Contents
Cover Credit
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Introduction
About This Book
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
From The Author
About the Author
Cover Credit
Christopher Coyle
darkandstormyknight.com
Thank you for bringing my people to life. Your talent knows no bounds!
Enthrall
BOOK 3
WHISPERS FROM THE BAYOU
By Sandra R Neeley
Copyright © 2019 SANDRA R NEELEY
All rights reserved.
Thank you for purchasing and/or downloading this book. It is the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and/or distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes without express written permission from the author.
Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales, is purely coincidental. The characters are creations of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademarked ownership of all trademarks and word marks mentioned in this book.
For everyone who has believed in me and supported me on this journey.
Whispers From the Bayou
The swamps of South Louisiana shelter all manner of creature, paranormal as well as natural wildlife. Whispers is a community of paranormal beings hidden deep within the most uninhabitable areas of the wetlands. All of its inhabitants — be they Vampires, Shifters, Gargoyles, Banshees, Ancients, Windigo, Mer-people or other — came here for one reason: Sanctuary. The members of this community intentionally migrated here over time in an effort to escape humankind and their intolerant ways. Some species were hunted to the point of near extinction; those few who survived now live here. They all have one rule, one unbreakable rule — no humans. No humans are allowed to know about their community. It’s the only way they can all remain safely hidden away.
About this Book
Enthrall
Whispers From the Bayou
Book 3
Vampires are often irresistibly sexy, powerful and misunderstood. Enthrall is all of those, and more. Being the leader of Whispers — a community of paranormals hidden deep within the south Louisiana swamps — is a difficult and lonely existence. He’s waited centuries to find his love, his mate. Then finally, when he’s all but given up, she’s there. Intelligent, beautiful and independent, she’s all he ever dreamed she’d be. He’s determined to sway her plans for the future, ensure that he’s the focus. There are just a couple of small problems. She has no idea he’s not human. And she’s dying, but she doesn’t even know it.
Felicity is an attorney at the top of her game. She’s fought her way to the top of a male-dominated profession and is proud to have finally achieved all her dreams. Along with that comes an executorship over Clara’s House — a shelter for women in need. She shares that position with the most alluring man she’s ever met. Despite her attempts to focus on her career, he haunts her dreams, steals her attention from anything other than himself. She’s decided she can have both. Until one evening she watches him from afar as he disappears before her eyes. He’s got secrets, and now she’s determined to find out what they are.
Felicity and Enthrall are undeniably drawn to one another. But still Enthrall hesitates to reveal himself to the tall, blonde beauty that holds his heart in the palm of her hands. His own humanity was stolen from him long ago, and he refuses to subject his mate to the same brutality. He must win her over, be sure that she loves him before he reveals himself to her and offers her forever at his side. The problem is, he’s running out of time. If he doesn't claim her soon, it may be too late. Little does he know, forces are at work against them. All choices, and any chance at a future may be taken away from them. Can they survive the threats that surface unexpectedly from the shadows? Will forgiveness heal or resentment taint what could be the only thing either of them ever truly needed?
Warning: Intended for mature audiences. This book contains some use of the “F” word and others, explicit violence, abuse both real and inferred, and sexual situations that may be disturbing for some readers. If you are offended by these subjects, please do not buy this book.
Prologue
Enthrall sat in the kitchen of Clara’s House, sipping a cup of coffee, wishing it was his sarsaparilla tea. He’d been back for only a few hours and couldn’t sleep. He’d gotten up and gone to the kitchen, completely lost in his thoughts when a slight cough drew his attention.
He looked up from his coffee to find Felicity standing there.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I couldn’t sleep and thought I’d have a snack,” she told him.
“You’re not interrupting at all. Have a seat, I’ll get you something,” Enthrall said, rising to his feet.
“Oh, no, I can do it,” Felicity said.
“I insist!” he said, pulling out a chair for her to sit.
She really wasn’t feeling her best, so she agreed, “Okay, thank you.”
Enthrall took out two apples and sliced them, then scooped out a large spoonful of peanut butter and plopped it right in the middle of a bowl, placing the apple slices around the peanut butter. He placed it in front of her.
“Oh! I love peanut butter!” she said, dipping an apple slice into the middle of the peanut butter.
“I’ve recently discovered it. Someone that’s very important to me loves it. So I decided to try it. It’s not bad,” he said.
“You should try it with jelly,” she said, crunching on another apple slice.
“Peanut butter? With jelly?” he asked, with a horrified look on his face.
Felicity laughed, and he fell in love with her there in that moment. She had a beautiful laugh, though he couldn’t help but notice the subtle, little cough that her laugh caused. “Trust me, it’s one of my favorites!”
“Then I shall have to try it,” he said.
Finishing up her snack, Felicity rose from the table. “Thank you for the snack.”
“You’re very welcome. Thank you for the company. I wasn’t able to sleep either,” Enthrall told her. “Here, let me take that dish for you.”
Felicity knew that he’d not allow her to wash it, so she just handed it over. “I’ll see you in the morning?” she asked.
“You will, sleep well,” he said, bowing to her as she left the room. He stood at the sink washing the bowl when movement outside caught his eye. He focused on the outside lawn and realized that the mist above the ground was no longer just mist, it was purple. “Lore,” he whispered under his breath.
He turned to go outside and ran right into Mamaie.
“She is a lovely girl,” Mamaie said.
“Who, Felicity?” Enthrall asked.
“Yes. She is kind, very smart, and she has a good heart,” Mamaie told him.
“Yes, she is. Mamaie, could we continue this a little later?
” Enthrall asked, fearing what Lore would do if he grew tired of waiting.
Mamaie waved him away. “Go, tend to the things you must.”
Enthrall hurried through the door and outside into the darkness.
He didn’t see Mamaie shake her head or hear her when she said, “It is a shame she is dying,” as she left the kitchen.
Enthrall kept walking until he was a fair distance from the house. “Lore! Is there a problem?”
“Possibly,” his voice came from all around.
“What? What is the problem?” Enthrall asked, frustratedly.
“You no longer have a Windigo,” Lore explained.
“I never did have a Windigo,” Enthrall said.
“Of course you did. You gave him sanctuary,” Lore reminded him.
“He’s not mine. And so he’s left. He doesn’t have to stay, and it’s best anyway. He was paying too much attention to Rowan,” Enthrall explained. “You came all this way to tell me that the Windigo left?”
“No. I came all this way to tell you that the Windigo stole Destroy’s Witch from her very bed. Then she killed the Windigo, but not the man. You know, I believe that perhaps banished is a better word. I believe she banished the Windigo. But the man remains. And now Destroy still wants to kill the Windigo. Only now he’s a man instead of a Windigo, so I’m not sure that it would be a problem or not. And now that he’s human, can he be allowed to stay, or would you need to kill him? Or perhaps since he was once a creature, maybe he can choose to stay or leave. Or mayhap we just allow Destroy to smash him and be done with it. Either way, I suggest you come quickly while Destroy is still enamored of his love. Because I do believe that as soon as he gets the chance, Destroy will end him, no matter that his female said not to,” Lore rambled, then paused to wait for Enthrall’s response with a completely unnerving smile on his face.
Enthrall listened to Lore, his eyes beginning to squint, and the heels of his hands pressed to the headache growing behind his forehead, reminding himself that from time-to-time the insanity that kept Lore company would rear its ugly head again. And when it did, he often sought out Enthrall in an effort to keep himself grounded. And since he wasn’t home, perhaps that was what this was.
With the heels of his hands now pressed to his eyes, he said, “How are you feeling, Lore?”
“Hungry,” came Lore’s answer.
“Hungry?” Enthrall asked.
“Yes. And now we have the human. Perhaps I’ll eat him!” Lore said enthusiastically. Then, “I did tell you, you needed to relax that rule, didn’t I? The one about humans. At any rate — either Destroy will kill him when his ladylove goes to sleep, or I shall eat him.”
“You’re telling me that the Windigo is no longer a Windigo and is human?!”
Lore looked at him as though he’d grown three heads. “I believe that is what I just spent countless seconds that I’ll never get back trying to relay to you. Did you not listen?”
“Yes, unfortunately, I did,” Enthrall said, rubbing both his eyes at the same time.
Lore waited but a second more, “Well, I’m off! The lightning and rain should be finished by now. Would you care to make a wager? Will it be me or Destroy who finishes the new human off?” Lore’s laughter filled the space all around him as his mists swirled, then disappeared.
“Neither!” Enthrall shouted, to the now empty yard around him. “Damnit!” he cursed out loud.
He glanced around, determined that he was still alone and ghosted to Whispers. How the hell he’d ever find time to court Felicity between Destroy and Lore, he wasn’t sure — but if it was the last thing he did, he’d make her his.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Enthrall stood on his porch with Lore and the man who had been the Windigo. He looked down at the unconscious man now drenched from the pouring rain.
“He lives,” Lore said, looking down at the man.
“Now what do we do with him?” Enthrall asked.
“I could eat him, I am still hungry,” Lore suggested.
Enthrall looked up at Lore, a slightly corporeal Lore. “I don’t think so.”
Lore shrugged. “Well, you asked. Surely you didn’t expect me to be helpful.”
“Why not? You’ve been very helpful lately,” Enthrall said.
“Yes, and I’m not altogether sure I’m happy about that,” Lore answered.
Enthrall raised an eyebrow. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Lore raised his eyes to Enthrall’s, a more serious expression than Enthrall had ever seen on his face in all the centuries they’d been friends. “It is not always a pleasant job, this helping. This responsibility.”
“You cannot lie to me, my friend. I’ve seen the pleasure on your face when you help our friends,” Enthrall said.
“Perhaps. I find the responsibility to pain me the most,” Lore said cryptically.
“In what way?” Enthrall asked.
Lore stepped closer to Enthrall, “I have news, Enthrall. It is not good.”
Enthrall was puzzled. What news could Lore possibly have that could have him in such a state? “Tell me, Lore. I will always stand beside you. What is it you need from me?”
Lore looked at Enthrall sadly, “It is not me who may need. It is you.”
Enthrall said quietly, “Tell me.”
“It is your Felicity,” Lore said, waiting for a response.
Enthrall’s stomach dropped, his face became stony. “What about her?”
“Now I am here for you, my friend,” Lore said.
“Tell me!” Enthrall shouted.
“She is dying, Enthrall,” Lore said solemnly.
Enthrall heard blood rushing in his ears, his heart stuttered. Every muscle in his body fought the instinct to bunch up and curl in on themselves. “Now?! This instant?” He shouted, moving back a few steps, preparing to ghost back to her.
“No, not this instant. But she is ill, Enthrall. She’s fading,” Lore said.
“I will not allow it. We will get her treatment — whatever it is, we will get it treated,” Enthrall declared.
“It has been too long ignored, Enthrall. It is too late,” Lore said sadly.
“It is not!” Enthrall shouted. “It can’t be,” he murmured as he ghosted away, going back to Felicity. Refusing to believe that Lore’s words could be true.
“Godspeed, my friend,” Lore whispered after his friend. Then he looked down at the still unconscious man. “And what the blazes am I to do with you?” he asked the still sleeping form.
He smiled, an idea forming.
He looked at the house across the way, Destroy’s house. Many a day Destroy marched through the swamps shouting his name to the treetops — it drove Lore insane, well, even more insane than he usually was. And since Destroy was now a guardian over Whispers, and Enthrall was otherwise occupied, he decided that this would be Destroy’s problem.
He grinned — this was going to be fun. He set one misty foot in front of the other, and with each step he took all the way across the 400 feet between Enthrall’s home and Destroy’s, he shouted as loudly as he possibly could, being sure to send his voice echoing all ‘round the land, “Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!”
When he was close to Destroy’s home and heard the snarl of the Gargoyle inside, irritated at having been disturbed while mating his woman, Lore laughed aloud, and called again, “Destroy! Are you not a keeper of Whispers? You are needed!”
Destroy’s footsteps could be heard stomping through his house, the door was snatched open, and he bellowed, “Whaaaaat?!”
“Hello, Destroy. This night… Whispers is yours,” Lore declared.
Chapter 1
Enthrall wasted no time with discretion — he ghosted right into the hallway outside Felicity’s bedroom. His heart pounding, he leaned his head against the door, listening. He could just barely make out the faint sound of her slight breathing.
“Felicity?” he whispered.
She did not answer, and her breathing did not change. S
he was deeply asleep.
Enthrall reached for the doorknob and let himself inside. Silently he moved to her bedside and looked down at her sleeping form. The corner of his mouth turned up in a grin as she smiled in her sleep, her eyes moving rapidly beneath her closed lids. She sighed a contented sigh and hugged her pillow closer.
Enthrall knelt beside her bed and leaned closer to her sweet face. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He cocked his head to the side and inhaled again, pulling her exhaled breath into his body and sifting through it, molecule by molecule. His eyes opened, unshed tears causing them to shimmer in the moonlight streaming in through the window. Lore had been right — it was there, beneath the fresh-sweet scent of the honey-lemon perfume she always wore. He could smell the sickness, the infection that had taken over her lungs. Smell the fatigue as her own body struggled to maintain what little strength she had left.
Enthrall stood, looking down at the female he’d prayed for his entire, long, cursed life. With his heart in his eyes, he lightly brushed his fingertips over her cheek, ran his thumb lightly across her bottom lip. “I will not give you up. I will not be without you. I will find a way, my love.”
Felicity sighed at his touch, her lips puckering to kiss his thumb, before letting out a soft little stuttered snore.
Enthrall smiled sadly. “Do not fear. I will win this battle, too, or I will take this journey with you. Sleep well, my Lici. You will not be alone either way.”
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>
Felicity looked at herself in the mirror, the dark circles around her eyes seemed to never lessen. She prodded gently at the bruised looking skin beneath her right eye, then her left. She knew she’d slept last night, there was no reason for the shadows to still be there. She thought of last night, and a smile immediately took her lips. She’d dreamed of Enthrall. She’d dreamed he’d promised to never leave her. Her cheeks blushed. She’d also dreamed he’d stroked her face with his fingertips, and she’d even kissed his thumb as it smoothed across her lip. Her body gave a little shiver at the pleasure the thought induced.
Enthrall Page 1