Coming In Hot Box Set

by Gina Kincade

  “Why would I do that? I’ve missed you. Haven’t you missed me, love?” he asked in a thick Italian accent.

  “No. I want you to leave me alone. Why can’t you see that we are done?” she asked, taking a step backward as he approached her, his arms out as if he wanted to embrace.

  She sucked in a breath as he disappeared and reappeared before her within a second, his face an inch before hers.

  When he kissed her, she saw flashbacks of her former life—the life she wanted desperately to escape.

  No, she thought.

  “Because, I brought you to this world. That makes you bound to me,” Luke whispered, his breath on her neck, his hard body pressed to hers. “Besides. You miss me. I know it. That human cannot make your body sing the way I can.” He licked her throat and her eyelashes fluttered as she closed her eyes.

  A moan escaped her lips as he bit the flesh between her neck and shoulder blade, his hands lifting the T-shirt she wore and cupping her naked butt.

  “See?” Luke asked with a soft chuckle, his seductive voice making her second guess leaving him. “You do miss me.”

  “I do not.”

  “Don’t lie to yourself, love. Come now. Come with me and let’s disappear.”

  “Go away, Luke. I’m not leaving with you.”

  “You’ll wish you did,” he said. “I swear you will.”

  Just like that, Luke vanished.

  Alice found herself sitting in her seat, her coffee in her hand, and Collin talking about their movie night as if nothing had happened. She put her coffee down and folded her hands in her lap in an attempt to hide the way they shook.

  After a decade of hiding, the demon she’d once loved had found her. Now, he’d left her hot and bothered and reminiscing about the times they’d shared together. The battle for good and evil had knocked on her door, and left her torn.

  Heart racing, she couldn’t look Collin in the eye. Things had changed.

  No longer did she have to worry about starting a life with the human she loved—but how to keep them both alive.

  CHAPTER SIX

  After breakfast, Collin got called into the hospital. Alice wasn’t surprised. The doctor schedule had not come in, and that only made Alice worry even more.

  She leaned over the center console and kissed Collin as he dropped her off at her house.

  “I miss you already,” she said, not wanting to let him go. She considered going in with him, just to look after and protect him. She’d never forgive herself if Luke did something to harm Collin.

  He laced his hands into her hair and kissed her back. “I miss you too. I can come over when I get off. How does that sound?”

  Alice smiled. “Sounds amazing. I promise I’ll cook this time.”

  “Finally,” he joked and she nudged him.

  “Don’t push your luck, Dr. Madison.”

  “All right, babe. Enjoy your day off. I’ll see you tonight.”

  Alice left the car and waved goodbye from her front driveway. The moment Collin drove down the winding road and into the thick woods that stood on both sides, a message appeared before her. On the air, bright green letters began to form in fluid motion.

  Netherworld dialect.

  She paled, pursing her lips as she read the words before her.

  You are formerly invited to interview for an agent position for the Netherworld Division.

  Your resume has been passed on by General Halston, second in command of the Netherworld Division, first in command of Great Brittain.

  Should you wish to accept this invitation, use the pen in your mailbox and submit your answer in one week’s time.

  Regards,

  Captain Patrik Kramer

  Head of Recruiting

  Netherworld Division

  “Dear God,” Alice said into the wind as the words were blown away. She covered her mouth as a million thoughts raced through her head.

  This was it, the moment she’d been waiting for…a chance to use her power for something important.

  Now she was afraid of making such a decision. She could never be a Netherworld agent with a human mate. Such a thing would be extremely difficult to hide. Halston still believed in her.

  That was enough to make her smile despite the chaos that was becoming her life.

  ***

  Alice looked to the sky as she floated above the pond behind her home in the woods. Naked, and uncaring of the cold, she watched the stars flicker against the darkness.

  Water calmed her.

  Soothed her nerves.

  Water meant rebirth, but to Alice, it was a reminder of all that she’d lost and wished to regain.

  As tears slipped from the corner of her eyes, she listened to the call of the woods—the creatures that feared her. They kept their distance, but watched her nonetheless, as if waiting for her to strike.

  But Alice didn’t mean anyone harm.

  Alice submerged herself in the water, falling deeper and deeper until her feet touched the earth at the bottom of the pond. The darkness may have scared most, but Alice was different. This is where it was quietest—where the creatures of the night couldn’t be heard.

  She wondered why they feared her so.

  She was also a creature of the night.

  Something nagged at her, warning her that the perfect little existence she’d built for herself was on shaky ground. She’d been alive long enough to know that everything could be ripped from her without notice.

  But finally, after almost a century, she’d found love again. With a human. She refused to let that be taken away from her.

  The letter she received that morning was more than a threat. If he couldn’t have her, no one could. At least that was his way of thinking. After centuries of running and hiding—Luke was back…and this time, Alice was ready for him.

  She shot toward the surface with a supernatural speed that sent her into the sky. Her heart swelled with the thrill of being airborne. This was why she woke in the middle of the night so that she could fly without fear of being caught.

  An angel without wings had to be cautious.

  Even a fallen one.

  ***

  Alice looked at her reflection in her bathroom mirror as her favorite song played in the background. Her blond waves were perfect, as was the eyeliner around her blue eyes.

  She fixed her red lipstick and turned off the bathroom light. She picked up her coffee mug off her desk and turned off her computer, along with the music that played. Her bedroom was small but perfect for one person. She usually spent her nights with Collin in his spacious lakefront house anyway. She resisted chewing her bottom lip for fear that she’d get red lipstick on her white teeth. But, worry kept her on edge. She still had a difficult decision to make.

  Maybe she could make it work. They planned on moving to London anyway. She could be an agent and still have her man.

  Alice walked through the short hallway to her kitchen. She grabbed her purse off of her kitchen island, sipping the last of her coffee. Her shift at Mercy Hospital started in half an hour, and if she wanted to get there before traffic, she needed to hustle.

  She sighed. Flying would be so much easier.

  Her phone rang and she rummaged through her purse for it.

  “Hello?”

  “Dr. Alice Petri?”

  Alice’s cheeks flushed. She didn’t like the sound of the woman’s voice.

  “Yes?” she asked, her voice wavering. Please. Please. Please don’t let it be bad news.

  “This is the Waverly Falls police department.”

  Her stomach fell to the floor and she braced herself. “Yes.”

  “Your sister, Crescentia has been detained for disorderly conduct. Would you like to come and pick her up?”

  Alice’s eyes closed, pursing her lips. “Sure,” she said. “I’ll come and get her.”

  So much for making her shift on time.

  “Crescentia,” she said with a sigh as she left out the front door of her cabin h
ome and stepped into the foggy dew of morning. “You’re going to be the death of us both.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A beautiful young woman with long black hair that reached her waist stood outside the jail. Tall, and slim, she could have been a model on any runway in Paris. Her jean shorts revealed too much thigh for Alice’s liking, and a cutoff shirt showed off her tattooed belly.

  Alice shook her head as she pulled up to the curb and rolled down her tinted windows.

  “Get in,” she said.

  Crescentia blew a bubble with her gum and popped it as she opened the door and slid into the leather passenger seat.

  “Sup, sis,” she said, stretching her long pale legs onto the dashboard of Alice’s BMW.

  “Feet off, Crescentia.”

  Crescentia rolled her gray eyes but obeyed and took her feet down. “Done.”

  “What did you do this time?” Alice asked as she pulled away, hoping no one she knew saw her leaving the jail.

  Crescentia gave her a sidelong glance, a grin on her plump pink lips. “I kicked this one guy’s ass,” she said, cracking her knuckles.

  “Why?”

  “He called me a whore.”

  Alice exhaled, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. “Was it really necessary to hurt him? The odds aren’t exactly fair.”

  “That’s not my problem.”

  Alice shook her head, pursing her lips as she drove back to her house. Crescentia was a young, newly fallen angel. Living within the human world was new to her and it was Alice’s job to help her assimilate and learn what was acceptable.

  Like a hormonal teen, Crescentia had no control over her impulses or emotions. Such things would have to be learned and practiced and Alice was the teacher.

  They drove back to her house, all the while Alice tried to think of ways that she could get through to Crescentia. The young angel was almost as difficult as her teen patients.

  That’s when it came to her. Perhaps she could appeal to her the same way she provided care to her patients. A fallen angel wasn’t much different from the teen girls she spoke to each day. They were lost, confused, full of shame for betraying their father, and full of self-loathing.

  As Alice pulled into the driveway, Crescentia opened the door.

  “Wait,” Alice said, putting a hand on Crescentia’s arm.

  “What?” Crescentia asked, her eyes going from Alice’s hand and meeting her eyes.

  “Do you want to talk?”

  Crescentia titled her head. “About what? About how much I hate this place?”

  Nodding, Alice gave her a sympathetic smile. “Yes.”

  Slumping back into the seat, Crescentia shook her head. “I just want to go home.”

  The pain in the young angel’s voice caught Alice off guard. She swallowed and stroked Crescentia’s arm. “I know. Once the cloak of lies is lifted, we are all faced with the realization of our error. Trust me, hun. We all want to go home, and the ones that don’t end up crossing to the other side.”

  Crescentia shot her a look, one of curiosity. “Do you ever think of just giving up this game of trying to earn your redemption, and crossing over to the other side?”

  “No,” Alice said, softly. “You don’t want to do such a thing.” She pulled her hand away from Crescentia as it both of her hands started to shake. She looked away. “I’ve seen what that can do to an angel. Please, trust me. You do not want to become a demon. I’ve never seen such an act get reversed, and it only causes more sorrow and pain in the end.”

  There was silence between them as Crescentia seemed to mull over Alice’s words. Alice thought of Luke, and how he’d made that exact mistake. If there was ever a way to save him from that mistake, she’d do it. As much as she hated to admit it, she loved him enough still to wish he made it back from that decision.

  “Okay,” Crescentia said. “Maybe we can talk about what’s next for me.”

  “Sure.” Alice turned off the car. “Are you hungry?”

  “Yes. I didn’t want to touch that disgusting food they had in the jail.”

  They got out of the car and started up the stairs when another car came up her long driveway.

  Alice brightened when she saw that it was Collin.

  “Your boyfriend is around a lot lately,” Crescentia said.

  Alice fixed her hair. “Yes, he is.”

  When he parked and got out of the car, her smile faded at his expression.

  “Collin? What’s wrong?” she asked as he approached her.

  Collin glanced at Crescentia and took Alice by the arm. “We need to leave. Right now.”

  “What?” Alice asked, not budging. “Tell me what’s wrong?”

  His chest heaved and his face was flushed as if he’d been running. His eyes widened as he looked down at her. “I have something to tell you, Alice.”

  Crescentia walked back down the stairs, her interest piqued. “Oh. This is getting good.”

  Alice held a hand up, shushing her. “Tell me.”

  Collin paused, his eyes looking to the sky.

  Why did the world go silent?

  Alice tensed as she followed Collin’s gaze.

  The sky darkened, and three figures flew over her house and landed before them.

  Alice’s jaw dropped as the sun was blocked by dark clouds that turned the day into night.

  “I told you we needed to leave,” Collin said.

  “What else did you need to tell me?” Alice asked, her eyes focused on the three masked men that stood in her front yard.

  Crescentia stood beside her. “What’s up with these goons? This isn’t Halloween,” she yelled down at them, completely unfazed by their sudden appearance. She twirled her hair around her finger and glanced at Alice. “Want me to get rid of them?”

  “Stay back,” Alice said, her eyes fixed on Collin.

  “Halston sent me to warn you,” Collin said and Alice shot him a surprised look, her brows lifting high.

  “Halston? What?”

  Three dart guns were lifted and pointed at Alice.

  Collin stood in front of her, blocking their view.

  From behind Collin, Alice looked down at her hands. She chewed the inside of her lip, her rage simmering to a boil. Her breaths became labored, and her mind raced with all of the possible outcomes of what was about to happen.

  “The three of you need to leave,” Collin said. He nodded to them. “As a Netherworld Division agent, I have the clearance to either arrest or kill you all.”

  Agent?

  Alice looked at him with widened eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t know you were an angel until today,” Collin said. He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

  “And, what are you?” She looked him up and down. Never did she get a vibe that he was anything supernatural. Though, humans did work for the division. But, why Collin? He was a surgeon—not a soldier or military man. He wasn’t a vampire or an angel.

  That must mean that he’s…

  Realization slammed into her. “You’re a shifter?”

  A laugh came from who Alice assumed was the leader. “Shifter? Why should we be afraid of a shifter?”

  Alice looked to the leader. She didn’t get a good glimpse of his face through the mask.

  But, when he ripped it off, she pushed Collin aside and flew at him with a speed that was barely traceable by human eyes.

  “Rogan,” she hissed, grabbing him by his collar and flying him far into the woods. Though surprised by her speed, he tried to hide it with a false smile.

  “You do remember me, then.”

  “What do you want?”

  She threw him into a tree and hovered in the air, throwing three rings of angel light up her body. Exhilarated by the release of her power, she allowed the bright golden light to crisscross and cascade up and down her body.

  “We were told to take you,” Rogan, an old enemy from her days in England, said.

  As she asked the question, she knew e
xactly who sent him. Had Luke been trying to warn her this entire time?

  “We only had the guns to scare you and coerce you to come with us,” Rogan said, holding his hands up.

  The ruler of the demon clan of England, Edwin Allington.

  A normal life was no longer on the table, not with a bounty on her head from a creature she didn’t stand a chance against.

  Alice lowered herself to the ground, her heart racing.

  She stepped up to Rogan, inches from her face. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

  His eyes widened. “You’ll come. No trouble?”

  She turned and headed back to her house, a scowl on her face as she tread through thick underbrush. “Yes.”

  As Alice walked through the woods, she thought of all of the clues Luke had tried to leave her. How he still cared about her enough to save her life.

  Though she hated to admit it…she was going to need him to face the demon king.

  Collin ran to her once she was back in view. He wrapped his arms around her. “What happened? Are you okay?”

  Alice exhaled and buried her face in his chest. “I’m fine,” she said, hating what she knew she had to do.

  He held her out at arm’s length and looked in her eyes. “What is it?”

  Alice was afraid to say what was on her mind, but she knew that there was no way around it. She looked to Crescentia, who sat on the stairs, her eyes fixed on the three men. The look in her eyes sent chills up Alice’s spine. She frowned, realizing that she had no idea what kind of skills the girl had.

  And for that matter, she didn’t know what kind of shifter Collin was.

  “Alice?”

  She turned to him and kissed him on the lips, her hands grasping either side of his face. “Take care of Crescentia for me.”

  “Nope,” Crescentia said, standing and stretching her legs. “I’m going wherever you go. No way I’m sitting in this boring house while you go out and act like a superhero.”

  Alice sighed. She did sound like a petulant teen right then. “No. You won’t. Go inside, Crescentia.”

  “Try to stop me.”