Wicked After Dark: 20 Steamy Paranormal Tales of Dragons, Vampires, Werewolves, Shifters, Witches, Angels, Demons, Fey, and More

by Mina Carter

  His father was reading files at his desk. The old man was getting far worse for the wear. His wheezing was more noticeable. His skin hung from his bones in a sickly manner. The man had lost weight since he last saw him. A lot of weight. It was almost like he was wasting away. His head was bald, and he used glasses to see the papers he shuffled through.

  Davis looked over his father’s shoulder to get a peek at what he was so intently focused on. There were files with different names. One in particular caught his attention. Jerrell Jackson? Why would he have a file of the man his partner murdered?

  “I can smell you, boy. Show yourself.” His father snapped at the thin air. “Don’t make me come to the astral plane to retrieve your ass.”

  Davis moved across the room and materialized in front of his dad, the man who terrorized his nightmares. “Father.”

  His brown eyes glinted darkly as they narrowed on Davis. “Why are you spying on me?”

  “I wasn’t spying…” Davis’ stutter returned under his father scrutinizing gaze. “I came… t t to t t t ta talk to you.”

  “Well? Out with it boy. I’ve got more important things to do than deal with your blubbering.”

  Davis wondered if coming here was a mistake. His father was still the most infuriating creature on the face of the planet, but he was his father. He took a deep breath and took the plunge. “The project I’m working on is killing supernaturals.”

  “Get to the point.” He grumbled as he leaned back in his chair.

  Davis stared at his father, confused. “You don’t have a problem with the fact that I’m killing supernatural beings?”

  He laughed coldly. “I have a problem with you lying to me. I know full well you don’t have the stones to kill anyone.”

  The bastard was right, of course. He hadn’t killed anyone yet. He was simply an accomplice, and he could barely stomach that reality. “I don’t know why I came to you. I should’ve known you wouldn’t care.”

  “You come to me in the middle of the night, trespass in the home you’ve been kicked out of, and tell me you’re involved in killing supernatural beings. What am I supposed to do?”

  Davis pushed the pain down. He knew better than to expect anything from the asshole. He was nothing more than a sperm donor. “I get it, you don’t want anything to do with me. I just thought you…” you could help me, he thought, but said, “you’d want to know I’m the one who foiled your plans.” He disappeared.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Frankie and Fang pulled up to the wolf compound where Jerrell was found dead. Max Brady had taken the alpha’s spot which was convenient since it was his best friend’s death that won him that position. Strike one. The second strike was that he was the last man to see Jerrell alive.

  From all accounts, their investigation showed that Max and Jerrell truly were the best of friends up until the day Jerrell joined the armed forces. It was too soon to know if that relationship had been rekindled before his death. There could’ve been unresolved resentment.

  The forensic team found evidence of silver in Jerrell’s body which confirmed Fang’s suspicions and reaffirmed that Jerrell was murdered. Their best lead was Max Brady.

  “Do you think he’s guilty?” Frankie asked.

  Fang put the car in park, turned off the ignition, and unbuckled his seat belt. With a shrug, he turned and faced her. “You have good instincts. What do you think?”

  “I won’t know until I talk to him, but everything is pretty suspicious.”

  Fang nodded and exhaled deeply. “Are we ever going to talk about it?”

  “We are talking.”

  He ran a hand over a day’s growth of facial hair. “No, Francesca, I mean about us.”

  He was so sexy when he went scruffy and rugged. She pushed the thought from her mind. Frankie rolled her eyes. “What’s wrong with you? We’re in the middle of a case right now.” When he gave her that smoldering look with those intense blue eyes she started losing control. Something happened on that jet ride, deep inside, something changed. It was like the chain that connected them locked into place making him even more irresistible.

  “Yes, we were in the middle of a case when we were on that jet, too.” He reached out and touched her hand. “We’re walking into a wolves’ nest and could be confronting a possible killer. I just want you to know where I stand.”

  His touch was oddly gentle for a man so large. She knew intellectually she should pull away, but the damn chain pulled tighter. The draw between them strengthened. “Fang, don’t. Not now.” Her words were barely above a whisper. In that moment she hated herself for wanting him so much.

  He pulled a shaky hand from hers. “Okay. I’ll drop it for now, but this isn’t over. I won’t give up on this.” He opened the door and got out of the car.

  Frankie took a moment to compose herself before exiting the car and joining him in front of the grill. “You’re right. It’s not over, but for now we’ve got work to do.” She started toward the front door of the house.

  A woman with black hair and blue tips cut shoulder length stepped in front of them. “Can I help you?” She sniffed the air around them. If Frankie wasn’t a bear’s potential mate she might have taken affront to that, but instead, she understood. The she-wolf was trying to determine if they were friend or foe, something they had in common.

  “We’re looking for Max Brady.” It was Fang’s turn to take the lead. It was like a dance they did with people. If they were humans, Frankie led, and supernaturals, Fang stepped in front.

  “We don’t get too many bears and their mates up here.” The woman’s lip curled upward in a half snarl. She wasn’t sure about them which was why her wolf scraped right beneath the human skin, ready to pounce if necessary.

  “We’re looking into Jerrell Jackson’s death.” Fang kept calm, but Frankie knew his bear was responding to the wolf, and waited under the surface of his skin.

  Frankie’s first urge was to step back, but she knew from experience that was a mistake. She couldn’t show fear or retreat in tense moments with animals. It set their primal instincts into play. She’d been chased and caught by Fang plenty of times to know better.

  “That was closed as a tragic accident.”

  “Doubtful since a second autopsy found silver in his blood.” Fang crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her reaction.

  Shock hit her first, putting her off guard for a second. Then it was replaced with a stone-cold look. Despite outward appearance, even Frankie could smell sadness on the air.

  “You’re doing your job as an enforcer, Miss…?”

  “Cassandra.” She raised her pointy chin upward. “Formalities aren’t received well up here.”

  Fang nodded. “Which is why I didn’t start with I’m Fang and this is Frankie, and we’re from the PBI.”

  Cassandra’s mouth dropped. “That doesn’t matter much here either.”

  “I’m required to introduce myself. Now are you going to get your alpha or am I going to have to retrieve him?”

  “That won’t be necessary.” A shirtless, dark-haired man came out of the barn wiping his greasy hands on an old rag. Muscles flexed under smooth, tanned skin. He was a walking underwear model, only instead of briefs, he wore ripped jeans that hung low on his hips. “I’m Max Brady, and I’d like to help you anyway I can.”

  Fang growled, “You can start by putting on a shirt!”

  Max smiled, a movement that looked cold and distant as it didn’t reach his dark eyes. “I mean no harm to your mate, bear.”

  That seemed to appease Fang and he eased up his stance. “We’d like to ask you some questions about Jerrell’s death.”

  “Cassie, can you give us a moment?”

  She bowed her head and walked off.

  When she was out of hearing range, he said, “I’m glad you’re here because I’ve been having night terrors about that night.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The whoosh of the mechanical door and blast of air condi
tioning hit Tucker and Persephone DeLuca first as they entered the Cancer Center. It was quite a contrast to the humidity outside and caused DeLuca to shiver in protest. They made their way up to Sarah Goods’ room where Abigail agreed to meet them. It pulled on her heart strings. First the young witch lost her sister, and now she was watching her mother battle for her life from a disease that touched millions of people every day.

  If she had her choice, they would’ve met somewhere else, but apparently since her sister’s accident, she spent most of her time here at her mother’s side. Abigail and Sarah Good were the only ones left in their family, and tragedy had a way of bringing people together.

  According to their other interviews, Abigail was an ordinary nineteen year-old. She fought against authority until her mother got sick then she became the role model child. She had told her friends she was excited to have her sister return. In fact, reports showed that she only started acting out when her sister left. Prior to that, the two were inseparable and good children. It was hard to believe she’d have a hand in drowning her sister, but she was the last one to see Libby Good alive, and the only one in the house at the time of her death.

  They stood outside Sarah Goods’ room and watched as Abigail made sure she was comfortable before leaving the room and meeting them out in the hall. Abigail had dark hair which was braided into two side pigtails giving her a look of innocence. It didn’t fool DeLuca. Abigail was a powerful fire witch with the power of empathy. She was dangerous.

  “Thank you for meeting us, Abigail,” DeLuca said after introductions as she pulled out her tiny notepad full of questions to ask the witch. Tucker stayed at her side, but focused on the surroundings and let DeLuca take the lead.

  “Of course. I’m glad this death caught the PBI’s radar.”

  “Why is that?” DeLuca asked.

  Abigail shuddered. “I mean, we all know it’s suspicious that a water witch would die by drowning. Libby was good, really good. I’m of the fire element and fire doesn’t seem to harm me so I’d think the same applied to her.”

  “It’s my understanding you’re resistant to fire, but if exposed long enough, your human skin would succumb.” DeLuca showed her knowledge of witches expertly which was why she took the lead on the questioning. Her now dead lover was a witch, and he was very powerful. Just like all supernatural races, witches were secretive with their abilities, but he had shared everything with her.

  “True, but there is more.” her voice lowered. She tossed a look over her shoulder at her mother’s figure and motioned for them to move further down the hallway. “I’m sure you know I was in the house when it happened.”

  DeLuca and Tucker followed and nodded.

  “Well, I keep having nightmares about that day.”

  “What happens in your nightmares?” DeLuca asked curiously.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know, exactly. But I keep getting the feeling I know more than I realize about my sister’s death.” She looked back and forth between the two detectives. “I didn’t kill her, but maybe my mind is trying to reconcile a clue I have that I haven’t been able to reveal to the authorities yet. The only thing I do know with certainty is that she didn’t die from a freak accident.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  It only took a day for Devon to recall his teams and formulate a plan. Thanks to Max Brady’s offer of doing whatever it took to find out what happened to Jerrell, they had a possible lead that would help them close out the case and get back to searching for Sarah and the blasted Amazons that cursed him to this miserable existence.

  Frankie and Fang brought Max back to the compound for a deeper interview, and Karma decided to ask her uncle for help. Max, Frankie, and Fang believed there were clues locked away in his mind, and that suspicion was backed up when the other witness in DeLuca and Tucker’s investigation mentioned nightmares and feeling like she knew more, but couldn’t quite figure out what that missing link was.

  Who better to call for help than Hypnos himself? Devon never enjoyed working closely with the gods, and it made him even more uncomfortable since he discovered it was Athena who appealed to Zeus to get permission to give payback to the Horsemen. In a roundabout way, the gods were responsible for his neutered predicament, but Hypnos wasn’t involved in that decision so he pushed down his bitter resentment and focused on closing this case as quickly as possible so he could find his traitorous flame, Sarah.

  He didn’t know what he’d do when he found her. His aching heart and body wanted to pull her into his arms and claim her, and his logical mind wanted justice. It was tearing him in half. One day he felt like the man who loved a woman who was in trouble, and the next, he felt like the man who wanted vengeance.

  “Max is prepped.” Jasmine, followed by Fang and Frankie reported in. “Any news on Hypnos?”

  Devon looked up from his desk. “Not yet, but Karma doesn’t think it will be a problem.”

  Frankie shivered. “I must admit I am a little nervous about meeting a god with the power of sleep and mind control.”

  “You’ve met other gods. Hades didn’t seem to scare you.” Jasmine pointed out.

  “No, I suppose it helped that Caleb had told us the gods were simply alien visitors to our planet endowed with certain powers.” Frankie reminded herself out loud.

  “Not to mention they are mandated to not harm humans, so you’re safe.” Devon smiled. He really liked Frankie. He’d known her a year longer than her sister, Sarah, his flame. She worked for him as a marketing director at his club which had been used in many undercover sting operations. The human was clueless at that time, so clueless that she’d actually been the one to expose his cover to the Amazons thanks to a promotional commercial that aired for all of one day. That was all it took to put the Amazons on his scent. A month later, he met Sarah, and knew almost instantly that she was meant for him. He revealed his secret to both of them and that reveal saved his life when the Amazons first attacked. The two very human women, one hungover, the other mind blown, defended his dead-to-the-world body against an angry, sword-wielding Amazon long enough for his partner, Fang, to rescue them.

  Ever since that night, the Hollister sisters were part of the team, and his family. It was another reason why Sarah’s betrayal cut so deep. He let her in, trusted her, and made her part of his world, considered her family long before she accepted his proposal to start dating.

  It was like they were cursed. The Amazons attacked and kidnapped them both on the night of his first date with Sarah. He was forced to watch the sadistic bitches torture his love. And, while the sun forced him into a dead slumber, they brainwashed her. He hoped that was what happened because the idea that she would betray him so easily was slowly killing the lover in him.

  Olivia and Red appeared at the office door. “We’d like to be present in the interrogation,” Red said as they entered the room. No pretense, no niceties. That was more of a human expectation, and they were all far from human. Even Frankie had passed that gate when Fang saved her life by binding their life forces together, a process reserved for mates. Not all mates were of the same species, and many supernatural beings spent decades, even centuries searching for their other half. Sometimes that other half was human, and therefore the gods gave the supernaturals the ability to bind life forces so they could keep their mates at their sides until they finally succumbed to death’s call.

  Devon nodded. “As long as Hypnos allows it.” He didn’t see why the god would refuse a member of the Order being present during an interrogation, but it wasn’t his decision to make.

  Tucker and DeLuca filled Devon’s office to capacity when they arrived. “Abigail Good is willing to help anyway she can to find out what happened to her sister, but her mother is ill and she refuses to leave San Diego.” Tucker reported.

  Devon nodded. “Okay. If we need her, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

  “Do you think Hypnos can help delve into Red’s mind? She may have some details to discover from the attac
k the other night?” Olivia asked.

  Devon turned his attention to Red. “Would you be okay with that?”

  Red shrugged. “I don’t see why not. As long as it doesn’t hurt the baby.”

  Everyone in the room turned toward her with varying degrees of smiles and congratulations. It was rare in this line of work that good news came along, and with the way the supernatural creatures’ numbers were dwindling, an announcement of a child was the best news one could hear.

  “Hello, everyone. Why weren’t we invited to the party?” Karma came into the room, her happy persona in place. Today she wore a sunflower sun dress that accentuated her curves without hugging them. She wore white-framed, large sunglasses which she used to pull her hair back like a head band.

  Behind her entered a man who looked like he’d walked off a beach from a day of catching awesome waves. Aside from being built like a linebacker for a professional football team, he looked like an average Joe which made it easy for him to blend in with the human population. “Hello, everyone. I’m Hypnos, and I understand you’d like my help with interrogation.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Hypnos moved Max into Karma’s office and had him lie down on the large sofa. He insisted that once he began the process everyone was to remain still and quiet. If anyone interfered, they’d have him to deal with, and no one really wanted to know what that entailed. Once everyone was settled in, he began the process by lulling Max into a comfortable, relaxed state in between sleep and waking.

  Red felt herself relaxing with Max. Sinking deeper and deeper down as Hypnos’ hypnotic voice lulled her into a state of complete relaxation.