Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

"You bought a housewarming gift?" He could smell it.

  McClain actually grinned, then flipped open the bag and hauled out a fat, wiggling pup. He handed him over, and Luc was forced to take it. The ball of fluff wriggled its little body, then licked him.

  "You might as well put him down," McClain said. "He'll follow Lily."

  Doing as he said, Luc watched the pup shoot off in the direction the others had gone. Damn dogs. The pup vanished behind the wall Luc had patched the day before, and then let out a few happy yips. Two seconds later, Lily cried out in delight, "Arthur!"

  "Let me guess, I have another mouth to feed now?" he asked drily.

  "You don't have to." McClain shrugged.

  Yeah, right. He could hear the sound of his daughter's happy laughter. It wasn't really a choice. Checkmate to McClain.

  "So Cane's dead," McClain said, slinging his leg over the bike and kicking out the rusted old kickstand. "And Colton?"

  "Probably still alive to haunt me." Luc scowled. "I couldn't shoot the bastard. He saved my life, shot Cane himself."

  A humorless snort from McClain. "Guess he finally broke free of that alpha bond Cane had on him. I'd still watch my back if I were you."

  "Always do."

  "Different now you've got family to watch over though," McClain said. "It makes it harder, when you care for them. Takes away that edge you always had."

  "You should know."

  "I did know." McClain's voice held a soft note of what was in the past. He looked away, surveying the burned buildings that Luc and Riley had been slowly cleaning up, but it was clear that he didn't see them.

  "So, they let you out of the cage?" Luc said. "What now?"

  McClain shrugged. "Seemed a good time to head out, perhaps see a bit of the world. I know where my skills lie. Could turn my hand back to bounty hunting. At least it's one thing I'm good for, cleaning up shit like that."

  Shit like us remained unsaid.

  "You could stay here, if you wanted," Luc said, even though the offer wasn't entirely a great one. "Lily still thinks you're her uncle. She asks about you sometimes."

  McClain shook his head. "Don't think so. Thanks." And his gaze drifted to the wall, where Riley, Cole and Lily had disappeared behind.

  "A couple of months ago, all I ever wanted was to see you dead," Luc admitted. "So I won't pretend that we're friends again. But... You ever need a place to stay, you remember the offer's there."

  "And all I wanted was to make up for what I'd done to you, to find some way to bring you back. Just can't wrap my head around it, that Riley'd be the one who saved you."

  "Some things are worth fighting for. Riley's one of them."

  A shared nod.

  "Yeah, I get that," McClain said, and there was bitterness in his voice. "Thought that myself. Once upon a time." He sighed, slipping his hat off and raking a hand through his short-cropped hair. "I can't even be pissed at you for it. She's different with you than she ever was with me. And I'm glad... Glad someone got through to you. I guess you could say giving her up is my penance for what I did to you. I won't begrudge you for it."

  Luc snorted. "Perhaps. But then you never had her."

  McClain's eyes narrowed, but then he laughed. "You always did have a mean mouth on you."

  "I always told the truth, whether or not you wanted to hear it."

  "Then tell me this," McClain locked hard green eyes on him, suddenly serious. "It never goes away, Luc. The monster... It's always there, lurking inside me, inside us... How can you risk it? How can you stay here, with her and Lily, knowing it might come out one day?"

  "How did you stay there?" he replied. "All those years, with all those people, even your sister?"

  McClain shuddered. "That was the second time I ever turned, did you know that? The second time. I think I managed to bury it for so many years, once I put the amulet on, that I forgot how hard it was. I had this... this illusion that I controlled it. Keeping it locked up never hurt as much as it does now. I feel like the monster got a taste of what it feels like to tear through my skin, and breathe the hot, scented air of a desert night. It could smell the people around it, and my mouth was watering at the taste of flesh. At the idea of eating my friends." His voice roughened. "It's still there, and it's hungrier than it ever was. It yearns now. It remembers what it feels like to be free." McClain swallowed, his voice breaking. "How do I ever risk finding a home again? How can I ever hope... for anything... when it lurks inside me?"

  "Because it's not uncontrollable," Luc admitted.

  McClain breathed a bitter laugh. "Then what happens when one night it breaks free and you tear your wife to pieces, Wade? You want truth? That's the truth, staring you right in the face, even if you won't admit it. You can't lock the warg away within you forever."

  That was fear talking.

  "I always used to think that too. I was so afraid to destroy the people I loved, that I walked out on my wife and daughter. For years, I never considered there could be another option." Luc sighed, reluctant to even remember that night when Riley had held a monster's hand and lived to tell of it. That memory would haunt his dreams forever. "But I've made my peace with myself, and the truth is this: I'm not afraid to live a life with Riley. I'm not. Because I've stared that fear in the eye, and I got through it." McClain shot him a hopeless look, but Luc powered on. "You want the truth? Cane locked me in with Riley, and took my amulet. All night."

  McClain's eyes sharpened. "And you didn't turn?"

  Luc shook his head. "I turned. I can't even explain it. You know we're always there inside the warg, or at least a part of us is. It scared the hell out of me, that I could lose... lose the one woman I loved, at my own hands. For the first time, I was in control of the beast. I was the one holding the reins as it lurked deep inside me, even when I wore its skin."

  McClain breathed out a laugh. "Fuck." He looked utterly haggard. "It's like a dream."

  "No, it's not," Luc said. "It was a nightmare, McClain. If Riley had shown a single hint of fear, she'd be dead. The monster would have roused at the scent of it, and overridden me. And I had someone else I was saving all of its rage for. We were lucky. But... I understand now." Their eyes met. "I don't blame you for what you did to me, not with your own sister locked in the cell with you."

  He looked away, toward where his daughter was smiling at Cole, trying to trap the kid's hand in a cat's cradle as they walked around the corner. Lily laughed, and his throat thickened. "You didn't have a choice, and in the same situation I admit now I might have chosen the same path. And I made my own choices in response to what I'd become, decisions I could rue until the day I die, if not for the fact there's no point. You can't second-guess yourself. I can't go back and stop myself from leaving Abbie and Lily, and if I'm honest, my uncle probably would have shot me anyway. Then I'd still not be there when the reivers killed Abbie.

  "So I don't blame you anymore. You did what you had to, and then you tried to make amends. Thank you for looking after Lily for me."

  McClain's face wore a hard mask. "It was the least I could do."

  Both of them stared at each other.

  "Even?" Luc suggested.

  McClain nodded gruffly. "Even."

  Riley walked back out into the yard with a jug of water drawn from the well. Hot sunshine turned the blonde of her hair into a gleaming halo, though Luc had no aspirations that she was anything angelic. Grumpy, fearless, protective, stubborn, brave, and kind... That was his woman. The type of woman who wouldn't back down when those who belonged to her were threatened.

  He couldn't help but notice that he wasn't the only one watching her.

  "She suits you," McClain said simply. "And you suit her. I'm not going to lie. I don't understand it."

  Because he'd wanted her too, and when weighed against each other, who was the better man? Luc's lips thinned. "The problem is you never understood her. You wanted her to be something she's not."

  Another laugh. "You're probably right." McClain's voice dro
pped into wistfulness. "I'm glad she found you. She did what I could not."

  "She believes in me." And more than that... "She makes me feel like I'm not just a man, but a good one. She's my everything."

  Silence swelled between them.

  As if they'd spoken enough on matters that bordered on personal, McClain looked around at the rubble of Haven. "You're going to stay here?"

  "It's Riley's home," he replied. "And I like it here. I can keep the reivers and wargs at bay, and Riley's going to see if some of the others from Haven want to return."

  "They won't want to live with you in their midst, Luc."

  He shrugged. "Then they can stay at Absolution. Their choice." He looked up. "You're going then?"

  McClain nodded. "Not much left for me here."

  "You made them what they were."

  "I'm a warg, Luc." It was hard to meet those eyes. There was none of the forgiveness there that he had found. "And I lied to them. That trumps everything. I'm no longer McClain, the man who built a haven for them. I'm the monster that hid in their ranks. The Council made a decision. For the services I rendered—" His voice thickened with bitterness "—they'll let me live, on the condition I never return. I'll take Cole with me, perhaps head south."

  "What about Eden?"

  "What do you mean?" Riley asked, pausing beside them and offering McClain the jug of water. "What's up with Eden?"

  "She doesn't know you've left, does she?" Luc asked, sliding an arm around Riley's waist.

  "It's not safe for her out here," McClain said promptly, taking a mouthful of water and nodding a thanks at her.

  "Does she think the same?" Riley asked.

  McClain shrugged and looked away, tracking the horizon with his gaze. "Cole and I left before dawn. I've risked her life enough, I think."

  "Man, you really don't understand women, do you?" Luc said.

  That earned him a hard look. "What would you have me do? I know what her choice would be."

  "Then let her make her choice," Riley said.

  "No. At Absolution, she has a place, a voice on the Council, and the prospect of more... A husband, children. I want that for my sister."

  McClain didn't say what else he was thinking, but it was clear in the tone of his voice – he wanted that for himself too. Luc knew what that felt like, the longing for something you didn't think you were worthy of. Finding it had come when he'd least expected it, but accepting it had only happened when he'd laid the demons of his past to rest.

  He still wasn't certain he deserved it, but he was damned sure he wasn't going to let the chance slip away from. He squeezed Riley a little tighter.

  "I'll keep an eye on Eden," Luc told him. "As payback for what you did for Lily."

  A sharp nod. McClain didn't thank him, but then that had never been the way they'd worked. "We'd best get moving then," he said. "Before Eden sends out a search party."

  "If she does, then I'm going to tell her exactly where you went," Riley muttered, taking the jug of water back from him.

  "Wouldn't expect anything else," McClain said dryly.

  Cole joined McClain, and they both kicked their starter motors over.

  Lily's hand slipped into Luc's again as she watched McClain get on his bike. It filled him with hope. Each small gesture was a step forward for their relationship.

  "Hope you find what you're looking for," he said softly, knowing McClain would hear him.

  McClain gave them all one last nod, waved good-bye, and then he and Cole headed out into the Wastelands.

  Luc didn't bother to watch them go, turning his little family back to the half-ruined house. The past was done. He was only looking forward from now on.

  * * *

  THE END

  Continue the Burned Lands series with The Last True Hero, where Adam McClain finally finds redemption—and love—with a prickly, no-nonsense bar-owner with a missing sister.

  Get The Last True Hero today at: http://www.becmcmaster.com/books/the-last-true-hero/

  * * *

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  About the Author

  BEC MCMASTER is a writer, a dreamer, and a travel addict. If she’s not sitting in front of the computer, she’s probably plotting her next world trip, and plans to see the whole world, whether it’s by paper, plane, or imagination. She grew up on a steady diet of ’80s fantasy movies like Ladyhawke, Labyrinth, and The Princess Bride, and loves creating epic, fantasy-based romances with heroes and heroines who must defeat all the odds to have their HEA. She lives in Australia with her very own hero, where she can be found creating the dark and dangerous worlds of the London Steampunk, Dark Arts, Legends of The Storm, or Burned Lands series, where even the darkest hero can find love.

  Read more books by Bec McMaster:

  http://www.becmcmaster.com/books/

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  Demons are a Girl’s Best Friend

  Heather Marie Adkins

  Demons are a Girl’s Best Friend © copyright 2017 Heather Marie Adkins

  * * *

  Copyright notice: 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.

  Demons are a Girl’s Best Friend

  Hell has spilled over into the real world. But that’s okay. Nobody’s dead. Yet..

  An uneasy truce has been found: Demons don’t screw the world up; humans don’t kill them. It’s a pretty simple set-up, kept in check by the immigration and selection process.

  Kahri O’Reilly has a nice, quiet life teaching martial arts by day and sleeping with her cat by night, until a 200-year old demigod sexier-than-sin shows up to drag her to hell. Turns out, Kahri’s polite, cross-stitch obsessed mother is actually a demon who married the wrong man and fled to earth the minute the portals began to open. She just neglected to share that with Kahri.

  Below the unknowing surface world, civil war is brewing. Kahri’s dad is dead, and blood bonds dictate she has to take his place. Only, the legacy he left her is a bloody one. His problems—and his enemies—have suddenly become hers, and she has no idea what she’s doing.

  Kahri is poised between the worlds, the perfect ambassador to prevent the apocalypse—as long as she doesn’t die first.

  1

  I promised my best friend’s kid a demon escort for Halloween, and I always keep my promises.

  Never mind that the tail and horns were made of red vinyl that smelled faintly of rubber and cheap cologne, or that the one-piece polyester suit made my unmentionables itch. The smile on Cammie’s face was worth every second.

  My eight-year-old goddaughter stood in the doorway and stared at me with wide eyes as if she didn’t recognize me. She was the cutest zombie I’d ever seen, with eerily realistic “cuts” and fake blood all over her face. A perk of having an artist for a mom; made it easier to freak out the neighbors.

  “Have you come from the other side?” Cammie asked in a stage whisper.

  I put my hands on my hips and puffed my meager chest. In retrospect, I probably looked like a tall, willowy Peter Pan rather than a demon. Not quite the look I was going for, but itty-bitty-titty girls can’t be choosers. “It was a long jou
rney from the other realm, but here I am! One demon escort at your service.”

  “Long journey, my ass.” My bestie appeared behind Cammie and opened the door wider. “The tunnel is three blocks over as long as you have the right permit.”

  I laughed, because she was right - even if it sounded crazy to say it out loud - and accepted her kiss on my cheek. Jillian Conrad had been my best friend since... well, since we were Cammie’s age. Younger, even. I didn’t remember life without her by my side. Jilly had coffee-and-cream skin and eyes a pure shade of honey gold, set on a frame with some dangerous curves. Those curves landed her with Cammie when we were seventeen, though if that was the worst mistake she’d ever made, it was a perfectly awesome one.

  “Ma, you said ‘ass,’” Cammie pointed out, crossing her skinny arms over her chest. “You owe the jar a dollar.”

  Jilly groaned. “Again! I can’t win. She’s fleeced me for almost fifty bucks this week.”

  Cammie grinned, her teeth sparkling white in her dusky face.

  I winked at her. “Your ma started cussing before we were in training bras. She doesn’t know how to stop.”

  Jilly rested a hip on the door and grinned at my costume. “You know, on someone with a little more meat, that outfit would be outlawed in four counties.”

  “Good thing I spend all my time in the dojo beating up on dummies.” I was Keira Knightly in a Michelle Pfeiffer catsuit - red, to match my lipstick. I wasn’t trying to impress anybody but my favorite goddaughter, so the lack of an hourglass shape – or any kind of shape, really – didn’t bother me at all.

  “Need the bathroom before we go?” Jilly asked. She grinned. “A drink? A brothel, perhaps?”

  “Comedian.”

  “What’s a brothel?” Cammie asked, blood-spattered face crinkling.