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

by C. D. Gorri

  Amy joined in and together they repeated the counter spell in English, “The Magic upon my Mate be trapped this night. Between these mirrors never see light.”

  Over and over, they repeated the words they been taught by the Goddess Danu at the time of their Becoming. Beautiful, pure white Magic filled the air. Wrapping around Creed like clouds from a sunny sky, Alex watched the black tendrils be obliterated and his body be restored from the inside out.

  The longer they sang, the stronger her Dragon became. Hope filled Alex’s heart and soul. He would live. He would be good as new. He would…

  And that was as far as she got as the huge, electrified and warded metal sliding door protecting one of her many safe houses from intruders was blown off the hinges. Powerful, dark sorcery filled the room. The acrid stench of sulfur invaded her senses. Black clouds of ash and brimstone sought to entrap her, Amy and Creed.

  Spinning on her toes and backing up until she felt her Mate’s knees touching the backs of her own, Alex pulled her crossbow from the ether, loaded the silver tipped arrow dipped in her own tincture of Water Hemlock, Deadly Nightshade, and White Snakeroot and aimed it in the vicinity of the door.

  “Come on out! Nobody here’s afraid of your parlor tricks. My name is Alex MacAskill, and I am the Morrígan’s Assassin.”

  Stepping from the smoke with fire in his eyes and the blade of Aodh, the Celtic God of the Underworld in his hand, The Crow stepped forward and announced, “And my name is Death and I’ve come to claim what’s mine.” Pointing the tip of his sword at her chest, he added, “Your Dragon lives, but only if you come with me. I was promised that you would live out eternity by my side and that promise shall be kept.”

  Chapter Nine

  “I promised you nothing, Crow. And as for you being Death, you maybe the son of the Celtic God of Death, Donn, but you are a poor facsimile of the Dark Gael who dwells in the house where the souls of the dead gather. Leave the real job to the big boys.”

  Alex was mad, more to the point, she was pissed, and he could feel that rage burning their Mating bond like a house on fire. Every ounce of Magic was popping and cracking and sparks were flying deep within her soul. Bolts of vengeful electricity flew in every direction, reminding Creed of downed power wire in the middle of a lake.

  “It was not your promise to make. The deal was struck with the Goddess Áine before your birth, and I will not be denied.”

  “You’re not Fate, Asshole. Get out of my house before I chop off your head and use it as a paperweight.”

  Opening his eyes, two things instantly became glaringly obvious, Alex was the legendary Sìthiche Dubh and the very powerful being threatening to take his Mate was none other than the Demi-God Gwydion, also known was The Crow. Not only had the spiteful welp been a pain in Creed’s ass since he was born, but the sone of Donn was known for his clashes with gods, his destruction of natural resources on Earth, and claiming things that didn’t belong to him.

  “In this case, our Mate,” Alastair snarled.

  “Exactly,” Creed agreed. “But I wouldn’t call Alex a thing. I’m pretty sure she could kick both of our asses with one hand tied behind her back.”

  “We can debate the more intimate details of communicating with our Mate after handling this snot-nosed brat and sending him to his dear old dad, yes?”

  “Yeah, whatever you say, Old Man,” Creed readily agreed. “You ready to rock and roll?”

  “And you think I’m the one who needs to stop watching TV,” the Dragon King groaned. “But yes, I am ready to save the day once again.”

  “I’m not worried about the day as much as I am Alex.”

  No sooner had the words floated through their collective mind, than Creed was on his feet with the Ancient Magic of Dragonkin filling every fiber of his being. From one second to the next, seizure-like tremors shook his body. His blood ran cold then boiling in the blink of an eye. Fiery fury filled every cell of his being, contracting and contorting his very physique, transforming both Paladin and Dragon King into the compact, indestructible form of their Warrior Dragon.

  Forcing the large, elongated muscles he’d used for flying into his chest, biceps, and quads, the concrete floor beneath his paws shuddered as the long claws jutting from his toes found purchase.

  An inferno, like flaming shards of silver, sliced through the flesh and bone of his back. The tips of his wings curled downward, turning inward toward his shoulder blades, pushing through the thick layer of scales, tearing through his body as if it were no more than papier mâché.

  Bone shattered and muscles tore until he no longer possessed wings at all, but instead had what looked like huge blades of an oversized battle-axe jutting from his back, with his long, venomous finger-claws extending from the razor-sharp edges. Moving them up and down and forward and back, an evil grin curled the corner of his shortened snout.

  The talons at the ends of his fingers doubled in size and girth, their hooked tips tingling with the need to rip through the Demi-God standing before him. Pointing at Gwydion, Creed seethed, “The contract on my life is null and void. The Sìthiche Dubh has obeyed the law of the Morrígan. I am the one True Fated Mate of Alessandra MacAskill as ordained by the Universe, Fate, Destiny, and the Great Goddess of All and she is under no obligation to complete the contract.”

  “What the hell?” Alex’s awe floated from her mind to his.

  “Can we talk about this later, my love? It seems as though this whelp has something to say about my claim to your heart.”

  “Just this once, I’ll let you talk for me. But after this, we’re a team. Got it?”

  “Loud and clear.”

  “You know not of what you speak, Dragon,” The Crow seethed, the tip of his blade swinging towards the light platinum scales covering his heart. “The bargain was struck long before life was breathed into the soul of the Sìthiche Dubh, of Alessandra MacAskill. She is mine and today, I shall claim her.”

  Suddenly, out of thin air, the Fomorian Death Squad who’d attacked them before and three more Witches from the Coven of the Crow appeared. The room filled with chanting, the Gaelic translating into, “We bind you Dragon in the name of the Goddess Cliodhna. We take the Magic from your soul, the love from your heart and the strength from every fiber of your being. We invoke the Spirit of those who’ve gone before to remove you from this place, to hold you prisoner in the depths of the Underground, to…”

  “Shut the hell up,” Amy ground out through gritted teeth, appearing on the other side of Alex. “Enough of your bullshit spell, I have one word for you!” Throwing out her hands, a steam of sparkling silver and red flew from her palms as the young Fairy breathed a single command, “Bi air falbh.”

  And just as she commanded, ‘be gone’, the ashes of the Witches fell into three small piles in the middle of the floor. “Well, I’ll be a…”

  And that was as far as he got before all Hell quite literally broke loose. The Crow ran at Creed, the look of murder in his eyes and a war cry of death on his lips.

  Pulling the blade of Camulus, the Ancient Gaul God of War, from the ether, Creed swung the jewel-handled sword in a single, upward circle, completely the motion by blocking Gwydion’s rapier before it struck its fatal blow. Metal clashed, sparks flew and all the while the Paladin Leader kept his mind linked to his Mate’s.

  As she and her sister dispatched one Fomorian after another, Creed continued to swing for the Demi-God’s head. There was no cure for what ailed Gwydion. He was entitled, selfish, and blatantly evil in every way possible. That he thought he could make a deal for the love of any woman, let alone the one the Universe made for Creed, was nothing short of ludicrous.

  Back and forth, parrying and thrusting, lunging then retreating, the longer they fought, the more of the Fomorians Alex and Amy dispatched, the more of them that appeared out of thin air. He had to do something. Had to end this fight before either his Mate or her sister were seriously injured.

  “You just keep your eyes on that asshole
’s blade,” Alex ordered directly into his mind. Not giving him to time to respond, she added, “Yeah, I heard you. We all three walk out of here, or none of us do. Ya’ got that, Dragon Man.”

  “Aye, aye, my love.”

  “And while we’re at it…” Pausing as her breath came in short puffs as she shot poison-tipped arrow after poison-tipped arrow at the Formorians, she finally finished with, “How ‘bout bringin’ the fire? Burn that son of a god down.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Stone’s voice burst into Creed’s mind. “She and Annika are gonna hit it off just fine. You ready to send this little asshole home to his daddy?”

  “Been ready since before he got here.”

  Keeping Gwydion occupied as Stone and the other Paladins projected their plan into his mind, Creed stepped to the side, drew his opponent away from the door, and took a swing at The Crow’s midsection. Countering with a Passata Sotto just as the Paladin knew he would, Gwydion dropped his body beneath the Dragon’s blade. Placing his free hand on the floor, he straightened his sword arm and jabbed at the inside of Creed’s thigh, aiming for the femoral artery.

  Spinning to the side, Creed taunted, “Swing and a miss, Little Man. Didn’t daddy ever teach you how to fight?”

  “I will bathe in your blood,” The Crow shrieked. Jumping to his feet and racing at Creed’s chest with his blade leading the way, he added with a roar, “Alessandra will be mine!”

  Flames filled the room, the nauseatingly sweet and putrid stench of burning flesh mixed with the smoldering reek of hot vinegar and burning pepper filled the room. Before the flames had subsided, as dark smoke and gray fumes went from the shape of the Fomorians to clouds of dust, Stone, his twin Sable and Lex, the newest Paladin, stormed into the room.

  Caught between Creed, Alex, and Amy, and three of the most formidable warriors the Universe had ever created, Gwydion’s huge black wings extended from his back and wrapped around his body. Spinning so quickly he was little but a blur, The Crow threatened, “This is not over, Creed Mathers. You will not…”

  Tossing his sword to his Mate, the Paladin Leader conjured the golden whip of the Celtic God of the Hunt with little more than a thought. Pulling the handle towards his shoulder, the thong flew backward a split-second before he threw the force of his weight towards the rising figure of The Crow.

  Directing the whip as an extension of his body, he watched as the heavy length of gold wrapped around the shining black feathers. Both he and Alastair roared as the fall of the whip, the closest portion to the end, came into view, the crack signified the last of the whip and the loop reached the speed of sound, creating the telltale sonic boom.

  Yanking the handle with all his might, Creed felt a satisfied grin cross his snout as The Crow fell to the ground, wound up tight in gold and screaming at the top of his lungs. Opening his mouth to tell the spoiled Demi-God to shut the hell up, Alex was quicker.

  “Na bruidhinn tuilleadh,” she uttered the spell which translated to speak no more and looked to Creed with her right eyebrow arched and a twinkle in her eyes.

  Helpless but to go to her, by the time he’d taken the three steps to get to his Mate, Alistair had pulled back their Dragon Magic and Creed was once again in human form. Taking her hands in his, he pulled her to him, lowered his lips to hers and whispered, “Do you know how long…?”

  But before he could finish, Alex put her index finger to his lips, let out a stuttering breath and pronounced, “You may want to hold that thought. You don’t know anything about me. I was the one…”

  “You are Alessandra MacAskill, my Mate, the one the Universe made for me. You are also the Morrígan’s Assassin, the Sìthiche Dubh, and therefore the one sent to kill me. Over the years, you have exacted the justice of the Goddess of War and the Jury of Others. You have taken lives as their Executioner as is the legacy of the women of the MacAskill Frolick. I am Paladin. We exist because the Universe, Fate, and Destiny believe justice must prevail. I too, have been the Executioner when warranted. You have nothing to fear, we are one as the Universe intended. And like my mother always said, ‘Fate Will Not Be Denied’.”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “Yeah, but nothing.”

  Still talking around her finger, loving the feel of her skin against his, Creed placed the side of his own finger under her chin and gently lifted so she could no longer evade his eyes. “You are mine and I am yours. I can hear your thoughts, see your memories, feel your fears, and I can assure you, I fell in love with you the minute you walked into Maggie and Bonnie’s bar and I will fall a little more in love with you for the rest of eternity.”

  A bright and wonderful smile curved her lips as her arms wrapped around his neck and she pushed up onto her toes. Lips just about to touch, she winked, “I kinda liked you last night, too, but right now, I’m pretty sure you’re my hero.”

  Kissing his Mate was nothing short of miraculous, so much so that Creed forgot where he was, what has just happened, and who was in the room. At least, until Lex, one of Freya’s Einherjar – an army of one – chuckled, “Is it inappropriate to give you two lovebirds a wolf whistle? Or would you rather I just tell you to get a room?”

  Lifting his lips from Alex’s, Creed teasingly growled, “If you value your life, you’ll get the hell outta here and take the others with you.”

  “Done and done, Boss. Done and done.”

  Chapter Ten

  After speaking with the Morrígan and explaining what had happened, Alex stood by Creed’s side as The Crow was whisked away on a cloud of Magic to the prison of the Jury of Others. Needing to ask one last favor of the Goddess of War, but not wanting to ‘wear out her welcome’, the Black Fairy nearly jumped out of her boots when the Morrígan chuckled, “I know you have something you want to ask, but first, Alessandra my dear, let me reiterate that neither I nor anyone on the Jury of Others knew that the charges brought against your Mate were false. A great deal of black Magic was used to hide the true facts of the case from us, including Gwydion’s involvement. We believe, at least one other of the Celtic Pantheon was party to this heinous crime. Once again, please accept my apologies, and know that I will not let this matter rest until all involved have been prosecuted by our Courts, sentenced by the Jury of Others, and handled in the appropriate manner. And the Goddess Áine is also out for blood. I am sure Gwydion is glad to be protected in the Prison of the Others. My sister Goddess, is not one to be trifled with in such a brazen matter.”

  “Thank you, Goddess,” Alex acquiesced.

  Shocked as Creed let go of her hand and bowed deeply, her heart filled with untold joy as he vowed, “As always, Goddess, please know that the Paladin are at your service. If you ever have need of us, you only have to call.”

  “Thank you, Commander Creed Mathers.” Smiling, the Morrígan continued, “You are a true Guardsman and loyal Paladin and for that, the Universe, Fate, and I will forever be grateful.”

  Graciously bowing her head, the Goddess looked up and turned to Alex. “Now, what have you to ask of me, my dear Alessandra.”

  “Umm, well…”

  Chuckling, the sound like the twinkle of tiny silver bells, the Morrígan went on, “I have known your thoughts since before you were born, dear Fairy. You have been loyal to me and to the Jury of Others for nearly a millennium. If you have need of anything, you have only to ask.”

  “I was wondering if… Umm, well…” Irritated with herself for being antsy before the Goddess, she finally took a deep breath and as she exhaled asked, “May I use the Eye of Dagda to transport, Amy, Creed and myself back to Valentine, Tx?”

  “No need for such formality, it is the least I can do for you.” Raising her hand, the Morrígan paused and smiled, “Be happy, Alessandra, for there is no one I know deserves it more. Amaryllis is a formidable replacement, and all will be well.” Looking to Creed, the Goddess arched a single eyebrow. “As for you, Creed Mathers, take care of my former Síthiche Dubh, my favorite Fairy in all the universe. She is very special to me. An
d if any harm should come to her…”

  “I understand, Great Goddess of War, Morrígan, she means the world to me as well. I will do everything in my power to make her happy and fill every day of our forever with love and laughter.”

  “See that it is so, Paladin. See that it is so.”

  No sooner had she uttered the words than was Alex, along with her sister and her Mate standing in the middle of the Fairies’ suite at Two Wolves B&B. Before she could open her mouth to comment on their quick journey, Amy ran into the bedroom, grabbed her backpack and raced towards the door.

  “I’m heading down to meet Angela. We’re hangin’ out while you two…” Making air quotes and grinning like the cat that ate the canary, she went on, “…are getting to know each other.” Laughing out loud as she opened the door and headed into the hall, she added, “Call me if you need anything, but do not call me if you’re naked.”

  “Why you…”

  But the door was already closed before Alex could think up a witty comeback. Turning into Creed’s waiting arms, she looked up at the man she’d never thought she would find but was happier than she’d ever been to be with him and whispered, “Wanna get to know each other?”

  “Oh, Alex, I thought you’d never ask,” he reverently whispered, sending fire racing through her veins as his lips took hers with the wild abandon of their life-affirming, all-encompassing connection.

  Lost to his kiss, Alex heard the slam of a door somewhere in the back of her mind before her body was sensually sliding down his. Deepening his kiss, she felt the wall behind her as his hands slid from her waist, down her legs, and inside the waistband of her jeans as he removed them with only a thought.