Enchanted Immortals Series Box Set: Books 1-4 plus Novella

by C. J. Pinard

  “Okay, so what about Mike? He’s gonna come running when he hears the commotion,” Bryan reminded the group.

  “We’re gonna inject him, too, but he’ll get a choice. Join us or die. It really won’t be a hard decision for him. We could use his muscle. That guy is a tank,” Brandon replied.

  Eric laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, and that’s the problem. Who the hell is gonna go in and hold him down to inject him? I sure can’t take him.”

  “I’ll do it,” Vania answered.

  The four of them looked at her. “What? He’s been flirting with me. I’ll just go into his room wearing something hot. He won’t be on guard, trust me. I’ll get on top, jab him, maybe have a little fun after that…”

  “Uh, ew,” Bryan said.

  Vania laughed. “I’m joking. He’ll be incapacitated after that, right?” She looked at Brandon.

  “Yes. We’re going to use Versed. It’s almost like a legal date-rape drug. They will be semi-coherent but they won’t remember anything and will do what you say. They use it on patients who are having minor surgery and just need to be put in what they call ‘twilight sleep.’ It’s trippy ‘cause you can have a full-blown conversation with them but they don’t remember it at all. Of course for vampires, we’ll have to use enough to put down a horse.”

  “Whoa,” Eric said. “Cool!”

  “When?” Bryan asked.

  “I’m gonna start swiping the drugs from the hospital when I go on shift this afternoon. It’ll take me about a week to get as much as I need. I have to take small amounts so they don’t notice. Although it’s pretty amazing how easy it is to get drugs from that place. Nobody even looks at me when I wander down the halls of the hospital, especially if I’m carrying my medical kit.” He pauses for a second. “Well, except the hot nurses. They always look.”

  Vania rolled her eyes. “I’m sure they do.” She got up from the table. “I’m hungry, I’m gonna go get a bag. Any of you want one?”

  They all shook their heads as she walked into the house, her black hair shining under a stray sunbeam. She had it pulled into pigtails and was wearing skinny jeans and a plaid shirt. She popped her gum as she walked into the house.

  “Do you think she’ll go through with it?” Brandon asked Eric.

  “I do. I’ve seen Mike flirt with her. Seriously.”

  “Good.”

  “And you really have Angel onboard with this? She won’t defend Pascal?” Eric asked.

  “Yes. This is going to go off without a hitch. I can’t wait to see that bastard catch fire tied to that tetherball pole.”

  They all followed his gaze to the direction of the pole.

  CHAPTER 17

  ∞∞∞

  Denver, Colorado – 1984

  Pascal Theroux kept very detailed notes in his journal. After he left what eventually became the Oregon Vortex, he traveled north to Seattle where he spent approximately seventy years establishing himself with all the gold he had amassed. During those years, he continued gold mining up and down the western seaboard until the majority of gold had pretty much dried up. He invested the gold in real estate and kept a lot of gold and cash with him, afraid of the newly established banking business, especially once the computer age came. He didn’t presume that a number on a computer screen could be trusted. He needed to have money he could see and touch.

  During his years in Washington, he again met many beautiful women, but none of them desired to stay with him for very long. He again tried turning a few of them into vampyres. He would explain that the vampyre was a mysterious creature that lived forever and only had to be mindful of the sun and never needed food. The vampyre wasn’t affected by cold or heat and could live in any climate. Some women were intrigued by this and agreed to be turned and stay and be his partner. But once they got to know the real Pascal, past the romance and gifts he had showered on them in the beginning, the abuse would start and they all eventually abandoned him for greener pastures. Dark, nighttime pastures, anyway.

  Pascal also realized that the old-world term of “vampyre” was quickly wearing out its mystique and resigned himself to stop using the term spelled in the old-world style. In the early 1970s, he started using the term “vampire” in his journals.

  Pascal left Seattle in 1971 and headed to Colorado. He desired a mountain home and longed for a new landscape to gaze on that didn’t involve constant rain and an ugly gray beach and black sea water. Although he couldn’t go out during the day, he did appreciate his view from the windows of his ski chalet and enjoyed many nights at the ski lodges for night skiing and social hour in front of roaring fires. This went on for many years, as he enjoyed his life in the mountains of Aspen, even taking a job as a nighttime ski instructor, and eventually bought one of the lodges and managed it as a bed and breakfast type ski resort.

  In 1984, he decided to take a trip into Denver for a change of scenery. It was off-season for skiing and he often became bored in the summertime. It was a beautiful warm night as he headed for a popular gentleman’s club downtown. As he took a seat at the front table and ordered a scotch, the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on began dancing slowly and seductively onstage. If he had breath, it would have been sucked from his lungs at the sight of her. He sat, unmoving, in that chair for hours as he suffered through dancer after dancer, waiting for “Angel” to come back onstage and put on another mouthwatering performance. He laughed at her stage name, and longed to get to know the real one. Not since Amelia all those years ago, when he was human and could barely remember it, did anyone stir in him such an instant and lasting impression and attraction.

  As the club was closing, Pascal ordered the driver of his rented limousine to park in back of the club as he hoped she would be exiting. He stood outside the car on a beautiful, clear, starlit night and gazed up at the moon, hoping to see another glimpse of his beautiful Angel.

  The gods must have been smiling on him that day as Angel, now in street clothes, exited alone through the back door of the club. Pascal smiled. She was so very beautiful.

  He was amused by her apprehension at approaching the limo, but he quickly disarmed her with his charm. Well, that’s what he told himself.

  Inside the limo, she had been impressed and fascinated by the plush interior and alcohol bottles. He was not surprised to learn she was only nineteen years old but offered her something to drink anyway.

  After driving around the city for a little bit and getting to know her better, he learned her mother had died three years prior and she was pretty much alone in the world, aside from an estranged stepfather and a few friends at the club. He decided she was much better off with him than working at some sleazy club, so he turned her into a creature of the night right there in the limo. He took her back to his hotel room so she could complete her change in peace, and during those days, he learned everything he could about her. What she had told him about her parents was true, and he also learned her real name was Jessica Ann Lewis. He much preferred the name Angel and decided he would never refer to her as anything else.

  On the third day, he and his driver, Michael, put her back in the limo as she awoke. She had been confused as to why they were picking up teens at a burger joint, but she soon learned that she would need to hone in this particular skill if she wanted to continue to… exist.

  After they drove three hours back to his ski lodge in Aspen, Pascal spent the entire night explaining to her what she was.

  “Why did you bring me here?” she asked, looking around the luxurious commodities of the lodge. She tentatively took off her black leather jacket and folded it over her arm. She set her backpack on the floor.

  He had an entire wing of the lodge for himself and the staff. His room was like an oversized hotel room with all the comforts of home.

  “This is your new home,” he explained, sitting on a plush red chair in the corner.

  “But I live in Denver. I can’t live here. I can’t leave everything behind just like that!”

  He
eyed her curiously and smiled. “Why not? What’s in Denver that’s so important to you?”

  She chewed on her lip. “I don’t know you, you bit me, you made me drink blood from a boy’s neck, you kidnapped me from the club… what’s the matter with you?”

  He laughed. “Did you not enjoy the blood of the boys?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “What did you do to me?”

  He got up and placed both hands on her arms. She stiffened but didn’t move from him. She found a strange attraction to Pascal, but tried to push it back down.

  “I turned you. You are like me now. You will never grow old, you will never die. You will be young and beautiful forever.”

  Her eyes got big. “You’re kidding me.”

  He laughed again. “No, my dear, I am not.”

  He pushed her blonde hair behind her ears and put his hand on her face. “You, my dear, are most beautiful,” he whispered.

  She swooned under his gaze and did not fight him when he kissed her.

  He was elated she was returning his passion, so he laid her out in front of the glowing fireplace on the furry white bearskin rug and stripped her clothes off. She did not fight him. He continued to lock eyes with her and she was spellbound. As he entered her, he also bit into her neck. She found the sensation more pleasurable than anything she had ever experienced. Once he was done, he licked the puncture wounds and flipped her over so she was on top. He admired her beautiful body and instructed her to do the same. She groaned in pleasure as she drank from him and made love to him at the same time.

  When it was over, she looked at him and said, “Nothing.”

  He was lying on his side, brushing the hair from her face. “Nothing… what?”

  “You asked why I can’t stay here and what I needed to stay in Denver for. My answer is: nothing.”

  He grinned and said, “I knew you’d see it my way.”

  ∞∞∞

  Portland, Oregon – Present Day

  “As far as I can tell, they like to hang out in the backyard,” Jason Swift said, binoculars up at his face.

  “Should we go listen to what they’re talking about?” Kathryn asked, popping the top of a Diet Pepsi.

  Jonathan pursed his lips, then answered, “That would definitely be helpful. They’re clearly plotting something out there. I wonder what Pascal thinks about them hanging out outside when he and his other bloodsuckers are stuck indoors all day.”

  “That would totally suck. Why would anyone want to be a vampire?” Jason asked, shoveling another barbeque potato chip into his mouth.

  Kathryn snorted. “Well not anymore. They’re no different than us now. Well, except they still need to drink blood.” She shuddered slightly.

  The three were sitting in the van down the street from Pascal’s vampire lair. The street sloped downward slightly, and the van was parked at the top of the slope, giving them easy access to the view inside the vampires’ backyard.

  “Unless we can hear what they’re saying, it’s useless for us to sit out here. Let’s come back next week when Thomas gets back and pay them a visit. Maybe Kathryn could get a read on one if they let us in the house,” Jonathan suggested.

  Jason nodded, binoculars still up. “That’s fine with me. I gotta go check out a possible shifter club downtown tonight anyway.”

  “Shifter club? Someone trying to give Pascal a run for his money?” Kathryn asked.

  Jason laughed. “Hardly. This is a more… adult club, if you know what I’m sayin’.”

  “I met a shifter in one of those clubs one time,” Jonathan said.

  Kathryn rolled her eyes. “We don’t want to hear your little panther story, Jon.”

  Ignoring her, Jonathan asked, “Where is this club?”

  Jason set the binoculars down and wadded up the chip bag. “It’s on 41st Street. It opened a few months ago.” He grinned. “Wanna know what it’s called?”

  Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I can only guess.”

  “The Pole Cat.”

  Kathryn laughed. “Dang. These Fae aren’t very subtle with their club titles, are they? A vampire club called Night Crawlers, and now a shifter bar named The Pole Cat… wow, I really thought I’d seen and heard it all.”

  Jason grinned over the lip of his soda can. “Oh I plan on seeing it all later tonight.” He let out a belch. “The things I do for the Justice Department.”

  ∞∞∞

  A week later, Thomas and Malina suddenly appeared in the apartment, causing Kathryn to jump.

  “Oh, my God! You scared me, you guys!” She jumped up and gave Malina a hug.

  “Sorry. We were too exhausted to take a cab so we took ‘the fast pass’ as Jonathan likes to call it,” she grinned.

  “How was your trip?” Kathryn asked.

  “It was so beautiful. The cruise was fabulous and the food, oh my, I think I gained another five pounds!” She finished by patting her belly.

  “They don’t call it the ‘bloat boat’ for nothing,” Thomas mused.

  Kathryn smiled and tapped Malina’s belly too. “Baby’s gotta eat!”

  Thomas had walked back to his room to put the suitcases down and peeked his head in Jonathan’s room. He walked back down the hall.

  He looked at Kathryn. “Where’s J?”

  Standing in the kitchen peeling a banana, she replied, “At the gym with Tyler.”

  “Oh darn, I’m missing UFC hour.”

  “Oh no you’re not. Jonathan said to meet him down there when you get back. Also,” she said, taking a bite and mumbling around the squishy banana, “we have a stakeout tomorrow at the bloodsuckers’ house.”

  He shook his head. “Wow, no rest for the weary, as my dad used to say.”

  “I’m going to take a nap, and when I get up, I am going to go on the Internet and look at houses,” Malina said, yawning.

  Thomas followed her into the room and pulled the covers back for her. He helped her take her shoes off and tucked her in.

  She looked up at him and yawned again. “Thank you for a lovely honeymoon. I couldn’t have asked for a more magical or perfect trip.”

  He smiled down at her, smoothing her light brown hair away from her face. He grabbed her hand and looked down at her wedding rings. “If you’re happy, I’m happy. And I’ve never been happier. Thank you for marrying me. Thank you for being a part of my life. I love you more than Spider-Man loves Mary Jane. I even love you more than Superman loves Lois Lane,” he paused and let out a small laugh. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t have a huge, goofy grin on my face when I think about you, and when I think about our new baby.” He looked at her belly and placed his hand on it. “You’ve made me feel like the luckiest guy in the world. I promise I’m going to be the best husband and dad I can be.”

  He looked back up to her face to find she’d fallen asleep. He shook his head and laughed, pulling the covers over her still form. He walked to his closet and grabbed his gym bag, shutting off the light as he closed the bedroom door behind him.

  ∞∞∞

  I stomp my foot and keep my hands on my hips. “I am not moving out of Colorado, Pascal! This is my home!”

  I’m furious… furious that he thinks he can order me around like this! Doesn’t he know I can kill him in his sleep?

  He takes a swig of brandy from his ugly green glass tumbler then laughs at me, which only makes me angrier. “Angel, love, you’re being unreasonable here. It’s a new millennium! The year 2000, I can’t believe I’ve lived this long to see the twenty-first century. I want to celebrate; it’s a great time to try something new. The time has come to leave Colorado, my love.”

  “But why? I don’t want to move to Oregon! It rains all the time. I hate the rain, Pascal.”

  He’s shaking his head at me, that stupid English accent grating on my last nerve. “Angel. You are thirty-five years old and you still look nineteen. People are starting to ask questions. This is just the way it is with this life. You can’t stay anywhere very
long if you develop relationships with people. Humans are smarter than they look; they pick up on these things. You know I’ve sold the ski chalet. We are moving, and that is final.”

  I huff with my arms folded but I say nothing.

  He sets the tumbler down and pours another from the heavy glass decanter. “Why are you acting like a petulant child? Quite frankly, you’re really being quite stupid.”

  God, I hate it when he calls me that. I stomp my foot. “I am not stupid!”

  I walk out to the balcony of the chateau. The cold air hits me in the face with a slap but it doesn’t hurt or even affect me. I take in the beautiful, white powdery mountainside and sigh. I’m going to miss this.

  I light up a cigarette, a nasty little habit I’ve picked up mostly out of boredom, and because I know the cigarettes can’t kill me. Plus I know it irritates the living shit out of Pascal.

  “Would you please put out the fag and come back in here?”

  I ignore him and keep facing outwards, not taking my eyes off the happy nighttime skiers. The moon glints off the snow, making it sparkle.

  He comes out behind me and puts his arms around my waist and I cringe. I already know what he’s trying to do but it’s not going to work on me. I stiffen at his touch, pushing his hands off me. It obviously pisses him off because he whirls me around and grabs me by both arms. His eyes have turned pure black. Yep, he’s pissed off.

  Good.

  He grabs the cigarette from my hand and tosses it over the balcony.

  “Hey! I wasn’t done with that!” I shout in protest. Then I slap him across his cheek, just because I feel like it.

  His face is an instant mask of rage and I know I’m gonna pay for that one, but I’m not afraid of him. I stiffen and close my eyes, preparing for the returning blow as always, but instead I feel myself being lifted off my feet, and the next thing I know, I’m falling head-first over the balcony to the snow-covered yard two stories down…