Holden: Hollow Duet: Part 2 (The Hollow Duet), page 11
“Holloway! Over here,” the man shouted and Holden jogged to him and then stood at attention in front of this man, this Daniel lookalike that was obviously his superior.
The man pointed at him with a sneer on his face and I couldn’t hear the words he spat at Holden. Holden smiled with a boyish grin, said something back and jokingly elbowed the man in the ribs in a goading way before jogging to the front of the cannon and lifting a long wooden rod with a metal circle on the end of it and sticking it into the mouth of the giant black gun. Before he backed all the way away, still having the end of the stick in the cannon, a bang sounded and fire shot out of the barrel in slow-motion. I tilted my head at it, seeing that from the flames emerged our son Eric’s brown teddybear. It soared high up in the air and then as that teddy hit Holden in the face, my husband’s head exploded. But it wasn’t his head; it was a large pumpkin. Seeds and orange pulp flew everywhere.
I screamed and ran for him and found just his headless body on the ground. Petals fell from my hair all over him.
“Holden. Oh Holden,” I cried, falling to my knees and picking up Eric’s teddybear and crushing it to my chest, bawling all over my husband’s headless body.
I gasped as I bolted upright, my body trembling.
“You’re okay, Isabella, come here.” Holden pulled me against him.
I shivered against his chest. I felt for his face and let out a sigh, slipping back to a dreamless sleep with my palm against his cheek.
I dreamt that dream often and it was never the exact same dream twice. And it always felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest when I woke from it. I was resigned that it would come to me for the rest of my days, but it wasn’t really a curse, not in my mind, anyway. It was going to keep me in a state of continuous gratitude. For what we had, despite what we’d endured.
Epilogue: Five Years Later
Holden
The middle Young sister visited him at their little farm in Ireland. She did so while Isabella was at the library with their four-year-old son and twin two-year-old daughters. Holden had been cutting the grass when he saw a familiar pretty redhead skip happily up the walkway of their home.
He didn’t feel a foreboding in his gut because of the smile on her face. All the sisters had different talents. One with the sight. One that could touch objects or people and see intentions or the history associated. The healing witch that hated him. And Erica, the spell-writer. This one, also a redhead, was a medium.
“Hello, Holden,” Jessica said.
“Jessica Young. What brings you to Ireland? Do you need my help with something?” There had been a few times that the sisters had called upon him for a task. Though, they typically just telephoned.
“Not you and Isabella, actually. I’m here for another reason. But I do have a message that came to me as soon as I landed.”
He waited.
“It’s from Lyrica, the witch you met before you met your initial end.”
“Oh?”
She smiled. “She says, she told you it would be a long road. You thought it ended when those chains first turned to ash, but that wasn’t the end. That came much later. It’s time to be happy, Private Holloway. You can let go of the fear that more bad is coming. Everything that happened was part of the journey. You’ve both paid more than your penance. You’re both free of that burden.”
Holden let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in. He and Isabella had been very happy the past few years, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t always fearful that there was something around the corner, waiting to pounce and ruin their lives, or even worse: ruin the lives of their children. And his guilt over his actions still keenly lived with him.
“No more bad. Nothing beyond what the average person experiences, anyway. Just more… babies. The third pregnancy you’ve just found out your wife is carrying?”
“Yes?”
“Triplets.”
Holden’s mouth dropped in surprise.
“But just because there’s no more bad, that doesn’t mean it’s okay to break any more rules.” Jessica wagged her finger at him.
He chuckled. “Not to worry. With six children, I doubt we’ll have the time.”
“Good. We’re not worried.” She winked. “And you and two generations of your descendants are still on our phone tree if we need anything.”
“Even if you said that debt was paid, I would still be happy to be there for anything you needed help with.”
“And this is why you’re both free and clear… the way the two of you live in a state of humility and gratitude.”
He reached out to shake her hand. She accepted with a curtsy. “Will you come visit Isabella before you go back to the states? We’d love you to have supper with us. Meet the children.”
“Some other time, maybe. I’m in the middle of a project.” She winked.
“Give my best to your sisters,” Holden said. “Thank you very much for the message. And for… everything.”
“My pleasure.” She waved and headed back the way she came.
Holden turned around and saw Archie, now a big fat cat rather than a tiny kitten. He sat in the window, watching. Archie still hated Holden and hissed and scratched at him every chance he got. But that cat adored his wife and his children, so Holden mostly ignored him.
He smiled and went back to mowing the lawn.
***
Later that evening, while he sat in his favorite chair in front of the fireplace reading a book, the cat oddly hopped up in his lap and took a nap.
***
Isabella
“Triplets?” I gasped. I’d just gotten the kids settled in their beds after they turned down offers of a Disney movie, much more interested in having their daddy come in and read books to them before bed. They were all quite like him in that department, preferring books to the television.
“Triplets,” he confirmed, touching my belly. “I’ll read their stories and then come tuck you and the little sprites in your tummy in.” He winked.
Tucking Mommy in was Holden-code for sexy time.
I smiled. “Good idea. These sprites will make me be the size of a house soon enough and tucking-in will be off the table.”
“Didn’t stop me when you had the girls in there,” he returned with a devious gleam in his eyes. He kissed me on the mouth before heading down the hall to the kids’ room.
Life sure was full of surprises. What made me sad was that I had to vanish to Ireland and couldn’t say goodbye to my family. Erica told me she had broken a tiny rule and told them the truth. Well, some of it, enough that they didn’t lay awake at night wondering about my fate but not enough that they’d have nightmares. She told them that they could come see me next year in a secret meeting. I looked forward to that.
As for the nightmares? They were terrible. Watching the man you love more than life be blown up in graphic detail night after night is not easy. It’s easier than the alternative, however, which would be to have the man that you love murder you with brutality over and over again.
He often woke up in a sweat, too, so I knew he had bad dreams as well. I didn’t ask questions. He didn’t, either. We both had penance to pay and it was absolutely worth our happily-ever-after.
Sometimes I woke up to him watching me sleep with a sad face. I knew that meant he saw the pain of my dreams on my face.
He came to bed forty minutes later, dropping his clothing on the floor and climbing in with me from the bottom of the bed, sliding up between my parted legs and dropping a soft kiss on my belly before planting his chin there and looking in my eyes.
“Three more babies,” he said.
I smiled and ran my hands through his hair, which was now sporting a touch of grey. What we’d gone through had probably rapidly aged him in many ways. But he looked like a thirty-five-year-old, not the two hundred and something year old he could’ve looked like, and he definitely rocked the grey.
“That’s a lot of diapers.”
“Best make good use of our time now, I say,” he declared and pushed my nightie up and out of the way. I used my feet at his sides to push the sweatpants he often wore to bed down past his butt.
He climbed up my body and gently slid inside me. “I do love you so much,” he told me.
“I love you more,” I said.
“I love you most,” he vowed, and he started to move inside me, making me sigh with pleasure.
“Nope.”
“You want a fight about it?” he asked with a cocked brow.
“Does this fight include bum spankings?” I asked.
“No,” he said with a shake of his head, deadpan. “Absolutely not.”
“Then I refuse to fight with you.”
He shrugged. “Fine by me.”
I rolled him so I was on top, briefly losing his cock. I straddled him and wiggled to work him back inside.
His mouth formed an O as I squeezed my walls around his length.
“If you don’t spank me,” I breathed out threateningly, but then I let that hang because I got lost in the sensations of his fingers working between my legs.
“What?” he pushed, but didn’t let up on me.
“Tomorrow, I’ll take your car,” I kept rocking my hips and squeezing around him.
“My car?” He sat up, bending his knees so I was straddling him even closer. His free hand slipped under my nightie and toyed with my nipple.
“Yes, your silver car. I’ll take it, and…” I nibbled on his jaw and then got my mouth to his ear. “Trade it in for an economy car of a whole different color.”
He slapped my bottom. I giggled. He rolled me and then his mouth crashed down on mine.
***
I used to have nightmares. But around the time I found out I was carrying triplets, they stopped. And I could no longer remember what they’d been about.
The End
Playlist:
The Animals - House of the Rising Sun
Nine Inch Nails – Closer
Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
Rage Against the Machine – Killing in the Name
Deftones – Change
Korn – Freak on a Leash
Alice in Chains - Man in the Box
End of Book Matter
Big hugs to N. Heinz, Nikita Slater, Jasmin Quinn, and Bonny Bennett who I worked with on The Horror of our Love anthology, which was where Hollow’s idea came from. N. Heinz came to me with the initial idea and I am so proud of the collection we put together.
Readers: I loved all of the stories in the anthology and while it’s no longer available, you can check out each author online to find out where to read their story.
Masked, by N.Heinz,
Stalked by Nikita Slater,
First Blood Moon by Jasmin Quinn,
The Tombstone Tourist by B. Bennett.
Squishes, too, to the chickadees who wanted MORE from this story, which may have stopped at Hollow but because you wanted more and I knew there was more story to tell, I did.
I hope you enjoyed it.
Huge thanks to Maria Williams-Howard for dropping everything to alpha-read Holden for me. Big hugs.
Thanks to my street team, my chickadees, my ARC and beta readers, my sister Kelly, My Mister and my boys, plus all my readers for all your love and support.
***
Will I tell you the story of Erica paying her penance? Who is interested in learning more about the Young sisters? Hehe. I might. I just might tell more than one story about the witches.
We shall see.
Those who know a bit about my upcoming writing schedule and who are anxious for Tyson and Ivy’s story, Wild (a savage shifter romance), just might get more information about Erica and her penance in that story. ??
About me:
Website: http://ddprince.com
Amazon page: http://bit.ly/ddprinceonamazon
Other books by DD Prince
The Dominator Series (Dark mafia romance). Book one has 1400+ 5-star Goodreads ratings so far.
Saved (a Dominator series spin-off, DD’s darkest book so far)
The Beautiful Biker Series (smokin’ hot alpha bikers)
Hot Alpha Alien Husbands (alien romance)
Alphahole (contemporary enemies-to-lovers office romance)
The Nectar Trilogy (dark and taboo paranormal romance).
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If you enjoyed this story, you might love The Nectar Trilogy.
"A gorgeous, insatiable vampire is addicted to my blood. He says it's like vampire heroin mixed with steroids. I don't think he's going to let me go."
You can start with book one or grab the discounted box sex to get the whole story. Dark, dirty, and taboo vampire romance with an over-the-top jealous, possessive, and absolutely obsessed vampire.
Want something lighter?
I suggest Alphahole, an enemies-to-lovers, office, roommate romance.
Like it smokin’ hot and steamy with alpha bikers? There’s my Beautiful Biker series.
Or: my most popular series: The Dominator (dark mafia romance).
I hope you find some more books of mine to enjoy.
DD Prince, Holden: Hollow Duet: Part 2 (The Hollow Duet)
