Romancing the Paranormal

by Stephanie Rowe

  “The timing of the attack is interesting,” Raquel said as she rolled her neck and shuddered with the sheer amount of power she now held within her body.

  “Why do you say that?” Ethan asked as he armed himself with several more long swords. “Gage,” he instructed, “have the men and women get rid of their daggers and strap on more swords. Short blades are useless with the Trolls.”

  “Yes, Sire.” He bowed and left the room.

  “What did the Trolls ask for?” Raquel inquired as she slid a katana into a holster on her back.

  “Samuel and the one who dies,” Astrid said as she hooked several grenades to her belt. “They are stupid motherfuckers. We’re already dead.”

  “They want me,” Raquel said simply.

  Ethan froze and the rest of the occupants of the room looked around in confusion.

  “Why do you say that?” I demanded in frustration.

  Raquel exchanged a look with her brother and turned back to me. “I am the one who dies. I am the one they want.”

  “What the fuck does that mean? Tell me.”

  “I can’t,” she said.

  “You won’t,” I shot back.

  “She can and she will, but not now. Not here,” Ethan said. “There is no time for this bullshit.”

  “Correct,” Raquel said, avoiding my stare. “It’s odd that the Trolls would know.”

  “There is no way they could have that information,” Ethan said angrily. “Who knows?”

  “Our brothers and sisters, our father, Pam and Jean Paul,” she told him.

  Ethan’s eyes narrowed on Jean Paul. The bodyguard took several steps back, but held his head high. I stepped forward to kill him but stopped as Ethan held up his hand.

  “I would rather die than betray my Princess,” he said levelly. “It was not me.”

  “Bastard’s telling the truth,” Martha said as she ripped the tape from her mouth.

  “And how would you know that?” I demanded in a tone that made her cower.

  “It’s the damnedest fucking thing,” she croaked out. “Since I’ve become a bloodsucker I can tell when people are lying.”

  “She can and it sucks ass,” Jane volunteered. “I can’t cheat at cards anymore or give her the wrong change or have sex with her boyfriend or…”

  “Oh my Hell,” Astrid snapped. “First of all, you are asexual. I refuse to picture either of you getting it on with anything and second, if this is a joke you are both going to die violently today.”

  “No joke,” Jane said truthfully. “It’s real and it sucks donkey balls.”

  “True that,” Martha added, holding up her right hand.

  “Fine,” Ethan said. “But if it wasn’t Jean Paul, I have no idea who it could be. This makes no sense.”

  “While it would be helpful to know what the fuck you are discussing, I beg to differ about not knowing which family member could have revealed a secret,” I said tightly as I watched the realization hit. Raquel’s mystery was killing me, but she clearly didn’t want me to know. This ate at me viciously, but it was what it was.

  “No freakin’ way,” Astrid shouted as sparks flew wildly from her fingertips. “I am going to kill her this time. She is screwing with my child. Of course it would be lovely to know what she blabbered to the Trolls, but I’ll leave that for her to tell me when I torture her.”

  “Juliet?” Ethan asked as he went paler and shook with fury.

  “It has to be,” Raquel added with anger that made her skin sparkle.

  Juliet was the half sister of Ethan, Raquel and Astrid--complicated and bizarre, but what in our world wasn’t? Astrid and Juliet shared the same mother while Raquel, Ethan and Juliet shared the same father. Bottom line, Ethan and Raquel were blood related. Astrid and Ethan were not.

  Juliet had been the one who had changed Astrid into a Vampyre against her will. It was a fucked up plan of their mother’s to take over the world. It failed. However, Juliet had gotten away and now it appeared she was back with more deadly trouble. Her time in this world was getting short if I had anything to do with it.

  “The Trolls aren’t intelligent enough to summon Wraiths. She knows I can send them back to Hell so she came at sundown.”

  “Why does she want you and Samuel?” Ethan asked as he scanned the monitors again and studied a map of the grounds.

  “She wants Samuel because he’s a True Immortal and she wants my blood—all of it,” Raquel stated pragmatically. “She can only summon Wraiths. She would need to drain me to take my power so that she could banish them.”

  “She is so fucked up and so fucking dead,” Astrid muttered as she handed Samuel to Martha and Jane. “Take him to the Panic Room and lock the door. You open it for no one except me or Ethan. Take the Baby Demons too. They’ll kill anything that you can’t. Do not under any circumstances let Sammy nap. He can’t go walking in anyone’s dreams right now—too fucking dangerous. If we don’t come back to you by morning have the Baby Demons summon my Uncle Satan. He’ll know what to do.” Both Ethan and Astrid went to their son and hugged him tightly.

  “He’s a Dream Walker?” Raquel asked, shocked. “Impossible.”

  “Not impossible,” Astrid said wearily. “He’s a full-on, out of control magical nightmare.”

  “Yay me!” Samuel yelled as he pumped his little fists in the air.

  “Yep baby, yay you,” Astrid said as she hugged and kissed him again. “You be a good boy and I’ll get you a present when this clusterhump is over. Okay?”

  “A baboon?” he asked with wide eyes and a grin.

  “Um…sure,” she mumbled.

  Ethan’s gasp of shock made me smile despite the impending shit show we were about to walk into. I caught Raquel’s eyes and she giggled. For a moment I pretended what had passed between us hadn’t happened, but she turned away quickly and reality came roaring back.

  “If we’re going to do this we need to go now. My Princess has limited time,” Jean Paul said.

  “Until what?” I inquired coldly. “Until she has to go and destroy a few more lives elsewhere?”

  “Stop,” Ethan commanded harshly. “Leave the personal out. No room for distraction. If we all come out of this alive then we will have a sit down. Am I understood?”

  “Yes,” I said respectfully. He was correct. Loss of focus would be deadly.

  “The Trolls aren’t moving,” Astrid said as she studied the monitor. “Why are they all just standing on the perimeter?”

  “Because they’re inherently cowards,” Venus said as she stepped forward and took Astrid’s hand in hers. “They will wait for the Wraiths to weaken us and then attack.”

  “She’s correct,” Raquel said in a business-like tone. “Each time a Wraith goes through you it will drain some of your power. Everyone needs to keep moving constantly. It’s difficult for them to attack a moving target.”

  “I’ll communicate that to the generals,” Venus said as she raced from the room.

  Ethan typed into a handheld device that went directly to every Vampyre in the compound. “We will go out in three groups. We will exit the compound from all sides since we are surrounded. We will enter the battle in units separated by five-minute intervals. It’s best we don’t show all our troops at once. The second group will cloak themselves and try to get behind the Trolls so we can take them from both sides. The Wraiths are clustered to the north. Raquel, you will take the exit through the sunroom. Heathcliff and Jean Paul will go with you along with Astrid and me. Raquel will have to stand still to banish them, so make sure we are all a moving target around her to distract them,” Ethan instructed.

  “God damn it, we’re sending her out there to die,” I ground out through clenched teeth as I held on to my sanity by a thread.

  “We all may be walking out there to die,” Ethan stated calmly. “Raquel is our only chance of eliminating the Wraiths. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to go out fighting.”

  “That’s my hot, sexy Vampyre,” Astrid said wit
h a wide grin as she patted her grenades and checked her sword. “I’m ready to go kill some fugly bastards and rip an unwanted sibling from limb to limb.”

  “You’re hot when you’re bloodthirsty,” Ethan said as her laid a kiss on his mate that should have been in private.

  “I know. Right?” Astrid giggled and grabbed his ass.

  “If anyone gets their hands on Juliet, it would be best to take her alive,” Raquel said tersely. “I have quite a few questions for her.”

  “As do I,” Astrid said, going from giggly to deadly on a dime.

  “How long do you have, Raquel? Sundown is in about thirty minutes,” Ethan said to his sister.

  “Then I should have about forty-five minutes to an hour, give or take,” she replied.

  “Is that enough time?” I demanded, still not understanding what she was up against.

  “It will have to be, now won’t it?” she said cryptically.

  Again I was tempted beyond reason to snatch her up and lock her in the Panic Room with Samuel and the others, but that was a dream that would not come true—similar to all my dreams where Raquel was concerned. I shook off my dread and glanced around the room. Aside from my father and my sister, it was filled with the people I loved most. If we were going down, we were going down together.

  “Are we ready?” I asked in a clipped tone. My warrior side had taken over. I was ready for a fight and I had no plans to lose.

  “Yes,” Ethan said as he typed the final directives into the computer. “We are.”

  “Then let’s go have some fun,” I said as I led the way out of the room.

  ***

  The rolling hills around the compound were eerily quiet. Ten foot high Trolls stood as still as statues peppering the hills menacingly and the Wraiths looked like a swarm of bloody bees in the distance. They hovered around a lone figure with wild blonde hair and piercing red eyes.

  “Son of a bitch,” Astrid swore. “It is her.”

  Juliet’s arms were raised and her fangs were bared. She appeared to be deranged and ready to snap. She was clearly controlling the Wraiths. They moaned and screamed impatiently as they floated around her in a frenzy.

  “I’d say it’s nice to see you,” she yelled. “But it’s not.”

  Her laugh pierced the air and the wailing of the ghosts increased to deafening levels.

  “Jesus Christ, she’s a fucking nut bucket,” Astrid hissed.

  “She always was,” Raquel said as she watched her sister with disgust. “She used to steal my clothes and then burn them after she was done wearing them.”

  Oh my Hell,” Astrid griped. “I hear you. The hag stole my really expensive nail polish. She’s going down.”

  “Because she took your nail polish?” Ethan asked, completely confused.

  I had to admit I was a bit confused too.

  “No,” Astrid snapped. “Because she’s still trying to take what isn’t hers. She cannot have my baby or my sister-in-law. They are mine,” she yelled.

  “Got it,” I said as I put a calming hand on her shoulder. It would be a clusterfuck if Astrid started blowing up the hillside. It wouldn’t kill the Trolls or the Wraiths and it would make our job much more dangerous than it already was.

  “Heathcliff, you will talk to her. She’ll be more volatile and less reasonable with her blood relatives,” Ethan instructed under his breath.

  “You are kidding yourself if you think she’s going to be reasonable with anyone,” Raquel muttered. “She’s completely lost her shit. Look at her.”

  I had to agree with Raquel, but Ethan made a good point. She didn’t know me like she knew her family. I was an unknown to her. It might throw her.

  “What do you want?” I shouted up the hill as I stepped forward, making sure I’d blocked Raquel from her sightline.

  “And who are you?” she demanded shrilly. “You’re very pretty. Maybe we can spare you.”

  Raquel’s hiss of furious jealousy behind me was music to my ears, but the insanity in front of me was what I had to focus on.

  “My name is not of importance and I’m not that pretty close up. Are you here to negotiate or are your terms as we have heard?”

  “I like you,” she bellowed with a grunt of animalistic pleasure. She ran her hands over her body and cupped herself between her legs. It was all I could do not to turn away in disgust. Pissing her off right off the bat would not bode well.

  “Terms?” I shouted again, knowing she had none. However, treating her like a sane equal might help.

  “No terms,” she shrieked. “No negotiations. I want the baby and I want my sister. Now—or else everyone dies and I still get my sister and the baby.”

  The Trolls watched the insane woman with narrowed eyes. Were they a joined enemy or were we dealing with two separate factions?

  “No can do, Juliet,” Astrid shot back. “You don’t look like the motherly type and Raquel thinks you’re an assjacket.”

  “Love what you’ve done with your hair,” Juliet snarled. “The red streaks make you look like a whore.”

  “What the fuck?” Astrid stomped her foot and the ground beneath us shook. “How many different immortal whackjobs can call me a whore? I mean, I have plenty of faults, but loose morals are not one of them…I’m sorry guys, but I have to kill her.”

  “Fine by me,” Raquel hissed.

  “Not yet,” I said calmly. “Let her make her move. We don’t know if she’s controlling the Trolls too. If we keep her talking there’s more of a chance of taking the Trolls from behind.”

  “Mother humper,” Astrid complained. “I hate when you make sense.”

  “Getting bored up here,” Juliet screamed and began to pace in tight erratic circles. “Get the baby. I want the baby. And send that bitch Raquel up the hill before the sun goes down. I’m hungry.”

  The Trolls were grumbling and examining Juliet with detached hatred. Were they with her or against her? It really didn’t matter in the end because they definitely didn’t like us either.

  “How many Wraiths have you sent back to Hell at one time?” Ethan muttered to his sister as we all watched the deadly ghosts shimmer and shriek.

  “Ten.”

  “I will pretend I didn’t hear that,” I ground out as my stomach lurched. “That might have been a good fucking question to ask while we were still in the planning stages.”

  “I’m your best bet for getting out of here alive,” Raquel snapped. “Ten or a hundred—what does it matter? If I fail we die. If I try we might not.”

  She was correct and I was furious. I had no ability to help her or save her. It didn’t sit well with me—it went against everything I knew as a warrior.

  “Fine,” I growled. “What do you need? How can I help you?”

  “I need them to come closer. They need to be within twenty feet for me to banish them.”

  “Not a problem,” Astrid informed us. “Watch this.”

  “Hey, you skanky douchebag,” she shouted at Juliet. “You’re not getting anything except a visa to the bowels of Hell. You’re stupid and shortsighted and you look like you’ve gained about ten pounds. Your ass is huge.”

  The shriek from the hill was insanity personified. Juliet was coming unhinged and the Trolls began to tremble with rage. “I will kill you, you bitch,” she screamed at Astrid. “You are a worthless nothing. I should have eaten you when you were born.”

  “Now that’s just fucking gross,” Astrid said and then laughed, which sent Juliet into a psychotic break.

  “Enough,” one of the enormous Trolls bellowed.

  Trees bent and snapped at the root from the sheer volume of his voice. The Wraiths shot up into the air and tore at each other in confusion.

  “The woman is not in control here. We are. We will kill her for you if you give us the child. We don’t care about the one who dies. She means nothing to us. We have come for the child. He is our Savior. We will not harm him.”

  “Shut your ugly mouth, you filthy beast,” Juliet
screeched. “The baby is mine and so are the rest of them. We have a deal and you will abide by it.”

  “The baby is ours,” the Troll bellowed as smoke and fire blew from his nose. “You get the one who dies or you will die—violently.”

  “You stupid fucks,” Juliet roared. “The Wraiths can kill you too. You watch what you say or it will be your bloodbath.”

  Clearly a thin thread joined our foes. This was interesting.

  “Since when did people start showing up and thinking I would hand my child over?” Astrid demanded.

  “I’m afraid this is just the beginning,” Ethan said angrily.

  “Well, they’re smoking crack if they think this will be easy. And what in the Hell is Sammy supposed to save the Trolls from? Being butt ass fugly?” Astrid snapped. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but we might be safer if we lived in Hell. Satan would never put up with this bullshit.”

  “And neither will I,” Ethan said.

  “Shoot her with magic like you shot me in the ass. Piss her off enough to release the Wraiths. If the Troll kills her first, there’s no telling what the Wraiths will do,” I said urgently.

  “My fucking pleasure,” Astrid said with delight. “You ready, Raquel?”

  Raquel grabbed my arm and turned me to face her. She reached up and pulled my face to hers. With no wasted movement she kissed me like it was the last time she would ever do so and let me briefly into her mind. Her desire, love and need for me almost sent me to my knees. “If we don’t make it out of here, I needed to do that. If we do, this will go down as one of the most awkward moves I’ve ever made,” she said as she pushed me away.

  “Awkward works for me,” I muttered with a grin as I licked my lips to savor her taste.

  “Guys,” Astrid cut in. “We gotta kill some shit. You with me?”

  “Yep. Zap her ass,” Raquel hissed.

  And she did.

  And all Hell broke loose…

  Chapter 9

  “Move,” I shouted as the Wraiths expanded grotesquely and started their descent down the hill straight toward us. “Distract them from Raquel,” I commanded as we began to sprint with Vampyre speed around her.