Tainted (33 page)

“Now we wait,” I say.

A shadow appears beneath the trees, and then two more. One glides closer. They’re skittish and this enclosure is new to them. The deer keep to the trees, mostly, until they reach the ground I’ve been scattering food on for days. Now the only feed is in the bucket I hold, and Emma’s hands. A white-speckled fawn, barely a week old, hovers in the safety of the woods. The mother steps out, her nose twitching, ears flicking. Bree moves to stand by Emma, her hands on Em’s blindfold.

The doe stops, head up, alert and listening, watching us.

When no one moves again, she takes a few more cautious steps. Emma’s smile beams when the doe reaches her muzzle over her fingers. The black scarf comes away from her eyes with a slow motion.

“Hi, baby,” Em whispers. The doe rolls her eyes up to look at Emma, then takes another mouthful.

“There’s a fawn in the woods,” I tell Em. “We have a buck and a couple more does.”

“How did you do this?” Em asks, unable to curb her grin.

“With Paul’s help. And his brother’s.” I give Bree a big scoop of food too. Another nose peeks out of the woods. “After I saw how happy the deer made you this winter, I had to give this to you.”

“Thank you, Alex.” Emma moves slowly, dumps the crumbs of her food into Bree’s hands, and the doe switches to Emma’s best friend. We walk a few paces back, then Emma takes the bucket and attack hugs me. “Thank you so much.”

The deer scamper back to the safety of the trees. Bree sprinkles the food on the ground and comes to stand close.

“I’m not done yet…” I tell Emma.

Bree whips her head around to look back at me. This secret is one only Paul and I know about. They both watch as I pull a refinished antique silver pillbox from the pocket of my shorts.

“I found it at the antique store and had restored,” I tell Em when she takes it with a questioning expression. “Be careful when you open it. The real surprise is inside.”

Em presses the little latch and the pillbox opens to reveal red, pressed powder tablets. Her eyebrows are raised, lips slightly pursed when she looks at me.

“I never told you, because I didn’t want to give you hope that I couldn’t fill.” I run my finger over the collection of simple miracles in Emma’s hand. “These will replace our weekly Lazarus treatments.”

“No more shocks? No more flashbacks?”

“No. Just a daily dose.”

“Oh, Alex!” She closes the case and tucks it in her pocket. “This is amazing.”

“Make sure to tell Paul. The deer were my idea. The daily dose pills were all him.”

“Thank you,” Em says, “Thank you both.”

“Anything for you,” I tell her. I lean in close, our lips brushing, me breathing her breath when I say, “You are the reason my heart beats, Em, and I will do anything to make you happy.”

“Then shut up,” Em says, “and kiss me.”

I told her I would do anything to make her happy, and kissing her is one of the easiest.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For all those hours I spent hunched over the keys, and they didn’t complain, I have to thank my hubby and kids. The people and worlds in my head often take me away from them, and they still love me and bring me chocolate.

This book wouldn’t be what it is without my dedicated frontline readers. Thanks go to: Lexie Hughes, with me from the start, my plotting partner, my Crazy, and all-around pompom waver. Judy Spelbring, typo-wrangler and writing world bestie. And Chris Schultz—sister, you are an awesome friend and reader! I love you girls fiercely. I have to thank my new readers who toughed it out through all the darkness and pain I inflicted in this book, too. Andrew Hall, The Pewter Wolf—dude, you are The Bomb as a beta reader! I never felt a chapter was done until I had your feedback incorporated. And Emma Davies from Book Angel Booktopia. Thank you so much for holding my hand in numerous IM chats, and for being such a source of support and encouragement. To my other readers, Dana, Skyler, Kaylie, thank you, too!

Deep, heartfelt appreciation goes to my agent Gina Panettieri, she’s my champion, and to Amanda and the amazing crew at Strange Chemistry/Angry Robot.

Finally, thank you readers! I’m lucky enough to do what I love because of readers like you.

STRANGE CHEMISTRY
An Angry Robot imprint
and a member of the Osprey Group
Lace Market HouseAngry Robot/Osprey Publishing
54-56 High PavementPO Box 3985
Nottingham NG1 1HWNew York
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www.strangechemistrybooks.com
Strange Chemistry #19
A Strange Chemistry paperback original 2013
1
Copyright © A E Rought 2013
A E Rought asserts the moral right to be
identified as the author of this work.
Cover art by Steven Wood
Distributed in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York.
All rights reserved.
Angry Robot is a registered trademark and the Angry Robot icon a
trademark of Angry Robot Ltd.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the
products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.
Sales of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If this book is
coverless, it may have been reported to the publisher as “unsoldand destroyed”
and neither the author nor the publisher may have received payment for it.
US ISBN 978 1 90884 434 7
UK ISBN 978 1 90884 433 0
Ebook ISBN 978 1 90884 435 4
Printed in the United States of America
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