Supernatural Syndicate: A Limited Edition Collection of Magical Mafia Stories

by Thea Atkinson

He stopped pulling on her, his hands shifted back to human, and he stared at her in surprise as he fell against the wall, then slid to the floor.

  Lucia took the gun back, stuck it in a thigh holster, and yelled at Sett as she crouched to grab one of Girard’s arms. “Grab his other arm. We need to get out of here before the whole place goes up.”

  The fire had spread from the vampire to the tablecloths and then the drapes. Smoke filled the room as Sett grabbed his arm and the two women pulled him towards the door nearest them. It took them a few minutes, but they finally got him outside. Sett crouched down beside him while Lucia went to find help.

  “You did it,” Girard wheezed, blood on his lips. “You finally killed me. I guess it’s fitting.”

  “You’re not dead yet. Lucia went to get help.”

  “I can feel the silver already spreading. I won’t heal enough to stay alive. But I won anyway,” Girard said.

  “How do you figure that?” Sett asked.

  “I raised our daughter and I’ve got our granddaughter at my house.”

  Sett shook her head and leaned closer. “I don’t think I heard you right. What did you say?”

  “The babe didn’t die. I paid the midwife to lie and took her with me. Arabella grew to be a beautiful woman, but she died two months ago in childbirth. Her daughter, Bella Rose, is at my house.”

  Sett stared at him as he laughed at her expression. She searched his pockets, found his keys and wallet, and pulled out the photos she found inside. Photos of her daughter – and granddaughter – were there. Her daughter she recognized because she looked just like Sett had as a child.

  She got to her feet with the keys, and photos in her hand, and turned to walk away.

  “You can’t leave me like this,” Girard said.

  Sett turned to him and paused. “No, you’re right, I can’t.” She tucked the items into her cleavage, then crouched down beside Girard, took his head in both hands – and snapped his neck. Then she got to her feet and went to find Lucia. It was time to bring her granddaughter home.

  Lucia caught up with Sett, arm still dripping blood, as she made her way out of the gardens towards the road. “Where’s Guidry?”

  “His body is back where you left us. He’s dead.”

  “Well, that didn’t go as planned. Oh well, let’s get your arm tended. You’ve lost a lot of blood,” Lucia said as she turned Sett towards one of the many ambulances tending the injured.

  Firefighters worked to put out the blaze, SPD cars and vans were pulled up on the lawn and people wandered about in tuxes and glittering gowns with ash and soot smeared across their faces.

  “Did he just bleed out because of the silver?” Lucia asked.

  “No, I snapped his neck.”

  “Oh, well, alrighty then,” Lucia said as she waved her badge and got a medic to see to Sett’s arm. “I’ll take you to my place after this. We can give our report in the morning.”

  “No, I need you to take me to Guidry’s house.”

  “Why on earth would I do that?”

  “Because my baby granddaughter is there, and I need to bring her home.”

  It was Lucia’s turn to stare in shock. “Um, okay. How about this? I’ll send agents to get the baby and her things and bring her to my place. Official agents are less likely to get an argument. Particularly now that Guidry is dead.”

  “That works too. I don’t feel so well,” Sett said, then promptly passed out.

  The medic caught her and lifted her up onto the stretcher. “It’s the blood loss. We’ll take her to the hospital and check her out, then you can take her home.”

  Lucia climbed in the back of the ambulance and put the call out over the spell-speak. “I need a team to go to Guidry’s house and collect the infant and her belongings that are there. Bring her and her things to my home immediately. There is a threat to her life, do it now.”

  Three days later, morning found Sett with her bandaged arm cradling the head of a baby with dark curls and wide eyes while she fed her a bottle. All of Sett’s things from the rental had been packed up and brought to Lucia’s place, and the baby’s travel crib was set up in the second bedroom. Boxes and totes were stacked everywhere, but Sett only had eyes for Rose. They’d decided to change her name to Rosalyn Arabella Rohan, and the paperwork had been rushed through, thanks to the Commander’s connections. Rohan, since both Lucia and Sett were of the de Rohan bloodline. Also, thanks to the Commander, Lucia was coming to Belle Cove to take up a new job as a teacher at the Academy alongside Sett. No more high-risk policing for them for a while. Rosie needed them.

  “How’s our Rosie doing this morning?” Lucia asked as she set a cup of coffee down for Sett.

  “She’s taking the whole bottle. I’m in awe of the fact that she’s here,” Sett said as Lucia sat down beside them and fixed one of the baby’s socks.

  “The agents got there just in time. The gang’s members were looting and ransacking the place, and the nanny had hidden with the baby in the closet. The agents showed up, cleared them all out, and the nanny helped pack up everything before she disappeared into the night.”

  “I’m glad you thought to ask them to pack up all of her things, or they would’ve been lost in the fire that gutted the place the next day,” Sett said.

  “Are you sure you want to sell the land the house was on?”

  “He left it all to Rosie, so it makes sense to sell it and put the money in a trust for her, for later. Have the test results come back yet?”

  “Yeah, I just haven’t opened them. They were delivered this morning,” Lucia said and pulled an envelope out of the stuff on the table and handed it to Sett.

  “You open it,” Sett said as she shifted the baby to her shoulder.

  Lucia opened the envelope and read the report, brow furrowed. She flipped the pages back and read it again.

  “What?”

  “She’s a quarter Mythic, an eighth Fae, and the rest Witch.”

  “Wait, so Girard wasn’t a shifter? He was a mythic?” Sett asked.

  “That’s what this says. At least we know her father was a witch. I wonder who. From what I’ve been able to learn, Arabella went to school in Paris, and built her life there. She came back to New Orleans six months pregnant and with no husband.”

  “As long as Rosie is legally ours, so we can bring her back to Belle Cove, then I’m good. I wish I’d had the chance to know Arabella, but I’ve got Rosie now and that’s more than I ever thought I’d have. She’ll have a ton of cousins to play with, too.”

  Lucia leaned in to kiss Sett. “And we’ll have our family.”

  A horn honked outside, and Lucia got to her feet. “Moving day, chérie. Ready for our new life?”

  “With you? Definitely.”

  The End

  Enjoyed this story? Be sure to leave a review! You can also get Induction (Sid & Sin #1) for free, and don’t forget to pick up the other four books in this series!

  About the Author

  T.K. Eldridge retired from a career in Intelligence for the US Gov't to write. The experiences from then are now being used to feed the muse for paranormal romance, thrillers, supernatural, and urban fantasy stories. When they’re not writing, they are enjoying life in the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina. Two dogs, two cats, a garden, a craft hobby, and a love of Celtic Traditional music keep them from spending too much time at the computer.

  You can also sign up for T.K.’s newsletter here.

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  Read More of T.K. Eldridge’s Books

  The Sid & Sin Series

  Induction

  Fae MisFortunes

  Shifter Secrets

  Witching Ways

  Mythic Mysteries

  The Descendants

  Remembrance

  Revelation

  Revenge

  The Hybrid Chronicles

&n
bsp; Jericho

  The Originals

  The Next Gen

  Hughes Investigations

  Daredevils

  The Devil Inside

  The Devil You Know

  The Devil in the Details

  Forge County Mystery Thrillers

  Probable Cause

  Gone on Arrival

  Failure to Appear

  Partners in Crime Supernatural Mysteries

  Dead & Buried

  Dead Wrong

  Dead to Rights

  Dead Reckoning

  Sold To The Mob

  A SINFUL MATES STORY

  Dany Stone

  About Sold to the Mob

  Wear your mask. Hide your powers.

  Sometimes the only way out of a life of lies is by creating your own reality.

  Born into the powerful vampire mob, Sofi is desperate for a way out, somewhere her father and his sins will never find her.

  But the only place of safety may be in the arms of her greatest enemy.

  1

  Sofi

  Blood drips down my cheeks and into the corners of my mouth. I swallow carefully, adjusting the ice pack on my chin while my handler tosses a towel my way. If he wanted to be nice, he could walk the two steps to actually hand it to me, but Herrera always goes out of his way to be a bastard. It’s in his wererat blood.

  “Good job tonight, kid.” He pauses to look back at me. “I’m surprised you didn’t get yourself killed.”

  Every sore inch of my body complains at the memory of the cage fight. I curl my hands around the towel like I don’t feel the way my knuckles are throbbing. “I wasn’t about to give you the satisfaction.” Not after the way he sold me into the ring a second time, knowing the state I was in and how quickly my opponent could have taken me down.

  I don’t believe in miracles, but tonight — well, it almost was one.

  His long nostrils curl upward. “I get paid as long as your head stays on your shoulders,” Herrera says. “I don’t much care otherwise.” Long nostrils curled in a smirk, he shoves open the exit, revealing the flash and chaos of the club waiting on the other side. If I know him, my paycheck is tucked in his back pocket where he’ll conveniently forget to ever give it to me. Hell forbid I ever raise my voice to complain.

  Teeth gritted, I wipe away the last of the blood and toss the towel into a corner between the lockers before pulling myself painfully up to my feet. My family amulet swings beneath my shirt, a cold reminder of everything I have to hide. Damn this place. Damn my entire life. I don’t want to go home, but I know better than to stay here. Not when it’s getting this late. Doesn’t give you much choice, huh, Sofi? I gather my bag and head to the door, my stomach twisting.

  Don’t think.

  Don’t feel.

  Never show any emotion that will make you a target.

  I nudge the door open with my less-sore shoulder and step out into the chaos that is Club Shift. At well past midnight, the antics are just getting started, shifters and vampires and fae all mingling in a drunken horde, their faces blurring in and out of form in the magic-tainted lighting. High on platforms to each side of the rooms, female fighters wrestle in elaborate cages while vampires stand beneath the cages to lick away any falling drops of blood. I close my ears against the constant thud of bone and fist from above me. Refuse to let myself look up. If I’m lucky, Herrera will at least give me a day off to heal.

  A day to forget how much I fear this place.

  At the center of the room, surrounded by the grotesque display of cages, five elaborately made-up females mount a low stage, their eyes too wide and their smiles too bright as they parade before the appreciate male gazes toward the ballot box. It’s been the routine for the last month — paranormal females of every species entering their names for the official mate casting. Every 50 years, new mates are chosen for the four alphas of Chicago and the desperate supernatural housewives of the Windy City apparently think that’s a good thing. Marrying into the royal shifter pack means death and betrayal and a marriage without love, but hey, add some glitter and the bitches will come running.

  I would know. It’s the glamorized nightmare my mom married into.

  In a way, the applicants are no different than us cage fighters.

  We walk into Club Shift knowing we may not come out alive.

  I tear my gaze away from the stage and fight my way toward the edge of the room, ignoring catcalls from a grinning vampire. The crowd is too immense and the males seethe frustrated hunger. Hands reach for me from all sides, seductive voices calling me toward them, whispering promises of a night of pleasure. I hug my bag tighter and walk faster, but I’m not fast enough to escape their grasp. A hand grips my ass, while another curls around my hair, faces swarming on every side. I kick out at the nearest offender and he releases me with a curse, enough of a delay to allow me to make a break for it. I shove my way through the chaos, searching desperately for the exit. I’m still yards away from the door, and there’s no way I’ll get there in time to escape these guys. I need somewhere I can get out of sight before—

  There.

  My gaze settles on a door half hidden behind the bar. Owner Only. Rumor has it the owner is one of Chicago’s biggest dons and there’s little chance he would bother to show up tonight. This might just be the escape I need.

  I duck around a grinning shifter, tripping him up with the heel of my boot, and duck behind the bar. The server’s back is to me, no one to notice me as I wedge the door open and slip inside. My fingers find the lock, twist it in place. Locking them out. I fall back against the door, breathing hard.

  I’m still fighting for breath when I become aware of a presence at the back of the room.

  Slowly, oh so slowly, I raise my gaze to the far end of the room.

  Where three sets of inhuman eyes stare back.

  Two shifters – massive wolves– pace at the far edge of the room, guarded by an even more gigantic wolf shifter. The wolf circles his pack, snarling as we make eye contact, then, before I can catch my breath, he shifts in a chaos of fur and skin and muscle until a gorgeous specimen of a man emerges, totally in the nude as he towers over me. My mouth dropping open, I stare at his broad shoulders, perfect abs, and good god— my gaze follows his V down to his hard length and my core grows hot.

  Oh fuck.

  What in hell have I gotten myself into?

  2

  Sofi

  The massive shifter clenches his hands around my shoulders, drawing me up against him, and I shudder in his grip. His hard cock pokes into my belly. Too close. Too warm. I wet my lips, fighting the urge to look down.

  Don’t panic, don’t panic—

  “What the fuck are you doing in here?” He growls the words into my face. His breath is hot against my cheek and the warmth in my middle spreads through my body. Control, Sofi!

  “I— uh— I thought—”

  “The door clearly states owner only. So who the hell are you?”

  I can’t think with him this close. I can’t even move. If there’s any chance he can find out who I really am, I’m screwed. My hands tremble, betraying my terror, and I clench them into fists at my side. I may be a decent fighter, but there’s no way I can take on three shifters of this size. Not even if I wanted to.

  His grip tightens and he pulls me up abruptly, my hips pressed to his, and my lips only inches from his. I stare up into heated gold-brown eyes. What are you doing? Fight him! His grip drops to my middle, shoving me yet closer, and my body betrays me in a flood of warmth.

  “I asked you a question.” His voice is a snarl. “And I don’t wait for answers.”

  Behind him, his pack shifts into human form, a distracting blur of perfectly muscled male forms. I tear my gaze away.

  “I’m Kayla.” I blurt out the first random name that comes to mind. “I’m a fighter here.”

  “A fighter.” He turns to look at his pack, his laugh bitter, amused. Their amusement burns through me. “Great job you
’re doing, Kayla.”

  Snarling, I shove at his shoulders and his full lips twist into a smirk. My attempt doesn’t even make him stagger.

  “I could do this all day, little vamp,” he says. “But I don’t think you could handle it.”

  Oh gods. Is he insinuating –

  “It was a mistake,” I blurt out. “They were chasing me and I couldn’t find the exit. I thought –”

  He sets me down roughly on the edge of a desk, jarring away my mumbled explanation, and I shiver as his warm hands abandon me. I’m suddenly cold, colder than I ever thought possible.

  “I don’t take kindly to excuses, little vamp.” He reaches into the desk, drawing out a pair of clothes, and I train my gaze away, even though my entire body throbs to watch him, to follow the shape of his body as he moves. What in hell is wrong with you? There’s no reason for my body to respond like this. No reason to want him to pull me closer.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I watch him pull on his pants. He stretches as he straightens, the corded muscles in his back knotting, and shoulders strained. He’s too immense, too perfect, and I find my entire mouth has gone dry. Good god. Why can’t I remember how to swallow?

  He shakes out a shirt from the drawer and buttons it on while he turns to look back at his pack. “Leave us.” It’s not a request. He commands them with the confident arrogance of an alpha not used to hear no. They disappear through a side door into an unmarked room and I hear their low voices conversing for a moment before things go quiet.

  And I’m left alone with an alpha who looks at me like he wants to kill me.