Calling All Heroes

by James Cox

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2018 James Cox

  ISBN: 978-1-77339-622-4

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: CA Clauson

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  I couldn't have done this without the help and feminine guidance of: Lisa Oliver, Erin Leaf, Elyzabeth M. Valey, Doris O'Connor and Ravenna Tate. Thank you!

  And of course, to everyone at Evernight Publishing from the top to the bottom. Ya'll are awesome!

  CALLING ALL HEROES

  Otherworld, 2

  James Cox

  Copyright © 2018

  Prologue

  Aralynn was furious. “But I don’t want to marry a stranger.”

  “He’s not a stranger Aralynn, he’s a bloody king and you will marry him!” Her father yelled.

  Some men came to town and gathered all the young women in the main hall. She was the oldest at seventeen. It was scary the way they tossed them around and not one adult stepped in to stop them. They were stripped of clothing, then dressed up in fancy jewels and this stranger picked her to be his bride. Choosing the most beautiful wasn’t a way to pick a mate. When it slipped who the stranger was, Aralynn was enraged. She didn’t want to be a queen! She wanted to explore the world meet strange and wondrous creatures. Aralynn had dreamed of meeting her true love and finding a house beside the ocean to grow old. She wanted a house full of laughter, not a castle.

  “You’re acting like a child! You’ll become queen. You’ll have everything you’ve ever wanted and I will get to stop cutting wood.” Her father wasn’t a proud man, but he was built like a tree and was as smart as one. “We could be happy.” He hadn’t shown her a kind word or smile since her mother died of sickness.

  “You mean you’d be happy.” She mumbled. For the first time in her life, her father slapped her. Right across the face as hard as he could. Her cheek stung and tears welled in her eyes.

  “You will marry the king. You will give him heirs and no complaint will leave your lips or so help me, I’ll sew them shut.”

  Aralynn squeaked out a sound. She’d seen some of the other village girls with such a threat, unable to talk, bleeding lips. Her whole world was crashing down and it all started with the arrival of that royal ship. She cried quietly as they packed up their meager belongings. Aralynn cried during the vows on the beach where she was given to that older, ugly man that had the boring brown eyes. Everyone thought it was happiness, but she was weeping for the loss of her dreams. If she were queen, all her carefully laid out fantasies would be crushed into dust.

  On the way to the boat that would take her to her new home, her new husband and king of Otherworld took something else from her. He took her precious virginity in the carriage. At first she fought, she scratched and kicked as hard as she could. But Aralynn wasn’t bred for fighting. She was small of stature. The pain and fear were so strong she passed out only to wake up when they were near port. She felt dirty and sore all over. How could she possibly go through life with him?

  When they boarded the boat and dark clouds began to gather over Dullahan’s Island, Aralynn saw it as a sign. She stood on the deck of the fancy boat in her ripped wedding dress stained with her blood. She knew that her life would not be just to lay beneath this man and produce royal children. There was so much more out there. When the ship started tilting precariously from the approaching storm and a few sailors pitched overboard she came up with a plan.

  Aralynn carefully went around the mast pretending to be water sick while she cut at the rope supports. Twice she cut her palm as the ship rocked, but she ignored the streams of red that seeped into her white dress. By the time she was on the last rope the mast gave an unhealthy creak. The sail wiped into a few sailors and began to dangle high in the sky. The thick log snapped from the wind just as the downpour of rain slapped her face. She felt far worse pain this day then from the weather. Aralynn leaped into the water before anyone could stop her. She wiggled out of her blood-stained wedding dress as rain pelted her face. She wasn’t the best of swimmers, but if her plan was meant to succeed then she’d make it to that island.

  Dullahan’s Island.

  She was going to seduce the fallen God Dullahan and create a child so powerful it would rule the Otherworld. Aralynn made a promise to herself as she sputtered water and tried to stay afloat in the massive waves.

  Men would hurt as she had.

  Their dreams would be crushed beneath her merciless will.

  Her child would rain suffering upon this world.

  Chapter One

  Let me explain why we’re running through the foothills of Dobhail Mountain…

  I’m the princess’ bodyguard, pining after her from afar, but then a half vampire came into our lives. Alexander was there to kidnap Aneen. Instead he fell in love with not only her, but me, too. Of course, his partner went rouge and took the princess. We had to get her back and it was an adventure not just because it was my first time out of Fairaine. We met nasty mermen and even nastier Selkies. Alexander took my virginity under the stars beside a waterfall. He did happen to be drunk on Selkie blood, but I’m going to remember the romantic side of that night.

  It was a rolling wave in a storm from there on.

  I helped kill Alexander’s partner. I think it hurt him to take out the only friend he had, but he was threatening Aneen’s life. There was no choice and then … then the three of us made love. I finally got to experience it. The two people that made me feel so much. I wish that had lasted longer.

  The bad guys found us and the huge revelation dropped that the queen was behind the assassination attempts on Aneen. She wanted to push her daughter so she’d expose her powers. Aneen did and she used them on her mother. When the chaos died down, we ran into the deserted and dangerous Dobhail Mountains. Our plan was incomplete and probably going to get us killed, but when you’re a good guy, you don’t have a choice. I had to do the right thing and that meant getting that crazy queen off the throne. I had no idea how we could accomplish that, but we were together and that’s what mattered.

  So, that’s where we were now. Fugitives. Homeless. Jobless. Hunted. I glanced at Alexander, frowning even in his sleep. Then I looked at Aneen between us on the makeshift bed of leaves. Despite everything, there was nowhere else I’d rather be. It was my turn to be on watch as they slept. I had no idea what to expect out here. Before meeting Alexander I’d never been out of Fairaine. With my sword laying across my thighs, I peered into the moonlit night with a focused vigilance. They were the loves of my life. I would let no one harm them—but nothing was ever that simple in Otherworld.

  ****

  “You two want to start a fucking war.” Alexander mumbled as we trekked through the morning drizzle.

  I rolled my eyes and saw Aneen do the same. We were all a bit on edge. Our first night on the Dobhail Mountains had been nearly fruitless. We were all too worried about the queen’s guards following us or darker things that could be roaming the night.

  “Stop complaining and think of a solution.” Aneen said. “How can we fight her?”

  Alexander paused and turned around, “Give me a kiss and I’ll give you an answer.”

  Aneen laughed softly, her cheeks darkening as she blushed. Her blonde ha
ir was heavy on her shoulders, wet from the rain. With an exaggerated sigh she placed a chaste kiss on Alexander’s cheek. As she moved back, Alexander wrapped his arms around her and properly kissed our princess. He’d been doing that to both of us since we made love in the small cabin the night before. It was like he couldn’t stop touching us and it was a feeling I was coming to enjoy.

  “Kissing later. Saving Otherworld now.” I muttered and trudged passed them.

  “Don’t be jealous, Stefen.” Alexander said. He used his vamp speed to rush up to me and pull me against him. His crotch pressed against me. “This is for you, too.”

  I chuckled and pushed him off. We had a queen to worry about, a war, Otherworld, our lives. This was not the time to joke around. “Get your mind out of your pants.”

  “Ah, but my mind was on what’s in your pants. Give us a peek!” He reached out, giving my crotch a rub before I could scramble out of range.

  “Alexander!” Aneen seemed to be in a constant state of blushing.

  “Oh, fine.” Alexander winked at me. “I’m just slightly giddy on all the blood I drank. Here’s my plan. We’re walking through these fucking mountains to get to Breen Swamp. There’s a man that lives between the two, in a tiny shack on the beach that’ll help get the word out about the queen. You want this war, well then, we need soldiers. Fighters. He can get out a call to all heroes to join our cause.”

  Our cause. I glanced at Aneen. Her eyes were red like her powerful, evil father. Just yesterday she had saved our lives unexpectedly. Beneath her petite, delicate exterior was a strong, powerful woman. She showed everyone when energy had burst from her fingertips and saved Alexander’s life.

  “Kierce will help us.” Alexander kept talking as we clambered up a slope. “Or he’ll kill us. Depends on his mood.”

  “Lovely.” Aneen used a lopsided tree to help her up the slant. “Meanwhile my mother will be gathering all her forces and … and trying to take over Otherworld. Or worse.” She made it to the top as the rain finally began to fade.

  “But we have our own secret weapon.” I glanced at Aneen’s hands. “Who knows what else you can do?”

  “I’m afraid to know,” she whispered.

  Alexander scoffed. “You’ve got to embrace the darkness, princess. The only way to keep demons at bay is to become a bigger, more badass demon yourself.”

  He meant that, so I couldn’t imagine the childhood he’d had. Where did he grow up? When did he become this assassin that relied on no one and preferred to be hard as stone? I was falling in love with him as deeply as I loved Aneen, but he was still such a mystery. I grew up watching her, knowing I could never have her but always wishing for a miracle. We’d hit puberty together. We got in trouble together. When her best friend jumped in front of an assassin’s arrow and died, I was the shoulder she cried on. Aneen and I had that history to bind us together through this war. When would Alexander lean on us? Trust us? Love us?

  Alexander stopped so abruptly that I nearly smacked into his back.

  I reached out and placed a hand on Aneen’s shoulder then slid my sword out of its sheath. The dirt ‘path’ we traveled opened up to flat land and I could make out a few buildings. Stone was piled in heaps and there was only a single structure that stood fully intact.

  “It’s Hartville.” Alexander whispered and elongated his fangs.

  We all went silent and alert. Hartville was the ruins of a once prosperous town. We all knew the tale. The prince was evil and befriended an Aos Si fairy. He violated and tortured her brutally until the other fairies found her. They rained hell upon all in the village, killing every last soul. Anyone that set foot in this accursed land never returned. Well, we’d be beating those odds. I pushed Aneen before me to I could watch our back. “I think we should pass quickly,” I whispered. Not that there was much to pass. With only one stone tower standing there wasn’t likely to be anything hiding in its shadow. Still, I wouldn’t take any chances with the princess. The wind kicked up and the trees made a nuisance of noises. Scrapes and cracks, followed by the tumble of old stone. A wooden pole was still stuck in the ground along the road with the sign collapsed into the dirt. The lettering was long faded and unreadable as we eased forward.

  “I’ve not seen such scorch marks in stone before,” Aneen whispered, slowing down to stare at the ruins of Hartville.

  “I’m not looking forward to seeing them again,” I muttered and gently pushed her along. There may be a vampire—and whatever she was—in our midst, but I didn’t want to wait around to see what came out of the rubble.

  “Stefen.” Alexander halted, kicking up dirt at the sudden stop.

  Now what? I looked past them both to see the end of the town and the road leading out. Beyond that was a dotting of trees and there should have been more mountains, but I couldn’t see anything. “Is that … fog?”

  Alexander gave a jerk of his head. “Take Aneen as high as you can.”

  The fog’s white tendrils swirled in and out of trees. Small forest creatures sprung from the grasp, running for their lives. A small family of rabbits rushed past and hopped into a hole. A large creature with fierce looking antlers rushed by us without so much as a glance. The fog would do that to most beasts. “You, too.” I took Aneen’s arm and headed toward the last standing tower of Hartville.

  “I’m going to kill the fucker.”

  “No. You’re not.” I grabbed his arms as the fog weaved its way through the trees as if it were aiming for us. “You’re not the badass assassin anymore. You’re ours. Climb with us.”

  Aneen grabbed his hand.

  Alexander growled before reluctantly heading with us toward the tower. “I could have killed him,” he mumbled as we found the rickety stone stairs that spiraled to the top of the last standing structure.

  “We know you could have killed the Fear Gorta, but we’re not here because of it and if you kill one, more will show up.” I just recited the legend. “Of course, I’ve never actually faced one.”

  “They’re nasty, ugly fuckers that like to beg for alms and if you don’t give them anything, they’ll eat you,” Alexander said as he ran up the steps, tugging Aneen behind him.

  “They’ll eat you?” She asked, breathing heavy.

  “I’ve seen it happen.” Alexander lifted Aneen over a chunk of missing steps and then held out his hand to pull me over. “There’s nothing like waking up with one of those nasty fucks hovering over you, blood all over its mouth. That’s the last thing you want to see when you wake up with a hard-on.” As he spoke we kept climbing the tower.

  I swear I heard the stone groan and was ready for it to take us all with it as it plunged to the ground. However, we got to the top and it still stood. This must have been some kind of archer tower. There was a lip of stone to my knees on all sides and enough flat space to sleep here in case the fog didn’t dissipate. The white low cloud rolled toward us. From this height it looked like a wave bent on total destruction. Only the top of the mountains was visible and the tips of the tallest trees poked out of the sea of white. The low piles of rubble were being swallowed whole. Our tower gave a nervous crackle, but didn’t sway as the fog pressed up against the stone. It surrounded us, climbing up the walls like crazed vines. I still had my sword out and ready, but peeking over the edge showed the fog slowing and then stopping. It was half way up our tower before it started spreading out toward the path we just traveled.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that.” Aneen whispered, watching with wide eyes.

  Both she and I had never been out of Fairaine. The fog was only common in a few places, so it was a rare sight for both of us. One I never wanted to experience again. “How long does it last?”

  “A few hours,” Alexander said as a tree in the distance snapped and leaned over. A moment later it collapsed into the fog in a great puff. He sat on the edge of the half wall and stared out.

  “Considering we all slept about an hour last night, this is a good thing.” I tried to put a positiv
e spin on things. Not getting eaten by a Fear Gora should be positive enough. I sat on the hard stone and leaned against the wall. “Come here.”

  Aneen smiled softly before sitting beside me.

  I wrapped an arm around her shoulders like I did all those times when we were young and she was upset. Only then I was her bodyguard, now I was her lover. I placed a kiss on her temple. “Are you okay?”

  She gave a soft nod and stared up at me. “Scared. Nervous. What if we lose?”

  “We’re not going to lose. No matter what, your mother will not win.” I lied. I lied like my life depended on it. I think Alexander was rubbing off on me. I glanced at him over Aneen’s head and he gave me an enquiring lifted eyebrow. “You should try to sleep for a little bit.” I brushed hair from her face.

  “You try sleeping with cannibalistic beggars right below us.” She rolled her eyes, but curled up closer against my side.

  “You can always try to use your magic fingers on them.” I wiggled the hand resting on her shoulder.

  “I don’t know how I did that or how to control it.” She frowned. “What if I accidentally hurt you?”

  “Practice with Alexander. He’s half vampire. He’ll heal and it might feel good to hit him.”

  “Did he just make a joke?” Alexander perked up. “Seriously? A joke? You’re a little shit, by the way.”

  I snorted.

  “You can practice anything you want on me, princess.” Alexander said with a husky voice and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

  “That’s our Alexander. Killing or flirting.”

  “Damn right,” he answered me.

  Aneen blushed as Alexander’s cocky grin faded and he glared out into the fog at a noise. “Everything’s spiraling out of control so quickly,” she whispered.