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  My hands were shaking, as I yanked and yanked on the handcuff. I was breathing too fast. Especially given that the room was filling with smoke. I wasn’t getting enough oxygen.

  I…I needed air. I wanted Simon. My mom. I wanted Mama Dog to be safe. I closed my eyes and tried to find some peace. I tried to focus on all the wonderful things I had found, but when I heard the glass crunch, I had to wonder. Was that help or was something exploding? Perhaps the entirety of the house would explode with me and Mama Dog too?

  My eyes were so heavy, it was so hard to breath. I probably dreamed the sound of glass. I heard the howls of my dogs, but that couldn’t be. I must be delusional. I heard Mama Dog yipping. Oh Mama Dog, I thought, they couldn’t hear me. They won’t hear you. Just leave me, baby. Mama Dog continued to yip nudging me here and there. I heard the deep howls. That couldn’t be right? I couldn’t think. The darkness came at me again, and I was grateful for it. This time it would protect me and then it would be over.

  THIRTEEN

  “Rosemary, wake up,” Simon said. His lips were next to my ear and I was so confused. I’d given myself to the darkness. Simon wasn’t in the darkness. He was alive. He was rescuing my puppy. He would catch Jake and protect the town.

  I felt…wrong. High as a kite. Yes, that was it. This was worse than when I had my wisdom teeth out. The evil Vicodin left me woozy and paranoid.

  I tried to speak but as soon as I opened my mouth I was coughing. Oh that hurt. It wasn’t supposed to hurt like this when you were dead.

  “I have you, baby. I have you.” He placed a mask over my face and the breathing became a little easier, but now my face hurt. The more I breathed and tried to look at him, the more I realized that my wrist was aching, my head was pounding, my lungs burned. Oh my, I had been burned alive.

  I couldn’t quite open my eyes. When had my lids gotten heavier than bricks? I didn’t feel dead. I didn’t feel burnt. Had..had I heard my dogs? Not just Mama Dog but Duke and Daisy? I twisted and the pain in my wrist shot through me. It felt so perfect. So real. So alive.

  “The dogs?” I whispered, squeezing my eyes open.

  There he was. My Simon. My lips shook under the oxygen mask as I met his gaze. His perfect, unexpected gaze.

  “They’re ok. They’re all ok. Duke and Daisy went crazy when Jake took you. They found Az. Led us right to you.”

  “The pups? He kicked one.”

  “We found her. She’s ok. She’s got some cracked ribs, but she’ll be all right.”

  I closed my eyes. They were too heavy to keep open. A tear rolled down my cheek for my puppy. I was so glad she was ok and so mad she had cracked ribs.

  I’d been saved by my dogs. Simon and I had met over a basket of puppies. We’d adopted one each to prevent them from being taken to a shelter. You’d have thought we’d saved them. We could have made an argument that we had. But they’d saved me.

  “Jake…” I said. I could hear the beeping now. Machines were monitoring me. I cracked my eyes again and saw Simon hit the nurse call button over and over again. I blinked a slow, heavy blink. I wanted to talk to him, but I was so tired.

  “We found him. It’s ok.” Simon pushed my hair away from my forehead. “Don’t worry about a thing. Everything going to be ok.”

  “Why?” I asked. “Why would Jake kill George?”

  It was Roberta, of course. I knew that already. But why?

  “George was blackmailing Roberta. She told Jake about it. She was angry at George and Jake wanted more. She used George’s blackmail as an excuse to keep from going public with Jake. That’s when the poisoning started, but what Roberta didn’t tell us is that when she had argued with George in her office the day he died. George shoved her pretty hard into the wall. Jake saw it all and even saw bruises from previous times George had hurt her. When Jake found out, he gave the kill dose.”

  “He’s in jail?”

  “He tried to keep us from taking you out of the house,” Simon said, pushing the nurse’s call button. “There was a struggle. He ended up going back into the house. We couldn’t save him.”

  “Oh no,” I said.

  “He knew what he was doing,” Simon said, sounding as sick as I felt.

  Jake’s poor mother. I started to cough as the nurse entered, and she put the oxygen mask back over my face, pushing the button on my IV as well. A few moments later, my eyelids got impossibly heavy. She must have upped my meds. I breathed in the oxygen and let the peace of sleep take me. This time, the darkness was scary. This time, Simon was here to look over me. This time, the dogs were safe. This time, all was well.

  “I love you, Rose,” Simon whispered into my hair.

  And this time, I didn’t doubt it for a second.

  THE END

  Hey friends! Can I just take a moment to tell you how grateful I am that you read my books and gave me a chance? Writing is the best thing ever! Almost as awesome are reviews, and independent writers like myself need them desperately! If you wouldn’t mind, I would be so grateful for a review.

  The sequel to this book, Tea & Temptation, is now available for preorder!

  FYI, I write under my real name, Amanda A. Allen, as well. If you like books with a paranormal twist, you’ll find I’ve written plenty! Books and updates for both names are available through my newsletter If you’d like to sign up, click here.

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  Also By Beth Byers

  The 2nd Chance Diner Mysteries

  Spaghetti, Meatballs, & Murder

  Cookies & Catastrophe

  (found in the Christmas boxset, The Three Carols of Cozy Christmas Murder)

  Poison & Pie

  Double Mocha Murder

  Cinnamon Rolls & Cyanide

  Tea & Temptation (Coming in April 2018)

  Donuts & Danger (Coming in May 2018)

  The Brightwater Bay Mysteries

  (co-written with Carolyn L. Dean and Angela Blackmoore)

  A Little Taste of Murder

  (found in the Christmas boxset, The Three Carols of Cozy Christmas Murder)

  A Tiny Dash of Death

  A Sweet Spoonful of Cyanide

  Also By Amanda A. Allen

  The Mystic Cove Mommy Mysteries

  Bedtimes & Broomsticks

  Runes & Roller Skates

  Costumes and Cauldrons (found in the anthology Witch or Treat)

  Banshees and Babysitters

  Spellbooks and Sleepovers: A Mystic Cove Short Story

  Hobgoblins and Homework

  Gifts and Ghouls (found in the anthology Spells and Jinglebells)

  Christmas and Curses

  Potions & Passions (found in the anthology Hexes and Ohs)

  Valentines & Valkyries (Coming in April 2018)

  The Zinnia West 1950s Mysteries (co-written with Christina Hill)

  Zinnia West & The Corpse Served Cold

  Zinnia West & The Corpse Burnt Crisp

  The Rue Hallow Mysteries

  Hallow Graves

  Hungry Graves

  Lonely Graves

  Sisters and Graves

  Yule Graves

  Fated Graves

  Ruby Graves

  The Inept Witches Mysteries (co-written with Auburn Seal)

  Inconvenient Murder

  Moonlight Murder

  Bewitched Murder

  Presidium Vignettes (with Rue Hallow)

  Prague Murder

  Paris Murder

  Murder By Degrees

  Curses of the Witch Queen

  Fairy Tales Re-Imagined

  Song of Sorrow: A Prelude to Rapunzel

  Snow White

  Kendawyn Paranormal Regency Romances

  Compelled by Love

  Bewildered by Love

  Persuaded to Love

  Other Novels

  These Lying Eyes

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2018 by Amand
a A. Allen

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.