in a car accident on their way home from her West Point graduation ceremony late yesterday afternoon.”
    Miranda’s head snapped up and she hit the volume button. Her mouth fell open as they flashed her sister’s picture in full dress uniform across the screen. The scene then flashed to her minivan. It was overturned and… on fire! Her eyes blinked a few times as the newscast went on.
    “Apparently Katie Jamison, Miranda Jamison, her sister, and Donna Jamison, her mother, were on their way back to Madison when they were side swiped by another vehicle, flipping the van into a stand of trees where the van burst into flames. It is not certain if it was the accident or fire that killed the occupants of the van. Police are searching for any information on the other driver or vehicle involved in this tragic hit and run accident. In other traffic news…”
    Miranda looked away from the television and did her best to breath evenly. She could hear her blood rushing in her ears. She had seen her sister disappear with her own eyes, and she was sitting here in this chair, and her mother… her mother hadn’t even gone with her to the graduation… right? She began to feel herself hyperventilate again. Had she died? Was this some type of freaky world in-between death and the afterlife?
    She rolled to the door and pulled it open. Night was coming on quickly. “What did you do to my mother?” she screamed out loud.
    Feeling her temper rise to boiling, her legs came under her. She stood up and went to the kitchen table. She grabbed the keys that sat there and strode purposefully out towards the truck. She felt a chill run up her arms at the bite of the night air, but she ignored it. She paused when she reached the truck. She lifted her nose to the breeze and caught a whiff of… death.
    The hairs rose on the back of her neck and adrenaline was dumped into her blood stream. Her nails lengthened and her eyes became more sensitive. The sun sunk behind the mountains but it was still shockingly bright outside. Something moved in the trees. She turned and, nearly before she could think about it, she was there. She could feel something… a low grumble sounded in her throat and her teeth felt funny. She ran her tongue over her extended K-9’s in amazement. She felt coiled, ready to spring.
    “What were you planning on doing with my truck?”
    She spun and crouched. He stood there amongst the foliage looking like a part of the forest itself. He was so still when he wanted to be. The only thing that gave him away was the eerie glowing of his eyes. She leapt at him and he ducked her easily. She tumbled like she’d done so many times as a young cheerleader. She spun and was on him again.
    This time he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the soft grass. He got so close to her that she could smell the mint on his breath. He brushed his teeth? She felt his hand begin to cut off her breathing so she clawed at his arm. She felt a rush of satisfaction when she took flesh and he growled. He lifted her up and slammed her down again, hard.
    “She’s all right. They relocated her to a mental facility.”
    “I… want… to… see… her,” she managed before she landed a kick to his mid-section. He flew away from her and she gasped, chocking for air.
    “You cannot go to her.”
    He was standing