Beth's Acceptance

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  “I have no weapon,” Beth said. “We never thought to train me in weapons or give me one.”

  “There’s only five,” Lindál added.

  “Then we stay here,” Zack said, looking around. “Keep them enclosed.”

  “Zack, get a knife from the kitchen,” Beth told him.

  “For you?”

  “For you,” she said sharply.

  “I use my hands,” he said disdainfully.

  “Not if you’re mortal, you don’t. Do not argue with me, Zack.”

  Silently, he moved to the tiny kitchenette and she heard the whistle of steel as he whipped a knife from the butcher’s block stand at the end of the bar. He returned with two of the steel-handled knives and held one out to her. “Tit for tat,” he said evenly.

  Fair enough, she thought and took the longer of the two knives, although she had no idea what she was going to do with it.

  “After this, Lindál, you’re going to have to teach us both.”

  “Deal,” he said softly, facing the door. “They’re coming.”

  The door exploded inwards, splintering under the impact of the vampeen bodies. The vampeen clambered over her furniture, destroying it with their claws, shredding and shattering everything in their single-minded path. They snuffled and drooled as they loped toward her, but Zack and Lindál stepped in front of her, a living shield, taking the first brunt of their attack.

  Their inhuman cries were an assault on the ears and Beth winced. The apartments in these buildings had paper-thin walls as it was. This would have the neighbors dialing 9-1-1 in a heartbeat. They had minutes to deal with this before the cops showed up with guns and Tasers, ready to take everyone down.

  “We have to make this fast,” she shouted.

  Two of the vampeen were down already. Zack was using the knife, obeying her order.

  Suddenly, a vampeen climbed the basement wall and used the ledge for purchase to leap at her from around Zack’s exposed left side. Beth saw it coming and got her hand around its neck. It seemed remarkably simple to pin the creature to the wall, leaning in so that she could avoid its flailing claws and swipe her knife across its throat as she had seen Lindál do the first night she had seen him fight the vampeen. She let the creature drop before the gushing blood could spill on her, feeling no emotion at all.

  She turned quickly, aware of her exposed back and found that Zack and Lindál had backed up to cover her and were dealing with the last two. Lindál dropped his, slammed his knee into the creature’s throat and jammed the knife into its temple.

  Zack spun and the knife blade whipped across his chosen target’s throat, almost completely taking the head off.

  The room grew still, except for their heaving breath.

  Lindál threw his head back. “More!” he gasped. “There are more. Ten...twelve...fifteen...I cannot distinguish. Many.” He closed his eyes, breathing heavily. “We cannot fight them all. They want Seaveth. They know she is vulnerable.”

  “The cops will be here in minutes,” Beth said. “We can’t leave these bodies for them to find.”

  “We must get to the park,” Zack said. “Take it off the streets, at least.” He wiped his knife on the body of the vampeen at his feet.

  “We need more people,” Lindál said.

  Zack reached for his cell phone. “I’ll see who we can raise.”

  “How long is it going to take them, at this time of night?” Lindál asked. “I’ve only been here a few weeks, but I already know how clogged Manhattan traffic can be at six p.m.”

  Beth closed her eyes. Think, she commanded herself, trying to shut out the sound of Zack and Lindál strategizing. She had to think. More vampeen were on the way. So were the human police, who could not see the vampeen bodies here already. She needed help. She needed her armies. She needed her allies. Vampires and elves.

  Amrod, Alexander, Diego, I need you, she thought to herself. She could feel the aching need stretching out beyond her, a plea into the void.

  Abruptly, Amrod appeared in the room. He looked around with a startled expression. He was wearing silky, alien-looking full length robes. His gaze fell upon the vampeen bodies and his lips pulled back in a rictus of disgust and hate. He hissed.

  Lindál and Zack stared. “Sir?” Lindál said stiffly.

  Amrod burst into a speech that Beth guessed was elvish. From its tone she judged he was highly pissed off. Lindál interjected. Then Zack and Lindál stepped aside and Amrod stared at her for a full thirty seconds. He bowed from the waist. “My lady. We will be back with reinforcement in moments.” He disappeared.

  Lindál turned to her and kissed her full on the mouth, his blue eyes blazing with joy. “My queen,” he said.

  Zack’s phone rang just as police sirens began to wail, coming closer. Zack answered and held the phone away from his ear as a torrent of invective came from it. Then he carefully listened. After a few seconds he said simply: “Morningside Park. They’re coming for her. Lots of them. It’s not a drill.” He shut the phone down. He looked at Beth, smiling. “Diego was pretending to drink coffee with a lady friend when your mental command yanked him out of Starbucks. They’re on their way as fast as Manhattan traffic will allow.”

  “That may not be fast enough,” Beth said. The police sirens were very close, now.

  “They’ve learned a few tricks over the years. Don’t worry.”

  “Stand on the sofa,” Lindál said sharply, picking Beth up. He jumped on the sofa and Zack leapt there, too.

  The room was suddenly full of people. Elves, she realized, for they were all wearing the alien clothing similar to Amrod’s robes. Amrod himself was there and called out in elvish, softly. Five of the elves bent over and picked up the vampeen bodies and disappeared. The rest turned to face Beth and bowed.

  “They are yours to command,” Amrod told her.

  There was movement at the door and a tall red-headed man pushed his way into the room, through the packed elves. Alexander, faster than she had thought possible. The elves surrounded him instantly, their knives at his throat, until Lindál gave a command and the knives were put away again.

  Alexander straightened up, flexed his shoulders and moved over to Beth. “I heard you,” he said quietly. “I’m here. What would you have me do?”

  “Alexander, thank you. I don’t know how you arrived here so fast but you have my gratitude. I need you to lead these elves to Morningside Park, to the bear and faun statue—you know where that is?”

  He frowned. Beth closed her eyes and thought of the statue in its niche of trees and the lonely pathways beside it that no self-respecting New Yorker would like to be caught on after dark, and the path that led to the nearest entrance to the park from here. She pushed the thought at him.

  Alexander’s eyes widened. “Yes, I see,” he said, sounding a little winded. “At once.” He nodded at Amrod and led the elves from the room, leaving Beth alone with Zack and Lindál.

  “You sent them away?” Lindál asked.

  “Only temporarily,” she said, cleaning her own knife on a kitchen towel. “I need a moment. Diego is bringing more vampires with him to the park, yes?”

  “Yes,” Zack confirmed.

  She put the knife down. “This is it. This is the start of the war.”

  The two men nodded, both standing shoulder to shoulder, their hands gripping a knife apiece. She loved them with a strength that frightened her and it was for that reason she had engineered this moment. “I just want to kiss you one last time as Beth,” she said. “Just in case—“

  “No,” Lindál said instantly, loudly.

  Zack dropped his knife and pulled her into his arms and kissed her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, sparing her nothing. She moaned, almost instantly aflame.

  Zack poured her into Lindál’s arms, his mouth barely lifting from her lips before Lindál covered them with his own, crushing her to him.

  “You will always be Beth to us, remember?” Zack said, his tone harsh, registering his angst th
at she speak of such a thing and perhaps invoke a deadly destiny upon one of them.

  “Always?” She needed the assurance, before she could step from the room and go face the fate this bonding had forced upon her.

  “Always,” Lindál said firmly. “And in all ways.”

  More erotic paranormal romance by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  .

  Mia’s Return – Book 2 of the Destiny’s Trinities series

  Alex has a past he’d rather no one learns about…until Mia returns.

  Ten years ago Alexander hungered for Mia Menendez and for a single day they had indulged that passion before tragedy struck. Now Mia is back, but she thinks Alexander died ten years ago, and no man has been able to stir her heart since. The truth could kill her.

  Wyatt Whitacker, demon hunter, hates Alexander and all his kind. But one look at Mia and her pulse-stopping curves and his scarred, angry heart begins to melt and his body to rouse in ways he’s long forgotten.

  The bonding has begun...

  Mia’s Return will be available October 4, 2013

  Click here for more details: http://amzn.to/1axzRgD

  Blood Knot – Book 1 of the Blood Stone series

  To survive they must trust each other. Only…can they?

  Winter, a professional thief who can manipulate others’ biologies by touch, accidentally “healed” her former partner—and former vampire—Sebastian, whom she secretly loves. Her healing created a symbiotic pairing between them that neither of them wants.

  Nathanial, a sexy thousand-year-old vampire and Sebastian’s ex-lover, talks Sebastian and Winter into stealing evidence that will expose all vampires to the world. But Nathanial is a puppet-master who doesn’t believe in falling in love with humans, leaving Winter unsure of his real feelings for her once he seduces her, or how he feels about Sebastian, the former vampire-now-human whose life he has turned upside down once more.

  But the evidence they steal is hot property. The future of all vampires is on the line and others will stop at nothing to get it, leaving Sebastian, Winter and Nathanial with no allies but each other. They must trust each other to survive. Only...can they?

  WARNING: This book contains two hot, sexy alpha heroes, frequent, explicit and frank sex scenes and sexual language.

  It includes heart-stopping sexual scenes between the aforementioned sexy heroes, menage scenes, anal sex and the use of sex toys. Don't proceed beyond this point if hot love scenes offend you.

  No vampires were harmed in the making of this novel.

  This book is part of the Blood Stone Series

  Book 1: Blood Knot

  Book 2: Blood Stone

  Book 3: Blood Unleashed (November, 2013)

  Book 4: Blood Revealed (Upcoming)

  ____

  #1 Best-Selling Fantasy, Futuristic & Ghost Romance Amazon Best-Seller

  Top 100, Amazon Vampire Romance Best-Seller

  Winner of the Coffee Time Reviewer’s Recommended Award

  Listed as one of Goodread’s “Most Drool-worthy Covers“

  Nominated for Erotic Vampire Book of the Year

  by The Romance Reviews, November 2011

  CAPA Nomination: Best Paranormal Book of the Year

  by The Romance Studio, December, 2011

  ___

  5 Stars - Not only do you get to read a brilliantly written story, but a novel full of different elements that add hard-edged curves, unbelievable circumstances, and overwhelming odds. Coffee Time Romance & More

  5 Stars - I’m blown away by the experience of this book. There was so much intensity between the characters, the chemistry between Winter, Nial and Sebastian left me panting in places…I emerged with a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes and my heart racing. The Bookish Snob

  5 Stars - I lost a little of my heart to each of these characters. If you’re a fan of hot urban fantasy (and I do mean oven mit HOT), pick up Blood Knot, you won’t be disappointed. Alternative Read

  5 Stars - This is one of those hidden gems in the self-publishing world. I haven’t read a better love story than Blood Knot in a very long time. This one is her best so far. Don’t miss it. The Romance Studio

  Click here to buy Blood Knot now: http://amzn.to/1alf6Vj

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  About the Author

  Tracy Cooper-Posey is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author. She writes erotic vampire romances, hot romantic suspense, paranormal and urban fantasy romances. She has published over 60 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.

  She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year and Byzantine Heartbreak was a 2012 winner. She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.

  She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.

  Her website can be found at http://TracyCooperPosey.com

  Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Blood Knot Series (Urban Fantasy Paranormal Series)

  Blood Knot

  Blood Stone

  Blood Unleashed (November, 2013)

  Blood Revealed (Upcoming)

  Beloved Bloody Time Series (Paranormal Futuristic Time Travel)

  Bannockburn Binding

  Byzantine Heartbreak

  Romani Armada

  Kiss Across Time Series (Paranormal Time Travel)

  Kiss Across Time

  Kiss Across Swords

  Kiss Across Chains

  Guardian Bonds (Gargoyle Paranormal Series)

  Carson’s Night

  Beauty’s Beasts

  Sabrina’s Clan (Upcoming)

  Destiny’s Trinities (Urban Fantasy Romance Series)

  Beth’s Acceptance

  Mia’s Return (October, 2013)

  Sera’s Gift (October, 2013)

  Short Paranormals

  Solstice Surrender

  Eva’s Last Dance

  Guns ‘n’ Lovers Series (Romantic Suspense)

  Red Leopard

  Black Heart

  Blue Knight

  White Dawn (Upcoming)

  Silver Noon (Upcoming)

  Golden Day (Upcoming)

  Go-get-‘em Women (Short Romantic Suspense Series)

  The Royal Talisman

  Delly’s Last Night

  Vivian’s Return

  Ningaloo Nights

  Sian’s Run (Upcoming)

  Jewells of the Morrow series (Historical Romantic Suspense)

  Diana By The Moon

  Heart of Vengeance

  The Perilous Maiden (Upcoming)

  To Soothe a Savage Heart (Upcoming)

  The Heart of the Enemy (Upcoming)

  The Cherlebury Rose (Upcoming)

  The Duchess of Winter (Upcoming)

  Despite The Sands Of Time (Upcoming)

  Scandalous Sirens (Historical Romance Series)

  Forbidden

  Dangerous Beauty

  Rhys Davies’
untitled story (Upcoming)

  Romantic Thrillers Series

  Fatal Wild Child

  Dead Again

  Dead Double

  Terror Stash

  Contemporary Romances

  Lucifer’s Lover

  An Inconvenient Lover

  The Sherlock Holmes Series

  Chronicles of the Lost Years

  The Case of the Reluctant Agent

  For reviews, excerpts, and more about each title, visit Tracy’s site and click on each title in turn: http://tracycooperposey.com/books/tracys-trilogies-series/

  Copyright Information

  This is an original publication of Tracy Cooper-Posey

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

  Copyright © 2013 by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Text design by Tracy Cooper-Posey