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

by C. D. Gorri

  “Stand down, and I’ll let you live,” the demon growled. “Tell the she-wolf’s brother Alrick is coming for him. His heart will be my next meal.”

  If Noah were in control, he’d have growled. This was the same demon who held the witch captive a century ago.

  Cade inched toward Alrick, and the demon backed up until he stood on the water’s edge. Noah’s wolf locked his gaze on the fleshy area of his ankle. With his paws digging into the muddy bank, he hauled himself up and latched on to Alrick’s leg before yanking with all his might.

  The demon slipped in the mud and tumbled backward. His size and the weight of his stone-like flesh caused him to sink, and Noah’s wolf scrambled onto the bank before shaking out his fur.

  Alrick bobbed to the surface, his arms flailing. “Help! I can’t swim.” His voice had changed, sounding more like a man than a fiend. The wolves stood there watching him struggle. Noah would have preferred to drag him from the water and tear him to pieces, but for once, his wolf made the right decision and let the bayou be his end.

  There were only two ways to kill a pure demon: pierce the heart or cut off its head. Even then, the fiend wouldn’t die. It would simply be banished back to the hell from where it came.

  Alrick was half-demon. Not even that. The fiend in him had been magically fused with his soul, and it seemed his human side could succumb to drowning. Good riddance.

  After sinking again, he struggled to the surface and gasped before he spoke, “You’re next.” Then, in a flash of magic, he disappeared.

  Noah’s wolf shook out his fur again, sending muddy water in every direction before releasing his hold. He shifted to human and ran a hand through his sopping wet hair.

  Cade shifted and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “That was amazing, man. Much better than my plan. Next time, clue me in, though.”

  “I would if I could.” He shook his head. “He’s got Nylah. We need to find him now.”

  “Slow down. Your battleplan was pretty detailed, and it didn’t involve busting in with our teeth bared. Without the potion that destroys the Thropynite, our friend Alrick seems indestructible.”

  Noah ground his teeth. “We can’t even drown the bastard with the way he teleports. That’s one strong-ass demon inside him.”

  “Tell me about it. He’s even out in the daylight. I’ve never seen a fiend escape a battle with four werewolves. We can’t beat him with three unless we can get our hands on that stone.”

  “You’re right. Let’s swing by my place for some dry clothes, and…” He tugged his phone from his pocket. Thankfully, it had been absorbed by the magic when he was in wolf form and was still in working order. “Amber called three times. She left a voicemail.”

  He hit the speaker button and played the message: We’ve got a big problem. Meet me at Spellbound Sweets as soon as you can.

  “Uh oh.” Cade jerked his head toward the truck. “What do you think the problem is?”

  Noah paced by his side and climbed into the driver’s seat. “She was working on the potion with Snow. We better get there fast.”

  They swung by Noah’s place so he could rinse off the swamp muck and change his clothes, and then they headed straight to the witches’ bakery. A bell chimed when he opened the door, and a dozen different sugary scents blasted his nostrils.

  Snow appeared in the doorway leading to the kitchen, and she gestured to the entrance. “Lock it, will you? And come on back.”

  Noah twisted the deadbolt before he and Cade stepped around the counter and followed her into the kitchen area. Amber ran to him, throwing her arms around him and squeezing tightly.

  “What’s going on?” Noah kissed the top of her head before leaning back to look at her. “You said we have a problem?”

  “We do.” She stepped out of his embrace. “But I think I have a plan. Oh, Snow, this is Cade. Have y’all met?”

  Snow grinned and offered him her hand. “No, we have not. It’s a pleasure.”

  A faint shade of pink tinted Cade’s cheeks. “The pleasure is mine.”

  Amber pressed her lips together and gave Noah a funny look. Yep, his friend was smitten.

  “Snow can’t make the potion without DUME oil,” Amber said, “and we can only get that from a Hoodoo practitioner.”

  “Do you need us to help you locate one?” Cade asked Snow.

  “I found one,” Amber said. “I also paid him a visit, and that’s where the problem lies.”

  Snow winked at Cade before turning around and taking a copper bowl from a shelf. Noah elbowed his friend in the ribs, trying to get him to focus on the problem at hand.

  Amber ran her hands down her face, pressing them against her lips before lifting them and dropping them at her sides. “He wants shifter blood, and he won’t accept any other payment.”

  Noah’s stomach sank. “That’s…” He was about to say “impossible,” but at this point, was it really? He chewed the inside of his cheek, pondering whether he was willing to commit a crime punishable by death.

  “That’s what he wants from you,” Cade said. “But what if someone who wasn’t a werewolf tried to get some? Surely he’d ask for a different form of payment.”

  “We tried.” Amber leaned her hip against a counter. “Snow went, and he wanted her to sacrifice her first-born child.”

  “That bastard.” Cade’s brow slammed down over his eyes.

  “Black magic isn’t cheap,” Snow said.

  Noah rubbed his forehead. “You said you had a plan. I’ve heard rumors about the things that can be done with shifter blood, and I don’t want to be the cause of more death.” He’d already caused enough.

  “Hear me out,” Amber said. “I believe, since your wolf hasn’t fused with your soul, that your blood won’t have the shifter magical qualities if it’s taken while you’re in human form.”

  “I don’t…” He pressed his lips together, his mind reeling at the idea. It was possible. Much like he was a detached soul along for the ride when his wolf had control, the beast felt like a foreign body inside him when the man was in control. Her plan could work, but… “There’s no way to know that for sure.”

  “I can test it.” Snow held a small copper bowl in one hand, a scalpel in the other.

  His nostrils flared as he blew out a long, slow breath. If he agreed to this, he’d be committing the crime twice, giving his blood to both a witch and a Hoodoo man. Even if Luke wanted to go easy on him, the alpha would have no choice but to enact the swiftest punishment.

  “I know it’s a big ask.” Amber rested her hand on his arm. “So if you don’t want to, we’ll figure out another way.”

  He shook his head. His sister’s life was on the line. “There is no other way.” He gave Cade a hard look.

  “I’m in this, man,” his friend said. “Whatever it takes.”

  Noah nodded and clapped him on the shoulder before looking at Snow.

  “Your secret is safe with me.” Snow drew an X over her heart.

  “Let’s do this.” He took the scalpel from Snow’s hand. “How much do you need?”

  “One drop will do it. This is a potion witches use to test the potency of an ingredient before using it in a spell. I enchanted it to look for shifter magic, so if your human blood has the wolf gene in it, black speckles will form on the surface like someone sprinkled it with pepper.”

  Noah eyed the potion. At least he didn’t have to drink it this time. “That’s all it will do? It can’t be used for anything else?”

  Snow shook her head and gestured to a bottle of pink liquid. “It won’t, but I’ll pour a neutralizer into it and dump it down the sink as soon as we’re done.”

  “You can trust her.” Amber squeezed his arm.

  Sucking in a deep breath, he jabbed the scalpel into the tip of his finger. Blood pooled on his skin, and he turned his hand over, allowing it to drip into the bowl. He pressed his thumb against the wound to stop the bleeding as Snow swirled the contents of the bowl.

  She set it
on the counter, and they all gathered around, watching the lemon-yellow liquid as it bubbled and hissed. Amber slid her arm around his waist, reminding him to breathe. The concoction settled, and Snow swiped a spoon through it.

  “Nothing.” She stirred it in a circle. “The potion is clear.”

  Noah stepped toward the bowl and stared at it intently, looking for any speck of black that the witch might have missed. He found nothing. A sense of relief mixed with the anxiety churning in his core. They were one step closer to rescuing Nylah. “What do we do if he uses this test?”

  “We’ll have to make sure the transaction is complete before he does,” Amber said.

  Snow held up a small burlap bag. “This is binding powder. It solidifies any contract made. Be sure to seal the deal before you give him the blood. Amber knows how to use it.”

  “Y’all have thought of everything, haven’t you?”

  “We talked through all the scenarios and the possible outcomes,” she said. “And we found solutions for everything that could go wrong.”

  Noah kissed Amber on the cheek. Her sharp mind was one of the things he loved about her. “How much does the Hoodoo man want? More than a drop, I’m sure.” He looked at Snow. “Do you have a bottle?”

  Amber cleared her throat. “He didn’t say. I’m supposed to bring you, and only you, to his shop. He wants to see you shift and witness the blood draw.”

  His heart sank. That was a whole other problem he knew she didn’t have a solution for.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Amber squeezed Noah’s hand across the console in the Hoodoo shop’s parking lot. His posture was relaxed, his expression stoic, making him seem much calmer than she felt. “It’s very brave of you to do this.”

  He laughed cynically. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s downright stupid. Should we count how many laws we’re breaking?”

  “I’d rather not.”

  He turned in the passenger seat to face her. “You’re the one who’s brave. You found this guy and came here all on your own, having no idea what you’d encounter inside.”

  She lifted one shoulder. “I’ll do anything for you and Nylah.”

  “I love you, Amber. You have no idea how much I respect and admire you.”

  Her heart warmed at his words. She did have an idea. He was willing to give up his chance at finding a fate-bound to be with her, and that told her all she needed to know. “I love you too.”

  “I don’t want you anywhere near me when I shift in there. I don’t know how my wolf will react to Papa Fortune, but I do know how he reacts to you.”

  She rested her hand against his cheek. “I’ll be careful.”

  Her pulse thrummed as they entered the convenience store that fronted for the Hoodoo shop. This time, the cashier looked up from his post at the register, his eyes widening as his gaze locked on Noah.

  Amber ignored the man and took Noah’s hand, leading him through the beaded curtain. He cringed as they stepped inside, his nose wrinkling, no doubt in response to the pungent odors of the Hoodoo man’s concoctions.

  “Papa Fortune?” she called, her voice sounding much more confident than she actually was. “I brought the payment you asked for.”

  The old man shuffled in from a back room, his gaze skeptical as he glared at them. “You found a shifter willing to give his blood awful quick. Ain’t it a crime in your pack? One punishable by death?”

  She stiffened at the delight behind his words. “I can be very persuasive.”

  “I bet you can. Come.” He held his hands toward Noah. “Let me read you to be certain you’re a shifter.”

  Icy dread flushed through Amber’s veins. She had no idea the kind of magic Papa Fortune possessed. What if he could tell Noah’s wolf wasn’t fused? If he figured out their trick, he could curse them both.

  She stepped in front of Noah. “You said you wanted to see him shift. Isn’t that proof enough?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “Yes, I suppose it is. Follow me.”

  The old man led them through a doorway into a small room with dirty beige walls and scuffed linoleum. It smelled of mold and death, and her body shuddered as she entered the space. A large window with thick glass occupied most of the far wall, and a narrow doorway with six deadbolts stood to its right.

  “What is this?” Amber padded to the window and peered into the next room. A heavy wooden table about seven feet long stood in the center of the room. A counter lined the left wall, and next to the array of herbs and potions sat a…was that a shriveled-up rat? She shuddered again.

  “I’m not asking you any questions, child.” Papa Fortune unlocked the deadbolts and opened the door. “I expect the same respect.”

  Noah stood next to her, and nervous energy rolled off him in waves. “I assume you want me to go in there to shift?”

  “Can’t have you attacking me now, can I?” Papa Fortune gestured for Noah to enter the room.

  “I’ll be right out here.” Amber filled her voice with as much reassurance as she could muster…which wasn’t much. She didn’t want to be left out here with Papa Fortune any more than she wanted Noah to be trapped in there with the dead rat.

  Noah stepped through the door, and the Hoodoo man locked all six deadbolts. Amber watched Noah through the glass, giving him a nod of encouragement and trying her best not to look worried. She crossed her fingers and said a silent prayer to whatever gods might be listening for him to have control of his wolf.

  His body shimmered, and he transformed quickly. As his gaze locked on Papa Fortune, he bared his teeth, letting out a rumbling growl. Amber stepped out of the wolf’s view so she wouldn’t aggravate the situation more. She could only imagine the beast was having flashbacks to the examination room at the congress’s headquarters.

  Papa Fortune drummed his fingers together and laughed. “This is the first time a werewolf has graced me with a request. I thank you, child.”

  Amber slid her hand into her pocket and gripped the bag of binding dust. “There’s your proof. Let him return to human so we can seal this deal.”

  “Not so fast.” He turned to a shelving unit and picked up a small knife before shoving the handle toward her. She took it out of instinct, and then he offered her a glass bottle.

  “What…?” She didn’t need to finish her question. He wanted her to perform the bloodletting, and as he unlocked the deadbolts, she realized he wanted her to do it while Noah was in wolf form. Oh, shit.

  “Fill the bottle, and the DUME oil is yours.”

  “Are you crazy? You want me to try to cut a werewolf?” Panic laced her voice, and it was no mystery why. Not only would Noah’s wolf most likely maim her if she went anywhere near him, but they had only tested his blood while in human form. Drawing the blood from his wolf would give the Hoodoo man access to magic no one should have.

  “I ain’t about to put myself in danger. You want the oil, you’ll get in there and get the blood.” He swung open the door, grabbed Amber by the arm, and shoved her inside.

  Her heart lodged in her throat, and she spun toward the door, gripping the knob with one hand and slamming her shoulder against the thick wood. At the sound of the locks sliding into place, ice flushed through her veins.

  Clutching both the bottle and the knife in her left hand, she slowly turned around to face the wolf, and he crouched, his lips peeling back to reveal his massive canines. He growled, and she pressed her back against the door.

  “I love you.” Her voice was barely a whisper, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “I love you.”

  His posture began to relax, his growl softening.

  “I love both of you—the man and the wolf—no matter how you feel about me.”

  The growl turned into a whimper, and the wolf lay on his belly. Amber’s breath came out in a rush. It seemed Noah had control…for now.

  Think, Amber. Think. She looked at the small blade in her hand and then at the wolf lying on the concrete floor. An idea formed in her mind, and she pushed from th
e door, taking a tentative step toward him.

  “I need you to lie still, okay? Noah, can you give me a sign that you’re in control?” She took another step. The wolf studied her curiously.

  “I’m going to assume that you are.” She looked through the window, where Papa Fortune watched her with anticipation in his eyes. Positioning herself between the wolf and the window, she dropped to her knees and lowered her voice. “Don’t move.”

  Her hand trembled as she scooted closer. The wolf narrowed his eyes. “I love you. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  She glanced over her shoulder before jabbing the tip of the knife into the concrete next to Noah’s leg. The wolf flinched, jerking away from the blade, and she made a shushing sound, reaching toward him to calm the beast. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I love you, remember? One more time.”

  Raising the knife above her head, she slammed it down again, grazing the fur on his shoulder as she jabbed it into the floor. The tip snapped off, lodging in the concrete, and the wolf yelped and jumped to his feet.

  “It won’t work.” She rose, turning to the window. “His hide is too tough in this form. We’ll have to do it while he’s human.”

  Amber moved toward the door, and the wolf growled. “Let me out, please.” She banged on the wood.

  The wolf flattened his ears against his head and bared his teeth. Amber sucked in a shaky breath, her pulse humming in her ears as she knocked again. “You need to let me out so he can shift.”

  She turned to the wolf and straightened her spine. The beast had been fine in her presence a moment ago. Why was he growling now? All she wanted to do was leave the damn room. “You are supposed to be my mate. You can’t be treating me this way.”

  He pricked one ear, and then the other. Amber gripped the doorknob, counting the locks as they unlatched. One…two… Her words had subdued the wolf, but she had no idea how long it would last. Three… four… five… Come on, old man. As the sixth lock disengaged, she threw open the door, rushing out of the room and slamming it behind her. “What took you so long?”