“What’s that supposed to mean?” he replied calmly, disposing of his own empty plate.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Karma toyed with him, grinning deviously. Tempted to delve into his thoughts, she curled her fists for a moment before scouring the mind of the girl more fully instead. Locating the remnants of their greedy encounters, she sighed, “After having experienced the joining of our spirits, I’m surprised you would find such a coupling satisfying.”
Clarisse glared at him for a moment before dropping her gaze back to her unfinished meal. Her hunger removed by the statement, she swallowed before she mumbled, “How do I stop you from stealing my thoughts?” Raising her eyes to meet the warm brown orbs of the woman next to her, she continued a bit more forcefully, “He chose me to be his mate. We are in love, and we don’t need your meddling in our lives.”
Studying her, Karma leaned back in her seat. “Perfect. Charlie, I have to hand it to you. She’s better than any I could have chosen.”
“I don’t understand,” he admitted quietly, relieved that Clarisse hadn’t been struck down on the spot for insubordination.
“No, I don’t suppose that you do,” Karma agreed. Folding her hands in front of her, the look of contentment on her face gave Charlie a sick feeling in the pit of his gut. “You have always been special. Keeper wanted you for his cause, but I have claimed his prize. You have become a trusted member of my house, and you have brought a Summer Angel to join us.” Sensing the destress of the young woman to her left she addressed her instead.
“I feel your passion. I sense your devotion to your mate. Stronger than even the ties that once held Keeper and I as one. Call yourself what you will, you are part of us. And I have a special task for you.”
Glaring at her, Clarisse could not believe her ears. “I’m not one of your minions,” she bit angrily at the absurd suggestion. Leaping to her feet, she stammered, “I think I’ve made a mistake coming here.”
“A mistake?” Karma breathed, her eyes growing lighter, “The only mistake would be to think that you could ever leave. That you could defy me. When I say there is a task for you, you will take it. And you will complete it.”
Glancing at the man seated next to her, her eyes paled to misty green. His body stiff, Charlie stood for a moment before collapsing to the floor. “See my puppet?” the auburn haired beauty breathed. “He does my bidding for you,” she informed her newest recruit curtly. “Should you choose to try my patience, it would be he who would taste my sting.”
“Stop it!” Clarisse squealed, darting around the empty seats and dropping to her knees beside him. His eyes wide and unseeing, he stared past her, into the oblivion that surrounded them. “Stop, please!”
“Swear to me,” Karma hissed, rising slowly, a red gown flowing around her. “Pledge to me and to him that you will serve us.”
“I can’t,” the girl cried, touching his face, the coolness of his flesh unnerving her. “Destiny, please!”
“She cannot help you here. This is my home; the part of this planet granted to me on our arrival. None of our kind may set foot here without my welcome; not even you, Clarisse.”
Brushing his hair back, tears dripped from her blue eyes. “Please, Karma,” she begged more quietly. “Please don’t take him from me.”
“I need your word,” Karma insisted calmly.
Gripping his tee-shirt, then rubbing his chest, Clarisse could feel no sign of breath, no indication of life. Her mind drawn rapidly to the fight with Gous, when Charlie had pledged himself to be her guardian angel, she recalled that it had been Keeper who had preserved his life. And now Karma is going to take it.
“Foolish girl! You think I want to destroy him?” Karma’s voice boomed.
“I can’t,” Clarisse cried, tears staining her cheeks. “Don’t you see? I can’t betray them, not even to save Charlie!”
“Then you will both die,” Karma pursed her lips angrily.
“Wait!” Dante stepped into the room, “Wait,” he stated again more calmly. “She just got here,” he indicated the fair haired girl kneeling over his new friend. Staring at his governess, he conveyed his plan to her silently.
Blinking a few times, Karma smiled, imparting her reply; “You think it will work?”
“Doesn’t matter, it’s worth a shot,” he replied in kind. “Free him,” he said aloud. “I will vouch for them; both of them,” he smiled down at Clarisse.
Recognizing him from their joining, she gasped, “You’re Charlie’s friend!”
“Yes,” he kneeled next to the other male, relieved when he started to sputter and cough for air. Helping him to sit up, he clapped him on the back a few times, “Come on, buddy; don’t quit on me now.”
Set Things Straight
“I can’t believe she nearly killed me,” Charlie lamented, he eyes fixed on the roll of the waves in the distance.
Clarisse sniffed loudly, sitting in the sand next to him on their beach. Pulling her white blanket around her more snuggly, she sighed, “I think that she would have, had it not been for Dante.”
“No doubt,” the second man agreed, his golden spikes glistening as he removed his clothing and stretched out to bathe in the sun and deepen his golden flesh.
Watching him, Clarisse considered the life giving rays that once had restored her energy. “I’m not a Summer Angel any more, am I?” she quietly inquired.
“No, you’re not,” Dante shaded his eyes for a moment to look at her before lying back and closing them again. “You two need to relax.”
“How can I relax?” Charlie demanded curtly. “I’ve made a mistake, and my choice to follow Karma was wrong.”
“Right or wrong doesn’t matter,” his cohort disagreed. “The choice is made, and you will be rewarded for your devotion. That’s how Karma is; with her, you always get what you deserve.”
“Not always,” Charlie shook his head slowly, then shifted to drop his arm around Clarisse’s shoulders. “She would have killed me; us. Because we wouldn’t do what she wanted.”
Laughing loudly, Dante sat up, addressing the couple more firmly, “Man, don’t you get it? If you hadn’t agreed and done what she wanted, then that’s exactly what you would have deserved, from her point of view. That’s Karma just being herself.”
Blinking a few times, Clarisse nodded slowly. “I guess I see your point. So, what do we do from here?”
“We have to set things straight,” Dante stood and dusted the sand from his flesh. “You have to prove you are one of the Forgotten Angels; Karma’s minion and follower. Charlie’s already demonstrated his ability and will to follow her. Unless he really screws up, he’s got it made. Now, it’s your turn.”
Inhaling sharply, Clarisse cut her eyes over at her mate. “What does he mean… that you’ve proven yourself, and demonstrated your ability?”
Not meeting her gaze, Charlie pulled his arm away and tossed small shells from the shore into the lapping ebb and flow. “I’ve done what I had to do,” he informed her. “I can’t say that I don’ like it, either. Because I do,” he raised his chin to glare at her. “It makes me feel powerful, holdin’ a man’s fate in my hands.”
“Oh, Charlie,” she signed, her blue orbs filled with sorrow. “No one controls such things; Fate owns the future of men.”
“No,” he shook his head. “I own it. I am the dispenser of justice. Good or bad, I see to it that people get what’s comin’ t’ them,” he thumped his chest for emphasis. The breeze blew against them, and she shivered.
“Nice to see you finally on the right path,” a deep voice called on the wind.
Instantly stiff, Charlie and Clarisse both looked around wildly, and Dante froze and then whispered, “Who’s that?”
“Gous,” Charlie growled, “All right, show yourself, Dark Angel.” He felt annoyed that events had been progressing downhill rapidly.
“My pleasure,” Gous appeared next to Dante, and Charlie leapt up to square off with his arch rival.
Struggling to fi
nd her feet, Clarisse whined loudly, “We aren’t going to have any fighting. I have had it!”
“Oh, angry now, are we?” Gous hissed. “Thought you were being smart refusing my proposal all these years. And look where it has gotten you.”
Her eyes flashed, and she clutched her cover more tightly around her. “You… animal! I wouldn’t have been any better off if I had joined you!”
Smiling, exposing his pointed teeth, Gous hummed a sweet reply, “We would have made an unbeatable team. Perhaps we still can,” he hinted.
“What’s that supposed t’ mean?” Charlie demanded, positioning himself between them. “Stay behind me,” he commanded to her over his shoulder.
“Always the protective one,” Gous nodded, shifting his gaze over to Dante. “You should go.”
“No,” Karma’s right hand man stood his ground. “Whatever you’re planning, I want in on it.”
“In on it?” Charlie gasped. “You can’t be serious. We’re no match for her! Even together, she would crush us. Besides, you were jus’ saying that I’m in her good graces, an’ Clarisse needs to prove herself. Why would we screw that up with some stupid plan hatched by an untrustworthy piece of filth?”
Gous and Dante glared at one another, each aware of things the couple that shared the beach had yet to discover. Finally, Dante ended the silence, “There are things that we can do, if we really think taking a stand against her would help. But I’m telling you, we’re better off staying on Karma’s good side.”
“Exactly!” Charlie shouted, taking a step towards the figure before him. The wind whipping the dark robe around his enemy’s legs, he put a finger in his face. “Leave. Now. And don’t ever come around me or my wife again.”
“And you think you can stop me?” Gous’ tone grated, as if it were nails dragging across a chalk board.
“I’m not the kid I was last time we met,” Charlie informed him, never breaking his ice cold glare. “I’m a minion of Karma and a champion of justice. I am strong t’ my core, an’ I would have no problem taking you down should you ever get in my way.”
Clenching his jaw, the muscles in his neck bulged, his rage hidden just below the surface of his calm exterior. Without giving a reply, the Dark Angel vanished, leaving the trio in stunned silence.
“Unbelievable,” Dante exhaled.
“Do you think he’s really gone?” Clarisse asked timidly, moving closer so she could press herself against Charlie’s back.
Scanning the area, Charlie cut his eyes around them. “He better’d be,” he warned. “I wasn’ kidding. He so much as hints at trouble in our direction, an’ it will be on.” Turning to take her in his arms, he silently hoped it wouldn’t come to that, and that the three of them would finally have a place that they belonged.
Karma’s Legacy
A Summer Spirit Novella
Volume 6
Samantha Jacobey
Lavish Publishing, LLC ~ Midland, Texas
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
KARMA’S LEGACY. Copyright 2016 ©
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Lavish Publishing, LLC.
First Edition
Book 6 of a Summer Spirit Novella
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States by Lavish Publishing, LLC, Midland, Texas
www.LavishPublishing.com
Table of Contents
Prologue
A Good Heart
In the Shadows
Only to Serve
Young Love
Old Enemies
Imperfect Being
Karma’s Desire
Visiting Hours
Party Crasher
Not What I Meant
Kings and Kingdoms
Legacy
About the Author
Prologue
“I can’t believe you’re trading rooms,” Annalise whined, watching her roommate of more than two years pulling her things out of drawers.
“I have to,” Portia replied crisply. “I can’t stand being in here with the ghost girl any longer.”
Clarisse’s eyes grew wide, her mouth falling open in disgust. “I am not a ghost!” she squealed.
“You are to me,” Portia bit angrily, not bothering to turn around. She knew there would be nothing there if she did. The disembodied voice gave her an odd feeling in her gut, and she wished the girl had never come to Purgatory and disrupted their lives.
“She’s talking to you again,” Anna observed more quietly.
“Yes, she never shuts up,” Portia complained. “But she likes this room across from Charlie, so you two can share. I’ll go where I can have some peace.”
“But I can’t talk to her,” the older woman observed, “Or hear her. What good is a roommate you can't tell is there?" Anna had come to Purgatory almost a decade ago, soon after Dante’s arrival, at the age of twenty-five. During her time as one of Karma’s minions, she hadn’t made any real friends, and Portia being her roommate had been her only companionship. With her gone, her world would be silent and quite lonely.
“We can still be friends,” Portia insisted, stuffing her wardrobe into bags for transport. “We’ll just do it from down the hall.” Taking her belongings, she spun around and walked out, unknowingly passing through Clarisse on her way.
Clarisse watched her go with doleful eyes. Shifting to stare at Annalise, she sniffled. She had come to the house weeks ago, and had been doing her best to fit in, for Charlie’s sake. However, being in a separate plane from most of the others had presented a good deal of challenges.
“Chin up,” Phil’s voice echoed from outside the room.
“Hi, Phil,” Clarisse replied, brushing at her droplets of sadness.
“It’ll be ok,” he reassured.
Moving out to the hall, she spied him leaning against the door frame to one of the bathrooms and observing Portia’s transition. “I know,” she took a few steps towards him. “I’m getting used to this place and all of you. I never imagined that having living people know of my existence could be possible; Charlie was the first, and now this...” she lamented; her world had been torn to shreds and she felt lost in this strange place and its band of outcasts.
Phil only nodded, aware that those who had visited the magical plane and returned hardly qualified as living. Charlie’s description of Forgotten Angel suited them best; they only half existed in either world, and didn’t really belong anywhere.
“What’s going on?” Kari demanded, coming up the stairs noisily.
“Portia moved to the other room,” Anna informed him, joining the confab in the hall.
Nodding his understanding, Kari grinned at Phil, aware that he had been the most accepting of their new arrival out of all the older household members. “I am pleased I am not disturbed by her presence,” he turned to Annalise. “Her existence here has changed us.”
“That’s because she proves Charlie was right,” Phil sauntered towards them, his voice growing quieter. “The other plane is real, even if none of us can go back to it, or remember it for that matter.”
“Yes,” Anna agreed, looking around anxiously. “Karma doesn’t like us talking about the realm of magic, though.”
“Of course not,” Phil scoffed, “But I’m not afraid of Karma.”
“You are a fool, mate,” Kari’s
smile disappeared. “You stay on her bad side and are punished far too often.”
Cutting him a cold glare, the older man growled, “I’m not a dog. I’m here against my will, and I refuse to behave, pretending like I’m enjoying myself.”
Kari glanced between the two of them, then rolled his eyes around as if looking for Clarisse. “Either way,” he answered softly, “We are all here and welcome our new friend, whether we can see and hear her or not.”
A Good Heart
Sitting at the table next to Charlie, Clarisse ate her morning meal while listening to the others. The group of younger males shared a deep comradery, and she had noticed that Charlie had come to fit in with them quite well. Their laughter rising and falling, she knew that her chair appeared unoccupied to them, and she could have sat in her mate’s lap and eaten from his plate, and no one would have known the difference.
“You know, that’s kind of weird,” Raymond observed, pointing his fork at her half-empty dish.
“What is?” Charlie grinned, knowing what he meant before he voiced the observation.
“Watching her food disappear,” Myra finished for her twin brother.
Ray and Myra had been at the house the longest of all the Forgotten Angels. By appearance, Charlie guessed them to be only a few years older than him, but they had been serving Karma for longer than Phil, their oldest member, had even been alive. His mind drifting for a moment, he recalled the morning he had discovered the revelation.
He had taken Ray on a mission only a few weeks after his arrival. The pair of them had transported to a small town in Washington State, and they had no hope of blending in as locals. Instead, they posed as passers-through when they entered the diner and took a seat.
“You enjoy being Karma’s Minion,” Charlie observed, flipping open his menu to make his selection.
The Karma Set - Summer Spirit Novellas 4 - 6 Page 11
