Shadows and Sorcery: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels

by Adkins, Heather Marie

  She’d only have a few moments then, but it was more than enough time for a goddess of death.

  Selene stepped into the room where a small lamp sat beside a bed. He wasn’t nearly as large as she remembered, but he wasn’t quite dead yet. Ronin coughed into a handkerchief he clutched between his fingers and blood dripped through his knuckles.

  The plague the Tricksters had created wasn’t entirely new. The idea was particularly foolish, in her opinion. People would suffer and feed them for a short time, but then they would die. There weren’t any other death gods now, and the human race would slowly dwindle until there wasn’t anything left.

  Or, if Selene had her way, all the gods would move on. They would disappear into the ether as they should have a long time ago, and leave the humans alone.

  She hooked a hand over a seat which must have been occupied by Anna, and dragged it closer to the edge of the bed. “I didn’t think you would let her take care of you. She’s going to get sick, too.”

  His puffy eyes widened for a second, eyes snapping in her direction. There was silver at his temples and speckled throughout the dark strands. She hadn’t thought he would age like that, but here it was. Proof that even gods could age.

  “You,” he said with a ragged, edged voice.

  “Me.”

  “You came.”

  She pressed a hand to her scarred chest and smiled. “Always.”

  Ronin searched her gaze for an answer to a question he’d always been afraid to ask. Finally, he cleared his throat and said a single word. “Why?”

  “No one should face death alone.” She reached out a hand for him to take. To her pleasure, he pressed his bloodied hand to hers. “And because I love you.”

  “I always suspected that was what it was.”

  “Love?”

  He nodded. “But I don’t know why. Or how. Or who you are at all.”

  “My name is Selene. I am the goddess of death, the last of my kind. And I destroyed the world for you.”

  “But why are you here for me?” Ronin shook his head, eyes watching hers with a clarity his illness should have already taken. “That’s what I’ve never understood. Why are you here for me?”

  “You don’t remember, but you found me in the rubble. I was the daughter of nothing, beloved by no one. You saw through the scars, the wrinkles, and the fear. For years, I walked side by side with your demons. You took a frightened little girl, and you made her into a monster with black-tipped arrows for words and a shield made of her own hatred. You gave me a crown of thorns, called me queen, and trusted me with your love.” A tear dripped down her cheek. “And then I betrayed you.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Because after all that time, I discovered that I was not the monster after all. You were.”

  Silence stretched between them until Ronin finally blew out a breath. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I know you don’t.” Her voice shook with unshed tears. Tears she hadn’t let fall in what felt like centuries. Tears for him. “I took all that away, too. I took everything away from you, and I’m sorry for that. Our story has never been a happy one.”

  “But we’ve always had a story, haven’t we?”

  She nodded. “My fault. I shouldn’t have come back a second time, but I saw you at that bank and I—” Selene stopped for a second to catch her breath around her tears. “I couldn’t leave you again. I couldn’t do it when I knew you were so close.”

  “You let me have a family,” he whispered into the shadows of the room. “You let me live a life without you, feeling this way. Why?”

  “You deserved happiness. After all I did… all we did, you deserved a little happiness.”

  He squeezed her hand, and suddenly it felt as though light had come back into her life. The weight of lies lifted from her shoulders and disappeared. He had heard it all now. She didn't have to hide from him anymore, and there weren’t gods to tell her that she was wrong to do it. She was the last death god left.

  She could do what she wanted now.

  “Then I’m really dying, aren’t I?” he asked.

  “You are.”

  “Are you here to collect my soul?” James stared into her eyes with equal parts interest and horror. “I don’t want to go just yet. I don’t want to leave Anna by herself.”

  Selene moved from the chair to sit on the side of his bed. She tucked his hand to her sternum, where he’d feel her heart beating strong and sure. “You worry for her even now.”

  “She’s my daughter.”

  And her heart bloomed with so much love she was near to bursting. “And she always will be. James... If I offered you something, would you take it?”

  “What is it?”

  Selene licked her lips, then plunged headfirst into an uncertain future. “You can remain the way you are. I took Samantha’s soul with me, so that if you wanted, you could reunite with her in the afterlife.”

  “You did that for me?” He stared up at her like the goddess she was. The relief and appreciation radiating off him made her feel cheap and dirty, but she wasn’t done yet.

  “I did. But…” Selene looked down at their hands, took a deep breath, then looked back up to meet his soft, brown eyes. “I kept your memories. From so long ago when I betrayed you, when I stopped everything we’d worked so hard to do. I kept all of them, and I can give them back.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t supposed to. This was meant to be the end, no matter what happened afterwards, but I always thought there was a chance that maybe things would end differently.”

  He furrowed his brows. “Will I like the memories?”

  “No.”

  “Did we do bad things?”

  “Horrible things that will leave marks on your soul.”

  A bead of blood dripped out of his nose to his lip. She watched a blood vessel pop in his right eye and then he said, “But I loved you then?”

  “You told me once that you had spent an entire lifetime searching for a place to worship. Then you found god in a woman, and that I put you on your knees just by existing.”

  A rattling breath wheezed from his lungs. “Then I want those memories back. I want every single one.”

  She let them sink out of her skin like a song. They whispered from her lungs and pushed their nails into his flesh. Black smoke poured from her lips and filled his chest with something powerful and uncontrollable. Pure power so dark, so evil, that it never should have existed at all.

  His eyes widened in fear, then hatred, then so much love that it made her ache.

  Her hands shook as she stared down at him where he lay on the bed. The bloodied hand in her grip slid free, then lifted to touch her cheek. She felt the sticky wetness it left behind as he traced the outline of her jaw.

  “My muse,” he whispered, his voice so much deeper and thrumming with ancient magic. “My cathedral made of war-torn beauty. My goddess at the end of the world. You are just as monstrous as I remember.”

  He pressed his thumb between her lips and covered her tongue with blood. But it tasted like holy wine.

  “I took up your crown,” she whispered into his palm.

  “You finally learned how to devour the divine.”

  He lunged, tasting her lips with a savagery she’d almost forgotten. His breath became hers, his power an electric pulse that shattered her resolve and ran through her body like blood. He stroked her spine, pressing her closer. He ruined her with a mere kiss, then pieced her back together with a stroke of his tongue and a torn heart traced with fingertips.

  His mouth became her confessional where she whispered over and over again, “I have sinned.”

  But he didn’t care. He was no longer the priest whom god favored. James no longer, he had risen from the ashes of death more times than she could count. He was a riddle wrapped in a paradox, but a man once more.

  He pulled back, tilted his head and laughed. The sound was a cacophony
of ancient madness and pure bliss. “Where’s my lip ring?”

  She shook her head. “That’s the first thing you think of?”

  “Oh, and I missed you, my mad woman.” He traced the outline of her lips with his finger. “Are we going to watch the world end together, after all?”

  Selene’s tortured soul had missed him so. She realized in that instance, she couldn’t have turned back the end of the world. It would have ended with or without him, so she needed to spend every last second with this reckless, dangerous man. If only so she never forgot the way his eyes sparkled with glee, or the way his mouth moved when he whispered dark thoughts against her skin.

  “Welcome back, Reaper.”

  He pressed his thumb against her lower lip, his eyes scorching as they stared at her. “Didn’t they warn you about falling in love with the villain?”

  “They said villains will go to the end of the world for those they love.”

  “Well, then.” His mouth split in an achingly dark smile. “Shall we?”

  The End

  * * *

  Continue Become the Villain in book two, Altered Endings. Find out more information on the website below.

  www.emmahamm.com

  About the Author

  Emma Hamm grew up in a small town surrounded by trees and animals. She writes strong, confident, powerful women who aren't afraid to grow and make mistakes. Her books will always be a little bit feminist, and are geared towards empowering both men and women to be comfortable in their own skin.

  www.emmahamm.com

  Within Me

  Dani René

  Within Me © 2019 Dani René

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Created with Vellum

  Within Me

  Their destiny comes down to a choice between blood or love.

  When Talia Craven is born, she has a purpose. The Montgomery twins are the first of their kind in this generation, and a choice is born. Each brother has the soul of darkness, but there is also light within the shadows. Can Talia make the right choice? Or is her love doomed for eternity?

  Prologue

  He came into my life, gave me the truth, and stole my heart.

  I knew him.

  His heart and soul.

  He let me inside to understand the darkness he kept hidden from everyone else.

  If your soul mate walked up to you, allowed you to see every good thing he’d ever done, would you love him?

  Without a doubt.

  However, what if he showed you each depraved, corrupt, and wicked thing he’d ever done? If you saw the blood he’d shed and the lives he took? If you witnessed the crimson dripping from his fingers, would you still want him? Would you still ache for those fingers to touch you? To please you?

  Perhaps not. No human would, but I’m not human. I allowed him to take me in ways I’d only fabricated in the darkest parts of my mind. And I loved every moment. I reveled in his darkness. I consumed it as he feasted on my light.

  The only problem that remained was a choice.

  A life-changing decision.

  The proverbial fork in the road presented itself, and either way, someone would lose.

  In the darkness we shared, we found solace, even if only for a moment.

  My body was his, and his was mine.

  We’d molded ourselves to each other — heart, mind, and soul.

  Only, forever was a precarious entity. Nothing is promised. Not to you. Not to me.

  My heart I’d given freely. My mind was invaded with him. He’d seen within me. As I’d seen within him. Time passed. Sand fell through the hourglass counting down our fate, shattering the peace we’d cocooned ourselves in. The rose petals fell to the ground, bleeding in a pool of crimson. The blade, so sharp, glistened in the darkness, threatening to take everything we’d tried to hold close.

  Like I said, nothing is guaranteed. Everything is fragile.

  Life. Love. Promises.

  In the darkness I find myself now, I know even though I’m no longer beside him, he’s still within me. And no matter what my future brings, I’ll forever be within him.

  1

  Talia

  “This is it. You’ve been practicing for weeks, Tali.” His tone is filled with excitement. We’ve been attempting this for too long, and my legs don’t feel strong enough to do it. You’d think I’m about to perform a triple bypass, I’m so nervous.

  But I’m only ice skating.

  “Don’t look down; look at me,” he orders again, reminding me of a broken record.

  Giggling, I push away from the barrier and watch his hazel eyes that look like caramel glisten with pride. “I’m going to fall!” My voice echoes through the empty park, but he shakes his head, holding his hands out, ready to catch me if I topple.

  He’s my best friend. Has been since I was seven years old. Now, I’m sixteen, and he’s by my side, teaching me to do this because I have a date. The only reason I agreed to go out with this boy is because the one I love doesn’t see me that way.

  “Rhys, if you—”

  “I won’t let you fall.” His tone softens, and somehow, I’m not sure if he’s talking about the ice skating or something else. Because if he means the latter, then it’s too late. I’m already in love with him. I have been for a long while now. Too long, in fact.

  I should tell him. Right now, I should open my mouth and voice those three words.

  Why are those three little words the most difficult to say when you mean them, but when they’re not, people spew them like garbage? Shaking my head, I reach out and find wooly gloves. Slipping my hands into his, I pull him toward me.

  Our bodies are flush, our faces close. White puffs billow from our lips as we breathe in the chilly air of a Midwest winter. The snow will let up soon, and I won’t get this chance again.

  “Rhys, I—”

  “Watch out!” A screech halts my words, but before I can look where it’s coming from, a large Golden Retriever bounds into us, knocking us on our asses. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” The woman slides over to us on the ice and tries to lift us up. A comedy of errors ensues, and we’re all giggling by the time each of us finds our feet.

  “Not to worry. I think Tali here would have been on her ass way before your dog came along.” Rhys chuckles as I swat him on the shoulder.

  Once we’re alone again, we skate over to the edge, and I step onto the platform to change my shoes. “Maybe I should tell him I’m sick? Or something . . .,” I mumble, but when I glance at my best friend, he’s shaking his head.

  “You will not do that. Have a date. Enjoy your night. Don’t chicken out, Tali. And like I always say, if he can’t handle you at your worst, he doesn’t deserve your best,” he proclaims proudly, and I can’t help laughing.

  “You don’t say that. Actually . . . You’ve never said that.”

  “That’s because for so long, I’ve been the only one to deserve your best.” He winks, pulling on the eight-hole Doc Martins. His signature style is black. Jeans, T-shirt, and those damn Docs. But even as his words grip my heart, I don’t voice my own.

  I should. But fear holds me back. Little did I know how short our time together was. It would be the last time I got to se
e those hazel eyes smile.

  It’s been four years since I said goodbye to my best friend. When I watched him leave my life, it felt as if I’d been crushed. The only man who’s ever held my heart is no longer in this world. He knew me inside out. We grew up together; we had all our firsts with each other. There’s only one thing I wanted to give him that meant more to me than any gift, but I didn’t get the chance to. Words that would have changed our friendship. It would have shifted it into something more.

  I’d given him my heart long before I even realized what that meant. Even after all the years we’d been friends, I never uttered those words in the way I wanted to. Yes, I’d said love you to him many times, but never once did I say them with the emotion I felt in my soul. And now that he’s gone, I’ll never be able to.

  Perhaps tonight will be the night he finally comes to me. All I want is one more chance. Just one glance into those eyes that remind me of clear, golden honey.

  Rhys didn’t tell me about his illness. He hid it from me until the very last moment. I should have seen it. He’d lived with it for two long years before it cruelly ripped him from my life.

  That’s the thing about secrets — about hiding things from people — they slowly eat away at you until there’s nothing left. I’ve tried to find him again, to call to him in my dreams, but he never comes. I’ve always had this gift, if you could call it that, to summon those who’ve left us. And each night I attempt reaching out to him, and every night I’m disappointed that I’m left alone in the room.