A Feral Shade of Amber: Haunted Hearts Series, Book 1 by Kellie Bowe

Author:Kellie Bowe [Bowe, Kellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scary Good Press, LLC
Published: 2023-10-12T16:00:00+00:00

I leaned back in the kitchen chair and stared at the slashed screen above the sink.

Maybe if I'd stayed on the couch, if I kissed the accountant and ignored the world around us. Maybe if we took things upstairs, if Igor and Samson followed...Maybe the cat wouldn't have gotten out, maybe...

Come home.

I took another sip of coffee and thumbed through home insurance papers. Maybe, no matter how much Gram wanted and how hard she tried, normal wasn't my destiny.

chapter 17

THE LAST LEAF

Lisa and Wyatt would arrive around six. Plan was to grab dinner, chat, and figure out what to do with my stressed cats. Igor had scared the hell out of Wyatt when she’d popped out from underneath the bed last night at two AM when he'd went to pee. She’d also licked herself bald around her stomach scars and Samson had decided to fast.

I bought the cats a new scratching post, a bag of food, and toys. On my way home, I purchased a couple budding hydrangeas to replace the blood-engorged plants on the porch and side. After I'd arranged the plants and feasted on a sleeve of crackers, I unfolded a camping chair near the ruins of the back deck and basked in the sunshine under the watchful eye of a cop.

Reluctantly, I dragged myself into the privacy of my home to take the call.

Grandma rarely talked about the numbers inked on her arm or the horrors that had transpired between the time her brother was judged physically handicapped and sterilized to when my mother was born.

And here I was, about to ask her friend for information she'd never given willingly. Here I was, making Elfrie reflect on unimaginable hell. The lifelong friends had met when my grandmother was transferred to Dachau. How do you ask someone about that? Where do you start?

“Thank you," I began, tightness reaching my throat. “Thank you, Mrs. Vlahos.”

“Elfrie is fine.”

“Sorry to dredge up the past.”

“Don’t apologize, dear. Guardian angels deserve remembrance. If it gives her granddaughter peace, I will tell you anything.”

Notebook in hand, I settled into my accent chair where I could still soak in the sunlight. “Did you know Grandpa Warren well? I’m struggling to understand how what happened, happened. Thought if I knew his past, it’d explain what he’d become.”

“Gen never said? No? Ah, always was difficult for her to reconcile; didn’t acknowledge weakness, your grandmother. Everything was always fine, doing fine, going to turn out swell. Warren didn’t get the help he needed soon enough and the pair of them were too proud to ask. Help might’ve saved your family. I lost a nephew to early onset dementia a few years ago. Awful, awful disease, but your grandfather in his prime was a fine fellow. Quiet. Kept to himself, but so kind. I know you won’t want to hear it because of the end, but, oh, he spoiled your mother and you kids.”

I snapped the plastic clip off my pen. “He was an Allied soldier, right? A member

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