Shadows and Sorcery: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels

by Adkins, Heather Marie

  If someone saw her, she would never get the potion and she’d be forced to deal with—

  Another sharp swell of pain in her abdomen cut her off mid-thought, like fire spearing through her guts. How could she live the rest of her life with this? It was impossible. She had to find something to eat, and soon. The famed alchemical brew she sought tonight was her last chance. It was pure happenstance that had brought it to her attention in the form of a slip of paper shoved under the door of the room she was renting in Hornbook, California. The note looked and sounded like it was taken from a work of fiction. The accompanying note had her willing to believe it really existed.

  It was a weak point in her life, where she was low enough to grasp at straws, straws like a town name written in red ink below the text, along with a phone number.

  Georgia had nothing to lose. She’d called. Bounced up and down the west coast in an attempt to locate the infamous brew that shouldn’t, by all accounts, exist outside of fairy tales. After nearly a year of searching, she’d ended up in Yachats. In her mind, pronounced yak hats. It was the sort of piddling podunk town she’d tried to escape. One she thought she wouldn’t be caught dead in again.

  The swell of excitement was back to compete with the hunger pains. Once she had the potion, she wouldn’t have to be stuck in a place like Oregon. She could live. Be free.

  She forced herself onward, through the cabin with its unlocked door and down a short flight of steps into the main interior. There was a cot in the corner covered by a ratty blue and gold quilt. A small table to the left beneath a porthole window. An electric cooker on the countertop next to it. Despite the dilapidated nature of the boat, the interior was kept clean. The brown tile had areas where corners had peeled up and broke off. Still, Georgia thought, looking around, everything was in its place.

  If she had a priceless artifact she wanted to hide then where would she do it? Making sure to keep to the invisibility of the shadows, she began her search. Nothing stood out to her in an obvious way. Which meant she needed to think out of the box. There were no wall safes. Nothing hidden beneath the loose pieces of tile. Nothing under the cot or in the cabinets. Her eyes fell on the table.

  The constant pain turned to frustration inside of her, as it so often did. She grabbed the table and yanked it from the wall until the hinges ripped free. It wasn’t super strength, as she’d once thought. Just pure dumb rage.

  There was nothing on the underside of the table. Instead of being deterred, she reached out with her fist and knocked, checking for hollow spots. Sure enough, near the far-right leg, she found what she was looking for.

  She pried open the wood and reached her hand into the space. Pulled out a pile of rags tied with bailing twine.

  “Please, oh please,” she muttered in the dark. Briefly, she wondered why no one thought to put a spell on the table. Something to keep curious gazes from falling in that direction. Sure, she was new to the world of the paranormal, the world where everything she’d thought couldn’t exist did. But if there was some sort of protection on the thing, she either didn’t sense it or it didn’t affect her.

  Her fingers trembled when she pulled at the twine. Shook like a rattle when she let the trappings fall away.

  The vial was the size of a salt shaker with a slender neck and filled to the brim with glowing blue liquid, a cork stopper at the top. The nugget of anticipation in her gut warmed at the sight. Finally! She set the table to rights with a smile prying her lips high. After all the dead ends and wasted trips. The prize was hers. She placed the vial on the tabletop and stared at it for a moment.

  Georgia definitely wasn’t expecting a hand to fall on her shoulder. Whirling around, she realized the clouds outside had passed, leaving the interior of the cabin lit like it was day. Which meant she no longer had the luxury of invisibility.

  Behind her was a hulking man the size of a sasquatch. He filled the interior of the cabin with his frame, moonlight shining down and illuminating beachy blond hair.

  His voice was deep and soft and accusatory. “What are you doing here?”

  “What? Me?” She pointed to her chest. “Are you kidding? What kind of a question is that?”

  It was a showdown where neither party was willing to take a step away. Oh god, the potion…

  They both turned to stare at the vial glowing cerulean in the darkness. Without hesitation, Georgia lunged forward with her arms outstretched. Her frustration exploded in an outward display. This man was after her potion. There were plenty of shadows in the hull, just out of the reach of the moonlight, enough to take her out of sight. She twisted at the last minute, catching the hulking man’s movement in the periphery of her vision, then fell into the darkness and lost her form.

  “It doesn’t matter where you try to run. You won’t hide from me, and you won’t leave with the vial,” he growled, whirling around in a circle trying to see where she’d gone.

  “Where do you get off—” she demanded, lunging out with her leg and snapping him in the chest.

  It was instinct. It was a gut reaction. It was not enough to take him down. He needed to suffer.

  A growl tore from her throat when the stranger reached out and grabbed her ankle, hauling her forward, screeching, into the moonlight.

  The last thing she saw was the potion tucked into his belt buckle. Then it was lights out.

  * * *

  It wasn’t her head that hurt anymore. It was everything. Every inch of her body and her insides as well. This was different from the normal gnawing famine she felt on a regular basis. This felt like she’d been through a war. Shaken and wrung out to dry.

  God, what the hell had happened? This was almost as bad as the time she’d died.

  Then someone tried to burn out her eyes with the light of a million suns.

  “Turn it down!” she snarled, raising her hand to shield her eyes. Or trying to, at least. She found it nearly impossible to move with her hands bound behind her back. Her legs were tied too, she found when she attempted to kick out and felt a sharp pull between her shoulder blades. No matter what she tried to do, she was stuck.

  “Don’t try anything. We’ve got you right where we want you.”

  “That much is obvious,” Georgia retorted. She kicked out again and felt the same sharp stabbing, her ankles connected to the same rope keeping her hands bound. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Keeping a potential enemy where I can see her.”

  The deep voice rumbled through her and went a long way toward soothing the aches along her insides. If she hadn’t been hogtied and in the process of being sunburned by the retina-searing overhead lights, she might have found it attractive. In a rugged, melancholy, languid way.

  No, she thought, twisting around to find the source of the very male, very perturbed voice. It was definitely not soothing. Neither was waking up to find yourself bound like an animal on a stranger’s floor.

  There was no good way out of this situation.

  “Think you can dim the lights a little bit, champ?” she complained. “I can’t see a damn thing.”

  “I won’t dim them. Not when you can disappear into the shadows. I wasn’t born yesterday,” the man insisted. “I saw what you did in the boat. I’m not willing to take chances with you. Not when I have questions for you to answer.”

  It was the slightly mocking tone that got her back up. Georgia struggled harder, squinting against the blinding glare and feeling the heat from the lights on her skin for the first time. Those were some powerful bulbs. “Good to know you think I’m a threat,” she lashed out at him. “You keep thinking along those lines. Probably the best idea you’ve had in your life.”

  “Enough with the threats we both know are idle. Why don’t you start by telling me why you were on the Sea Treasure. What were you looking for?”

  The strange man stepped into her vision and although he was nothing but a hazy outline in shades of blue and black, she knew it was the guy from earlier, the same smug, egotistica
l guy from the boat, the sasquatch who looked like he should be riding a surfboard instead of beating the bajeezums out of her. The one who’d stolen—

  “You took my potion!” she lashed out harder, spit flying in her anger.

  He chuckled and his hands went to his hips. “I believe you’re talking about my potion.”

  Georgia swiveled around and shot a glare in what she hoped was his direction. Everything was starting to blur. “You have it backward. I was there first. I found the damn stuff, and I’m the one who needs it.”

  “You think I don’t?”

  “I know I need it more than you do. What could you possibly use it for? Seems you already know how to get your kicks in. You must make a habit out of kidnapping, tying up, and beating a beautiful woman before you make a meal out of them. And if that’s the case then let me assure you, I’ll make a rotten dinner. Go ahead and take a few sips then see if you still want to eat me.”

  “You really believe I need the nullum fame to keep myself from cannibalism?” The stranger sounded incredulous before breaking off into a round of amused male laughter.

  “Hey, if the shoe fits…”

  His chuckles disintegrated into an indignant sputter. “It absolutely does not fit! And hey, I’m the one asking questions.”

  “Sure, right before you eat me. Anything else you want to know before I’m digested?” Georgia hid her fear in sarcasm. It was what had made her good with auditions. She called on it now and hoped to distract the sasquatch enough to buy her time. If she could only loosen those damn ropes.

  It would be her luck. Honestly, after all the crap she’d survived in the last two years—including a messy death and messier rebirth—this was how it ended. In the jaws of a madman who’d stolen something she’d worked hard to find.

  “For the last time, I’m not going to eat you. God, woman, you are exasperating! I just want to know what you were doing on the Treasure and why you wanted the potion so badly. What are you?”

  “Why I want the potion is my business,” she snapped. “I don’t have to tell you squat. Now let me out of here!”

  She whipped her head around when a door opened, bringing with it a fresh breeze colored with the dark scent of coffee. Coffee? Where were the fire and brimstone?

  “Are you done interrogating your prisoner yet?” a sweet voice cut in. “Because my feet ache and I’m going on a break; it’s your turn behind the counter. I still can’t believe you turned our storage area into an interrogation room. Wait…wait a holy minute. Who is that? What’s going on?” The voice turned into a squeal. Of delight or shock, Georgia wasn’t sure which. “Oh. Em. Gee!! Oriel, do you know who you have here? Like, seriously, do you have any clue? Get her up right now! Oh, my god, I can’t even believe it. Oriel!”

  The large man shushed her. “Please, no names. She can’t know who we are.”

  The sweet voice obviously belonged to a very young woman. A very young, very exuberant woman. And if she was judging by the exasperation in the man’s tone, Georgia guessed it was her kidnapper’s sister.

  “You have to be kidding me!” the woman continued. “Get real! We have red carpet royalty in our midst! Can you please tell me why you have a reportedly missing actress tied up in our storage room?”

  3

  An actress! Who was Jasmine trying to kid? Sure, the woman was gorgeous, with a face meant to stun and a body to match, red hair flowing down to her curvaceous bottom…he shook his head when desire colored his thoughts. But actress? It was complete nonsense. Absolutely ridiculous.

  A play to get him to lower his guard and loosen the ropes, no doubt. He didn’t have much experience with women, but he knew they tended to stick together. Either that or Jasmine saw an opportunity to mess with him and throw him off his stride. He wouldn’t put it past her. If he argued, she’d whip out the teeth, bite his arm, and bruise him.

  With an oath, he tried to push his sister out of the way to keep her from saying any more, one finger held up to her lips. “You aren’t helping here,” he warned her out of the corner of his mouth. “Go take your break and get you-know-who to cover for you.”

  “Who?” She was distracted trying to glance over his shoulder or around his side. “I’m not leaving. This is Georgia St. Edmond! Holy goodness, she’s gorgeous! What did you do to her?”

  Jasmine was too wrapped up in the stranger for his liking. Her eyes were riveted on the wealth of vibrant red-gold curls spilling in a riot to the seat of the chair. The hint of creamy white skin peeking out from the shirt that had been ruffled during their slight impromptu fight and the resulting car ride back to the coffee shop.

  Oriel hadn’t meant to knock her out. Sometimes he didn’t know his own strength. Then, once she was unconscious, he wasn’t sure what to do with her. Bringing her to The Dark Caf was the next logical step. The only logical step, really, because she’d seen his face. He couldn’t let her go waltzing off and telling anyone about the nullum fame. He’d managed to keep his secret under the radar for too long to have competitors come sniffing around. One false move and he’d lose everything.

  He wasn’t willing to risk his business for lush hips and breasts he’d like to sink his teeth into.

  Not a chance.

  Oriel shook his head violently this time, trying to clear it of any and all thoughts pertaining to the woman’s body. He didn’t have the time to ogle her, even though he wanted to. She’d been on the verge of walking away with the potion he’d gone to collect. He needed to know who she was, how she’d found out about the boat, and who or what she was working for.

  Nothing else mattered.

  “Please,” he insisted, staring down into his sister’s pleading eyes. “Go away.”

  Jasmine blinked at him and every thought in her head was reflected in the look. This was getting good. There was no way she would leave. He was being stupid. She wasn’t a child and didn’t have to listen.

  “Right.” She glanced around for a chair to pull up and, seeing none, decided to hang out near the door with her arms crossed over her chest. Then she turned to Georgia and the grin on her face widened. “I might as well take the opportunity given to me. I’ve never spoken to a celebrity before.”

  “And probably never one who was tied down like an animal,” Georgia groaned in response.

  “You know what people are saying about you?” Jas continued. “They’re saying you and another A-list celebrity cutie shacked up and have a love child. The kind of thing you need to keep secret otherwise it could ruin your career. You’ve been off raising a brood. That’s why no one has seen you for two years. The mystique is killing the internet.”

  Georgia kicked out and tried to hide her wince. “Well, if I had a secret baby, I think I would know.”

  “I also read you were dead,” Jasmine stated with an I-know-better-than-the-rest-of-the-world wiggle of her eyebrows.

  “A little closer to the truth. You think you can loosen these ropes, kid?” She raised her head and directed the question toward Oriel. “Honestly, you’re going to break the skin and then I’m going to be really mad.”

  Oriel roused himself to action. “You’re going to be mad? You’re the one who broke into a place you obviously didn’t belong with the intent to steal.”

  “I’m sure you’re going to try and convince me it was your boat.”

  “No, but I know better than to let people see me.” There was no way he’d admit to her. He’d been there to do the same thing.

  “Buddy, if the cloud cover hadn’t shifted, you wouldn’t have seen me either,” she whipped back.

  “Am I missing something here?” Jasmine asked. Her head swiveled between the two of them.

  “She’s a paranormal,” Oriel replied by way of explanation. “Some kind of invisibility. Why do you think I have the lights switched on full blast?”

  “Dunno. Thought maybe you were working on your tan indoors.”

  “Whatever you wanted with that potion, champ, I guarantee you. My need is greater than
yours,” Georgia said. “If I don’t have it then this hunger will kill me, and I really don’t feel like dying again.”

  Jasmine’s eyes bugged out. “Again?”

  “Don’t listen to her, Jas. She’s trying to play on your emotions. She’s an actress.” If Jas was correct and the woman was who his sister said. Which, staring at her now, there was something familiar about her face. “She knows exactly what to say to push your buttons.”

  Georgia thrashed, her teeth bared, and ended up knocking the chair over until she was on her back. “You might be right, but there is one thing I don’t joke about, and that’s my fucking survival.”

  “She’s got a mouth on her, too.”

  “I’ll keep using my mouth until you let me up. Then maybe we can have a real conversation instead of this bullshit where you pretend to interrogate me when we both know you have no clue what you’re doing or who you’re dealing with.”

  “Me?” Oriel pointed as his chest and stalked forward. “Lady, be reasonable. I have the upper hand. I’m the one holding the reigns. You better start telling me, telling us, what we want to hear. Otherwise, you are going to be here for a long, long time while I decide what to do with you.”

  Jasmine leaned in close and spoke in a whisper so as not to be overheard. “Oriel, use your head. You can’t keep her here for much longer. We need the room. You can’t store all those boxes in the hallway. Plus, if she starts screaming then someone is going to notice. We aren’t equipped to handle a hostage.”

  “Especially not a paranormal one. Believe me, I know,” he said. A sudden ache speared between his shoulders and he craned his neck to try and crack his spine. The night was supposed to end with a victory. He had the nullum, at least, but he also had something else to deal with. Someone a lot prettier and deadlier than he had anticipated.

  Jasmine’s expression told him she’d put everything together. “No wonder she dropped out of the spotlight.”

  “I can hear both of you,” Georgia snapped.