I balled my hands and ducked past a tree, hopping in pain as a stick stabbed my foot. I jumped as a raccoon bolted through the undergrowth, its wide eyes reflecting the moon as the giant silver disc finally popped out from behind a cloud, granting much-needed illumination.
My heart chugged in my chest. My pulse pounded in every fingertip. I glanced left and right, wishing I knew how to track a person, desperate for a torch to light a path.
“Kas!” I yelled at the stars. “You can’t just disappear! We need to talk about this!”
My ears strained for a rustle or hint of him being close by.
A hoot of an owl was my only reply.
Striding onward, I grabbed a handful of my nightgown as it stuck to small bushes, heading deeper into the forest.
A chill ran down my spine as I drew closer to the bare piece of land where nothing grew and the aura of death never left.
Bypassing it, I kept going, occasionally stopping to listen.
I didn’t know how long I walked, searching for a man I didn’t truly understand, padding beneath moonlight instead of being safely tucked up in bed.
A deer bounded out of the thicket as I switched my walk for a jog again, bracing myself against the rough ground.
“Kas, please!” I kept running, slipping out the trees and back into the long grass lining the river.
The blueness of its water seemed silver-black, glossy in deep areas, and white frothed in the shallows. I strained my eyes along the bank, searching for him.
Would he come out here to think?
Was this a spot where he could find peace after a decade of living in that mansion?
Nothing.
Goosebumps sprang over my arms, raising the tiny hairs at the back of my neck as I kept going, tracking deeper into the valley than I had since arriving.
The cave loomed up ahead.
The same one I’d longed to explore.
Would he have gone in there?
Where did it lead?
A stitch flared in my side as I switched my jog for a run. I gritted my teeth as my poor feet gave in to cuts and bruises, wincing as pebbles replaced earth debris as I drew closer to the gaping maw of the cave.
It was so much bigger up close. Imposing and dank, an eerie, musty breeze coming from within.
I halted as I rubbed my arms, another chill running through me.
A soft sound echoed deep within the cave’s belly.
A footstep. A small rock rolling from being displaced.
My heart leaped.
“Kas?” Inching forward, I narrowed my eyes, trying to see into the pitch black. The flutter of bats sounded overhead as I traded valley for stone.
The noise came again, drawing me deeper.
I looked over my shoulder, back to the river, back to the moonlight.
I should really go back to the house. I needed shoes and illumination.
I needed to be smart about this. If Kas had gone this way, I couldn’t hope to follow him in my current state.
But if I left now, would I ever find him again?
Perhaps, he’d chosen not to evict me but to evict himself? To just bolt into the National Park that’d swallowed him whole for so many years and let it finally have him.
Tears pricked my eyes as I spun back to face the cave’s darkness.
I didn’t have a choice.
I had to—
A boot thudded against stone.
Another footstep, heavy and slow.
I opened my mouth to shout. My legs bunched to run. It was him. It had to be.
But...
Kas wasn’t wearing boots.
I froze, my breath coming in short pants as the footsteps drew closer.
I backed up.
No.
Who?
Licking my lips, I kept moving back into the moonlight, never taking my eyes off the darkness of the yawning cave.
The boots crunched on gravel, sending panic flooding my system.
Instincts prickled with fear. Whispers commanded I run.
But what if this was someone to rescue me? What if my PLB had finally chosen to work? But if it had...why had only one person arrived? Why did they slink through the cave at witching hours, suspiciously quiet and cloaked in surprise?
Why does my entire body hum with dread?
My feet touched grass.
My legs itched to turn and run.
But there...in the entrance of a stone church, earth-made and time-carved, appeared a shape. A nameless figure who stopped short, a sharp inhale revealing he’d seen me.
Everything inside me locked down.
The moment stretched as our eyes met, tangling through the gloom of night.
The man stood unnervingly still.
Tall and strong, layered in a heavy jacket with his hands looped in the straps of a large rucksack on his back. Dark hair, powerful physique, an aura of absolute anarchy around him.
I swallowed.
I swayed to run.
He cocked his head and stepped closer, revealing a stunningly savage face. A jaw that could cut granite. A scar down one cheek. And bi-colored eyes that glittered in the moonlight.
One blue.
One brown.
Both pinned on me with sick, piercing interest.
The valley seemed to tense around me. Silence fell as if all the oxygen had vanished, suffocating every leaf, creature, and soul.
I gulped and backed up slowly.
His jacket rustled as he inhaled, his eyes drifting over my nightgown, hoodie, and bare feet. For a second, it looked as if he’d let me go. As if finding a half-dressed woman in the dead of night wasn’t interesting enough to make him care.
But then his attention locked onto the short chain wrapped around my ankle and he made a sound under his breath. A sound of curiosity layered with threats.
Goosebumps darted over my skin.
I took another step.
And he shadowed me.
His boots crunched on a twig as he matched my distance.
I stepped again.
He mirrored me.
Fear siphoned through my blood.
He didn’t speak.
I didn’t dare.
We were locked in a game of cat and mouse, both waiting for the other to break the spell.
My heart raced as his bi-colored eyes flashed in the moonlight, his brows coming down with a slash of deep brown. His hands fell from the straps of his bag, balling into fists by his sides.
He took another step toward me.
I took one back.
He stopped.
He smiled.
He spoke.
“You found him first, I see.” His tongue swiped along his bottom lip, his head once again tilting to the side as if he found me fascinating, all while figuring out the best way to pounce. “Did you hurt him?” He swallowed a black chuckle. “Then again...did he hurt you? After all, he did show a violent side that surprised us.”
I swallowed hard. “I don’t...who are you?”
He stood taller, cricking his neck and never taking his eyes off me. “I think the more important question is who the hell are you?” His knees bent, giving me a one-second warning.
My body braced to run.
I wasn’t fast enough.
He launched forward, catching me mid-flight.
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The third and final book in Gem and Kas’s Dark Romance Trilogy
Releasing 5th October 2021
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A stranger full of rage.
A battle that has no victors.
A decision that has to be made.
And a future that has to be fought for.
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OTHER WORK BY PEPPER WINTERS
Pepper currently has over thirty books released in nine languages. She’s hit best-seller lists (USA Today, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal) almost forty times. She dabbles in multiple genres, ranging from Dark Romance to Coming of Age. She lives on a farm with six horses, one rabbit, and one very obliging husband.
For more information, please visit: www.pepperwinters.com
DARK ROMANCE
Goddess Isles Series – 5 x USA Today Bestseller
First book, Once a Myth, is free. Click Here.
Monsters in the Dark Trilogy – New York Times Bestseller
First book, Tears of Tess, is free. Click Here.
Indebted Series – New York Times Bestseller
First book, Debt Inheritance, is free. Click Here.
Dollar Series – 6 x USA Today Bestseller
First book, Pennies, is free. Click Here.
SEXY ROMANCE
The Master of Trickery Duet
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Truth & Lies Duet – 4 x USA Today Bestseller
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COMING OF AGE ROMANCE
The Ribbon Duet – USA Today Bestseller
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Standalone Spinoff
The Son & His Hope
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STANDALONES
Destroyed – USA Today Bestseller. Grey Romance
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Unseen Messages – USA Today Bestseller. Survival Romance
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MOTORCYCLE CLUB ROMANCE
Pure Corruption Duet – 2 x USA Today Bestseller
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ROMANTIC COMEDY written as TESS HUNTER
Can’t Touch This
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PLAYLIST
Snuff – Slipknot
Vermillion Pt 2 – Slipknot
Harry Styles – Golden
Game of Survival – Ruelle
Courage to Change – Sia
Something Human – Muse
Nothing Breaks like a Heart – Miley Cyrus
Just Give Me a Reason – Pink
The Sound of Silence – Disturbed
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book wouldn’t exist without some very patient beta readers who read quite a few versions of this while I deleted, tweaked, and overall butchered it until Kas and Gem finally sorted themselves out.
I’m ever so grateful to all of you—Danielle, Cyn, Heather, Melissa, Selena, Vickie, Tamicka, Rochelle, Nicole, and Effie.
Thanks to Danielle for taking on the role as my online PA and taking control of emails and so many other things.
Thanks to Tor and Charley for the flawless audio.
Thanks to Ari for such a gorgeous cover.
Thanks to Selena for running Pepper’s Playground.
Thanks to every reader, blogger, and reviewer for taking the time to read Fable of Happiness.
And thanks to Daniel, a good friend who suffered a severe concussion like Kas and is the inspiration for a lot of Kas’s symptoms. He shared his experiences with me and confessed to the sudden blankness, the vertigo, the headaches, the mood-swings, and the overall discomfort while he healed. I also took reference from this site for further research: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK185340/
If you, or anyone you know, has suffered sexual abuse, please know you’re not alone. There are many amazing groups and counselling available in your area. Please reach out.
Sending hugs and love,
Pepper
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