Rise of an African Elemental: A Dark Fantasy Novel (African Elementals Book 4)

by Alicia McCalla

  Shania burned rubber. Her tires screeched as she zigzagged the SUV away.

  Lydia yelled, “Drive faster!”

  Shania punched the accelerator to the floor and took off. The brother’s image stood in her rearview mirror, shook himself off and hopped into his car. Was he going to chase her down? Shit!

  CHAPTER TEN

  Stacey

  Stacey lumbered toward the office building carrying a plastic-wrapped platter of Deacon’s favorite chocolate chip cookies. The drive from Savannah had been torture since she’d performed the dark magic incantation with her grandmother. Her insides flared…burning. The strength of the spell had been brutal, bearing down upon her, making her expand and contract, increasing in intensity until it transformed her uterus for evil. Paralyzed until the process ended, she wouldn’t stop even if given a different choice. The lives of her brothers depended upon her decisions.

  Her insides were raw. Stacey took a deep breath, straightened her spine as she entered, sashaying into the lobby.

  “How’s it going?” The security guard noticed her walking in. “Brought Deacon’s favorite cookies again?” He remembered her as Deacon’s little girlfriend.

  “Hey…um…Jay,” she said, trying to keep herself together, a million thoughts sloshing inside her brain. The dark magic roared to life, lunging from the pit of her soul, growling like a starving beast. Stacey plastered a fake grin on her face. Did Jay hear too or was it her imagination?

  “I wish someone would bring me homemade cookies.” He winked.

  Stacey’s body perked up. Need stretched long and wide from the back of her skull to the tip of her toes.

  Deep-set eyes, tanned skin, and brown hair, Jay was handsome enough. Mmm...

  The wickedness between Stacey’s legs bloomed, allowing the ravenous hunger to blossom. Starving her. A descendant of Tyr, Jay’s paltry magic flared, attracted to the spell. She slammed the tray of cookies on the desk. Ragged breathing. Extreme hunger. She must feed or starve to death.

  “Earth to Stacey. You doing okay?” His words hung in the air.

  Stacey was torn between two sensations. She wanted to run, but another part of her wanted to devour Jay’s soul.

  Eat him!

  The magic showed her what to do in a vision. The spell she’d cast was a dark, love spell. Compelling unmated descendants of Tyr to fall in love with her, and once in love, draining away the life force.

  Lower-level magic bearers like Jay were appetizers, but Deacon’s royal blood would sustain and nourish her bloodline. Once Deacon fell madly in love, she’d perform the mating ritual, and her family could live off his magic for a century. They’d be powerful.

  Stacey fought the compulsion. That’s not what she wanted. She wanted to find a way to get out of this but... She licked her lips. Mmm... Taste Jay’s magic.

  “Come closer.” Stacey batted her eyes, sinfully pure and guileless. She could take a little from him. Her bosom perked up. Stacey became a passenger within her own body. The dark magic barreled toward Jay with searing desperation.

  Jay’s eyes glazed.

  Handsome. Succulent. Innocent.

  Stacey’s voice deepened as the dark magic whispered, “You are mine for all eternity.”

  Jay’s rolling chair squeaked. He stood. A mass grew between his thighs.

  “Please, kiss me,” he begged, his eyes full of rapture.

  Stacey led his face down to hers and opened her mouth to hungrily meet his. The kiss, at first tender, turned into a fiery abyss, boiling. The dark spell ruled her. Jay’s magic funneled from his body filling Stacey’s throat, connecting in an explosive blast. Stacey must have more of him—faster.

  “Where?” she pulled back from the kiss, panting, “can we be alone?”

  Jay led Stacey into the nearby work closet. Closing the door, he dropped his security belt and gun, lifted Stacey high up, penetrating and pounding her insides. Faster and faster, gorging and devouring Stacey against the hard cement wall. The dark magic pulled from her ravenous kiss and vagina at the same time; she became a funnel cloud of heated torque that drained Jay’s essence.

  Stacey orgasmed multiple times as she devoured the majority of Jay’s energy and life. The moment ended with him sliding her down to the ground until he collapsed with sheer love and ecstasy on his face. Stacey pulled her skirt down and bent over to see if he were dead.

  “Fuck!” she squeaked. “What am I going to do now?”

  She didn’t mean to drain so much of him. How was she going to help him survive? She held the door open with her butt and dragged Jay back to his chair. She couldn’t lift him alone, so she called her staff and used a bit of magic to place him back in his chair. Her nerves were frazzled, but the dark magic was suspiciously calm. She needed to act quickly or Jay wouldn’t survive, for real.

  Ride him until he expires, the magic insisted. Drain all of him.

  No! She grabbed her ears. No!

  Let him die!

  She wouldn’t listen. She checked his pulse. Slowing. She shakily picked up the desk phone.

  “Help. Someone’s hurt at the front desk. Come check on him!”

  Jay’s walkie-talkie sounded. She didn’t want to be around when they came. She didn’t want anyone to know she’d been there. She grabbed her platter of cookies and ran toward the elevator, pushing the button. Good, it was already down. She hopped on but when she entered, she stopped at her reflection in the elevator mirror. Her eyes yellowed, and half of her face had the pallor of death.

  Christ! She pulled at the bags under her eyes as the elevator doors smashed shut. She was turning into a creature of Hel or Loki’s daughter. Her stomach turned inside out. She wanted to vomit, but she kept her cool.

  She ran her fingers through her hair. Think. Think. Think. That spell worked well on Jay. Maybe it would take Deacon down quickly and she could move on with her life. She swung her hair and the panic receded.

  Her image back to normal. Good. No one must know what secretly lurked underneath. The bell rang to Deacon’s floor and she got off. Jay’s seed ran down her leg. She squished her thighs together to rub it in then kept walking. She didn’t have time to think about Jay; she focused on her next victim.

  Deacon’s royal blood with her bloodline would set the universe straight. Saving herself and her brothers from her horrible uncles. Her chest knotted. She gripped the tray, her knuckles went white. She couldn’t catch her breath. Tears threatened. What had she done? Hopefully, she wouldn’t lose her life like her mother. Sobs caught in her throat. She wanted to hurl the platter of cookies against the wall. Breathe!

  Deacon had his back facing her. Stacey relaxed her shoulders and planted on a watery smile, straightening her hair and skirt. He hunched over his desk with his eyes glued to his computer screen. What was he looking at so intently? Stacey ground her bottom lip. A picture of a little girl and his ex. What was her name? Shania, that was it. Her stomach turned. Still pining over her? Stacey didn’t care. The dark, love magic would do the work for her.

  She covered his eyes as she wafted the cookies under his nose. He caught her hands before she reached him, turning around. He gazed through her. His mind and heart elsewhere.

  “Bad day?” Stacey tried to make herself sound supportive.

  He rubbed his chest. “Yeah.” He forced a smile.

  “I brought cookies, your fave. Ought to make you feel better.” Her voice cracked, cackling.

  Deacon studied her. The dark magic lunged forward, trying to take him, but there was a blockage. His royal blood was too strong. He wasn’t bespelled. Shit! Her grandmother assured her that this would work. Still, the darkness wasn’t working on him the way she expected.

  “Thanks.” He took the plate from her, putting it on the side of his desk. “I’ll eat these later. Not hungry now.”

  Stacey folded her arms, pissed. He took her love and threw it to the side. That’s what she was, second fiddle to that black girl he’d been pining over for ten years.

&nbs
p; “She’s never coming back.” Stacey allowed the venom from her words to run through her system. Where did that come from? The dark magic?

  “What?” Deacon frowned at her, clueless.

  “I saw you looking at her picture again. She’s never coming back. She abandoned you, but I’ve been here waiting for you to see me.” Stacey allowed the fake tears to run down her face.

  “No. Not here.” Deacon stood to rub her back, consoling her the way a brother consoles a little sister. It was like watching a TV show where everyone could see that he just wasn’t into her, but the girl didn’t know it.

  “We’ve been through this before. I’m not a marrying kind of guy. I would be no good for you.”

  Real concern peppered his eyes, but she wouldn’t let him get off that easy. She must get him to sleep with her. She let the waterworks flow. He pulled her into a gentle hug. The dark magic tightened in her belly, reaching its fingers out of her, but it couldn’t grab Deacon. Fuck!

  “Stacey, we can only be friends. I’m just no good for any woman right now.” He led her to his chair and helped her sit down.

  She allowed the real tears to fall. No more faking. Her uncles were going to kill her little brothers if she couldn’t convince this fool to be her mate.

  Deacon soothed her. “You deserve a man who will give you everything. What happened to Ryan?”

  The dark magic called to him through Stacey’s mouth. Be mine forever.

  Deacon hesitated. She moved closer toward a kiss, but he stepped back. Stacey bawled. Ryan was dead, but she couldn’t tell Deacon the whole truth.

  He rattled on and on. “My life. My work. I’d be away from you all the time. It wouldn’t be fair or right. We’re just friends, right?”

  Stacey wanted to damage him. She wanted to make his head explode. She wanted to kill him; instead, she fixated on him with weak eyes. She painted the best helpless face that she could.

  “Well, would you at least take me out to dinner tonight? It would make me feel better.” Deacon handed her a Kleenex and she blew her nose. “Ryan and I parted ways.”

  That was an understatement!

  “Sorry about the breakup. Tonight, okay.” He kissed her on the forehead.

  Inside, she calculated. Score one for her little plan, but could she convince him to sleep with her? She sat in his chair, thinking of how to prolong her stay.

  “Can I have a little water?”

  Just one kiss. The dark magic whispered underneath.

  Deacon gave her the once-over, confused. “Sure, be back in a sec.”

  Stacey bounced her knees up and down. She crossed and recrossed her legs while twirling her hair. The corner of her mouth trembled. She had to think of something to do. Aha! She called her staff, closed her eyes and waved her hands over the cookies. She placed an enchantment that would make him think only of her. This would push him into her arms. He returned with her water and she took a huge gulp.

  “Thanks.” She stood up. She stumbled and fell on him. Her lips almost touched his. He smiled but didn’t make a move.

  “No problem,” he said, matter-of-factly.

  Damn. Stacey had to think quick as the space between the two of them grew colder. “Please eat one of my cookies. I know you’ll love them.”

  He smiled at her and opened the package. He took a bite out of one. “Good.” He smiled, but nothing miraculous happened. “I’ll put the rest in the office workroom.”

  Stacey tried not to allow her emotions to show. The cookies didn’t work. Her magic must be inconsistent.

  She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “I made these for you. No need to share with the office.”

  Deacon smiled. “Gotcha. See you later.”

  He walked her to the elevator. Stacey deflated.

  Behind him, someone said, “The security guard, Jay, passed out from exhaustion at the front desk.”

  Stacey didn’t want to hear anymore. She squeezed her legs together. She should’ve finished Jay off. The magic growled again. How was she going to convince Deacon to fall in love with her, so she could save her brothers from beheading like her beloved Ryan? Stacey pulverized her bottom lip. If this didn’t work, she was destined to die just like her mother.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Shania

  Shania punched the accelerator to the floor and took off. She saw the brother in her rearview mirror shake himself off and race toward his car. Was he going to chase her down? Shit!

  Shania’s stomach flip-flopped. How could she lose this monster? The warrior song called to her to fight, but her need to survive took precedence. She glanced in the rearview mirror. Her baby’s life depended upon her keeping it together. She must think clearly. She raced down the highway at a hundred miles per hour.

  Shania mashed the gas and sliced across a highway cut-through. This was an emergency; the Tennessee Sheriff would understand. She had to get away. She bit down on her lip. She wouldn’t allow him to catch up to her. Her insides burned with fear. She didn’t understand why the man would be chasing her down. Corbin told him?!

  She slowed down then stopped, positioning herself behind an outcropping of trees and waited. A few seconds later, the fiend’s tires crunched along the road. He came after her—fast. His vehicle whooshed by her. He craned his neck and fixated on her waiting in the wings, but it was too late.

  Shania pushed her SUV hard and went in the opposite direction from that lunatic. She re-entered the road. There were a few cars and some bikers. Shania made her speed faster than theirs and crossed the Georgia state line.

  She whispered a mantra. I’ve done what I had to, and I’ll continue to do what I must to keep us safe.

  After a few minutes, she peered behind her and no one was coming. Her body relaxed and she settled down. She needed some gas. Her hybrid SUV made it far, but she needed to fill up and get her mind together. Shania exited the highway and drove to the nearest facility. She beat her thumbs on the steering wheel as she turned into the station.

  This place was podunk. Nothing happened here except the “good ol’ country folks” trying to capture Northerners’ gas money. The place was built to stop, get gas and leave. Good news it wasn’t super-expensive. Shania stopped.

  “Mama, can we get out?” Lydia’s voice droned in the background. Shania’s nerves were raw. She glared at her bloody shirt. I must change.

  “Not now.” Shania’s voice cracked, changing the pitch.

  Her hands shook when she clicked the automatic locks open. She wanted to throw up. Shania scanned the area in front and behind her. She rushed to open the trunk to get a new shirt.

  Whew, Georgia is hot in June.

  Thor barked.

  “Calm him down!” Shania’s heart palpitated. Lydia rubbed Thor’s head.

  Sweat trickled down Shania’s spine. She wrenched open her suitcase and found a tank top. Her fingers tingled. She swallowed hard, trying to control her whimpering. She must be strong for her baby girl. The dried blood freaked her out, filling her mind with insane thoughts. Shania hyperventilated, plopping down on the edge of the trunk opening.

  What if we died? How could she find protection for her and Lydia? She didn’t know where to begin to find Deacon.

  She recited another one of her mantras. Love and believe in yourself. Then the love and warmth you seek will be able to find you.

  Shania calmed down. She studied the area. This place was crazy empty. Where were all the people?

  Eee-rie.

  She ripped off the bloody shirt, replacing it with the tank top. After the morning sheꞌd had, she was glad no one was around, but still it had to be almost 10 a.m. Seemed like people would be out for breakfast or brunch maybe? Her muscles twitched. The wind blew a creaky sign hanging in front of the gas station. Thor growled. She jumped, bumping her head on the inside of the hatch.

  We’ve got to get out of here.

  She leaped out of the vehicle, slamming the trunk hard. Shania ripped out her wallet and ran to the pump to swipe h
er credit card. Her stomach rolled. She took quick breaths.

  I can do this.

  She lifted the pump and refueled, biting her fingernails while squeezing the gas pump, getting back to her thoughts. How was she going to tell Deacon about their child? Would he still love her? Would he help her? She had an empty sensation in the pit of her stomach.

  Corbin’s going to kill me. He won’t stop until I’m gone. Evil will get us. The pump clicked. She jerked the hose, spilling gas.

  My hands won’t stop shaking. She trembled while returning it to the holder and replacing the gas cap.

  Lydia rolled down the window “Mama, I’ve got to pee and I’m starving.”

  Shania’s attention refocused. This place freaked her out. Gosh, still not one person in sight. Weird.

  The wind rattled that rusty sign again. The squeaking sent chills up her spine. She peered into the passenger’s window. Her grandmother’s Bible sat on the dashboard, open to Psalms 23, as if it knew she needed protection. How’d that get there? Wasn’t it on the floor?

  Her heart squeezed.

  She closed her eyes and took a cleansing breath. She would get through all of this. She missed her grandmother so much. Tough, strong, her Nanabaa would’ve known what to do, even in all of this craziness. Shania had made so many bad choices over the years. She’d accepted a lot of abuse. She couldn’t help but beat up on herself. She’d been so stupid. She’d allowed Corbin to run her life. Her mind refocused on Lydia and Thor in the car.

  She shakily tapped on the window. “Lyd, come on. Let’s go inside to tinkle and get some snacks.”

  Thor barked. “No, bud. You stay in the car. No four-legged people allowed.”

  “Aww.” Lydia grabbed Thor and kissed him on the forehead. He licked her face. Lydia cracked the window and hopped out.

  “Thor’s important, too. They should let him come into the station. He’s got to pee.”

  “We’ll let him go when we come back.” Shania hugged her daughter and kissed her forehead. The kid had her own style. She wore a pair of satin pink sneakers with denim flowers. This all matched her Skinny jeans and fuchsia T-shirt. The child was tall and lanky, with long, spiraled afro curls that had pink barrettes on the end. Lydia was destined to be a pre-teen model.