Dangerous Lovers

by Becca Vincenza

  “Icing - a sweet glaze made of sugar, butter, water, and egg whites or milk, often flavored and cooked and used to cover or decorate baked goods, such as cakes or cookies.”

  Olly

  The pink cup slid across the counter toward me and I gave it a dubious stare.

  “What’s the matter, Olly?” Frankie taunted from the other side. “Is pink not your color?”

  I grinned. “You tell me,” I said and picked it up and took a drink. “Does it match my eyes,” I asked, batting them.

  “I knew you were gay,” she muttered.

  “That’s not what you said last night.” I wagged my eyebrows at her and a feeling of smugness came over me when her cheeks turned pink.

  “Olly, I’m at work,” she hissed.

  “Just like last night,” I drawled, pointedly looking behind the counter toward the floor where all the naughty events took place after closing.

  “That’s the last time I let you sample my new icing recipe.” She sniffed, her cheeks still pink.

  “Give me a cupcake, woman.”

  She gave me a surprised look. “You want a cupcake. Something filled with sugar?”

  “Someone once told me food should be enjoyed.”

  She reached in to pull out the Iced Princess’s signature cupcake. “Oh no you don’t,” I said. “I want one of your creations.”

  Her hand moved past the signature one and grabbed up a pink cupcake piled high with white frosting and sprinkles that looked like pearls. Frankie called it “The Marilyn.” She handed it over on a very pink plate and shooed me away from the counter. “You’re holding up my line.”

  I took the very girly cupcake, the pink plate, and the pink cup and went to sit at the empty pink table near the back. If a guy wasn’t careful, he might find himself turning into a pansy in this place.

  One bite of the cupcake and I forgot about all the pink. My God, she was good at baking. And she was right; food was a lot better when you actually enjoyed it.

  I could get used to this living thing.

  The chair across the table pulled out and Piper dropped herself into it. We regarded each other for long, silent moments. She was the first one to break the silence. “You bought this place for her,” she said. “She looks really happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen her.”

  I glanced over at Frankie. She was putting several cupcakes into a large pink box and she was laughing. “About what I did to you…” I said, not really knowing what to say. Apologizing seemed stupid, especially when I wasn’t really sorry. I’d been doing what I had to do. I knew I had to say something, though, because this was Frankie’s best friend, her family, and Frankie was, well… my life.

  Piper held up her hand. “That’s not what I want to talk about. That’s in the past.”

  “Then what?” I asked, setting the cupcake down and giving her my full attention.

  She took a deep breath. “Give me your hand.”

  “My—” I stopped because I knew exactly what she wanted to do. There was only one reason she would want to touch me.

  She wanted to see what my future entailed. She wanted to be guaranteed that I wasn’t going to do something awful to Frankie.

  I actually wanted to know too.

  Slowly, I stretched my hand across the table. She looked at it for long moments, no doubt deciding if this was really what she wanted. We both knew whatever she saw might not be good.

  I heard something clatter to the floor and we both looked. Frankie was staring at us with a pale face and round eyes.

  I was about to pull away, to change my mind, when her hand covered mine.

  Maybe I would get lucky and she wouldn’t have a vision. Maybe nothing would happen.

  I knew from the look on her face the instant a vision overwhelmed her.

  Her hand covered mine for several minutes and then she pulled away, her eyes coming back into focus and looking at me.

  I couldn’t read her. Her face was closed off, tight. I knew it was bad.

  I swallowed. “How bad is it?” Maybe there was a way to somehow change whatever she saw.

  Her face softened and a small smile played on her lips. “Well, that depends. How do you feel about kids?”

  Kids?

  I stared at her dumbly. Was she saying Frankie and I were going to have kids?

  She nodded. “With green eyes just like his daddy.”

  A boy. I was going to have a son.

  A huge grin broke over my face. It hurt my cheeks because I was positive I had never smiled so big in my entire life. After everything—after the fighting, the killing, the heartache—I was finally going to get a chance to live.

  And damn, living was so much better than death.

  The End

  About The Author

  Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series and the new adult Death Escorts series. Watch for her upcoming new adult series, the Take it Off series, debuting in late summer 2013. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com

  DARK WALTZ

  A Praestani Novel

  by

  A. M. Hargrove

  Dark Waltz 2nd Edition

  Copyright © 2014 A.M. Hargrove

  All Rights Reserved

  For more information about A.M. Hargrove and her upcoming book releases, please visit her at:

  www.amhargrove.com

  www.twitter.com/amhargrove1

  www.facebook.com/amhargroveauthor

  www.goodreads.com/amhargrove1

  You can contact her at annie@amhargrove.com

  Dark Waltz

  Music Written and composed by

  Matteo Saggese, Umberto Morasca and Frank Musker ©

  We are the lucky ones

  We shine like a thousand suns

  When all of the color runs together

  I’ll keep you company

  In one glorious harmony

  Waltzing with destiny forever

  Dance me into the night

  Underneath the moon shining so bright

  Turning me into the light

  Time dances whirling past

  I gaze through the looking glass

  And feel just beyond my grasp is heaven

  Sacred geometry

  Where movement is poetry

  Visions of you and me forever

  Dance me into the night

  Underneath the moon shining so bright

  Turning me into the light

  Let the dark waltz begin

  Oh let me wheel - let me spin

  Let it take me again

  Turning me into the light

  Chapter One

  The Planet Vesturon, 2030

  Sarah turned her head as she heard footsteps approach.

  “Well?” she asked the Guardian as he came to a halt in front of her.

  “I think you may have something here.”

  “Go on.”

  “I have accessed all of Thomas’ Guardian records via the official CompSys and they’ve been wiped clean. It’s as if your brother never existed.”

  “What? That’s impossible!” Sarah jumped to her feet and came nose to nose with Shandro Tellus.

  “Please Sarah, you need to remain calm. If you can’t, I’ll be compelled to use my Power of Tranquility on you. I, more than anyone, realize the disappearance of his documents is highly irregular.”

  “Don’t you dare use any of your Vesturion Powers on me, including Tranquility! I do not need to be lulled into a false sense of security right now. And you call this ‘irregular?’ You have got to be kidding me Shandro. People don’t just disappear
out of the CompSys. I knew it. I just knew it!” Sarah began pacing, her mind spinning with all sorts of horrific scenarios.

  Shandro reached out for her arm, but she snatched it out of his grasp.

  “So help me, Shandro. Don’t you dare put me under your spell! You damn Vesturions and your supernatural Powers,” she spat, giving him a nasty look. “For months I’ve had my suspicions but no one would give me any answers. I knew Tommy wouldn’t just disappear and not say anything to me. But why the cover-up? What do you think is going on?”

  Shandro shook his head and massaged the back of his neck.

  “I can’t say. I can’t even hazard a guess. Whatever it is, it goes all the way to the top.” He looked at me knowingly.

  “Are you saying, ‘The top,’ as in The Yarristers? Rowan Yarrister, and his sons, Rayn, Rykerian, Xarrid and Tesslar? The Great Leader, Rowan Yarrister, of the planet Vesturon, kind of top? The Leader of the Universal Free Rule kind of top?” The Universal Free Rule, or UFR, was the ruling entity of the universe, the one that maintained order and ensured freedom for all life forms everywhere.

  Sarah narrowed her eyes as she fumed, “What the hell are you trying to tell me Shandro? Are you saying that my brother-in-law, Rykerian’s family is involved in Tommy’s disappearance? And that my sister January probably knows something about this? Because if that’s the case, I’m marching my ass over there right now and we’re going to have a come to Jesus meeting over all of this!”

  “Calm down Sarah or I’m leaving here and not coming back. I’ve risked my position over this and possibly compromised the safety of several of the Guardians who report to me to get this information. If you confront your sister and her husband, this whole thing will blow up in our faces and we’ll never find out anything. Do you honestly think they will admit to knowing anything? Think about it! Use your bloody head!”

  Sarah fidgeted with the buttons on her jacket and realized Shandro had a valid point. As a Guardian of Vesturon himself, he had risked a great deal to help her. She had been to Rykerian and January’s several times over Tommy’s disappearance to no avail. What made her think they would tell her anything now?

  “You’re right...as usual. So what now?”

  Shandro was by her side in a flash. Of course, he was a Vesturion, and aside from being impossibly good looking, they had all sorts of supernatural Powers, one of them being Speed. Yeah, he was an alien and all, but he was a fine specimen of one, if she did say so herself. He put his hands on her shoulders and said, “Let me think about this for a day or so. See what I can come up with. Perhaps I can find something they didn’t wipe out. We know where he was before he disappeared. Maybe there’s a link to someone who saw him last.”

  He moved his fingers and lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. For as long as he could remember, he had loved her. She was his best friend’s sister, so he had said nothing, but had harbored his feelings in silence. It pained him to see her hurting the way she had been these last months. He knew how close Tommy and Sarah were. He would stop at nothing to help her find him.

  Sarah promised herself that she wasn’t going to cry. It was so hard to hold back all the tears, but when Shandro smiled at her she couldn’t help but smile back. She knew that what he felt for her was far deeper than what she felt for him. As much as she wished she could return those feelings she knew she would only ever love him as a brother.

  “So what’s next?” she asked.

  “Wait to hear back from me. I’ll let you know something as soon as I can. And please, say nothing to your sister or her husband. Not a word Sarah.”

  “Thanks Shandro. I know how you feel about Tommy. I know you miss him too.”

  Shandro nodded and walked away.

  ***

  Sarah replayed the last few months in her head. Her last conversation with Tommy had been normal. He was on Earth with his team of Guardians, where he’d been stationed for six months. They were trying to wrest Earth out of the hands of the Xanthians. Those nasty Xanthians…that parasitic species had ruined everything. Eighteen years ago they’d hired a team of terrorists and unleashed a deadly disease on humanity that had wiped out over sixty-five percent of the human population. Then the Xanthians had invaded Earth with the sole intention of assuming leadership and relocating their entire species there. They wanted Earth’s natural resources because they had depleted the ones on their home planet of Xantha. It hadn’t worked out exactly like they had planned, Sarah thought with a smirk.

  Many of the surviving humans had banded together to fight back and the rebels had gained ground, with the help of the Guardians of Vesturon. The Xanthians, not to be outdone, had enlisted the aid of several other unsavory species to combat the rebels, and war was still underway. Sarah had grave doubts of whether Earth would ever be returned to its rightful inhabitants again.

  She remembered the dirt hole that their dad dug under the house. She and Tommy lived in that hole with their parents until January and Rykerian had come and taken them to Vesturon. They’d been so young then, and it was such a scary time. They had very little food and water and they lived in fear that someone would discover their hiding place and try to kill them while they slept. That was eighteen years ago, but even now she had nightmares about those days.

  Where could Tommy be? Her mind kept replaying their last conversation for hints or clues of any kind. He said things had been busy lately with more fighting than usual. The Xanthians had several teams of mercenaries that were causing skirmishes everywhere, but nothing extraordinary.

  In a blazing moment of clarity, Sarah knew what she had to do.

  Her mission began to unfold in her mind. She knew that Shandro would fight her every step of the way, but if he didn’t assist her she would just find someone else who would.

  ***

  “You’re insane Sarah Liana St. Davis. And not just a little.”

  “Shandro, there is no other way. It’s a sound plan.”

  “Sound? What part of this plan has any semblance of ‘sound’ to it? It’s insane, exactly like you!”

  “It’s the only way. I have to go to Earth to find him.”

  “You have no idea what you are saying. You claim to have nightmares of the Earth you remember, but that was Eden compared to the Earth of today! I’m not exaggerating. It’s completely out of the question. If you go there, you’ll never come back here,” Shandro insisted.

  “You don’t seem to understand Shandro. That’s exactly the point. I go to find him or die trying. That’s what he means to me. The Tommy I know would do the same for me and you know damn well that’s the truth.”

  “Sarah,” Shandro said, his voice edged with pain, “the Thomas I know would gut me alive if he knew I consented to this ridiculous scheme of yours.”

  Sarah chewed her bottom lip before launching into her rebuttal. “It doesn’t matter what the Thomas you know would do because he’s not here to do anything, is he? Shandro, I have to do this. You, of all people, should understand this.” Her eyes darkened with pain as she pleaded with him for his understanding.

  He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt his belly clench. “Sweet Deity Sarah, the thought of you on Earth with all those barbarians, sickens me.”

  She stood before him and cupped his cheeks with her hands. “I know Shandro. But I can’t sit here anymore, thinking there might be something I could do. Please help me. You know he’s everything to me. I’d gladly give my life for his.”

  “He feels the same for you. He still bears great guilt you know.”

  Sarah nodded. “I wish he didn’t. We were stupid kids. Please help me Shandro.”

  “You know I will but I’ll do it against my better judgment. Sarah, I swear if you don’t come back to me alive, I will go down to Earth, hunt you down and make you pay somehow.”

  The corners of her mouth turned up in the barest hint of a smile as they began their preparations for her journey to Earth.

  Chapter Two

  Darkness fell quickly
on Vesturon this time of year. Sarah waited impatiently for Shandro near the space dock, but far enough away to avoid suspicion. They had repeatedly gone over every detail and by now she knew everything by heart and could recite it in her sleep. As of today, she would lose her identity. Shandro would supply her with her papers, identification and everything else she would need to travel inconspicuously to Earth.

  A shadow fell across her and she glanced up to see her co-conspirator. She’d always thought he looked dashing when he was in full uniform, and he did not disappoint tonight. Dressed in black from head to toe, including knee-high boots, Shandro was perfection that most women would die to get their hands on. She wished she were one of them. He was handsome in every way, from his dark hair to his smoldering eyes. It was unfortunate she never felt anything but brotherly affection for him.

  “Do you have everything?”

  He nodded as he handed her a packet. She opened it up to see the identifying documents she would need for passage once she arrived on Earth. It contained a scan of her fingerprints, along with her DNA and an imprinted pictogram of her retina scan. It also listed her as Liasare Davidson. She chuckled when she saw it; she thought it was a clever twist of her birth name, Sarah Liana St. Davis. Shandro wanted her to dye her hair, but Sarah hadn’t thought it necessary. It was a nondescript shade of brown and her eyes were your everyday average hazel, neither of them being extraordinary enough to draw attention. He actually agreed with her for a change.