Once Upon A Midnight

by Stephanie Rowe

  “I don’t know many thirty or forty somethings who hang out in the library except for the occasional professor.”

  My jaw drops before I remember that I changed into my preferred flesh after the reaper’s sudden appearance.

  He mistakes my shock and says, “And sorry about the age thing; I’m terrible at guessing.”

  “Oh, um, no, I’m right around there,” I say in cover. Our eyes meet and a lifetime of kindness swims in the depths of his baby blues. There are no dark secrets lurking in the hidden recesses of his mind, no sinister intentions. He is nothing but hopes and dreams, idealism perfectly balanced with realism. His soul is the true mirror of Charlotte’s.

  I step back and take in the corporeal embodiment of his soul. His form is healthy and muscular, but not so much as to indicate he will put himself before her. Broad shoulders, a barrel chest, and strong arms leave me with images of her safely encased in his loving embrace. My eyes then travel to his face, which is open and warm. This is a man who will watch over her for me, someone who will love and protect her, not use and abuse her. Then everything clicks. He is my plan. He is the one who can hold onto her and keep her from the dangers of her friendship with the boy.

  The thought of handing her off to another, even someone worthy of her, cuts too deep, and my knees buckle. He catches me at the shoulders to keep me from collapsing on the ground.

  “I think you need a doctor.”

  I get my feet back under me and stand. “No, I’m good. It’s just been a stressful couple of weeks.”

  “Want to tell me about it?” he offers. “I’m told I’m a good listener.”

  I can’t help but chuckle. “Isn’t that a line more for the ladies?

  He laughs with me. “It works on them too, but I mean it.” And, I know that he does.

  “Well, before I spill all the secrets of my baby sister, Charlotte, I should probably get your name first.”

  “The name is Giles, Giles Grace.”

  Salvation, thy name is Giles.

  Chapter 23

  It’s hard to be with people and be happy…

  Being amongst humanity is work. Being happy amongst humanity requires dedication. Watching my happiness find hers in another requires sacrifice.

  The only lie I told to Giles Grace that day in the library was that of the nature of my relationship and affection for Charlotte. Everything else was truth: the innocence and purity of her soul, the depth and commitment of her love. I told him I was tired of seeing her throw her heart and soul away on the wrong men. I told him my baby sister deserved better.

  “And she’s a student here, I take it?” he asked with reined in interest. He continued after I nodded. “You got a picture?”

  I dug my wallet out of my back pocket and pulled out the one picture I still carried of us together from when I was Henry. “Who’s the guy?”

  “One of the tools she dated.” It was still truth, even though it was about myself. I didn’t truly care for her the way I should have. Oh, I loved her. I just didn’t take care to show her, as a man in love should.

  “She looks happy, though,” he countered, disrupting my reminiscing.

  “Aren’t they all in the beginning?”

  He nodded in understanding.

  “See, the problem, Giles, is that I’m getting called back to active duty and–”

  “And, you worry about some asshat coming along and sweeping her off her feet for two seconds before turning on her,” he finished for me.

  The connection I felt to this soul astounded me. I locked eyes with him, tapping into my power to give him just enough of a nudge to ensure that he would pursue her. “She needs a good man to look out for her.” My voice cracked on the words, but they had to be said.

  “Let me guess, she can’t know you orchestrated everything, right?”

  I nodded before whispering melodically, “Right. Oh, and Charlotte doesn’t have a brother. Now, you’re going to follow me to the Honors College to meet her after class, and the second we say good-bye, you will forget I ever existed.”

  We stood in silence and made our way across campus. Not a sound crossed our lips until she came out of the building. Just as she passed us, I whispered in Giles’ ear, “Good-bye,” then bumped him into her.

  I watched that initial meeting, committed the purity of it to memory. The way her eyes swept over his exterior reminded me of the way she once looked at me. For once, the memory of her love didn’t tear my heart to shreds. Seeing her smile again, the sparkle of life that came back into her eyes, made this sacrifice worth it.

  An intense heat erupted in my gut. I lifted my forearms to get a look at my palms, terrified that they’d be green and pulsing. There was a hint of the flames wafting from my skin. Charlotte stumbled and Giles caught her, but her color never changed.

  “I found a plan!” I gasp out in panic.

  “Another boy,” Reaper hissed on the wind, “that’s your solution?” I don’t turn in the direction of his voice. There is no reason to. There won’t be anything to see.

  Giles wrapped his arms around Charlotte’s waist and I hear him ask her, “Are you okay?”

  My skin began to glow a brighter green. “I’ll watch her. I’ll keep her from Wesley. She’ll take to this guy!” The whispered promises flowed through my lips as if set free from a dam.

  “She’s young,” the argument blew past my ears. “Young girls tend to change their minds often. How are you going to guarantee their fidelity? You’ve never been willing to influence her decisions.” A light chuckle seasoned his question.

  “Whatever it takes!” I exclaimed when our knees buckled.

  “Charlotte!” Giles cried out in concern. He was still holding her up.

  “Reaper, please!” I begged him not to kill her. I didn’t care what happened to me.

  “You better!” The breath of his bodiless command taunts me from the shadow. “Always.”

  I didn’t understand until a puff of green smoke wafted out the ground beneath Giles’ and Charlotte’s feet. My heart stopped with the fear that they would both disappear along with the smoke. However, when it cleared, they were both standing upright, starring happily into the eyes of the other.

  “That’s it?” I whispered, the wind sweeping the question off my lips the second it passed.

  “Who says that it’s over?” the reaper taunted me from the shadows. “You know it’s never over. Remember, I am here. I will always be here, and there are others. The bounty for your lives still stands. She holds the true power to tip the scales, though there is some argument on that. It truly would have been a mercy for you both to have me kill you.”

  I glance down at my letter as the memory fades. It is an expression of my love that I’m not brave enough to give her. Years have passed since I met Giles, and everything got back on track. He and Charlotte began a stable and safe love affair. Alyssa got a handle on the boy. Charlotte moved into an apartment with Paige. I lived in the one across the hall as Jaime in order to keep an eye on her. The reaper’s threat weighed heavily on my soul, and I refused to relieve myself of the duty as her champion. I prepared for death every day, knowing that it forever lurked in the shadows, eagerly waiting to seize her.

  My life was forever tied to Charlotte’s, from then until she takes her last breath. She captured me, though she never realized the true depths of my servitude.

  I am only alive through you, by your love and your faith. You gave me more than I ever deserved, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Take care, carissime.

  Yours forever,

  Charissimus

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  BEAR-I-LICIOUS COWBOY

  Copyright @ 2016 Jami Brumfield

  Proofreading and editing by Michele E. Gwynn

  Prologue

  TIME WORKED DIFFERENTLY FOR IMMORTALS. Days, weeks, months
, even years bleed into each other. Little things are taken for granted, and large things are blown out of proportion. It becomes a game, for most, to create drama and chaos. Aphrodite knew this about Ares, and yet, her heart wouldn’t listen to her mind. She still loved the man. Every moment they could find to spend together was one she cherished. Even tonight.

  “You look tired.” Ares began to massage her shoulders, alternating kisses with rubs, loosening the tension and working out the knots of the last month they had been apart. He had been on a mission in the Middle East. It seemed that was his headquarters lately. They only had the night before he would be heading back for another month. It wasn’t enough time.

  She leaned into his body, reveling in his strength and sexy form. The man was an addiction to her, one she had difficulty quitting. His touch sent shivers down her spine and desire vibrated out, filling her body like a cup of ambrosia, overflowing with passion that would need fulfillment soon. She turned in his arms and placed her head on his chest. “I am. Helping people find love in this day and age is so frustrating. It’s like love isn’t a desire anymore. Can you believe people enter into fake engagements just to avoid looking for love? Seriously? The divorce rate is almost forty-nine percent. Commitment isn’t important to people anymore. They simply walk away from love, assuming the grass is greener on the other side.” She sighed heavily. “It rarely is, but they believe, so they act.” She pounded her head softly into his granite chest. “I feel like giving up.”

  His hand travelled up and down her spine, pressing deep into her tissue to soothe the stressed out muscles, relieving aches and pains she didn’t realize she had, and igniting passion she needed to release. “I’m sorry.” His voice sounded preoccupied, and his sympathy was empty, but it didn’t stop the desire from rising in her loins.

  As hollow as the words were, it was really all he could say. He’d heard her complaints night after night for years. Her duties as the goddess of love were failing miserably, and the changing world around them made it harder. There was so much hate, it was heartbreaking. What she wouldn’t give for the return of the ‘60s and ‘70s, a little free love resurgence. Now that was her time!

  “There is so much hate today. How can I produce love when your blood-thirst for war creates hatred? You have to balance the scales, Ares. The world cannot continue like this, innocent people being killed for hateful agendas or common mistakes.” She pulled herself from his loving embrace and started pacing the penthouse suite. “It is not just about making love matches, it is also about people loving people, strangers spreading love to strangers. The world will self-destruct if it continues along this path.”

  “I can’t ask you to stop spreading love, just as you can’t ask me to stop spreading hate. It is in our natures. You know our powers mandate our actions.” Ares crossed his thick, muscled arms across his large chest. This, too, was a familiar argument between them. Centuries of fighting over their inherent natures was tiring.

  “I can ask you to let up a little bit.” She turned with an angry glare. “You don’t have to push these dangerous agendas so strongly.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s not about winning or losing, it is about balance, Ares.”

  “I can’t change the path that the world is traveling. I am not allowed to interfere in free will. You know this. I can help things along, but the hatred is fueled by their own teachings and desires.” He looked so strong, like a moving statue that magnetically pulled everyone in the room toward him. She loved him, despite his nature, his strength, his refusal to help balance the scales. She could feel her frustration subsiding. He was who he was. The world was full of people who made their own choices, and just because she wished love for them all, didn’t mean they’d appreciate it when they got it or would even seek it out. Other things seemed more important to people than love. It was heartbreaking, but she couldn’t change billions of people’s minds. They needed to come to the realization themselves.

  The knock on the door stopped her from continuing the conversation. She pulled her silk robe closed and tied it tight around her slender waist, thankful she had a moment to pull herself together before she continued their talk. She whipped the door open and came face to face with her uncle.

  “Hades, what brings you out of the underworld?”

  He brushed his way into the suite and grumbled, “The end of the world.”

  Aphrodite closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she closed the door and followed him into the open living room. The gods always had a way of exaggerating situations. She was sure his preaching of the end of days fell into that category. There was always some apocalyptic event on the horizon. For centuries they managed to avoid annihilation.

  Hades walked over to the wet bar and searched the drinks. Aphrodite pulled out her special stock and handed him an expensive bottle of Scotch that she saved for his visits.

  “Ah, wonderful, thank you.” He poured himself a drink. “Ares, would you like some?”

  Ares shook his head. “No.” He kept his voice calm and stature collected. They weren’t always on the best of terms, and it seemed this was one of those times.

  “Aphrodite?”

  “No. Why are you here, Hades?” She couldn’t keep the impatience out of her voice. She was in the middle of giving Ares a piece of her mind and she wanted to get back to the argument. Sooner or later she’d wear him down and get the help she needed, she hoped.

  Hades knocked back his Scotch and threw the crystal glass against the fireplace mantel. “Why am I here? Because you are failing at your work, and you are bringing about the end of days.”

  “What are you talking about?” She frowned.

  “The balance has shifted to a point that it may not be possible to repair.”

  “We were just discussing the balance between love and hate. I know we have a problem, and we’re in negotiations to fix it.” Aphrodite matched Hades stance by crossing her arms over her chest. This was getting infuriating. She narrowed her eyes at Ares. The words weren’t spoken, but the message was loud and clear in her glare.

  Hades laughed. “You are so naïve that it is almost funny, if it weren’t such a dire situation.” He snapped his fingers, and pictures of death and destruction appeared from the floor to ceiling windows that faced out to the New York skyline. Beaten, bloodied bodies. Adults slain across the streets. Children, filthy and crying in the alleys, hiding in the shadows. Riots. Murders. Massacres. Nuclear explosions. And then, nothing. All life gone; humans, the supernatural offspring of the Gods, even the plant life was scorched and barren. The earth was empty.

  Aphrodite gasped as her heart broke. “This all can’t be because love is dying.” She shook her head in denial.

  “It is. My seer has foreseen the apocalypse. She has outlined the destruction. This is only a taste of what is to come. Fires, looting, people killing people without remorse. People divided. This is all because of hate. It is happening now. If you don’t find a way to bring love back into the world, then we are all doomed.”

  Without speaking, both Aphrodite and Ares sat on the couch. The battle between love and hate was as old as time. In a way, it was what brought them together, made them fall in love, despite her marriage to Hephaestus. Their affair produced six children; four sons, Phobos, Eros, Deimos and Anteros, and two daughters, Harmonia and Adrestia. But none of that really mattered if their relationship was destined to be the end of humans’ and the Gods’ supernatural offspring.

  “It looks like Eros, Anteros, Harmonia, and I have some work to do,” Aphrodite proclaimed. It wasn’t like her to give up without a fight. “And until the balance is restored, you are not welcome here, Ares. I am sorry, but you must go.” She stood up and pointed toward the door.

  Ares nodded and left without a fight. She only hoped he would take some time to regroup and find a way to help her replenish love to the world, and eliminate some of the overpowering hate.

  “I suppose I better be going too.” Hades began to fade.


  “Wait, Uncle!”

  He reappeared. “Yes?”

  “I don’t know why you’re helping me, but thank you.”

  He nodded, “Just do your job,” then disappeared.

  Chapter One

  Ashlee

  GUILT GOBBLED ME UP FROM the inside out as I stared at the half eaten pint of double chocolate crunch ice cream I had just downed. ‘A moment on the lips and a lifetime on the hips.’ My mother’s condescending voice echoed in my mind, increasing the feelings of remorse and further pushing me into a downward spiral, next stop was depression station. I really needed to shock myself out of this state, and listening to my mother’s snappy retorts about my weight was not going to help me. Why do I let her still verbally beat me up? She was not a part of my life anymore, for good reason. She was the one responsible for my anorexia, which graduated to bulimia by the time I hit my twenties. It eventually put me into the hospital.

  Her negative crap pushed me over the brink, head-first into an abyss of depression which eventually aided in my divorce. Sure, I had some responsibility to take in the nastiness that had become my life, and I was taking it. I also had a duty to maintain my sanity, which was why she no longer had power over my thoughts.

  It was hard to overcome the programming my mother had instilled in me since birth, but with Callie’s help, and my determination to live a better life, I found my path. Unfortunately, that path was lonely and I resorted back to emotional eating from time to time. It was my comfort zone, one that still had a small level of power over me.

  When Penny called and told me she was getting married to the hot fireman she’d met three months ago, I located the pint of Ben and Jerry’s, and decided to have a few celebratory scoops of the delicious yumminess that I often referred to as my weakness. I was happy for Penny, truly I was, but her great news reminded me that I was still alone, and for the foreseeable future, had absolutely no dating prospects. Hence, the onslaught of emotional eating lately, which I will be regretting for the next two months. For the immediate future, I saw hours of time dedicated to running on the treadmill with very little results. Thinking about it threatened to put me back in the cyclone of sadness which would result in the other half of the pint being eaten so I shoved the box back in the freezer and snapped on my computer. I needed a distraction, and Friday night television was not going to hit the spot.