Fire and Fantasy: a Limited Edition Collection of Epic and Urban Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  Gabe extinguished all of her doubts by placing his hand atop hers and pulling her in for a kiss. After a heartbeat, he pulled back and smiled. “You surprised everyone. Me most of all.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t choose you,” she said lowering her eyes. “But, I couldn’t let Zoey die. If circumstances had been different...”

  He raised her chin. “I understand,” he said. Then laughing added, “Just tell me one thing. Is life with you always going to be this crazy?”

  “Well, I can promise you it’ll never be boring,” she said smiling.

  “I hate to ruin the moment,” Zoey said, her voice still hoarse. “But, can someone please tell me what the hell just happened?”

  Epilogue

  In the month since the bonding, Cassie still hadn’t adjusted to her new abilities. Purple energy flowed through her in tangible waves as naturally as her blood and breath, yet it felt foreign. Strangeness aside, being a Key had its perks. Her new strength and speed had her giddy during the training sessions with Gabe. And her increased appetites, emphasis on the S, drove her crazy with lust every time he entered the room. If he were mortal, she probably would have killed him by now.

  As it stood, Gabe seemed to be enjoying her ramped up libido. The first few days after her change had been one glorious marathon that brought a blush to her cheeks at the memory. She glanced over at where Gabe stretched out on her--scratch that--their new sofa. One arm draped over the back of the couch as he rested his head on his bare chest. His long legs covered in black sweats took up the rest of the cushions. She licked her lips at the same instant he opened his eyes.

  “Now, why would you be all the way over there?” Gabe grinned as he moved to make enough room for them both to fit.

  “Good question,” she said and hopped off the high stool. As she ran from the kitchen and across the living room, she knocked over several half opened boxes, spilling the contents across the floor. Their shared apartment in Manhattan was a recent purchase from Gabe’s inheritance of Albert’s former estate. Cassie tried not to think about the old fallen angel’s death as she tripped over the knickknacks now littering the floor. A stinging on the sole of her foot brought her attention back to the present.

  “You all right, sweetheart?” Gabe knelt beside her, examining her foot.

  “I might be a Key, but I’m still a klutz,” she said with a halfhearted laugh.

  “Sit down. Let me get a bandage for that cut.” He helped her to the couch and kissed her once before heading to the bathroom. “Be back in a minute.”

  Cassie bent over the mess below and picked a small piece of glass from her heel. She’d managed to break one of her favorite frames into tiny shards. Wiping the broken pieces aside, she plucked the photo from the wreck. In it, she stood shoulder to shoulder with Zoey, arms wrapped around each other in a hug, in front of the Empire State Building. Zoey had planned the outing as a gift for Cassie’s twenty-fifth birthday three years ago. They’d spent the day shopping in Soho, eating lunch in Little Italy, catching a play, and then taking the elevator all the way up to the top of New York’s famous landmark. The memory came through as if it were yesterday.

  “You wanted stars,” Zoey said. “Well, we have to get above the smog. So, up we go.”

  Cassie had complained she missed the night sky; the city lights always blocked out most of the stars. So, Zoey surprised her with the solitary place in the city you might catch a glimpse of the true sky above Manhattan. It was one of the happiest birthdays she ever had.

  “Gabe?” The unanswered questions swirled in her mind and sent her nerves racing. “Do you think I should try Zoey again? I mean I know she said she needed time and all. But, it has been a couple of weeks. And...”

  Gabe dropped the bandage on the floor and placed a kiss on her cheek, erasing the worry lines on her forehead for a heartbeat. Her insides tightened. She arched her back and wound her hands through his hair pulling him closer. When she began to wrap her legs around his waist, he pulled back.

  “Whoa, wait a sec. Let’s take care of that foot first.” He disentangled her limbs, caressing her calf muscle in the process and working his way down to her ankle. He set her foot on his thigh and retrieved the bandage. As he went to clean the cut, he said, “Already healing, my Key.” His smile lit up the room. “Now, back to your rant about Zoey.”

  “I wasn’t ranting,” she cried but then caught herself.

  He cleared his throat. “As I was saying. You need to give her time to adjust. She’ll come to you when she’s ready. She’s also going through changes right now. Being bonded to someone brings change.”

  “I know. But she shouldn’t be alone. What if...” The quiver in her tone gave away her fears.

  “When she’s ready, Cassie.” He climbed next to her on the couch and put a consoling arm around her. “You kept the world in balance. No demons, no angels, not even fallen angels can use your abilities unless you will it.” When she tried to interrupt, he placed a long index finger to her lips. “You saved your best friend from dying and in the process shared a great gift with her.”

  “She didn’t ask for it.” Cassie blurted out against his finger.

  He sighed. “No, but sometimes we get things we didn’t ask for and don’t necessarily want. She will learn how to handle it.”

  “I don’t even know how it affected her. She won’t return my calls.”

  “If I remember correctly, you weren’t embracing the truth at first either.” He laughed heartily. “In fact, I believe you threatened me with a knife when I told you what you were.”

  “That was different.” She took a deep breath and tried to find the words to explain. “This bonding, somehow...I can feel her.” She shook her head. “Well, at least some of the time. I know she’s confused and there’s something else. Like’s she’s afraid of something, something she thinks is coming.” Her sigh came from deep within. “I don’t know. I just want to help her. I want her to know I’m here. She’s not alone.”

  “No, she’s not. And neither are you.” Gabe pulled her onto his lap. “You have me now, and whatever happens, whatever comes, we’ll face it together.”

  Cassie’s heart beat a little faster as she stared into his eyes. A rich golden hue shone out from them, his gaze revealing his beautifully human emotions.

  “I love you.” She pressed her lips to the center of his chest, just above his heart.

  “I know.” He ran his hands down her back in a soothing caress. “And I love you with all that I am. I won’t leave you. This is my home, our home.”

  “Home,” she echoed. As she rested her head against the solid wall of his chest, she found true contentment for the first time in many years.

  THE END

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  About the Authors

  Yelena Casale is an award-winning author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, she moved to New York at thirteen. Being very curious, she has been a devoted reader and writer since childhood. As a 2nd degree black belt and instructor in Shotokan karate, an avid traveler, and history and art enthusiast, she weaves universal themes with martial arts philosophies into her stories. She lives with her amazing, supportive husband and the best Siamese cats. In her spare time, she reads, paints, watches cool shows on TV and tries to get more sleep.

  * * *

  Tina Moss is an award-winning author of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, romantic suspense, and New Adult novels. She lives in NYC with a supportive husband and two alpha corgis, though all the males hog the bed and refuse to share the covers. When not writing, she enjoys reading, watching cheesy horror flicks, traveling, and karate. As a 5'1" Shotokan black belt, she firmly believes that fierce things come in small packages.

  * * *

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  A Fistful of Magic

  Cassandra Sky West

  A Fistful of Magic © 2017 Cassandra Sky West

  * * *

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  A Fistful of Magic

  Immortal elves, dragons, gods, and spirits, oh my!

  Caitlin Vnois is the world’s most recognizable elf. Heir to the bloodlines, princess of the royal Atlantean family, supermodel, shaman, the list goes on. Thomas Washington doesn’t know any of this, all he knows is she’s most beautiful woman he’s ever met, and she saved him from drowning when a freak tsunami struck the island of Puerto Rico.

  The only problem is, he has no memory of arriving on the island. When the heir to the throne of Atlantis is kidnapped, Caitlin turns to Wash to help find her sister, the crown princess of Atlantis.

  With danger at every turn, Wash and Caitlin are thrown into a mystery that might take everything they both have to solve. The question is, will it be enough?

  One

  Caitlin let out a contented sigh as the Puerto Rican sun woke her slowly, helped along by the soft crash of surf against the shore.

  She yawned and rolled over, curling her toes into the warm sand, and retrieved her sunglasses from atop a nearby cooler. A smooth, sandy beach spread out around her.

  A few other sunbathers were laid out along the stretch beneath colorful umbrellas, and a handful of kids played along the water’s edge, squealing and pulling ribbons of seaweed out of the foamy surf.

  Not too crowded, not too loud… just perfect.

  Running a hand through her hair, she dug her sunblock out of the sand. She’d just flipped open the cap when a cool breeze swept over the beach, ruffling her hair and sending goosebumps prickling across her skin.

  Caitlin froze, catching a vague, tingly sense of power in the errant wind.

  That was strange. The wind here shouldn’t have any power. Nothing else on the beach seemed out of place, though. A couple walked down the beach, hand-in-hand. A dog barked, chasing a Frisbee.

  A wind spirit, maybe, trying to show off for her. Not unheard of, just unusual.

  More alert now, she sighed. There was no going back to her nap. She squirted a glob of white sunscreen into her hand and flinched a little as she spread it on. The stuff always felt ice cold, no matter how long she left the tube out in the sun.

  Caitlin wasn’t new to island life, carefully applying the sunscreen to the part in her hair, the nape of her neck, and the tips of her elven ears. People always forgot the ears.

  A sudden wind roared by, scattering blankets and sending people scrambling for their umbrellas. Her long hair whipped across her face, sticking to the newly-applied sunscreen.

  Caitlin rose to her feet, stepping on the corner of her beach towel to keep it from blowing away.

  A rogue spirit was one thing, but this was something else entirely. It felt… wrong.

  Caitlin looked out over the ocean, and her breath caught in her throat. The waterline shrank back sharply, as though the ocean was being sucked away from the shore. The violence of it knocked the wading children off their feet.

  “What’s going on?” A woman grabbed her husband’s arm, her face a mix of alarm and confusion. These were tourists. Most of them probably had no idea what was happening.

  But Caitlin knew.

  Out in the distance, an immense wall of water was forming, folding in on itself to form a tidal wave.

  Run, her instincts screamed at her. One of the kids started crying, calling for his mom as he stood frozen on the wet sand.

  There was nowhere for her to go. Not for her, not for them.

  The power of the tsunami crackled in the air, and she could feel the anger of the water spirits scattering the frightened wind before it.

  A woman ran toward the water, scooping up a little girl in a pink unicorn swimsuit.

  Caitlin fell to her knees. Everyone on this beach was going to die, even if they started running now. The spirits here didn’t know her. If only they would listen…

  She spread her hands out on the sand. “Please,” she whispered, feeling the fear of the spirits thrumming through the sand. “Help me. I know you don’t know me…”

  We cannot fight the water. We will wash away and be scattered.

  “Help me,” she begged again. “I will hold you together.”

  You do not have such power.

  But she did.

  Caitlin grasped the silver astéri dangling from her neck and opened herself to the power within it. A tingling rush flowed into and through her, sinking into the sand.

  The spirits didn’t answer in words. They tugged at her magic, pulling on her connection to her home and drawing power from it.

  Caitlin took a deep breath and braced herself.

  Sand swirled around her in a whirlpool of silica. Around her, the cries of alarm had turned to panic, rising in pitch as the sand wrapped about the feet of every man, woman, and child.

  “Help me!” a woman screamed from beyond the sand whirling about Caitlin. There was no other way. She was only glad she couldn’t see their faces.

  The sound of the ocean was deafening. The massive wave roared closer, like a freight train bearing down on them, drawing the last of the water from the inlet and laying it bare.

  Power thrummed through her astéri, and the sand pulled the terrified people down, swallowing them whole.

  The beach was empty, now. All except for Caitlin. Her jaw ached from clenching her teeth.

  “Anytime, now,” she cried aloud. Darkness fell as the shadow of the wave passed over her, and it took all her strength not to scream.

  Sand wrapped around her, so swiftly that it stung her skin. All at once, it pulled her down beneath the surface.

  She knew there was air to breathe; the spirits wouldn’t allow her to suffocate. Her mind knew, but her body did not. Her heart pounded so hard it seemed almost painful. She breathed deep, trying to slow the rhythm, but it was so black. She began to struggle involuntarily, her body giving way to primal fear.

  Warm water washed over her as light returned, turning her scream—one she didn’t remember letting loose—into a choking sputter. The sand pushed her to the surface, and she was kneeling on wet sand littered with debris. Coke cans and bits of trees. The remnants of a shaved ice stand.

  The retreating water swept back out into the ocean. People coughed and spat and cried as they erupted from the sand, shaken but alive.

  Relief washed over Caitlin. It had worked. It had worked.

  Everyone seemed dazed at first, not sure exactly what had happened until one of the women burst into tears.

  “Thank god!” She hugged her little girl—the one in the pink unicorn swimsuit—and kissed her round face.

  Caitlin doubled over, head pressed against the sand, exhausted. Her first thought—hilariously—was that she’d never find her sunglasses now.

  That did it. She started to laugh. It had worked. She’d never done anything like that before. She had hoped it would work, but she hadn’t known.

  The magical tug through her astéri had subsided as the last of the sand spirits let go of her connection, satisfied that she had kept her end of the bargain. The strength of her magic had held the san
d fast.

  Caitlin was weak from the transfer of power. She wasn’t even sure she could walk off this beach.

  Her link!

  She reached up to touch the spot behind her ear where the little device should have been. It was gone, and it was the only way she could call her sister. She could replace it, but that would take some time, and Daphne was back in the city with no way to call her. Perhaps there was an upside, she wouldn’t have to listen to her sister call to complain about the hotel staff—yet again.

  Thank heaven her sister hadn’t been here on the beach. Their parents would freak if Daphne was hit by a tsunami.

  She needed to call them and let them know everyone was okay. Sending a mental ‘thank you’ to the sand spirits, she pulled herself to her feet.

  People milled around her, looking for friends and loved ones. Now that the shock and confusion had worn off, they would start trying to figure out what exactly had saved them.

  She couldn’t wait for them to put that together. If anyone realized who she was, it would make it a lot harder for her to keep her parents from finding out about this—at least for a while.

  Daphne hadn’t been on the beach, but just the fact that she was on the same island would send them to dizzying heights of worry.

  As she turned to leave, she caught sight of a sharp flash of color. Something red in the water, a hundred feet out. Debris from the beach? No. It was definitely a person. A person lying face down in the water, rolling gently with the waves.

  She was sprinting toward the water before she realized she was moving. No one else had noticed. How long had that poor person been out there?