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

by Adkins, Heather Marie

  * * *

  Christine awakened in the middle of the night, sweating and running a fever. Although she shivered uncontrollably, racked with violent tremors, she felt as though her body were on fire from the inside out. She walked as quietly as she could outside to a nearby lake to cool off. She ran her hands through the water only to see steam rise from her skin.

  It has started, she thought to herself.

  Her breath caught in her throat and she choked back an angry sob. Christine was turning into the thing she despised from the very depths of her being. Life was indeed unfair and unkind. She laid by the lake in the cool mud and reminisced about her life, particularly the fateful night that changed everything.

  It were as if it had happened yesterday, and not all those years ago...

  A little girl sat with her knees pulled close to her chest, huddled in the tiny crawlspace her mother had shoved her in to.

  “Do not come out, Christine! Wait until I tell you it’s okay,” her mother whispered as she tried to shut the door.

  “But I—”

  “I said wait, Christine!” Her eyes were wide with fear, although Christine didn’t know what it was they were supposed to be afraid of. She reached in and wrapped her arms around Christine, then pulled back to look at her. Cupping her daughter’s face in her hands, she said, “Don’t ever forget how much I love you.”

  Before Christine could reply, her mother closed the door with a soft click. Hot tears stung her eyes and streamed down her flushed cheeks. Her chest was heavy with anxiety and she fought to steady her breathing.

  She found a small notch in the wood and looked out. Her mother held two daggers, crouched low in a fighting stance. Her father stood beside her with an ax in his huge hands. They were ready for battle, but again, Christine was not sure why.

  Suddenly, their front door burst open and three creatures stood in the doorway. Christine's heart pounded against her chest. Fear raced through her body as she looked upon them.

  “You will not leave this village,” her father proclaimed.

  One of the creatures laughed, a low sound like something between a horrid cackle and a snarling growl. It was unnatural and made goosebumps rise all over Christine’s body. It spat at her father before responding. “You will not leave this hut, worthless human!”

  And then, they attacked.

  Christine watched as her parents fought for their very lives, desperately trying to take in all she could from her hiding spot. Her peephole didn’t allow for much to be seen, but what she did see terrified her.

  Her mother moved fluidly, a skilled and trained warrior. She stabbed out with each of her daggers, but before they could plunge into her opponent, the creature vanished. She twirled, confused, and searched the room, then ran out of Christine’s view.

  With her mother out of the way, Christine’s line of sight was now completely unobscured. As her eyes focused, she clapped a tiny hand over her mouth, fighting the urge to cry out to her father. As if in slow-motion, he fell hard to his knees and doubled over, kicked down by a tall creature who then grasped a handful of his hair and jerked his head back.

  Another, the one who’d spat at him, stood in front of him. He bent low, bringing his face inches from her father’s, and smiled viciously. “Look at you,” he said. “Your kind is truly pitiful. Tall with supposed brute strength, yet unable to break the grip of one of my brethren.”

  Something crashed behind them, and she heard her mother cry out. She wasn’t sure if her mother had been injured, or if she was the one doing the injuring. Her father’s eyes narrowed at the creature before him and his chest heaved with angry, ragged breaths.

  He sputtered, “You … you can’t … kill … us all.”

  The creature smirked, and dipped a long, talon-like fingernail into the trail of blood flowing from her father’s brow. Bringing it close to his nose, he closed his eyes while inhaling the scent, then licked the blood from his nail. He grinned again.

  “You even taste weak.”

  With that, he grabbed Christine’s father’s head in between his pale hands and twisted without hesitation. She squeezed her eyes shut so hard they hurt, but forced them back open. A loud cracking sound rang out through their home, like someone snapping tree branches, and her father slumped forward and landed in a heap at the creature’s feet.

  Her mother appeared just at the edge of Christine’s vision. A piercing wail escaped from somewhere deep within her mother. In one swift motion, she grabbed her husband’s ax and drove it through the monster’s heart. Her eyes were wild with grief and rage, her long, dark hair a tangled mess of chaos atop her head. She was left to battle the big one alone.

  Christine watched in horror as her mother fought the creature with all she had. Finally, he managed to corner her and grabbed her arms. His lips curled back and his mouth gaped impossibly wide. That was when Christine saw his fangs.

  “You will die, vampire!” her mother screamed at him.

  He bent his head and sank his fangs into her neck. Christine's eyes flooded with tears which streaked down her face as she watched. Her mother stiffened. She managed to pull a dagger from her waistband at the small of her back, then pushed away and stabbed it through his chest.

  “You can go to Hell,” she hissed as she yanked the dagger out.

  He vanished and her mother fell to her knees. Christine was unable to sit still any longer. Overcome with emotion, she ran from her hiding place to her mother and knelt beside her.

  “Momma!” Her mother’s head lolled side to side as Christine tried to lift her. “Get up, Momma! Please,” she cried.

  “Christine, stop. Sit with me, child.”

  She wiped the tears from her face and sat, placing her mother’s head in her lap. She was pale, impossibly pale and cold. Her mother pointed toward the dagger next to her. Christine reached for it, and then placed it in her mother’s hand.

  “These vampires are our extinction. You need to know that. Learn more about them. It is the only way to protect yourself. Never allow yourself to become one of them. Now, don’t cry. I love you.”

  Before the words registered in Christine’s brain, her mother used the last of her strength to plunge the dagger through her own heart.

  That was the last time Christine cried. She swore then that she would kill every last vampire she could.

  Now look at me, she thought. I have never wanted to do anything in life other than to protect my queen and people. I’ve never thought about finding love or even having a child; now I’ll never get the chance.

  Her strength was fading as the fever ripped through her body. There was a rustling from the shadows. She let her head fall to the side so she could try to see what the source of the noise might be. Darkness was everywhere; only the light from the moon reflecting on the lake cast an eerie glow.

  Suddenly, strong hands gripped her arms. She was being hoisted, lifted by someone or something. As they started to move, Christine tried to get her eyes to focus, tried to figure out what was carrying her. She went to scream, but a hand covered her mouth.

  Unable to put up much of a struggle, she reached for the knife in her boot and stabbed the beast. A low grunt broke the silence of the night. She was released immediately and fell to the ground. She rolled over, still clutching her knife.

  The beast cradled his injured arm, inspecting the wound. Christine lacked the strength she usually had, and he was fortunate she hadn’t twisted the blade in his flesh or sank it too deeply. As he walked slowly toward the knife that laid within Christine's outstretched hand, he said three words.

  “Live or die?”

  Her heartbeat quickened as she scowled at the beast. She struggled to her knees and managed to say, “Beast, I'm not afraid of you! If I must die, then I shall die like an Amazon!”

  “I can see you’re afraid, young one,” he responded, “but you need not fear me. My name is Mikel, and we will be close soon enough.”

  Just the clouds overhead cleared, a patch of mo
onlight broke through the trees overhead, and the beast stepped into it. She saw him clearly for the first time. He stood over six and a half feet tall, his shoulders broad, and his steps were soft yet determined. He had claws and fangs like a vampire, but it was clear he was something else. Was he a new breed of vampire? Whatever the case, Christine was not going to let down her guard.

  “Young one,” he said again. “Live or die?”

  She screamed at him, waving her knife as to threaten the tall, mixed creature. Her movements were sloppy and weak. He laughed and sat cross-legged close to her, but far enough away she couldn’t reach him with the knife.

  “I can smell you, you know. Not only are you in heat, but you’re changing.”

  Ashamed, Christine stared at the ground. “Why does it matter to you? You’re here to kill me anyway, aren't you?”

  “No,” he stated. “I am here to save you. I’ve watched over you your entire life, Christine.”

  Christine looked up him, puzzled.

  “When I was born, they told my mother to kill me. You see, she was raped in the woods by a vampire. When the time came to get rid of me, she couldn’t do it so she hid me away.”

  Christine's felt fresh tears welling in eyes, but she wiped the back of her hand across them.

  The beast inched closer to her, lowering the tone of his voice. “They will kill you, you know that,” he said gently. “Your friend, Aaliya, can’t protect you. There’s nowhere to go. Nowhere you will be truly accepted. Your kind hates what you soon will be.”

  “You have no idea what I soon will be. You want me to be like you, some disgusting creature?”

  “Disgusting?” He laughed. “I’m what happens when a vampire attacks a werewolf, dear one. I am a hybrid, unique and strong. I came to protect you from being killed, and this is how you treat me?”

  Mikel moved incredibly fast, springing to his feet in seconds. He bent and grabbed both of her wrists, jerking her up. Panic set in as she realized she’d dropped her knife. He pulled her close to him, and she stared deep into his dark eyes. The was something there, but she couldn’t quite tell what. A sadness. Deep pain. Hurt maybe?

  He released one of her wrists and used his free hand to pick up her knife. Too frightened to breathe, she watched silently, her eyes following the knife in his hand as he placed it to her own. His movements were swift, yet somehow she didn’t feel as threatened as she should.

  “Go back to your tribe and die if you must.”

  With that, he turned and walked away from her, disappearing into the shadows.

  Shivering with fever and a fear-inspired adrenaline rush, Christine backed away with her knife outstretched. Her heart beat faster and faster, making the blood in her ears throb and roar. She was weak from her wound, but she used the burst of energy to stand strong and make her way back to her tent.

  She shuffled in to their makeshift camp just in the dark, early morning hours to notice Aaliyah was awake and waiting for her.

  “Christine? Where’d you go?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

  Christine nodded and clammored into her tent without a word and laid down. Aaliyah knew something wasn’t right but didn’t want to push the issue, at least not yet. She entered her tent and fell back to sleep.

  When morning fully broke, Aaliyah arose and woke Christine to go to the lake to catch fish. Aaliyah noticed that Christine's skin was pale and asked again if she was feeling well.

  “Yes. Yes, yes, yes! I’m tired, okay? Stop worrying. You’re such a worry-wart!” Christine snapped, her tone far too intense for such a simple question.

  Aaliyah opened her mouth to say something else, then shut it. Better to hold my tongue than argue with her, she thought to herself.

  The bank was calm. The girls sat on the rocks that lined the shore and watched as small ripples rolled across the surface of the lake. Other than the noise from a few grasshoppers, there was hardly any sound. The place was truly the embodiment of tranquility.

  Something was off, though. Christine seemed … sickly. Her eyelids were puffy and red. Her lips looked extremely parched. Her skin wasn’t just pale, but looked as though it had a bluish-grey tint to it. Aaliyah tried not to stare, but she couldn’t help herself. Christine glared at her and rose to stand on the bank to fish like she always did.

  She gasped. She blinked, and looked down at the water. Each of her senses seemed to be heightened. She wasn’t just looking at the fish in the water; she was seeing them, really seeing them. Each scale. Each color. Each bubble that escaped their lips. Her eyes captured each sight miraculously fast.

  Christine seemed to know which direction they would swim before they even turned their bodies. She could hear their movements somehow, hear the soft way they glided through the water. Her reflexes were quicker as well. She swiftly grabbed a fish and threw to Aaliyah on the shore, then another, and another.

  Aaliyah laughed. “Girl, you are on fire today! Whoop whoop!”

  Christine realized what had happened and played it off. “I should go fishing on my period more often!”

  They shared a laugh and decided to return to camp to gut and cook the fish. Aaliyah cleaned the fish while Christine build a fire. The rest of their tribe showed up, and the remainder day was spent with their sisters preparing defenses for future attacks.

  The day seemed longer, as if someone had added extra hours. Christine felt a hunger rise in her although she’d eaten several times. This was different. Eating fruit couldn’t satisfy her like before, and drinking water couldn’t quench her thirst. As day turned to night, she laid restlessly in her tent. Christine knew what she needed, but she would rather die than give in to what her changing body craved.

  The next day, the sun rose over the lake and made her eyes hurt. She’d always enjoyed watching the sunset, but this pained her from within. Her eyes watered and burned until finally she had to look away. Christine felt weak, tired, and unbelievably famished.

  Christine popped her head into Aaliyah’s tent. “Aaliya. Get up, we need to go hunting.”

  “Mm mmm,” Aaliyah replied.

  “Come on. Get up!”

  Aaliyah refused and didn’t move other than to pull her blanket made of animal skins up around her head.

  Christine rolled her eyes, grabbed her bow, and went to a meadow about an hour’s walk away to watch for deer. She sat quietly in the tall grass, listening. Slowly, she pulled an arrow from the quiver on her back and waited, hoping for a deer.

  A female wolf suddenly appeared, but the creature was nothing like she had ever seen. The massive white beast stared at her, watching Christine as she paced back and forth. The beast was huge—more than six feet tall. She walked slowly toward her, large ears laid sleek against her enormous head.

  Christine’s heart pounded in her chest. She tried to move, but fear had her feet cemented to the ground. The white wolf bared her teeth and snarled as she lunged, but the half-breed once again appeared. With one hand, he slammed the wolf to the ground.

  He pointed to Christine. “She is mine!”

  The wolf looked at her and sniffed the air; she could smell the creature’s scent on her.

  He has chosen her for himself, the wolf thought.

  Christine was still shaking as the wolf growled before bowing to the creature. The half-breed turned to Christine again and raised his brown. “Live or die?” he asked.

  Christine shrugged her shoulders and the hybrid dropped the wolf before walking off. The wolf, defeated, tucker her large tail between her legs and scurried toward the trees. Christine watched as the wolf disappeared, then turned her gaze toward the hybrid only to find he’d vanished just as quickly as he’d appeared. Enraged, Christine set a steady pace in the direction he had fled. This time, she would not let the strange, protective creature get away. Christine tracked him to a small cave not far from her tent and entered.

  He laughed. “Lil’ one, you dare hunt me?”

  Annoyed with his blatant mockery, Christine shook her head and
straightened her shoulders. “No, I want to know why you keep following me. Why did you save me? Why did you say I’m yours? I am not to be claimed!”

  The hybrid smiled gently and his eyes softened as he stood. “Because I want to save you.”

  “Save me? How?”

  “Tomorrow you will be a vampire and will turn on all you know. There is nothing you can do to stop it on your own. You need my help. I have what you need to live and I will share it with you. Allow me to bite you.”

  “No!” Christine screamed. “It isn’t true. I'm fine!”

  He walked toward her and pointed at her face. She touched what he had been pointing at and her eyes widened. Christine hadn't noticed, but in her mouth were fangs. She felt the sharp tips of her new teeth in shock.

  "They will kill you, Christine."

  She was overwhelmed by the knowledge of her new features. "Why? Why do you care?"

  "It is not for you to question."

  He reached out a massive hand and rubbed her shoulder. Christine didn’t know why this creature was trying to protect her. He had been following her to protect her. But why? Why was he trying to save her? What did he have to gain? She was so lost in thought that she didn’t realize the half-breed had been inching closer to her. Suddenly, she found herself pinned in his embrace. Fear gripped her heart and she began to cry.

  “I want to save you. Not hurt you. Tell me I can.”

  She trembled as he held her, and then dared to look up into his eyes. A thousand stories of hurt, loss, and grief lay behind those eyes, but also something else. Hope. Hope for her, a stranger, yet somehow he knew her so well.

  “Say it, Christine. Ask me to bite you. Let me save you. Let me—”

  She didn’t need to hear anything more. Before he could finish, she craned her elegant neck to the side, exposing herself for him. He felt her body tense as she whispered, “Save me.”

  His pulse quickened as he gripped her face tenderly in one hand and bit into her neck. She moaned in pain. Christine felt his heartbeat against hers as his hand released her face and both strong arms wrapped around her back.