Not My Time , livre ebook

4 Horsemen Publications, Inc. - Jessica Salina

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63 pages

English

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Description

What would you do if you were a superhero?

Rory Miller has dreamed of reuniting with the vigilante superhero Hematite ever since he saved her from a stalker. After nearly a decade of wishing, news of Hematite’s murder shakes her small town in Colorado to its core—but Rory gets a second chance at finding her hero when he reveals he’s not actually dead.

Kane Kelly is hiding two things from his best friend Rory: his secret identity as Hematite and his romantic feelings for her. As Kane seeks the truth about his superpowers, an anonymous YouTuber named Stone Breaker tries to stop him to protect the local crime ring responsible. When Rory learns who is behind the YouTube channel and teams up with her hero, she becomes Stone Breaker’s next target and blurs the line between Kane’s double lives.

Rory must face her past traumas headfirst to save Kane’s identity and her own life in this superhero romance. This book contains violence, stalking, and strong language.

Sujets

Fantastique

Romance fantastique

Double Life

Superhero

Powers

Villain

Vigilante

Informations

Publié par	4 Horsemen Publications, Inc.
Date de parution	19 janvier 2023
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9798823200509
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0350€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Table o f Contents
Dedication
C hapter One
C hapter Two
Cha pter Three
Ch apter Four
Ch apter Five
C hapter Six
Cha pter Seven
Cha pter Eight
Ch apter Nine
C hapter Ten
Chap ter Eleven
Chap ter Twelve
Chapte r Thirteen
Chapte r Fourteen
Chapt er Fifteen
Chapt er Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapte r Eighteen
Chapte r Nineteen
Chap ter Twenty
Book Club Q uestions
Author Bio

Not My Time
Copyright © 2023 Jessica Salina. All rights r eserved.

4 Horsemen Publicatio ns, Inc.
1497 Main St. S uite 169
Dunedin, FL 34698
4horsemenpublicat ions.com
info@4horsemenpublicat ions.com
Cover by J . Kotick
Typeset by S . Wilder
Editor Bla ir Parke
All rights to the work within are reserved to the author and publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 International Copyright Act, without prior written permission except in brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please contact either the Publisher or Author to gain per mission.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used ficti tiously.
Library of Congress Control Number: 20 22945571
Print ISBN: 979-8-823 2-0051-6
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-644 50-723-0
Audio ISBN: 979-8-823 2-0049-3
EBook ISBN: 979-8-823 2-0050-9
Dedication
T o my husband, Anthony, who has acted as both my biggest cheerleader and fight scene co ordinator.
And to my best friend, Michele, for all of your support and helping me find Kane Kelly lookalikes on TikTok.
C hapter One
R ory Miller all but jumped when she heard a whistle from the shadows. Her breath quickened as she glanced around campus, looking for the source of the sound. In the dark, it was hard to tell. Some of the streetlights that normally illuminated the sidewalk were out, making it harder than usual to see on their way back to her friend Naomi’s dorm from the library. Her friend Naomi, who was with Rory, reached for the keys in her purse, in case she’d need the pink tube of pepper spray attache d to them.
A male voice called, “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
Rory’s anxiety hadn’t been for nothing, despite the university police’s claim that she was just being overdramatic about her classmate-turned-stalker. Her stomach sank further and further into her body, along with any courage she might have had left. She wanted to find those officers and scream, “I told you so!” in their faces, but it was too late now.
“Why haven’t you been showing up to class? I’ve been looking forward to seeing you, you know,” the familiar v oice said.
The answer to that question was that their professor let Rory finish the course online, but Daniel didn’t need to know that. In fact, their professor was the only person, other than Naomi and her friends, who took Rory seriously. The light Daniel now stood beneath cast a long shadow, making his already towering stature that much more intimidating. His baggy T-shirt made his lean frame billow out, appearing as though he were wider. His casual attire helped him blend in as he followed her around campus, and if anything was in the large pockets of his cargo shorts, no one could ever tell from a quick glance of his a ppearance.
Rory could hear her heart beating faster in her own head and tried to focus on the way her feet felt beneath her since her vision was so dizzying. She glanced at Naomi, and they both took steps back away from him, inch by inch, in hopes of not alerting him. Naomi nodded at her, her silent way of saying they needed to be ready to run and stick together. Being alone was dangerous for both of them right now, but especially for Rory.
With her hand still in her purse, Naomi opened her phone’s voice recording app she kept handy for her journalism classes. She made sure it was on and then held onto Rory’s hand to comfort h er friend.
Before they could think of a response, another voice—gruff and muffled—rang through the night. It almost sounded electronic, as if a modifier was changing the man’s voice. “Do you know hi m, miss?”
Rory looked at the sound of the new person. A man wearing black and dark blue came from what seemed like nowhere. A mask covered his entire face, except for his eyes, and a scarf and cowl that wrapped around him a few times covered his mouth, neck, and the top of his head. His shoulders were narrower than Daniel’s, and the stranger was significantly less stocky, so Rory wasn’t sure what to think just yet of any poten tial odds.
“Unfortunately,” Rory answered. She wasn’t sure if she should be afraid of the presence of this new man, but something in her gut told her he was there to help them. She hoped she was right about the newcomer. Her gut was right about Daniel following her around campus, trying to find her alone late at night after their classes wrapped, and sending cryptic text messages hinting at her location.
“Aw, Rory, don’t be like that,” Daniel said. He took a few slow steps toward her, and his pasty skin seemed to shine beneath the streetlight he was now under, almost making him glow. “I don’t know why you don’t tal k to me.”
“Don’t even fucking think about it, pal,” the mystery man said, as he held a hand up. Without looking away from him, the man asked, “Rory, was it? Is he bothe ring you?”
Rory nodded. She felt a lump in her throat where she once felt her heartbeat, but she wasn’t entirely convinced she was even breathing at that point. She wanted to speak, but her voice was froze n in fear.
“He’s been stalking her since the start of the semester,” Naomi said. She held her head up high, making the two braids in her black hair look even longer. “Campus police haven’t exactly been helpful. His name is Daniel Sanders.”
“Oh, shut up,” Daniel retorted, wasting no time defending himself. “I am not stalking her. That’s just being extreme.”
The guy in the mask scoffed. “Then what the hell do you c all this?”
“Can’t a guy get out there and pursue a woman? I thought chicks liked that,” Da niel said.
“Oh my God, ew,” Naomi reflexively said under her breath. Rory had been too stunned to say anything at all, feeling quite like a deer in the headlights. She glanced around, hoping someone else might show up to intervene and scare Daniel away—a teacher, an administrator, anyone who might show some authority. The man in the mask wasn’t scaring him; she wondered if anyth ing would.
“Choose your next words wisely,” the masked man replied. “Or else we’ll have a problem.”
Daniel rolled his eyes and reached for the large side pocket of his cargo shorts. Before he could grab whatever was in there, the man in the mask was on him in a second. Rory jumped at the sudden movement. Naomi stayed grounded and gripped her hand tighter. Suddenly, the man in black and blue had Daniel pinned down and unable to move. Daniel reached for his pocket again once he was on the ground, but the other man beat him to it as he pulled out a handgun.
“What are you doing with a gu n, buddy?”
The masked figure whacked Daniel across the face with the handgun, hard enough to knock him out. Naomi held her friend close to her side after the sound of the man hitting Daniel made her jump again, but the fight was over before it e ven began.
The masked man kneeled over Daniel and examined him for a moment to make sure that he was, in fact, unconscious. Once he determined Daniel was out and would be for a while, he stood, taking the gun with him. He kicked Daniel again for good measure, this time in the shoulder, in a surprisingly c asual way.
The stranger held his hands up as he slowly approached the women so they could see where the gun was with his finger away from the trigger. Naomi noticed that Rory’s trembling had slowed down, but Rory’s breathing was still labored and her eyes were wider than Naomi had ever seen.
When the masked man was closer to them, he nodded his head toward the hand holding the gun. “I’m going to take this apart now, okay? I promise I won’t hurt you. No funny business.”
Rory nodded. He gradually lowered his hands and then detached the slide from the top of the gun and tossed it. The slide clattered across the ground until it landed right at Rory’s feet. She stared at it for a moment and then looked up at the masked man, trying to say something but bursting into sobs instead. Naomi took a hold of the slide as Rory’s body caved in on itself.
“Hey, hey,” the man whispered at Rory’s crying. His voice was still gruff and hard to make out, but his tone was gentler. He reached for his cowl and tore off a small piece of fabric. “I, uh, don’t have any tissues or a handkerchief or anything. So, I hope this w ill work.”
Rory smiled at him as she cried, attempting to say her thanks and hoped that it would be a sufficient means of communication to him. She accepted the second offering from him and wiped her face with the tatter ed fabric.
“That pathetic asshole won’t bother you anymore,” the man said. “I’ll personally see to it. Okay?”
Through her tears, Rory asked, “Who are you?”
“I don’t have a name. But some people call me Hematite.”
The name was familiar; she had heard of him on the news, but she wasn’t sure if he really existed. Hematite was as good as a local cryptid, the local vigilante superhero that no one ever got a good look at but everyone seemed to have a story about. Rory’s breathing had been heavy and labored; however, she finally found her voice again. But before she could