by S S Bazinet
More Books by S. S. Bazinet
The Madonna Diaries Series
Book One: Dying Takes It Out of You
Book Two: Living Takes It Out of You
* * *
Open Wide My Heart Series
Book One: Traces Of Home
* * *
The Vampire Reclamation Project Series
Book One: Michael’s Blood
Book Two: Arel’s Blood
Book Three: William’s Blood
Book Four: Brother’s Blood
Book Five: Tainted Blood
Book Six: Forgotten Blood
* * *
In The Care Of Wolves Series
Book One: My Brother's Keeper
* * *
Sentenced To Heaven
Book One: An Inmate's Tale from the Other Side
Book Two: A Vampire In Heaven
Copyright © 2020 by S. S. Bazinet
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, organizations and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Published by Renata Press
Albuquerque, New Mexico
RenataPress.com
Visit the author’s website: SSBazinet.com
Book cover by Panagiotis Lampridis.
ISBN-13: 978-1-937279-17-2
For my earth angels and
for my heavenly angels!
I love you all!
Acknowledgments
I've had so much support from so many in bringing this book to publication. I'm so grateful to my extraordinary earth angels, Gabriel, Anna Marie, George, Laura Christine, Gene, Julia Ann and Rick, They are all blessings, and I am so fortunate to have them in my life!
CONTENTS
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
Forty-Nine
Fifty
Fifty-One
Fifty-Two
Fifty-Three
Fifty-Four
Fifty-Five
Fifty-Six
Fifty-Seven
Fifty-Eight
Fifty-Nine
Sixty
Sixty-One
Sixty-Two
Sixty-Three
Sixty-Four
Sixty-Five
Sixty-Sixty
Sixty-Seven
Sixty-Eight
Sixty-Nine
Seventy
Other Books by S. S. Bazinet
One
HELL WASN’T FIERY or hot. It was cold and dark, a small, squalid cell with rusty iron bars. It was rats and roaches coming in through the cracks in the rough, stone walls. Hell was being in isolation in a world where time didn’t exist.
For Col, a discarnate soul, his hell was perfect. After all, he’d created it, slimy stone by slimy stone. After his last physical life, he was repulsed by the idea of heaven. Heaven meant bowing down to some deity. And he’d never bow down to anyone or anything.
He confined himself to his appalling conditions like a soldier who trained to withstand the most grueling tests of battle. It kept him on top of his game. To give in to any form of leniency could hold him back from his downward path. Let the other souls work on becoming God’s fools. Col had another approach to that thing called existence. He intended to become so powerful that no one could stop him from doing as he wanted. And he wanted to punish those he hated.
Guides and angels were the only outside aggravation in his hellish world. They were always showing up. They were very polite when they tried to convince him to release his tight grip on revenge and his need to blacken his soul. He’d gotten used to their game and could even enjoy it when he laughed in their faces. But what he liked most of all was sending them packing.
Col was waiting for a different kind of visitor, the human kind. Soon, he would lure Arel and William into his trap. When that happened, he’d enjoy the torment and misery he had planned for them.
Two
AREL GLANCED AROUND the lower level of William’s London home. The decor was beautiful, a tribute to William’s exquisite taste. But it was the quiet atmosphere that Arel appreciated the most. It mirrored his life. He’d finally found the peace he’d always prayed for.
He smiled as he sat back on a comfortable couch. His golden eyes were focused on William. His closest friend and a person he considered his brother was tall, fair-skinned and the type of handsome that made people take notice when he entered a room. But it wasn’t only William’s good looks that made him stand out. William had an air of self-reliance mixed with a confident way of conducting his life. Those qualities shone in his pale blue eyes. He also had a soft spot for the two pet mice he’d just fed.
Arel looked over at the mouse habitat that sat in a corner of the room and thought about how he’d gotten acquainted with the tiny rodents that lived there. It was at a time when he and William weren’t getting along. But both of them liked the pet mice. Arel had named his mouse Whiskers. When he held the small rodent, it had a calming effect on his nerves. During those dark days, he’d needed all the calming he could get. He and William were both trying to adjust to angelic blood. Happily, a lot had happened since then. He smiled at William. “When I checked on them earlier, Squeaky and Whiskers looked like they were doing well.”
“Yes, but I still miss Wolfie,” William sighed.
Arel felt his face flush. William’s mouse, Wolfie, had died tragically. Around the same time, Arel’s desire to live hit an all-time low. In an effort to leave his fears and hopelessness behind, he’d created his own idyllic, fantasy world. It included a park where mice could talk. Wolfie, a tiny brown mouse, was resurrected and became Arel’s friend. But eventually, Arel’s fears infected that world in the worst possible way. “Let’s not talk about Wolfie. I’ll start thinking about how I went off the deep end and nearly killed us both. I guess I went slightly mad.”
William snorted. “Slightly mad?”
“Fine, I was totally insane.”
“Sorry, being critical seems to be one of my failings.” William paused. “Anyway, I wanted to ask you about the mice.”
“What is it?”
“The neighbor boy has taken care of them whenever we travel. He gets so attached that he has a hard
time returning them. Annabel suggested we let him keep them.”
Arel thought about how the mice were a small connection that he and William shared. “He sounds like a good kid,” Arel said as he stared down at his hand. He rubbed the soft fabric on the arm of the sofa. “Do what you think best.”
William glanced over as if he knew what Arel was thinking. Arel had a hard time letting go of anything he cared about. “They’ll probably get more attention from Danny.”
Arel nodded and let his mind drift. He’d always felt like William’s opposite. His skin might be fair too, but his hair was thick and almost black. His wife, Elise, claimed he was handsome, but he had to take her word on the matter. As for confidence, he’d always felt he’d been cheated in that department. For most of his years on the Earth, he’d been retiring and shy. “Angel blood or no, I guess we’ll always be very different, Will.”
“Everyone’s different,” William replied flatly. “As for angel blood, I don’t want to discuss the stuff. It’s nearly done both of us in.”
“True, there have been some rough times, but Michael wouldn’t have shared it if he didn’t believe we could handle it.”
“What’s this ‘we’ business? Michael shared his blood with you. I got it second hand when you were plotting your revenge.”
“Do you still think about what I passed on to you as a bad thing?”
William paused and stared at the mice in the cage, then latched the cage door. When he turned to Arel, his face was drawn and cheerless. “Look, Arel, I hope you don’t expect me to ever thank you for wrecking my life.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I thought you were enjoying your life with Annabel. When you were in Chicago for my wedding, you looked happy.”
“I love Annabel. I won’t deny that, but—”
“I’m so sorry about her miscarriage. It must have been rough on both of you.”
William walked over and sat down in his recliner. “When Annabel was pregnant, she was excited about starting a family. I tried, but I couldn’t share her enthusiasm. I’d barely had time to process being married. Fatherhood was more than I bargained for.”
Arel didn’t know how to proceed. William and he were finally interacting as friends. He didn’t want to rock the boat. He decided to remain quiet.
William glanced at the stairs. “Listen, while Annabel’s out, can I be candid with you?”
“Of course.”
William slumped back in his chair and gripped the arms. “Maybe I’ll never be ready for a family.”
“You didn’t want the child Annabel was carrying?”
William’s eyes clouded with resentment. “Thanks for making it sound like I’m some ogre.”
Arel edged forward. “If that makes you an ogre, I guess I’m one too. Elise can’t wait, but how can I think about raising children when I’m just starting to grow up myself?”
William’s frown deepened. “Elise is a normal person. Try being married to an ex-angel. Annabel isn’t as lost and afraid as she was when she first took off her wings, but she’s far from being okay. It takes everything I’ve got trying to always be there for her.”
“I knew it was a big mistake the minute I found out that she loved you.”
William jerked to attention. “When did you know, and why didn’t you do something to make sure she stayed an angel?”
Arel stood up and wandered over to the mouse cage. The two mice were still eating pieces of pear and apple. “What do you want me to say? I wanted to do something, but you loved her too.”
“I didn’t know I was falling for an angel, Arel.”
“I don’t understand it. Angels are so stable and unwavering. Why did Annabel become confused and unhappy when she became a human?”
“An angel is a totally different animal. Angels don’t grow up learning how to navigate in a world that can be ruthless. When they take off their wings, they’re clueless about how to handle emotions and uncertainty.”
Arel sighed. “I don’t know what’s worse, growing up getting the crap beat out of you or suddenly being thrown into a world that’s chaotic from an angel’s point of view.”
“All I know is that I’m still dealing with my own problems plus Annabel’s. When she was pregnant, she had a direction that would give her purpose, a family to look forward to. After she lost the baby, she tried to hide her disappointment and busy herself with other things, but I think she’s eager to try again. Needless to say, it’s made things difficult in the bedroom.”
Arel walked back to the sofa and sat down. “Did you tell her you need time?”
“Of course, and she tries to be patient, but you know how she can be.”
Arel thought about his interaction with Annabel earlier that day. He’d made the mistake of asking her if she thought he’d matured enough to be a good influence on William. “When I’m around her, her frustration is kind of scary.”
“Try being around her when she gets in one of her bad moods.”
Arel recoiled at the idea.
William closed his eyes. “It was so perfect when I was single. I could shut out all my feelings and simply appreciate my own company. I need a vacation, a long vacation from it all.”
“Let’s go on a cruise, the four of us. I know Elise would love it.”
William shrugged. “Fresh sea air? Why not? Where would you like to go?”
Arel’s phone sounded before he could comment on their destination. He smiled and retrieved the phone from his pocket. “It’s Elise. I’ll run the idea past her.”
Arel held the phone close to his ear, eager to talk to his beautiful wife. He wanted to ask her about the trip, but he didn’t get a chance. A moment into the call, Elise was already sharing her news.
“Guess what, sweetheart, I might be pregnant!” Elise sang out. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
Arel’s hand tightened on the phone. While Elise continued to tell him about how happy she was, he grappled with her announcement. Did she say that he was going to be a father? He sucked in a breath and managed some clarity. Yes, that’s exactly what she said.
He had to find the words that Elise needed to hear, and he didn’t have any idea what they were. In the midst of his confusion, a powerful wave of darkness shoved aside his muddled thoughts. It happened so fast that he didn’t have a chance to resist it. A face appeared on the tail end of the energy wave. It was a cruel, punishing face, one that he recognized from terrifying memories he thought he’d left behind.
Lifeless, black eyes glared back at him, boring into pockets of his brain, leaving it raw and receptive to the next attack. It came in the form of a message. A grating, malevolent voice spewed out a few words. They were an appalling notification of what was coming. The impact was immediate. Arel saw the future, a future he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. But it was his worst enemy who was delivering the message.
Loud shrieks of laughter followed. His vile, loathsome visitor was already celebrating a victory. Fighting for control, Arel could barely hold it together long enough to tell Elise goodbye. Afterwards, he clutched his phone, trying to understand what he was dealing with.
When the answer came, it was a simple one. A door had been breached, the door to his mind. He hadn’t known he had to guard that door. He was at a place in his life where he usually felt at ease. Everything changed the instant the face appeared uninvited.
Once Arel understood the problem, he reacted instinctively and threw up his shields. As quickly as the face appeared, it was gone, leaving behind remnants of its ugliness and malice.
“What’s going on, Arel?”
The sound of William’s voice brought Arel back to the room where he sat.
William stared at him with questioning eyes. “Are you alright? When you were on the phone, your body language shifted. You went from smiling to looking like you were going to pass out.”
“A bizarre coincidence,” Arel gasped. “Elise isn’t sure, but she thinks she might be pregnant.” He noticed his trembli
ng hands. In the space of a few minutes, his peaceful life had slipped away. He tried to say something more to William, but no words could express what he felt. He could only remain in his seat, dreading an event that would strip his life of any happiness.
Three
IT WAS STILL early morning in Chicago as Elise sank back into the white, sateen sheets and deep, pillow-top comforter. Her tousled, blond hair, spread out on the pillow, was its usual unruly self, but her face was bright with a happy glow. There was a chance she and Arel would be parents. It wasn’t a sure thing, but her monthly cycle was as regular as clockwork, and now she was late. How could she not be pregnant?
After her phone call to Arel, she still held the phone close, cradling it like she’d cradle a child someday. “We might be calling ourselves mom and dad soon,” she sighed to herself.
The night before Arel left for London, he’d been so sweet and loving. He was everything and more than she could want in a man, a wonderful departure from the guys in her past. She’d had a number of disastrous affairs before Arel came along. She’d been so hurt and embittered, she swore off relationships. The only men in her life were the ones she wrote about in her romance books.
But Arel? In some ways, he wasn’t the type she wrote about. Oh, he was handsome all right, with genteel, English features and eyes that were capable of turning into seductive, molten gold. However, he could be reclusive and very wary when it came to relationships. Arel could have probably had any woman he wanted if he had a different personality. Still, there had been Claire. Arel had almost married the woman.
Elise scowled. Claire was a beauty and a bully who took advantage of Arel’s self-effacing nature. He’d barely escaped her clutches. On the plus side, their interactions did clue Elise in on who Arel was at his core. When he got past his trust issues, and he loved someone, he didn’t hold back.
Just the idea of how passionate he could be and how he’d recently demonstrated that passion made Elise stir longingly. Her smile broadened as she pondered the idea of being pregnant. Arel might have given her the ultimate gift, a child. Wouldn’t that be the most amazing thing for both of them? A baby to shower with love!