Blood and Magic: A New Adult Paranormal Romance

by R. L. Weeks

  If only Nicholas were here, we could harness the power we held together, and we might have stood a fighting chance, but without him, I was screwed. “I will give you anything else.”

  He shook his head. “It’s too late, daughter of darkness.”

  “I’m not a daughter of darkness,” I said defiantly.

  He cocked his head and his tone lowered. “My wendigos are bringing me Nicholas as we speak.”

  My eyes widened as the reality of the situation hit me. I felt sick to my stomach.

  Bursts of cold shot down my arms as I prepared for a failing battle. I glanced at Joshua, who was getting bluer by the second.

  Panic surged through me. I spotted a vampire coming down the mountain. It was the first time I had seen one. I thought they were all in hiding. Of course Alec had called on all the creatures of the night he could. I should have known he would be back for revenge.

  “I will die before I let you kill Nicholas.”

  A strong wind howled around us. The ground trembled, and the trees de-rooted and rolled down the mountain. Alec waved a hand, and an avalanche rushed toward us.

  “NO!” I screamed, but it was too late. I shielded my eyes as the snow hit us, burying Joshua. I couldn’t breathe. With great focus, I tried to clear my mind despite being in an endless pool of white. Around me, the snow began to melt, uncovering us. When we were free of it, I gasped and looked around desperately for Joshua. I couldn’t see him anywhere. “JOSHUA!”

  Alec seized the opportunity. The vampire he had brought with him jumped on top of me. I heard him licking his lips, snarling in my ear. I threw my arms around the creature’s neck and closed my eyes. He gasped as I sucked the air out of its lungs. While it was gasping for air, I grabbed a piece of wood from a tree close by, thrown our way from the avalanche, and stabbed it into its chest.

  The poison from the wood ran through its veins, coagulating his blood. He screamed as he turned to ash.

  Sweating, I got to my feet and my gaze landed on Alec. “I’m going to send you back to hell!” I promised with newfound confidence. My heart was pounding so loudly I couldn’t bear the sound.

  Alec laughed at my attempts, which grated me further. It was only when he spotted something behind me that he moved. As fast as the wind, he grabbed me in his arms, locking me against him. He dragged me to the edge of the mountain, my feet creating a trail in the snow. I screamed as loud as I could. “Let me go!”

  “Kate!” Nicholas bellowed.

  My heart dropped. Two wendigos dragged Nicholas to where Alec and I stood.

  “No. No!” I screamed as my worst fears were realized. “Please, don’t.”

  Alec hissed in my ear, making me squirm. “Not so cocky now, are we?”

  Nicholas looked crazed as he peered over the edge of the mountain. Rocks tumbled down. It was a long way to fall. “Let her go, you piece of shit!”

  Alec held me over the edge. “With pleasure.”

  “No! No. Wait!” Nicholas shouted desperately. He was crying. He never cried. “Please don’t kill her.” His voice was weak. I felt pain through our bond, a pain unlike either of us had ever felt.

  Alec smiled, baring his polished-white teeth. “It’s you or her.”

  Something strange happened as I faced death. I connected with Alec’s mind. It was fleeting, but I saw what he needed. There was a reason he wasn’t throwing us over the edge. He needed one of us to kill the other. It was one of the seals that would break him from hell.

  “Nicholas. Don’t, it’s a trap.”

  Alec’s gaze narrowed. He let me go and flung me to the ground, then nodded at the two wendigos. They pushed Nicholas over the edge. I scrambled to the edge and caught his hand just in time. My eyes were glazed over. I could hardly see a thing.

  He hung onto my arms, but I was slipping more and more under his weight. “No, hold on, please,” I begged him, my voice cracking. I crept closer to the edge.

  “I have to let go.”

  “No. Use your magic.”

  He closed his eyes tight, but as he tried to use to his powers, the mountain shook, forcing us over the edge more. “It’s too dangerous. You’re slipping,” he said as his hand got clammier. “You gave me everything I ever wanted, Kate. I love you so much.”

  “No.” I gasped.

  He let go of my hand. I reached out trying to catch him, but he tumbled away from me, taking my heart with him. I tried to use my powers, but my mind was foggy. I hurtled over the edge but was pulled back. “NICHOLAS!” I screamed until I couldn’t scream anymore.

  ***

  I compulsively scratched the back of my hand. I dug my nails in until blood tinted the pale pink polish on them. Turning my attention to the white ceiling above, I exhaled slowly and counted the grooves in the paint. Devastation was all I could feel. Nicholas was gone, and there was nothing I could do to bring him back. He may have died to save me, but I’d do anything to have him back.

  Joshua knocked on the bedroom door, dressed in a black suit—the same one from when Nicholas and I had done the ritual to bind ourselves to one another. My heart hurt.

  “It’s time,” he told me.

  We held black umbrellas over our heads as the rain poured, bringing with it the ambience to match the mood. They had spent a lot of money on the coffin. I could tell. The witches and warlocks mourned his death, but they hardly knew him. I knew how they felt though. In the battle, one of the other girls had died—Dana’s younger sister—and her death hit me too, even though I’d only met her once. Being in a coven was like being a part of a family—a bond, different than Nicholas’s and mine, that I couldn’t describe.

  We stood around the coffin as Joshua said the most beautiful words about Nicholas. I refused to give a eulogy. I didn’t want to talk about Nicholas. It hurt too much.

  The rain turned into a downpour, and the sky restlessly grumbled. Droplets the size of acorns fell from the heavens, coating everything in a gloss.

  I wore black, the veil impairing my vision, and I watched with emptiness as Nicholas was lowered into his final resting place. I stood over the hole in the ground and threw dirt on top of the coffin. It was the second funeral I was attending because of Alec. He had taken the person I loved the most and received his stupid prophecy.

  Epilogue

  We were back in Crimson Leaf. Avery and Joshua had come with me, as I couldn’t face being back without Nicholas alone.

  It was a beautiful day. The sun had set after our picnic. I smiled at the trees after learning how to smile again after as the months had passed. The coven had taken care of me after he died. They cried with me. They didn’t push me in my grief, instead let me go into despair and gave me a shoulder to cry on when I needed it. It took a long time, not to mention the crazy stage I went into where I tried to do different rituals to bring him back, which pushed me further into the darkness.

  For a while, they had thought they wouldn’t be able to pull me out of it, but they did. I was allowing myself to be happy again. It was hard.

  “He loved you so much,” Avery told me.

  I nodded. I knew he did.

  “He was your soul mate.”

  “Surprisingly really,” I said, smiling. “I never thought he could be when I first met him.”

  She smiled back and squeezed my hand. “He changed because of you. You brought out the best in him. You embraced each other’s darkness and chose to walk in the light. I remember when we all first met Nicholas. He was so young, so troubled. He didn’t know then about what we were. If he did, I think he would have turned out worse.”

  I pinched my eyes shut. “I need a moment alone. Is that okay?”

  She nodded and left me to my thoughts. I wandered back into the woods where Nicholas and I had spent so much time together. It took me longer than I remembered getting to the old house, but I soon found it. It didn’t look any different. I don’t know why I had expected it to. I hadn’t been back there since he died. In fact, I had done everything to avoid goin
g back. But it was time. I was better now. I still missed him every day and my heart ached always, but I was learning to at least live with it. Grief was never straightforward, no matter what anyone tells you.

  The coven had harnessed the ancient powers lying inside of me, channeling them through us all to bring down the Black Rose Coven, my uncle, and the wendigos they controlled. We did not kill them, however; although a part of me wanted to for the part they played in all that happened. Instead they were taken to Magora, the supernatural prison in the middle of the Indian ocean. Alec hadn’t been found. He was either back in hell or in hiding. Either way, I didn’t care. He was gone, and that was all that mattered. Vanessa had gone travelling and was sending me pictures from all over Europe. She had gotten exactly what she wanted in finding a college program in Italy. Mom had met someone new, Mason. He was fierce, extremely charismatic, and a joker. She needed that light in her life after all she had been through. She, of course, felt guilty about being with someone else, but I assured her that Dad would understand and want her to be happy.

  I couldn’t bring myself to even think about another boy. My focus was the coven now. Every day I practiced my magic, throwing myself into the ancient studies of occultism, a history of witchcraft, and ancient rituals and spells. It turned out I was particularly gifted with the art of necromancy—talking to and seeing the dead. Unfortunately for me, I had not seen Nicholas’s spirit anywhere. The elders told me that I was on my way to be an elder one day.

  Then there was Joshua. Oh, Joshua. He had been my rock for the last months. He held me when I cried, and we mourned together. He was the best friend I had never had, someone who I could rely on and cry with. I don’t know if I could have managed without him.

  I reached the house and nostalgia hit me. Tears burned at the back of my eyes, threatening to break through. I walked through the doorway and into the main room. The candles form our bonding ritual was still there, covered with dust. Somehow, I felt like he’d made his way back to me by seeing them there. They were a reminder that we were bound together, even in death. In the corner, I spotted his school bag. He must have left it behind.

  I picked up the bag and held it to my chest and sniffed it. I felt close to him again. Tears fell down my cheeks. I smiled as I remembered the moments we shared in the house. They were beautiful, sometimes frustrating moments, but in my grief, I had found beauty in every second spent with him—even the bad ones.

  A voice sounded from the top of the staircase. “Kathryn?”

  I shuddered. I knew that voice. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. My voice broke. “Nicholas…” I sucked in a deep breath. All the strength I had vanished.

  He stepped out from the shadows, not looking a day older than he had when we first met. I started to sob loudly. I couldn’t help myself. Seeing him again, it was everything.

  “My love.”

  I covered my mouth with my hand and sobbed. I wanted to say something. I needed to, but I couldn’t. All the pain I’d first felt came rushing back. I was faced with what I had lost. I didn’t believe he was back. He had died. We all saw it happen. “How?” was all I could manage. I dropped to my knees, the sight of him too much for my body.

  He rushed over and lifted me. He smelled like he always had, of leather and coffee. I burst into tears, gripping his arms with my fingers as if he might vanish at any moment. He stroked my hair as I cried. “I know, sweetheart. I know.”

  I realized then that he wasn’t human. He was a ghost. Our bond wasn’t there, but I could feel him, touch him. “How are you here?” I asked through my tears.

  “My gorgeous girl.” He moved me back to arm’s length. “I never really left.”

  ~ The End ~

  In his sacrifice, he allowed her to become the witch he knew she always could be, and he would wait for her, patiently, until the day she crossed to the other side. No matter what, the ones we lose never really leave us.

  The Supernatural Order World

  Blood & Magic is a stand-alone novel set in the world of the supernatural, telling the story of the Black Lily and Black Rose Covens—the two largest covens still standing in the US and Canada. R. L. Weeks will be releasing more standalone books taking place in the Supernatural Order World.

  If you want to keep up to date on these releases, you can sign up to receive a once-monthly newsletter with updates on new releases here: eepurl.com/crYTk1

  The next two books releasing in the Supernatural Order World:

  Dead Girls

  What happens when you cross money, revenge, and love?

  Pierce and her sister Jackson are on the run from the Upper Eastside when their parents are found dead after an embezzlement scandal. Everyone they trusted is acting strangely and their parent’s death doesn’t look like an accident.

  They flee to the safety of Washington State to their grandmother’s old mansion. With it’s creaking doors and bloody history, Pierce and Jackson might have run into a trap.

  They’re being haunted by the ghosts of victims of a serial killer with a taste for blood. With their grandmother acting strangely, and the odd brothers living down the road taking an interest in them, they must hold onto everything before it’s too late.

  Everything happens for a reason, and Pierce and Jackson could be at the heart of a vampire war that has been brewing for centuries.

  This is a story about the bonds of family, romance, vampirism, and murder. Dead Girls is a thrilling New Adult romance mystery.

  Co-written by R. L. Weeks and Krystle Able

  Expected Release: October 2019

  A young siren is born of a dying breed. Can Sensaria bring peace between the wars of sirens and siren hunters? Or will she give in to her true nature and become another creature of the night?

  Immortal Depths A young siren is born of a dying breed. Can Sensaria bring peace between the wars of sirens and siren hunters? Or will she give in to her true nature and become another creature of the night?

  Co-written by R. L. Weeks and Yolanda Allard

  Expected Release: January 2020

  About the Author

  R. L. Weeks is an international bestselling author of paranormal and fantasy books. She is the author of the bestselling Willow Woods and Raven’s Shadows Series.

  Rebecca also enjoys traveling, designing, and hosting signings with Spellbinding Book Events for indie authors.

  The written word is her passion, especially fiction, as she believes that our imaginations are one of our greatest gifts.

  You can email Rebecca with any comments at authorrlweeks@gmail.com or connect with her on Facebook and Twitter. She loves getting emails about her work.

  Connect with Rebecca here:

  Facebook:

  www.facebook.com/rlweeksauthor1/

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  amazon.com/author/rweeks

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  www.facebook.com/groups/rlweeksstreetteam/

  BookBub:

  www.bookbub.com/profile/r-l-weeks

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  Also by the Author

  eBooks and Paperbacks:

  Raven’s Sight

  Raven’s Ghost

  Raven’s Heart

  Raven’s Prince

  ~

  Blood & Magic

  ~

  Stories After Twilight

  ~

  Night Stalker

  ~

  Willow Woods Academy for Witches

  Willow Woods Academy for Witches and Wizards

  ~

  Haunting Fairytales Book One

  Audiobooks:

  Raven’s Sight

  Raven’s Ghost

  Willow Woods Academy for Witches

  The Enchantress

  Night Stalker

  Blood & Magic<
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  Acknowledgements

  I want to start by thanking my incredible ARC review team who always are down for reading the worlds from inside of my head! You guys are absolute rock stars. Your reviews make me a better writer and keep me writing more!

  Thank you to my awesome husband. You keep me grounded, focused, and you push me to be the best I can be. I love you so much. My life has been blessed since you came into it.

  My incredible Beauties group, thank you all for supporting me and well, just being the awesome group of people, you are. I’d be nothing without all of you so thank you so, so much!

  My editor, Angie Wade. Thank you for putting up with me (hot mess) and for making me a better writer. I have used so many editors in the past, but you are by far the best. Your comments make me laugh, you are so detailed and thorough when taking care of my book babies (and probably editing this right now). You are worth your weight in gold missy!

  Amy Bernal and Amanda Lindsey! You girls have always been there. Thank you for helping me get the word out about this release.

  Amy Cecil and Krystle Able. I love logging in and seeing your names. You are all the colleagues to my virtual workplace. Thanks for letting me discuss all the author-esque things that others may not understand, as well as running these events with Angie and I and making a family out of Spellbinding Events.

  And to you reading this. Each person who reads my work has a special place in my heart.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight