Whispers in the Ether

by Jena Gregoire

  J E N A G R E G O I R E

  Whispers in the Ether - A Hellfire Anthology

  © 2018 Jena Gregoire

  All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  ISBN-13: 978-1717216342

  Whispers in the Ether is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. The Author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of any and all trademarks mentioned in this work of fiction.

  Published by Jena Gregoire

  Cover by Pure Textuality PR

  Ebook Formatting by Pure Textuality PR

  Editing by Modern Elektra Editing

  http://jenagregoire.com

  JENA GREGOIRE

  ~ Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance Author ~

  THE HELLFIRE SERIES

  THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

  SPEAK OF THE DEVIL

  DANCE WITH THE DEVIL

  THE HELLFIRE WORLD

  WHISPERS IN THE ETHER

  A Hellfire Anthology

  SECRETS IN THE SHADOWS

  Anthology Featuring Vanishing,

  a Hellfire World Short Story

  COMING SOON

  BAD WOLF

  Executioner Book One - A Hellfire Spin-Off Series

  MORE INCLUDING RELEASE DATES

  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter

  Hellfire 0.5

  BURNING

  PART I: KINDRED SOULS

  Lucas

  Venice, Italy.

  The warm evening air was filled with the scents of salt water, sunflowers and lilies. Lucas moved from one cart to the next on his quest. Who would have thought that it would have taken me four hundred and one years of existence to find her? He smiled to himself as he perused through the flower vendors' wares. Lucas was roaming the streets of the ancient city on a journey to find the perfect blossoms for her.

  Natalia…

  Lucas couldn't believe that a mere three months had passed since the first time he had seen her. That night, he had been on his way to a local watering hole for the evening. He wasn't in a hurry so he decided to walk instead of traveling by gondola. He adored Venice and even after all this time, loved to take in all of her sights and sounds any chance he got. He knew that there would be no shortage of female company, even if he did arrive later in the evening. His normal routine–drink, track down a lovely young thing to bed, leave before sunrise–had taught him that you can always count on an overabundance of attainable women in Venice. They weren’t always single but that didn’t matter. One look at him was all it took. He was a beautiful man. He had elegant features but not feminine. His jaw was strong and his complexion was eternally youthful. All topped by an always well maintained mane of short black hair. A flash of that debonair smile and they were always willing.

  She had been sitting alone at a sidewalk café table, reading a tattered book and sipping a cappuccino. At first, he hadn’t really thought much of her aside from the simplistic poetry of the moment. She was naturally pretty, but not strikingly beautiful. She had wild hair that was an unremarkable shade of brown. Although it was tied up in a bun of sorts, it seemed to reach out in random directions. Her clothing style would have been classified as something along the lines of Bohemian chic. In a crowd of a hundred women, most men would probably pass right by her, including him. As he was walking by, she took another sip of her rich coffee drink and this time, was left with a white mustache of foam on her upper lip. Lucas let out a small laugh, and the idea of leaving her like that made him feel guilty.

  “Excuse me, miss,” he said quietly with a smile, so as not to startle her. “You have a spot of foam on your lip.” Then she looked up at him and his world shifted. Her simple, pretty face suddenly struck him as utterly radiant. As she scrambled for her napkin to dab her lip, she thanked him and then smiled shyly. Time seemed to slow in those first few moments and Lucas found himself tongue tied.

  His ability to see a person's aura had become a second nature of sorts. He hardly ever noticed it anymore, but in that moment, it was undeniable. Her aura was an iridescent blueish-purple that he had only ever glimpsed when looking in a mirror. He knew by her scent that she was as human as any other, but the cloak of color that surrounded her being waved and shimmered, unlike the standard glow that any other humans had. He introduced himself and she did in turn, informing him her name was Natalia. She invited him to join her, and with all previous plans for the night forgotten, he obliged.

  They spent that evening talking and laughing, first over coffee then dessert pastries. Their initial meeting went well into the night until the waiter apologetically informed them that the establishment was closing. Neither of them wanting their time together to end, the casual cup of coffee then turned into hours of strolling through the city getting to know each other.

  In those hours, Lucas had learned that, coincidentally, Natalia was the new records keeper for the covens. He had sensed magick in her aura so it was not a surprise to him to find that she was a witch. She told him that she was chosen as the records keeper because she too had the ability to see auras. This allowed her to see if someone was being truthful when giving her their account of an event that she was to document. Lucas figured that was the reason for their matching shimmers.

  He also confessed to her on that first night that he was a vampire. Although vampires and other supernatural beings were fully integrated into the human society, most humans still naturally reacted with fear, seeing the vampires as the ruthless predators fiction had long painted them to be. Natalia, instead of responding with the immediate rejection he expected, didn't even flinch. She just stopped walking, looked at him with a smirk, and said with a dramatic sense of faux shock, "Really? You mean those bright gold eyes of yours don't come from your mom's side of the family?” Her sarcasm caught Lucas off guard, and then she smiled and added, “So what? I'm a witch.” Lucas smiled at his own stupidity. It was common knowledge that vampires have gold colored eyes. He was foolish to assume that she wouldn’t have already known for that reason alone. In that moment, she had won over the last piece of his soul that held any reservation.

  That night, when he walked her to her door, he was a perfect gentleman. He asked if he could see her again, and with that sweet warm smile, she had said that she would like that. They had not spent a day apart since.

  Every day, they talked for hours on end about everything. They told each other of their childhoods and their families, where they grew up, their hopes and dreams, and they shared sweet kisses under the stars. One day, Lucas suddenly realized that he had fallen hopelessly in love with her. Natalia made him want to leave behind his scandalous ways without even a second thought. He knew that as long as she loved him, he would never want another for all of eternity. Natalia had accomplished something that no one else he had ever met could. She made him want to be a better man.

  The first time they made love was something far different than anything Lucas had ever experienced. After all his years and countless women, he thought he knew everything there was to know about sex. With Natalia, it was different. It was sensual in a way he never knew possible. It was filled with emotion and longing. They burned for each other. Every time they touched, it felt like they were incapable of getting close enough. Every time, he was left daydreaming about the next time he could be with her. Only her.

  Smiling at the memories, Lucas decided to choose a beautiful bouquet of stargazer lilies. Natalia would love the vivid red
and pink colors and their aroma was perfect. Fragrant but not too strong. Stargazer lilies were also her favorite flower out of all the different species he had brought her thus far, so they were a safe choice.

  Bringing her flowers had become a daily ritual for him and had quickly turned into a joke between them about her changing her career from records keeper for the covens to a florist. Sometimes he brought her one single flower. Sometimes he brought her a whole bouquet. Sometimes he brought her potted flowers that she could put out on her balcony that overlooked The Grand Canal. He liked the potted flowers the most because he knew that she would continue to enjoy them far longer than cut flowers in a vase. No amount of floral gifts could ever properly convey how much she meant to him but he felt that the little tradition he was creating was a good start.

  There was a bittersweet edge to this wonderful time in his life. He had a heavy regret. Lucas wished that his brother could be with him. Thanks to his own poor choices in the past, he and Michael had grown rather distant. Michael would never turn his back on Lucas, he knew that. However, the last time he had seen his brother, Michael had paid a handsome price to, once again, save Lucas from his own self-induced destruction. That was nearly two years ago and since then, the two of them hadn’t spoken. There was no great falling out between them. Lucas just couldn’t bear to see the disappointment in his brother's eyes if he were to do something that let Michael down again. He had the utmost respect for Michael and had always wanted to make him proud. Lucas settled on placing a call to his brother later that night to catch up. He wanted Michael to see how much he had changed and to meet the beautiful creature responsible for the transformation.

  He set off in the direction of Natalia’s home. The anticipation of seeing her immediately lifted his spirits and he was reminded of what a precious gift she was to his life.

  BURNING

  PART II: TAKEN

  Natalia

  Natalia was just about finished cataloging the books that were given to her by Cassandra. The vampire priestess of the Brujani coven had recovered the books from the estate of the previous records keeper. The woman had passed away suddenly from a bad case of pneumonia combined with old age. Her family had spent far too much time arguing amongst themselves about who should get what to realize that the woman’s home housed hundreds of ancient volumes that didn’t even belong to her. Cassandra had reached out to the family member she thought to be the most level-headed and in the end it had worked. The man’s persuasiveness with the rest of his family finally won out and he arranged to have all of the books delivered. It had taken Natalia the better part of a month to catalog them and arrange them all in her own library in some semblance of order. Luckily, the job of records keeper for all of the covens, both witch and vampire, paid incredibly well and Natalia was able to afford a home in Venice that had a library bigger than the home she grew up in with her family back in the United States.

  Her family had been none too happy when they were informed that she was taking up permanent residence in Italy but it made sense for Natalia. Almost all of the covens were based in Europe and the Brujani coven was based right in the heart of Venice. Since Cassandra was the person she would be working the closest with, the choice was obvious to her.

  Cassandra had invited Natalia to her own home to get acquainted with the city and locate suitable lodging. The day she arrived at Cassandra’s doorstep, the priestess was inexplicably excited to see her. She got her bags in the door only to be whisked away. Cassandra had informed her that she had done a little research and swore she had found the perfect place for a records keeper. She was right. She said it was a two bedroom apartment but the moment Natalia saw it, she felt that this was a rather inadequate description. There were high ceilings, beautiful dark cherry colored hardwood floors, and a library that would easily captivate any bibliophile. The front door opened into a spacious living room with an impossibly large fireplace. There were balcony doors that led out to a quaint little terrace that overlooked the Grand Canal. The two bedroom doors were on the left side of the living room and the big set of double doors leading into the gigantic library was on the right. Natalia was home. With the help of an advance on her generous salary, she purchased the apartment and within weeks, had it fully furnished and feeling like it was hers.

  Even with all that space, Natalia was overwhelmed the day the shipment of books was delivered. Standing amidst a sea of boxes, she had no clue where to start. Cassandra had offered to hire an assistant for her but Natalia had graciously declined. She felt that she needed to know each and every volume of the collection to be good at her job. That day, she decided to just pick a box, set up her laptop and get started. Nearly four weeks later, she was finally wrapping up.

  She set the very last volume into place, then stepped back to gaze at the shelves and admire her work. The giant mess of boxes that was left in her living room a month ago was now arranged in a beautiful collection. With satisfaction, she decided she was going to love her job. As she sat back down at her desk to check her email, she glanced at the clock on her computer and noticed how late it was. She was expecting Lucas in less than two hours and hadn’t even gotten ready, never mind started dinner. She slammed her laptop shut, cringing as she scolded herself for being too rough with it and started for her bedroom. She was halfway across the living room when a knock sounded at the door. Who could that be, she thought to herself, knowing that Lucas was never early or late for anything.

  As she walked to the door, a feeling of slight dizziness washed over her. She hesitated for a moment and then chalked it up to hunger. When she opened the door, she found a man standing there, facing away from her to look down the hallway. Just as soon as he started to turn his head towards her, his aura appeared-an inky-black nothingness that absorbed everything around it. The sight startled Natalia and her breath caught in her throat. She had to concentrate with all her effort to keep the fear that was raging through her body from showing in her face.

  “Can I-,” she stuttered, and then cleared her throat to try again. “Can I help you?”

  The man smiled politely. Even with that effort, there was a wrongness about him. His greasy dark hair dangled messily over his face. His dark eyes were too dark and his olive complexion had a gray, dingy look to it. He tipped his head in a small bow. “My name is Anthony. I was wondering if I might have a word with you.” His voice was raspy-unnaturally so-as though he was getting over a cold.

  ”Um, actually,” she responded, desperately trying to keep her voice from shaking, “now is not really a good time. I am just finishing up a project and I am expecting company.” It wasn’t a lie but even if it had been, at that point, she didn’t care. She needed to get him out. Now. “He should be here any moment now,” she added, hoping that the promise of witnesses would deter the man from lingering. He tilted his head and eyed her suspiciously. A flicker of something passed over his face and for just an instant, it changed. Only for an instant. The smile vanished from his face and he squinted in concentration. Shutting his eyes, he took a deep breath and as he released the cleansing air, he opened his eyes again. They were black. Solid, jet black, just like his aura.

  Natalia’s face was painted with disbelief. “You’re….you’re a-,” she stammered as she slowly stepped backwards.

  “I do not take kindly to being lied to,” he hissed, all false warmth warm and kindness gone from his voice. For every step back she took, he matched it by taking a step toward her. “I require something from you,” he explained. His face contorted and changed showing glimpses his true self, then shifting back to his human façade. “Information,” he continued, “and you’re going to give me what I desire or I will make you. Do you understand, child?”

  Natalia couldn’t speak. She was trying to think. Trying to calculate a way out of the situation. She could make a run for the balcony and jump, but she’d surely never survive the fall. Then it dawned on her. The library! The library had reinforced security doors. Encased in wood to match
the rest of the apartment, the core of the doors were the same steel used in safes with matching electronic deadbolts. If she could make a run for the library, get inside and shut the doors, she may have a chance of surviving this. She could call Cassandra and Lucas. Then she would just need to hold up in there long enough for the cavalry to arrive. Her mind was moving at a million miles an hour, weighing all possible scenarios. Fight wasn't an option. Flight was.

  With a rush of adrenaline, she turned and bolted for the library doors. She made it to them and slammed one behind her. She tried to slam the second shut but his massive hand was there in a flash, bringing the door to a complete halt with next to no effort. Just as easily, he shoved it back to a wide open position. The force threw Natalia backwards. She landed on her back with a painful thud and slid across the hardwood floor. Her motion came to an abrupt end when her head collided with the base of the built-in bookcase.

  Everything around her started to fade slightly and she knew that she was going to black out. The last thing she remembered was the possessed man stalking towards her with an evil grin spread across his face. He crouched down to a kneeling position and whispered, “This is going to hurt, child.” There was no warning in his words. It was a statement of fact.

  When she came to, Natalia was in a sitting position with her hands tied over her head. Her eyes fluttered and she found that only her left eye would open completely. Her right one was too swollen and sore. With great effort, she lifted her head. It took a moment for the fog to clear from her head enough to understand that he had her hands tied to the top of the high back visitor’s chair that sat in front of her desk. She tried to pull her hands loose of their restraints but she couldn't seem to will her arms to move the way she wanted them to. She shifted her hips to adjust her position and winced at the sharp ache between her legs. Horrified realization washed over her. He raped me. She glanced painfully down at the rest of her body. Her purple belly shirt had been removed, leaving only her bra covering her breasts. Her matching floral batik gypsy skirt was in shreds. As self-pitying tears started to creep down her face, she tried to remind herself that she should be thankful that she wasn't conscious for his violation of her body. I should be thankful that I am alive.