“I can feel that I’m talking to some figment of my imagination.”
“And not the someone you want to be there.” Soft laughter. “But I’ll have to do. Trevor sent me to explain why you have to put the thought of him aside. Oh, you’ll keep him in your memory and your heart, but he wants you to have your life. It hurts him that you’re hurting.”
“I don’t want to hear this.”
“Because it means starting to give him up. It’s what he wants, Jane.”
“No, he loves me. He’d want—” He’d want her to have freedom and happiness and no chains. The gentle answer came drifting like a warm cloud out of nowhere.
“And he can’t have chains either. He has so much to do there.”
“There? Not here? You’re not with him in the great beyond?” she asked mockingly. “This hallucination needs proofing.”
“No, I’m not with him now. Close your eyes. Where am I, Jane?”
“Is this a game?” Jane closed her eyes. “I’ll play along. Sort of hide-and—”
She stiffened.
A presence.
Gentle.
Knowing.
“Here.”
Her eyes flew open. She swung her legs to the floor and jumped out of bed.
The next moment, she was out of the bedroom and running down the hall. Her heart was pounding. Open your mind and heart …
She threw open the porch door.
“Hello, Jane. I’ve been waiting for you a long time.”
The little red-haired girl sitting cross-legged on the porch swing smiled at her. “This will be much better. Now we can talk, and I can make you understand so many things.” She tilted her head, and her smile became luminous. “You do know who I am?”
Jane stared at her for an instant, as the shock and bewilderment faded away. “Yes, I know you.” She started toward her. No dream. No hallucination. Proof of Forever. Proof of Ever After. “You’re Bonnie.”
ALSO BY IRIS JOHANSEN
Hunting Eve
Taking Eve
Sleep No More
Close Your Eyes (with Roy Johansen)
What Doesn’t Kill You
Bonnie
Quinn
Eve
Chasing the Night
Shadow Zone (with Roy Johansen)
Eight Days to Live
Blood Game
Deadlock
Dark Summer
Quicksand
Silent Thunder (with Roy Johansen)
Pandora’s Daughter
Stalemate
An Unexpected Song
Killer Dreams
On the Run
Countdown
Blind Alley
Firestorm
Fatal Tide
Dead Aim
No One to Trust
Body of Lies
Final Target
The Search
The Killing Game
The Face of Deception
And Then You Die
Long After Midnight
The Ugly Duckling
Lion’s Bride
Dark Rider
Midnight Warrior
The Beloved Scoundrel
The Magnificent Rogue
The Tiger Prince
Last Bridge Home
The Golden Barbarian
Reap the Wind
Storm Winds
Wind Dancer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
IRIS JOHANSEN is the New York Times bestselling author of Hunting Eve, Taking Eve, Sleep No More, What Doesn’t Kill You, Bonnie, Quinn, Eve, Chasing the Night, Eight Days to Live, Blood Game, Deadlock, Dark Summer, Pandora’s Daughter, Quicksand, Killer Dreams, On the Run, Countdown, Firestorm, Fatal Tide, Dead Aim, No One to Trust, and more. And with her son, Roy Johansen, she has coauthored Close Your Eyes, Shadow Zone, Storm Cycle, and Silent Thunder. Visit her at www.irisjohansen.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OfficialIrisJohansen.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
SILENCING EVE. Copyright © 2013 by Johansen Publishing LLLP. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Rob Grom
Cover photograph © Shuhui Yang
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-02002-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-02001-7 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781250020017
First Edition: October 2013