Addictive Paranormal Reads Halloween Box Set

by Nana Malone

  Marcus frowned. ‘I cannae believe Constantine would sell you of all people blood products.’

  Ezekiel’s voice went silky soft. ‘Unlike you, Constantine is not troubled by political infighting but with the greater good and the containment of disease. Although he does have an unhealthy concern about the human population. However, I can’t put my physical appearance down to his products.’

  ‘I dinnae have time for riddles, Witch.’

  Ezekiel stood and paced to the door and back.

  Marcus had never seen him so agitated.

  He narrowed his eyes fractionally as the Witch stopped before him and simply stared.

  ‘It has to do with magic.’

  At that Marcus raised a brow.

  ‘If you’ve pissed off the dark side, what the fuck is my father supposed to do about it? There’s a good reason why it’s forbidden to tamper with hubble, bubble, toil and trouble.’

  Ezekiel sat opposite and closed his eyes, pressing his fingers into his eyelids in a way that told Marcus he was at the end of his tether.

  He opened his eyes and now Marcus read real fear.

  ‘Five days ago, within a matter of minutes, I lost over two hundred and fifty Legionaires.’

  Marcus blinked.

  He hadn’t heard of a battle. The Centuri used hit and run guerrilla tactics against Legionaires rather than full frontal assault.

  Before he could ask a question, Ezekiel continued, ‘We were training in the Gobi desert. A portal opened and… something came through. The punch of power was unlike anything I’ve ever felt or seen. I lost consciousness. When I came round, bones were all that was left of my Legion.’ He shuddered. ‘The portal began to dissipate. The thing stepped through to it’s own dimension. But then it turned and looked right at me and... smiled.’

  If something had the hots for Ezekiel and his motley crew then that was fine with Marcus.

  He barely managed to restrain himself from doing a bum boogie.

  Instead, he shrugged. ‘Can’t say I’m sorry to hear you had your ass kicked.’

  For an unremitting moment, Ezekiel simply stared at him.

  ‘It was a soul-eater.’

  Bullshit.

  Marcus stood and yawned with a big lazy stretch.

  He had no idea what game the Witch was playing but he wasn’t interested in fairy stories.

  ‘You know, you almost had me there.’

  ‘Anais saw it.’

  Now the bastard had his full attention.

  ‘What the fuck does that mean?’

  Ezekiel stood.

  ‘She was traumatized by the time she arrived here. I entered her mind to calm her.’ He took another breath and their eyes met. ‘You are a lucky man, Anais is very special.’

  Marcus didn’t like the tone of Ezekiel’s voice or the way his eyes went soft when the Witch talked about his woman.

  ‘Spit it out,’ he growled low in his throat.

  ‘Think of it like a computer download of a file. It was supposed to implant a sense of calm. I don’t know how she did it, but Anais entered my mind, my memories. Marcus, she imprinted too fast and saw too much before I closed her down.’

  Nausea roiled in his gut. Christ, Ezekiel was four hundred and twenty years old. He’d done things, seen things that... A cold sweat prickled on his top lip. His baby would never be able to cope with seeing, hearing, smelling, touching...

  Desperate to remain calm and not tear the bastard limb from limb, Marcus spoke very slowly and carefully,

  ‘Then you can just go back and wipe her memory clean.’

  Ezekiel shook his head and gave him a stare that drove Marcus fucking crazy.

  ‘She’s a ferociously clever woman with a big heart and an innocent soul.’

  Fisting his hands, which wanted to wrap themselves around the Witch’s neck, his Vampyre took over the discussion.

  ‘She is mine. If you have harmed her in any way, a soul-eater will be the least of your fucking worries.’

  Ezekiel took a deep breath. ‘She’s refusing to let me in and is asking for you.’

  Tricky son of a bitch. ‘So you want to do your woo woo stuff on me? Nice try.’

  ‘It’s a simple case of my hand placed on your head and the other on hers.’

  Marcus got up close and in his face.

  ‘So you can read my mind? Do I look fucking stupid to you?’

  An icy disdain entered Ezekiel’s dark eyes.

  ‘If you are afraid, we’ll have your Centuri and Saira ready to slice out my heart if anything goes wrong. The longer you leave Anais trapped in her mind, the harder it will be to bring her back,’ he warned in a low voice filled to the brim with frustration.

  Checkmate.

  Marcus didn’t trust the bastard further than he could spit him.

  But what choice did he have?

  He strode to the door and threw it open to find the medic still fussing over Anais.

  ‘Bring her in, Saira.’

  When Anais was laid on the low couch, Marcus lay next to her on his side and pulled her into his arms.

  Saira was not happy with the plan.

  But for once she didn’t argue.

  Her dark eyes flashed with fury and a deep anxiety that matched the emotions balling in his gut.

  Ezekiel knelt on the floor and placed his hand on Anais’s soft, fragrant hair. And Marcus thought he’d implode with an impotent rage.

  He closed his eyes, took a deep breath as a heavy hand was placed on his head.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Thirteen

  She stood among the dead.

  Under a scorching sun Anais stared out over the vast wasteland of the Gobi desert.

  The air crackled with a residual electrical charge. The scent forcibly reminding her of spent fireworks. Magic. Who’d have thought it had a smell or that the hair on her arms would stand to attention.

  So this was horror and terror - hundreds of leather clad skeletons turning to dust in the swirling desert wind.

  The remains of their bones bit her cheeks, stung her eyes.

  Her gaze was frozen to the spot where the portal had opened. A rip in the space-time continuum, whatever the hell that was. Flashes of information - alternative realities, parallel universes along with mathematical facts and researches now proved the science via experiments in the Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva. Physics, laws of nature and the universe all fought for dominion in her stunned brain.

  It was all too much.

  The too heavy weight of Ezekiel’s memories and of his pain, an agony that no being should ever endure, threatened to bring her to her knees.

  Her fingertips pressed hard into her skull and Anais wondered if this was what insanity felt like.

  ‘Anais,’ a voice she loved more than life itself, the tone a low, throaty growl, brought her back from the brink.

  She turned and there he was, Marcus.

  A river of tears flowed unheeded down her face as he caught her close to his big strong body. She did her level best to burrow inside his skin. If only this awful trembling of her bones would stop. She inhaled deeply. The scent of him was so familiar and real. By his presence alone he centred her reeling emotions.

  ‘Let’s get out of here, my wee darlin.’

  Still buried in his arms, she shook her head before lifting her face to his.

  Her eyes devoured his marvellous face, those high cheekbones, that strong jaw with the wide mouth and lips she knew she’d never get tired of kissing.

  His fierce eyes lasered into hers as again she shook her head.

  ‘Not until you see this.’

  She turned and with a wave of her hand, her mind downloaded Ezekiel’s memory of an event unseen in the history of humankind.

  In the giant ocean of the desert row upon row of Legionaires stood at attention.

  The rumble under their feet, the shaft of light was so bright it blinded for long seconds.

  Through Ezekiel’s eyes they watched, channelli
ng the emotions of his fascinated horror as he recognised the legend of an old tale, of an ancient terror, brought to life in front of his eyes. A soul-eater.

  The portal was wide and tall, at least the size of the Cathedral doors of The Immaculate Conception.

  The soul-eater that stood before the portal was almost seven feet tall with the heavily muscled body of a warrior dressed in some sort of metal armour. The bald skin of its head was parchment white. The eyes black, relentless, as they scanned the Vampyres.

  The being appeared to take a deep breath before it’s mouth went too wide with a silent scream. The energy blast was a physical punch of power that sent Ezekiel flying backwards through the air to land behind a crop of rocks. And that’s what probably saved his life.

  When Ezekiel struggled unsteadily to his feet, all his horrified gaze saw were the dead.

  The being’s mouth was even wider if that was possible and he watched with utter shock as the tortured, frantically struggling souls of each Legionaire were sucked into that dark maw.

  The portal began to dissipate and the being moved fast as the gateway to this reality began to break-up, reminding Anais and Marcus of a flickering television screen that was losing the picture.

  The being returned through the portal, turned again to survey the scene and saw Ezekiel watching... The soul-eater smiled. It was a warning, an ‘I’ll see you again’ rictus grin which poured ice into their veins.

  The earth beneath their feet shuddered with a thundering roar as the portal closed.

  Aftershocks continued as, eyes huge, Anais turned to Marcus.

  ‘What was that?’

  ‘According to Ezekiel, a soul-eater. The bogeyman come to life.’

  His narrowed eyes were still riveted to the spot where the portal had been.

  She recognised that face, the determination, the ruthless expression in those dark eyes.

  ‘Take me home, Marcus.’

  * * * * *

  Chapter Fourteen

  ‘Speak to me, Anais.’

  Back in the real world, Anais found herself lying on something soft.

  Inhaling the scents of candle wax, musty books, red wine, and the faintest trace of light human sweat. It came to her that this was the aroma of religion. She was in a church?

  Her eyelids felt glued together, but Anais forced them open to find Saira’s bright eyes peering into hers.

  Then the shivering began.

  Her chin trembled, her teeth chattered as her body temperature plunged.

  ‘Shit,’ hissed Saira. Her fangs sank into her wrist and she pressed the bloody wound to Anais’s lips. ‘She’s gone into shock and needs warmth and blood.’

  Marcus stripped off his coat and laid it on top of Anais before taking her in his arms and holding her tight as she fed. His scent on the leather soothed, as did his hand stroking her hair. Saira’s blood tasted warm and spicy with a peppery kick as Anais felt her organs drink it up like a sponge soaking water.

  ‘Not too much,’ Marcus muttered.

  Anais released Saira, sealing the wound with a gentle lick of her tongue.

  ‘Well done,’ the medic said and gave her a smile.

  A man came into her line of vision.

  He was tall, dark and incredibly handsome. She’d seen through his eyes, knew the intimate secrets of his heart and had felt the unrelenting agony in his soul.

  Ezekiel.

  Their eyes met and held for an endless moment.

  Aware that Marcus’s hold on her had tightened, Anais smiled and held out her hand.

  Ezekiel ignored her man’s growl of warning and knelt next to the couch.

  He took her fingers and bowed pressing them to his forehead.

  Saira’s hiss and the Marcus’s jolt told her the Witch had done something monumental.

  He lifted his head and stared deep into her eyes.

  ‘If ever you have need of my services, Anais. You have only to ask. My life is yours.’

  Without looking at Marcus he handed her hand to him, as if giving her to the Vampyre and Anais found her eyes filling as a lump the size of a fist in her throat made it impossible to swallow never mind speak.

  Ezekiel stood and eyed Marcus.

  ‘I must speak with your father.’

  The tension in Marcus’s body wound even tighter as he held her close to his heart.

  ‘Aye. I will speak with him and Cristophe. We might have a problem with Samuel.’

  The Witch simply gave him a bland stare.

  ‘He believes the sins of the father shall be visited upon the son.’

  ‘Even you cannae blame him for that.’

  ‘Perhaps not. We do not have time to waste. During each event, when a portal opens in our reality, magic leaks into this world. My powers increase as do Vampyre abilities. Nature demands a balance in all things. And the portals are impacting the earth’s polarity. Earthquakes follow, as do volcanic eruptions. Birds are falling from the sky. Mammals, thousands of fish are washed upon the shore. Drought, floods, famine and pestilence stalk humanity.’

  Marcus held her as if he’d never let her go as Anais sat upright and leaned against his chest feeling his strong heart thud against her.

  For the first time she was glad she was a Vampyre and not human because she knew now what the future might hold. That knowledge terrified her enough to devour her sanity but she refused to give in to it and live in fear.

  If anything the past days and hours had shown her she needed to grab what happiness when she could and live in the now.

  Marcus stood and pulled her to her feet.

  When she swayed he lifted her in his strong arms and held her as if she was the most precious thing in his universe.

  His voice was firm, resolute, as he spoke, ‘I will call you.’

  He nodded to Saira who opened the door to let him carry Anais into the Cathedral.

  ‘Saira,’ Ezekiel said in a soft voice as she moved to follow.

  With her hand on the handle, she turned her head and looked over her shoulder directly into his eyes.

  He read nothing but a pitiless loathing.

  What the hell, he had nothing to lose, so he spoke from the heart,

  ‘I miss you.’

  She didn’t blink but simply stared before she turned and left without once looking back.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Fifteen

  Anais awoke to find the bedroom in darkness.

  After sleeping, feeding and sleeping for two days she felt like a new woman, which indeed she was.

  She was alone.

  Her hand drifted across the crisp cotton sheets to find the indent of his head on the pillow.

  With a wide yawn, she sat and realised Marcus was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, unashamedly naked, simply watching her in the pale light of the moon.

  It should have creeped her out. Not so long ago it would have done.

  Instead she held out her hand.

  ‘Come here,’ she demanded in a tone that made his gorgeous mouth twitch.

  ‘He has feelings for you.’ His voice held no inflection.

  However, she picked up the jealousy vibe. It was bad of her, but she couldn’t help it, a little thrill of sheer lust curled low in her belly. Marcus was so attentive these days and she was getting used to him obeying her every whim.

  With a sigh, she realised he wasn’t coming back to bed until she’d answered him.

  So she relaxed back against the pillows.

  ‘Ezekiel does have feelings for me. Just not the ones you’re torturing yourself with.’

  ‘He’s in love,’ the Vampyre hissed.

  ‘He is,’ Anais admitted and bit down hard on her bottom lip when he growled, a low rumble deep in his chest which caused the abused chandelier in the ceiling to shudder and shake.

  ‘How fucking dare he?’ Marcus leapt to his feet.

  ‘But not with me,’ she continued as if he hadn’t spoken.

  He stood utterly still in the moonl
ight.

  ‘With whom?’ he demanded to know.

  She tsked tsked and shook her head.

  ‘That is none of your business and certainly none of mine.’

  Marcus launched himself on the bed and pinned her beneath him.

  ‘Anais, I am your bonded mate. You must obey me.’

  ‘We need to talk about the love, honour and obey part of the deal. I will not agree to obey you. Ever.’

  ‘But the marriage vows are sacred, darlin.’

  He sat and switched on the bedside light to stare deep into her eyes and read the terrible truth.

  If she’d slapped him he’d have been less stunned.

  It wasn’t often she saw him at a loss for words and Anais made the most of it.

  ‘This is the twenty-first century. Time to get with the programme, big boy. Either obey is removed or no marriage.’

  Blink, blink.

  ‘But what will my father say?’

  She shrugged and gave him big eyes.

  ‘Although I have the greatest respect for him, I’m not marrying your father and I don’t give a badger’s ass what he says.’

  He took a deep inhale and exhale.

  ‘Where did you pick up that phrase?’

  ‘Ian,’ she shot back with a belligerent jerk of the chin, dropping the Centuri Commander in excrement without a qualm.

  Why the fact she was being a naughty girl turned him on Marcus had no idea.

  But those flashing eyes, the insolent raise of her eyebrow and the challenge of that chin made his cock jerk and swell painfully fast.

  Her gaze didn’t miss the movement and she studied his growing erection with narrowed eyes as the pink tip of her tongue explored her top lip.

  His fingertips reached out to touch the back of her hand.

  Dark eyes held his as he stroked the soft, silky skin and he watched her pupils dilate with arousal.

  ‘I yearn for you, my wee darlin,’ he told her and tilted his pelvis once, twice.

  Her eyebrow twitched.

  ‘These days we call it a boner or a stiffy.’

  She was deliberately trying to annoy him and the disrespectful tone made his hand itch to spank her.

  His Vampyre’s hackles rose.