Hearts Unleashed: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection

by C. D. Gorri

  “I don’t believe that,” he snapped. Color climbed up his neck.

  This again? This same damn fight we’d had repeatedly over the past three days? Maybe it was his wounded male ego, but Michael refused to accept that I slept with Rurik willingly.

  And now he wanted to go to the governor—to tap the anti-feral sentiment always brewing within the city’s bureaucracy and persuade the governor to strike Rurik’s stronghold. It was a supremely stupid idea. The constant lightning made airship travel too dangerous. A land-based assault was out of the question. Norms stood no chance against even a small force of ferals.

  But all my arguments fell on Michael’s deaf ears.

  He stood rigid at my bedside, his expression locked down tight. “You’ve been through a trauma. It’s normal for women in your situation to rationalize things.”

  “Michael—”

  “To tell yourself you wanted what happened.”

  “Michael, I wasn’t forced.”

  He exploded. “You can’t expect me to believe that! Jesus, Eden, have you seen your neck?” His face reddened as he flung a hand toward me. “You were naked on that rooftop! You come back mauled, pregnant, and covered in bruises, and you claim you wanted it?”

  “Rurik didn’t give me the bruises.”

  “Oh, so it was a different feral.” He threw up his hands. “Well, that makes it okay, then.”

  My voice climbed. “I could do with a little less sarcasm.”

  “You could do with some fucking common sense! I thought this experience would finally knock some into you. If you could feel what it meant to be in heat—” He cut himself off, clamping his lips tight.

  My scalp prickled. “What experience?”

  He stared, his face going pale.

  “What experience, Michael?” My voice shook as a horrible awareness spread through me. “What do you mean about me being in heat?”

  Tension rose, and a slimy silence twisted between us.

  But I didn’t need him to speak. I already knew the answers to my questions.

  In a scratchy, trembling voice, I said, “You brought me the pack the night I left. You filled it with serum.”

  He didn’t respond. He just watched me, his gaze wary…but also defiant.

  “It wasn’t serum, was it.” I didn’t make it a question. We both knew I wasn’t really asking.

  “No,” he said quietly. “It was a fertility drug. The cities have been using it to try to boost births.”

  My mind tilted. Or maybe the whole world tilted. There couldn’t be a drug like that. “I would have known,” I heard myself say. “I would have heard about it.”

  He shook his head. “The governors developed it in secret. They’ve been testing it on—”

  “Feral women,” I finished. My face felt flushed, and my heart had started to pound. “They’ve been luring ferals into the cities and using them as incubators after they pump them full of fertility drugs.” I clenched a hand in the sheets as my voice dropped an octave. “And you decided to send me into the Alterlands with a whole fucking backpack of it.”

  His eyes went wide, and he took a step back. “Eden, let’s just stay calm.”

  “Calm?” My outraged response was little more than a growl. I looked down long enough to rip the IV from my arm. When I lifted my head, he was halfway to the door.

  I moved without making a conscious decision to do so. One second I was in the bed, the next I blocked his path.

  He stumbled back. “Your eyes are…” He put his hands out. “Eden, please, let’s talk about this.”

  “Like we talked on the wall before I left?” I advanced on him. “When you told me you love me and want to marry me?”

  “I do want to marry you!”

  “You sent me into the Alterlands to be raped!”

  He cringed and kept shuffling backwards. “It w-wasn’t supposed to be like that. I’ve dealt with Rurik before. I didn’t think he’d claim you. Just—”

  “Just fuck me? You thought he would fuck me? No big deal, right?” My fangs distorted my speech as I hissed, “So I would learn my lesson.”

  “It wasn’t like that!” He stopped, some of his anger returning. “You were always on the wall and in that stupid museum, dreaming of seeing the world. But there’s nothing out there, Eden! Not for anyone and especially not for a woman.” He jabbed a finger toward the ground. “Your world is here, with me, and you’re too goddamn stubborn to see it!”

  My growl echoed around the room as I lunged forward and grabbed his neck. I pinned him to the wall in one sweeping motion, then lifted him onto his toes. His eyes bulged, and a gurgling sound emerged from his throat.

  My fangs throbbed with the need to puncture. To rend flesh.

  He must have seen it in my eyes, because he fought my hold, his heels banging the wall.

  I brought my face inches from his and said, “You’re right, Michael. I’m far too stubborn.”

  His chest heaved as he struggled to get air.

  I tilted my head, my inner predator lingering over the plump veins in his neck. He smelled of fear and deceit—a sharp twang overlaid with smoke.

  It was the fear that saved his life. Deep down, Michael Hessen was a coward. A quick death was too good for him. Better to let him live. He could spend the rest of his life knowing he wasn’t half the male Rurik was.

  Because Rurik would never hurt someone he loved. He would never hurt anyone under his protection. The knowledge surged through me with a certainty so powerful I felt it in my bones. My blood.

  My heart.

  And in the tiny being nestled in my womb. A being I loved already, just as I loved the strong, intelligent, and noble male who put it there.

  Rurik.

  Lycan.

  Mate.

  Michael’s face went from red to purple. The delicate bones in his neck started to give under my grip.

  I leaned in close enough for my lips to brush his ear. “You’re right,” I repeated. “But you’re also wrong. There is plenty to see in the Alterlands, and I liked what I saw.” I dragged one fang along his jugular, prompting another terrified gurgle. I whispered, “I liked what I felt, too.” I dragged my fang again, raising a thin line of blood. “I liked Rurik’s cock inside me. He made me feel more than you ever did.”

  Michael’s body jerked as blood stopped flowing to his brain. He was close to passing out, but I knew he could still hear me.

  “If you ever try to hurt him, you’ll die. Quickly. But if by some chance you succeed, I will hunt you down and make you eat your own balls.” I released him and stepped back.

  He crashed to the ground, his hands clawing at his throat as he flopped and gasped.

  “Just so we have an understanding,” I added.

  Chapter Twenty

  Leaving the city was much easier as a feral. If I had any doubts about which side would win in a battle between the Alliance of Cities and the Alterlands, my escape settled it. No one tried to stop me because no one saw me moving through the darkened streets. Aided by my night vision, I clung to the shadows, gliding in and out of doorways and alcoves with soundless footsteps.

  The gate presented a bigger problem. My fangs were sharp, but they were no match for two dozen fighters with automatic weapons.

  But I knew another way out.

  All those nights of childhood stargazing and exploring paid off. When the first governors raised walls around the cities, they worried about a siege. Walls kept enemies out, but they could also keep the city’s inhabitants in. As a result, every city had a tunnel running under one of its walls. The St. Louis tunnel was opposite the main gate, which made it easier for me to evade the guards as I pulled open the small metal door cut into the base of the wall.

  When I emerged on the other side, lightning split the sky. I’d have to outrun the storm. But this time I wouldn’t have Rurik and the others to help me.

  For a moment, I pressed my back against the wall, absorbing the sun’s warmth still baked into the stone
s. My heart rate kicked up, and sweat trickled down my back.

  If I do this, I can never come back.

  But I’d already done it. I made my decision the second I attacked Michael. I was feral now. No city would accept me back within its walls.

  The Plains stretched before me, the land scrubby and broken. The way to Rurik’s stronghold lay on the other side of the city. Before I ran anywhere, I had to make it around the walls without being seen. By now, Michael had probably recovered enough to raise an alarm. If I was caught, I was dead.

  My heart pounded harder…and then a tiny beat echoed it.

  I jerked my gaze down. “At night when everything is quiet…”

  I put my palm over my stomach and whispered, “That’s when I hear you.”

  Lightning struck in the distance. A second later, thunder boomed.

  The top of the watchtower to my right burst into green flame. As it licked at the sky, a deep horn shook the ground. One by one, glowing eyes appeared on the horizon.

  My breath caught.

  More eyes appeared—hundreds of them. They spread in a long line parallel to the wall. Behind them, another row blinked into existence. Then another. And another. I strained forward, struggling to make out bodies and faces.

  A lone figure strode from the center.

  And a pair of glowing golden eyes fixed on me.

  Heart racing—the double beat thumping through my head—I pushed away from the wall and walked toward the figure.

  The green fire sizzled, and the weight of the guards’ gazes pressed into my back. But the danger behind me was nothing compared to the danger I faced.

  He’d threatened to whip me if I left him. He promised to make me come until I forgot everything but his name. Against all logic, my sex grew damp and my breaths became short.

  When I was close enough to make out his features, he stopped.

  For a second, I stopped, too. Then I realized…

  He wants me to come to him.

  Trembling, with my heart hovering in my throat, I forced myself forward. Step by step, I closed the distance between us.

  And then my legs wouldn’t carry me any farther. I came to a halt, my gaze locked with his.

  He was dressed for battle, his chest covered in a Kevlar vest. More armor wrapped around his legs and forearms.

  But it was his expression that struck terror in my heart. His features looked cut from stone, the angles of his face harsh and uncompromising. His eyes burned brighter than I’d ever seen them—his beast hovering just out of reach. He stared at me, raw possession in his gaze. If he touched me, I wasn’t certain I’d survive.

  The double heartbeat pounded harder. In the distance, lightning lit up the sky. Behind him, the army of ferals waited, still as statues.

  He spoke, his fangs so long they mangled his speech. “You left me.”

  I swallowed. “I was coming back.”

  Wind pulled at our clothes and tossed my hair. I hardly noticed. I was too fixed on the beast peeking out from his eyes.

  “I told you what would happen if you ever ran from me,” he said. “Do you remember?”

  My sex clenched. Even now, facing his wrath, I wanted him.

  Slowly, he lifted his hands. He turned them palms up, as if in surrender. His deep voice rumbled when he said, “I’m afraid to touch you. I…ache for you, as if my heart’s been ripped from my chest.” His eyes flashed. “And I would tear that city apart brick by fucking brick to take back what’s mine.”

  Lightning struck a few hundred yards away. An explosion of sparks burst from the ground, sending dust swirling around us.

  My body moved of its own accord, my feet carrying me to him. Slowly, I stepped into his arms.

  His hands hovered in the air on either side of me. As I pressed my body against his, they curled into fists.

  Heart thumping wildly, I said, “I came back to you, and I brought something with me.” With a shaking hand, I grasped his wrist and brought his clenched fist to my stomach. “I brought your child.”

  The golden eyes flared wide. His heart sped up, the beats filling my ears. “You’re pregnant?”

  I nodded.

  His hand flattened against my stomach. “You carry my child,” he said, wonder in his voice. “How far along—”

  “Early. Too soon to know much of anything. Except that I love him…or her.” I hesitated, then took a deep breath. “And I love you.”

  The golden eyes thawed, turning molten. He clutched me to him, his arms wrapping around me as if he’d never let me go. “Say that again.”

  “I love you,” I said at once.

  His shuddering breath fluttered over my face. “I’m a fortunate male.”

  I tipped my head back so I could look into his eyes. “So you won’t destroy the city?”

  He flicked a glance at the walls behind me. “Hessen?” he asked, voice tight.

  “I took care of him,” I said smoothly. “He won’t bother us again.”

  Rurik’s chest rumbled with approval. “It’s a strong mate I’ve chosen for myself. Intelligent, beautiful, and fierce.” He smoothed my hair back from my face. “And mine.”

  Wind streamed around us. Overhead, lightning flashed.

  “We need to move,” he murmured. “Can you shift?”

  My breath quickened, my blood singing in my veins. With him, I was up for anything.

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  Approval flared in his gaze. “Then let’s go, mate of mine. We’re racing the lightning tonight.”

  Thanks for reading!

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  About Amy Pennza

  Amy Pennza has been a lawyer, a soldier, and a copywriter. She's worn combat boots and high heels in the same 24-hour period...and she definitely prefers flip flops. Actually, she prefers going barefoot while writing steamy romances about strong women and alpha men with hearts of gold. After years in Tornado Alley, she now makes her home in the Great Lakes region with her husband and five children.

  Blood Fortune By Julie Morgan

  Copyright © 2020 by Julie Morgan

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Blood Fortune

  Visions can lie…but, the truth can kill.

  By the 1770’s, the glory of and power of Venice have faded, leaving the crumbling city vulnerable to conquest from without and irrational fear from within. A glimpse. A rumor. A whisper. That is all it takes for one ambitious man to bring the proud city once known as La Serenissima to its knees, terrorized by the evidence of plague and the thought of witchcraft.

  Sophia Marivic struggles to hide in plain sight, afraid of the ancient Slavic blood that runs through her veins and gives her the ability to foretell the future. Her deepest secret is about to become her greatest weakness when she has a vision of a dark, mysterious man approaching Venice on a strange ship. The plague she fears the man brings is nothing she could have ever imagined. Death follows in his wake as he haunts and hunts her—heart, body, and soul.

  As the body
count rises, the calls for retribution against witches grow louder, and Sophia is caught in the crosshairs, trapped between the danger before her and the desire for the man who will be the death of her.

  For Sophia, there can be no escape from her…Blood Fortune.

  Dedication

  To the loves we continue to find, over and over, throughout our lifetimes.

  Acknowledgements

  To Gina Kincade for being the amazing person I’ve come to know over the years, and your constant support.

  To my street team for always being the most amazing group of supporters. Without you, I wouldn’t be here. My love for the group is endless!

  To my husband, John, who never grows tired of my constant questions or my endless nights of writing, and for never complaining. I love you.

  Chapter One

  It was considered bad form for a witch to have a vision during High Mass.

  Therefore, it was most natural and reasonable for Sophia Marvic to feel somewhat put upon at the sudden onset of what promised to be a vision of unusual strength.

  Taking in a long breath, she forced herself to concentrate on the musty smell of the church that tickled her nose. She sat straighter, her corset easing and pulling as she breathed in and out, waiting for something, anything, to begin. Trying to stave off the full impact of the Sight, she exhaled slowly as the priest performed the rites during Sunday’s mass. Crucibles, sins, and forgiveness. She glanced toward the ceiling and stared at the faded, frescoed story of Christ and his sacrifice. Dust and spider webs found their home in the crevices. The muted colors of the paint melted into each other, and the Apostles wavered and grew blurry. She blinked several times and rubbed her eyes, but her vision would not clear. Apparently, contrary to her wishes, the Sight was determined to foist this particular vision upon her in this specific moment.