Shifters in the Shadows: Seventeen Paranormal Romances of Sexy Shifters, Dangerous Vamps, & Things That Go Bump in the Night

by J. K Harper

  Naiya blinked. “You think he did all this because he fell in love with me?”

  Serafina snorted. “He’s a vengeance demon. Is he even capable of love?”

  Liam gave her a chiding look. “Everyone is capable of love, including demons. And I can confidently say it’s all too easy to fall in love with a Levitt witch. I think I started falling for you the minute we met.”

  Serafina visibly melted, sinking closer and leaning against him. “Really?”

  He nodded. “I knew you were the one for me within hours of our first meeting.” He looked away from his girlfriend to meet Naiya’s eyes again. “It could have been the same for Bach. It doesn’t necessarily justify what he did, but it explains it.” He hesitated for a moment. “You should also know the guardians launched an inquiry, and they concluded his actions didn’t harm the balance. In fact, removing Jeb actually made the world a slightly better place.”

  She blinked again, stunned at the words. “So they’re saying killing Jeb was justifiable?”

  He nodded. “I don’t have the gift of reading people, or at least their memories and their past, but there are other guardians who can. I know for certain one of them was involved in the investigative team, so they would have learned every detail of Jeb’s past. Whatever they learned was enough to convince them Bach had a positive effect on the balance between light and dark, though his methods were reprehensible. They aren’t against our laws though.”

  “I don’t know what to do. Or how to think. This whole thing is so confusing. If I take him back, it’s like accepting what he did was okay.”

  Liam seemed sympathetic, though Serafina had stiffened when she’d mentioned the possibility of taking him back. “Didn’t you learn anything about giving second chances to undeserving losers after Jeb?”

  She stiffened at her sister’s angry words, glaring at Serafina. “I’ll freely admit I was an idiot to give Jeb so many chances, but it’s different with Bach.”

  Her sister scowled. “It’s different. Sure it is. Just how is it different?”

  “Because I love him,” she snapped before falling silent. The truth of the words resonated in her, and she couldn’t deny it to herself. She did love Bach. She wasn’t certain how or when it had happened, but sometime over the past two weeks, she’d fallen for him, and even knowing the truth, and seeing what he was capable of, couldn’t seem to shake how she felt.

  “You really loved Jeb too,” said Serafina with a snort. “I still don’t see a difference. All I see is you about to make another mistake.”

  “It’s my mistake to make, and you’re hardly in a position to be judgmental when you made the most epic mistake of all by summoning a vengeance demon.” As quickly as it had come, the flare of anger faded, and she moved closer to Serafina, wanting to erase the stricken expression from her face. “I understand you meant well, but what you did was wrong too. I might have thought I loved Jeb, but I didn’t. It was nothing like how I feel for Bach. Sometimes, you just know.”

  Serafina looked like she wanted to argue, but after looking at Liam, she nodded instead. “Yeah, sometimes you do.”

  “I’m still not sure though. It’s a lot to take in, and knowing what he’s capable of scares me.”

  “Did he threaten you?” asked Serafina, clearly switching into mother-bear mode.

  She shook her head. “I’m not afraid of him ever hurting me, but I’m afraid of what it says about me if I can overlook what he’s done.”

  Liam leaned a bit closer to her, putting his arm around his girlfriend in the process. “I think you’re looking at this from your perspective, rather than from Bach’s point-of-view. He’s a demon, and they have a different regard for life, especially human life. Things are more black-and-white in their world. You might not approve of what he did, and I don’t either, but it’s a reasonable action in his world. His realm is different from ours, and it’s perhaps unfair to judge him for being what he is instead of what he did. I think the most important question you can ask yourself is would you be happier with or without him, even knowing what he is? When you answer that, you’ll know how to proceed.”

  Naiya was too stunned by his words to respond, but Serafina wasn’t. She gave him a small smile. “I can really see your negotiation affinity shining through here, love. You’ve almost convinced me I’ve misjudged him.”

  Liam looked faintly embarrassed. “Maybe you have. Maybe we all have. He’ll always be a demon, but loving someone else can also temper his natural tendencies, and while Naiya shouldn’t expect him to change for her, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that loving someone like your sister, who’s moved by compassion and healing, will soften Bach’s outlook and lead him to be more compassionate.”

  Serafina looked skeptical, but Naiya clung to the hope. “How do I find him then? I told him I didn’t want to see him again, and I sent him away.

  Serafina and Liam shared a look before they both said the same word at the same time. “Bokeem.”

  “What’s Bokeem?”

  “Who,” said Serafina with a small smile as she took her hand.

  In a flash, they had transported from her apartment and into the middle of a magic shop. Naiya recognized it as such from the discordant types of magic all sharing the space, albeit seemingly in a grudging fashion. A dark-skinned man appeared, towering over her since he had to be at least seven feet tall. His intimidating air faded slightly when he gave her a welcoming smile, though power radiated from him. He must be a powerful witch to keep the balance of varying magical items in the shop in check and reasonably harmonious.

  “Hello, Liam,” said the man who she guessed was Bokeem. “More scrying?”

  “How did you guess?” asked Serafina after Liam had greeted the other man.

  “It’s the only time you come to see me, burning fire witch.”

  Naiya was shocked when Serafina actually blushed. Her oldest sister was usually so poised and confident, even when blisteringly angry, that it was surprising to see her undone in such a fashion by a few words.

  “Who do you seek this time, old friend?” he asked Liam.

  “Bach,” said Serafina with just the slightest hint of distaste.

  Bokeem frowned. “How can that be? I was certain you’d settled your issues with him and severed the link?” He shook his head.

  “I’m looking for him,” said Naiya quietly.

  He turned to her. “And you are?”

  “His…girlfriend.” It seemed like such a tepid word for what she had with Bach—or what she’d had until tonight—but it was technically correct. She could think of no more accurate descriptor. No one word could sum up how she felt for him, or how he made her feel.

  He looked intrigued, and his dark eyes gleamed. Already scant, the remainder of the sclera seemed to disappear as he contemplated his words. Did he have some demon in him too?

  “I’ll help you, water witch. Come with me to the spell room.”

  She followed behind him, pausing at the doorway. He put out a hand to wave it expansively at the room. “You may enter.”

  With a shiver of reaction at the raw power flowing through the room, she stepped inside his sacred space. It didn’t feel quite as sacred and personal as a typical spell room though, which was sanctified by a witch’s own blood and various protective spells. This had a commercial vibe, and she assumed Bokeem had a personal spell room somewhere—either here in the shop or at his residence.

  Liam and Serafina stood in the corner, staying out of the way as Bokeem laid out a paper map. Naiya sat at the table across from him when he gestured for her to do so.

  “Do you have something with his blood or essence?”

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

  He examined her for a moment before a small smile curved the edges of his lips. “Ah, but you do, water witch.”

  She titled her head. “What is it?”

  “His heart.” He gave the answer serenely as he reached for her hand. “I’ll need
your blood, but you’re bound to him in a way that should make it easy to find him.”

  She looked away as he pricked her finger with a device that looked identical to one used by diabetics and nurses at the hospital. The sight of blood didn’t bother her, but she was still squeamish about having someone else poke her with a needle. It barely stung, and when she looked back, he’d already smeared her blood on a crystal. The semi-transparent clarity of the crystal indicated he was a water elemental, and the object seemed to almost disappear between his large hands when he picked it up and hovered over the map a moment later.

  He’d barely started to move his hands as he spoke the incantation before he set down the crystal. Bokeem met her gaze and shook his head. “He’s no longer in the city, water witch.”

  Disappointment welled. “Where is he? I need to find him.”

  “He’s gone home.”

  She shuddered, having an inkling. “You mean…?”

  Bokeem nodded. “Bach has gone back to Hell.”

  Naiya frowned. “I can’t go there.”

  He shook his head. “It wouldn’t be advisable. We can summon him here, but it requires powerful magic and permission.”

  “Permission? Whose?” Even as she asked, she knew the answer. Who else but the ruler of the realm? “What do I need to do?”

  “I’ll guide you.” His eyes glowed with silver flashes of light, and the sense of power in the room swelled beyond measure.

  As he took her hand before gesturing Serafina and Liam over to join them, she was glad Bokeem was on her side. She’d hate to be against him.

  Chapter 6

  “You look like one morose motherfucker,” said a familiar voice as a heavy hand clapped on Bach’s shoulder.

  He stiffened before shrugging off his boss’s hand and having another shot. “Can’t a demon drink in peace around here?”

  “It’s the best place in the realm to do so,” said Lucifer as he took a seat at the bar, not bothering to ask if Bach wanted company—which he didn’t.

  “What can I do for you, Luke?”

  Luke, as he preferred to be called, reached for the bottle of alcohol sitting near Bach’s elbow. The glass materialized in front of him, and he poured himself a shot before slamming it back. “Word has it you’re moping around the underworld like a teenage girl stood up on prom night. I thought I’d better check on you.”

  “How unexpectedly thoughtful,” said Bach with a hint of dryness. “What really brings you here, Luke?”

  Luke grinned at him. “I guess I wanted to see for myself if it was true. Did Urobach really fall for a witch, and she brought him to his knees? Is that really what happened, Bach?”

  Bach shrugged. There was no point in lying to his boss, since Lucifer was the most powerful demon in the realm, and he could have read the thoughts flowing through his head easily. He just shrugged. “I suppose.”

  “Instead of drinking yourself into a stupor here, why don’t you just pop back to the Earth dimension, snatch the little witch, and bring her back here? You can keep her locked in the highest tower in the castle. She’ll either give in or go crazy, but either way, she’ll be yours. If you’re too drunk, I can do it for you.”

  Bach was horrified by the suggestion, and he suspected it showed in his expression by the way Luke’s blue eyes seemed to flash almost purple for a minute as they gleamed with interest. “You can’t do that. I wouldn’t do that either. She doesn’t want to see me again, and that’s her right. Just let it go. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

  “So you’re giving up then?” asked Luke. He poured himself another shot as he waited for an answer.

  “I’m not giving up. I’m simply respecting her wishes. She doesn’t want to be with me after seeing what I’m capable of, and I have to accept that.”

  Luke surprised him by laughing. A moment later, he touched his shoulder. “I just wanted to know for myself before I allowed the spell to work.”

  “What spell?” asked Bach. Even as he phrased the question, a tingle started in him, and he recognized the familiar pull of teleportation. “What’s going on here?”

  “Consider this my wedding gift, and don’t feel the need to return anytime soon. You’re on indefinite leave.” His boss chuckled again, and then he disappeared as the magic whisked Bach away.

  * * *

  He landed in a strange magic shop, instantly recognizing the different harmonics of clashing magic interacting with each other. He looked around, confused by his abrupt arrival, until his gaze landed on Naiya, standing beside a tall black man with skin so dark he seemed to suck in all the light around him. Bach frowned. “What’s going on? Why am I here?”

  “You’re here because I’ve summoned you and bound you to me,” said Naiya. “I’ll release you after we’ve had a talk.”

  The black man looked down at Naiya. “Are you ready to be alone with him?”

  “Yes, Bokeem. Thank you for your scrying and help with the spell.”

  The man identified as Bokeem simply inclined his head, and then he teleported away, leaving them alone in what was obviously a commercial spell room. It didn’t have the cloistered feel of a witch’s own spell room, though Bokeem probably kept one nearby for his own personal use. It was a sacred area, and he wouldn’t have wanted his customers to enter his private spell room.

  Bach moved closer to her, but hesitantly. “Why am I here, Naiya?”

  “You’re here because I was impulsive when I sent you away. I didn’t really mean it, and I was reacting from fear. I wanted to talk to you, to run a theory by you and see if you think it’s sound.”

  He was feeling slightly mystified as he moved closer, taking a seat at the table across from her as she sat down. “What theory is that?” He was frankly discombobulated. Luke would have had to allow the spell to work in their realm, so his boss had been in on this, at least to an extent.

  After Naiya told him she didn’t want to see him again, he tried to respect that, but now he felt the first faint stirring of hope. Had she changed her mind? Was she giving him another chance? Fierce longing swept through him, and he vowed he would do whatever it took to convince her.

  “Serafina told me about how you came to be involved in our lives. I don’t approve of her actions, but I understand she was trying to protect me. I don’t necessarily need her protection, but she has a good heart, and she was just looking out for me.”

  He stifled a sigh, certain he could see where this was heading. Somehow, he had absorbed all the blame for Serafina seeking vengeance. The spark of hope he had felt started to dim and fade away. She’d likely just called him here to berate him and make it clear she didn’t want him to interfere in her life any further. He’d already planned to do that, so she could have just left him with the comfort of his bottle at the bar in the underworld.

  “I understand you were just doing the same for me as well.”

  He jerked in his chair, meeting her gaze and shocked to find acceptance there. “I was. He was a piece of work, and he deserved everything he got.” He couldn’t compromise on that, or pretend to feel remorse he didn’t for removing that scumbag from her realm. “I could tell you things about him, but I won’t. They would just sound like excuses and justification, and though he was a dark being, with evil at his core, I didn’t kill him to save other lives or improve the realm as a whole. I did it because he had hurt you, and I was jealous that he’d had part of your heart.”

  Her eyes softened, and it was a surprising reaction considering what he had just said. “I promise I won’t view it as justification. I do need to hear some of the bad things Jeb did though.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest as he shook his head. “No, you don’t. If you can’t accept my word for it, that’s fine, but you don’t need to hear the filthy details of what he has done. None of it is relevant. Even if he’d been a freaking choirboy aside from breaking your heart, I still would have torn him in half for that.”

  “Instead of turning him inside out?”
she asked in a surprisingly light tone.

  He nodded. “Either way, he would have been just as dead. Not because I was altruistic, but because I was angry with what he’d done to you. Do you understand the difference?”

  She nodded. “I do. I understand what you’re telling me, but I really want to know why the Negens…I mean the guardians…decided the world was better off without him. It’s simply for my own edification at this point. I promise not to use it to cast you into the light of a vigilante hero, or find it easier to forgive your actions,” she added with a hint of teasing.

  He scowled at her. “Fine. He was a horrible person, but probably the worst thing he did was molest his foster sister from the time she was seven until she was twelve. It only stopped because he moved out of the house to go to college. Even on Christmas breaks and other trips home, he was still seeking her out.”

  She gasped, looking horrified. “That’s terrible. No wonder they exonerated you.”

  He snorted. “The guardians weren’t in a position to exonerate me. Technically, they have jurisdiction over all realms, but only if Luke allows it in ours. They saw what they wanted to, which was the balance of light and dark weighed against the value of Jeb’s life. They didn’t consider why I did it. You must understand I did it for revenge for you, not to prevent him from continuing to torture the young woman in question, or keep him from drugging other dates, as he had done in the past. I didn’t do it to save anyone.”

  Her expression softened. “I get it. You don’t want me to see you as the good guy. You’re a demon, and a vengeance demon at that, so I have to remember you only acted out of revenge.”

  He nodded, both satisfied and dissatisfied with her words. It was what he was trying to transmit to her, but after hearing her say that, he realized he didn’t want her to necessarily believe them either. They were the truth, but he didn’t want her to think that that was all he was—just a vengeance demon, incapable of doing anything contrary to his nature or pursuing a new way.