Jane Blythe – USA Today Bestselling Author

Tag: writing prompt

  • Week 412 – Cyber Team Prequel 3

    It was almost impossible to believe that it had been over a year since he’d starting working for Prey. This job had been the only thing getting him through each day, and Josiah would forever be grateful to Eagle and the Oswald family for giving him this chance.

    One he knew he didn’t deserve.

    The over four hundred un listened to voicemails from his parents and brothers were testament to that. There were over a thousand text messages, and a couple of hundred emails as well. While he knew his family loved them he just couldn’t seem to force himself to face them.

    Coward.

    He knew that he was, but he’d lost an entire team of men he considered family, the thought of losing anyone else was all but crippling.

    “It’s for the best,” he murmured to the silent room.

    Focusing his mind on the task before him, he began scouring the dark web for any and all intel he could put together on a target that Prey’s Charlie Team would soon by going after. Part of him missed those days, being out in the thick of the action instead of sitting safely behind a computer screen.

    Then he remembered the screams of his teammates as bullets shredded their bodies, the fiery feeling of bullets piercing his own, and the hot sand beneath him, and he knew that there was no way he could face being in the field again.

    Time had no meaning when he immersed himself in work, so it could have minutes or hours later that Raven Oswald, head of Prey’s Cyber Team, stuck her head in the room.

    “Hey, guys, we have a new team member,” Raven told him, and the other two members of the team, Ava Hendricks, and Teresa Dash.

    Stepping around Raven and shooting them all an easy smile like they’d been friends for years instead of meeting for the first time, was the most beautiful woman Josiah had ever laid eyes on. Long silky brown locks hung well past her shoulders, and she had the prettiest grey eyes, that were warm and welcoming, like she considered everyone she met someone she cared about.

    “This is Chelsea Pierce,” Raven informed them.

    As Ava and Teresa went to greet their new teammate, Josiah dragged in a ragged breath and returned his attention to the screen before him. One thought ran rampant through his mind, Chelsea was going to be a problem. Not to the team, and not to Prey, but to him personally.

  • Week 411 – Cyber Team Prequel 2

    Six bullets.

    That’s how many had pierced his body in the raid that had killed the rest of his team.

    One random decision had spared his life, and as Josiah lay in the hospital bed, he knew that while he was still alive his career was over.

    No way was he going to pass his psych evaluation to get admitted back to a SEAL Team. Even if he could pass did he want to join a new team?

    The answer to that was no.

    His team were dead, gone, and his time as a SEAL was also over. Which meant he had to make some pretty big decisions about what his life was going to look like from here on out.

    Honouring his fallen teammates, was all he cared about. Their deaths had to mean something which meant he needed to find a way to keep alive the spirit that had filled every one of them.

    Reaching out a hand he picked up his cell phone. A quick search gave him the number he was looking for but before he could call, a nurse came to his door.

    “Mr. Fleet, your parents just arrived,” the young nurse told him.

    Icy cold dread flooded his system, a visceral reaction he was powerless to stop.

    “No,” he snarled, not the way he’d intended the word to come out but the thought of seeing his family left him terrified in a way he couldn’t explain. “I don’t want any visitors.”

    Giving him a funny look the young woman nodded slowly, but backed out of the room and he knew would ensure that his parents were not permitted to visit with him.

    Josiah couldn’t explain why he didn’t want to see anyone, he just knew that he craved solitude. That and a job.

    Dialling the number, a few minutes later the voice of special forces legend, former SEAL Eagle Oswald, founder and CEO of the world renowned Prey Security, came down the line.

    Reaching out to the only speck of light he could find in his life, Josiah spoke, “I need a job.”

  • Week 410 – Cyber Team Prequel 1

    Bullets pierced his body.

    Tearing through flesh like it was nothing.

    Worse than the thunderous sound of gunfire were the screams.

    Barely human howls coming from men he considered family. Men he served with, men he fought alongside, men with whom he’d forged a bond that was supposed to last a lifetime.

    Men who now fell around him.

    Dying.

    Dead.

    Gone.

    Beneath him the ground was hard. The sand clung to his damp skin, a rock dug into his back, he didn’t bother to move though. He wanted to, wanted to shove to his feet and start firing back at those who had killed his team, but he didn’t seem to have the energy to move.

    Everything hurt and he could feel the life spilling out of him.

    Dying like the others only more slowly.

    One tiny detail altered their fates.

    He was still wearing his body armor. The others had removed theirs because they were supposed to be safe here. Safe on a base even though they were in hostile territory.

    Now he didn’t even remember the reason why he’d left his on when the others didn’t.

    Then there were people all around him. Well meaning people, performing first aid, putting pressure on his wounds, offering words they thought might comfort.

    They didn’t.

    Nothing could comfort him right now.

    As his body was jostled, he saw them. Bullet ridden bodies that had once been living breathing men. Gone now.

    He alone had survived.

    And he wished he hadn’t.

  • Week 409 – Can’t wait to see what happens next

    Can’t wait to see what happens next.

    A month had passed since the day Calico finally opened her big green eyes and looked up at him from that hospital bed. Twelve days of sitting at her bedside not knowing if she’d ever wake up, not knowing if she’d still be the same person as she’d been before if she did.

    Now after a month of rehab, of resting and slowly rebuilding strength, of speaking to a psychiatrist and working through some of what she’d endured, it was finally time.

    “Excited?” he asked as he curled his fingers into fists to stop them reaching for Calico’s shoes and put them on himself. Part of what Garret had to learn over the last month was respecting Calico’s independence and not trying to step in. She was moving slowly, but she was regaining her strength, and shockingly capable for someone with a broken leg and arm, and who had spent almost two weeks in a coma.

    “Very.” Calico beamed up at him as she managed to awkwardly slide her food foot into her sneaked. That triumphant smile every time she achieved even the most simple of tasks made him fall a little more in love with her.

    “And you’re sure you’re good with staying at my place?” Although she’d accepted his offer to stay with him until she was fully healed and no longer needed help, Calico wasn’t the only one that needed closeness. He needed her by his side just as much as he knew she needed to be at his.

    “Nowhere else in the world I’d rather be,” she said, pushing to her feet, wobbling precariously as he pushed over the wheelchair so she could sink down into it.

    Dropping to his knees in front of her, he took her hands in his. This was crazy, they hadn’t known each other all that long, and most of that time they’d both been on edge from a serial killer being on the loose.

    But it felt right.

    Now he just had to hope Calico felt the same way.

    “I know this is early, and I understand if you’re not ready,” he started, keeping her hands cradled in one of his while his other slipped into his pocket. “But I love you, Calico, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

    She gasped and her eyes filled with tears. Happy tears he assumed since she was also grinning at him.

    “Will you marry me?”

    “Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes.”

    Slipping the ring onto her finger felt like new beginnings. Curling a hand around the back of her neck, he guided her lips to meet his, careful not to cause her healing body any pain.

    “H-hmm,” a voice cleared from the door, and he pulled back, to glance over his shoulder and find Tony and Natasha standing there, both of them smiling.

    “Your chariot is here to take you home,” Natasha said, and he noticed something sparkling on her finger.

    “Are you engaged?” Calico squealed.

    “Tony proposed last night,” Natasha gushed. “Wait a minute? Is that a ring?”

    “Garret proposed about ten seconds ago,” Calico answered, love shining in her eyes as she gifted him another smile.

    Congratulations were exchanged and as Garret looked around at their little group, a the woman he loved, his partner, and his partner’s fiancee, he realised it was a new beginning for all of them.

  • Week 408 – Bedside vigil continues

    Bedside vigil continues.

    Pain.

    That’s all she knew.

    Darkness.

    It was the only place she existed.

    Calico had no knowledge of the passage of time. No understand of where she was or what had happened to her.

    Just pain.

    Just darkness.

    Any time the darkness began to recede a little the raging pain tugged her right back under again.

    Throughout it all she felt a presence. Something warm and strong that remained close. She had no idea what it was but it was nice, and she wanted to soak up as much of it as she could.

    Whispers filtered through occasionally. Her name uttered with so much emotion that it would have her weeping if only she had enough energy to do anything more than exist.

    Was she really existing thought?

    She felt trapped, stuck somewhere dark, painful, cold.

    Then all of a sudden warmth crept in. Something cradled her hand so gently, a puff of breath touched her forehead, and then she heard him whisper her name.

    Garret.

    Like a tap had been turned on all her memories came rushing back. The serial killer. Her ex-boyfriend. His father. The car crash. Being held captive. The fall off the roof. All of it was suddenly back and she cried out as she opened her eyes to see Garret hovering above her.

    “Love you,” she croaked, her voice weak and strained, but she had to get the words out. Needed him to know for sure how she felt.

    His eyes softened as he looked down at her and she knew what he was going to say before he said it because she could read his feelings in those beautiful eyes of his.

    “Love you too, sweetheart, and don’t ever scare me like this again. It’s been twelve days since we found you.”

    “Sorry,” she murmured, already getting tugged under again, but this time she wasn’t consumed by cold, pain, and darkness.

    This time it was light and warmth, peace, that she drifted off into, because Garret was here and she loved him and he loved her back.

Item added to your cart

0 items in the cart ($0.00 AUD)

Continue Shopping Go To The Cart