The two Carruthers women left us, and Rafe and Nell followed them out the door. Rafe wrapped me in a tight hug.
“Try not to worry, Jacks, okay?” He pressed his lips to the top of my head in a brotherly kiss. “It’s all going to be all right. In a few months, we’ll be kicking back with champagne, celebrating the fact that this messed-up world is still spinning. And we’ll look back on this time and laugh.”
I closed my eyes and leaned against him. “Promise?”
“You know it, baby.” He released me. “Nell and I need to hit the road. But we’ll be in touch. Call if anything pops up, okay? And give Mrs. Mac and Charlie our love. Tell them we’ll see them . . . next time.”
Rafe was trying to be light and teasing, but in his eyes, I saw the truth. There wouldn’t be any more improptu, impulsive visits down to see us. No more double dates, at least for the time being; no more playing around.
Our fun was over. It was time to concentrate on saving the world.
The End
“ARE YOU AWAKE?”
I didn’t answer Jackie right away. We’d both been a little quiet since Rafe, Nell, Cathryn and Veronica had left, both of us keeping our own counsel as we went about the rest of the day. By tacit agreement, we’d both gone to bed at her house, and she’d kissed me goodnight before we turned off the lights. But even though empathy and mind hearing weren’t my gifts, I could practically feel her worry.
Rolling over, I pulled her close so that her ear pressed into my chest. “Yeah, I’m awake. I thought you’d dropped off hours ago, though.”
“No.” Her voice was muffled against me. “Lucas . . . aren’t you even the slightest bit frightened?”
I tightened my arms around her. “Of course I am. I’m fucking terrified. Any person in his right mind would be right now. We’re facing a fight that could mean the end of the world.”
“I looked around that room today, and I thought . . . there are six of us here. The odds aren’t good that all of us will survive to celebrate afterwards.”
“Isn’t it Han Solo who says, ‘Never tell me the odds.’?” Quoting Star Wars was always a good way to change the subject.
She sighed. “Don’t try to distract me or tease. I’m serious.”
I nodded, though I knew she couldn’t see me. “I am, too. I know you’re right. But worrying about it isn’t giong to help us. The best thing we can do is to be prepared. And we’re doing everything we can.”
“Hmmm.” Her voice vibrated against my skin, making me shiver. “Why didn’t you tell me that you’d increased how much blood you’re drinking?”
I’d known this was coming, too. “I don’t know. I could claim that it was because we were distracted with the murders and worrying over Mrs. Mac, but that wouldn’t be completely true. I guess I knew it would upset you, and . . . I didn’t want you to think I was drinking more from the bags instead of from you.”
She was silent. I trailed my fingers down the column of her spine, feeling each familiar bump. I wasn’t sure sometimes that Jackie realized how precious she was to me. Our lives had been a rollercoaster of insanity since we’d met, with me coming to grips over who and what I was, the various murders we’d encountered, and now the impending doom breathing down our necks. But I wished I could prove to her that none of that mattered when it was just the two of us, together.
“I didn’t think that,” she answered me at last. “And when I consider it rationally, it does make sense that you’re gearing up for this fight. What Veronica told us was that she turned you specifically to give our side an advantage in the battle. She said that you being a half-vamp increases your effectiveness as a death broker and makes you a better fighter overall. So maybe you need to drink extra blood to feed that power.”
“Maybe.” I let my hand wander down to her firm, round ass. “I try not to talk too much about drinking blood because I know it bothers you. I think sometimes you can pretend I’m just a normal guy with an unusual job, except for the blood. That’s the part of me that freaks you out.”
“You’re probably right. I’m sorry.” She tilted her head up so that I could see her eyes. Even in the dark, I could feel their warmth. “It’s not that I don’t understand or accept the vampire part of you. But that part does feel a little . . . wilder. A little less controllable.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. But never forget . . . the blood is something I need, but you’re my real source of strength. You’re what keeps me going. You’re my reason for wanting to fight to keep this world turning.”
She was staring up at me still. “Remember the first night I kissed you? You told me then that my blood made you crazy. You said you craved me, and you’d never craved anyone else to that point.”
I smiled. “It was the truth. It’s still the truth.”
“You still want me? My blood is still the only one you want to drink?” There was doubt in her voice, and I understood. Meeting Veronica had made Jackie second-guess her own role in my life. But even though Veronica had turned me, Jackie would forever be the one woman I chose above all others.
“Always.” I nudged her lips up to me and covered them with mine. “You give me everything I need, baby. You fill up spots in me that I didn’t even know were there until I met you. I want your body, I want your blood . . . but I also want your heart and your soul. I want to consume all of you, and I want to give myself to you.”
“I want to give you everything I have.” She rolled over until she lay on top of me, the heat between her legs cradling my throbbing cock.
Framing her face with both of my hands, I threaded my fingers through her hair. “When we’re together, whether we’re alone or with others, I can hear your heartbeat. I’ve heard it since the first day we met. No one else’s. Only yours. And each beat is the most beautiful music in the world to me.”
“Each beat belongs to you and only you.” She surged up, kissing me with a new intensity before she rose onto her knees and sank down onto me, taking me inside her and driving me crazy with pleasure as she rocked.
I groaned. “I love you, baby. I only want you. Ride me hard.”
Jackie bowed her body forward, offering me her breast and holding my neck as I arched to take the rosy nipple into my mouth.
“Drink. Drink from me. I want you . . . I want to be inside you, just like you’re inside me.”
A frenzied blindness swept over me at her words, and without asking another question, I sank my teeth into her soft flesh and drank deep, taking in her strength the only way I knew, as I pumped into her and we both cried out in our fevered climax.
And when she fell onto me, boneless and spent, our hearts beat in synchronicity.
The story continues . . .
Follow Cathryn to Ireland in
Moonlight on the Meadow
January 24, 2017
And meet Sionnach in Hotel Paranormal’s
The Fox’s Wager
February 1, 2017.
And of course . . .
See how the batle ends in
Age of Aquarius
April 7, 2017.
If you enjoyed this book, please tell a friend!
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Thank you!
If it’s October 31st, it must be time for another Death book!
This part of Jackie and Lucas’s story has been playing in my mind since I finished writing Death A La Mode last year. Even though I took a year off from releasing paranormal, I’ve continued to work on all of the upcoming books, so they were never far from my thoughts. I know there are a lot of open ends, but I promise, we’ll see tons of resolution between now and April 7th. Be sure that you’ve read ALL the paranormal books so you’re ready!
Thank you first and foremost to my awesome
beta readers, Kara Schilling, Krissy Smith, Carla Edmonson and Marla Wenger. You all rock on short notice and with very few days. Hearts and kisses all around.
Meg Murrey designed this awesome cover, and I love it! Thank you so much. Stacey Blake from Champagne Formats made it all so pretty on the inside~wine and hugs to YOU!
I was on a looming deadline for this book while Mandie Stevens and I were making Indie BookFest 2016 happen (in the middle of Hurricane Matthew). I finished it the week after IBF16, and some of the names in the book owe a debt to our venue this year. Thank you to Mandie for being my business partner and best friend! Next year? More wine, more giggles and more relaxation. Right?
My dear Olivia Hardin gave me the idea of the Ms. Florida Senior Living Pageant—thank you! Love you, my under-the-rock partner.
Thanks to Heather Hildenbrand and Jill Cooper, my sprinting partners, who kept me hitting word count goals. Big hugs to both you lovely ladies.
As always, love to my Temptresses for their cheering, their support and their listening ears. And to my family . . . thanks for your patience, your understanding and your love. Love you all big time!
I Will Follow You Into the Dark—Death Cab for Cutie
Vampires Will Never Hurt You—My Chemical Romance
We’re in This Together—Nine Inch Nails
Let Love Bleed Red—Sleeping with Sirens
Clocks—Coldplay
I Belong to You—Muse
Special Extra Scenes!
I’ve been privileged to be a Featured Author at Coastal Magic Convention for the past five years. For the last few Halloweens, the owner and organizer, Jennifer Morris, has hosted as many of us who like on her website, offering a flash fic opportunity. We’re given a file of pictures from which to choose, and then we write a short piece inspired by that art.
Last year and this year, my flash fiction involved characters from Recipe for Death and the Serendipity books. I’m going to share them both with you as bonus content here, although at least one will probably make it into AGE OF AQUARIUS in one form or another.
Enjoy!
SCENE ONE (Thanks to Mandie Stevens for lending me both characters and setting for this one!)
“That was one of the best dinners I’ve ever eaten that I didn’t cook.” I dabbed my mouth with the linen napkin and sat back in my chair. “But now I don’t think I can move.”
Lucas smiled as he sipped his wine. “Good news is that you don’t have to move far. Aren’t you glad now that we decided to get a hotel room for tonight?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You were right. I just hope Makani’s not giving Mrs. Mac any trouble. Normally I wouldn’t worry, but with tonight being Halloween, he’s going to be crazy.” My dog was normally pretty chill, but dozens of trick or treaters set him on edge.
“I warned her about letting him get hopped on sugar. I think he’ll be safe.” He reached for my hand then jerked upright, away from me. “Shit. Shit. Jackie, I’m sorry, but I’m being summoned to a Reckoning. I need to get someplace private to transport.”
I sat up, too, and pointed to the back of the courtyard where we were eating. “There’s the alley we cut through on our way here. Now that it’s dark, you’ll probably be safe there.”
“Okay.” He stood up, pushing back his chair, and leaned down to kiss my lips quickly. “I’ll get back as fast as I can. Are you all right to walk to the hotel by yourself? If you feel uncomfortable, call a taxi.”
“I will, but don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” I lowered my voice. “When your boyfriend’s a vampire slash death broker, you don’t spook easily.”
Lucas rolled his eyes, but he didn’t have time for anything else. As he jogged away, our waitress approached the table.
“Everything okay?” She frowned at the back of my departing date, probably thinking I’d been ditched.
“Yep!” I gave her a bright smile. “My boyfriend . . . uh, his job sometimes calls him away.”
She nodded. “He’s a doctor?”
“Something like that.”
I paid the bill and left, wandering down the narrow side streets of St. Augustine. I’d been here before often enough that I knew my way around this part of town, the old city across from the Fort. The shops and cobblestone streets were familiar, though tonight they seemed just a little spookier, a little more mysterious than they usually did.
After all, it was Halloween.
I knew I should go back to the hotel and wait for Lucas. Reckonings, where he was required to determine the final destination of just-departed souls, could move quickly or take hours, depending on how much of a fight the advocates for light and dark put up. But the idea of sitting in the room by myself, channel surfing, sounded too pathetic. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to wander a bit.
The streets and alleys were crowded, with more people wearing costumes than not. Sometimes it was hard to tell which ones were children and which were adults. I paused outside the spice store, watching the parade of witches, ghouls, monsters and vampires pass, amusing myself by picking out which ones really existed—to my knowledge—and which ones did not.
Jackie.
I startled, glancing around, but the voice seemed to drift by me, as though it had floated in on the sea breeze.
Jaaaaackie. . .
A shiver of dread gave me goose bumps. I was about to push off the wall and head back toward the hotel when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I froze as a strong sense of déjà vu swept over me. Not long ago, I’d had an encounter with Veronica, the mysterious woman who’d apparently changed Lucas into a vampire. I hadn’t known who she was at the time, but ever since, I’d been a little jumpy, seeing creepy vampires around every corner.
Wheeling around, I relaxed when I saw a tall blonde woman I didn’t recognize. Not Veronica. She stepped back when she saw my face.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought—I was meeting someone here, and I thought you were her.” Her eyes narrowed.
“Are you all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“At least a dozen of them.” I pointed behind me at the costumed people, grinning. When the woman only tilted her head, frowning, I shrugged. “You startled me a little. I thought you were someone else, too.”
“You look as though you could use a drink.” She hesitated, as though debating something as she glanced over my shoulder. “Come on. I know a place where—well, just come on.”
She grabbed hold of my hand and hauled me down the road a little. Apprehension prickled at the back of my neck as the woman kept looking behind us, as though she saw something I couldn’t.
“I’m Jackie, by the way.” I trotted to keep her from pulling off my arm. “And um, my boyfriend is expecting me back at our hotel. I really should—”
“I’m Eva. And he’s not back yet.” She scowled. “Damn it. Here.” She pulled me around the corner, and suddenly we were on damp stone steps that led up a narrow passage between two imposing walls. The moon shone through the wispy clouds, illuminating Eva’s face. She had an almost other-worldly sense about her, an elusive something I’d seen in our friends Nell and Rafe. And when I’d mentioned Lucas, she’d replied, He’s not back yet.
“Who are you?” I meant the words to sound like a demand, but they came out as a whisper.
She flicked a glance at me. “I’m a friend. And you were being followed. Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I know where we can go to be safe.” She shot me a half-smile. “But you’re going to have to trust me.”
Without waiting for a response, Eva took off up the steps, and I had no choice but to follow her. The passage turned to become a long hallway bathed in pitch-black darkness. I kept moving, groping along the wall until I heard a creak and dim light shone through a rough-hewn wooden door.
Eva slipped through the opening, standing back to let me in before she closed the door behind us. I heard muffled noise below us.
“Where are we?”
“Nowhere you’ve ever been.” She beckoned me
forward. “We’ll be okay if we get downstairs. I think, anyway.”
We crept down a winding iron stair case, and the hum of voices and laughter swelled. At the bottom of the steps, Eva paused and glanced back at me.
“We’re going into a bar now. It’s called Spellbound, and you’re going to see some, uh, interesting types here. Don’t talk to anyone unless I say, don’t make eye contact, and stick close to me.”
“I thought you said it was safe.” I wasn’t feeling particularly reassured.
“It is, relatively speaking.” Her lips quirked into a sardonic smile. “You’re going to learn, probably sooner than later, that there’s no place truly safe.”
When Eva had said I’d see some interesting types, I’d pictured a typical bar scene. And in some ways, I wasn’t wrong. But as we darted between groups and wound our way to the bar itself, I began to suspect some of these people weren’t dressed in costumes. They looked eerily real. And some of them stared just a little too long as Eva and I pushed past.
“No eye contact,” she muttered just before she pushed me forward to the bar. I caught myself with both hands and glared at her.
“Eva, what the hell?” The man behind the counter was huge, and instantly I thought, Viking. He crossed his massive arms over his chest and stared down at us.
“Soren, not now. I was looking for—well, it doesn’t matter at the moment. I was supposed to meet someone, but then there were demons after this one.” She pointed at me. “I didn’t have anywhere else to bring her.”
He raised one eyebrow. “So you brought her . . . here?”
Death Over Easy Page 14