Lightbringer

you.”

He ran shaking fingers through his hair, his scars standing out in stark contrast with the unblemished skin of his hand. “I will miss you too. Very, very much.”

“I wonder how many memories I took,” Wendy whispered. “While we were kissing.”

“Maybe some, maybe none,” he said. “But even so, I think it was a fair trade.”

“Right,” she said bitterly. “Sure.”

Fingers, cool and strong, lifted her chin, tilting Wendy’s face up. Piotr was only the barest breath away, eyes looking intently into her own. “A kiss for the road?” he asked and, before she could answer, his lips slanted over hers.

When they drew apart, the monitor at her bedside was beeping wildly and Wendy could hear the quick pounding of feet in the distance, nurses running for her room.

“I’ll see you around, Curly,” Piotr said, blowing her a kiss as he backed through the far wall. “Good luck finding Eddie.”

The doctor skidded into the room, a nurse and Wendy’s father at his heels. He found Wendy sitting up in the bed, cheeks wet and a hand pressed to her lips, staring at the wall. The monitor, which had only moments before been protesting at a high-pitched whine, was dropping its tempo into a steady, pulsing beat.

“Winifred?” he asked, approaching her carefully, worried that his sudden appearance might shock the girl into another series of heavy heart fluctuations. “How are you feeling?”

“I think I’m a little lost,” she replied, eyes never straying from the wall. “But I think I’d like to go home.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

K.D.MCENTIRE is a mom and animal lover currently living just outside of Kansas City with her husband, son, and two cats. K.D. spends her miniscule free time reading, writing, and battling her Sims 3 addiction. She loves Wil Wheaton, Stephen King, Joss Whedon, gaming, comic books, and all things geeky.

Copyright

Published 2011 by Pyr®, an imprint of Prometheus Books

Lightbringer. Copyright © 2011 by K. D. McEntire. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover illustration © Sam Weber

Cover design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger

Inquiries should be addressed to

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McEntire, K. D., 1980–

Lightbringer / by K. D. McIntire.

p. cm.

Summary: Teenaged Wendy, who has the power to help souls cross over to their final destinations, falls in love with a ghost and discovers horrific, dark forces in the afterlife.

ISBN 978-1-61614-539-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-61614-540-8 (ebook)

{1. Supernatural—Fiction. 2. Soul—Fiction. 3. Ghosts—Fiction. 4. Love—Fiction.} I. Title.

PZ7.M478454238Li 2011

[Fic]—dc23

2011028713

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper.