Wicked After Dark: 20 Steamy Paranormal Tales of Dragons, Vampires, Werewolves, Shifters, Witches, Angels, Demons, Fey, and More

by Mina Carter

  Ashley shook her head. "That's awful! I'm so sorry that happened, Jane. Are you sure you're all right?"

  Jane nodded. "It could have been a lot worse. I'm just thankful that Sebastian was there."

  "Yeah, me too. I don't know what I would do without you."

  Jane smiled. It was nice to know people cared about her. "Now get that sad look off of your face, and let's start making coffee."

  * * *

  That evening when Jane arrived home, Sebastian was waiting for her. He was leaning against the hood of his car. The convertible top was down. "Want to go for a ride?" he asked.

  Jane smiled and nodded. "Sure."

  As Sebastian drove, Jane occasionally put her hands up in the air, loving the force of the air hitting the palms of her hands. She had never ridden in a convertible, or at least couldn't remember riding in one.

  Sebastian took her to the same pull-off place where they had first kissed. Once outside the car, Sebastian motioned for her to come closer to the edge of the lookout point. The entire town of Bedford Valley was visible below. The sun was setting, and the town was beginning to light up.

  "It's beautiful up here," she commented.

  He smiled. "Yeah, it is." He scanned the scenery and pointed off to the right. "There is your bookstore."

  Jane stared at the direction he was pointing. She could make out the store's sign. "It looks so small and insignificant from up here, but it's my entire life," she whispered.

  From behind, Sebastian wrapped his arms around her. "I'm happy you let me be a part of your life," he whispered in her ear, sending shivers up her spine.

  She rested her head back on his chest, and he held her there while the sun set behind the mountains. Jane smiled as she stared down at the town. Even though she couldn't remember her past, she had made a life here for herself. She had a future to look forward to, and her future included Sebastian.

  "It's going to rain," he announced.

  As if the sky had heard him, dark clouds began to form, and the sound of thunder cracked off into the distance. "We'd better go," he said.

  They hurried to the car. Sebastian pushed a button for the top to close. He leaned over and kissed her sweetly on the lips, and then put the car in gear and pulled out of the gravel pull-off. On the way down the mountain, fat raindrops fell onto the windshield of the car.

  It was a complete downpour by the time they reached Jane's house. The rain beat down onto the car, and the sound was deafening. She turned to Sebastian just in time to see his car door closing. She squinted her eyes to try to get a glimpse of him in the darkness, but he was gone.

  Jane squealed as she climbed out of the car and ran towards her house in the pouring rain. By the time she reached the porch, she was completely soaked. Sebastian stood leaning against the door casually, dry as a bone. A wide smirk was on his face.

  "That's not fair!" she exclaimed.

  "Hey, it's not my fault that I move faster than you humans," he said with an eye roll.

  She unlocked the front door and pushed him into the house, not bothering to close the door behind them. She flicked on the kitchen light and moved towards Sebastian. She leaned on her tiptoes and kissed him. "I'm going to have to change. I'm soaking wet," she said.

  He pinned her against the wall with her hands above her head. "I like you wet," he murmured into her ear.

  With one free hand, he pushed the damp hair that was clinging to her face behind her ear. He leaned down and kissed her. The kiss deepened, and his hand trailed down her cheek, her neck and down to cup her breast. He pinched her nipple through the wet material. She moaned against his mouth.

  His fingers made their way down her stomach, and she shuddered from his touch. His tongue teased her lips until she opened them. His tongue swirled around hers, possessing her mouth.

  Suddenly, the room was filled with a loud clicking noise. They both turned to see Matt standing in the kitchen doorway with a gun pointed towards Sebastian.

  Sebastian pulled away from Jane quickly and stood between her and Matt.

  "Matt, what are you doing?" Jane asked.

  He slowly put the gun down. "I was driving by. Your lights were on and your door was wide open. I thought someone had broken in again," he said.

  Jane walked to him. "I'm fine." She glanced at Sebastian. "You remember Sebastian, my neighbor."

  Matt glanced at him and then stared at Jane, nodding once. His eyes narrowed as he asked, "Can I speak to you outside?"

  Under the refuge of the porch roof from the rain, Matt roughly grabbed Jane by the forearm and drew her in close. "Do you know how bad you scared me? I thought you were being attacked again," he said, angrily.

  She stared down at his hand on her arm. "I'm sorry." She glanced up to his hazel eyes. "Why are you here?" she asked, her angry tone matching his.

  "I wanted to see if you wanted to go to dinner. But I see you have better plans," he snapped.

  "You could have called," she snapped back.

  He squeezed her arm tighter. "You said you weren't ready for a relationship," he whispered, his expression pained.

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I didn't think I was."

  "But you're ready for him?" he hissed.

  Jane was at a loss for words, so she said the only thing she could say. "Matt, I'm sorry."

  "You're supposed to be my fiancée. And here I find you making out with another guy!" he yelled.

  The pain in her arm increased. "Please! You're hurting me," she cried.

  He didn't release his grip, but instead tightened it. "You can't keep stringing me along, Jane. You know how I feel about you!"

  "Matt, please!" she whimpered.

  "Let go of her!" Sebastian's voice boomed from the doorway.

  Matt slowly and reluctantly released his grip. He looked from Sebastian and then back to Jane. "I'll see you later." His tone made it sound like a threat. Then he ventured out in the rain and to his car.

  Jane walked back in the house and rubbed her sore arm. She stared down at the bruises that were already starting to form. Sebastian gingerly touched her skin. "I should have given him some bruises," he said irately.

  "No, you shouldn't have," she scolded. Matt's fate would have been much worse than a few bruises if Sebastian would have gotten a hold of him. After Matt's car pulled away from the curb, she closed the door and locked it. "I don't know what's gotten into him. He used to be the nicest, sweetest guy." She rubbed her arm gently. "He's just been so different lately."

  "Maybe his true colors are finally showing," Sebastian offered.

  Jane shrugged. "Maybe."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  OVER THE NEXT few days, Matt tried to stop by Jane's house, but she refused to see him. He called at least a dozen times a day, and she refused to take his calls. She was angry with him, and she didn't want to talk to him, let alone see him in person.

  To make matters worse, Jane didn't see even one sign of Sebastian. However, she had caught a glimpse of Elizabeth in the pool a few times. She knew that Elizabeth had gotten her claws in him once again, and the idea of it infuriated her. She wasn't going to let Elizabeth ruin his life. After work, she marched straight over to Sebastian's house and knocked on his front door.

  It took a few minutes, but the door eventually opened. Jane stared at the tall blonde standing there. She was gorgeous --- actually beyond gorgeous. She looked like some kind of Greek goddess with her long blonde curly tresses. She was wearing a short, skin-tight black mini skirt and an equally tight black sequin shirt. Her black stilettos made her at least three inches taller than Jane. But it was Elizabeth's eyes that drew most of Jane's attention. Her eyes were an odd bluish-green. And those eyes, as they stared back, sent a shockwave through Jane. She had seen those eyes before.

  Jane involuntarily stepped back. She could feel the tingling at the base of her skull starting to creep up and down her spine. Her body wanted to shut down, but she didn't know why she was having this response.

>   She quickly fled the porch, stumbling down the stairs and catching herself with the railing.

  "Jane!" Sebastian called from inside the house.

  She didn't look back to find out where he was. Her legs shakily made their way through the lawn. She was so close to her house, but her vision was beginning to blur. She fell to her knees and proceeded to crawl through the grass. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she was coughing and choking like she was dying. She didn't know what was causing the reaction, but she knew she needed to get as far away from Elizabeth as she could. Her brain was pleading with her to get away, but she never reached her house.

  * * *

  "Jane!" Sebastian called. He had seen the look of terror in her eyes. He glared at Elizabeth as he ran out the door. Jane was crawling through the grass, and then eventually her thoughts went blank as she collapsed in the yard.

  Sebastian scooped Jane up in his arms. As he began to carry her home, Elizabeth's voice halted him. "Bring her in here, Sebastian."

  He wanted to protect Jane at all costs, but Elizabeth would get to her any possible way she could. If he disobeyed her, he knew the consequences. Grudgingly, he turned and walked back to his house.

  In the living room, he gently laid Jane down on the couch. He kneeled down and clasped her hand in his. She seemed so fragile and vulnerable that it made his heart ache for her. He brought her hand up his lips. "I'm sorry," he murmured, kissing her delicate skin.

  Elizabeth stood in the background watching the spectacle. "Kitchen. Now!" she demanded.

  Reluctantly, Sebastian walked away from Jane and followed Elizabeth into the kitchen. "What did you do? What did you say to her?" Sebastian accused.

  Elizabeth put her hands up defensively. "I said absolutely nothing. She just looked at me and started freaking out."

  Sebastian paced the kitchen. What she was saying didn't make sense unless ---. He turned to Elizabeth.

  A wicked grin crept over her face. "She remembers me."

  Sebastian shook his head. "That's impossible."

  "Why? Because she doesn't remember you?" Elizabeth tapped her nails on the countertop. "I would say I was less than cordial to her in the past, but that would be the understatement of the year."

  Sebastian remembered how Elizabeth had been absolutely awful to Jane. Jane had always stood her ground, though, always taking what Elizabeth was saying or doing and dishing it right back to her. Why would Jane remember her of all people?

  Elizabeth glanced into the living room at Jane. "I don't know why you would want to be with a frail mortal anyway when you could be with another vampire."

  "Another vampire meaning you?"

  She cocked her head to the side. "Would that be so awful? You spent more than a century by my side. You loved me then." Her voice was hauntingly filled with sorrow.

  He closed his eyes. "I did love you, Elizabeth," he said, stressing the past tense.

  A sad look swept across her face. And then the sadness was quickly replaced with anger. "And then she came along," Elizabeth said pointing to the living room. "She took you away from me."

  He shook his head. "I chose to leave, Elizabeth. She showed me another side of a life that I could have without all the killing and running and living out of a suitcase."

  "Oh, Sebastian. You know how hard it is to be with a mortal. Look how it turned out the first time you were with her."

  "I want to be with her. I don't care what you think!" he snapped.

  Elizabeth stared at him. "I could always compel you, you know. Take your memories of her away from you." She hesitated. "Make you forget her entirely."

  Sebastian's hands curled into fists at his side. "You wouldn't dare," he spat.

  She pushed him against the wall. With her mouth next to his ear, she said, "I will give you one option. If you leave her now, I won't hurt her again."

  Sebastian furrowed his brow. "Again?"

  Elizabeth stood back, pressing her long, manicured nails against his chest to keep him in place. "You never wondered if someone close to you had hurt your precious human? You never thought that perhaps little old me would have a reason to want to rip her pretty little head off?"

  "You," he breathed. "You took her from me and left her for dead!" his voice boomed.

  "She came between us, Sebastian. It was the only way for us to be together."

  "But after she was gone, I didn't go back to you, Elizabeth!"

  She shook her head sadly. "No. No, you didn't." She closed her eyes for a moment. "It didn't work out according to my plan. You just couldn't let her go." She pulled him close and said, "She begged for her life when I was beating her. And then just as I was about to snap her neck, a pack of hunters was coming through the woods. I had to leave her there, but I knew she wouldn't survive. And the thought of her laying there suffering was better than the easy death I wanted to give her." She hesitated. "But somehow, some way she lived." Her tongue darted out of her mouth, and she licked and then bit his earlobe. "I thought you should know her last thought was of you. She loved you." She smiled. "Too bad she can't remember that now."

  Sebastian's anger boiled over, and with all of his might, he shoved Elizabeth away from him. She crashed into one of the chairs, and it broke into pieces under her from the force. A low growl escaped her lips as she stood and glared at him. "I'm going to do something I should have done a long time ago." In a split second, she had him pinned in the corner of the room against the kitchen cabinets. "I'm going to compel you to forget her."

  "No!" Sebastian cried. He screwed his eyes shut. "Don't do this to me!" he pleaded.

  Elizabeth's hand squeezed around his neck. "Open your eyes, Sebastian. Don't make me resort to tearing off your eyelids!" she threatened. Her grip around his neck tightened, until his eyes popped open. "Keep them open!" she demanded.

  He tried to resist her, but he couldn't. A maker's power over a vampire they created was an inexplicable and controlling force. "Elizabeth, please don’t!" he choked.

  "I have to, Sebastian. It's the only way we can be together." She took a deep breath. "I want you to forget ---." She stopped mid sentence and released a painful hiss of air.

  Sebastian watched her crumple to the floor beneath him. He stared at the piece of wood jutting out of Elizabeth's spine. Then his eyes locked onto Jane. Jane stood there, panting. She had shoved a broken chair leg into Elizabeth's back.

  "Is she dead?" Jane asked.

  Sebastian shook his head. It took more advanced techniques to kill a vampire, but a stake to the spine would certainly incapacitate her until she could heal. He watched his maker writhing on the floor. Her hand went out to him, but he stepped out of her reach. He reached for Jane, but she stepped away from him. Her thoughts were guarded, but he managed to pick out bits and pieces. "How much did you hear?" he asked.

  "All of it," she whispered. After a while, she asked, "Why didn't you come for me?"

  There was a pained expression on his face. "That question has haunted me every day for over two years." He led her into the living room, and they both sat on the couch. "I didn't know who had tried to hurt you. There are a lot of people --- immortal and mortal --- that Elizabeth has managed to piss off over the years. I had to be sure you weren't in danger." He swallowed hard. "And then when I saw you with Jack, you looked so happy. You had no memory of me, of our past. You had a clean slate. I wanted you to be happy. That's all I ever wanted for you. I never interfered, because I didn't want to ruin the life you had made with Jack."

  Jane stared down at her hands. "Why come back at all?"

  "I saw how empty you were, Jane, after Jack died. You were just going through all the daily functions of life, but you weren't living. I knew you needed me, and so I compelled the Johnsons to make amends with their daughter and leave to be closer to her. I moved into the house next door, and I knew that I needed to make you fall in love with me again."

  Jane looked up at him. "I loved you once?" she asked.

  He nodded. "We were very much
in love." He moved off the couch and kneeled down in front of her, taking her hands in his. "I know it's a lot to take in, and I will answer any questions that you have. But I want you to know that I loved you more than anything, and I still do."

  A noise sounded from behind him, and Sebastian stood quickly. Elizabeth staggered into the living room. "I'm sorry to interrupt your lovely reunion, but I have a piece of wood the size of Kansas stuck in my back!" she yelled, infuriated.

  Jane stood, and Sebastian positioned himself between the two of them. He knew Jane's fight-or-flight response was kicking in. "It's okay, Jane. I won't let her hurt you," he promised. Then he turned to Elizabeth. "I will help you if you make a blood oath with me." A blood oath was a special union between vampires, and Sebastian knew it was the only way to keep Jane safe. Elizabeth was one of the original vampires, and blood oaths were a sacred tradition that he knew she would not break.

  "No," Elizabeth faltered.

  Sebastian narrowed his eyes at his maker. "You. Owe. Me," he said, pronouncing each word vehemently.

  Elizabeth's gaze went to the floor as she released a deep breath. "All right," she said, her voice just above a whisper.

  Sebastian approached her. He held out his wrist. After a short pause, she did the same with her wrist. At the same time, their fangs tore into each other's flesh. The blood exchange was brief, but meaningful. He pulled away from her. "Swear to me," he insisted.

  "I swear to you, Sebastian, that I will not harm your precious human," she spat, the words like acid on her tongue. "Now, be a dear and remove this piece of wood from my back," she said, sarcastically.

  Satisfied with the oath, Sebastian went through the painstaking task of removing every last splinter of wood from her. Elizabeth's anger and pain slowly ebbed away as he finished. He watched as the giant hole in her back gradually mended itself back together.

  Elizabeth stood and glanced at her backside in a mirror hanging on the wall. "Damn," she muttered, starting at the gaping hole in her clothing. "I really liked this shirt." She turned her gaze to Jane, who looked like she was ready to spring out the door. "Sit down," Elizabeth commanded.