Midnight's Jewel
Sabrina Rivers, an orphaned half witch and magical misfit, has been hidden from the world for almost a century by her Aunt Eleanor. Her only possession is a mysterious dark crystalline pendant she can’t remove. She knows nothing about its powers or purpose.
When mercenaries attempt to steal the pendant in broad daylight, Eleanor has no choice but to entrust Sabrina’s safety to vampire Brandon Thorpe, kingpin of Atlanta’s supernatural underworld. While Eleanor hunts the would-be assassins, Sabrina learns what it means to finally be free to live and to love, but freedom has a cost. Her sheltered life left her with a heavy burden and no way to protect herself.
Is Brandon’s love real or a ploy to get Midnight’s Jewel? Will what she doesn’t know about her past get both of them killed? Can he protect her from her enemies and his? What price will she have to pay for love?
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 47,743 words
MIDNIGHT’S JEWEL
J. Annas Walker
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
MIDNIGHT’S JEWEL
Copyright © 2013 by J. Annas Walker
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-273-9
First E-book Publication: February 2013
Cover design by Harris Channing
All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
My husband, Derrick, my sisters, Jennifer and Kate, and Aunt Rita have remained my faithful cheering section. Thanks, guys, for everything.
A special round of applause goes out to my cousin, Susie, for taking time out of her busy life to be there when I needed her.
MIDNIGHT’S JEWEL
J. ANNAS WALKER
Copyright © 2013
Prologue
Castle of Night, Dark Side of the Moon
“My Queen! The outer barriers have been breeched! The Army of Light will overtake the ramparts within the half hour. I implore you to move the Jewel to safety,” the captain of the guard begged. His heavy panting caused the small metal bits of his armor to make tinkling sounds. Blood from his shoulder plate dripped crimson on the pale-gray stone floor.
The tall, busty, olive-skinned woman smoothed a hand over her small waist and down her round hips. The thin, light-gray silk fabric flattened and accentuated her curves. Giving her head a light toss, the thick black braid moved off her shoulder to lie heavily along her spine from the nape of the neck to the swell of her buttocks. The tight silver circlet stayed firmly around her forehead. She turned to the window, looking out on a bright, blue-white orb glowing in the lunar sky.
If she left the Jewel in her castle, the Army of Light was sure to find it. The timing of the attack had been perfect. During the full moon, the reflected light touched one side of the battlements. It was meant to be a meeting point for light and dark. It was how the Jewel came to be in her possession in the first place. The Jewel was to be a universal balance, used neither for good or evil. It was to be a neutral point around which everything could find a happy medium. It would reunite the Gods and Goddesses of old. The balance of powers meant a united force. They could use the Jewel to return to their former glories. The prophecies had declared it an eon ago.
The Army of Light had sent soldiers rather than ambassadors this time. Diana’s Shadow Guard could not enter the light to repel the invaders. It was the first time in more than three millennia an attack had been mounted. No one was prepared. Her brother, Apollo, could not stop these fanatics who sought the destruction of darkness and those in its domain. Their belief that light could exist without the dark drove them to seek the destruction of the Jewel, the destruction of balance.
But where to send it? The blue-white orb in the distant sky filled more than the window. It filled her mind and gave her an idea. The Jewel could be hidden in the vastness of Earth. Her daughter, Aradia, was already condemned to wander its night sky as a spirit of darkness. It seemed too far away, too high a price, but the Jewel had to be protected, no matter the personal cost. She would be separated from them both. The Jewel was hope, and its protection paramount. No cost was too high. The Gods and Goddesses had waited too long for a way to return to Earth, to be worshiped on high once more. She had to send the Jewel away.
She squeezed her eyes tight in thought. She called to the Jewel’s guardian with her mind. Clashing swords and clanking shields could be heard in the courtyard below. The high-pitched shriek of terrified winged horses came from the stables. The castle was being set on fire! She was immortal. Nothing could destroy the Moon Goddess. The Jewel was another matter.
The door to her right crashed in, framing a tall, pale woman with a mane of long, flaming-red hair in the doorway. A quiver full of arrows and a bow strung across her chest were accented by the sword at her side. Her knee-length tunic left her arms bare, freeing her upper body movement. It had slits up the sides to allow ease of riding. The leather sandals laced to just below the tunic hem. Her bright-green eyes held a cold, fierce, calculating determination.
In
her hands were a shoulder pack of small, easily traded valuables and a dark-haired baby girl in rich black velvet studded with pearls and diamonds mimicking the night sky. Around the baby’s neck hung a heavy gold chain and an unusual gemstone. The elaborate pendant held a single black stone. As the firelight struck the facets, it seemed to hold the sun inside the dark crystalline structure. Rainbows danced on the girl’s alabaster skin.
“Eleanor, you will take the Jewel to Earth. It will be safest there for now. Avoid the Children of Lilith, if you can,” Diana, Queen of the Night, demanded. The feisty redhead nodded in assent.
The graceful queen laid one hand on the sleeping baby’s forehead. “With night’s blessing, I send you forth into the world. You carry a great burden, little one.” She pulled back her hand and turned away.
Diana held up her hands to a scrying mirror on the back wall. A swirl of black mist began circulating on the dark surface. The vortex it created moved out into the room. It yawned as if to suck in whatever was closest, but there was no wind. Eleanor stepped into it with her precious cargo and was gone.
“When she is ready, you will come home,” the queen’s voice whispered behind them.
Chapter 1
The bell above the tiny shop’s door tinkled bright and cheerful, announcing a visitor. Pausing for a moment, Sabrina Rivers checked her appearance in a mirror glued to the wall over the clunky wooden table in the store room.
Looking back was a woman of twenty-one, a far cry from her actual age of ninety-eight. The streaming sunlight gave her black hair silver-blue highlights. They made her pale skin seem matte white. Even the heat could not bring a rosy flush to her cheeks. Her large, liquid eyes were so dark some days even she couldn’t tell the iris from the pupil. Today was like that. Her aquiline nose and round chin gave her a distinctive Italian ethnic appeal. The unusual dark crystalline pendant set in gold she had worn every day of her life hung around her neck. Her boat-neck, solid-red top lay unwrinkled along her body. She could not see the loose white cotton skirt in the small mirror but smoothed her hands over it just in case. Nothing seemed to be out of place, save a trickle of sweat rolling down the side of her neck from behind her left ear. She pushed back the beaded curtain that separated the storage area from the main shop floor.
A well-built young man two years her junior smiled at her. His thin face held dark-hazel eyes framed with light-brown hair gelled into artfully arranged spikes. His teeth gleamed white and seemed slightly sharper than they should. He was just under five foot ten inches tall, still a good four inches taller than her. He was dressed as if an assistant in the trendy mall store had been putting together a display mannequin.
“Hi, Sabrina! I thought I would stop by and ask you to lunch,” Clay said. His eyes held a great deal of tension behind the grinning façade. Here the fear of rejection and hope of acceptance did battle.
“Oh, um, thank you, but I can’t today, Clay. Aunt Eleanor is gone. She went to Asheville. I’d love to go, really, but I’m stuck here until closing time. I appreciate the offer, though.” She did her best to be polite. There was no reason to hurt is feelings.
Clay Birch had been her best friend since childhood. They had spent the frigid winters sledding and sipping hot coca. Lazy summer days had been wiled away together in the many creeks and thick woods. She had never thought of him as just a boy. He was so much more. Lately, he had expressed a romantic interest. The thought gave Sabrina a shiver. It would have been like dating her brother. Besides, Eleanor would never have allowed it.
He took a deep breath and let it out slow. Anxiety oozed from him. She could almost taste it in the air. His fingers began tracing the edge of the glass display case of silver jewelry. He rolled his lower lip just enough to bite at it gently. His smile fell a little, but the tension remained.
“I thought you would say that,” he said. He took another deep breath but held it before letting it go. It seemed odd to see him so nervous. They had known each other for nearly a century.
“What if I go out for sandwiches? Would you let me eat in with you?” The sideways look was a boyish gesture. He used it almost as a substitute for the word please. It made him seem younger than his nineteen-year-old appearance. In reality, he was ninety-six. Fairies aged at a slower rate than witches but only by a small amount. Over long periods of time, the differences added up.
“Oh, all right. I’ll eat in with you. Get the usual and a sweet tea with lots of lemon. Just don’t tell Eleanor I let you behind the counter,” she agreed. She gave him a smile. The tension melted away as quick as a midspring snow. His cheeks flushed a bright hue. The cheerful façade became the real thing.
“I’ll be right back!” He sprinted out the door, giddy at her acceptance. Her stomach clenched at the scene. He was still hopeful she would change her mind. If she consented, they could never be as they were. If it did not work out, she would lose her best friend. Some things were better enjoyed as they were and not how people wished they could be. Besides, Eleanor would never have allowed it, period. Her aunt had never allowed dating and did not date, as a rule.
Shaking her head with her hands on her hips, she blew a lock of heavy black curls out of her face. It had escaped the dark-colored clip she used to pin her shoulder-length tresses back. She liked the clip. Its dark shade melted into her blue-black hair, giving it the appearance of holding itself up.
She had no choice but to bind it in some way. It was summer in the Plott Balsam Mountains of North Carolina. The hot, humid air felt like walking around in a steam bath every day between early May and late October. The stifling heat turned the tiny, old-fashioned shop into an oven every afternoon. The back window wasn’t large enough to allow for a proper-sized air-conditioning unit and the National Registry listing did not allow for modernization. Shades along the west-facing street side windows helped, but the greenhouse effect won out by 2:30 p.m. each day.
Sabrina went back to checking in the new shipment of herbs and crystals. She and her Aunt Eleanor owned a New Age supply shop in the small town of Sylva. Rows upon rows of glass jars with handwritten tags filled the shop’s main selling area’s walls. A display case held boxes of crystals, semiprecious gemstones, and jewelry. An antique scale sat beside a brass antiquated manual cash register on a wooden cabinet. Stick and cone incense took up the Peg-Board display in front. The small backroom held a table, a chair, the equally old-fashioned water closet, and a few boxes of supplies. The musty smell from the hot dried herbs filled the space with a thick, earthy scent.
The little bell gave another happy tinkle. Sabrina gave a huff. At this rate, she was never going to get the week’s shipment recorded and put away.
Sabrina reentered the sales floor. A tall man stood scanning the rows of herb jars. He didn’t acknowledge her attendance when she stepped back behind the nearest display case. He wore long cargo pants and a woodland camouflage hunting shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His heavy boots clunked on the wide-board wooden floor as he stepped. His dusty-blond hair was cut into a flattop. If she had seen this man out, she would never have guessed he needed anything from a New Age shop.
She asked in her best customer-friendly voice, “May I help you, sir?”
He looked around a few more seconds before responding. “Yes. I would like to see one of your larger sterling silver pieces in the jewelry case.” He pointed to a pendent shaped like a tree. The branches and root system held a number of colored stones ringed by a thin circle.
Sabrina sighed to herself. She had an allergy to silver. It burned her flesh the instant it touched. The other witches in the community often whispered behind her back. There was some debate as to the purity of her bloodline. Some whispered werewolf. Others said vampire. Still, a handful debated demon. Perhaps she was a day-walking Child of Lilith. All of them agreed it had to be something dark and dangerous. However, no one was brave enough to approach Eleanor about it.
Sabrina pulled out a shiny brass key from the register drawer and unlocked the glass case. S
he used a polishing cloth as a buffer between the pendant and her hand. She held it out to the man. He took it without touching her.
“Is it sterling silver? And how much are you asking?” He held it up as if he were inspecting the quality of workmanship. Sabrina noticed he looked through and around the delicate filigree at her.
“Yes. We only sell sterling silver pieces here. That one is $54.95 plus tax. I can order you something in pewter, if you would prefer.”
He said nothing. The longer he looked at her, the more uneasy she felt around this man. Everything about him was off. Sabrina wished deep down he would go away. Why did the weirdoes always have to come in when Eleanor was out?
“No. Thank you. I think I’ll shop around,” he said, still meeting her eyes.
She opened her cloth-covered hand to accept the piece back. Instead, he made it a deliberate point to drop the pendant onto her uncovered wrist. The reaction was intense. Light smoke and the burning started the instant it made contact. Instinctively, she jerked her hand back and gave a yelp. She watched the silver fall to the floor, charred where it had touched flesh. Her other hand clutched her burnt wrist. She opened her fingers to check the wound. The damage was already healing.
The man did not react. He stood by observing her. When she looked up, he was watching and grinning. His eyes were filled with a triumphant malice. The grin turned to a snarl. He jumped over the glass display case and grabbed her by the throat. He shoved her back against the shelves. Glass jars crashed to the floor all around them.
Midnight's Jewel (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 1
