by Tanya Simon
Mystery’s Choice
Book One:
Vengeance Of The Fallen
by
Tanya R. Simon
This tale is dedicated to all the storytellers in my lineage. It is written for those who told stories to ease fears and oppression, to encourage and comfort, and to inspire the need to stay on the battlefield until the fight is won. In short it is dedicated to my wonderful, wacky, priceless family. I love you with all that I am or will ever be. God Bless each of you.
Simon, Tanya R.
Mystery’s Choice Book One: The Vengeance of the Fallen Series/Tanya R. Simon
ISBN13: 978-1508516972
ISBN10: 1508516979
Copyright for individual works:
Mystery’s Choice Copyright © 2014 by Tanya R. Simon
The Choice Copyright © 2007 by Tanya R. Simon
The Dance Copyright © 2006 by Tanya R. Simon; Victory To The Darkness Copyright © 1986 by Tanya R. Simon; Open Yourself And Ride Copyright © 2004 by Tanya R. Simon; There Is Comfort In Evil Copyright © 2003 by Tanya R. Simon; An Old, Old Friend Copyright © 1997 by Tanya R. Simon
Mystery’s Choice contains all original work from The Choice and additional materials. It is not intended to be a sequel; it is a reworking of the novel The Choice.
Cover Art by Ash Arceneaux.
Thank you so much for your wonderful art. I wish you much success in the future!
The Dance
Darkness settles over me,
clothing me, warming me.
Night sounds slowly rise in answer to the calling of my soul.
Trembling, I stretch and give myself to the dance.
Twisting on an ancient string,
at the whim of my unholy master. -
Tanya R. Simon
THE
PROPHECY
Victory to the Darkness
Blood gushed forth from the gargoyle’s mouth
And the sadist screamed.
The devil laughed a satisfied laugh, and the sky cracked
open, and evil crept in on clawed, little feet.
The avenging angel ran for shelter in the long-deserted
monastery, and rat’s ravaged her pure, white flesh.
The children gleamed as they played with fire, and
watched as Mommy and Daddy burned.
And God bowed his head and cried tears of defeat.
The battle was lost, and the demons were free. -
Tanya R. Simon
Prologue
Satan stretched and shook his head to clear it. A smile lit up his angelic face as he watched the succubus attempt to walk out of his chambers. She was relatively new to the position and had yet to accommodate herself to certain parts of his anatomy. He laughed, she would eventually stretch out in the areas he used or she would end up being split apart and would feed the lesser demons. He used his true face, one of an archangel when dealing with the new among his minions, they found it less troubling than the one he wore when dealing with his creations. He adopted a face more like theirs, so that they would believe he was truly their leader and not what he appeared to be, but would never be again.
He rose from the rocks he reclined on and went to sit upon his throne. Satan’s voice rumbled through the chamber as he ordered the guards to bring in the human who had asked for an audience with him.
The guards brought him and dumped him on the floor, which immediately burned what skin he had left and he sprung to his feet. The movement, accidentally had him at eye level with Satan, and the guards beat him to the floor again. This time when he sprung up, he managed to keep his head bowed. Satan smiled at the whole scene.
“Yes, human? Why am I forced to endure your presence?” Satan lazily swung one of his muscular legs over the side of his throne.
“Word of your Ascension reaches even the dungeon rooms, My Sovereign. I am pleased for you.” His voice shook as he spoke. “I know that in your greatness, you know where your granddaughter, Princess Melusine is, however you do not tell your son as a test of his loyalty to you, My Sovereign.”
“Get on with it, human! Tell me what you want or I will have you fed to the hounds!” The two hounds by his side lifted their heads at those words and bared razor sharp teeth at the human.
“My Sovereign, if it would please you, you could place me in your granddaughter’s life. I could get her to love me and you would have someone in place making sure that she did not remember who she is. Someone who would tell her that her memories are just dreams. Someone who keeps her focused on the mundane and human. That way, your son, Prince Cain, could bring about your ascension without you having to worry that the prophecy will come to pass.”
“Why do you think my granddaughter would want you, a mere human?”
“My Sovereign, I am here because in my life I was a user of woman. I would milk their bank accounts dry, use them up, and then leave them with their throats slashed. I did this for twenty-five years before I was captured and put to death. If I were given my skin back, made to look like myself again, I could keep her occupied.”
Satan rose from his throne and walked to the trembling human, he briefly touched the skinless forehead and closed his startlingly, blue eyes while the human’s life played out behind his eyelids. He looked at him. Then considered the human’s plan.
“You will keep her occupied, happy, even give her the child she desperately wants and out of my hair until after the ascension. If you fail me, you will find yourself back in one of the rooms of the lower levels for all eternity. There will be no possibility of earning your way to the dungeons.” He pulled back the head by the flaps of skin that hung loosely to it. “Am I understood?”
“Yes, My Sovereign.”
“She must never suspect you are not completely besotted with her. I want her to be happily distracted.” With those words he waved his hand and the pitiful, almost skinless human, became golden and ruggedly handsome. His body turned tall and lithe, with lean muscles. His manhood filled with flesh again and swelled in size. His features were boyishly handsome again, his cheekbones high, his chin well defined, if not chiseled, dimples appeared on each side of his full mouth, and his pewter gray eyes sparkled with mischief and good health. “One more thing, human.” Satan almost laughed at the fear that filled the newly restored eyes.
“Yes, My Sovereign?”
“You will not remember being here until such time as you are here again. In doing this, our enemies will not be able to pluck from your mind where your true allegiance lies. You will know only that she is your everything and you must acquire her and keep her happy. You will be ambitious enough to want a career as a doctor; you will have physical comfort and a measure of wealth. Everything needed to keep my granddaughter’s interest. You will start your new life just as you enter your senior year as an undergraduate at the university she is currently attending.” Satan went back to sit upon his throne.
Your parents and brother will remember you as having always been a part of them. They will love you; yours will have been a happy home, with an adoring older brother, who is such a good person, he became a priest.” Satan raised his hand when the human began to speak. “The human you will believe to be your brother will be a problem for us during the ascension. When the time comes, you will only know that he is imperative to keeping my granddaughter safe and will stop at nothing to bring him to your side. Which will be just where I want him. I tell you this, because he will be deep within your subconscious mind now, deep enough that it is not truly memory and therefore, undetectable by others. But not so deep that you get lost in my granddaughter’s eyes and forget your purpose.” Satan waved his
hand again. “Take him away.”
Satan sighed. It would work for a while, but eventually the human would fail, his granddaughter was far too spirited to be content with the shallow human for long. However, the warrior who would be the human’s brother would distract her when his pawn no longer did.
1
Raevanne put her head in her husband, Cain’s lap and watched the fireplace burn. Cain ran his fingers through her long red hair. She rubbed her cheek on his jeans and continued to watch the flames. Dante her husband’s huge hell hound sighed and with a grumble, he placed his paw on her leg and nudged her with his nose, she absent-mindedly stroked his head.
“What are you thinking about so hard?” Cain pushed her hair back so he could see her face.
“I was wondering what Melusine is doing right this moment. Was she thinking of me? Does someone love her, the way you love me?” Cain could hear the longing in her voice.
“I wish I knew. For if I knew even that much, I could bring her home to us.” Raevanne sat up and seeing the misery in her husband’s midnight blue eyes, she stroked his cheek. He kissed her fingers and continued, “We are running out of time. Father wants us to start preparing the way for the Ascension, if our daughter is not home, Father will order her death, just in case the prophecy might come to pass.” Cain sighed. “I know Father must know where she is, no protection or concealment spell could keep her from him. I believes he does not tell me, to test my loyalties, to see if I will kill this daughter if ordered, as I have killed others in the past.” He took Raevanne’s worried face in his hands. “They were rebellious and went against Father or the Roodmasi. One tried to overthrow her own mother in her thirst for power. However, even though I love Melusine, with all that I am, if he orders her death I will comply. Though this time it may destroy me.” He put his forehead to hers.
Raevanne’s green eyes grew in alarm. “He will wait until the Ascension is at hand, won’t he? He will give us time to find her and get her home, before he orders her destruction.”
Cain stroked her cheek to soothe her. “Yes, my love. He will give us until the day before. And she will be home to us by then. Have faith.” Raevanne laid her head back in his lap. Dante nudged his head under her hand to offer his comfort, and she stroked it.
“Raevanne, Father has told me of the work ahead.” He took a deep breath. “It will be a dangerous time for our people.”
“Why?” Raevanne nuzzled in closer to Cain.
“In the first year, Father will require five sacrificial gifts to be sent to him. Each must go willingly, and each gift’s body must be found. In the second year, he will require the Roodmas gifts be left to be found.”
“We cannot. The trail might lead the police back to us!” Raevanne sat up and gawked at Cain. “We have always operated in secrecy, unless we were punishing and we have always been careful we could not be tracked. Fifteen bodies, will undoubtedly lead the cops right to our people!”
“ It is the Master’s will. The humans will know Satan’s time is at hand. In the third year, the Roodmasi will take over the governments of the world, creating chaos and destruction. His armies will march the streets executing the false god’s followers. On Samhain of the third year, Father’s troops will war with the angels and when the angels lose, Father will ascend to the Heavenly Throne and the Roodmasi will inherit the Earth.” Cain’s eyes glowed as he thought of the glorious future.
“It makes me nervous to expose our people, when we have spent millennia keeping ourselves in the shadows.” Raevanne took her husband’s angelic face in her long slender hands.
“However, if it is the Master’s will, I will follow his wishes. When do we begin?” Raevanne squeezed her husband’s hands.
“I have selected the first gift. When she is prepared we will send her to Father.” Cain gathered her up and kissed her deeply.
Raevanne moaned and kissed him back. She let her hands roam over his tightly muscled torso. She unfastened his pants and slid her hand in so she could touch him. She swallowed his moan and slowly licked her way up his jaw to nibble on his earlobe. Cain groaned as she moved her tongue down his neck and upper chest, she stopped and flicked her tongue over his nipples. His head fell back as her tongue trailed down his abdomen. He reached for her hand and she pushed his hands away and pulled down his pants, freeing him. She flicked her tongue across the tip of his shaft, and she lightly sucked at his scrotum. Raevanne rolled her eyes up and when Cain’s eyes met hers she swallowed him whole. His eyes lost focus as the candles lighting the room winked out.
The next morning, Raevanne slipped out of bed and went to shower. She stepped out and dried herself off while singing in a rich contralto voice about her funny valentine. She smoothed spicy scented crème over her alabaster skin and covered herself in a green hooded cloak, which matched her eyes. She smiled at her husband’s still sleeping form and crept from her chamber. Raevanne padded barefoot down the curved rock corridor and down the steps made from stone hundreds of years before she was born.
She entered a huge cavern room filled with hundreds of cloaked people, each bowed as she passed. She stood on the raised stone dais in the middle of the room and the crowd became silent. Raevanne raised her hands palms up and lowered her head.
“Master, we your children praise you.” The nine black candles on the altar behind her lit.
“Hosanna Satanas!” the crowd yelled in praise.
“To Lucifer, the light-bringer, ruler of the Northern Kingdom we call and ask you aid us in our work for the Master this day.” The three purple candles on the Northern end of the altar flared to life.
“Hosanna, Satanas!” Her people yelled.
Raevanne turned to her right, her hands still raised and cupped to receive. “To Aguares, Breath of Death, ruler of the Eastern Kingdom, we call and ask you aid us in our work for the Master this day.” The three white candles on the eastern side of the altar flared to life.
“Hosanna, Satanas!” Her people yelled.
Raevanne turned to her right again, hands raised. “To Belial, Lord of Lust, ruler of the Southern kingdom, we call and ask you aid us in our work for the Master this day.” The three red candles on the southern side of the altar flared to life.
“Hosanna, Satanas!”
Raevanne turned to her right, her arms still raised her eyes closed, her head bowed. “To Leviathan, Great Serpent of the Seas, ruler of the western kingdom, we call and ask you aid us in our work for the Master this day.” The three blue candles on the western side of the altar flared to life.
“Hosanna, Satanas!”
Raevanne lowered her hands and knelt. Everyone in the room knelt and lowered their heads.
“Father, Master Satan, we your children will now spend a quiet moment in prayer with you, so you may know the desires of our hearts.” The nine black candles in the center of the altar flared.
The hundreds of candles used to light the chamber glittered in the rainbow of hair colors, flickering the kneeling forms in shadows on the rough cavern walls. After several minutes, Raevanne raised her head and said, “Nema.”
“Nema.” Her people repeated.
They all stood.
“If you have heard and will aid us, please, Grand Dukes take the flames of our offering.”
One by one the purple, white, red, and blue candles popped out.
“If we, your children, have pleased you Master, please take the flames of our offering.”
The nine black candles popped out.
“Hosanna, Satanas!” They said in unison.
“You are dismissed my people. Go about the Master’s work.” Raevanne smiled.
“Yes, my Shivana.” Her people answered as they scurried about to do their duties. They each had tasks to perform to make the aerie function, to clean, to cook, to do dark work, to make the world a better place for the Master to ascend to.
Raevanne stepped down from the dais and going up another set of stairs, she went to her office and set about her day as the lead
er of her people.
A few hours later, there was a knock on the ancient wooden door of her office chamber.
“Come in.” Raevanne said distractedly as she studied the stock report for this month.
A huge man, with bulging muscles and a shiny baldhead, ducked under the doorframe and bowed at the desk.
“Rise, Malcolm. What is it?”
“My Shivana, the first sacrificial gift is here. Cain brought her to my dungeon a few moments ago.”
Raevanne smiled. “Move her to a cell and arrange for her to sleep. I will see to her later.”
“Yes, my Shivana.” He bowed and left the room.
Raevanne wondered if the girl was a child of the false god. She hoped so, they were so much fun to break.
Chloe Welchel slowly opened her eyes, hoping her head wouldn’t explode once they were open. She let out a low moan as the pain in her head echoed and spread down her neck and into her back and shoulders. Chloe fought back nausea from the pain and slowly turned her head to see where she was. She found a rock room with a wooden door; moisture glistened on the walls of the room in the candlelight. The only other furniture in the room was a chair at the foot of the bed. Taking a deep breath, Chloe tried to sit up and found her wrists were chained to the bedpost.
