Darkness Raging

by Yasmine Galenorn

  Motherdrum: “Big Stomp”

  Nine Inch Nails: “Head Like a Hole”; “Deep”; “Down in It”

  Nirvana: “You Know You’re Right”; “Rape Me”; “Heart Shaped Box”

  Orgy: “Blue Monday”; “Social Enemies”

  A Pale Horse Named Death: “As Black as My Heart”; “Bathe in My Blood”; “When Crows Descend upon You”

  People in Planes: “Vampire”

  Puddle of Mudd: “Famous”; “Psycho”

  R.E.M.: “Drive”

  Rachel Diggs: “Hands of Time”

  Rammstein: “Wollt Ihr das Bett in Flammen Sehen”; “Rammstein”; “Ich Will”; “Sensucht”

  Rob Zombie: “Living Dead Girl”; “Never Gonna Stop”; “Mars Needs Women”

  Screaming Trees: “Where the Twain Shall Meet”; “Dime Western”; “Gospel Plow”

  Simple Minds: “Don’t You (Forget about Me)”

  Soundgarden: “Fell on Black Days”; “Superunknown”; “Black Hole Sun”

  Stone Temple Pilots: “Atlanta”; “Sour Girl”

  Sweet Talk Radio: “We All Fall Down”

  Tamaryn: “While You’re Sleeping, I’m Dreaming”

  Tina Turner: “One of the Living”

  Toadies: “Possum Kingdom”

  Tom Petty: “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”

  Verve, The: “Bitter Sweet Symphony”

  Voxhaul Broadcast: “You Are the Wilderness”

  Warchild: “Ash”

  Wumpscut: “The March of the Dead”

  Zero 7: “In the Waiting Line”

  Dear Reader:

  I hope you have enjoyed Darkness Raging. Please be aware: This series will continue, but you will need to check my website for more information on when, where, and how to find the next three Otherworld books.

  Up next in my release schedule from Berkley will be Flight from Mayhem—the second Fly by Night book! Alex and Shimmer are taking on a serial killer with a very special power, one that lands Bette in deep trouble and the Fly by Night Magical Investigations Agency in a panic! Look for Flight from Mayhem in August. You’ll find a special excerpt that follows on the next page.

  Then in September, I invite you to meet me in Whisper Hollow once again, with Dreaming Death—the second Whisper Hollow book!

  Thank you so much for your support, and I will see you in the next book. For information on all my upcoming releases, and all my books, please visit my website at Galenorn.com.

  Bright Blessings,

  The Painted Panther

  Yasmine Galenorn

  The wind blew through my hair, streaming it back under the helmet as the massive engine purred between my legs, vibrating through my entire body. I gripped Alex’s waist with my hands, my breasts pressing against his back as we leaned into the turn. His body was icy even through his butt-hugging jeans and snug leather jacket. He smelled like Bay Rum, and by now, I knew that scent all too well. I knew every curve of his body—six weeks of steady sex had ensured that.

  We were headed toward the 520 Bridge, and as we neared the floating bridge that stretched out for over a mile over the lake separating Seattle from the Greater Eastside, I could feel the call of the water—a deep, sensual recognition that washed through my core, making me ache for its depths. The water and I had a special connection, seeing that I was a blue dragon and my very nature was connected to the life-affirming liquid. But tonight we weren’t headed to the beach so I could swim. No, it was party time.

  I wasn’t sure exactly where we were going, but apparently Bette was in charge of it, and that was all Alex would tell me. “Unless you’ve been to one of Bette’s parties, you’ve never been to a party.”

  With that less-than-comforting thought ringing in my head, I swung onto the back of his Suzuki Hayabusa and held on as we swung out into the April night, under a heavy cloud cover. As we wove through the silent city streets, Alex deftly maneuvered the rumbling machine through the labyrinth of roads. Seattle had to have been planned out by some drug-crazed cartographer who randomly decided to have one-way streets change direction at major intersections.

  As we gobbled up the miles, the streets grinding beneath the bike’s wheels, I glanced up at the pale shadow of the moon. She was gleaming from behind the cloud cover, two days past full. We were on the bridge now, and the wind was churning the water to splash up and over the edge. To our left, the specter of the new bridge they were building rose into the air, a dark silhouette of a bigger, wider passage, a reminder of how outdated and potentially dangerous the current bridge had become. There was a one in twenty chance it would go down, floundering to the bottom, if the area had another major earthquake. And the chances of a major earthquake in Seattle? Were when, not if.

  We passed a car that had stalled out, and then we were over Lake Washington and coming up on Bellevue. But we were headed to a private residence on Lake Sammamish in Redmond. Not Bette’s—she lived on a houseboat at the Gasworks Marina—but her current beau’s house. Apparently he was some software engineer at a startup that had firmly put down roots in the area. High tech was king here, and this was the land of Microsoft, Starbucks, and money.

  I inhaled another breath of Alex’s cologne. It was comforting—familiar in a world that was so alien to me. In my world, I had nothing like this. In my world, I was an outcast, pariah. Here, I mattered. At least in some small way.

  We leaned into the gentle curve of the exit as we swung off of 520 and onto West Lake Sammamish Parkway NE. As we passed through the suburbs and past Marymoor Park, we came to a fork in the road, where the parkway split off into Bel-Red Road. We veered left, keeping on the parkway, as we curved toward Lake Sammamish. A few minutes later we swung onto NE 38th Street and down to the end next to Idylwood Park. To the left were a string of houses and we pulled into the driveway of the last one before the lakeshore. There were a string of cars already here. I gazed up at the house. It was huge—one of what were commonly called McMansions around these parts, and it had its own private beach access.

  As Alex idled the motor, then switched it off, I unbuckled my helmet and slipped it off, shaking my hair free. I swung off the bike, hopping aside, as Alex put down the kickstand and then joined me. We hung the helmets over the handles of the bike and—as I ordered my hair to straighten itself and smooth out the frizz—we headed for the beach.

  Alex wrapped his arm around my waist. One thing I’d say for him—he made an attentive boyfriend. I wondered for the umpteenth time why Glenda had let him get away. He was a handful when it came to stubbornness, but in the six weeks we had been going out, I had never once felt neglected. In fact, in some ways, the attention was overwhelming.

  I was six feet tall, and Alex had me beat by an inch or so. His wheat-colored hair was tousled and shoulder length, and his eyes were pale—frosty. Handsome in a scruffy, rugged way, he also happened to be a vampire, and he also happened to be my boss and parole officer, so to speak.

  “Where is everybody?” I glanced around, looking for the party site.

  “Down at the edge of the water. Bette said they had a bonfire going.” His arm still encircling my waist, we headed down the sloped road leading to the shore. There was a gate—of course. Around here, it seemed like everything fun was gated off for private amusement, but this one was open and the sounds of laughter filtered up from behind the foliage-thick hedges barring our view.

  We wandered through the gate and within a couple of minutes, found ourselves on the lakeshore. Sure enough, Bette was there, manning the massive grill. Covered with dogs and burgers, the smell set my stomach to grumbling. Now that I couldn’t shift and eat myself a horse or a cow every now and then, I found that I had to eat every day, several times, just like humans, and it wasn’t more than a couple hours and I was hungry again. That had been one of the most surprising discoveries when I came Earthside.

>   “I’m going to find Ralph. Go say hello to Bette for us.” Alex gave me a slap on the ass and meandered off into the crowd.

  I was slowly getting used to being around crowds—I’d been a loner most of my life, and in the Dragon Reaches, where the population was nowhere near the size of the human population, being a loner meant truly being alone. I glanced around, finally steeling myself to wander through the crowd of strangers over to Bette. But the next moment, a familiar voice intruded into my thoughts.

  “Hey, Shimmer!”

  I turned to find Ralph standing there, his Flying Horse energy drink in his hand. The man consumed caffeine like there was no end to it. He smiled, but I could tell something was unsettling him. The longer I was around others, the more I realized that I was somewhat of an emotional barometer. It was a blue dragon thing, though I hadn’t realized it extended beyond my fellow dragons, and I wasn’t sure just how comfortable I was with the fact that I could walk into a room and sense that Ralph was irritated at his family, or that Bette was hungering to jump her current boy-toy of the month.

  Ralph nodded me off to the side. He was around five-eight and lanky, with brownish-black hair and John Lennon glasses, tinted dark. Good looking in a geek-chic way, Ralph was also a certified computer genius and a werewolf. Over the past few weeks, his crush on me had abated, especially since Alex and I had gotten together, and now the awkwardness had passed.

  “Shimmer, I’m worried about Bette. Where’s Alex?” He strained his neck, looking around. “I thought I saw you come in together.”

  “We did, but he took off toward . . . Hell, I don’t know where he went. Is Chai here yet?” Chai was my best friend—a djinn—who had followed me when I got exiled from the Dragon Reaches to keep an eye on me. He was a good sort, though unpredictable like all djinns, and he had settled in as my roommate and did a great job at keeping the place spotless. He also significantly cut down on the heating bill by radiating enough heat when it got chilly to create a comfortable temperature.

  Ralph shook his head. “Not that I know of. Anyway, Bette’s putting on a good show but I caught her crying earlier, and you know how often that happens. When I asked her what was wrong, she pretended she had an eyelash in her eye, but those were real tears, all right.”

  The tone of his voice told me enough that he wasn’t exaggerating. I glanced over at the Melusine, wondering how to approach her. She was flipping burgers onto a plate that Dent, her current beau, was holding. He was a software genius, and had made enough to afford a house on the lake. Ralph had told me in private that Dent was just a poser—that he really wasn’t all that good at his job, but was able to fake his way through. But poser or not, he made Bette happy and that’s all that mattered.

  “I’ll corner her and see if I can find out what’s going on.” But at that moment, my attention was violently yanked away when Alex’s voice thundered over the murmuring of the crowd.

  “I swear if you don’t get your ass away from me, woman, I’m going to put the fang to you!”

  What the hell? I glanced at Ralph, who shook his head. We headed in the direction of the outburst and as we threaded our way through the crowd, I suddenly realized that someone was standing next to Alex who I really didn’t want to see.

  “Oh crap.” I face-palmed, shaking my head. “I don’t want to deal with this right now.”

  “You and every other sane person on this planet,” Ralph muttered.

  There, standing in front of Alex, one hand on her hip, the other shaking a finger in Alex’s face, was the pleather-clad, red-haired succubus who I had hoped might have just fallen off the face of the Earth. Alex’s ex-girlfriend, Glenda sure didn’t live up to her namesake. She was a harpy-tongued bitch, rather than an enchanting witch, all right.

  “You’re pond scum, Alex Radcliffe. You bottom-feeder. Cocksucker! Motherfucker!”

  Alex stared at her, a look of partial amusement and partial irritation on his face. “To think, I used to kiss that mouth. Glenda, what did you expect? You’re the one who broke up with me, but it was far too long in coming. Face it, we’re done. We were done years ago but neither one of us had the courage to let go. It was time. You weren’t happy, and neither was I.”

  He shifted, darting away from her shaking finger. But his casual tone seemed to just fuel her fire.

  “I should have drained you—I should have sucked your chi down to the core.” Her voice kept rising, and now everybody was staring at them.

  I tried to sidle out of the way, not wanting to draw her attention, but that was a hope gone to hell in a handbasket. As I stepped back, I accidentally bumped against one of the guests, and in trying to keep from knocking him over, I shifted too far the other way and promptly ended up losing my footing. I wavered, teetering on one foot, and then—in slow motion, like in the movies—I went careening into the pool, gasping as I was submerged into the chlorinated brine that masqueraded as water. As I bobbed to the surface, shaking my head and sputtering, I saw that every head had turned to stare at me.

  Alex was staring at me with an incredulous look on his face. Then, before I could make a move to get out of the pool, he began to laugh, slapping his thigh. “Oh, Shimmer, bless you for breaking up this little tête-à-tête. I needed that laugh. Get out of there, woman, and dry off.”

  Glenda gave him a seething look. “How dare you ignore me?” The clap of her hand against his face echoed through the air.

  Alex stopped laughing. His eyes turned a dangerous shade of crimson and he let out a low hiss. “Don’t you ever strike me again, Glenda. Not if you value your life. I put up with your tantrums for too long, but no more. Hit me again at risk of your life. Do you understand?”

  Ten seconds flat to turn him from an easygoing ex-pat Aussie to a deadly predator.

  Glenda’s eyes widened as she took a step back. “This isn’t over, Radcliffe.” Then, she suddenly turned my way as I swung myself out of the pool and began to wring out my hair, the scent and taste of chlorine making me queasy. “And you . . . you’d better hope we never cross paths. I blame you for this—you got your hooks into him. I knew from the start that’s what you were out to do.”

  I stared at her, a cold rush washing through me—and it wasn’t the fact that I was soaked through and the wind had picked up. “You need to rethink that little threat, Glenda. You may be a succubus, but let me remind you that I am a dragon.”

  She locked my gaze for a moment, then snorted. “Yeah, a neutered one. You can’t even change shape when you’re out of water.”

  I was about to make a retort when Chai showed up. Over seven feet of gorgeous, muscled golden body, with a high ponytail—jet black—and seafoam-colored eyes, the djinn cut a formidable figure in his formfitting V-neck tee, and the jeans that he had assumed as his clothing for the day. I envied him his ability to create a wardrobe out of wishes—he could wear anything he wanted without worrying about the cost. But right now, clothes were the last thing on his mind.

  He leaned over Glenda, and she actually cowered back. “If you ever threaten my little sister again, I will personally stuff you in a bottle, seal it shut, and toss you out on the Ocean of Agony. Do you understand?”

  Glenda let out an audible gulp, fear washing across her face. “I was just about to leave.”

  “Then, may I suggest you go now?” Chai’s voice, which could boom so loud, was barely above a whisper but somehow it seemed a far worse threat than if he had been yelling.

  Glenda whirled on her stiletto heels and marched off, not saying another word. Alex and Chai watched her, both with grim expressions on their faces. I shivered as Ralph handed me a towel. Bette was hurrying her way over with Dent by her side.

  “Are you okay, Shimmer? I’m sorry you took an unexpected dip.” Dent seemed perfectly amiable, if a little bland. “I don’t know if I have anything that will fit you, except a terrycloth robe, but if you want to change into that,
we can wash and dry your clothes while you wait.”

  I ran the towel over my hair, squeezing out as much water as possible. “Thanks, I’d appreciate that.”

  Alex touched my elbow. “I’m so sorry about Glenda. She’s a real . . . well, she’s got a temper on her and it looks like she’s decided to blame me for the breakup. But why now?”

  “I know why. She found out we’re together. She doesn’t want you, but she doesn’t want anybody else to have you, either.” I shook my head. “She’s a real winner, that’s for sure.”

  Bette cocked her head. “Follow me. Dent, take over the burgers, would you? I’ll show Shimmer to the bathroom where she can shower and dry her hair while I find her a robe. Chlorine leaves a nasty residue.” She linked her arm through mine and began to steer me toward the path leading up to the house, leaving Ralph, Alex, and Chai to discuss Glenda’s inopportune appearance.

  “You okay, sugar?” Bette was the chain-smoking, leather-clad, curse-like-a-sailor grandmother I never had. Clad in leopard print jeggings, a chartreuse V-neck body suit, and a black leather jacket, she was loud and nasal, with a bouffant so high it rivaled Marge Simpson’s hair. How she managed to navigate on the platform CMPs she wore confounded me. But Bette was also, by now, a good friend, and had introduced me to several delightful Earthside delicacies, like Sees Candies—though I didn’t have much of a sweet tooth—and dripping, oozy fast-food cheeseburgers.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I am. Glenda had better watch out, though, or Alex will take her down. He’s a gentleman, but not when threatened and she crossed a line tonight.”

  “You aren’t spoiling for a catfight, are you? Because honey, I know you’re a dragon, but Glenda’s mean as a junkyard dog, and she’s got a lot of tricks up her sleeve. She wouldn’t hesitate to fight dirty.” Bette sounded so concerned that I wanted to hug her.

  “Nope, not spoiling for a fight at all. I’d be happier if she just disappeared. But you . . . Bette—Ralph said he thought something was wrong, and I sense it, too. What’s going on? Your smile is pretty much skin deep right now.” Now that I was next to her, I could tell that she was upset over something. The emotion radiated off of her in waves. “Are you upset at Dent?”