Phoenix Under Fire: A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Aries

by Crystal Dawn

  It wasn’t a moment too soon when they’d stayed long enough that Ram and his father decided they could leave. Annie was exhausted, probably from her excessive consumption of champagne. Witches were more susceptible to alcohol and while a human would probably have alcohol poisoning from the amounts she’d imbibed, she was only drunk enough to want to lie down and sleep.

  “I’m going to get you home, Sweetheart,” Ram assured her.

  He did, but she was sure he was disappointed when she fell asleep and didn’t wake up for the rest of the night. So much for the sexy plans he had whispered in her ear all night in order to distract her. At least the ball was behind them now and only the wedding itself remained.

  Epilogue

  The ball had gone well, all things considered. The war against evil? That was ongoing. Life was changing and so was the paranormal world. Annie was stretching her magical muscle and her skills had grown enormously. Her relationship with her mom was stronger than ever, but her and her father, not so much. Some things had been decided and one of those was Ram and Annie would stay in Orlando for now. Another was Ram would be heading the investigation into Hubolla and where it was operating currently and where it might go in the future.

  Their presence was needed for the battle that eventually would rage between the evil intent on ruling the world and good that just wanted to stay in the world. The fight was on now and would only continue to simmer until more fighting broke out. There were suspicions that some factions of wolves, vampires, and dwarves were negotiating with Hubolla for power they would never have otherwise, but proof was lacking. Right now, there were areas Hubolla seemed to be targeting along the coast of Florida that some of these groups were concentrated around.

  Meanwhile, her father was plotting and planning more unfortunate unions. Something was up with her father and she wasn’t sure what it was. He’d never been the warmest person and it was a sure thing that not everyone liked him. Annie herself had seen many things lately that she didn’t like about him.

  Sophie come to her in tears. “Your father is intent on mating me to Boris the dwarf.”

  “I’ve heard he’s a dashing guy. Are you sure he’s not your fated one?” Annie had to ask. Contrary to the stories, dwarves were not necessarily short or ugly. Many were sarcastic and often disagreeable. Some, like Boris, were attractive. He had white blond hair, a body to die for, and gorgeous blue eyes.

  “I like Boris, but neither of us wants to be mated to anyone, but our fated mate. Boris has found his, but his father is prejudiced against harpies.”

  “Did you say harpies? Where do they live?”

  “They’ve spread out all over like most paranormal kinds. I can’t do the spell, but I must get someone to do it now. Your father is pressing my dad and he’ll give in to his big brother like he always does.”

  “Okay.”

  “Did you just agree?” Sophie asked as if she couldn’t believe it.

  “Yes, I’ll do it, but you can’t tell anyone. Okay?” Annie pressed.

  Sophie squealed happily and jumped on Annie squeezing her so hard she couldn’t draw in a breath. “Must breathe!”

  “Sorry.”

  “When do you want to do this?”

  “Now. Right now, if we can,” Sophie decided.

  “Okay.” Annie cast a spell and a list floated in front of her. She tore it in half. “Here, we need this stuff. You spell that half and I’ll spell the other half.”

  “Is it okay to cast a spell for something we can easily do without it?” Sophie asked uncertainly.

  “Do you want to do it now or in two days after we track everything down?” Annie asked.

  “Now, we have to do it now,” Sophie began to cast spells for each item separately.

  Annie cast one big spell for everything on her list. Since she had begun to study magic with other witches, not just her father, she had been taught ways to recharge her magic. For whatever reason, her father had never taught her that. She cast another spell to have her kettle waiting for them with a fire under it and the supplies she’d just gathered already in it. It had saved so much time doing it this way.

  A few more minutes and Sophie was done too. Ram walked in while they prepared. “What are you doing?”

  “We’re going to summon Sophie’s mate,” Annie explained.

  “Poor guy. I hope he ends up in a better place than I did,” Ram prayed.

  “We’ll be popping into the swamp to do the spell,” Annie admitted. She knew Ram didn’t want her going anywhere alone with the evil on the rise, but surely this was safe enough.

  “Not without me, you aren’t,” Ram insisted.

  Annie shot Sophie a helpless look. “It’s take him or forget it.”

  Sophie sighed heavily. “Fine, but he’ll stay out of the way, won’t he?” Annie shrugged. Mates rarely stayed out of the way from what she’d seen, not only in her mating but in that of those around her. If Sophie had that expectation, she must not be very observant.

  “What are we waiting for?” Ram asked. Annie could tell he wanted to get this done and get back. Fine.

  Annie whispered the spell that flashed the three of them to the place in the swamp where she used her kettle. A big black kettle that sat over a fire bubbling with all the contents including those Sophie had been holding which had been added in transit. Sophie looked at her empty hands and then at Annie.

  “It was easy.” Annie answered Sophie’s unasked question about the ingredients she’d been holding. Annie moved to the kettle and stirred the contents. It was nearly ready since it didn’t require much cooking time. “Now remember what I explained to you, Sophie.”

  “Yes, I get it. He could show up when you cast the spell, he could turn up somewhere else in a week. All the spell does is draw him to me. There’s no guarantee of how or exactly when,” Sophie repeated. “Can we do this now?”

  “Fine. Are you sure you’re ready?” Annie asked one last time. After all, this was a huge step.

  “Yes, do it now!” Sophie replied and she was highly emotional.

  Annie stirred the potion thoroughly one last time before she said the incantation. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment and she thought Sophie’s results would be like hers. That was before all hell broke loose. There was a blinding flash of light and she could smell brimstone. Was Sophie’s mate a damned demon? A shape began to take form then blurred before it finally sharpened and it was huge. The beast was massive with red scales on the top and greenish gold scales on the bottom. The red scales on his head looked almost like a cap.

  The scaled beast glowed and smoke puffed out of his mouth. The creature appeared to be sleeping with only the in and out movement of breathing obvious. Suddenly, fast enough to make Annie nearly jump out of her skin, its head raised and the one eye she could see popped open. It was red and angry looking. Streaks of energy flashed in his eye almost like lightning would streak across the sky and his pupil, black as the night, was an oblong slit running from the top to the bottom of his eye.

  “It’s a dragon!” Ram stated the obvious.

  “Who has summoned me here?” A voice asked that rumbled like thunder.

  Annie and Ram stepped away from Sophie and pointed at her. No one wanted to be dragon food.

  Virgo Zodiac Shifters

  Dragon in Distress

  Sophie needed to find her fated mate to avoid being forced to mate someone of her Uncle’s choosing. Her cousin spells for her fated one, but an angry dragon shows up. This wasn’t at all what she expected.

  Knossos wakes up and he’s not in his lair anymore. Someone has dared to summon him out of his slumber. The guilty party turns out to be his fated mate, so he can’t burn her to a crisp. He wasn’t really ready for this, so what’s a dragon to do?

  Don’t forget to look for other books in this series!

  A shifter’s mate is in the stars… Welcome to Zodiac Shifters, a collection of books with an astrological spin on love. From Aries to Virgo… discover all-new tales o
f paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Zodiac Shifters features New York Times, USA Today, and other bestselling authors. Each month expect new releases based upon the twelve astrology signs. Happily Ever After… it’s our promise to you.

  Learn more at http://zodiacshifters.com/

  Tears of the Dragon

  A myth twisted by centuries of fake accounts, a prophecy that survived through the ages, a cure no one dared to touch. Medea, the Greek sorceress whose wrath and passion many feared, started it all. Generation after generation, her story was passed from mother to daughter. And this story is different from what children learn from books. Was Medea truly in love with Jason? Did she help him kill the sleepless dragon and steal the Golden Fleece? One day, one of her descendants will bring her real story to light. Aileen Callas has everything a woman could desire, and even more. Sexy, curvy, successful, she has men throwing themselves at her feet, men she needs to keep at arm’s length if she wants to focus on her job. As a researcher and professor of Mythology and Folklore, Aileen wants to do much more than tell people some old, barely authentic stories. She wants to prove they are real. After all, one of these myths, the real version of it, saved her life as a child. True, it came with a dark, scary prophecy, but that doesn’t stop Aileen from wanting to investigate. All she needs is to assemble a team that is just as eager as her to retrace the steps of Medea and Jason, and find the mythical Golden Fleece. Yes, Aileen believes the treasure is still there. Now that she got that piece of information out into the world, she either proves her version is correct, or she becomes the laughingstock of the academic world. Drakon has grown tired of waiting. What was he waiting for, again? He can’t remember. If only he could sleep for an hour, if only he could close his eyes and dream, maybe it would all come back to him: his true name, his mission, his humanity, the memory of her… He doesn’t even know what he’s guarding, but he’s bound to it. He can’t rest, he can’t leave; it’s a curse. For centuries, there haven’t been any more thieves interested in the treasure, so when a curvy, chirpy, and completely reckless human female enters his lair, Drakon doesn’t know if he should eat her chubby legs for lunch and save the rest for dinner, or turn her into his pet, so he’d finally have someone to keep him company.

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  If you want to read more books by Crystal Dawn, check out:

  Blue Moon Pack Series

  Planet Amazon Series

  Cousins of the Moon Series

  Legends of the White Werewolf Series

  Keepers of the Land Series

  Frozen Origin Series

  Frozen Origin Quickies

  Loved by a God series

  The Southwest Illinois Pack Series

  The Wilde Pack series

  The Strong Pack

  Serena’s Salvation (Fated & Forbidden Collection)

  Catty Diva’s series

  The Mating Game

  Moon Hunter’s Inc.

  Phoenix in Flames

  The Warriors of the Vinii by Corre Deepe

  Xanterie

  Can a bad day turn your life around?

  Crash landing on Earth seemed the worst thing that could happen to Xan, his crew and their battered ship. It was only the beginning. After nearly freezing to death, Xan’s savior, in the form of a little Earth female, is driving him crazy. He doesn’t want to want her, but he can’t seem to help it. Edie wonders if she’s gone crazy when she wakes up looking into the glowing red eyes of a naked, not quite human male. He seems determined to keep her with him, but she’s just as determined to go.

  The Red Wolf Series 2

  Stanley

  Things had changed a great deal for all of them. Stanley was considering a big step that could cost him his life or elevate his position but either way, he would no longer be Reese’s right-hand wolf. Rachel wasn’t worried, she knew Stan would win the day if he decided to take on the fight. What worried her was that he’d asked her to go with him and she wasn’t sure she could stay around wolves for the rest of her life.

  He felt something for her, no matter how much he tried to deny it. Her magic upset his wolf but even that wasn’t enough to stop him from wanting to keep her. He’d made some hard decisions and now it was time for her to make one. She would continue her life in one of two ways, with him or without him, and that decision would be final.