Myths & Magic: A Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection

by Kerry Adrienne

  After a very long minute, he finally noticed Jack was hemming and hawing, trying to get their attention.

  “What about this?” Jack asked.

  Reluctantly, Yogi lifted his head to see Jack holding up a thumb drive. Yogi held up a hand, catching the drive when Jack tossed it.

  “Douglas will wire payment, thanks. Go away now,” he said, lifting his dazed mate in a fireman’s hold that should be very familiar to her.

  Yogi headed for the boarding house door. Luckily, he still had the key.

  Jack laughed until he realized Yogi was seriously leaving him with the chimp. “Hey, wait. I can’t take this thing! There’s not even a cage!”

  Denise started calling out instructions and advice from over his shoulder, but Yogi was not about to stop and take the thing back.

  “Figure it out,” he called as he opened the door, slamming it behind them.

  “Yogi, he can’t handle that animal,” she protested as he set her down in the first bedroom suite he found.

  “Don’t worry. Jack’s resourceful. Plus, he knows I’ll kill him if something happens to it.”

  She looked at him doubtfully, but he managed to divert her attention by taking off his shirt. Yogi continued to strip. By the time he was done, he was confident she didn’t remember the monkey at all.

  Chapter 23

  Jack slid the second USB drive into his waistband and shook his head at the closed door of the boarding house. Yogi had been a little too trusting, not checking to see if he’d kept a duplicate copy of the Reliance data.

  As if I would take that long to copy and corrupt such a basic computer system.

  Shoving down the twinge of guilt, he stared at the monkey in his hands. “You’re headed for the San Diego Zoo, bucko,” he told the chimp.

  He lived in a suburb just minutes away from it. Perhaps if he drove fast enough, he could break in that very night and leave the animal somewhere safe. His course of action decided, Jack hustled to his van.

  He carried out his break-in and deposit a mere hour after hitting town. Chimp-free he drove home. He arrived at his Spanish-style house just before Douglas’ payment hit his Cayman account.

  Jack loaded the drive onto his desktop computer without further delay.

  He knew it was wrong. Despite his closed-lip tendencies, Douglas’ son Connell was one of his best friends. Yogi, too, for that matter. Connell had saved Jack’s life on the battlefield on numerous occasions, and he had returned the favor once. The trust and faith of the Maitland family was something he valued. Douglas had tapped him for this job based on that confidence.

  But now he was knowingly violating their trust. His curiosity about the Maitlands and their odd extended family had reached a tipping point. If what was on this thumb drive shed any light on the questions burning in the back of his brain, then he was going to look—just once—and then he’d destroy the data on the drive forever.

  A few hours later, he was still sitting in front of his computer. Jack hadn’t expected to be shaken by what he’d seen, but his hands were trembling a bit as he picked up his coffee cup. He put it down when he realized there was nothing in it.

  Gotta change that now. He went to his kitchen for the seldom-used bottle of vodka he kept in the freezer. Pouring himself a double, he went back to his computer and replayed the way those scientists had poked and prodded the little wolf cub.

  Mouth tight, Jack fast forwarded and again watched what had happened when the scientists had gone home and turned off the lights, leaving the cub alone in the dark.

  After tossing back the vodka, Jack fingered the rim of the empty glass and debated getting another.

  Okay, this explains a lot. For years, Connell and his ‘cousins’ had fascinated him with their quick reflexes and stunning physicality, on and off the battlefield.

  He should be thinking about them, and what this revelation meant. But Jack’s racing mind determinedly focused on one thing—probably the last person he should be thinking about.

  Mara.

  Epilogue

  Six months later.

  Yogi cracked an eyelid. Oliver was staring at him with a smug expression on his little face.

  Uh-oh. He knew that look. “You better not have done what I think you did,” he said, his voice like sandpaper.

  The kid stuck his tongue out, not to mock Yogi, but to lick the traces of blood from the corner of his tiny mouth.

  Okay, he definitely had.

  Oliver was almost two and half now. Although he had accepted his cousin as a caretaker, he missed Denise whenever they were gone.

  The little cub had been so distraught that Jessup took the unprecedented step of asking Denise for help, which she had been eager to supply.

  “You can’t fight such strong imprinting,” Jessup had said in an aside to him, shrugging off the momentous occasion. As far as Yogi knew, it was the first and last time an Avery had ever asked an outsider for help with anything.

  At first, Denise was just supposed to visit Lunar Springs on occasion. But once Yogi and Denise were officially mated, they started spending more and more time away from the pack on research and rescue missions. Out of necessity, Oliver had started to visit them. Now he came to sleep over whenever Yogi and Denise weren’t away.

  There was plenty of room since they had bought the boarding house and made it their home.

  When Yogi had first agreed to overnight stays for Oliver, he hadn’t realized he was signing up for weeks at a time. It was okay, though. The little punk had finally accepted that the two of them had to share Denise. The cub had even stopped biting him. Now they were friends…of a sort.

  It was occasionally weird to be a surrogate father, but Yogi was a practical man. He needed the practice for when they had their own cub. Glancing at his sleeping mate, he smiled.

  Speaking of which…

  Oliver tugged on his arm and Yogi got to his feet, hustling the boy out of the room before he woke Denise. He settled him in the living room with a fistful of dry cereal and went out to the garage to count white rabbits. One was gone.

  Not again.

  He and Denise had liberated some dogs from a research facility in Kentucky a few days ago. The place’s animal abuse records had been wiped by the authorities, giving the staff free rein to continue their abhorrent practices.

  They had only planned to take the dogs, but when Denise had seen the rabbits, he’d sighed, knowing he was going to end up having to make more room in the van.

  And now, thanks to Oliver, the baker’s dozen of fuzzy bunnies they’d brought back was one short…

  At least this time, the kid had tucked the remains out of sight. Knowing cubs the way he did, Yogi figured he’d probably find the bones under the house. At least, that was where he had found them the last time.

  On the bright side, there was no trail of blood leading to the body. Some of my lessons must be sinking in.

  Unfortunately, Denise’s weren’t. She had tearfully lectured Oliver on the importance of not eating the rescue animals. However, there was only so much tofu and soy crap a wolf cub could eat. Eventually, instinct won out.

  Of course, there had only been three rabbits last time. Maybe Denise wouldn’t notice one was missing if Yogi released them quickly enough. In the meantime, he would keep her busy. Yogi had become more than adept at distracting his mate.

  When his friends teased him for rescuing the animals they would normally eat, Yogi shrugged their jeers off. It made Denise happy. That was all that mattered.

  He went into the kitchen and started on some pancakes. By the time Denise woke, Oliver had torn through an entire stack and was working on round two.

  “Did you save any for me?”

  He smiled at his mate as she came out of the bedroom. Meeting her halfway, he gave her a good morning kiss. “Of course, but I had to hide them from Oliver. Your pancakes are in the oven.”

  “Mmm, pancakes…I’m just going to check on the rabbits first.”

  Shooting Ol
iver a black look behind Denise’s back, Yogi followed her out to the garage.

  “Babe, don’t you want to eat now before your food gets cold?”

  “Uh, yeah…wait, weren’t there thirteen rabbits?”

  Yogi feigned confusion. “Naw, I don’t think so.”

  “But…”

  “Come back to the kitchen,” he said, holding out his hand. “We’ve been so busy ever since we expanded to two teams. You should sit, put your feet up. I got that Canadian maple syrup you like…”

  Hunger won over curiosity. “That does sound good. I could eat a horse,” she said, walking in and settling at the kitchen table. She sniffed appreciatively. “I don’t know what’s with my appetite lately. I practically ate my weight in waffles yesterday.”

  Yogi added an extra pancake to the pile as she began to eat. A growing Were cub needed a lot of calories.

  She paused with the fork halfway to her mouth. “Are you sure there weren’t thirteen rabbits?”

  “Pretty sure.”

  Denise narrowed her eyes. She turned to their guest. “Oliver, did you go see the bunnies today?”

  Oliver beamed at her, but said nothing.

  “Babe,” Yogi prodded, waving the syrup bottle at her.

  Denise ignored him. “Oliver, sweetie,” she began, standing up.

  “You’re pregnant,” Yogi blurted.

  Denise stared at him, eyes wide. After a minute, she blinked. “Oliver ate the rabbit, didn’t he?”

  Damn. “Yes. Yes, he did.”

  She put her hands on her stomach. “I’m really pregnant?”

  It was too early to tell with a human test, but a Were’s nose was infallible when it came to this sort of thing. “Yes, sweetheart, you are.”

  Denise nodded as if that made sense, but then she wrinkled her nose. “I’m going to want steak now, aren’t I?”

  “Don’t worry. I stocked up last night. I got some really choice ribeye and four filet mignons just for you.”

  She stayed still and quiet for a little too long. “Can I have one now?”

  He released a pent-up breath he hadn’t been aware of holding. This was going way better than he’d thought it would. “Steak and pancakes, coming up.”

  Denise smiled and took a shaky breath. She held out her arms and Oliver scooted into the next chair, cuddling into her.

  Yogi took the steak out of the fridge, sneaking a peek at the picture the pair made. His little family, and it was already growing. A small, insecure voice told him he didn’t deserve to be this happy, but he wasn’t stupid enough to reject the gifts he’d been given. Quite unexpectedly, he’d found not just a purpose in life, but love as well.

  “Yogi?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Can you make that steak rare?”

  He grinned. “Coming right up.”

  The End

  Explore more with Fire: book one of the Elementals Series.

  www.elementalauthor.com

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  About the Author

  USA Today bestselling author L.B. Gilbert spent years getting degrees from the most prestigious universities in America, including a PhD that she is not using at all. She moved to France for work and found love. She’s married now and living in Toulouse with one adorable half-French baby.

  She has always enjoyed reading books as far from her reality as possible but eventually the voices in her head told her to write her own. And so far, the voices are enjoying them.

  If you like a little more steam with your Fire, check out the author’s Lucy Leroux titles

  * * *

  Read More from L.B. Gilbert’s steamy alter ego Lucy Leroux

  www.authorlucyleroux.com

  Carnival Tricks

  Double Helix Case Files

  Jade Kerrion

  Copyright © 2015 by Jade Kerrion

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

  * * *

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Carnival Tricks

  Double Helix Case Files

  1st Place, Royal Palm Literary Award 2015

  In a world transformed by the Genetic Revolution, Kyle Norwood is an honest-to-God human and proud of it. His deadly skills come from hard work and not genetic sleight of hand. An easy mission to protect two Proficere Labs scientists turns into a shoot-out that leaves a scientist and a federal agent dead. Worse, the research data the scientists were carrying disappears.

  In a world where human derivatives are hated and feared, Sofia Rios is almost human. When a fight during her waitressing shift turns fatal, a dying scientist launches her into the shady world of scientific espionage. The unwilling trustee of research that people would kill to obtain, Sofia turns to the man who steps out of the shadows to protect her, even though he appears as dangerous and disreputable as the people who hunt her.

  Together, Sofia and Kyle must unravel the truth behind the illicit information she carries before one or both of them are killed. Their mutual attraction sparkles, but the spark could just as easily become an explosion if Kyle ever finds out that Sofia is a despised telekinetic.

  * * *

  This is a standalone futuristic thriller set in the award-winning world of the Double Helix.

  A Note From Zara Itani

  Circumstances have conspired to make me seem responsible for every societal calamity since the second Genetic Revolution, which, I confess, I might have inadvertently triggered, but in spite of what you may believe, and most certainly contrary to what Danyael Sabre believes, I do not wake up every morning and stare at my to-do list with wicked anticipation, wondering how exactly to check off item one on the list, “Make trouble,” and item two on the list, “Drag everyone else around me into trouble.”

  Nevertheless, increased scrutiny of my activities and those of Three Fates Agency demands greater transparency. Hence, I’ve decided to release these case files, some of which predate my relationship with Danyael. If nothing else, it should prove that the many talented mercenaries who work for me are at least as adept at creating trouble.

  * * *

  Zara Itani

  Owner

  Three Fates Agency

  Chapter 1

  The wooden, narrow-eyed door guardian wore a permanent open-mouthed scowl hovering on the verge of a war cry. A garish array of feathers spread over the headpiece perched on his furrowed brow.

  Fortunately, no one who stared up at his head, mounted over the door, was terrified of him.

  Under the frightful Zulu mask, a bored bouncer routinely checked IDs and waved customers into Zanzi-Bar.

  The wine bar and nightclub in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, prided itself on its selection of South African wines, its mismatched name notwithstanding. In the dark interior of the bar, spotlights pulsed, bathing the wooden dance floor in pools of white and red. A Latin tune thumped through the loudspeakers; the compulsive rhythm set hips rocking to the beat. Leggy waitresses meandered around clusters of couches covered with zebra-skin and leopard-skin patterns.

  One of the waitresses walked to the bar, which displayed an outstanding array of wines and spirits. Sofia Rios tucked a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear, leaned against the wood façade of the bar, and flashed the bartender, Stefan Agnor, her sweetest smile. “I need a Jameson on the rocks, an Eikendal merlot, a brandy, and a Sprite on the house.”

  He chuckled as he set a wineglass filled with a pale pink wine on a tray marked with Chelsea’s name. “That smile’s really
cute, but it isn’t going to bump you to the head of the line, munchkin.”

  Sofia rolled her eyes. “For the record, I’ll have you know that I’m wearing four-inch heels, which elevates me two inches above munchkin status.” She was not going to admit to the blisters on her feet.

  “So you’re what, five-foot-four now? Color me impressed.” Stefan began work on another order. His blond hair, slightly longer than was fashionable, lent new meaning to the words “artistic disarray.” He grinned at her. “How are you doing tonight?”

  Sofia’s rosebud mouth twisted into a wry smile. “Had a microbiology exam this morning.”

  “You aced it, right?” He turned his back on her and reached for a bottle of Absolut.

  Her eyes narrowed as she focused on the ice chips beside the sink. The transparent shards quivered and then leapt, as if flicked by an invisible finger, into the sink. She shrugged. “Won’t find out for another week, but I hope so because I hauled ass on that one.”

  “And such a cute ass it is too.” Stefan turned around and leered at her. “When do you get to anatomy? I can help you with the practical exam.”

  “I bet you can. Tell you what; you rush my order and I’ll bump you to the front of the line on my practical.”

  “Ahead of the video game-playing geek who lives on your right and the overweight accountant who lives on your left?” Stefan snorted. “Oh, can you tell that I’m really worried about the competition?” He set a glass of Sprite down on her tray.