Vegas Bites

by Dunbar, Natalie; Glass, Seressia; Jeffries, J. M. ; Banks, L. A.

  Without another word, Simone turned her back on the other woman, effectively proving that she’d won the dominance fight. Holding up her transformed hand, she turned in a slow circle, waiting to see if someone else had something to say. To her bitter disappointment, no one wanted to challenge her.

  With a fluid, dance-like wave, she shifted her hand back to human. “Hey, weren’t we having a party?”

  The clan dispersed to go back to celebrating. Having shown her respect to her parents by showing up, Simone headed for the elevators. Solange started walking toward her, but Simone shook her head, waving her off. After three days, she still wasn’t ready to talk to her best friend about Kadim. She doubted she ever would.

  A swipe of her key card turned the elevator express, but on a sudden urge, she pressed the button for the main level. Within moments she stood in Kadim’s dressing room, needing to feel close to him.

  She hadn’t returned to the dressing room since her parents had found her sprawled on the floor, howling her head off. It had taken her another day to tell them everything. They’d canceled Kadim’s shows, spreading the word about a family emergency and offering a free night’s stay to the week’s ticket holders. She hadn’t been able to find it in herself to care, relying on her assistant and marketing to manage the crisis. How could she care about business when her heart had broken?

  She sank onto the couch, struggling against a fresh onslaught of tears. She’d had Kadim for a year, and hadn’t done anything about it. She’d fallen head over paws in love with him, in just a day. And in a day, she’d lost him.

  She’d tried calling for him, wishing for him, demanding, and cursing. Nothing had worked. She’d even gone to his house, a trip that had damn near killed her. If there was a way to get to him or make him hear her, she couldn’t find it.

  “I thought I would find you here.”

  Simone looked up, catching sight of her mother in the doorway.

  “I’m sorry, Mama,” she said, carefully wiping at her eyes. “I didn’t mean to mess up your party.”

  “What’s a clan party without a fight or four?” Esther Temple said, entering the room. “Besides, I’m surprised that you lasted as long as you did.”

  Simone picked at the fabric covering the couch. “I know we have so much to be thankful for right now, but I just didn’t feel like celebrating.”

  Esther sat beside her on the couch, reaching out to brush Simone’s bangs from her face in a gesture she’d done countless times over the decades. “The way you’re sitting here down in the jaws, someone would think you actually loved that Djinn of yours.”

  “I do love him,” she confessed, wrapping her arms around her mother’s waist. “I thought I loved Xavier, and it hurt when he died, but this… I’ve never felt like this before. I loved him, Mama. I loved him so much, but I didn’t tell him. And now he’s gone.”

  “It may not be forever,” Esther Temple said, her voice soothing. “He came to you once, he can show up again.” Simone shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she whispered, throat tight. “I think when I wished for his freedom, it sent him back to his homeland. I don’t know if he can come back. Besides, the wish turned my engagement ring to dust. That must mean he’s free of me, too.”

  “You don’t know that for sure. Miracles can happen when you least expect it.”

  Her mother draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “I do want you to know that I’m proud of you, for what you did. It’s the worst thing in the world to be owned by another person. I would rather die trying to be free than live as someone else’s property ever again.”

  “That’s what I was thinking of,” Simone said, curling her hands into fists. “I thought about what you and Dad went through, how you risked everything to be free and be together. I knew I couldn’t let Kadim go back to that horrible man. Nothing was worth that.”

  “Come back to the party, baby,” her mother urged her. “I think it’ll do you a world of good. We’ve got some beautifully aged steaks we can walk through a warm room.”

  “I’m not hungry, Mom. If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll just go for a drive. Clear my head. Heck, maybe I’ll even get another run in.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Esther said, making Simone think her mother knew exactly where she’d go. “Try to make it back for our big send-off tomorrow, okay?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  Simone watched her mother go, then sank back into the couch, closing her eyes. She had to find a way to get Kadim back. Somewhere, there had to be a book or scroll or whatever with instructions for calling up Djinn. Westwood couldn’t have plucked the information out of thin air. Surely, you had to call them before you could bind them.

  She’d go to Kadim’s, rip apart his office. If that didn’t pan out, she’d head to North Africa, to the Middle East, track down every magical being she could find. She’d find the right spell and call up Djinni after Djinni until the one she wanted actually showed.

  Kadim’s true name welled up in her mind, her thoughts, and she released it on a soul-heavy sigh. “I wish you were here with me, so I could tell you how much I love you.”

  “Finally.”

  Jerking her eyes open, Simone leapt to her feet, whirling around. Kadim stood in the center of the room, resplendent in a classic black tuxedo.

  She actually felt faint, hope and disbelief swirling inside her. “Is it really you?” He smiled at her. “If you don’t believe your human eyes, use your wolf’s nose.” She did, scenting the air. The current of air from the air conditioner brought her the scent of exotic spice, the whiff of smoke. “Kadim.” She clapped her hands over her mouth, choking back a sob. Her body jerked forward a step, then stopped. “Kadim.” He swooped down on her, wrapping his arms about her waist, lifting her off her feet. “Simone. Beautiful, brave Simone.”

  She threw her arms around his neck, drawing his scent into her lungs, nuzzling her cheek along his, reveling in his warmth. “You’re here. How are you here?”

  “Your last wish sent me back to the Djinn,” he explained. “Believe it or not, no one’s ever wished a Djinn free before. No one knew what to make of it. I wanted to come back, but the passageways I knew were all blocked. The only certain way I could return to you was if you wished for me out of love.”

  “You mean I could have made this wish three days ago?” Three days.” She’d wasted three agonizing days.

  He nuzzled her cheek, his arms locked securely about her, comforting. “You didn’t know, Simone, and I had no way to tell you. But I’m here now. And I intend to stay, if you want me, that is.”

  “If I want you? Of course I want you!”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.” He knelt in front of her, a velvet box in his hands. “Simone Temple, will you marry me?”

  She stared down at the box, tears fracturing her vision. “No.”

  His smile froze. “What?”

  “I said no.” She shook her head for emphasis, not caring about the tears running down her cheeks. “I wished you forever free of any attempts to bind you. The ring you gave me is gone. That means that we can’t be married.” The thought of watching him disappear again made her choke with grief.

  His gaze was like a caress. “Do you love me, Simone?”

  “So much,” she whispered, fighting back tears. “So much that I think it will kill me if you disappear again. I don’t need the ceremony, Kadim, I just need you.”

  “Then have me. Marry me.”

  “But the wish—”

  “Had a loophole,” he told her, his smile wide. “You wished me free of any attempts to bind me against my will. Marrying you is something I very much want to do. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, whether that’s two centuries or two millennia.”

  He opened the box, showed her the ring: a very large and very flawless ruby in a gold Etruscan-style band. “I didn’t lie to your parents when I said that I love you. I bought this ring for you, from the
money I made as a magician, because I want you to always remember that you are more precious to me than rubies. I built my house for you, because it’s a place we can both call home, where we can both run free.”

  With shaking fingers, he removed the ring from the box. “I thought being free was the only wish I’d ever want granted, but that’s not true. I wished for your love, and you’ve given me that. Now I have just one more wish, another wish that only you could grant: marry me. Bind our hearts and souls and lives together in love and magic. Will you grant me that wish, Simone?”

  She knelt in front of him. “Of course I will,” she choked out, tears streaming down her face. “On one condition.”

  “What condition is that?”

  “We get married tonight. Right now.”

  “But your parents—”

  “Will be happy for us. I stupidly lost you once, I’m not going to lose you again.” She managed a teary smile. “Besides, the next time I make love to you, I want to be your wife.”

  He slid the ring home on her finger, and she felt something blossom deep in her spirit. The smile he gave her fired her senses. “Did you know there’s a chapel just down the street? We can be there in ten minutes.”

  “I wish we could make it in five.”

  His laughter wrapped around her as securely as his arms. “As my lady commands.”

  Out of the Dark

  by Natalie Dunbar

  Acknowledgements

  I want to thank Parker Publishing for the opportunity to let my imagination run on this one. I also want to thank my husband and my boys for their love, patience, and support. I also want to thank the other authors in this anthology for sharing the journey with me.

  Chapter One

  The inherited ability to focus inwardly and cast out her awareness allowed Kellie to sometimes capture a little bit of what was to come. She concentrated. They’re coming for me. There was no time to escape.

  Her feet ached, and she was tired and sad that she had missed the chance to say goodbye. She’d spent all day shuffling back and forth between the hospital and the coroner’s office in search of Nana’s body and come up empty. In her heart of hearts, she wondered if the missing body had anything to do with what was going on outside.

  Waiting on the couch, Kellie Monroe shivered, despite the rising temperature in Nana’s suburban home on the outskirts of Las Vegas. She’d tried the phone, and it was out of order. Someone had cut the cables. Not someone, them. If only she’d charged the batteries on her cell phone.… She needed help, damn it! She hoped that someone in one of the other homes being ravaged had managed to call the police.

  Lit candles scattered the room from coffee tables to counters, pooling light, throwing shadows, and filling her nostrils with the soothing fragrance of lavender. The electricity was off again, and the generator didn’t seem to be working. With the eerie howls and screams she’d been hearing in the darkness outside the house, she knew better than to go out to check. No, she trusted her instincts and senses too much for that. If she died tonight, it would be because someone or something broke in and took her life. She was damned if she even thought of opening the door.

  Rotating a shoulder, she tried to loosen the muscles. Her body was strong and fit from her early years of studying and competing in gymnastics, and then moving on to tennis into her late teens, but she was no match for what threatened outside. Hopefully, the weapons Nana had left for her would even the odds.

  Once more, she made her rounds, checking every door and window, making sure they were locked. She idly wondered how long they would hold.

  A bead of sweat slipped down the side of her face. She stood at the edge of the window, fear, determination, and anger warring with common sense and making her crazy. She needed to see what was going on with her own eyes.

  The knob on the front door rattled. A shudder rippled through her as she grabbed the shotgun she’d loaded with the silver coated buckshot she’d found in Nana’s kitchen drawer. It wouldn’t kill, but it would maim or cripple the ravaging band of werewolves outside and make them think twice about attacking her.

  Nana never used guns, so Kellie was certain that the weapons had been left for her. Kellie didn’t know if it was it fate or destiny that her ex-boyfriend had been a gun enthusiast who had taught her a lot. Then there was the fact that she’d been dreaming of Nana and wolves for weeks now. Dear Lord, she wished she’d known that Nana was dying.

  She’d stuffed the automatic pistol in the waistband of her pants—it too, filled with silver bullets she’d found in the drawer. Then she added a little silver knife that had been handed down in her family for generations. If she went down, damn it, she was taking some of them with her.

  In a sudden explosion, the front door splintered. Wood slivers flew as the door disintegrated beneath the claws and weight of two enormous wolves with bark colored coats. Werewolves. They leaped into the entryway, sniffing the air, growling, and snapping viciously. In the candlelight, the medallions on gold chains around their thick necks glinted.

  Staring down the sight and pressing the trigger, Kellie wasted no time giving each a spray of the silver buckshot. They dropped and howled, writhing in pain on the ceramic tile floor in the front hall. Two wolves down. Another leaped forward. She shot it. Three. But for how long? They could recover fast.

  She was still trapped. How many were there? Not taking the time to reload, she dropped the shotgun and drew the .38. Several quick steps put her back to the wall.

  Gripping the gun with slippery fingers and training it on the opening, she focused, using a tentative combination of her awareness, her eyes, and her ears reminiscent of a scene from an action movie. Had she gone into attack mode? Kick-ass mode? Whatever it was, she was determined to survive.

  The growling thunder grew to a deafening level. Two more wolves, a steel gray and a black, burst into the room at near-lightning speed. Kellie squeezed the trigger. The rat-a-tat sound of the automatic filled the air as she fed them silver bullets. Two headshots and both fell dead to the floor.

  Sudden silence raised the hairs on the back of her neck. They were going to rush her. Kellie swallowed hard, mentally preparing herself. This was it. She turned to face the window on her left, split seconds before a huge caramel-coated wolf smashed it inward. Glass showered the room. She squinted against the sharp rain and prayed, wishing she’d thought to put on her safety glasses.

  Behind her, she heard the window on the right explode simultaneously. Gripping the pistol, she fired at the caramel-coated wolf leaping gracefully into her living room. One bullet caught it midair in the center of the forehead.

  Split seconds seemed to stretch into minutes. She had the satisfaction of seeing the caramel-colored wolf fall.

  A murderous growl erupted inches from her face.

  “Bitch! You’re going to pay for that!”

  The fact that she could understand the snarled words stunned her. Had she killed the alpha’s mate? Thick paws knocked her backward, the sharp nails ripping through the fuchsia silk of her blouse and the soft pecan colored flesh beneath it. Dropping the automatic, she fell onto the white carpet.

  Gasping for air, Kellie fumbled for the pistol. She found herself staring into the furious gray eyes of a wolf with a coat the color of tree bark. Her hands closed on carpet and air.

  His mournful howl cut through the air, sending tremors running through her.

  The heavy weight of the wolf landed on her, pressing her into the carpet. Intent on protecting her throat, she threw her arm up in a move she’d seen used against attacking dogs. Hot breath raised goose bumps on her arm, seconds before his sharp teeth sank in.

  Kellie screamed in pain and rage. She felt the delicate bones in her right wrist snap beneath the pressure of those powerful jaws. Sharp pain cut through her, making her dizzy with the need to get away. Was she going to be eaten alive? She’d heard stories of what the ravaging bands of werewolves could do, but never saw herself in the victim role. Even now, her le
ft hand punched and hit at the wolf with no visible effect.

  A rumbling sound vibrated through the wolf and carried through the room that was now filled with wolves. There were at least forty of them. Were they laughing at her?

  Instead of ripping her apart and feasting on the remains, he was taking his time and prolonging the pain. Was this her punishment for taking so many of them out? She felt his tongue against her injured flesh, licking and savoring her life’s blood. Elongated canines moved up her arm, sinking into new flesh.

  Gathering what was left of her wits and strength, she fumbled with the waistband of her pants, searching for the soft leather sheath that held the silver knife. She almost smiled when her fingers closed on it and drew the knife.

  Kellie tensed as the wolf bit into her shoulder. Sharp, excruciating pain, the likes of which she’d never known, pierced her body. Her ears rang. Shaking, she struggled frantically, knowing her life depended on getting away. Razor-sharp claws ripped burning shreds of agony from her shoulder to thigh. Horrible screams filled the room, shutting out all else. Stunned, it took precious seconds for her to realize that the screams were her own. Dear Lord, how can I live through this?

  The claws lifted once more.

  Gripping the silver knife in her palm, Kellie struck. She brought the knife up from her side to plunge it into the wolf’s chest. Blood splattered Kellie and the floor. Then she stared. What the hell? A flash of white lightning appeared around the edges of the place where the knife had gone in, growing and lighting the wolf from within. The wolf’s surprised howl of pain threatened to burst Kellie’s eardrums.

  Twisting and turning her body, she started to maneuver out from under him. His claws extended like fingers in an eerie blend of wolf and human. With a burst of savage energy, he reared up, grabbed her, and threw her across the room.

  Disoriented, Kellie sailed through the air, struggling to work her injured body to enable her to land on her feet. She was used to working with pain but this was beyond anything she’d imagined. In the middle of a somersault, her back hit the living room wall. Winded and stunned, she fell to the floor, trying to think of something to do when they came to finish her off.