Realms and Rebels: A Paranormal and Fantasy Reverse Harem Collection

by C. M. Stunich

  “Sounds disorienting.”

  “A little, but not as traumatic as it could be.”

  He takes one of the balls, holding it gently with both hands, and stretches it out as if it were a piece of taffy he was pulling. “Let’s start with a straightforward case to ease you into things.”

  Once the orb is stretched out, it materializes to form a person. This one is a woman who looks to be in her mid twenties. She has beautiful blonde hair and brown eyes. “Oh!” She gasps, blinking at Pierce and me in confusion.

  Pierce smiles. “Hello, Mrs. Helmke. Welcome to the afterlife.”

  She blinks a few more times and then laughs. “I finally kicked the ol’ bucket, did I?”

  Shocked by her playful attitude, I let a laugh escape. Pierce chuckles, too, then waves a hand to the chair in front of his desk. “That you did, Mrs. Helmke. Please, have a seat. We’ll see if we can’t figure out where you’re supposed to be and get you settled.”

  After she sits, Pierce comes back around the desk to sit in his chair. Suddenly, something dons on me. “Mrs. Helmke?” I glance at Pierce. “She’s the same woman Gabriel collected from the hospital yesterday?”

  “Yes.”

  I blink at the woman. “But she’s so young!”

  I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m too shocked to mind my manners.

  Mrs. Helmke chuckles. “Why, thank you, dear.”

  Pierce gives me an amused smile. “When a soul crosses, they’re transformed back to their prime state of being unless they haven’t reached it yet. Then they continue to grow until they do reach their prime. There are no sick or elderly here.”

  Mrs. Helmke’s eyes light up. “How wonderful!”

  I grin at her enthusiasm.

  Pierce smiles, too, and then leans back in his chair, steepling his fingers in front of him. “So, Mrs. Helmke, let’s talk about your life, shall we?”

  “Ah,” she says, eyes flashing with understanding. “You’re here to judge me, are you?”

  He nods. “Just part of the process. I’m Lord Pierce, one of the three lords of the Netherworld, and as you’ve guessed I’m the judge of the souls.”

  Mrs. Helmke shrugs her shoulders. “Judge away then, Lord Pierce. I’ve got nothing to hide. I made a mistake or two in my time, but I had no regrets by the end.”

  Pierce gives her an intense stare. It’s not unfriendly, but it’s so direct I don’t think I’d want to be on the receiving end of it. It’s as if he’s looking right through her—seeing and judging everything she ever did in her life. She takes it like a champ, waiting him out with her chin raised. “You’re proud of the life you lived,” Pierce says. It’s not a question, but Mrs. Helmke answers with a nod anyway.

  Pierce continues to hold her stare. “Here in the Netherworld we have three kingdoms: Paradise, Purgatory, and Prison. Do you feel you’re worthy to spend your afterlife in Paradise?”

  Mrs. Helmke thinks a moment and finally nods. “I believe I’ve earned that, yes.”

  There’s a long pause, and then Pierce flashes a wide smile at the woman. “I believe you have, too. Congratulations, and well done.” He presses a buzzer on his desk, and Gladys’s cheerful voice fills the room. “Yes, Lord Pierce?”

  “Mrs. Helmke needs an escort to Paradise, please. I do believe her husband has been waiting for the honor.”

  Mrs. Helmke gasps at the mention of her husband, and her eyes gloss over with a layer of tears. “My Stanley is here?”

  Pierce smirks. “He’s been camped out on the courthouse steps for at least a week, waiting for your arrival.”

  A couple tears escape down her cheeks, and my heart clenches in my chest. Within a minute, Mrs. Helmke’s husband is at the doorway to the office. Mrs. Helmke lets out a startled cry and rushes into his waiting arms. My eyes sting with the threat of tears. Real love is the most beautiful thing in the world.

  The happy couple thanks Pierce, and as they turn to leave, I hop up from my seat and stop them at the door. “Congratulations, Mrs. Helmke.” I shake both her hand and Stanley’s. “Welcome to the Netherworld, and enjoy that new, youthful body.”

  “Oh, I will,” she tells me with a wink that’s almost more naughty than playful. It makes me grin. I have no doubt she and her Stanley will be making up for the years they’ve spent apart.

  Suddenly, out of nowhere, I say, “You were a competitive swimmer, weren’t you?”

  She looks at me with pleasant surprise and nods. “I was.”

  “An excellent one,” Stanley tells me, puffing out his chest with pride.

  I’m shocked at how I know this information about Mrs. Helmke, but more than that, I know how she can best use her favorite hobby that would give her the most fulfilling afterlife. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy the facilities available to you in Paradise. You can swim to your heart’s content. You can even compete, if you’d like, with some of history’s finest athletes. Paradise has its own version of the Olympic Games.”

  Mrs. Helmke’s eyes grow wide. “It does?”

  I have no idea how I know this, I just know it does. I nod. “Stop by the Welcome Center once you pass through the gates, and you’ll find all the information you need to get started. You’ll even be able to find trainers that would love to help you get back into the sport.”

  She nods at me, her big, brown eyes shining with excitement. “Wow. I will. Thank you.”

  My heart softens toward the woman. “No problem. Welcome to Paradise. Enjoy your afterlife.”

  After the couple leaves, I whirl on Pierce and blink several times at him in disbelief. “How did I know that?”

  He’s staring at me with so much pride that I blush under his gaze. “It must be a gift of yours.”

  “A gift?”

  He crosses the room to me and takes my hands in his. His eyes rake over my body, as if he’s trying to see inside of me. “Each of us has gifts that the others don’t. Gabriel can move from this world to the living at will. I can see a person’s soul and know everything about them. Cyrus’s gifts are more physical, as you’ll see tomorrow. We all have our place here. We have our callings and our domains. Gabriel’s is the living world. Mine is here in Purgatory. Cyrus’s is Prison. Yours must be Paradise.”

  “You think?”

  Gabriel nods. “I had no idea there were any type of Olympic Games in Paradise. In fact, I don’t know much of Paradise at all. I’ve never been there.”

  I’m shocked. “Never?”

  He shrugs. “It’s not my domain.” He thinks for a moment and then smiles at me. “I’m sure that’s your calling. And I’m glad for it. Things basically run themselves over there, but I’m sure the souls of Paradise will be happy to have their lady there to oversee things and support them. It seems like you’ll be the welcoming committee.” His smile disappears, and his eyes fill with heat. “I would definitely consider a place to be paradise if I were welcomed to it by you.”

  My cheeks warm. Pierce doesn’t flirt the same way Gabriel does. It’s not fun and playful. In fact, Pierce doesn’t flirt. Gabriel flirts. Pierce compliments. Intensely. His gaze, when trained on mine with so much focus and desire, stirs my insides and nearly compels me to get closer.

  I take a deep breath and laugh, trying to break up the tension. Pierce relaxes a little, even though he looks like he’s ready to throw me down on his desk and take me right here in his office. The scene plays out in my mind, and my body temp rises a few degrees.

  Pierce holds my gaze a moment longer, as if he knows what I’m thinking and wants me to have ample time to entertain my dirty thoughts of him. I feel like I can’t breathe, and my heart is pounding in my chest.

  Eventually he releases me from the hold he has on me, and he clears his throat. Excitement rockets through me when he reaches up to loosen his tie a little and gulps hard. My thoughts aren’t the only ones getting hot. That I can affect this otherwise calm and collected man in such a way is thrilling. He clears his throat and says, “Maybe we should get to our next soul.�
�

  “Good idea.”

  10

  My day with Pierce goes by quickly. His job is a little more tedious than Gabriel’s, but Pierce doesn’t seem to mind. He has so much patience. I’ve seen people from all walks of life who deserve everything from the most amazing paradise to eternal damnation. People have yelled at him, lied to him, begged, and cried, and through it all Pierce stayed calm and collected. I barely managed to keep my temper reined in.

  Dealing with the good souls is easy, fun even. But I’m ready to kill some of those scumbags. After a particularly nasty soul says some very derogatory and crude things to me, Pierce recognizes that I’m reaching the end of my rope and sighs.” He looks down at the little glowing ball in his hands and says, “Perhaps after this next soul we should cut out early for the day.”

  I nod. I’m ready to leave.

  The next soul to stand judgment is a young boy with curly brown hair and adorable freckles. I gasp. “A child?”

  My chest constricts at the thought of this small boy being dead. He can’t be more than eight years old.

  Pierce gives me a soft smile. “It will be all right, Kinsey.”

  I swallow hard and try to trust him.

  The boy blinks a few times and then looks around the room. His eyes fall on Pierce and me, and he bites his lip nervously. My heart aches for him. He must be so scared and confused.

  “Hi, Julian,” Pierce says, sounding calm and confident. I’m glad I don’t have to speak. I’d be an emotional wreck. “How are you feeling? A little confused? A bit nervous, maybe?”

  Julian hesitates to answer.

  “You know what helps me when I’m scared?” Pierce asks the boy.

  I’m surprised by the question. I can’t picture Pierce afraid of anything. Julian must feel the same, because his eyes widen with surprise.

  “Chocolate,” Pierce states, making Julian’s brows rise.

  Pierce pulls a small bowl filled with individually wrapped candies from a drawer in his desk and brings it to Julian. He crouches down in front of the boy and gives him an encouraging smile. “Do you like chocolate, too?”

  The boy swallows and quietly says, “It’s my favorite.”

  “Mine too,” Pierce says. “I especially like it when it has peanuts.”

  Julian wrinkles up his nose. It’s so cute I chuckle. The boy is adorable. Pierce laughs. “Okay, no peanuts for you.” His grin turns mischievous. “More for me, then.”

  He takes a couple of pieces of candy from the bowl—I assume they’re peanut-filled chocolates—then holds the bowl out to Julian. “Take your pick. Or, you know what? Why don’t you just hold the whole bowl for me while we talk? You can eat as many as you’d like.”

  He waits patiently until Julian shyly accepts the bowl from him. Then he grins at the boy and holds out his fist to the kid for a fist bump. The boy’s eyes brighten, and he returns the fist bump before climbing into the chair in front of Pierce’s desk. “You’d better save me the peanut ones, now,” Pierce warns playfully as he sits back down.

  The boy giggles.

  My ovaries hurt watching them together. I’m shocked that Pierce is so good with little kids. He seems so impersonal sometimes. I wouldn’t have thought him capable of calming a frightened child and even teasing him, but he did it with such ease I’d say he’s a natural.

  I’m definitely not. I don’t have much experience with kids. I was an only child and never had a lot of exposure to them. I wasn’t even sure if I’d ever want any of my own. I don’t dislike them; I just never saw them in my future. But I love that Pierce is good with them. It makes him seem more human. More personable. More approachable.

  “So, Julian,” Pierce says as he watches the boy sift through the bowl of candies, “do you remember what happened?”

  After choosing a chocolate with caramel in the middle, Julian looks at Pierce. “There was a car accident.” The statement comes out unsure.

  Pierce nods. “That’s right.”

  Julian looks around the room and bites his lip again. “Am I…did I die?”

  Pierce meets the boy’s stare and nods again. “Yes, you did.”

  Julian’s eyes widen again, and he gulps.

  “There’s no need to be afraid, Julian,” Pierce says. “You aren’t in a bad place. You’re a pretty good kid.”

  “But…I’m dead. Did my family die, too?”

  “No. They didn’t.”

  Julian’s eyes gloss over with tears, and his voice shakes when he whispers, “So, I’m alone?”

  My heart breaks for the kid, but Pierce’s calm demeanor never falters. He’s as steady as a rock. “Do you remember your Nana Margret?” he asks Julian.

  Julian sucks in a breath and nods. “She was my favorite.”

  “Well, she’s here, and she’s very excited to see you. She wants you to live with her until your mom and dad are ready to come here. Would you like that?”

  Julian nods enthusiastically. Relief and excitement light up his face.

  Pierce stands and holds his hand out to me. “Are you ready? We can take Julian to meet his Nana, and then I’d like to show you around Purgatory.”

  We head out, and I melt just a little more when Julian takes Pierce’s hand and the two of them walk through the building together. They’re precious, and the sight of it makes all of the strain I was feeling from the long day fade away. By the time we’ve reunited Julian with his Nana and leave the building, my mood has lifted, and I’m much more relaxed.

  We walk down the front steps of courthouse back outside. I look around. It’s a city like any other. It seems nice. It doesn’t match the idea of Purgatory I have in my mind. When I look back at Pierce, he’s watching me take in the sights. “Do you like it here?” he asks curiously, hesitantly.

  I nod. “It’s nice.”

  He gives me a long, considering look, then says, “May I show you some of my favorite places in Purgatory?”

  My curiosity is piqued. “Please do. I’d love to get a glimpse of what makes Lord Pierce tick.”

  Pierce pops us from the courthouse to the front steps of another beautiful building. This one has a much more modern feel, with sleek lines and beautiful windows. It makes great use of several different types of building materials. The shiny metal and rustic wood come together perfectly to create something beautiful. “Welcome to the Purgatory Center for the Arts.”

  “I love it,” I say.

  Pierce smiles, pleased. “It’s one of my favorite buildings in all of Purgatory. Frank Lloyd Wright designed it not too long ago.”

  My mouth falls open in surprise. “Frank Lloyd Wright? As in, the Frank Lloyd Wright?”

  Pierce chuckles. “The very same.”

  “How is that possible? I’ve never been religious, but I’ve heard Purgatory mentioned before, and it’s always had a negative connotation with it. This…” I wave my hand at the beautiful building and then broaden the gesture to encompass the entire city around me. “This isn’t anything like I expected.”

  Pierce’s smile softens. “Purgatory is merely an in-between place,” he says, taking my hand and strolling me around the well-manicured grounds. “It’s very similar to the living world, actually. Here, the souls who weren’t quite pure enough are given the chance to work off their sins and earn their place in Paradise. Some do, while others prove that they belong in Prison. Some never really change one way or another and end up spending the whole of their afterlife here.”

  I look at the people walking or driving by, just going about their daily lives. They seem normal enough. I hate the idea of any of them being sent to eternal prison just because they made mistakes in their life. “Well, I’m glad there’s a middle ground. Most people aren’t perfect. I know I definitely wasn’t.” I cut him a sideways glance. “Just out of curiosity, if I’d died like I was meant to and came to your office as a soul, where would I have ended up?”

  Pierce stops walking and turns to face me. His mouth lifts into a crooked grin. “You wou
ld have just scraped by into Paradise.”

  I blush and look away, embarrassed because I can’t tell if he’s teasing, or if I was really that close to not making it. He lifts my chin so that I meet his gaze. “That’s why I like you,” he says. “You’re a good girl with just enough wicked in you to make things interesting.”

  My jaw falls open, and Pierce gives me a devilish grin before turning his attention back to the building in front of us. “Frank spent a couple decades here working off his sins before he earned his place in Paradise. This is the only building he created in that time, but I’m glad to have at least one. Architecture is a hobby of mine.”

  I let the change in topic slide and bob my head. “I can see that.”

  Pierce’s eyebrows raise. “Really? How so?”

  “Well, it just seems like a more refined hobby. And one that takes some intellect to truly understand and appreciate what makes a building great or unique. It seems a little like a scholarly hobby, and you strike me as a very cultured man.”

  Pierce studies me a long moment, then takes my hand. “Well, Lady Kinsey, it appears you have me pegged. And I dare say you’re a bit of a cultured woman as well, aren’t you? Sophisticated, elegant, and intelligent. Perhaps refinement is something we have in common?”

  I blush. “I suppose. I do love the arts. The theater, symphony, ballet, art…”

  “We have an excellent art museum.”

  “But my favorite hobby is reading. I love curling up with a good book. If I hadn’t gone into law, I probably would have studied classic literature.”

  Pierce’s eyes fill with delight, and he pulls me close. His eyes rake over me again, taking me in as if I’m some kind of dream. “It’s as if you were made for me,” he murmurs.

  While he’s still holding me close, he pops us to another location, and suddenly I’m surrounded by books. Thousands of books on deep mahogany shelves that seem to reach to the sky. The main room of the library is huge and wide open and has a domed ceiling that lets in soft light through a beautiful stained glass mosaic. Along the sides of the room are archways and pillars that lead to other sections of the building. It’s absolutely breathtaking, and I’m awed speechless.