Cimmerian Shade: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy Collection

by Kiki Howell

  She balled her good hand into a fist and tried not to cry out as he moved to the deepest part of the cut. When Onyx was satisfied that the wound was cleaned out as well as it could be he reached for the first aid kit and opened it up.

  Digging through it, he pulled out some bandages, “Let’s get this covered up so that it doesn’t get dirty or infected. After that I’ll make you something to eat.”

  Samantha looked up from the mesmerizing motions of the vampire wrapping her arm in bandages in shock, “You have food here? Like people food? I don’t think I could stomach a bag of blood after the day I’ve had.” He gave her a warm smile at her words and she noticed the dimples in his cheeks. The look derailed her train of thought before she shook her head and continued, “You don’t eat so why would you have food here?”

  Onyx chuckled, “Just because I am a vampire doesn’t mean that I don’t entertain guests from time to time. And those guests aren’t always vampire like myself. Some are human, or shifters. Hell, I’ve even been known to entertain a witch from time to time.”

  He gave her a wink as he said the last, letting her know she was the first witch he had invited into his home.

  Samantha gave him a small smile, “Well I’m glad that you have food because I feel like I haven’t eaten in a month.” Some women didn’t like to eat in front of men, but she’d never had that problem. She would be damned if she was going to pick at a salad on a date like she was a bird. If a guy didn’t like that she was a normal witchy girl with an appetite he could let the door kiss his ass on the way out.

  Onyx put everything away after making sure the bandage on her arm wasn’t going anywhere. “It’s always nice seeing a woman eat. When I was human I was attracted to women who acted like real human beings, with normal body functions and a hearty appetite. Besides, if I had dated anyone who didn’t appear to eat, they would have made a poor life partner and I would have starved.”

  He pulled her up to her feet, “We are finished here so follow me and I’ll make you something to eat. Can’t have you starving or one of your family members might come after me.” He laughed as he did a full body shudder. He was right. Her family was crazy but they took care of each other.

  She followed him out of the bathroom and back through the small hallway into the kitchen, watching as he made his way to the fridge.

  “Have a seat,” Onyx told her as he rummaged through the food in his fridge. She took a quick sneak peek and did see some blood bags. That made her a bit queasy but she wouldn’t begrudge him having food for himself, this was his house after all.

  Samantha took a seat at the island that stood in the middle of his massive kitchen. She looked around admiring the marble countertops, the light wood cabinetry and the large space. There was a dining room table in one corner of the kitchen, tucked neatly next to the sliding glass doors that led into his backyard. The kitchen felt open and full of light with the back door. She spotted a gigantic swimming pool and a hot tub through the panes. It looked heavenly and any other time she’d have been begging to jump in that divine hot tub for a relaxing soak.

  “So, this is your place, huh?” Samantha felt the need to fill the silence in the room.

  She wasn’t sure how she felt about being alone with the vampire since their night of shared passion. She still didn’t know what he really wanted with her and that made her nervous.

  Onyx closed the fridge door and looked back at her, “Yup. Even vampires need a home. You know, a safe place to lay your head. A place where friends can come visit. And let’s not forget a place to clean. My master bathroom is heavenly with several rain spouts in the shower. It’s part of the reason why I bought this house.

  She watched as he placed the food he had hauled out of his icebox onto the countertop next to the stove, “It’s really nice. Your kitchen is my favorite spot.”

  He laughed as he cracked a couple of eggs into the frying pan, “Thank you, I think. Since you’ve only seen the small downstairs bathroom and the kitchen I suppose I’ll take that as the compliment I’m hoping it was meant to be.”

  Samantha laughed with him, feeling less awkward, “It was a compliment yes. I can only imagine how gorgeous the rest of the house is.”

  Her stomach rumbled as the silence turned into something comfortable, familiar.

  Onyx smiled as he placed a plateful of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of her, “A bit hungry, huh? That rumble came across as loud as an angry bear.” She blushed a bit because it had been quite loud.

  “Go ahead, eat up. When you are done, I want you to lie down and get some rest. A bite from a Hellhound is no joke.” He poured her a glass of milk and a glass of orange juice.

  Samantha snorted in agreement as she picked up a piece of bacon and nibbled on it, “No shit. That wasn’t on my bucket list, that’s for sure.”

  She took a bite of the eggs and she gave a groan of appreciation. For a dead guy, he sure knew how to cook. She opened her eyes so she could wash it down with some of the orange juice and found Onyx watching her as she attacked the plate of food.

  He was probably wondering how long she’d been living in the forest as a wild cave woman as she grunted and groaned and shoveled food into her mouth. She gave a small sheepish shrug as she continued to empty her plate.

  “Are you still hungry?” He asked as he picked up her plate. He hovered while waiting for her reply. She shook her head no and he set the plate down in the sink.

  Onyx led her towards the stairs and had her lean on him, “Let’s get you upstairs and into bed shall we?”

  Samantha lifted an eyebrow and gave him a knowing look. “I thought you wanted me to rest?”

  He laughed and the light highlighted his face. It was oddly charming. “Well it seems like you’re feeling more like your normal self.”

  “And how do you know what my normal self is like?” she asked.

  “Because at the club you were full of spunk and sass, which seems to be coming out in spades now that you have a full belly. And yes, I want you to rest, which means you need to be put to bed.”

  She smiled. “And is that all we are doing? Resting? No funny business?”

  He led her down to the master bedroom at the end of the hallway on the second floor. Onyx smiled as he led her over to lay down on his king-sized bed, “That is all we are doing tonight, my little witch.”

  He climbed into the bed, with its black comforter, and pulled her into his arms. She snuggled into him with a contented sigh. His hand brushed back and forth against her back and occasionally came up to brush her hair off her forehead.

  This was nice, the vampire taking care of her like she was his one and only. Samantha could get used to something like this. She wasn’t much for relationships, never had been. Probably because she wanted someone to love her unconditionally for who she was. Her idea of the perfect relationship, wasn’t two perfect people. She figured there was someone out there for her who wasn’t perfect, just like she wasn’t, but their imperfect selves were perfect for each other.

  He couldn’t be all bad if he was willing to take care of and protect her with his life, which is exactly what it looked like. Could she dare to hope this vampire was the imperfect puzzle piece she was looking for? She started to doze with thoughts of what it might be like to allow this gorgeous, sweet, vampire into her life.

  SAMANTHA OPENED HER eyes and stretched. She glanced around and remembered she was in Onyx’s bed. The window to the right showed night had fallen while she’d slept. She reached across the bed. Not feeling Onyx in the bed next to her, she sat up. A little too quickly if the resistance from her injured arm was to be believed.

  Samantha cradled her throbbing arm to her chest as she got out of the bed in search of the vampire. That was when she noticed the bay doors on the west side of the room. Walking to it she noticed that they opened to a balcony. Pulling the doors open, Samantha stepped onto the balcony and saw Onyx in the yard on the telephone. As if he sensed her presence, his head lifted and he gave her
a wave, lifting a finger indicating he needed one more minute.

  Samantha gave him a nod and small smile. She leaned against the balcony and watched him a little bit longer until she saw a black glittering portal appear on her left side. The Trapper whom she’d heard Onyx call Rune, stepped out of the portal and grabbed her.

  She let out a small shout as he shoved her headfirst into the portal, tumbling right behind her. As soon as he crossed through, the portal disappeared. She hoped Onyx had heard her and saw what happened or she was in some serious shit.

  It was dark in there. When the portal opened again Samantha found herself in an office with a woman, Rune standing behind her. She climbed to her feet and took in the black strappy heels propped up on the wooden desk. Samantha’s eyes continued to travel up the woman’s body, taking in the sharp pin-striped suit. She was the most beautiful, perfect woman Samantha had ever seen.

  The woman stood behind the desk a cruel smile turning her face ugly, “So nice of you to finally join me, Samantha. I’m Lucifer. Welcome to Underhell.”

  It took her a minute to process what the woman had said. She claimed to be Lucifer, who was known across earth as the King of Hell? Since when was the devil an attractive woman? And did she just call this place Underhell? What was that?

  Samantha looked at the woman before her, taking in the cruel stance before she blurted out, “I thought Lucifer was a man. And what is Underhell?” The questions kept coming out before she could stop them, “What do you want from me? Why am I here?”

  Lucifer let out a sadistic laugh, “I’m just wearing this meat suit. I deal in secrets and power and souls of course. Gorgeous women have men blabbering all their secrets just for a chance to get in bed with them, so of course I chose the perfect woman’s body to get what I want. This one promised me her soul, which is why I have her body now that she’s dead.” Samantha eyed the body with revulsion. Where was the woman? Was she still in there with her?

  Lucifer chose to ignore her as she continued, “Underhell is what I call this place. It’s the Underworld and Hell combined into one. Hades didn’t want to manage his underworld and I get to pick and choose souls from his world when I need them. We both get what we need. Now as to what I want? Your cousin Mystic, of course. I need a spellunking spell that only she can give me. She’s the best and I deserve nothing less than the best.” She slammed her fist onto the desk, a crazed look in her eyes.

  Samantha looked at the lunatic in disbelief, “Are you fucking kidding me? You drag me down to Underhell,” she made air quotes before continuing, “after sending a Hellhound and a Trapper after me and all you want is a damn spell from my cousin? Go ask her yourself.”

  Luci laughed again. “Don’t you think if I could have done that I would have by now? She’s way too powerful for me to get close to. Ancient protection from before my time cover her from head to toe. That is where you come in, Samantha. You need to get your cousin to create me a special spellunking spell.” She waved her arm in the air, “Money is no object. She can have whatever she wants. I just need someone close to her to get her to agree.”

  Samantha cocked her hip to the side and raised her eyebrow. There was no way Luci would be killing her anytime soon, she needed her to agree. “Why exactly do you think I would agree to that?”

  Luci walked around the desk, a vicious gleam in her red eyes. “Because if you don’t, you will remain here with me and all of my demons for all of eternity. You will be the new baby-sitter to all our precious baby demons. We lost our last human.” She shook her head pityingly, “She had a hard time dodging all the teething babies.” Okay, baby demons didn’t seem like a bad gig. She’d always liked babysitting babies.

  Samantha’s heart sank as she continued, “Did I forget to mention we don’t believe in discipline down here? Demons need to be wild and free and that all starts at a young age.”

  Samantha stuck to her guns and tried to stare the woman down, “I won’t do it. I won’t put my cousin in that kind of situation. You’ll just have to find a way to ask her yourself.” Baby demons couldn’t be that bad, right? They were babies, how terrifying could it really be? No problem.

  Luci stopped walking to stand directly in front of the her, “I’m not kidding when I tell you that you will remain in Underhell taking care of all the baby demons with no discipline until you eventually give in to my demands. Time moves differently down here, Samantha. One month here equals one day on earth so I can keep you here for eternity. Mystic will still be around to do the spell when you give in.

  Samantha shook her head, “No, I’m not going to ever agree to do something like that. I’m not putting my family in danger just to save my own hide.”

  If she ever got out of this alive, Mystic owed her big time.

  Chapter Ten

  SON OF A bitch! Damn Trappers. Onyx was getting pissed at people snatching up his witch out from under him.

  He hung up on his business contact, without so much as a goodbye and quickly dialed Mystic’s number, “Mystic? It’s Onyx. We have a problem.”

  Mystic’s voice filled with panic when she answered him, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  Onyx tried to stay calm as he explained what had just happened to his witch, “Samantha’s been abducted. That fucking Trapper, Rune, showed up out of nowhere and disappeared the same way he did in the alley but this time he took Samantha with him. I need to do something. We need to do something. We have to get her back.” His voice cracked at the end.

  He heard Mystic take a deep breath. He listened to silence for a minute before she continued, “Okay. Listen to me carefully, Onyx. I have a plan but first I need you to get Hades to Club Diablo. I’ll meet you there and tell you what that plan is then. Can you do that?”

  “Consider it done,” Onyx growled into the phone right before he hung up. If he had to drag that asshole to the club by his ear, he would make it happen. Onyx had never been scared of any gods.

  He dialed Hades number and listened to the phone ring. One Ring. Two Rings. Three Rings.

  Damn it, Hades, you dick. Answer your goddamn phone already, he thought impatiently while tapping his finger on the phone.

  The phone clicked, “What do you want?” Hades asked. “I’m busy.”

  Onyx let out a breath he hadn’t been aware of holding, “I need you to meet me at the club. Something is going on and I need you to help me take care of it.”

  Hades laughed, “And why would I do that? Regardless of whatever is going on, you are in no position to make demands of me.”

  He knew that his boss was going fight with him about going to the club but he didn’t give a damn. Onyx wasn’t going to take no for answer. Not this time.

  “If you don’t meet me at the club in ten minutes, I will quit. I mean it, Hades, I will quit this fucking job. Good luck finding some other sucker who will put up with the shit that you’ve put me through all these years. You fucking owe me.”

  Hades groaned, “Fine, Onyx. I’ll be at the club in ten minutes. But this is your one ‘get out of jail free’ card where I’m concerned. Don’t make this shit a habit because there will be no repeat performances. I’m not a monkey in a fucking zoo and I won’t jump because you asked me to.”

  The dick hung up, not giving Onyx a chance to say anything.

  He had never met so many supernaturals who lacked manners as he had today. Rude mother fuckers.

  ONYX PULLED INTO THE parking lot of the club and knew his boss was there before he turned the car off. Hades was so pissed at having been summoned to the club that the heat from the flames were practically scorching the asphalt.

  He grinned grimly as he turned the engine off and climbed out of his car. Serves the bastard right for barely keeping so much as a toe in any of his businesses.

  Onyx walked purposefully toward the club, yanking the door open as soon as he arrived. He made his way to the office and was greeted by a very pissed off Hades.

  “Well, I’m here. What the hell is this all about?”


  Mystic walked in behind Onyx, her flip flops smacking on the dance floor as she made her way into the office, “I’ve brought someone who will be explaining to you what this is all about.”

  She moved to the side, showing Vivian behind her.

  Both Onyx and Hades shared a groan.

  Vivian walked into the room, “Why so glum, boys?”

  She had a seat on the couch in the corner and looked pointedly at Hades, “I’m here to call in the favor you owe me.”

  The fires of the Underworld were glowing in Hades eyes as he turned to the old witch, “You want to call in that favor now? I don’t even know why the hell I am here.”

  Vivian patted the couch next to her and told her granddaughter to have a seat before returning her attention to the angry God, “That is exactly why you are here, Hades. To cash in that favor you owe me. My granddaughter Samantha has been snatched by a Trapper named Rune. We have no idea where she was taken, or why for that matter, and I want you to get her back.”

  Hades shook his head, “I can’t do that Vivian. I had someone else I owed a favor to and she already cashed hers in. Samantha happened to be that favor.”

  The old witch stood and made her way toward the God, “You can and you will, Hades. That is the favor I am calling in. Do you not recall swearing on the River Styx? Are you going to do it or is this going to be a problem?”

  Hades growled, “It’s not like I have much of a choice, now do I?”

  The old witch gave a regal nod of her head, “Then get on with it. I have things to do, you know.”

  Hades gave Vivian a dirty look before he disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Five minutes later he returned with Samantha in hand. He looked frazzled and growled to Vivian, “We’re even. Your favor has been called in. Do not contact me ever again.”

  Hades disappeared again but this time didn’t return. Gods could be such divas at times. Onyx looked at his little witch. She seemed a little worse for wear and were those bite marks up and down her arms?