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

by Mina Carter

  "You finally did what you were destined to do. If you'd only stepped up to be the leader you needed to be sooner, they'd still be alive and your twin heirs would be safe."

  "I need you to help me find them. Help me find Drake."

  "That's all you want?" she asks. I'm too upset to know if she's being sarcastic or not. It hurts too bad to give a shit.

  "I want them back unharmed."

  "All of them?"

  "What?" I ask. "They're gone. I'm begging God to let Noah and Riley still be alive, that's why I need your help before it's too late."

  "It's never too late," she says.

  "He could still kill them, or worse. What if he keeps them alive while he tortures them? Every second we wait might be too late!"

  "What if you could go back?"

  "Back?" I ask in confusion.

  "There may be a way for you to go back and set things right. Put everyone on a different course with a different future."

  "You're kidding."

  "There are no guarantees. You could very well make things worse-"

  "It can't be worse than this!" I exclaim.

  "Then if that's what you want, you'll have to make a sacrifice."

  "Anything," I say.

  "You'll have to give up your family's dynasty."

  "But-but what happens then?"

  "When you return to the past, the strong survive, and the weak will fall prey to them. Thousands, maybe millions, of innocent lives will be lost since no one will able to stop the vampires or any other member of the underworld. There will eventually be chaos worse than we've seen the past few days."

  "But Hope will become pregnant with the twins? Heath. Charles and Marjorie. They'll still be alive?"

  "Yes. Your six loved ones will live while everyone else will lose people they love."

  I hang my head with the weight of my guilt and shame. Could I be so selfish as to let people die, so that I could be happy? To see Hope's beautiful smile one more time. Hear Heath's ridiculous jokes. See my two boys from the moment they're born. Have the two people who raised and were always there taking care of me alive again.

  What about all the other wives, girlfriends, children, best friends, and parents who will be lost? How can I say my family is more important than someone else's?

  "I can't," I tell Li Na through the sobs, knowing I've truly lost them. I'll find the boys and keep them safe. Make sure they remember their mother. What she selflessly sacrificed for them because I wasn't there for her or them.

  "You could, but you're doing the right thing for once," Li Na says and then she thrusts a medicine cup in front of my face. One with a familiar red syrup in it. "Drink this. It'll help the pain."

  "I don't want anything that will knock me out. I have to stay awake and look for Noah and Riley."

  "It will help you find them."

  "It will?" I ask skeptically. I’d asked her for a spell, for a way to track down the boys.

  "Trust me."

  I do trust her, so I grab the cup from her outstretched hand and pour the liquid down my throat.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I wake up in a soft bed in a room with red walls and a dragon comforter. Li Na must’ve brought me back to her house. Why the fuck did she let me sleep? I've lost too much time as it is. Getting to a sitting position my entire body hurts, but it's nothing compared to the pain in my chest. My eyes feel swollen shut from the flood of tears.

  "Young Coughlin, welcome back," Li Na says when she appears in the room.

  "Why'd you let me sleep so long? I need to find Riley and Noah!" I exclaim and wince when I try to swing my legs around to the edge of the bed. "And why the fuck does it feel like I've been run over by a truck?"

  "You needed the rest," she says. "And who are Riley and Noah?"

  I look at her, wondering if she's going senile in her old age. "My sons. The ones we need to find before Bron Drake hurts them."

  "I had no idea you already had children, young Coughlin."

  "What the hell are you talking about? They're all I have left."

  "How old are they?" she asks with a smile.

  "They just turned four," I reply, swallowing past the knot in my throat, thinking about how Hope will never see another one of their birthdays.

  "You had a child when you were only fourteen?" she reels back and exclaims.

  "No! God, are you out of your mind? I was eighteen."

  "You are eighteen, young Coughlin."

  "Have you been experiencing memory loss ‘cause you're starting to piss me off, witch."

  "Not that I know of. I think you may be suffering from a concussion, though. Your father did a number on you last night."

  "My father?" I ask. "He's been dead for weeks."

  "Maybe we should take you to the ER and get you checked out. Make sure nothing else is broken before you go back to New York."

  "New York?" I ask. "Why would I go there? Is that where Drake is?"

  "Eric, now I believe you are the one with memory loss. That's where you go to school."

  "School?" I ask. Then the pieces start falling into place. "What year is this?"

  "What year do you think it is?" she asks slowly with a furrowed brow.

  "It's 2015."

  "No, poor boy. It's November first, 2010."

  "November? 2010?" I repeat, closing my eyes to try and figure out what the hell is going on. "You sent me back?" I yell. "I told you not to!"

  "I didn't send you anywhere," she says. "You've been sleeping for almost twelve hours. Only dreaming."

  "Dreaming? That wasn't a dream. It was real. It was a fucking nightmare!"

  "There is some truth and premonition to be found in dreams."

  "You mean all that didn't happen, but it could?"

  "What happened?" she asks.

  "Bron Drake rallied the vampires into a killing spree. They killed thousands, including everyone I loved."

  "Then perhaps that means you need to put a stop to the man responsible for this destruction."

  "So I need to find Drake and kill him?"

  "No, not Drake."

  "What do you mean? He's the bastard that was behind everything!"

  "Was he?" she asks with a raised, gray eyebrow. "Or was he reacting to the decisions made by someone else?"

  "Someone else? Who?"

  "Your father."

  "My father?"

  "The man is leading the underworld toward a path of destruction. He needs to be stopped. You are the only one who can do it."

  "He's alpha...I can't challenge him. How am I supposed to stop him?"

  "You said he was dead in your dream. How'd he die?"

  "Poison."

  "Well, there you go. That is the way."

  "You want me to poison my own father? Seriously?" I don't think I can do that. I just want to find Hope, make sure she really is alive and it was a nightmare. Hope Gabriel. Now that I know her last name I can find her. Is Gabriel really her name? Or was that just part of the dream?

  "Listen to me, Eric. I have seen what you've described. It must be done now to avoid that future from manifesting! And it won't be Drake that kills your father."

  "It won't?"

  "No. And I'm guessing Drake won't be the one who kills your people in your nightmare."

  "It was Drake!" I shout.

  "Really? You know that for sure? Were the so called guards protecting them?"

  "Yes," I mutter, and now that I can think without the pain of loss, I try to remember what I saw. They had all been shot, not drained. If it was vampires using guns, they wouldn't pass up on the blood. I didn't see any bite marks on Hope, Kayla or Heath, or on Charles and Marjorie. Only my guards knew where they were going to be hiding out.

  "There's a traitor, and he must also be dealt with now," she says.

  I have a real good idea who the snake might be. That son of a bitch! It explains why the boys weren't found dead. I’d ordered him to protect them and keep them safe even if it meant his own life.

/>   I stand up, ready to get back to the house but my body protests. Shit! Why didn't my dumbass think about calling him for some blood last night?

  "Can I use your phone?" I ask Li Na. "And you wouldn't happen to have any poisons lying around, would you?"

  She smiles wickedly before she answers. "Of course."

  …

  An hour later I'm healed, thanks to my genetics and Heath's blood. After I filled him in on my plan to murder my own father he said he wanted to tag along. He thinks it's a great idea and asked if we could do his father next.

  "Poison is a woman's weapon," he whispers to me while we're walking through the woods to the back entrance of the house. There are always less guards there, which is something I plan to remedy once I'm in charge. Probably how the vampire snuck into the house the night he’d attacked Heath and Hope. Or Ryan was working with Drake and let his man in. That’s the much more likely scenario.

  "Do you have a better idea?" I ask softly as we try to walk as quietly as possible over leaves and sticks.

  "Um, no."

  "Then shut it."

  Sneaking into the house is easier than I’d expected, so we head straight for the kitchen. There are never any guards there and my father wouldn't be caught dead in that particular room. I almost laugh at the irony.

  Marjorie is the first person we run into.

  "You look much better. I was so worried about you," she says with a loving caress to my cheek.

  "Thank you. For everything, Marjorie. Now I need you to help us kill my dad," I tell her.

  Her eyes widen while she looks back and forth between me and Heath. "No, Eric!"

  "It needs to be done. He's out of control, and...it's going to get worse, okay? I can do this. I will be the leader that the underworld needs, and so will my sons."

  "Sons?" she asks.

  "Twins who are going to take after their beautiful mother." As soon as this is done, I'm gonna find Hope and make things right with her.

  "How do you know all that?" Heath asks.

  "Because I've been there with her and the boys. I love her, and so do you."

  "Ha! Like you'd ever share a woman." He throws his head back and laughs.

  "Not with just anyone."

  "Oh my, this is too much for this old woman's ears," Marjorie says, making me smile.

  "First, we need to get this done. How can we slip some poison into something he's going to eat or drink?"

  "I-I can't do this," Marjorie said. "I won't put it in, but if you insist, I'll take it to him."

  "Thank you. I'll add the poison to his drink. What will he ask for tonight?"

  "Bourbon," she says with a shaky breath.

  "Then let's get two ready. I'll need Charles to help with the second part of my plan."

  After Marjorie calls the butler on the house phone system, I give him his instructions - tell Ryan my father needs to see him. Charles doesn't question my request or ask why, so I don't give him the details. It's better if he doesn't know.

  Ten minutes later, Marjorie places the glasses on the tray and takes them up to my father in his office. I wait until I'm certain they've had a few sips before I slip in. I'm not an idiot, I know I'm out matched.

  I hear the two men laughing at something when I nod to the guards and walk right into the office like I own the place. I hopefully will in a few minutes.

  "What the fuck are you doing here? I thought I told you to never come back!" My father stands up from behind his desk.

  Huh. I vaguely remember that he did say something like that. Maybe I have a stronger immunity to him than I thought. Disobeying him never worked before, but now...maybe things have changed. Maybe I've changed.

  "You're in my office," I reply.

  "Now I know you must be out of your goddamn mind," he says at the same time Ryan gets up from his seat and stands in front of my father like he's trying to protect him.

  "Nicely played, Ryan. Having a whore poison my father since you couldn't do it yourself."

  "What the hell are you talking about?" the military man asks.

  "Don't worry, you're not going to be the one to kill him. I am," I tell them.

  "I'd love to see you try," my father says before his first cough.

  "You’re not just seeing me try to kill you, you’re seeing it happen, because right this moment, you are dying. Any last words?" I ask.

  He holds on to the edge of the desk and coughs a few more times.

  "This is for my mother and all the other people you've killed or would've killed, you sick fuck!"

  When he can only gasp instead of take breaths, he drops to his knees, his face turning purple. Ryan rushes over to his side as if there's something he can do to save him.

  "This is more satisfying than I imagined," I tell the two men.

  "Everyone...is...doomed," are my father’s last words before he collapses to the ground. I know he's wrong. We were doomed with him, but now I have a chance to make everything right.

  "You killed him!" Ryan yells.

  "I did. Why aren't you dead? Not thirsty?" I ask. His mouth falls open as he looks over to his glass on the coaster. Guess he didn't take a sip. That's okay.

  "Any last words?" I ask him with a smirk.

  "I didn't drink any, you idiot," he says, and takes a few steps toward me.

  I force the pressure to rise in his skull. His nose, eyes, ears, and mouth start to bleed seconds before his head explodes. I don't have an ounce of regret.

  "Everyone leave," I command the guards in the hallway.

  I need to get rid of their bodies before anyone sees what happened. I’ll tell everyone that Ryan poisoned my father and then I killed him when I discovered his betrayal.

  Once I'm alone I pull out my phone and call Mark to give him the message to alert the underworld of the murder of their leader and the beginning of my reign. Starting tomorrow I'll make sure everyone understands that I'm not a pushover, but I won't be the evil ruler my father was either. It’s time for our society to finally hold elections and have representatives instead of a one man dictatorship. Tonight though, I need to find my girl.

  After Heath helps me haul the two men outside, we start a bonfire. I may be a monster for what I did, but there’s no guilt for killing them. I won’t ever be the careless evil man my father was. Heath and I even make plans on how to take his malicious father out as soon as he comes back from England. Now that I’m alpha it should be easy. Drake may not have killed my father, but he’s still a murderous bastard that could cause a civil war.

  Before I leave the house I stop by the bookcase and push it forward to enter the secret room. Using the light from my cell phone, I look over the floor for the tiny piece of paper. When I find it, I read the familiar words a few times before slipping it into my wallet.

  Heath and Charles are waiting for me at the front door.

  "So," Heath starts with a smile. "Now what?”

  “Now I've got a redheaded angel to find." I don't even know where to start, but it doesn't matter. If she's not in the phonebook I'll go door to door through the entire town until I find her.

  "You mean that hot as fuck Catwoman?" Heath asks. "She lives with her sexy ass friend Kayla in an apartment on Stadium Drive."

  "She does? You're sure?" I ask.

  "Yeah, I dropped her off there after I fucked her last night."

  "You did? Oh My God.” I can't be that lucky, can I?

  "They live over in Green Acres. I mean how could I forget that shit?"

  "Yes! Thank you. I owe you!" I tell him as I head for the garage.

  “Hell, I’ll go with you. That Kayla chick was sexy as fuck,” Heath says when he follows behind me.

  We examine our sports car options and within minutes we’re peeling out down the winding driveway to the city in a brand new, red Ferrari 458. Despite what I just did, the blood on my hands, I can't help the smile on my face knowing I'm about to see her again. Killing them had to be done, and I’m convinced that the lives I’ve saved are wel
l worth the black marks on my soul.

  As soon as I park I jog up the sidewalk and knock on the apartment Heath points out. When Hope opens the door I launch myself at her, wrapping her in my arms, inhaling her raspberry scented hair.

  "Eric?" she says softly against my shirt. "What happened last night? Why'd you leave me?"

  "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I couldn't come back for you, but I wanted to. I want to be with you forever. Every day for the rest of what I hope will be our long lives."

  "Um, I don't know what to say," she mumbles into my chest.

  "Say yes, Hope. I can't imagine my life without you."

  "But you don't even know me. I don't even know your last name."

  "I know everything I need to know about you, Hope Gabriel. You're the most selfless person I know. You've never been to the beach, but I'm going to take you there and anywhere else you want to go. You don't give a shit about my money or power, but I'd give it all up for you."

  "How-how'd you find me? How'd you know my last name and that I've never been to the beach?"

  "Because I had a dream about you and me and…" I stop before telling her about the twins since it might make her think I'm nuts. "I promise you that I'll follow you into the sunlight, and always find you in the darkness."

  "You-you found my fortune?" she asks.

  "I am your fortune. Please, Hope, just give us a chance now, and hopefully marry me one day."

  “Dude, you are so pussy whipped,” Heath says from behind me and an awesome idea suddenly comes to me.

  “Is Kayla home?” I ask Hope.

  “Um, yeah,” she says with a creased brow, glancing back and forth between me and Heath.

  I tug her to me and push Heath inside the apartment before closing the door on him. Maybe I won’t have to share Hope after all, and Heath and Kayla will get their own happily ever after.

  Epilogue

  Hope

  Two Months Later…

  I knock on the bedroom door and push it open without waiting for him to answer. I'm shaking with nervousness so bad in my organza ball gown that I can't stand still for even seconds.

  "Hope?" Eric says, stepping out of the closet in his black tux. Oh wow. Now I don't want to say anything to ruin him becoming mine. But I have to. It's not fair to marry him without him knowing. "I thought it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding," he teases with a wide smile. “And you look absolutely gorgeous.”