by D. R. Rosier
“Kat, Sue, it will take a while before they are all here, you should take a nap if you can.”
Katrina said, “Probably, but I can’t sleep right now, not a chance.”
Sue cleared her throat, “I could put us both asleep; just make sure you wake us when they get here. It won’t be hard, the spell puts us in a normal restful sleep, it doesn’t keep us asleep.”
I nodded agreement and watched them go upstairs. I blew out a breath as Bell wrapped her arms around me from behind and kissed my shoulder.
Bell said, “Looks like we get our revenge after all.”
I nodded, I wanted revenge, I wanted them dead if they were attacking us. But honestly I’d have preferred them giving up without a fight. I loved my family, and I’d rather they were safe than being able to satisfy any need I had to spill the enemy’s blood.
I was fairly confident though that as long as we fought together, we could win. The question was if any of us would die in the process. If it was Katrina, most of us would die anyway. Sue and Bell were the only others that couldn’t just come back…
For the rest of us it would just be a matter of Katrina needing to rebuild some bodies. Even if my body was destroyed, my soul would still be tethered to her. Still, it wasn’t pleasant to contemplate, I could still feel pain.
With Katrina asleep Allie was controlling our forces. We finished getting ready the best we could. We had a force of mixed humans, vampires, zombies, a few witches, and a few fae at the front door, the back door, and the center of the house to respond to window breaches. We figured the best way to fight would be where they were forced to come in a few at a time.
Bell and I stood apart with the idea to be available to help if any one group got in trouble. Although honestly I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of not guarding Katrina, at least she would be responsible for the middle group, not that anywhere was really safe.
Just in case retreat became necessary, the four fae in the basement portal room were standing by. Bell could get some of us out in a moment’s notice, the most important people, but not all of us. After we finished preparations, we waited for the enemy to arrive. What we had now would have to be enough.
We managed to let them get a couple of hours sleep, waking them early enough to get to shake off their sleepiness. When they were a couple of blocks away they split into two groups of fifty and one group broke off, obviously heading for the back of the house. When they got in range I frowned, each group had one shield covering them all, it seemed they had combined their power.
The shield was extremely strong, too strong for just one of us to break it. That made me wonder what they were planning, they wouldn’t be able to get in the house like that…
-Katrina-
They were too well shielded right now, with all of them creating one shield together so I didn’t bother with attacks yet. The first thing they tried to do was burn us out. I could hardly believe my eyes, or my liches’ eyes, as they lit Molotov cocktails and tossed them at the house. The wards would have taken the hits easy enough, but I had Neal detonate them with sorcery before they got to the house.
They must have had a backup plan because it was only a few seconds later when they started hitting the house with powerful TK strikes from both sides, still making no move to enter the house. The wards couldn’t hold up to two sets of fifty human minds pounding a single spot in unison.
The front and back door blew up in splinters; windows were knocked out, taking the surrounding frame and part of the wall as well. They continued pounding into the house and I wondered if it would hold up. When I felt all the wards fail they stopped. So much for my powerfully warded house, it was down to us now.
Apparently the big hammer was only to take out the wards, I felt both groups break up and then join into groups of ten, with their leader as the focus. I realized right away they needed to split up to get in the house and kill us, but ten humans sharing minds was still formidable, it would take a lot of power to break a group apart.
They started moving toward the door, and the holes, in their new configuration. I rushed to one of the windows with my group. My shield was dark and I had my fist covered in death. I’d have to see how it worked without the speed and strength. When they got to the window I felt a sharp stab against my shield as I attacked theirs.
Bell joined my attack with her solid shadows, I wasn’t sure where Jeremy was, but we apparently didn’t need him at the moment when the six fae and three humans attacked with us their shield shattered. Their minds must have separated from the shock of it because they looked confused.
Bell didn’t waste any time; I saw shadows shoot from her body impaling all ten of them before they could recover and even try shielding themselves. I followed her attack with my power and despite what I said earlier made them all revenants to join my group on the spot. This was no time to limit my power as I felt two groups farther along in the house coming through the windows unopposed.
I flinched and turned in Katie’s direction, though I couldn’t see her through the wall. Her body was just turned to paste by one of the groups. I sent my ten new humans in that direction while I tried to rebuild Katie’s body and get ready to face the next group…
-Jeremy-
I had turned the wards off, I was afraid they’d knock the house down with us in it if I hadn’t. Now that they were crawling through the windows and committed to entering the house in smaller groups I muttered the command word under my breath and my wards came back. They were still damaged, some of them completely gone, but I could feel the house react and attack the groups.
The wards weren’t powerful enough to break their shields, even with just ten of them that was still more than enough to resist. But it would make it easier for us to break them. I trusted Bell to protect Katrina and ran to back up Katie’s position. Between the wards, witches, fae and humans there, not to mention the vampires physically pounding on them, the shield buckled the moment I hit it with my dagger.
I didn’t hesitate to plunge it into the first chest I saw, routing the energy to my healing amulets. I managed to get one more before the vampires finished tearing their bodies up. I felt Katrina’s familiar energy rush by and snag all the dead, and start rebuilding bodies.
Katie looked beyond pissed when her body finished reforming.
She growled, “Next group,” and we all followed her as she ran for the hallway.
All the humans were in the house and I could feel the last eight groups reconfigure as they became four and started knocking down walls. I wondered if we should retreat, this wouldn’t be good. Sure, the odds went down, it was three groups to their four now, but I wasn’t so sure we could breach their shields anymore.
“Oh fuck,” slipped out of my mouth.
Katie asked impatiently, “What now?”
I asked, “Can’t you feel it?”
She looked to retort sharply, but then her eyes widened…
-Katrina-
I closed my eyes, I felt Allie get torn apart, and the rest of that group was following. The enemy had doubled the size of their groups and I wasn’t feeling very hopeful we could breach them as we were now. Katie and Jeremy’s group was too far away for us to join up anytime fast.
“Holy shit,” I muttered when I felt it.
There were thousands of humans coming this way. I sent the signal to retreat and we ran for the basement. I didn’t think we were going to make it as one of the groups got in our way and started attacking. I knew my shields wouldn’t last long when they focused their attack on me. I was channeling from over three hundred souls now and focused purely on defense, but I was just one person.
I felt Bell’s shadows rise around me and smiled at her. I didn’t want to run, but we could rebuild the house and most of the people if I lived. But then I felt the attack stop cold, it was no longer there. Bell hesitated a moment and held back teleporting us.
I looked curiously at the group of twenty humans before us. Their eyes had gotten wide and pa
nicked, and then I felt it. The shield that had risen up between us, it was a second shield and not theirs. It closed in around the hunters and squeezed. The sound of snapping bone and compressing flesh was horrifying as they all were all turned to mush.
I was in shock as I felt all the hunters in the house dying around me. The power behind the strikes was the combined might of the thousands of humans I had felt outside. My power started reaching out and snatching them all up, almost by habit.
They weren’t even running, still in shock from their violent deaths. I now had close to three hundred and ninety souls. I’d be happy if I never had to take another one. But there was a mystery, why would all those humans have come to our defense?
I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, outside of grateful I mean. It was just so… surprising. I also felt incredibly vulnerable. I was sure they could reach out and crush the house and everyone in it like a bug with all that power behind them.
I looked at Bell gratefully when she put an arm around me and squeezed my shoulder. We walked in the direction of the front of the house even while I pumped out magic, repairing the bodies of the revenants that had been destroyed. Luckily, Sue was fine. Unfortunately four of the twenty vampires died, I let them choose, and three of them were old and ready for the next life, one of them chose to stay and became a zombie.
It was a hell of a sight when I walked out the front door. Jeremy took my hand and we were staring at them. Two humans separated from the immense crowd and came forward, my knees almost buckled when I saw who it was.
Fran Burnheimer said in a voice both annoyed and apologetic, “Sorry we were late, sometimes those damn visions are so hard to pin down.”
My mouth dropped open, “You saw this, and gathered all these people?”
She nodded, “Remember when we met, I almost fell on the floor. That nice woman that was with you caught me. Anyway, that’s when I saw it. Well, my husband and I started spreading the word and everyone that has met you volunteered.
She made a face, “As you can see, after that it sort of snowballed. We weren’t about to let a bunch of hoodlums kill one of our own. We don’t hold with murderers, so we came to put them down.”
I was speechless and felt my eyes start to water.
I cleared my throat, “Thank you.”
She nodded, looked at the house, and said critically, “Well, at least it’s still standing. I’d meant to get here earlier.”
I giggled, “Don’t worry about the house; that we can easily fix.”
She said, “Let me know if you need help with anything, or just someone to talk to.”
It was in a kind of daze when I agreed and we said our goodbyes.
-Jeremy-
It took less time than I thought to fix the house. In less than a week, with all the zombie labor we had and a few people with knowledge of building, we had the house back. Supplies were easy to arrange. Katrina had sent us out shopping for wood, replacement doors, siding, and windows. Bell had easily moved it all straight from the lumber yard so we wouldn’t have to wait for delivery.
I did eventually get that date with Sue, and we hit it off even better than I had expected. I’d always gotten along with her around the house, but after some one on one time she felt like family. I found her attractive, but it didn’t really bother me that she didn’t feel the same; she had no problem sharing a bed with me though when Bell joined us later that night.
It seemed like the hunter problem was really over now, there were none left. The battle made its way on the news and we, and our city, were shown in a good light. Katrina was ecstatic about being so welcome and we pushed forward with our plans and Sue’s store.
I wasn’t sure what the future would hold, or even where the next enemy would come from. It was a harsh life sometimes, and I was sure some asshole would start a fight sooner or later. But I was happier than I’d ever been. I had five women who loved me and we were a family. We also had a city that accepted us and valued us for who we were and what we could provide, instead of what we were born as.
I’d just take life as it comes, and with my family at my side I couldn’t wait for what might come next…
Afterword:
I hope you enjoyed book 4 which is the end of Jeremy’s and Katrina’s story. I do not have solid plans to write any other novels in this universe at this time. I have several other projects in the works including the third book in the Cirenthian Chronicles that should wrap up the story arc.
About the Author: If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at [email protected]. I started out posting short stories online and at readers’ requests started to publish them. If you like my work, or even if you don’t, please consider leaving a review of this book.
Other erotic fantasies by D. R. Rosier:
Cirenthian Chronicles – Book one is Out of Darkness. Marcus, an ancient vampire, finds himself moved to another world where suddenly he is alive again, and magic is a known and powerful danger. No longer a vampire and dealing with emotions he hasn’t felt in over a millennium, will he be able to start a new life? This series is still being written.
Necromancer Chronicles – Book one is The Necromancer.
Vincent is a necromancer and has an even darker secret. Feared by the rest of the supernatural community he lives on his own, often struggling with his powers, and how to use them. But change is coming, and he will soon find himself dragged into the middle of a suspicious and untrusting community.
Anise is a sorceress, but she has secrets of her own. She is an ancient being, who has walked the earth for time immemorial. She lives in a never ending cycle of life, forever watching those she dares to care about age and die. But she is about to find something new that will offer her hope, if she can live long enough to find it.
Cytherean Chronicles – Book one is Flame of Cytherea. This two book series follows the chosen champion of a goddess, brought to her world and healed after he was mortally wounded on Earth. At first Justin is a little lost, not knowing anything about the world he finds himself in or even why he is there.
Ashley’s Tale – This two book series follows the tale of a woman with unique parentage in a world greatly different from our own Earth. It is twenty five years in the future, and the supernatural have long since been exposed. Ashley must struggle with her conflicting nature to find a balance, and her hidden power, as she is taken unwillingly into an extraordinary destiny.
More books can be found on my author’s page at amazon.com/author/drrosier
Non-erotic Fantasy title:
amazon.com/author/dlharrison
The Formerly Dark Mage, by D. L. Harrison – This stand alone fantasy book follows the life of Silvia and takes place in a world unique and separate to our own.
Silvia is a dark mage. Unfortunately she finds herself about to be sacrificed. Someone must have told her evil master about her plans to kill him and take over. After that, things just seem to go downhill. She has no choice but to escape the kingdom of Zual, something that to her knowledge has never been done before. She will need to deal with many issues she never had to face before.
Among those issues, the white mages, and her conscience.
Book Description
Jeremy is a warlock. Judged his whole life based on the actions of others of his race, he has been chased out of towns his whole life and for the last three years he has been hunted now that the humans have gained their own magics. His only companion has been Bell, a powerful demoness he summoned long ago. Will he stand by his convictions and not use his darker magics, or will he succumb to temptation?
Katrina is a necromancer. Her family was betrayed six years ago and her parents were killed as a result. Since then much has changed in the world but she had felt nothing but rage and the bitter taste of the revenge that didn’t quench it. Will she be able to let go of the past and start embracing life again?
This book is told in the first person view, from both the perspective of Jeremy and Katrina. Thi
s is the stand alone book in the Necromancer Chronicles. It helps to have read the earlier books for some of the mechanics, but it is not essential to understand the story. This story takes place a few years after the conclusion of book three.
WARNING: This book is an erotic novel. If you are offended by explicit sex, do not buy this book. There is MF, FF, and group scenes of a sexually explicit nature.