Carnage

by Sandra R Neeley

  He looked up at her, and she smiled at him, “Your Whispers is safe forever, Enthrall. It’s yours.”

  He pulled her in for a hug, “Thank you, Carolena,” he whispered in a husky voice, rife with emotion.

  “You are very welcome, Enthrall,” she answered.

  Carnage, impatient to be alone with Carolena, simply picked her up and walked away from their friends on the deck. Once he got her inside, he closed and locked the door and went about pulling all the shades down over the windows.

  Enthrall burst out laughing, “Fine! We can take a hint! We will see you in a few days. Welcome home, Carolena. None of us was the same without you.”

  “Thank you!” she called back.

  Epilogue, Eighteen months later

  A chubby little cherub of a girl with slate blue eyes and silver hair laughed a full belly laugh as only a young child can, as she sat in the grass in front of her Uncle Enthrall’s home, playing with the purple mist that swirled in and out of her grasp. Lifting her hair and swishing it back and forth. She’d throw the ball as far as her little arms would let her, and the mist would gently roll it back to her and tickle her belly. She’d dissolve into peals of laughter and throw it again.

  Her laughter made the adults on the porch smile and chuckle as well. Carnage stood and went down the stairs toward her.

  She looked up and saw him coming. She happily started kicking her chubby little legs and reaching up to him, “Papapapapapa!”

  He made kissy sounds at her and picked her up, tossing her over his head and catching her.

  Lore lifted the ball and made it appear to float in the air, tossing it around, bobbling it. She squealed and reached for the ball. Lore’s mist swirled, and his form became visible, “Lily, did you show Papa what I taught you?”

  Lily was only 10 months old, but she was very intelligent and understood more than some adults. She held her little hands out in front of her, squeezed them together, brought them to her mouth and blew on them. Purple mist immediately floated out of the other side of her clasped hands.

  She squealed excitedly and waved her hands in the mist to make it float away, then clapped her hands, proud of herself.

  Carnage smiled, and adjusting her in the crook of his arm, clapped his own hands and said, “Aaayyyy Leelee!”

  Lily grinned and called, “Ama!”

  Carolena answered, smiling, “I saw you, sweet girl! You are so smart! Uncle Lore is going to have his hands full when you get a little older.”

  Enthrall said, “Lore, you better watch it, you’re teaching her all your tricks; she’ll end up as powerful as you are.”

  “That was my plan all along — you should all be very nice to her,” he teased back, not even a trace of his insanity present.

  Destroy sat with Enthrall and Carolena watching the Ancient playing with Lily. He’d come around quite a bit since it had been announced that Lore would be Lily’s godfather, but still was hesitant to trust him. It seemed no one knew exactly his entire story, and the fact that he could eat souls was very disturbing to Destroy — though no one else seemed to mind too much — so he still kept his distance, but he no longer actively avoided the Ancient. He couldn’t if he wanted to be around Carolena and Lily; Lore was always near them. He watched the little girl as she played with her father and Lore — they all adored her.

  He’d been there the day that Lore had materialized at Carnage and Carolena’s house, announcing that he’d come to collect the debt that Carnage owed him for rescuing Carolena.

  Carnage had stood and faced Lore, waiting to see what payment he’d have to pay.

  Lore had looked from Carolena to Carnage, then announced, “I want your child.”

  Carnage roared, as did Destroy who jumped to his feet, also roaring.

  Carolena had stared, open-mouthed, before finally recovering and saying, “What?! We have no child! And if we did, I certainly wouldn’t ever give my child away. Shame on you for inferring that we would!”

  “You will not have her baby!” Destroy had seconded “What kind of monster are you?!”

  “A better one than you!” Lore had hissed at Destroy, causing him to take a step back.

  Then Lore spoke to Carolena, “You misunderstand, Carolena. I wish to have access to your child, I want to teach her all the things I know. I wish to guide her and make her untouchable by any she does not choose. I wish to make her strong, independent. I shall mentor her! And I don’t wish to have her torn from me later. I want to be a part of her life.”

  Carolena knew Lore and understood what he wanted. Few knew the full scope of his loneliness, but she did. She’d felt it firsthand as he’d brought her and Murder back to Whispers. And most of Whispers’ inhabitants steered clear of him, thought him evil incarnate. He was evil, to a degree, but he was good, too. And he knew that most would not allow him near their children. So he was demanding entrance into her child’s life as payment on the debt that Carnage owed him, that way, they’d have no choice but to include him. He wouldn’t be alone anymore. He’d be a part of their family.

  “Is this the debt you planned on collecting when you made Carnage promise to repay you for your efforts?” she asked.

  Lore’s image smiled, then swirled into a frown, before smiling again, “I knew not what to ask for. Only that it is good to have others indebted to you. But now, with your little one on the way, I wish to be involved. I am tired, child. So tired. And I’m losing my hold on sanity — I have been too long alone and searching. I have love to give, so much love. And power, more power than any one being should have. Your child will not fear me; she hasn’t been taught to. Let me be a part of her life. I will make her stronger and more powerful than any other but me. It is my repayment. I am owed whatever I choose, and I choose this.”

  Carnage had stopped snarling, and listened, understanding. Carolena had spoken of some of the things she’d felt and heard whilst in the dimension that Lore moved in, and he’d brought his love back to him. He no longer feared Lore. Carolena stood and took Carnage’s hand, “I have no problem with you being involved with our child’s life, with our lives. But there is one thing that could prevent that for a while.”

  “What is that?” Lore asked.

  “I’m not pregnant, as of yet there is no child. But as soon as we are, if we ever are, you are welcome to be his or her godfather. The one responsible for her if anything should ever happen to us. The one to help us guide her and protect her.”

  Lore smiled slyly, “Do I have your word on that?”

  “Of course, you do.”

  Lore approached them, held out a hand, and placed it on Carolena’s belly, “Here rests your daughter. She was there when I brought you back from your father’s home, and she is there now. She is strong, stubborn, lively.”

  Carolena’s smile dropped, she looked down at her stomach. Carnage brushed Lore’s hand away, placing his own there. He lifted Carolena and stood her on the couch, kneeling to be face-to-face with her stomach, “Mine,” he whispered, touching her belly reverently.

  “No,” she said.

  Carnage looked up at her.

  “Ours,” Carolena said, as a huge smile beamed from her lips.

  “Oorrrs,” he repeated.

  Destroy watched the little girl playing with father and godfather for a while longer, then rose and started off toward the trees.

  “Do not wander far, Gargoyle,” Lore’s voice called out.

  Destroy turned and watched the mist still playing with Lily, “I may go wherever I choose!” he shot back in true Destroy fashion.

  “Yes, you may. But if you wander too far, you may not be here when she needs us. I’ll have to take another; you will miss your chance.”

  “When who needs us? You speak in riddles, just say what you mean!” Destroy shouted, before turning and continuing on his path.

  He didn’t make it very far before he heard Lore ask conversationally, “Carolena, do you remember the little gypsy you met at your father’s home?”
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  Carolena, standing to go into Enthrall’s home to get drinks and snacks for everyone, thought about it for a moment, “You mean Rowan? Yes, yes I remember her.”

  “I shall go for her soon — she belongs among us,” Lore answered, before again allowing his mist to dissipate and tickle the child.

  Destroy stalked back over to where his friends all visited, watching the mist swirl around the ground, “Who is Rowan? Why does she belong here? What does she look like?”

  No one answered him, but Lore’s maniacal laughter rang clearly in the yard and among the surrounding trees.

  Destroy knew better than to beg Lore for information. He’d end up owing the Ancient a debt, so instead he changed direction and followed Carolena into Enthrall’s house, “Carolena! Who is Rowan?”

  “She is a servant in my father’s home,” she answered.

  “Why is she coming here?” Destroy persisted.

  Laughing at his sudden interest in the girl he’d never met, she told him, “I’m not sure she is, and if she does, I do not know why!”

  “But Lore said she was! What does she look like? He said she’s a gypsy, is she a ‘put a curse on you gypsy?’”

  Exasperated with all his questions, she faced him, “I don’t know, Destroy! Go ask Lore.”

  “Well, at least tell me if she can read, can she read?” he demanded.

  She put down the tray she’d just lifted, filled with glasses of sarsaparilla tea, “Destroy! I have no idea. Go ask Lore.”

  “Damn!” he swore under his breath. He really didn’t want to ask Lore. He had no doubt he’d end up promising the Ancient a repayment and be in debt to him. He did not want to owe him a favor — he still didn’t fully trust him. He stomped out of the house, looking for Lore. Instead he found Enthrall and Carnage sitting on the porch, Carnage holding Lily.

  “Where is Lore?” Destroy asked.

  “He said he had business to attend to, kissed Lily and left,” Enthrall answered.

  Carolena came out onto the porch and placed the tray on the table.

  Lily reached for Enthrall who very happily lifted the girl from her Papa’s lap and sat her on his own lap, letting her dip her fingers in his tea and suck them clean.

  Carolena sat on Carnage’s lap. He kissed her lips, “Lahb, Leenah.”

  “I love you, too, Carnage. Thank you for bringing me home with you,” she answered, kissing his brow.

  Destroy threw his hands up in the air and snarled, “Arrrgghhhhh!” before he started out in the direction of the deepest swamp, “Lore!” he shouted loudly. A few moments later, he repeated it, “Lore!”

  He could be heard mumbling, “I’m going to regret this, I have absolutely no doubt,” as he marched through the trees, and they lost sight of him.

  “This is going to be interesting,” Enthrall said.

  “Indeed it will,” Carolena agreed. “I can’t wait to see how this plays out. Lore just loves to provoke him.”

  They all laughed.

  Carolena looked around herself, smiling, thinking of how very different her life in Whispers started out, right there in front of Enthrall’s home. She’d thought she would lose her life, become a prisoner here. Nothing could be further from the truth. She’d found love here, had a husband, a daughter, and close friends. Her life was sweeter than she ever thought it could be.

  She sent up a silent little thank you to her mother for giving her life, for giving her the chance to be where she was, loved by whom she loved.

  Life was good.

  From The Author

  Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope that my stories make you smile and give you a small escape from the daily same ole/same ole. I write for me, simply for the joy of it, but if someone else also smiles as a result, even better. Your support is greatly appreciated. If you liked this story, please remember to leave a review wherever you bought it, so that more people can find my books. Each review is important, no matter how short or long it may be.

  See you in the pages of the next one!

  Sandra R Neeley

  Other books by this author:

  Avaleigh’s Boys series, books 1 - 5 (so far)

  I’m Not A Dragon’s Mate!

  Bane’s Heart

  Kaid’s Queen

  Maverik’s Ashes

  Bam’s Ever

  About the Author

  My name is Sandra R Neeley. I write Paranormal Romance with a small town feel. Why, you may ask? Romance, because who doesn’t love a good romance, and Paranormal because, well — normal is highly overrated, so Paranormal it is. I’m 54, I have two kids, one 32 and one 12 (yes, God does have a sense of humor), one grandchild, one husband, and a menagerie of animals. I love to cook, I am a voracious reader, though since I started writing, I don’t get as much time to read as I once did. I am a homebody and prefer my writing/reading time to a crowd. I have had stories and fictional characters wandering around in my head for as long as I can remember. I’m a Self-Published Author, and I like it that way because I can decide what and when to write. I am by no means a formal, polished, properly structured individual and neither are my stories. But people seem to love the easy emotion and small town feel that naturally flows from them. A bit of a warning though, there are some “triggers” in them that some people should avoid. I’m a firm believer that you cannot have light without the dark. You cannot fully embrace the joy and elation that my people eventually find if you do not bear witness to their darkest hours as well. So please read the warnings supplied with each of the synopses about my books before you buy them.

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