The Witching Hour (The Grim Reaper Saga (Urban Fantasy Romance))

by Marie Hall

  Her nostrils flared, hands fisted by her side. But slowly the sparks of her anger subsided and she gave a jerky nod. A grudging smile tipped the corners of her mouth. “I guess that means I lost after all.”

  He grinned and grabbed her hand, pulling her into him. “It would seem so.”

  “Bastard.”

  Dagda shrugged and swatted her backside. “Let us leave, wench. These two have much to discuss.”

  “Tell me this. Why did you two fight so hard to save them?” There was no disgust in her voice, merely curiosity.

  “All in due time, chaos. Now come. I believe it is time you tasted of your own punishment. The rack room. A good flogging perhaps.”

  A visible ripple traveled through The Morrigan. She bit her bottom lip.

  “Lise. Cian. Eve.” He nodded to the three and dragged his very willing Queen out the room.

  Eve shook her head. “That woman scares the hell out of me. She’s just not right.”

  Cian ran his hand down her back. It was so good to have his witty, saucy witch back. “You should be scared of her, Eve. Dagda can control the Queen, but just barely. Always watch your back when at the court.”

  She looked at him, worry lines marring her forehead.

  Lise clapped them on the shoulders. “Good advice, Cian. You might think about introducing your mate to the elders of the house. Garnering favor is never a bad thing. I’d start with the House of Feathers. Wistafa, maybe. I think she and Eve would get along admirably.”

  He nodded.

  “One thing I don’t understand, Lise.” He hugged Eve tighter to him. “Why was Eve required to die in the first place? If I carried her soul within me?”

  Lise gave a heavy sigh. Sorrow tipped the corners of her mouth. “Balance had to be restored. Her mortal self had to die. What you didn’t know, Cian, was that you were saving her all along. You had to share souls. Once you did. She’d survive.”

  A physical tremble rushed through Eve, he strummed his fingers down her back in a soothing, calming motion.

  A noise of shifting feet alerted them to another presence. Cian looked up and Eve sucked in a breath.

  “Oh my goddess, Curtis. You’re a...”

  Frenzy shook his head, pulling off the pendant and shifted to true form. Red hair and swirling silver eyes giving away his heritage. “I am called Frenzy and yes, I am death.” He opened his mouth as if to say more, but nothing came out.

  Eve’s jaw dropped open. “It was you then. You bewitched me. Caused me the headaches and black outs. Why? What happened to the real Curtis?”

  He crossed his hands behind his back. The reaper gesture of entreaty. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “He died several days past...”

  She inhaled sharply. The sting of her friend’s death washed through her. Cian rocked her. Accepting her pain, becoming one with it and giving his strength back to her. She sighed, calmed almost instantly.

  “I did what I had to do. It was my job.”

  Cian was wrapped in her anger. He just held her; let her know she wasn’t alone.

  “That night, when I helped you find Samhain...”

  He nodded and glanced down.

  “I reached out to touch you and you pulled away. I didn’t get a headache or black out,” she paused, “you had to touch me to hurt me, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  She paused. “Thank you.”

  But there was still pain. She was consumed by it. It would take some time for her to get over this. But this was definitely a start.

  He released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and dropped a kiss on her forehead. She was strong, in so many ways. Even after all this, she’d thanked him.

  Frenzy looked at Cian, confusion glittering in his eyes.

  “I’ll see you around, Frenzy,” he said, knowing Eve could only take so much for one day.

  With a final nod the reaper turned and left.

  “Hmm. I like happy endings, don’t you,” Lise sighed and turned to them with a happy smile.

  “I wouldn’t call it happy.” He glanced at Eve’s upturned face. “But it’s a fresh start.”

  She caressed his cheek and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

  “Touching as this all is, I really must go,” Lise said.

  “Wait,” Cian grabbed her arm, “how did you know there was a light?” Only now stopping to wonder about it. Eve turned in his arms, facing Lise brimming with confusion and curiosity.

  “I felt the flow of power. We created your mates after all, I’d recognize my own spell.”

  “What?” Eve asked on a breathless, half nervous laugh.

  He nodded. It all made sense now. “I’ll tell you tonight, Eve, over dinner.”

  “You eat?” Her brows lowered and she gave a tiny shake of her head. “I guess... there’s some things I still have to learn about you.”

  “I guess you do.” He brought her hand to his lips and dropped a kiss against the knuckle. “No more lies. Ever. My life is an open book to you.”

  She gave him her famous crooked smile and his heart soared.

  “Come visit me at the club sometime. Gets a little boring, I must admit I’ve grown rather fond of my sisters three.”

  He glanced down at Eve. She nodded.

  “It’s a deal.”

  Lise waved goodbye, then faded.

  “Well, what now?”

  “I don’t want to stay here if you don’t mind.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose and nodded. “Me either.” She sighed in relief. “So where do you want to go?”

  “I’d love to visit my sisters, they’ll never believe this.”

  “Celeste least of all I’d imagine.”

  She wrinkled her nose, giggling. “Snarky woman. No, I can’t imagine that she would. I can’t wait to see what she thinks.”

  He swiped his hand, opening the portal between the here and there. The swirling funnel spread out before them.

  “Wow. What is that?”

  “This, my love, will take us straight to your sisters.”

  Her eyes widened and she glanced at him beneath her lashes. “Do you have any idea how much money we’ll save on taxi’s now?”

  He chuckled. “I have a feeling life with you will never be boring.” He guided her through the portal, hand gripping her elbow.

  She stopped and turned to him. Mischief glittered in her gold shot eyes. “So a millennia huh?”

  He frowned. “What?”

  “Your age.”

  “Who told you?”

  “Lise, of course.” She grinned and wagged her finger under his nose. “I told you I’d find out.”

  Cian threw his head back and laughed. “Yes, yes you did.”

  Lise stood before her sisters--the chosen ones--and held out her hands in supplication. “It is done.”

  Clarion inclined her head. Ebony curls cascaded against the mother of pearl floor. “You’ve done well, Lise. Is this the match we hoped for?”

  Beams of sunlight surrounded the sisters in a wash of rainbow. The heavenly setting of white clouds and blue sky surreal to her now, used as she was to the smog and buildings of the mortal realm.

  “The souls merged, this is a true joining and will bring the peace death has sought for so long.”

  Fatima scowled, anger glittered in the dove gray of her eyes. “And what of the others? There must be balance. Order. Death grows weary, what if the rest decide to give up? What then?”

  Lise narrowed her eyes and held her shoulders straight. “It won’t happen. We will do what we must to maintain order. Even if that means meddling, which I know you love, sister dear.”

  Fatima turned a silver white, the air shivered with the snap of cold frost emanating from her every pore in a misty haze.

  Naria stepped forward. Purple robes swirled around her ankles, golden bells tied to the sash of her belt jingled with each step. “Lise, the task is daunting. You know as well as I how violent and cold,” she glanced at Fatima, “death has bec
ome. Perhaps it is time we stepped back and allow this to happen. Allow it to end. We can rebuild, create a new species. One less prone to hostility.”

  Lise set her jaw. “No. I see them, as you never will. I live amongst them. They are my children, good or bad. I cannot walk away from them now, not without knowing I’ve given them a hope of more than that god forsaken existence within the halls of the Fae.”

  Clarion laid her hand on Lise’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Then heed Fatima’s vision, love. Aid the reapers to find their right mates and restore the balance of not only death, but life as well. Do not lose heart.”

  Her children would find their peace and perhaps in the process Lise would also see that bloodthirsty queen heeled into submission.

  Time ticked on…

  A note from the Author:

  I hope you enjoyed the book. This story, more than many others has been a labor of love. I wrote it six years ago, fully intending to publish it the traditional route. NY loved the story and my agent was very close to sealing the deal for us, but as often happens, real life intervened and I had to put this book and my writing away for many years. For a while I always thought of it as…. the story that almost was. However, thanks to the popularity of Indie publishing, it has helped me breathe new life into a story I never expected to see in publication. Initially I’d intended to turn this book into a series, but I realized it’s been too long, the stories have all been lost to me and so this is it. But not to worry, this is not the end. Very soon I’ll be publishing two new series. One revolving around a demon who works at a carnival and wanting to prove to the world that just because you were born bad, doesn’t mean you have to be. And another about a group of 6 new adults learning to deal with not only their unbelievable super powers, but a great evil determined one of the six belongs to him and him alone. I hope you’ll join me in this journey. If you’d like to follow my progress, or stop by and say hi, you can find me here:

  Marie Hall

  ~Marie

  Sneak Peek of Red and Her Wolf (Kingdom Series Book 3):

  Weak light spilled through the twisted forest. The sky, a wash of orange and pink, threatened to give way to night. Violet shivered, hugging her cape tighter around her body. Strange sounds whispered on the breeze. The call of night owls and the squeak of tiny field mice played a gentle melody in the background.

  But there was more--something slithering, creeping, like the cold hand of death slinking slowly behind her. The wind whipped through her hair and she had to brush it out of her eyes. Her heart pounded a chaotic rhythm in her skull as she swallowed the bile working its way up her throat.

  Grandmother hadn’t been feeling well. She gripped the handle of her basket tight, fingers clenched so hard, her nails gouged her palm. Violet never strayed from the safety of her home, never farther than the river. Grandmother had taught her years ago that beasties of the worst sort lurked beyond.

  She glanced up, at the massive trees that towered above her. Skeletal branches twisted gnarly fingers heavenward. It was easy to imagine the forty foot behemoths might at any moment open sappy maws to suck her up.

  Shivering harder, she picked up her pace, nearly running. Lungs heaving now with the effort to climb the steep hill leading back to the safety of her river. Night was closing in quickly. Already the colorful splash was giving way to the inky blue of a silver studded sky.

  A raven cawed and ice skated down Violet’s spine. She swallowed hard, first noticing the bird back at the apple orchard. Yellow apples--almost golden the way they shone in the sunlight--a prize worth escaping the temporary safety of her grandmother’s home for. A gift for her ailing Gran, something to make her smile again.

  Bushes rustled behind her.

  Violet didn’t look back. She wouldn’t. To look back might make the fear manifest. Ignoring the knot of dread in her gut, she yanked onto a dangling root and hoisted herself over the hill. The river was finally in sight.

  A black blur brushed her cheek. Fear slithered down her throat. The raven circled back around, and with a loud caw, dived for her again.

  Violet ran.

  ***

  “Och.” Danika--fairy godmother semi-extraordinaire--sailed through the breeze with her fairy friend like a graceful swan cutting a swath through a placid lake. “I swear that Gerard will be the death of me. He’s a thing for the maids of the sea now.” She shuddered, eyeing Miriam the Delighted.

  Miriam’s large white teeth flashed at Danika as she grinned. “The man’s useless, Danika. Truly, ye should give him up as a lost cause.”

  “No,” Danika shook her head, zipping high and low, dancing through the air with the joy of a fairy who’d ample time on her hands. “I’ll find him his match, you mind my words.”

  Gathering her fairy dust, Miriam threw it at a pitiful looking bloom of a rose, its red drooping petals gleamed a deep ruby red when the golden dust settled upon it. The flower gave a happy chortle and waved on its thin stem back at them.

  Miriam snorted. “Are ye sure of that now? Wouldn’t ye rather seek my boon, I could tell ye quite simply who she is.”

  Danika scoffed. “No, Miriam, I work alone. I’ve told ye time and again I’ll not be needing the use of your boon…” Danika narrowed her eyes, a flash of red sailed past her vision. She stopped flying and gripped Miriam’s elbow. “Did ye see that?” Danika whispered, heart pounding forcefully against her chest.

  Miriam’s swirling lavender eyes scanned the valley below. Just at that moment, the last of the days light winked out like the pitiful flicker of candle glow. Kingdom was bathed in a sea of black and blue, making it hard to discern much of anything at the moment other than shadow and sound.

  “See what?” Miriam’s brown and white speckled moth’s wings flitted slowly behind her back.

  Danika frowned; sure she’d seen a flash of red. She licked her lips; rumor had it the Heartsong had been hidden here centuries ago. Unlimited power in the form of a beautiful girl, a conduit for any fairy, and power so tempting she’d had to be hidden. In the charge of the only fairy known to be truly pure of heart: Jana the Green.

  Or at least that’s what the tales said, but all within Kingdom knew never to believe such nonsense. Fairy tales rarely held a grain of truth to them, and if they did, it was stretched so thin as to be transparent.

  Danika laughed. “I thought I saw-”

  A surge of power rolled forcefully through Danika, she screamed as every limb locked in place, and she hurtled straight toward the ground. A loud buzz the only thing she heard as the ground rushed up to meet her face. Danika had only a moment to throw her arms in front of her, bracing for impact, when a strong pair of hands clamped onto her vest and halted her fall only inches from the ground.

  The whites of Miriam’s eyes were large, and her breathing stilted and heavy. “Danika, what happened?”

  Danika trembled, slow to regain feeling in her limbs. “My muscles. The power, t’was overwhelming…” the words died on her tongue as the flash of red brushed by mere yards to her right.

  Miriam gasped, dropping Danika in her shock. Danika landed with a loud whoosh, air left her body on impact, and she glared at Miriam who was now visibly shaking.

  “We must needs leave, Dani,” Miriam whimpered, and Danika might have asked why had she not just seen for herself the cause of Miriam’s distress.

  A wolf, large and red, stalked the maiden wearing the red hood. He padded on silent feet, moving like shadow behind her. The girl hummed, but this was not a relaxed hum--more a nervous melody that vibrated through the woods haunting and eerie all at the same time.

  Miriam landed beside Danika and yanked her to her feet. They were barely a foot tall, and well hidden behind a thick gooseberry shrub, but Miriam gulped and shivered as she pointed to the large beast. “The mark, Dani,” she hissed, “the beast wears her mark.”

  The wolf’s ears twitched, and though he did not look their way, Danika knew he’d heard Mir.

  Danika clamped her
hand over Miriam’s mouth, urging her friend to silence. Then another wolf loped out from behind the woods and this one was bigger. A full hands length taller, the creature more resembled a hound of hell, than a wolf. Its black shaggy coat covered its muscular form like a bear’s pelt. Lush and thick, the fur gleamed like onyx in a flame. Its hackles were raised, and it too bore the mark.

  A chain hung around its thick neck, dangling from it, a small golden medallion with the impression of a dragon in battle. The mark was a sign of loyalty to Malvena the Black, the worst of all fairy kind--she’d turned her back on truth and light centuries ago, and though her reasons had at first been understandable (even honorable), they’d morphed and twisted into something dark and macabre.

  Seeing the mark, knowing to whom they belonged, Danika knew the flash of red she’d seen had been very real. Malvena had one goal, find the Heartsong. All fairies scorned and mocked the black hearted fae, knowing her quest impossible. The Heartsong did not exist; she was a myth, a legend, nothing more.

  The black wolf growled long and low, and birds shot from out tree branches into the air with a loud squawking cry.

  Danika’s body still crackled with surging pockets of power, making her teeth clamp down hard.

  “Come, Dani, we must leave,” Miriam tugged at Danika’s elbow. Danika hadn’t realized she’d begun walking toward the girl until Miriam stopped her.

  Danika hugged her wand to her chest, frantic with an overwhelming need to go. Not to run away, but rather, to go to the girl.

  “Dani,” Miriam groaned again, the whites of her eyes large in her face. Danika turned, ready to growl at Miriam to hush her mouth, but then Miriam started jerking. Her entire body shook, and a low moan vibrated from her chest.

  The black wolf’s ears twitched, and Danika flicked her wand, casting a protective net around them to prevent any more sounds from reaching sensitive ears.

  “Miriam,” she cried, grabbing her friend by the shoulders as she slumped to her knees on the ground.

  Miriam’s head snapped up and Danika’s eyes widened because the eyes staring back at her were a solid black and the voice that came out sounded as deep as a man’s. “The Heartsong must be saved.”