The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance

by Trisha Telep

  He had promised to do the Sorceress’ bidding in return for finding Isabel, and now all he wanted was to keep her.

  He stood on the landing and waited for her to catch up. By the time she reached his side he’d decided there was no right way to tell his story, so he simply began to speak. While he spoke, the images crowded in on him.

  He explained to her about the bargain he’d made with Neptune on the voyage from Nantucket, and how in return his life and that of his crew was spared. “In time I forgot about it, or pretended I had. And then the storm came and the steamer was heading for the rocks.”

  That storm was like nothing he’d ever seen before, nothing he’d ever experienced. The wild tearing at the very fabric of the lighthouse, the pounding against the thick-glassed windows, as if the wind and rain wanted to come inside and attack him.

  “We were up in the lantern room. I wanted to be sure all was well and that the lamps were burning bright. And that was when we saw him.”

  “I know,” she whispered, “I remember that part.” She shuddered. “The light went out.”

  “Yes,” he said bleakly, “the light went out, and nothing I did would relight it. Without the light the only chance I had of warning the steamer about the rocks was to send off some rockets.”

  “You told me to wait here for you.”

  “I went out into the storm. It was so bad I could hardly see anything. I took the rockets out onto the edge of the cliffs ...”

  “He was waiting for you. Neptune.”

  She was shaking, and gripped her fingers together tightly. He could see her remembering the monster rising up through the waves, the seawater pouring from its blue skin, black eyes without any whites, unblinking and with nothing human about them. Mortal, it had said, its voice deep and hollow, I am here to claim what is mine. We struck a deal and now it is time for you to honour it.

  “The steamer,” Isabel murmured, her face chalky. “He’d come for the steamer and all those lives.”

  Zek didn’t disillusion her. “I tried to light the rocket but I fumbled. Nothing was working and I understood then that Neptune was controlling matters. He could have squashed me flat with his hand, but that wasn’t what he wanted.”

  “I know you did everything you could to save the steamer. You lost your life ...”

  She didn’t understand; she didn’t know the truth, and he wasn’t going to tell her. Heart in his mouth, he remembered how he’d watched Neptune’s black eyes peering into the lantern room. Isabel was standing, silhouetted against the faint light from the single lamp she was holding, and a smile curled the monster’s lipless mouth. The unblinking gaze dropped to his again, and Zek saw the greed.

  It was Isabel the monster wanted.

  He had stood, frozen, and listened to the steamer’s keel grinding against the rocks, and even though the wind was screaming he could hear the cries of the passengers and crew as they realized they were about to drown. And all the while the monster had stared back at him, enjoying his pain, and knowing there would come a point where he could no longer bear it.

  I will give you my life, Neptune. Take me instead. Please . . .

  No, mortal. I want Isabel. Give her to me.

  The steamer was going down, the screams heart-wrenchingly desperate, more so because Zek knew it was impossible for him to save them. But it was equally impossible for him not to try, although he knew he would drown in the attempt. He’d turned to look up at Isabel, a final glance, thinking that at least she was safe. Then he’d dived from the cliff into the swirling, violent sea.

  “Zek?”

  Izzy felt another gust of wind strike the outside of the lighthouse, shaking it. Rain splattered. Lightning flashed, illuminating a violent world, before the thunder followed.

  “This is the same storm, isn’t it? The Sorceress has taken us back in time so that we can get it right.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well then, we will get it right. We have to. I can’t live another 150 years without you, not again. We’ll do whatever we have to.”

  He smiled, but it was a wary smile, and she almost laughed. It was becoming obvious to her that she was far more forceful and independent than the Isabel he’d known before. Just as well, considering what they had to do. She had no intention of waiting patiently in the lantern room while her man went out, alone, to save the world. This time her place would be right by his side.

  They’d reached the trapdoor into the lantern room and climbed through. Time really had jumped backwards because the old, unused lamps were burning brightly and, as she stared, the lighthouse flashed out a warning over the waters below.

  Zek was up and about, checking that all was in order, his movements full of confidence and long practice. This was his lighthouse, his job, and Izzy felt an ache in her heart as she remembered the way his name had been vilified all these years.

  As he worked she stood, peering through the glass walls. The weather encircled them, pounding for entry, driving hail and spitting rain, as if it wanted to destroy them.

  “Dear God,” she whispered, as the lights of the steamer flickered out to sea.

  And he was beside her, his face a peculiar shade of green in the storm’s light. Once again he reached out for her hand. It seemed natural, and just as natural when she grasped his fingers, entangling them with hers, finding comfort in his touch.

  “Neptune is an old god. He gains his power from the sea and those lost within it. The lighthouse is a bulwark against his storms and he’d like nothing better than to tear it down.”

  “So . . . what is the plan?” she said, taking a wobbly breath.

  He looked at her and smiled. “I’ve come from the between-worlds, Isabel. I’m somewhere halfway between life and death, so I’m not entirely human either. That might give me the edge I didn’t have when I faced him before.”

  As if in response to his words, the lantern room was plunged into darkness.

  There was a tremendous roar from beyond the cliffs. Not thunder, not this time.

  She’d dreamed about this, and now she wished it was still a dream. Neptune was coming up out of the waves, flesh shining an eerie blue, white hair long and wet and wriggling like a nest of sea serpents. It... he . . . was immense, a veritable monster, and as he rose to his full height he was as tall as the cliff and the lighthouse combined. His eyes had no white in them at all. They were shining like ebony as he gazed into the dark lantern room.

  “Mortal!” he roared. “I have come.”

  Izzy was aware of Zek’s arm tight around her. He was warm and strong, not like a dead man at all, and his breath stirred her hair as he spoke. “It is time for me to go down. Stay here.”

  “No! We go together.”

  He shook his head. “Stay here.”

  “I’m coming with you,” she said stubbornly. “This time we’ll face him together.”

  He opened his mouth again, but someone else spoke before he could get the words out.

  “Tell her the truth, Zek. Tell her what Neptune really wants.”

  Izzy gasped, gaze flying to the opposite side of the lantern room. A woman in a long white dress stood there, her red hair loose, her eyes a brilliant blue. After one glance, she found she could not meet the woman’s stare directly - the pain was too intense.

  “No, Sorceress,” her man said, “I will do this my way.”

  “Doing it your way wasn’t so successful before,” the Sorceress retorted with a nasty little smile. “Tell her. You say you love her. I believe you must doj you saved her last time at the cost of yourself and all those others. Trust her, let her stand with you. Learn from your mistakes, that’s why you’re here.”

  Then it suddenly all made sense. Neptune had saved Zek, and then he’d demanded Isabel in return. Not the steamer after all.

  “It’s me he wants,” she whispered. “Isn’t it? It was always me.”

  Neptune roared, his tail slammed down on the sea’s surface and a huge wave of spume rose against the lighthouse. When
the air cleared again, the nearing lights of the steamer were visible through the water running down the glass.

  “Yes, Neptune wants you,” he admitted. “He told me he would save the steamer if I gave you to him. I said no.”

  “But all those people . . . the passengers aboard the steamer...”

  “I said no, Isabel.”

  Her mouth went stubborn and straight, and Zek watched it with fascination. It was Isabel’s mouth and yet it wasn’t. “This time he’ll get what he wants.”

  “No!”

  Tears drowned her eyes, overflowing. “Do you know what they’ve said about you all these years? How they’ve blamed you and blackened your name and destroyed your character? I won’t let it happen this time. You don’t deserve it. You saved my life and now it’s in my power to put history right, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

  She moved away, towards the trapdoor, but his quiet resigned words stopped her.

  “We’ll go together.”

  She felt a jumble of fear and relief, and the next moment they were through the trapdoor and running down the winding stairs. The wind dropped when they reached the door, and Zek was able to open it without too much of a struggle. She followed him out into the spitting rain, clinging to the wall of the lighthouse as they rounded it and made their way towards the cliff edge.

  Before them, the massive form of Neptune was swaying in the storm and, behind him, Izzy could see the looming shape of the steamer approaching the rocks.

  History must not be repeated, she told herself. If necessary she would give her life to save the others. To save her husband. An odd calmness came over her as she gazed over the dizzying drop to the water below, to where the god of the sea waited.

  Zek stepped in front of her, spread his arms wide and threw back his head. “I’m here, my lord Neptune!” he shouted into the wind.

  Neptune’s oily eyes gleamed and his hair writhed. He swooped down, his face half fish and half man, and hovered over them. His mouth opened to show long sharp teeth. “I saved your life, now I’m here to collect on the deal, Captain Cole. The time has come to pay up.”

  “Tell me what you want,” Zek said, but he was only playing for time.

  “Isabel,” the monster said, his voice hissing like spray against the rocks. He smiled as she stepped out from the shadows.

  Zek wanted to turn her around and run with her back to the lighthouse, to safety, but he forced himself to remain still. The Sorceress was right, Isabel was right - they needed to face this together.

  Izzy spoke calmly, as if she dealt with sea gods every day of the week. “I want you to bring back the light and save the passenger steamer.”

  The unblinking eyes fixed on her. “Why should I?”

  “You said you wanted me. I’m here. Now do as I say.”

  Neptune laughed. Behind him they could see the steamer struggling in the storm, all those souls aboard.

  “Come with me,” Neptune hissed. “I command it, Isabel.”

  “Not until you turn the light back on,” she shouted, angry and desperate.

  But the monster just laughed, and suddenly they knew the truth. “You never meant to save the steamer, did you? If I hadn’t died and negated our deal, you would have come back over and over again. Isabel was just an excuse to make me give you the steamer. There would have been another ship after that, and then another.”

  The monster’s eyes were cold and pitiless. “Those who go to sea must pay a price. I only ask for what is fair.”

  “How is that fair?” Izzy cried.

  “A life given for a life saved,” he hissed. “This is my domain and I make the rules.”

  “But here’s the thing, Neptune. The days of the old gods are past, and if anyone makes the rules, then it’s me.” The Sorceress was standing beside them on the cliff top, her long red hair streaming in the wind, her arms raised, the crackle of blue lightning flying from her fingers.

  “No!” he roared, his tail thumping on the surface, sending water streaming into the air around him.

  “Neptune, come with me,” she shouted, her voice like a sonic boom.

  “You cannot make me! I was in this world before you and your kind were even thought of. I belong here.”

  But the Sorceress had begun to sing, words with no meaning, weaving them into an achingly beautiful and yet terrifying song. The monster clasped his hands to his head and began to groan, and then he shook himself, trying to be rid of the sounds.

  “You tricked me. This isn’t fair . . .”

  “I am the Sorceress and this isn’t about being fair. I brought Zek back from the between-worlds so that he could redeem himself— become the hero he should have been. No, Neptune, I played you at your own game. You are a liar. You’re not to be trusted. Isabel was willing to give up her life, but that wasn’t enough for you. I knew you wouldn’t stand by your word. You have no honour. Your time is over and you will leave here now.”

  Her words had hardly been spoken when Neptune began to vanish, fading like an old sepia photograph, until he was utterly gone.

  Zek’s hair was wet, plastered to his head, his clothes dripping, but he was alive. His eye glowed with passion as he drew Isabel into his arms, and they clung together as the storm began to wane.

  “I have sent him somewhere he can do no more harm,” the Sorceress said calmly, watching them. “When you called to him during the storm on your ship, you gave him the power to command you. If you’d let him, he would have sunk other ships and drowned many more people to satisfy his bloodlust.”

  “And now?” Izzy asked.

  “See for yourself,” the Sorceress said, looking up.

  The lighthouse was shining out, warning of the rocks. The steamer was turning slowly but surely back to sea. The tragedy had been averted, the past was changed, and Zek had satisfied the Sorceress’ commands.

  The Sorceress met his gaze. “You want to know what will happen now.”

  He tightened his arm about Izzy. “I know what I want to happen now.”

  “A life together,” Izzy said, pushing her dripping hair out of her eyes. “A long, happy, uneventful life together.”

  The Sorceress smiled. “Done.”

  A heartbeat later she was gone and they were alone on the cliff top. The storm was clearing and the sea growing calmer. It occurred to Izzy that she was now a resident in another time, but the lack of mod-cons was a small price to pay for all she’d gained.

  “Will you be happy?” Zek asked, reading her mind.

  “Yes.” She cupped his face in her palms, kissing his cold lips to warmth. They turned back towards the lighthouse just as the sun came through the clouds, the rays weak at first but growing stronger, the lighthouse keeper and his wife.

  Blood Song

  Lynda Hilburn

  “Are you sure you should walk home alone, Grace? Even in a small town like Boulder, women can’t be too careful,” a female voice called out.

  Grace finished locking the door to her sound-healing studio and turned to the group of attendees still lingering on the sidewalk in front of the building. She looked into their sincere faces and smiled. It was the same every time. People got so energized after participating in the sound circle that they tried to stretch the evening out as long as possible. She, on the other hand, yearned for peace, quiet and a large glass of wine. After a session, she needed to be alone to recharge. Walking home through the quiet, tree-lined streets at the end of the evening had become a private pleasure.

  Grinning, she reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a small aerosol canister. “Don’t worry about me.” She raised the container. “I’ve got my trusty pepper spray. I’m armed and dangerous. Besides, my house is only a few blocks up the hill and, in all the years I’ve lived here, nobody’s ever bothered me.”

  She almost mentioned she’d never even encountered a mountain lion, but decided not to broach the issue. It wouldn’t be wise to give the group any more ideas about why she might need company - whether s
he wanted it or not. Nothing scary had ever happened to her - fanged predators or otherwise. Unfortunately, she thought, nothing exciting, either.

  “I’ll see you at the next sound circle.” She waved and hurried down the street before the singers could foil her escape. She loved all her clients and circle members, but it had been a long week and it wasn’t over yet.

  Taking a couple of deep breaths, she felt herself begin to unwind. She walked until she came to a dead end, then turned towards the foothills, climbing the gentle trail that led to her house. She gazed up and smiled. The full moon illuminated the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, outlining them in breathtaking detail against the star-studded tapestry of the night sky. Lights from the houses sprinkled across the canyon glittered like suspended fireflies in the magical darkness.

  The late summer air held a subtle hint of fall, her favourite season, and she fantasized about the autumn equinox sound ritual she’d be creating again this year. She had invited sound healers from all over the world to participate. Thinking about the event, she remembered the face of the handsome Brazilian musician she’d met at the summer solstice celebration in Rio.

  He’d smiled at her with those amazing, full lips — displaying wicked dimples and beautiful white teeth - and she’d lost the ability to speak. His eyes were the colour of the Mediterranean Sea, and she’d longed to dive in. That memory caused heat to shimmer through her body, and she unbuttoned her jacket.

  Of course, she hadn’t had the courage to take him up on his unspoken offer. So, what else was new?

  She’d mailed him an invitation to her equinox ritual, and she didn’t know what worried her more - that he wouldn’t attend, or that he would.

  She shook her head, thinking how pitiful it was that even the thought of the musician caused her body to overheat. She was too old for that kind of reaction. She wanted to get over her dating anxiety and find a relationship - like a normal woman. How could she be so confident as a performer and healer, yet such a basket case about men? Why did she turn into a tongue-tied teenager every time a handsome guy came near?