She writhed on the ground as they reknit. Ignoring every charred nerve ending in my body, I rolled over and crawled to her. As soon as my hand grabbed her ankle, I started pulling myself atop of her. When she realized her peril, she turned up the heat, turning her own body into a pillar of flame.
Just as I was about to give up, a column of water cooled the flames. Not enough to douse them, but enough to keep my flesh from igniting. Inch by inch, I dragged myself up her torso until my face was just below her chin. Concentrating on the cool water instead of the scorching flames, I dug my talons into her soft human-like flesh, slowly shredding everything I could reach until there was nothing left but bone. Over the crackling flames and the whooshing water, I couldn't hear her gargled screams as I ripped her flesh and finally got my fingers around her spine. With all the strength I had left, I yanked, snapping the bone beneath and collapsing with a smile as her head broke free and rolled away.
My head, pressed against her chest until her body turned to ash, smacked against the water soaked charred field, and I surrendered to the oblivion.
Epilogue
I woke up in my own bed, my children at my feet. Literally. They were curled up in little balls like chihuahuas. It was the middle of the day, but I didn't know which one. Gently, expecting massive amounts of pain, I nudged Karl with my bright pink toe.
He lifted his head and blinked. "Mom?"
I tried to speak, but only a rasping sound came out.
"Don't talk. The demiurge said it would take a while for your insides to heal. Something about temporal magic not being that effective on internal energy lattices or some anime sounding shit like that." He sat up and shrugged.
"What happened?"
"You killed Mrs. Hodgins. But she was a major bitch."
"Demon."
"Whatever. She's gone. We won."
"The water? It was you?" I sounded like a Muppet with asthma. But at least I was getting the words out. For the most part.
Karl nodded, and Ryn lifted her head to see what the commotion was, smiling when she saw me awake. Gently, she crawled up the bed and lay next to me, trying hard not to touch my tender skin, but wanting to be close to me. I ran my fingers gingerly through her hair.
"Yeah. She looked like burning magnesium. I knew I wouldn't be able to put her out, but I might be able to keep you from turning to ash. Kind of like putting a water balloon over a fire."
"You're a pretty smart kid. You both are. But next time I tell you to fucking run, run. Got it?"
"We'll see," they said in unison, and looked away.
"Is everybody else okay?" I braced my heart for the news I was afraid of hearing. I had killed Marissa, but whether or not I got to her before the hell hounds got to them…
Karl's face fell, and he looked down at the bed.
My heart cracked.
"Just kidding!" He lifted his head and smiled.
I refrained from kicking him in the head.
"She's awake!" He yelled through the open bedroom door, laughing as I struggled to call him dirty words. The little fucker. I loved him.
All four of them poured through my door, smiling as they filled in around the bed. Then Karen came in and started clapping. "Told you she was going to be fine!"
"You were crying two seconds ago!" Daniel laughed.
Indeed, she had been. Her eyes were puffed out, and her cheeks were wet. Typical Karen. I wanted to laugh, but it hurt when I tried.
"Hell hounds?"
"I was watching them chasing us in the rearview mirror. I looked back at the road and then back up, and they were gone. Back to hell, I assume?"
I nodded and smiled, a huge burden lifted from my chest. My family was safe. Now, if I could just stay with them, things would be fine. I looked at Grendel. "Any repercussions?"
"From?"
"Dead soccer mom?"
"What dead soccer mom? There was a missing persons report filed by the ex-husband who didn't seem too thrilled at being granted full custody of his two teenage children he hasn't seen in ten years, but there was no body to make the police department think anything was amiss."
"Oh, good." I chuckled through the pain. "Her kids okay?" I blinked in shock at myself. Where the hell the thought had come from, or how it worked itself into my brain was a complete mystery. One better left unexplored.
"The daughter seemed indifferent. The son…was a mess and will probably need some therapy."
I frowned at that news.
"Their father took them to New York."
"Oh."
I glanced at Ryn, but she just nodded stoically.
"What was the weirdest thing was the arson case at the park right after the game. Salem PD is clueless about what could have caused that much damage. Weird, I tell you." He winked at me.
"Anything else I should know about?"
They all looked at each other and shrugged. "Nope," they answered quickly. Too quickly.
"Wait a minute. Demiurge? How the hell did you pay for that?" I glanced at my children, fearing the worst. They were the only ones with any power that would be accepted by the gangly demon with horrific powers.
They shrugged and pointed at Grendel.
"Yeah. We forgot to mention that part."
"I'm sure. How did you pull that one off?"
He looked at the Drakes and Daniel. "We uh…we didn't."
"Spill it."
"Michel did."
"Michel? The vampire?"
All four of them nodded. Karen just looked confused. More so than usual. "He paid for the magic," Grendel admitted reluctantly.
"Oh, great. I'm going to end up teaching his dancers for the rest of my life for free.
Daniel shook his head. "No."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "So, what's it going to cost me?"
"A date…"
The end.
Author's Note
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For 18+ readers who like a lot more steam and don't want the girl to need to choose just one guy, check out my reverse harem series, Lovin' the Coven!
About the Author
A late comer to the writing game, Jacquelyn had always been a fan of romance novels and lately become addicted to the reverse harem category. I mean seriously, who wouldn't? Sitting alone one night she flipped open her laptop and said, "I'm going to give this a whirl." And thus, the Lovin' the Coven series was given life. She has designs on other series as well, but only time shall tell.
As for her, she is five-foot-something, with graying hair, wicked eyes, an eager smile, and an annoying laugh. She lives at home with her dog, a cat, and that is about all she is comfortable sharing.
Connect with Jacquelyn
[Twitter][Facebook][Email][Goodreads]
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Other Works
Lovin' the Coven Series
(Reverse Harem– 7 book series)
First Moon
Second Blood
Third Charm
Fourth Rite
Fifth Essence
Sixth Sense
Seventh Seal (Coming Soon!)
The Fox and the Hounds
(Reverse Harem– trilogy)
A Tail of Woah
A Tail of Two Kitties
The Tell Tail Heart (Coming Soon!)
Other
Girlfiend (standalone YA Paranormal Romance)
Succubus Soccer Mom (standalone RH Paranormal Romance)
Net
Succubus Soccer Mom: A Reverse Harem Tale Page 26
