“But in the future…”
“In the future I might go back to work, but in the future the kids will be at school and things may have changed.”
“Okay.” He kissed the top of her head, but didn’t stay any longer as her Dad had called him over to help him with dessert. It’d always been that way, her Mum cooked dinner, and her Dad did dessert. It was something he now liked to share with his two son-in-laws. Most likely cause her brothers just weren’t interested in the slightest.
She watched as he chatted with her Dad, and with Christine’s kids, and couldn’t wait for the day that she’d get to see Bjorn with their own. She touched her stomach, feeling one of the twins kicking, and smiled; that day was coming soon, and when it did, she suspected that it would be the happiest day of her life.
The End
The Necromancer’s Prey
The Necromancer’s Prey Blurb
He's investigating her people - so why can't she resist him?
* * *
Rory's been an outcast her whole life, never feeling like she fit in with the other necromancers. With the Shifter Council investigating a rogue, her loyalties are torn between the people she doesn't belong to, and the shifter she can't seem to stop thinking about.
* * *
When Alden saves Rory one night, the attraction between them becomes too difficult to ignore, and he finally starts to accept that she could be his mate.
* * *
Book 3 of the Paranormal Council Novella Series. This is a shifter romance, and contains a standalone romance.
1
Alden sighed as he watched Bjorn leave. While he was glad that he and Arabella had finally accepted the rather obvious mating bond between them, he also felt a little jealous. Not because Bjorn had caught Arabella herself, though she was an attractive, if somewhat formidable woman. Rather, it was what they shared that made him feel that way. It was the same feeling that he’d thought he shared with Janelle, before she’d left him. He’d thought that he’d been lucky enough to find his mate while he was still a teenager, but time had soon shown him just how wrong he was.
Alden pushed a hand over his face, frustrated by the direction his thoughts had taken. It’d been years since he’d thought of Janelle. And his frustration was only increased by the fact that he needed to call Rory. Not only had he told Bjorn that he would, but she genuinely needed to know what the bear shifter, and former Council member, had uncovered. Alden squashed down the small part of him that was excited to talk to her, and tried to focus on the issue at hand. A while back, Arabella had brought their attention to what had since become known as the Necromancer problem. As a defence attorney, she’d been representing a woman who’d been falsely accused of murder. She’d soon discovered that the marks on the body revealed a much more sinister culprit than anyone had first thought. Hence, Alden’s working relationship with Rory.
Rory was the first, and only, necromancer he’d ever met, and he wasn’t all that sure what he made of her. She was tall, curvy and easy on the eyes, with a surprisingly upbeat personality for someone that dealt in death magic. And therein lay the problem; Alden liked her. Not just physically either. That he could live with as just a side effect of being a male shifter, and having a high sex drive as a result. But instead, he found himself enjoying her company, and at times like this, loving the fact that he had an excuse to call her.
He picked up his desk phone and dialled the number he denied knowing by heart, only to be greeted by her answering machine. He wasn’t sure why he was surprised; most paranormals had day jobs, even those with political positions like him and Rory.
A knock sounded on his office door, reminding him of his own job. He looked up to see Rhianna, one of his grad students, standing there with a worried look on her face. He’d long suspected that Rhianna was more than just human, but he’d never actually seen anything to prove that. Even her smell was odd, a little like the fae he’d come across before, but not quite. Plus, he’d never seen her do any magic. It was mostly how she looked that made him think she had fae blood in her, with her long dark hair and delicate features, teamed with a raw sex appeal that was common among them.
And that sex appeal had been difficult for Alden to ignore, even though he knew he had to as her professor. Yet a couple of weeks ago, that all stopped. He could still sense it rolling off her, but it no longer made him want to rip her clothes off and take her on his desk. He wasn’t all that sure whether the change was something to do with him, or with her, but it had coincided with him meeting Rory. The meaning of which wasn’t something he liked to properly think about.
“Professor?” she asked nervously. He felt instantly guilty for the direction of his thoughts, even if they weren’t as bad as they had been in the past.
“Is everything alright, Rhianna?”
“It’s just about the assignment. I’m struggling to interpret the text and was hoping you could help.” She looked at him, hope shining in her eyes. He waved towards the seat on the other side of the desk.
“What is it you’re wondering about?”
“It’s just this poem; I don’t get what people mean when they say it’s about the industrial revolution.” She handed him a print out of one of William Blake’s poems, and he reread it, despite the fact he already knew it by heart. He did it mostly to give himself some time to figure out how best to present the case to her. Literature was Alden’s passion, and had been since he’d studied his first Shakespearean play at school. He knew it probably wasn’t the most manly of interests, particularly for a male shifter, but he also couldn’t bring himself to care about that.
Thankfully, Rhianna was a smart student, not to mention one who was actually interested in what he had to say. It wasn’t until his phone chimed, nearly an hour later, that he realised how much time had passed. Luckily, he didn’t have any more lectures, but reading the text, he did have somewhere important he had to be.
“I’m sorry, Rhianna, I need to go. But if you’ve got any more questions, you can email me. I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can.” He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
“Thanks Alden, I think I’ve got it.” She looked slightly unsure about using his given name, even though it was common place in universities. She stood, packing up her things as she did. “Thanks again.” She gave an awkward half wave.
He hated the relief that surged through him as she left, knowing that it would be less than an hour until he saw Rory again. Except that wasn’t right; Rory was just someone he worked with. Nothing more. All he needed to do, was remember that.
2
Being a necromancer sucked. Most humans seemed to think that vampires were the ones they should be wary of, but mostly because they didn’t realise that necromancers existed. But the paranormal community did, and they were treated a bit like social pariahs as a result. Not that Rory blamed them; a lot of necromancers used their powers to hurt people, and she didn’t really understand why. While she enjoyed the rush that using her powers brought, she didn’t think it was worth hurting anyone over. Especially when she could make her powers work with just a cut to her arm; so long as she wasn’t trying to do something stupid, like raise the dead.
She walked through the corridors of the Council building, feeling slightly intimidated by the sheer scale of it. Up until the shifters had kicked up a fuss about a seemingly rogue necromancer, she’d never been inside the building. Even if she was a necromancer ambassador. Though it was more like she was nominally an ambassador really. Her own Council refused to meet here, as apparently they worried about the other Councils spying on them. Personally, Rory thought the whole thing was ridiculous, and part of why the other paranormals distrusted them so much. If it were up to her, they’d come out into the open more, and maybe then they’d be feared less.
She pushed through the door to the meeting room, unsurprised to see that Alden had beaten her there. His sandy hair was stuck up slightly, as if he’d run his hand through it so many times t
hat it had decided just to stay like that. He was wearing his glasses, and while she preferred him without, she had to admit that they suited him. Rory chided herself; she shouldn’t be preferring him any way. He was a shifter, and more than that, he was a shifter tasked with investigating her people. Even if she didn’t agree with the way necromancers lived their lives, she had to stay loyal to them.
“Ah, you’re here.” He stood up, and pulled out a chair for her. From most men, it would probably come across as forced chivalry, but she’d learnt that with Alden, it was just part of who he was.
“Thanks,” she murmured, taking her seat and trying not to focus on how close they were sitting. It didn’t help that he smelt good either. She wasn’t even able to really describe the smell, but the closest word she could think of was woodsy. And that was without thinking about the funny things it did to her insides. She pushed the thought away. Again. And tried to remind herself that he wasn’t her friend, and that she shouldn’t be thinking about him like that at all. Rory shook her head, trying to rid herself of her errant thoughts.
“Rory?” Alden’s smooth voice interrupted her mental disparagement. “Are you okay?” He placed one of his hands over hers, causing her skin to prickle at the contact. It wasn’t unpleasant either. Not at all.
“Yes, sorry. I’m fine.” She made an attempt at a smile, but he was likely as unconvinced by it as she was. He smiled back, brighter than she had, and removed his glasses. She was immediately drawn into his large amber eyes, mesmerised by the colour. This was never going to work if he continued to make her feel like this. She didn’t even know what kind of shifter he was, and couldn’t ask without coming across as rude. Taking a guess wouldn’t work either. Not with those eyes.
“Have you heard of Dean Winters?” he asked. She thought for a moment, then shook her head. Alden frowned, a disappointed look on his face.
“Should I?” she asked after a moment’s silence.
“He’s the one behind the killings,” he said slowly, studying her reaction as the news sunk in. She didn’t think he doubted her. Or more likely, she didn’t want him to doubt her.
“I can ask?” She shrugged. After all, they both knew that her asking was pointless. She didn’t even know her Council liaison’s name, there was almost no chance he’d tell her who Dean Winters was. That was if he even knew himself. Necromancer secrecy was damn annoying at times.
“Sure.” He looked a little lost for words, and she knew how he felt. Their meetings were always short, mainly due to a lack of solid information. Yet Rory never actually wanted them to end. Nor did Alden, if his drawn out silence was anything to go by. “How’s the blood slave situation going?” he asked softly. Rory pulled a face.
“It’s going over fine with those of us that never kept them in the first place, but the traditionalists are struggling with the idea of letting go.” Which was painting it in a good light. A lot of necromancers really couldn't care less that some random nymph was trying to change the laws, but some were in uproar about it. Including Rory's brother. The two of them had always been at odds on the morals of using their magic, and had barely spoken in years. She'd always thought that he parents had indulged Kurt a little too much while they were growing up. Not that they'd ever accept that. As far as they were concerned, Rory was the disappointment in her family, mostly because she was too nice, at least that was according to her father.
"What do they even get used for?" he asked, surprising her. They'd not really discussed anything to do with their cultures before, and she found that she kind of liked the idea of changing that. He didn't sound the slightest bit judgemental either, which helped.
"Watch," she said, withdrawing her athame from inside her jacket pocket. It was smaller than the one her parents had given her at sixteen, and she preferred it like that; nothing said up to no good like carrying around a six-inch knife. Even if it was a ceremonial one. But, she also didn't like leaving home without one, she never knew when she'd need to use her powers.
Alden didn't move a muscle, watching with an intrigued look on his face. Rory thought for a moment, trying to think about what she could show him. For the most part, necromancer magic wasn't actually that useful, unless raising the dead counted. Which it didn't as far as Rory was concerned. She'd seen it done once before, and it was more icky than useful.
She made a small cut on her forearm, being careful to trace over the same place she normally used. Cuts used for necromancer magic left scars, and she saw no point in making more than she had to. Blood welled up from the cut and she had to push down the nausea that accompanied her blood. She knew it was stupid to be so affected by something so small, but then, she'd never claimed to be a good necromancer. She concentrated hard, and purple smoke rose up from her blood, forming two small skeletons, each about the size of her hand. She directed them to the table in front of them, making them dance along with a tune she was humming. She was breaking at least a dozen unspoken rules by showing him this, but it was actually a relief to share it with someone.
"That's amazing," Alden said, sounding a little bit breathless. She stopped humming and dissolved the skeletons with just a thought. Rory pulled an antiseptic wipe from her pocket, another thing she wouldn't leave the house without. Call her obsessive, but she didn't want to risk an infection. After she'd wiped the cut on her arm, she cleaned off her athame, sliding it back into her pocket.
"Hardly useful though," she said mournfully. She'd always envied witches the fact that they could actually perform useful magic.
"And shifting is?" He raised an eyebrow at her, and she guessed that he was right. Then again, being able to turn into an animal was at least a cool thing to be able to do. Far more so than being able to make fake skeletons dance.
"If you could shift into something small, then yes. You could spy on the person you fancy." She smiled at him, surprised by how comfortable she felt talking to him. Their meetings were normally so short that they didn't have time for getting to know each other. Alden, on the other hand, looked decidedly uncomfortable with her last comment.
"You were telling me about blood slaves," he said with a slight cough. She wasn't sure whether it was her comment about smaller shifters, or the idea of him spying on a woman, that had him on edge, but she let it slide.
"Oh, well some necromancers don't like using their own blood. Particularly if it’s for something that uses a lot of power." She shrugged. What she was saying was actually a complete guess. No one who'd ever had a blood slave had ever told her the reason why. "Plus, the kind of people who keep blood slaves are the same kind who do bad things with their powers."
"That's slightly worrying." Rory laughed at his understatement, unable to stop herself.
"You can say that again," she muttered darkly. He smiled at her, a genuine smile that made his face light up in a way that had Rory's heart skipping a beat. If she wasn't careful then this was going to end very badly for her. His eyes softened and something in Rory wanted to melt. "I need to go." She pushed to her feet and half ran out of the room, leaving a bewildered Alden far behind.
3
Alden wanted to roll his eyes. For whatever reason, Council meetings had become chaos since Bjorn had resigned. He suspected it was something to do with how much more relaxed Arabella was now that she was mated. Not to mention that Drayce just didn't care, and that they had an unfilled seat.
"What about one of the lions?" Arabella suggested, sounding about as exasperated as Alden felt.
"Not happening." To Alden's surprise, it was the normally placid Nathalie who'd spoken. "Invite a lion in here, and you'll be looking for two new Council members." Her pale eyes blazed, and he wondered what was going on there. Nathalie had always been the voice of reason on the Council, as was to be expected considering she was a unicorn shifter, and that they were a peace-loving race. Or at least, they were as far as Alden knew, but given Nathalie's outburst, maybe that wasn't as true as he thought.
"Alright, no lions. Anyone else got anyone w
e can't ask?" Arabella asked, sighing loudly. Alden quickly shook his head, and Drayce said nothing, as per usual.
"I might have a suggestion. Have you heard of Dana Stephenson?" Alden asked her, ignoring the other two for the moment.
"The spokeswoman for that endangered animal charity?" Nathalie asked, and Alden nodded.
"She's a shifter?" Arabella asked, a look of contemplation on her face.
"Some kind of big cat, I think," he replied. He wasn’t sure exactly what she was, other than that she was a shifter. They'd gone to the same school and he'd been able to sense it on her, and most likely she on him, but they'd moved in different social circles and never really talked.
"She's probably worth talking to, I'll see what I can do," Arabella said, writing a quick note to herself as she did. Supposedly, they were all equal within the Council, but no one could deny that Arabella was the one in charge, and that suited Alden just fine. "Bjorn says he found out the necromancer's name," she prompted.
"Yes. I've passed it on to my contact. She's going to ask for us," he answered. At least he assumed she would. He hadn't spoken to Rory since her odd disappearing act after their meeting.
"And can she be trusted?" Drayce spoke up for the first time, a raised eyebrow suggesting that he was at least a little sceptical of Rory.
"Yes," Alden replied too quickly, drawing knowing looks from the two women in the room. Maybe he wasn't such a fan of the newly relaxed Arabella. Up until accepting her mating with Bjorn, she'd have completely ignored a situation like this. Now she was turning into as much of a romantic as Nathalie was. Drayce looked vaguely amused, as if he'd expected nothing less. Alden didn't think he'd ever seen so much emotion from the other man before.
The Paranormal Council Complete Series 1-5 Page 11