by Wood, Vivian
“Do humans know of us, then?” Rhys asked.
Mere Marie shook her head.
“No, and part of your job will be making sure that they remain ignorant.”
“Who’s on the other side?” Gabriel cut in. Rhys turned and relayed the information to Aeric, who grunted to indicate that he understood.
“Dominic Malveaux. Pere Mal, as he’s called.”
“Mere et Pere?” Aeric cut in, not fully understanding the conversation but picking up on a strange tidbit.
Mere Marie merely arched a brow and pushed on.
“He is a very powerful houngan, a voodoo priest,” she said. When she pronounced the foreign word, Rhys could hear a subtle and exotic accent hiding in her speech, and when she continued he was able to pick it out more and more. “Very, very bad man. If we don’t stop him, he will end our world.”
Mere Marie drew a finger across her neck, her meaning plain.
“What does he want?” Aeric asked Rhys translated. Mere Marie didn’t skip a beat in answering.
“He wants to open the Veil that separates the living from the dead,” she said. “He needs his ancestral spirits to come to this plane to give him more power, and he doesn’t care what else comes along for the ride. He’s already summoning demons to do his bidding in small things, and now there’s no telling how far he’ll go to get the power he wants.”
Rhys paused for a moment and then translated best he could in halting words. Mere Marie cut him off halfway and spoke to Aeric at length. He was certain that she finished by telling Aeric that his first task was to learn English. Aeric scowled and seemed about to fire back, so Rhys jumped in. There were too many unanswered questions to waste time with fighting at the moment.
“So what now?” he asked. “Where do we begin?”
“Like I said, you’ll all need to adjust. Learn about the world here, about our technology. This is your home now, the rooms you woke up in are yours to keep. There’s another building behind this one, with everything you’ll need for your work. Use the library to research your enemy. Practice with the firearms and weapons. Gabriel will need to learn swordsmanship. Aeric will learn English. Rhys, you will learn how to fight in close quarters without hurting bystanders. This isn’t the Highlands anymore.”
Rhys narrowed his eyes, but didn’t protest.
“I suppose we should tour the building, then,” he said, making to rise.
“Not yet,” Mere Marie said. “Follow me.”
She rose and led them to the far wall, opening a door made mostly of glass. They followed her outside to an open, grassy area surrounded by a high fence of wood.
“First things first,” she said. She pointed to a piece of stone peeking up through the grass in the center of the area, perhaps three feet by two. Rhys recognized it as a power stone, something the Fae created and used as a source of physical and magical replenishment. They were usually ancient, not to mention well-hidden and protected. He’d never seen one such as this, which appeared new and smooth.
Alpha Guardians was chiseled into the center of the stone. He’d also never seen a stone with English lettering, so this was altogether odd.
“You must bond to each other through the stone, give it life,” Mere Marie said. She pulled out a tiny, wicked-looking blade, every inch of it etched with foreign words. “Through blood.”
“Of course,” Gabriel muttered.
Rhys reached out for the knife and Mere Marie handed it over. He sliced his palm, ignoring the bite of pain. Thrusting his hand out, he let his blood drip onto the letters carved in the stone. They flared with a soft burst of light, but only for a moment.
Gabriel took the knife next, mimicking Rhys’s actions. This time, the stone flared a little brighter, a little longer.
Aeric was last, and when his blood hit the stone, the burst of light was nearly blinding. Mere Marie didn’t share her blood, but she did close her eyes and recite an incantation. Rhys felt the cut on his palm throb, and for a moment he was transported.
He was outside himself. He was the stone. He felt three presences, felt the warmth of their blood. He considered their offering, testing their strength. Yes, they would do. They could withstand his power.
Rhys snapped back into himself just in time for a brilliant wave of light to pulse from the stone, pulling at some part deep inside him. In the moments before he fainted, his only thought was this:
How well could an adventure possibly end if it began with losing all consciousness and control of himself?
He could only wait and see, for at the present everything went dark, and Rhys Macaulay knew no more.
6
Ready For More?
See No Evil, the first full book in the Alpha Guardians series, tells the story of big, brawny Scot Rhys Macaulay and his sassy, curvy mate-to-be.
Read on for a sample of See No Evil - Alpha Guardians Book One:
The second Rhys moved forward Echo retreated a few steps, moving back toward the door. In a heartbeat Rhys was crowding her up against the door, his nostrils flaring as he drug in several lungfuls of her tempting scent. He could still smell the sunshine and flowers on her skin, but now there were underlying notes of anxiety and excitement. Arousal, too, though it was no doubt dampened by all the other emotions flitting through Echo’s mind at the moment.
Rhys was having none of her ambivalence. He caged her against the door with his arms, taking a moment to appreciate her delicate stature as she tipped her face up to look at him. He watched her for long seconds, trying to read the myriad expressions flickering in her wide lilac eyes, but she was a puzzle too complex for him to solve as yet. Echo’s tongue darted out to wet her lower lip, her apprehension and desire becoming evident, and Rhys could wait no longer.
He drew the moment out, wanting to savor the first taste of his mate. He brushed back her hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Then he traced the line of her jaw near her ear with his thumb, noting her shiver with a note of deep male satisfaction. He slid his thumb under her jaw and angled her face up to his liking, leaning down slowly, letting his breath fan over her lips for a beat before he pressed his lips to hers.
The second their lips touched, something happened inside him, deep in his chest. It was as if a feeling of tightness was eased, while at the same time something loose within him was made fast and unmovable. Echo made the softest sound and moved closer, her hands skating up his shoulders and lacing behind his neck. Her lips moved against his and then parted sweetly, a clear invitation to deepen the kiss.
Every ounce of Rhys’s blood was roaring in his ears as he curled one hand over Echo’s ribs and thrust the other into the silken mass of her hair. His bear was bellowing, a fierce and satisfied sound, driving him on. Time had slowed for a moment, but now it sped up.
Rhys flicked his tongue against Echo’s, tasting her fully. She responded, her fingertips digging into his nape, her breasts burning his chest where they crushed against him. Rhys groaned into her mouth when her hips brushed his, and he felt her startle when she found him hard and wanting.
Truth be told, he’d been hard since the moment he laid eyes on her, but the barest touch from Echo set him aflame. Breaking the kiss, Rhys tugged her head to the side and nipped her earlobe, nearly losing himself when Echo moaned for him.
Unable to stop himself, he buried his mouth at the juncture of her neck and shoulder and marked her with his lips and teeth. Not a mating claim, not without her consent and awareness, but a hint of what was to come. His free hand came up to cup her breast, finding and teasing her hardened nipple through her dress and bra. He explored the fullness of her breast, pleased at its round weight, and trailed kisses over her exposed collarbone.
Only then did Rhys slow, realizing that it would be brutish of him to fuck her and claim her without any understanding on her part. And if he took her here, now, bent over the bed just the way he was imagining, Echo shouting his name as he ruined her for all other men…
Well, if he did that, he�
��d be unable to keep himself from claiming her. Something told him that Echo, a thoroughly modern woman, would take exception to Rhys dominating her in that way. She would accept it, and soon, but… perhaps she’d need some time to adjust to him.
“Rhys?” Echo asked, her chest heaving as she tried to control her breathing.
“I don’t…” Rhys paused, uncertain how to phrase it. “I don’t want to take advantage. We’ve only just met.”
Echo looked up at him with such confusion, it nearly killed him. Rhys stepped back and took her hand, pulling her over to the bed.
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About the Author
Vivian is an erotic romance writer, author of the Werewolf Harem Series and the Louisiana Shifters Series.
Vivian has been an autodidact from a young age, and to this day she'll read anything she can get her hands on - back of the cereal box, billboards, whatever. When she's not reading or writing romantic stories, Vivian likes making drinks from her Trader Vic's cocktail recipe book, snuggling her badly behaved dog, and drinking great coffee on rainy wraparound porches in New Orleans.
Vivian really enjoys her work, and is always excited to see what's in store next for her beloved characters.
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Red Lodge Bears Series
Available On Kindle Unlimited
Josiah’s Command: A Red Lodge Bears Prequel
Luke’s Obsession: Red Lodge Bears Book One
Noah’s Revelation: Red Lodge Bears Book Two
Gavin’s Salvation: Red Lodge Bears Book Three
Cameron’s Redemption: Red Lodge Bears Book Four
Finn’s Conviction: Red Lodge Bears Book Five
Wyatt’s Resolution: Red Lodge Bears Book Six
Werewolf’s Harem Series
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Novellas
Owned By The Alpha
Taken By The Pack
Possessed By The Wolf
Saved By The Alpha
Forever With The Wolf
Fated For The Wolf
Destined For The Alpha: The Complete Werewolf’s Harem Series Collection
Louisiana Shifters Series
Available On Kindle Unlimited
Shifter’s Ascent
Shifter’s Ascent Book One
Shifter’s Ascent Book Two
Shifter’s Ascent Book Three
Shifter’s Ascent Book Four
Shifter’s Legacy
Shifter’s Legacy Book One
Shifter’s Legacy Book Two
Shifter’s Legacy Book Three
Shifter’s Legacy Book Four
Shifters Vignettes
Shifters Vignettes: Maddie and Jasper
Shifters Vignettes: Rose and Mason
Shifters Vignettes: Ian and Jeanne
Shifters Vignettes: Emma and Connall
Collections
Shifter’s Ascent: The Novel
Shifter’s Legacy: The Novel
Louisiana Shifters: The Novels
Louisiana Shifters: The Vignettes
Louisiana Shifters Super Collection