by C. R. Jane
The car that Julian had ordered for his escort pulled up to the gates outside of Julian's estate. There was a formidable stone wall that surrounded the property, covered top to bottom in enchantments. The only way you were getting in was if he invited you.
Theoretically.
I was pretty confident that my powers would have allowed me to get through if need be, but this way was easier.
Julian answered the gate's call himself, solidifying that he was alone, or relatively alone. If his servants had been around, there was no way that he would have opened the gate himself. That escort we'd bribed to stay away tonight really should have paid me for saving her from this call. Because whatever Julian had planned for her, he hadn't wanted any witnesses.
I took several deep breaths as the car wound its way down the road that led to the monstrosity of a mansion Julian called home and that I'd been to many times for parties and events while growing up. It probably would have seemed gorgeous to a normal person, but I knew too well the atrocities that occurred here, and it would forever seem like a nightmarish place to me.
We pulled up to the front door, and I thanked the driver and gathered my purse. I was shaking a bit, not from fear, but from the adrenaline that was coursing through my veins in anticipation of what was to come. I could feel four sets of eyes on my back and my body flushed, knowing who was watching me from somewhere in the shadows.
Like I said, the enchantments were ‘theoretically’ impossible to get past.
I nodded to a single guard who had been stationed outside the front entrance, and he opened the door to let me in. Once inside, I pulled out the accessories that Julian had requested from the escort service.
A pair of cat ears.
Things were about to get weird.
The guard shut the door behind me, leaving me alone in the giant entryway that could easily fit a small house.
Sinuous footsteps at the top of the grand staircase straight ahead alerted me of Julian's presence. He stood there, dressed in a pair of black lounge pants and a crimson silk robe, of all things, loosely belted so that his smooth chest was proudly on display.
Ick factor times one hundred.
"Hello, pussycat," he purred as he descended the stairs. I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to do at this point. His instructions he'd given the agency hadn't been exactly clear. I wasn't psyched about potentially having to crawl around the ground and start meowing, but I'd do it if I had to as long as the night ended with his death.
Julian's footsteps were torturously slow. For a vampire who could move from zero to sixty in a second without a thought, this was ridiculous. He was really going for the drama tonight.
Finally, he stood in front of me.
"Meow," I squeaked, and a predator's grin stretched out across his face, his incisor teeth lengthening and sharpening as his arousal grew.
So gross.
He held up a collar attached to a leash, and I smiled demurely as he placed it around my neck and walked me across the room to one of the three hallways that led into the rest of the house. Luckily, he was allowing me to walk as a two-legged creature, and not a four-legged one.
Looking surreptitiously around, I noticed that there weren't any guards standing anywhere. I'd still only seen the one out front. He'd really been getting confident, hadn't he?
What was that phrase? "Pride cometh before the fall," or something like that? Whatever it was, it fit this situation perfectly.
Julian led me towards a sumptuous velvet couch in his entertainment room. There was an assortment of sex toys laid out on an enormous ottoman, along with a bowl of white liquid that I suspected was milk. Or at least hoped was milk.
There was also a whip. But we were going to be very much done before he ever got the chance to use that.
"Sit down, little kitten," Julian ordered. I obediently sat down, my heartbeat feeling like it was about to beat out of my chest. Luckily for me, my racing heart could easily be mistaken for fear, and since this was a situation where anyone would feel that, Julian was eating it up.
"I have so many plans for you, little kitten," he murmured, his pupils blowing up with his arousal until you could only see a slivered ring of white. "But maybe I'll just get a little taste before we start the fun."
Like the true asshole he was, he didn't wait for my agreement before he pounced, his teeth slicing into my flesh, with no concern for my pain. A vampire could make a bite feel beyond good if it wanted. Julian obviously did not want to. Dick!
I had once been terrified of this exact scenario, but I knew there was a wide grin stretched across my face right now. I welcomed the gulps of blood he was taking, knowing they were bringing him that much closer to his destruction.
It took seconds for the sedative to take effect. I'd injected myself with a serum made from a plant that was harmless to sirens, but knocked a vampire on the ass.
He'd feel everything though, even as he laid there, unable to move.
"What?" he croaked as I unlatched him from my throat and laid him down on the couch. His fingers twitched for a moment as he struggled to move. And then he was perfectly still.
Grinning at him, I slowly and dramatically removed the necklace from my neck and watched as the panic and terror built in his eyes as my features transformed and I once again looked like my true self.
A wheezing sound came out of his mouth as he tried to say my name, and I cackled in delight.
"How does it feel to be utterly powerless, Julian?" I cooed as I lifted the bottom of my dress and pulled the stake from the holster around my thigh.
Silly, stupid, conceited vampire… didn't even bother to check if I'd had a weapon. You live, you learn... ha! Not in this case.
Bloody droplets of sweat beaded down his face as I stroked the oak stake reverently. A wet patch appeared at his crotch, the sharp scent of his urine filling the air.
"I want you to know that after tonight, I’ll never think about you again.” I paused, because duh, theatrical effect. I'd had a lot of time to plan for this moment. And it was going perfectly, well, besides the fact that I was wearing a pair of cat ears.
"But I'm sure you'll think about me every moment… when you're in hell," I finally finished.
With that dramatic pronouncement, I lifted the stake and stabbed the bastard right in his fucking heart. And I laughed with psychotic glee as his ashes completely covered my body; he’d literally exploded.
I sat there for a moment, just soaking in the fact that he was really and truly gone. That this once insignificant slave of the vampires had brought his demise.
I felt… free.
I stood up and shook myself off, getting at least most of the ash off while I ripped off the cat ears and threw them on the pile of what was left of Julian.
On my way out, I made a side trip to the kitchen, where I turned on all the burners on the multiple gas stovetops. I then placed the bomb Alaric had created for me on the marble countertop and set the timer so that it would go off in an hour, long enough for the gas to permeate the immediate area. When this was all done, there would be nothing left and Julian would just be a bad memory, a memory soon forgotten and replaced.
The sky was softening as I walked out the front door of the mansion, the guard nowhere to be seen. It would be sunrise soon, but everything already looked brighter to me as I strode down the road.
"You can come out now," I called out, a giggle erupting from my chest from the euphoria and adrenaline rush I was experiencing.
Almost as one, they all stepped from the shadows of the trees that lined the inside of the fence. I ran towards Alaric and jumped into his arms, not worrying for a second that he wouldn't catch me. Because he would always catch me. I could always count on him. I could always count on all of them.
"Is it done, little siren?" Laz asked, coming up behind me so that I was sandwiched between him and Alaric.
"Yes, and it was perfect," I announced proudly.
"I know, I've got it on video," anno
unced Keon gleefully, staring at a video playing on a phone in his hands.
"Why didn't you tell us we could watch?" hissed Seth, punching Keon in the shoulder.
Keon ignored him and gave a loud whoop as the sound of me staking Julian played from his phone.
"Those kitten ears were cute, darlin’," Keon growled with a wink and of course I blushed because Keon still had that effect on me even after all these years of being with him twenty-four seven.
"Want to stay for the fireworks?" Seth asked, pulling me away from Alaric and Laz.
"Definitely," I nodded.
"How about watching the show on the lake?" asked Alaric with a grin, and I laughed in delight.
I was different now, obviously different. There was a darkness inside of me that would never fade.
But that was alright. My men were just as dark, well, if I was being honest, much darker. So, my darkness fit me just fine.
Alaric had somehow arranged for a large speedboat to be waiting at the dock, and we all hopped in and then headed out towards the center of the lake.
We all watched the video a few more times while we waited, and then it was time.
The five of us counted down the last ten seconds like it was New Year's Eve, and then the air was filled with the sound of the explosion and our cheers as a giant fireball lit up the sky; Julian's house destroyed.
It was over, really over.
The sun was peeking over the horizon as the boat sped towards the other side of the lake where the next chapter of our life would begin. There was still so much to do, a kingdom to get back for Seth, and revenge for Laz against his so-called friend who had betrayed him. But here in this moment… I didn't have any worries about what the future would bring.
The five of us could do anything together. I was sure of that.
“Happy Birthday, little siren,” Laz growled as we watched the flames of my past get smaller and smaller as the boat raced away. I grinned at him. Best. Birthday. Ever.
How things had changed.
So long ago, I thought that my birthday was the end of my life. But I'm glad to say that it was actually just the beginning of my story.
Wild Moon
REAL WOLVES BITE...
I was taught my whole life about the importance of true mates, how when you find that one wolf for you, everything falls into place.
Everyone who taught me that was a liar.
When I found my true mate, happily ever after sure as hell didn’t start, but hell definitely began.
I ran away, and now I’ve been searching for peace for weeks as I drive around the country.
I didn’t mean to take the wrong road.
I didn’t mean to make it to that small town.
And I didn’t mean to meet two men, who set me and my wolf on fire.
But here I am somehow, and peace is the last thing I’ve found.
And don’t forget about the serial killer…
START READING WILD MOON TODAY
Chapter 1
Rune
I was cursed.
That had to be it.
I’d come to this conclusion somewhere on the highway, lost in the middle of nowhere, in a strip of land so empty and so flat, it made you feel like you were the only person on the planet. Hours after my car had been broken into while I used the restroom, leaving me with only a twenty-dollar bill to my name.
I’d been driving for weeks…or was it months already? And the only conclusion for why my life had thus far been a giant shit show of the most epic proportions was because I was cursed.
I was perhaps also an idiot.
The sun was falling in the west, and the sky was a kaleidoscope of color. A mixture of pinks and reds that at one point, would have made me shed a tear, back when I had a heart that could still be affected by beautiful things.
Alistair had sucked all the beauty out of my life, twisted and tore at my heart until it was incapable of viewing the world as it once had.
And yet something inside of me, something that was irrevocably tied to him for forever, it still missed him. Despite what he had done, what he’d kept from me. Despite the fact that I’d been told my whole life how wonderful my life was going to be once I found my true mate, and then he promptly destroyed any notions of happily ever after I’d ever dreamed about.
Despite all of that, I still wanted him.
And I always would. Because that’s how true mates worked. It was a bond that forced you to need something, even if it would kill you.
Hence why I was thinking that I was cursed.
I dragged myself away from my pity party as the sun finally sank below the horizon. The landscape was changing around me. Jagged rocks were springing up from the land that I’d sworn had been flat as a board just a few minutes ago. Had I been lost in my head for that long? That wouldn’t have been a surprise since I’d spent most of the last few weeks stuck in my head. I really needed to pay attention every once in a while though.
The landscape was definitely getting higher and higher, and I could see even steeper peaks up ahead. The road in front of me winded up through them. And now the sun was officially gone, and the stars were peaking their way out in the velvet sky.
Did I mention I was terrified of heights? And not just heights, add in driving and the dark too, and you officially had the trifecta of ridiculous fears that I’d developed over the years.
For a moment, I contemplated pulling over to the side of the road and trying to sleep until the morning. I quickly shook that thought away.
Despite the fact that a part of me wanted to be with Alistair, my true mate, desperately, all the other parts wanted to make sure we never saw that asshole again. The large majority of my parts also wanted to live, and Alistair would kill me after what I’d done. I knew that for a fact.
Taking a deep breath, I continued to drive, and it just kept getting darker and darker.
There were no lights out here, of course there wasn’t. Because why put lights in the middle of nowhere? I put my brights on, not giving a fuck. If I was going to drive through a mountain range in the pitch black, you better believe I was going to be able to see while doing it.
Looking in my rearview mirror, I began to freak when I saw headlights approaching. Any time I saw another car, I wondered if it was Alistair, if somehow, he’d found me despite the crazy precautions I’d taken to be hidden from him. Like the way I’d snuck a stash of cash from Alistair’s safe and bought a car with it when I was supposed to be grocery shopping. The way I’d used more of that cash to pay for everything I’d done on this road trip from hell. The way I’d gotten rid of my cell phone when I left so there was no way he could track it. The way I’d been wearing an ebony wig twenty-four-seven to try and change my looks.
I breathed a bit easier when I saw it was a Honda Accord. Alistair wouldn’t be caught dead in a car that didn’t scream money and privilege. While I was all about the practicality and the gas mileage of a Honda, Alistair wouldn’t get in one no matter the circumstances, even if it was the only way to catch me.
My breathing increased however as the terrain began to rapidly ascend and I realized I was no longer approaching the mountain, I was going up the motherfucker.
There was a guardrail off to my right, but that didn’t calm me down. I was now hyperventilating as I white-knuckled the steering wheel and leaned forward, trying to make sure I stayed right on that white line. If I was on that white line, then I wouldn’t go off the edge. Right?
A loud honk had me jumping in my seat, swearing, and swerving the car. I hadn’t handled unexpected things with grace over the last few years…but could I really be blamed for that after all that had happened?
I tore my eyes off the white line and glanced in the rearview, only to see that there were now a few cars lined up behind me. The driver behind me seemed to be waving his hands around.
Whoops. A glance at my speedometer showed that I was going about ten miles per hour right now. I highly doubted that was the speed li
mit, based on the cacophony of angry honks I was beginning to hear.
I rolled down my window, continuing to keep my eyes on that white line since my brain was filled with images of my car tumbling down the side of the mountain and bursting into flames fit for an action movie. I began to wave my arm out the window, trying to get them to go around me. Was there etiquette for this? Besides the obvious move of not driving forty miles under the speed limit.
The car behind me finally got the hint, and it swerved around me, honking loudly and rudely as it did so.
“Jerk,” I muttered. The rest of the cars followed their leader, their brittle horns filling the night.
And then finally, it was just me.
Which maybe I hadn’t been thinking through, because now that there weren’t any other angry drivers to worry about, I was more aware than ever that I was painfully alone.
“What will it be like, Mama? When I find him,” I whispered to my mother as she curled up beside me on the bed, a copy of Harry Potter laying in her lap just as it was every night.
“He’ll make all your dreams come true, baby,” she said with a gentle smile. “He’ll see all the parts in your heart, and he’ll accept them no matter what he finds.”
“Why are there different parts in my heart?” I asked, the six-year-old me very confused about the words my mother was saying.
She giggled in that magical way of hers, and I watched entranced at the love I could see in her eyes. Was every mother that wonderful?
“I just mean, sweetheart, when you find him, you’ll feel complete,” she said sweetly as she brushed a piece of hair out of my eyes.
“Did you feel complete when you met Daddy?” I asked, sadness creeping down my throat at the blurry memory of a man as big as a bear who always smelled like peppermint and those cigarettes he used to smoke constantly as he anxiously paced around the room.
Something in my mother’s eyes flickered and changed. There was a look there that I didn’t recognize, but which made my little heart uncomfortable because it was so unfamiliar from the gentle looks my mother always gave me.