by Hati Bell
Kellsey nodded in sympathy. Vampires had the rank of a blood-slave in their world. Unless they were set free. Then they stood just a step above a troll. Unfortunately, said freedom wouldn’t be granted to Jo anytime soon. She wasn’t strong enough to make it on her own if Levi let her go. Any dhampir could just reel her in.
“That’s your second mistake,” Shay continued.
Jo sighed. “I can hardly change my mythos species, Shay.”
“Who said anything about changing your species? You’re the only vampire lucky enough to have Leviathan Callahan for a master. He’s a hybrid who doesn’t even look like a dhampir. Which means you don’t look like a vampire, either. Your date doesn’t have to know what you are.”
Her friend indeed didn’t look like a classic baby vampire with reddish eyes and chalky skin. The only things she suffered from were her fangs sometimes popping out at random.
“What if he asks?” Jolene asked. “I don’t like lying.”
Shay blinked and looked as if Jo had said something utterly stupid. “Eh, you don’t have to lie. Just keep your pretty mouth shut. Men like mysterious women. Use that to your advantage.”
“Dating isn’t my only problem,” Jo said. “I have to find a job. Something tells me that I’ll no longer be asked to throw my stepmother’s parties in Edinburgh.” She didn’t sound too sad at that thought.
“You could just start work at Seven,” Shay suggested. “You can start with bringing me a mojito.”
“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Jo said and looked questioningly at Kartal, who happened to be walking by.
He looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Um, actually, I’m not hiring….” When Kellsey kicked him under the table he swallowed his words. “Is Levi okay with that?” he stammered.
Jo looked surprised. “Are you telling me that I have to ask for his permission?”
“Yeah, Kartal. Please explain why my new friend with her ugly cardigans couldn’t work without Levi’s permission,” Shay said.
“Is it ’cause she’s a lass?” Kellsey asked just to heat things up. She had to contain her laughter at seeing Kartal’s facial expression. He looked as if he wanted to disappear in blue smoke.
“You can start tomorrow night,” he eventually ground out. After giving Shay a dirty look, he split.
Jo’s head suddenly shot up. They followed her gaze to the doorway, where Levi was standing–a silent reminder to Jo that it was dinnertime. He turned around and walked away, to the office in the back.
“Uh-oh,” Jo sighed and pushed away her glass. Then suddenly, as if someone had pumped steel into her spine, she grabbed Shay’s drink and drank it at one go.
“That’s more like it, duchess,” Shay cheered. “Though I’d be careful with challenging Levi.”
“What could he possibly do to me?” Jo asked, her eyes sparking rebelliously. “Make me drink his blood to show that he’s my lord and master and I’m just a lowly student?” She pretended to ponder that for a second. “Oh, wait, he already does that.”
“Don’t underestimate him,” Shay warned. “It’s Levi we’re talking about here. The last time someone was stupid enough to challenge him was during the Blood Games. That was one big… well, bloody fest.”
“Shay….” Kellsey said in a warning tone.
“What? She has to know who she’s dealing with. I haven’t even mentioned what he did to that alchemist who cut your hair to–”
Kellsey cleared her throat. “I think you’ve made your point.” She didn’t want to frighten Jo even more. Although, her friend seemed anything but afraid. Determined was a better word for the way she looked.
“Why should I be the only one who doesn’t get what she wants?” Jo said, and she snatched Kellsey’s drink, after which she got up, straightened her back, and followed Levi.
“Any idea what those two are doing behind the curtains?” Shay asked, sounding curious.
“Nope.”
“Tell me it’s something sexy with whips. If I can’t have Levi, I suppose Jo should enjoy him,” she said, sounding magnanimous.
“Eww, Shay,” Kellsey complained. The last thing she wanted to think about was her brother having sex. She’d once walked in on Riz and a few nymphs in the dungeon. That image was burned before her eyelids. If she’d been a human she’d have had to go into therapy.
“Did you know I named my vibrator after Levi?” Shay continued. “And I’m not the only one. I know this coven witches that….”
“Okay! Stop! That’s way too much info!” Kellsey groaned. “He’s only giving her his blood. You know baby vampires take daily blood from their master until they’re strong enough to walk in daylight again.” When exactly that day would arrive depended on the strength of the dhampir that had created them. Jo was Levi’s first creation, so nobody knew how long it would take before she could once again bathe in the sun. Of course, vampires didn’t do sunbathing. They always remained sensitive to sunlight, but after a century, Jo at least wouldn’t change into a pile of ash when exposed to it for too long.
Shay grinned. “Oh, I bet Levi is a hard master. Or maybe Jo is a bad student and he’ll spank her. Bad, bad Jo.”
Sometimes her friend was a real pain. Especially after a few cocktails. High time to change the subject. “Have ya heard from Conn yet?”
Shay’s face dropped. “Nope, not a peep. Not even when I sent him our secret booty call code.”
“Secret booty call code?”
“Three dots through WhatsApp,” Shay explained.
“Maybe he’s just very busy,” she said, to try to cheer her friend up.
“A werewolf who’s too busy for sex? I think not. Something’s up. Maybe he found his mate.” She shrugged. “He is an alpha, after all, so I guess it was bound to happen.”
That wasn’t entirely true. Kellsey knew alpha werewolves, some centuries old, who had never found their mate. There were werewolves among them who had given up on finding a mate and had taken a wife. “Maybe you shouldn’t give up just yet,” she said.
“Why? You know something I don’t?” Shay’s eyes narrowed. “You do realize that you can’t hide anything from me, don’t you? Especially not when chewing your bottom lip.”
Kellsey let go of her lip and pouted. “Fine. I may have heard that Kuno went to the Buchanan clan because Conn called for his help. It seems they have an epidemic.”
“I knew it!”
“You knew about their epidemic?” Kellsey asked surprised.
“No, I knew Conn wouldn’t turn down sex with me. Time to visit the Buchanans and give Conn… a hand.” She waved at Kartal, who stood behind the bar. “Close my tab. I’m leaving.” Two beats later she’d grabbed her purse and waltzed out the door. A young warlock who’d been mooning over her all night, rushed after her.
Kellsey shook her head. Shay was always chased by men who begged for a chance to lie beneath her stilettos.
She forgot about Shay and her sexual preferences the moment Leroy walked in.
He took her outside and lifted her on the hood of his Jeep.
“I like this position,” Kellsey said in a sultry voice. The backseat of Leroy’s car was still on her bucket list.
He gave her a grin filled with promises. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” she immediately said. Truth might be easier. After all, she wasn’t keeping any secrets from him anymore, but the amazon in her loved a challenge and would always choose a dare.
“I dare you to spend the rest of your life with me.”
“Well, that’s hardly a challenge,” she teased him. “But I accept your dare.”
He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. “Then let’s make it official, babe,” he said. “I’ve asked Shay to design our tattoos.”
Amazons didn’t cry; it went against the girl code. But Kellsey felt tears of happiness in the corners of her eyes when she saw their initials, intertwined and surrounded by the Callahan clan symbols.
“It’s beautiful,” she sai
d softly, and with a sigh of contentment, she leaned against his chest.
Life had never felt so good. She lay in the arms of her lion, and she had great brothers, a growing crew of rock chicks, and a Kraken. What more could an amazon wish for?
If you enjoyed The Amazon and the Beast,
you will love to read about the rest of the clan.
Next up:
Alpha & Helena
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www.HatiBell.com
Dear reader,
Thank you for reading the Amazon & the Beast. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As a new author I’d love to hear from you, either good or bad, so I’ll know what my readers like. If you would leave a review anywhere in digital space, I would highly appreciate it.
Rock on!
Hati
The Mythical List
Achilles:
The warrior of warriors. Possibly the greatest hero in mythology. He was the one guy you wanted to have in your army, because according to legend he could not be defeated in battle. He fought besides the Greeks in probably the most famous war in (ancient) history, the Trojan war.
Agamemnon:
Greek king. Famous from the Trojan war where he pissed of Achilles by stealing the hero’s slave. Also famous for returning from said war just to be murdered by his wife and her lover. Ouch.
Anubis:
Egyptian god of the dead and funerals. He looked like a jackal or wild dog.
Amazons:
Bad ass female warriors in Greek mythology. They worshiped Ares (god of war) and Artemis (goddess of the hunt). In the Iliad, they are mentioned as “those who go to war like men”. It is believed they lived in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).
Beowulf:
Epic hero of the Gates in Sweden.
Cupid:
Roman god of desire, (erotic) love and attraction. He carries two kinds of arrows: one with a golden point (filled with uncontrollable desire) and one with a blunt, lead tip (filled with aversion/hate).
Dhampirs:
In Balkan legend, a dhampir is the child of a vampire with a human. Their power is the same as a vampire’s, but without the thirst for blood and vulnerability to sunlight.
Duat:
The Egyptian underworld, the realm of the dead. It’s the place where souls are judged in the ritual known as ‘the Weighing of the heart’. The heart of the deceased was weighed by Anubis, who used a feather, representing Ma’at (the goddess of truth and justice). A heart heavier than her feather was rejected and eaten by a demon. Souls that were lighter than a feather passed the test and were allowed to travel toward the paradise Aaru.
The Fates:
The three female Greek gods of destiny and fate, also known as the Moirai. They weave the thread of destiny and basically control your life. When they snap your thread it’s over.
Fortuna:
Roman goddess of good fortune, chance, and luck.
Furies:
Greek goddesses of revenge. They especially torment people who have broken an oath, up until they drive them to madness.
Frost giants:
A race of giants that live in Jotunheim, which is one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology. They were the eternal enemies of the Aesir (who are basically the Norse version of the Olympian gods).
Gilgamesh:
Mythical hero king/demi-god from ancient Mesopotamia.
Hades:
Greek god of the underworld. It’s also the name of the underworld.
Harpy:
In Greek and Roman mythology a female monster that looked like a bird with the face of a human.
Hel:
Norse goddess of the underworld. Also known as Hella. She ruled over Helheim, the realm of the dead. She’s the daughter of the mischievous Loki. She was ditched into the ice cold underworld by Odin, just for being the daughter of Loki.
Hephaestus:
Greek god of blacksmiths, craftsmen, metals, fire, and volcanoes.
Hera:
Greek goddess of marriage, heaven, childbirth. Also known as the queen of the Olympian gods and protector of women. Famous for being the eternal jealous wife of Zeus, hellbent on exacting revenge on his many lovers.
Heraia:
A Festival held in the name of the Greek goddess Hera.
Hydra:
In Greek and Roman mythology a hydra was a snakelike water monster. Famous for growing another head - up to seven or nine - when you chopped its head of.
Ixion:
A king who made advances on Hera, which pissed off Zeus (pot, meet kettle). The thunder god bound Ixion to a wheel in Tartarus, on which he was whirled by winds through the air for all eternity.
Jotunheim:
In Norse mythology the land of the giants.
Kraken:
A legendary, gigantic sea monster.
Kumiho:
Fox shape shifter with nine tails. According to Korean legends, a fox that lives a thousand years turns into a kumiho.
Mjölnir:
The hammer of Thor. One of the most powerful weapons in Norse mythology. It was capable of leveling mountains.
Moloch:
The sun god of the Canaanites, sometimes associated with the Sumerian god Baal. In the 8th-6th century BC, firstborn children were sacrificed to him.
Nemean lion:
In Greek mythology a monster that lived in Nemea. He was killed by Herakles as his first labor. He couldn’t be killed by any mortal weapons because his golden skin was impervious to attack. Also his claws were sharper than any sword and could cut through any armor.
Neptune:
The Roman god of the sea and fresh water.
Odin:
Supreme Norse god. He was the god of war, healing, death, knowledge, poetry. He had two ravens that traveled the world and told them everything they heard and saw.
Onuris:
Egyptian god of war and creativity. Also known as Anhur.
Paris:
A Trojan prince. Famous for eloping with Helen of Troy and being the catalyst of the most famous war in (ancient) history. When he was asked to choose the most beautiful goddess-out of Hera, Athena and Aphrodite-he chose the latter. Aphrodite rewarded him with the most beautiful woman in the world, but in doing this Paris offended the other two goddesses. Not smart to piss off the goddess of war in favor of the goddess of love. The result was the complete destruction of Troy.
Satyr:
In Greek mythology, it was a follower of Dionysus that had goat-like features and was famous for his often permanent erection.
Selkie:
A sea creature from Scottish and Irish folklore.
Sirens:
In Greek mythology, sirens are dangerous creatures that live on an island and lure nearby sailors with their enchanting voices to shipwreck. Avoid at all costs.
Thor:
Norse god of thunder.
Zeus:
Supreme Greek god of the sky, weather, and thunder.
