Supernatural Seduction (Book 2 of the Coffin Girls Series)
Page 1
Supernatural Seduction (Book 2 of the Coffin Girls Series)
Title Page
Book 2 of The Coffin Girls Series
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
About The Author
Supernatural Seduction
Book 2 of The Coffin Girls Series
An Adult Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy
Aneesa Price
Edited by Mary-Nancy’s Eagle-Eye Editing
Copyright © 2013 Aneesa Price
Smashwords Edition
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Praise for Coffin Girls by Aneesa Price
“Coffin Girls is a fabulous beginning to what is going to be an excellent series and I can't recommend this book enough to anyone looking for a new read! I started this on Thursday night and finished Friday afternoon! It was so good I dreaded putting it away just so I could actually sleep!” ~ Reviewer, Carrie Perkins-Cunningham for Trudy and Friends Book Reviews
Praise for Finding Promise by Aneesa Price
“It is a romance, an adult romance at times… But one where the characters are human flawed and smart enough to know it. I loved the book for the fact that it is a real story. Not a romance disguised as a story. I can't wait to read more by this author.” ~ Reviewer and blogger, Wandah Panda of Book Mews and Tattle Tales
Praise for Ghost & Lovers by Aneesa Price
“The physical acts of making love in Ghost & Lovers are written so well I reread them twice and may look at them again in the future.” ~ Author and reviewer, Roy Murry
Praise for Home for Love by Aneesa Price
“She had a true gift when it comes to portraying life, friendship, love, and sorrow.” ~ M-NSmith, Reviewer and Blogger
Dedication
For Aaliyah, Zarah and Rashaad - with you I am unmasked and irrevocably loving and loved.
Acknowledgements
Thank you Mary-Nancy’s Eagle-Eye Editing for your accuracy and mad editing skills. Stephanie Nelson created a cover for this book that surpassed my expectations.
I have had much to be grateful for regarding the support I’ve received from authors I admire as a fan and consider as friends. My sincere gratitude for your generosity - Kelley Grealis, JD Nelson, CR Everett, Julie Cassar, AJ Lape and Christoph Fischer.
Thank you to the wonderful bloggers, readers, reviewers, and friends who so selfishly promote me as part of my street team. I would like to especially thank Alisa Jenkins, Carmen Ramirez Sanchez, Carrie Fort, Claire Taylor, Doris Orman, Jackie Cervantes, Jennifer Garrison Trevino, Jennifer Garrison Trevino, Jenny Bynum, Jessica Baker-Bridgers, Kelley Grealis, Krista Pruitt-Wallace, Layla Darnell, Mary-Anne Steyn, Melissa Williams Brown, Ronda Lynch, Sherry Boroto Cain, Sheri Kurtz, Sally Goodhall, Tiffeny Moore, and Trudy Powers.
Thank you to Heather Heslip Alexander for inspiring the character of Sylvain’s sister and to Krista Pruitt-Wallace for pushing me to give the Coffin Girls more bite and a helluva lot more kick.
A special shout out to the members of my Facebook fan club. Thank you to the readers who encourage me with their support. I am honored every time you read my work.
I hope you enjoy escaping to the magickal worlds of Papillion Plantation and the fae hollows in this book. I’ve added more steam, laced it with action, and finished it off with realizations and learning that only love can provide.
Yours in romance and reading,
Aneesa
Chapter 1
“No heartbeats. No smells. Just us. What’s going on?” V, black hair slicked back in a ponytail, eyes speculative, asked Anais.
They were in an alley between neglected buildings in the largely-abandoned Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The area had been a hive of activity until Katrina struck. Now it was characterized by desertion, buildings indistinguishable from each other, and lots conjoined by forests of ever-sprouting greenery. They heard the frequent cry of a domestic animal gone sad and wild or glimpsed the light of a ghost peaking at them from behind shattered windows. But, other than the noises of the natural and supernatural, there were no signs of man, human or otherwise.
“I’ve no idea,” replied Anais, leader of the Coffin Girls, as she crouched next to V behind the dumpster. “The tip-off gave this place, this time, and that’s it. Mr. Anon said to be ready to fight. I’m starting to think that Mr. Anon is the perp.” A human would be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of trees and plants asserting their presence from every possible surface – weeds as high as rooftops, shrubs sprouting oleander and lantana. It did not make visibility easy, unless you were a vampire, and being one, Anais could easily sweep the area for any forms of life, both human and supernatural.
“Something’s off,” V nodded in agreement, acknowledging the uneasy feeling that had settled in her gut. She caught a slithering movement to the side, tipped her head slightly in that direction, and hissed at the garter snake that passed by. The snake, sensing it was lower on the hierarchy, glided away. Comically, a chorus of similar sounds momentarily erupted as more reptiles decided to give the vampires a wide birth as quickly as possible. It wasn’t the snakes that were bugging her – although Anais had had to put up a few shields to feel calmer. What bugged her subconscious was that something extremely dangerous was about to happen. It was her mental Achtung! As a human, she'd often ignored her intuition. As a vampire and witch, she’d learned quickly, that it was a foolish thing to do.
“No shit, Sherlock,” Marie piped in as she crawled up behind them, her myriad of curls tucked in a black baseball cap. She’d come ready for action and was getting irritated by the wait. What’s more, the darned ghosts in the area were looking to get friendly with her. Somehow, her necromancy powers allowed her to not only see the spirits of the departed, but it acted like a magnet, pulling those who should have passed on towards her. Marie spotted a ghost waving frantically from a dilapidated neighboring roof top, trying to get her attention. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Guilt ate at her – she really should help them move on, which also meant that she’d need to begin her training. “Well, time for that later,” she thought, “we’ve a trouble-making supe to catch tonight.” Although trouble-making was a mild description for the darn supernatural being that was causing havoc in New Orleans.
“I’m not comfortable with this,” offered Anais. “This smells like an ambush. Let’s head back.”
“Wait,” Sophie sent a mental message to her fellow Coffin Girls. “I can’t see or hear any supes either, but there are strong feelings coming through. And, they’re getting stronger.”
“What feelings?” Anais sent back. Eyes, the same shade of chocolate as her hair gave their surroundings yet another once-over. “From where?”
“It’s weird,” Sophie, continued the telepathic exchange.
“You’re telling me,” mumbled Marie.
&
nbsp; V rolled her eyes and gave Marie a shove to shush.
With the glare Anais shot at them, they sobered up. “Carry on, Sophie.”
“The feelings are menacing, intent on harmful mischief, but at the core, they don’t feel evil. They’re excited."
“They?” inquired V.
“Yes,” Sophie replied, still communicating through their link, courtesy of their blood bond. Sophie concentrated on the emotions she felt and tried to pick out the different ‘flavors’ of each emotion. It was her way of clustering them. Her blonde hair, pulled back from her face into a ponytail, showed her pixie-like face scrunched up in concentration. The crease between her furrowed brows accentuated as she tried to feel the situation. “I can’t pick out different clusters. It’s like they’re all feeling in unison.”
“From which direction are they coming?” Anais asked.
“Middle of the alley,” Sophie replied.
“We thought, maybe it was our vantage point that was blocking us from seeing anything,” added Rose. “But, it sounds like you’re as blind to it as we are.”
“Yes,” replied Anais, still communicating telepathically, “and fighting blind is suicidal. I’m not putting you all in jeopardy.”
“Let’s just wait this out,” V interjected. “This is the first solid lead we’ve had the entire week.”
For the past week, New Orleans had been plagued by odder than usual occurrences. A woman had tried to kill her husband after accusing him of being a demon. A man had booked himself into a state mental institution. He claimed that whenever he entered his kitchen, blood poured down the walls and all the food in his refrigerator turned into human body parts. They were hacked and bloody, like a savagely torn buck at the mercy of hungry predators. Party-goers claimed to be possessed by spirits when their night-out supposedly turned violent. When the cops went to investigate the sites of the alleged violence, they found nothing. Naturally, the cops thought that the party-goers were on some kind of new drug and booked them anyway. In the last two days, hordes of children had begun to refuse to sleep. They were claiming that the boogie man was waiting for them under their beds. It was a sleep-deprived, grumbling, witch that sought assistance from Conall, the witch prince, and Anais’ fiancé. This, in turn, had involved them all. Plus, they really loved their hometown and it pissed them off that some supernatural force was playing with the locals. They’d searched the scenes of the incidences, used their magick to canvas the heavily populated areas of the city, and then, when they were about to bring out the magickal big guns, they received the tip-off. If the anonymous tip hadn’t led them to the alley, they would be back on the plantation, engaged in magick to try and stop it. The witch half that resided in them preferred the magick, but the vamp half liked the bloodiness of a good fight – sometimes the vamp won the draw.
“There’s nothing solid about this lead,” piped Marie. “Why the hell didn’t Mr. Frikkin Anon tell us more?” V grudgingly conceded with a nod.
“I can still feel them,” Sophie reminded her squabbling sisters, her voice dripping with disdain.
As if on cue, Rose blurted out, “Look. In the middle of the alley. What is that?”
“Dieu! Sophie, you were right. Now quickly, spit out what you’re getting from it.” Anais ordered, whilst keeping an eye on the portal that was forming in the middle of the alley. It glowed with an eerie light, started as a tiny spec, and then grew by the second into a round ball of silver light. “It’s a portal,” Anais observed. The rest nodded. It looked similar to the portal they used to enter the Bayou Fae Hollow. Unsheathing her solid silver sword, Anais checked but noticed that V and Marie were ready for battle also - guns and swords at the ready.
She was about to do a mental check with Rose and Sophie to see if they had their weapons ready, when a dreamy, Irish-laced, baritone voice interrupted her, “Anais, sorry we’re late.”
“Where are you?” Anais asked, courtesy of her own blood bond with Conall, her mate.
“Right here, love,” he replied from behind her. Anais glanced back and was rewarded with a smile from the handsome face marked with dark blue eyes and framed with shocking black hair. Here was her man, and fiancé--the one who turned her insides to mush.
“What’s going on?” Raulf, the alpha wolf asked, making his presence known.
V shot Raulf a look, noticing his eager anticipation for a battle. “Hungry, Raulf?” she asked, a brow quirking upwards in inquiry.
“You got it, cher,” he chuckled in response. V looked closer and noticed that his eyes had a feral light to them, belying his playfulness. That was their Raulf, she thought, and a seemingly charming rogue, but really, he was as fierce and loyal as any wolf was reputed to be.
“We’ve no idea what’s going on,” Anais answered Raulf’s original question, after she’d grabbed Conall’s hand and had given it a quick, reassuring squeeze.
“Where’s Niul?” asked Marie.
“On his way,” replied Raulf.
“Well,” quipped Sylvain, “the portal’s fully formed, but nothing’s coming out.”
“Sophie,” Anais sent out a mental call, “what are you picking up?”
“They’re contemplative,” Sophie responded, sounding like herself. “It's like they’re engaged in a game and enjoying it, but trying to figure out the next moves as they go along. They seem to think that they have the upper-hand.”
“I thought so,” Anais said, under her breath. Tightening her grip on her sword, she turned around swiftly (vamp speed, spurred by anger), and plunged the weapon into Conall’s heart.
xxx
“Sophie! Rose!” Niul’s called out, his strong Irish accent distinguishable. They both turned towards the direction of his voice and noticed his muscular stature moving towards them from behind. He didn’t engage in any pleasantries. “Come quickly,” he urged, his hands beckoning them. “Your sisters are being attacked by the stuff that came out of the portal! They need us!” He inclined his head in the direction where Anais and the rest were situated.
“Sure,” replied Sophie, sending a glance and a barely noticeable nod to Rose. Standing, from their crouching position, they flanked Niul. Rose put her hand on his shoulders and sent a blast of fire through her touch before both she and Sophie leapt away from the inflamed Niul.
Niul momentarily burned—yellow and orange, flames licking his muscular frame, as he stood, immobile. His immobility stopped Rose and Sophie. Fire was supposed to burn, hurt, and make you dance around while it did so, but the next instant, the flames were extinguished, and Niul stood with eyes, other than his own shooting promises of retribution at them.
“Now boo,” Miss Suzette’s voice boomed, “why did you have to go and try to hurt that nice young man?” Sophie and Rose did a double-take and noticed that ‘Niul’ no longer stood where he had been only moments ago. Instead, Miss Suzette had taken his place. Before they could react, an arm grabbed each of them, holding onto them with deathly intent. The arm that gripped each of them were the wide, mocha colored ones that belonged to their Cajun adoptive mamma.
xxx
“The guys are here,” Anais sent a message to Rose and Sophie. “But they’re fake. This must be the supes causing the havoc.”
“We know,” replied Sophie, struggling against the unnaturally strong grip ‘Miss Suzette’ had on her and Rose.
“Be careful,” Anais warned before signing out. She looked at the creature that had dared to assume the identity of her fiancé and had stupidly thought she wouldn’t know the difference. Anais scoffed at the now bloody version of 'Conall'. And, with her fingers, she taunted him, inviting him to attack. She was going to kill the fake fucker.
V and Marie made a grab for 'Sylvain' and 'Raulf', but the two took refuge in their powers. 'Sylvain' unleashed the tight reigns on his powers and illuminated the entire alley with the light coming from him. Unlike the Fae Princes’ light though, where anything it touched thrived, whatever this light touched began to decay. V did a quick inspectio
n of herself, her sisters, and caught Anais’ eye for a millisecond. Anais nodded at V, in relief, before blocking a blow from 'Conall'.
“The light isn’t impacting us. We’re not decaying,” V sent the message to Anais. “Must be because we’re halfway dead, or undead anyway.” Anais acknowledged the observation with a nod. Feeling more secure in the glaring light, V advanced towards 'Sylvain', the faux Fae Prince.
Raulf leapt away from Marie’s extended arms and shifted in mid-air, landing on the ground in front of her. Marie was now face to face with a full-fanged, menacing alpha. His canines were as long as the silver-coated dagger she'd grabbed off the strap around her thighs. Good, thought Marie, I’ll be giving you a taste of your own medicine.
'Conall', dead and bleeding, lay on the ground by Anais’ feet. Anais wiped the splatters of blood from her hands onto her pants, and prepared to help the others. Just as quickly as he'd died, though, another 'Conall' materialized in front of her. “What the fuck? Why won’t you just fucking die?” Anais belted out in frustration.