Romancing the Paranormal

by Stephanie Rowe

  My skill improved over the next few minutes.

  It was a constant and endless stream of black giant slugs.

  I had planned to kill Carsen Banks and his evil, murdering wolves. I had trained for that … but this, this was something out of my league.

  I saw Banks and started for him. I concentrated on getting to him, and that was a mistake. A slug flew through the air at me. Its mistake.

  Kian sliced it in half.

  Another mistake. It didn’t die. Instead, it began to multiply. They were smaller slugs, but there were more.

  And the trouble was they just kept coming, unafraid, undeterred by what had happened, was happening, to their brethren. The slugs that were left just kept multiplying and charging us.

  “Don’t slice them,” I shouted to Tar and Kian.

  She laughed. “No shit!” Then she said, “Come on, witchy woman—use your magic. Burn them, just burn all of them in your sights.”

  Before I could, one of the gross things jumped and landed on my chest.

  ON MY CHEST!

  I screamed like a sissy.

  Cowardly, I know, but it was my gut reaction. I scream for spiders, snakes, and apparently giant slugs.

  Black slime dripped down over my chest as it dug its claws into my neck. At first I thought it was trying to hold on, but, no—it was trying to ooze its way into my pores and into me.

  All at once it released me and screeched with pain. Tara had burnt it until it was nothing but ash, catching some of my flesh in the process.

  “Hey!” I objected to the singeing pain.

  “You’ll heal.” She shrugged and laughed as she moved on to her next target.

  Here was the thing. We were winning in a sense, that sense being we were killing them one by one, sometimes, two by two, but the problem was they just kept coming.

  The damned slugs were multiplying faster than we could kill them.

  Watching them, I asked Kian, “Are they sentient? Are they thinking creatures?”

  “No, they are drones for something larger … and worse, much worse,” he answered.

  “What?”

  “This is new for me. I have heard of them—never before encountered them,” he answered and flicked his wrist, burning nearly twenty of the disgusting things.

  I was covered in black slime and searching the crowd of slugs for Banks when I finally found him.

  I moved at hyper-speed and knew instinctively what was about to happen. I had to plunge my blade into Banks before he managed—

  Satisfaction comes in many forms. I had some then—for a moment.

  I was on him, driving my silver blade into his heart, softly telling him, “For my parents, for my clan … for me!”

  If I had been hoping for closure, it was dashed in that moment.

  Banks’s body collapsed to the ground, but as I looked at it, I realized it was no more than a shell.

  Carsen Banks had already been dead.

  In his place was something else. A black slug larger, more evolved than all the rest, with an insect’s head and many arms and legs, writhed out of that body. It stood some six feet tall and made a sound that was a bellow—could it be laughter?

  I couldn’t help myself as I stepped back and away. I was shocked, horrified, and for a moment stunned.

  Kian put one hand on me. His other held his Death Weapon. He shoved me behind him. Tara came to stand beside him, and both of them kept me at their back.

  Right before our eyes that huge, slimy insect began to grow. I mean, it was already too big. By the time it was done, it was ten feet tall for sure, maybe more.

  I really wanted to puke.

  Antennae grew, curled, and adorned the black-red, scaly face. Cold insect eyes stared at us, and Kian said, “It looks like an insect, but it isn’t. It’s a demon with demon powers.”

  His shape was that of a male with an erection as large as a horse’s, and I gagged for a moment as I saw it look Tara over.

  Kian growled at the thing, “It is over, demon.”

  “I am Valmod of Orega. I am the vanguard leader. We shall not be defeated. We shall take over this realm for our own. We are conquerors.”

  “Are you?” Kian said and charged at him.

  The demon didn’t have super-speed, but apparently he was prepared with something else. He went invisible.

  “What?” I said.

  “He is near—I can smell him,” Tara said.

  Kian didn’t speak as he made a sudden lunge to the left.

  We heard a wail of pain, and once again the demon appeared. It went down to its knees and told us, “Do you think this is over? Even if I die, do you not know that more of my kind are ready to pick up where I left off?”

  “If that is true, we will be ready for them,” Kian told him.

  Then the demon did something that worried me. He laughed, and worse, he vanished.

  The next half hour saw us going about the business of disposing of bodies and cleansing the air around my family home.

  “Though Valmod was wounded,” Kian told us, “we can’t be sure he will die. Demons are tricky things.”

  “If he does die, do you think more demons will come?”

  “Don’t know, but if they do, we will be ready for them, love,” Kian said. “After we finish here, we’ll go see Queen Mab.”

  I sighed. I had accomplished what I had set out to do. I had honored my parents and my clan and destroyed Banks and the pack he had led on their murderous rampage. Was it what I wanted? How did I answer that even to myself? What I wanted was my family back. What I got was the satisfaction of knowing their killers had been destroyed.

  Kian put his arms around me and said, “For now, little love, it is over.”

  “I have a bad, bad feeling,” I answered.

  Tara laughed and said, “Witchy girl knows,” and then she laughed again.

  Epilogue

  KIAN, TRUE TO his word, shifted us to the Daoine Royal Palace, and we visited with the queen. I wasn’t sure what she thought about Kian choosing me as his mate, but her face looked stone-cold disapproving.

  Queen Mab eyed me and said, “Come here, hybrid child.”

  I did, bowing low just like Tara had taught me.

  The queen raised a brow, and her lips looked as though they wanted to smile. She said, “Rise and sit here with me.”

  I did and waited until she was ready to speak to me.

  She said, “Matters are dire. We Fae, Seelie and Daoine alike, are constantly fighting battles, and all traditions and rules no longer seem to apply. I am pleased to welcome you to Daoine as a treasured ally. Your skills have not finished growing in power.”

  Tara, who was sitting at her other side, then received a severe lecture that made me want to hide. Honestly, it was awful.

  Later, so much later, Kian took me to his private retreat in Daoine. How do I describe what a magical place that was? It was styled like a castle but really not much larger than a cottage and surrounded by exquisite landscaping. My mouth dropped open, and I don’t think it closed until he had me in his huge bed and in his arms.

  “Do ye like it here, love?” Kian asked as he stretched out beside me.

  “I like being with you,” I answered truthfully. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Faery.

  His hand moved to my breast as he bent his head to lick my nipple. He whispered hoarsely, “I have a fancy to fuck the hell out of ye here … in m’own bed. I have a fancy to fuck ye till ye can’t think, can’t say anything but m’name and then fuck ye some more. Do ye ken?”

  “I ken … so when do we get started?” I pushed myself against him, bucked for him, opened for him. All else was forgotten. The horrors had been put aside. There was only Kianet of the House of Hara, and, oh … hot damn, but he filled me. Oh, how he filled me.

  * * *

  Dreaming. It had to be a dream, I thought as I rolled over and spooned my Kian. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, and again there it was.

  The horror of what we
had just experienced played out in my mind’s eye. I stood over their dead bodies … dead … we had killed so many creatures … dead. Black, swirling clouds reached for me, and I fought them off.

  Carsen Banks was dead at my hands. Had he suffered enough? Tentacles slapped at my body, clawed tentacles, and I heard his screeching voice tell me I was no better than he. That wasn’t true. That isn’t true. It couldn’t be true.

  Valmod the demon reared its head. Evil, evil coming. Evil would always come.

  My witch whispered that Valmod lived and waited somewhere in the earth, gaining strength.

  I woke up. It was a dream—a nightmare. Valmod must be dead. But would more like him come?

  Not dead, my inner witch insisted.

  I snuggled against Kian, and for the moment that was all I needed to do. Tomorrow was another day, a thing my mom had always taught me.

  I hadn’t been able to bring her and my dad … our clan … back, but we had served their killers with justice. I was satisfied. For the moment, I was satisfied.

  * * *

  Valmod crawled into the earth and called on what was left of his powers. He needed to sleep and recoup his strength. He dreamed of the day he would find them … the hybrid and her Fae cohorts. He would take them unawares. He would use their bodies and discard them and then move on with his army to conquer the Human Realm. What delicious food they would be. But for now, he needed to sleep and heal.

  Look for Bray—Awakening, coming soon!

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  About Claudy Conn

  Claudy Conn, a native New Yorker, now lives with her husband, Bob; their wolf, Cherokee; and Cherokee’s son, Rocky Man, who weighs in presently at 190 pounds.

  She loves horses and riding and raised her ten-year-old gelding Southern Pride from the moment he was born. She also loves gardening, swimming, skiing, hiking, and travel—and of course, reading, writing, but no, she says, no arithmetic!

  To get her monthly news, her reviews for all her new paranormal romances, and excerpts, come on and visit her at her website: http://www.claudyconn.com

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  Return to Synopses

  FORBIDDEN HUNGER

  by

  Teresa Gabelman

  ‘LEE COUNTY WOLVES’

  FORBIDDEN HUNGER

  Copyright © 2015 Teresa Gabelman

  All rights reserved.

  The right of Teresa Gabelman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This is a work of fiction and any resemblance between the characters and persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Gabelman, Teresa (2015-25-3). FORBIDDEN HUNGER (LEE COUNTY WOLVES).

  Editor: Hot Tree Editing

  Photo: www.bigstockphoto.com

  Cover Art: Ron Gabelman

  www.teresagabelman.com

  www.facebook.com/pages/Teresa-Gabelman/191553587598342

  CHAPTER 1

  “My feet hurt, Janna,” Sam whined as they made their way down the steamy pavement.

  Biting her lip to stop from snapping at the six-year-old, who was very small for his age, Janna stopped and turned around. “It’s not far, Sam.” She smiled down at him. He was a cutie with his dark curly hair and deep brown eyes. “Just a few more miles.”

  “Why can’t we just run?” He frowned up at her. “We’re fast and could be there like…now.”

  “You know why we can’t run.” Janna sighed, turning back around, silently cursing her car that decided to break down right at the Welcome to Beattyville, Kentucky sign. Just her damn luck. “Now, suck it up, my tough little friend.”

  “What happens if they don’t let us in?” Leda, Sam’s sister, asked, her voice filled with worry. “I’m with Sam. I don’t think I can walk much further.”

  “You mean they might no…no…not want us?” Sam’s stutter was worse when he was scared or nervous.

  Janna stopped again but didn’t turn around. She closed her eyes tightly, asking for strength. Who she was asking, she didn’t know. Just like she didn’t know how she became responsible for a six and seventeen year old, but she was responsible and that was that.

  “You know what.” Janna knelt down, peering over her shoulder at Sam. “I think I have one more piggy back ride in me.”

  The smile that spread across Sam’s face made her grin. He turned toward his sister, and stuck out his tongue before running and jumping on Janna’s back, wrapping his small arms around her neck.

  “Punk.” Leda kicked a rock at him as he ran past.

  “You’re a punk,” he tossed back at her with a laugh.

  “We’re going to be fine, Leda,” Janna replied, trying to reassure the younger girl, but the hiss in her voice as she stood with Sam on her back made Leda frown.

  “Why don’t you let me run ahead?” Leda walked quickly beside her. “No one will see me. I’ll make sure of it.”

  “No, we can’t chance that.” Janna shook her head, shifting Sam on her back with a grunt. “I’m fine. I think that’s the road we take up ahead. We’re almost there.”

  “But you’re hurt.” Leda kept pace with Janna staring at her.

  “Did that man hurt you bad, Ja…Ja…Janna?” Sam used his arms against her throat to look around to her face, choking her.

  “Don’t choke me to death, Sam.” Janna used her hand to loosen his hold. “I’m fine. Now let’s get going before it goes dark on us.”

  The road sign she saw was the road they were looking for. Instantly, she became more alert. As they passed houses, people came out to stand on their porch, watching as they walked by. Janna used her peripheral vision without making full eye contact. It seemed as if they were heading into a town that time forgot.

  “Why are th…th…they staring at us, Janna?” Sam asked, his hold tightening again.

  “Because you’re so handsome,” she teased, trying to keep her voice calm. She hated bringing these kids into something that may be dangerous, but she had no choice. Not taking this chance could be even more dangerous.

  “Strangers aren’t welcome here,” a man shouted from his
porch. “You best turn around.”

  Janna, not missing a step, just kept going. Seeing three figures heading their way blocking the path on the road, she slowed, letting Sam slide down her back. “Leda, take your brother and get behind me.”

  Leda took Sam by the hand. “Who are they?”

  “The welcoming committee,” Janna replied, but her eyes never left the sight coming toward them. Two huge wolves with their heads low to the ground, their bright golden eyes shining in the dusk, slowly made their way toward them and that wasn’t even the most impressive sight she was seeing though. A man walked between the wolves. He was tall with broad shoulders barely contained in a white t-shirt. His faded jeans hugged his hips loosely, but tightened in spots she shouldn’t be looking at. Her eyes lowered to his feet to see he was barefoot. A low growl made her look up quickly, not sure if it was the man or wolves who made the noise. He also had deep golden eyes, matching the wolves’, but not as bright, and his hair was raven in color with messy waves that ran slightly past his shoulders. She felt her beast rise up inside her, taking full notice of the man, but she pushed it back. She feared the beast inside her. Her time was running out and this was her only hope.

  “Who are they?” Leda asked from behind her. “Is that who we’re looking for?”

  Janna noticed that everything had become quiet, not even the summer locusts were humming their comforting, yet annoying tune. The air was humid and close, making it hard to breathe. Sweat trickled from her forehead, down the side of her face only to disappear inside her shirt. She wanted more than anything to wipe the sweat away, but didn’t dare. Her focus was on the man and wolves in her path. Once they were close enough, she knew they weren’t out for an evening stroll, nor were they going to part to let them through. She had to look at it as another obstacle in her path, another problem in her life of complications.

  “You lost?” The man’s deep voice didn’t stop her steps.

  Shifting her eyes to look past him, she shook her head before bringing her eyes back to his. “No.”