“You could look at my face, you know.”
“I could, but the view’s…so…lovely.”
Suddenly embarrassed, I grabbed a throw and wrapped it around my shoulders. Then, quietly, I added, “You saved my life.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Any sign of the smirk was gone. He held my gaze, this time without a challenge. “You almost died. You have to be careful with these old houses. They have a lot of hidden death traps.”
“Including, on occasion, the odd vampire?” I managed a smile, realizing that we had just passed some kind of milestone. The energy had shifted—subtly but noticeably—and though the pull was still there, I no longer felt awkward. Aegis seemed more…human.
Just then, Sandy burst into the room, her face drained of color. “Bubba said you almost fell off the balcony?” As she headed toward the French doors, the cat came bursting in behind her, leaping on the bed beside me. He took one look at Aegis and let out a snarl.
“Don’t worry, little cat. I’m not going to drink you down, or your lovely mistress, either.” Aegis stared at him. After a moment, he swore under his breath. “You have a cjinn? Seriously?”
“Yes, and Bubba’s my best friend next to Sandy. So you’d better get used to each other.” I paused, then added, “That is, if you’re going to be staying in town.”
Aegis frowned, but slowly held out his hand to Bubba. “You heard her. So make with the paw and shake. I know you can understand me. I know all about cjinns.”
Bubba sneezed on Aegis’s fingers. Then, with a disgruntled glance at me, he leaned forward and licked the vampire’s hand, letting out another sneeze. After a second, he flipped over and showed his belly, waggling his front paw suggestively.
“He wants you to rub his belly. I don’t recommend it unless you’re good at clearing your mind. Bubba’s powers are all too dependent on his mood at the time.”
“So instead of a lamp…”
“Yeah, you rub his belly. And Bubba understands every word you say, so one slight misstep for those looking to cadge a wish, and boom…” I suddenly stopped. “Oh hell. He didn’t…” I glanced down at him. That drunken night when Sandy had first found the mansion on the net. I vaguely remembered asking Bubba for adventure and romance.
“Who didn’t what?” Sandy came back in. “Honey, that entire balcony is rotted through. I’m amazed it didn’t go down before now. You’ll have to have it replaced, and while you’re at it, I’d check out the decks, too. Make certain they aren’t going to break under the weight of your guests.”
“Guests?” Aegis frowned. “What guests?”
I swallowed the rest of the water. My near-death experience was starting to wear off. I sat up, crossing my legs and shifting the blanket so that it still covered me but didn’t feel so bulky.
“I’m turning this house into a bed and breakfast. I’m going to call it ‘Bewitching Bedlam’ and make it into a business for those who want a little taste of magic. Or a big scoop of it, I guess.”
“A B&B? Really?”
I had thought he was going to wave off the idea, but instead, he looked interested.
Sandy gave me a soft smile—the one that always told me she was up to something—and said, “Well, you still need to hire a cook. Someone who can bake all sorts of goodies for breakfast.”
I glared at her. “I know. I’ll put an ad in the Bedlam Gazette this week. But first, I have to find a good contractor to take on the rest of the renovations. The Alpha-Pack missed the state of the balcony, and with the rates they charge, and the work they’ve left undone, I’m not so keen on trusting them again.”
Aegis cleared his throat. “So, you need help around here?”
“Yeah, why, you offering?” I let out a laugh but stopped as I realized he wasn’t joining in. “Really? You’re one of the Fallen. You’re a vampire. You want a job?”
He shrugged. “I’m in a band. That’s a job, isn’t it?”
“It gets lonely, doesn’t it?” Sandy asked.
Aegis jerked his head up. “What?”
“It gets lonely, wandering through the centuries. When Apollo cast you out, he banished you from the light. But yet, you still wear his ring. You miss being one of his chosen, don’t you?”
Sometimes, my best friend’s inner sight was so on target it scared me. We each had our own magical gifts, and one of Sandy’s was the ability to read people. And, apparently, vampires.
Aegis sounded almost angry. “If you really must know, every night, I wake from my sleep hoping to find it was all a nightmare. A long, protracted nightmare. I can’t change things—Apollo will never forgive me—but I’ve learned to live with my remorse. I’m one of the Fallen. It’s a matter of honor to me that I don’t walk into the sunlight because of it. I will pay my penance, even though I don’t believe I des— Never mind.”
At that moment, I realized that for all his threats, for all his anger and dangerous beauty, Aegis was lonely. He loved women. He loved music—a given, since he had been bound to Apollo.
“You’re a Renaissance man, aren’t you?” I let the blanket drop away.
He turned his face as I slid out of bed, going to my dresser to find a bra and tank top. I couldn’t go without a bra—my boobs hurt too much when I didn’t wear underwire.
“Okay, decent now.” I returned to the bed. “I think I’m over my shock. Bubba, get off there!” Bubba had wandered over to the deck and was sniffing at the edge. I raced over to the doors as he turned away and bounded toward the stairs, giving me a look of annoyance as he loped past. I shut the doors so he couldn’t get out.
Sandy was looking uncomfortable. “Do you two want me to leave? I could go and let you talk.”
Aegis gave her a rueful grin. “No, you’re her best friend. She’ll just tell you what we said anyway.” I started to object but he waved off my protest. “I know women. You’re right in a way. I do love women. But the truth is…I’m not a womanizer. I’ve been looking…”
And then, I knew. “For a mate. For someone to make the nights less lonely. You’ve been looking for someone to give your life meaning.”
He stared at the floor. “It sounds pathetic, but when Apollo cast me out, he cursed me forever. But I’ve come to realize that I can still make a life for myself. I don’t have to let my disgrace rule me for eternity. But in order to do that, I have to have something to hold on to. To keep me from turning into a monster, because the hunger is there. The drive to feed. Though I do feed, for the past few hundred years I have only killed to defend myself, or to defend others.”
“You want a normal life.” Everything was starting to fall into place. “Were you planning on forming the band already when you met me?”
He nodded. “I thought I could hole up here and when Bedlam got used to me, I could reveal who I was. I was planning on buying this place when you showed up. You moved in and that upset the applecart.”
A thought occurred to me. “Were you the one who opened the door to the basement, that first made me go down in the basement?”
He laughed, shaking his head. “No, that was Franny.”
I blinked. “Franny? Who’s that?”
“Your ghost. You have a ghost in the house. She’ll introduce herself soon enough.”
Great. So now I had a roommate. But I laughed. “As long as she doesn’t cause a problem, we’ll be okay.”
“She’s okay. Don’t exorcise her. She lived a long time ago and is still trying to move on.” He paused, sobering. “You know, when I first saw you, I thought…”
“Thought what?”
Aegis pressed his lips together as though he might not be going to answer. Then he finally said, “I thought you were someone I knew a long, long time ago. You remind me of a woman I fell in love with while I was serving Apollo. That’s the real reason he cursed me and turned me into one of the Fallen. It wasn’t because I tried to usurp his power. It was because I dared to love a woman he had his eye on. Another on
e of his chosen. And you remind me so much of her. She had the same wisecracking sense of humor, the same spark. The same…feel.”
“Did she return your love?”
He hung his head. “She respected Apollo, of course. We all revered him and worshipped him. But…she didn’t love him like she loved me.”
“Do you know what happened to her?” Sandy’s tone had gone from snarky to sympathetic.
He shook his head. “Apollo punished me first. I never found out what he did to her. That was part of my punishment.”
I shivered. Again, the sense of déjà vu swept over me.
He turned to me. “Do you see why I reacted so strongly?”
“Yes,” I said softly. “And you seem so familiar to me.”
“So what do we do?” His voice was soft. No games, no threats, just a plea for understanding.
I shivered, realizing that what I was about to say would forever change my life.
“Stay. Please. I trust that you won’t hurt me. Stay and help me with Bewitching Bedlam. And let’s see what happens.” Before I could change my mind, I leaned over to press my lips against his. He pulled me onto his lap, kissing me deeply, and I felt like I could float in the energy forever. I didn’t even notice when Sandy left the room until, when I came up for air, I realized she was gone.
“They’re in the kitchen. I can hear them,” Aegis said softly. “Are you sure you want to do this? I’m still one of the Fallen—a vampire. I could be lying, for all you know.”
“But you’re not. Bubba would know. And one of Sandy’s gifts is reading people. And for all your curses, you’re still a person, vampire or not. If they felt safe in leaving me alone with you, then I trust you.”
He began to sing, softly at first, but then his voice coiled around me and I lost myself in the melody. It rolled through me like a drug, buoying me up, infecting me with a joy that I hadn’t felt in a long while. I curled on his lap, my head on his chest, as he continued to sing.
Sometimes, a fuzzy little cjinn could instigate a massive life-change, and sometimes, all we needed was a little blood music to make the world a bigger, brighter place. Even in the depths of the night.
~End~
If you enjoyed this book and want to read the first full novel, stay tuned for Bewitching Bedlam coming out in January! And if you like this series, why not try my other books?
The Fury Unbound series is a post-apocalyptic paranormal romance series and you can start with Fury Rising, the first book, available in e-book and print.
If you prefer lighter fare, you might also enjoy the paranormal mystery series I just re-released this past month, the Chintz ‘n China Mystery Series. All five books are now available in e-book and the first has been discounted to $2.99 permanently! Check them out: Ghost of a Chance, Legend of the Jade Dragon, Murder Under a Mystic Moon, A Harvest of Bones, and One Hex of a Wedding.
My next Otherworld book—#19—will be available in April with Moon Shimmers.
Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to ensure you always get updated on new releases. You can find out more about all my books on my web site at Galenorn.com and in the Biography at the end of this book.
Upcoming releases:
January 2017: Bewitching Bedlam (Bewitching Bedlam Series—Book 1)
March 2017: Souljacker (Lily Bound Series—Book 1)
April 2017: Moon Shimmers (Otherworld Series—Book 19)
May 2017: Fury Awakened (Fury Unbound Series—Book 3)
July 2017: Crow Song (Whisper Hollow Series—Book 3)
Biography
New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and is the author of almost fifty books, including the Otherworld Series, the Whisper Hollow Series, the Fury Unbound Series, the upcoming Bewitching Bedlam Series, and many more. She’s also written nonfiction metaphysical books. She is the 2011 Career Achievement Award Winner in Urban Fantasy, given by RT Magazine.
Yasmine has been in the Craft since 1980, is a shamanic witch and High Priestess. She describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos. She lives in Kirkland, WA, with her husband Samwise and their cats. Yasmine can be reached via her web site at Galenorn.com.
Books by Yasmine Galenorn:
Fury Unbound Series:
Fury Rising
Fury’s Magic
Fury Awakened (May 2017)
Bewitching Bedlam Series:
Blood Music (prequel novelette)
Bewitching Bedlam (2017)
Maudlin’s Mayhem (2017)
Whisper Hollow Series (in order):
Autumn Thorns
Shadow Silence
Crow Song (2017)
Morrígan’s Blade (2018)
Otherworld Series (in order):
Witchling
Changeling
Darkling
Dragon Wytch
Night Huntress
Demon Mistress
Bone Magic
Harvest Hunting
Blood Wyne
Courting Darkness
Shaded Vision
Shadow Rising
Haunted Moon
Autumn Whispers
Crimson Veil
Priestess Dreaming
Panther Prowling
Darkness Raging
Moon Shimmers (2017)
Harvest Song (2018)
Blood Bonds (2019)
Otherworld: E-Novellas:
The Shadow of Mist: Otherworld novella
Etched in Silver: Otherworld novella
Ice Shards: Otherworld novella
Flight From Hell: Otherworld--Fly By Night crossover novella
Earthbound
Otherworld: Short Collections:
Tales From Otherworld: Collection One
Men of Otherworld: Collection One
Men of Otherworld: Collection Two
Moon Swept: Otherworld Tales of First Love
Chintz ‘n China Series:
Ghost of a Chance
Legend of the Jade Dragon
Murder Under a Mystic Moon
A Harvest of Bones
One Hex of a Wedding
Holiday Spirits
Lily Bound Series (in order):
Souljacker (March 2017)
Fly By Night Series (in order):
Flight from Death
Flight from Mayhem (August 2016)
Indigo Court Series (in order):
Night Myst
Night Veil
Night Seeker
Night Vision
Night’s End
Indigo Court: Novellas:
Night Shivers
Misc. Short Story Collections:
Mist and Shadows: Short Tales From Dark Haunts
Bath and Body Series (under the name India Ink):
Scent to Her Grave
A Blush With Death
Glossed and Found
Anthologies:
Silver Belles (short story: The Longest Night)
Taming the Vampire (short story: Blood Music)
Once Upon a Curse (short story: Bones)
Never After (Otherworld novella: The Shadow of Mist)
Inked (Otherworld novella: Etched in Silver)
Hexed (Otherworld novella: Ice Shards)
Songs of Love & Death (short story: Man in the Mirror)
Songs of Love and Darkness (short story: Man in the Mirror)
Nyx in the House of Night (article: She is Goddess)
A Second Helping of Murder (recipe: Clam Chowder)
Magickal Nonfiction:
From Llewellyn Publications and Ten Speed Press:
Trancing the Witch’s Wheel
Embracing the Moon
Dancing with the Sun
Tarot Journeys
Crafting the Body Divine
Sexual Ecstasy and the Divine
&
nbsp; Totem Magic
Magical Meditations
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