Paranormal Word Series Box Set (Books 1-3 and Novella)

by CC Solomon

  “How do you feel?” he asked.

  “Amazing,” I replied. It was the truth. I felt as if I’d had the world’s best massage. My arms and legs felt limp but I was relaxed.

  He turned my face to him and kissed me again. “I love you.”

  “You better,” I cracked.

  Content, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

  One hour later, I awoke to a throbbing pain between my legs. I looked beneath my covers and saw that my inner thighs and pelvis area were already a mass of black and blue. I bent over and put on my jeans, wincing at the dull ache. I grabbed the rest of my clothes and hobbled to the bathroom, where I whispered a spell of healing. If Erik knew about the bruising, he’d have a fit and there was nothing he could do anyway.

  I hadn’t felt pain during and since I could heal myself, I figured I’d be okay. I walked out of the bathroom and found Erik awake and sitting on the edge of the bed.

  “Everything okay?” Erik asked with a grin on his face.

  I walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead. “Everything is wonderful.”

  “I just got a harassing call from your brother saying we’re supposed to be at Faith’s place right now, per your instructions. He mentioned something about CP time? What is that?”

  I rolled my eyes. “He’s right. I told everyone to meet and I lost track of time with you.”

  He gave me a cocky grin and wiggled his eyebrows. “Send them all home. We can catch up with them another time.”

  I shook my head. I really didn’t want to leave the apartment but if we didn’t see the others they’d just come here, led by my brother, and interrupt us anyway.

  I sighed. “We have to meet the others. There’s a lot to talk about,” I explained.

  Chapter 25

  Faith lived in a high-rise, one-bedroom apartment overlooking additional farm land beyond the steel wall.

  Upon seeing me at the door, Faith threw her hands in the air and cried out. “Yea!” she shouted before giving me a tight hug.

  And thus, the hugfest commenced. When I saw Charles, I actually started to cry.

  “Aww, sis, don’t cry. You’re gonna make me tear up and my tears are pink, which disturbs me on many levels,” he whispered as he wiped tears off my cheeks.

  I nodded and sniffled back my tears. Then I made the mistake of looking over at Mae, who was wiping away tears of her own, and I started to tear up again.

  “I need my hug,” Felix announced, standing behind Charles.

  Charles moved aside and Felix moved in to give me a great, big bear hug, lifting me off of the ground.

  I let out a yelp and he put me down. “Glad you’re back, Mina,” he said with a wide grin.

  I looked around at everyone and smiled. “It’s so damn good to see you all again,” I announced. I looked around again. “Where’s Lisa?”

  “She’s not one of us anymore, Mina,” Faith stated, sitting on the arm of her dark-brown couch.

  “She’s one of The Six,”

  “She sent you away for almost three months,” Felix chimed in.

  “And I’d like to know why.”

  “She’s back in Hagerstown,” Erik said, standing beside me.

  I shook my head. “Can we get her here? Please. I have to talk to her. Maybe we can work it all out.” I wasn’t really sure if we could, but if I was going to ask them to give Phillip a chance, I had to show that I could do the same for Lisa. Knowing that she was trying to bring me back helped. And I couldn’t forget how she, along with the others, had helped me in the fight back in Ireland as well as healing Phillip.

  Grace stood up. “I’ll go get her. I can get a witch to teleport me there,” she explained before heading out.

  “I feel like we need a list to go over all the things we need to talk about,” I said to the group.

  “Well, would you like some chocolate cake?” Mae asked. She came from the eat-in kitchen with a large piece of cake on a plate.

  I walked over and took the slice and fork she offered me with glee. I’d missed her cooking. Not so much what it did to my waistline, but I could indulge for a little while.

  “I think we should first talk about Phillip,” Mae stated as she took a seat at the glass dining room table which opened up to the living room.

  “Right,” I said, reluctantly putting the cake down on the table. “The big bad that’s coming had someone put a spell on him to make him go all psychopath. I did a spell to help with it, but it only worked up to a point. I’m not strong enough, yet. What I did do has seemed to make him better. He’s a different person.”

  “So, you want us to forgive him for all the shit he’s done?” Charles asked, leaning against a wall.

  I had to be careful of how I worded things. I was speaking to a crowd who hadn’t been through the last few months with me. They wouldn’t understand so easily. “I’m saying we have to look at things with an open mind. Something very bad is coming and we need help.”

  “He killed the man I loved,” Chelsea spat.

  I sat beside her at the dinette table and grabbed her hand. I didn’t want to downplay anything. What Phillip had done was monstrous. I could not imagine that Phillip being under a curse would make her change her feelings about him.

  “I’m not saying we have to be his friend or fully trust him. I’m saying let’s have a truce and see where things go from there.”

  “He’s going to want to be back in power and then he’s going to be his old self again,” Faith stated, anger simmering in her voice.

  I looked over to her from across the table. “He won’t go back to his old self. I won’t let that happen,” I replied with force.

  “For all we know, he could just be pretending. He’s no stranger to that. He could still be the man he was,” Erik said.

  “There are things you don’t know about him, sis,” Charles began.

  We heard a knock at the door and Faith rose to answer it. Moments later, Ed and Phillip appeared.

  I got up and did an introduction of Ed who greeted the solemn group, remaining by Phillip’s side.

  “I’ve filled them in on what happened to you but not everything,” I explained to Phillip.

  “Look,” Phillip began, stepping forward. “I know none of you are just going to accept me overnight. I’m only asking for a chance to atone for what I’ve done.”

  Before I could even see him rise, Charles raced across the room at vampiric speed and knocked Phillip to the ground, pummeling him with his fists. Ed reached down to pull him off but Charles knocked him back, either with his vampire strength or witch magic, I couldn’t tell. Charles moved in a blur.

  Ed fell back against Felix, who stopped him from falling to the floor.

  Charles continued to punch Phillip. No one else moved to stop him. Mae and Bill cried for him to stop but my brother was in his own zone. Phillip was barely fighting back. He could have stopped him with magic, yet he did not. At that this rate, Charles would kill him.

  “Stop it, Charles,” I shouted. I itched to use my powers to end the senseless beating but that would make me no better than how Phillip used to be. I would not abuse my powers and make anyone my puppet. “Please, Charles!”

  Charles slowed down his punches before stopping altogether and then got up. He looked over to me, baring his fangs in an eerie smile. “Only because you said please. And I’d like to know why you think he’s worth saving.”

  No one said a word. Ed moved to help Phillip to his feet. His face was bloody and Mae rushed to him with a napkin in her hands. With all of the paranormals in this room, Phillip could easily be healed. He took the napkin but politely waved Bill off when the med mage approached him for healing.

  “I know you don’t like him, but you assaulted him without provocation!” I shouted.

  Charles threw out his hands. “Really? How about for sentencing Felix to blindness, killing Chelsea’s boyfriend, and locking you up when you fought to defend Felix? And because he locked you up, I had to break you out
, which turned out to get me killed and turned into a vampire?”

  “So, you think you dying was Phillip’s fault? David was the one who stabbed you. Phillip tried to heal you. David would have come for me regardless of where I was.”

  “What did he do to you?” Chelsea said, face sorrowful.

  “Nothing, Chelsea. I’m just being reasonable.” I explained. I looked back to Charles. “We weren’t going to get anywhere if you continued to hit him, Charles. He wasn’t even fighting back.”

  “That fucking asshole must have you brainwashed,” Charles spat. “Got you thinking that he’s a victim in all of this. He’s not!”

  “I get it. No one is totally innocent here.”

  “Fine, if Phillip is your BFF now, did he tell you he’s also Blake’s consort?” Faith questioned. “They’ve probably been communicating with each other all this time.”

  My heart momentarily stopped at the shock. “What? Phillip, is that right?” I asked, turning to him.

  Phillip looked over to me, nodding his head. “Yes, Blake and I are consorts. We became so before the challenge. But she couldn’t help me anymore than your bond with Erik could when we were banished. I definitely couldn’t borrow powers, which, thanks for telling me about that,” he replied with a hurt look.

  I bit my lip, holding on to my anger. Suddenly, my trust in him started to waiver. This was not a good time for that, as I was currently trying to convince everyone to join forces with him for the greater good.

  “Guess you guys aren’t such BFFs,” Felix said in a loud whisper.

  “If we can’t kill him, then put him in a coma. Forever,” Faith stated. “There, that’s a way you can make it up to us.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Charles said.

  Ed spoke up. “Look, mates, I don’t know the lot of you, but from what I’m hearing Phil was a real shithead to put it mildly. I understand your positions but if you were under a spell, would you want to be forever judged by actions you couldn’t control? I know I, for one, have a less than presentable past. I’m glad I was able to still be a part of a town where I can do some good and Phillip’s done some amazing things for my village.”

  “Maybe you should take him back there with you, then,” Charles grumbled.

  I shot him a death look that he ignored.

  “Did you kill anyone? Ed, is it?” Erik asked. “Before the world changed.”

  “No, but it was dumb luck that I didn’t. I wasn’t a good man and I didn’t have a spell to blame.” Ed looked around at the group. “Now, I know I’m only human. So, what could I possibly share? But we have some serious bad coming. We’ve had to fight some of it twice already and it’s nothing to scoff at. We’re lucky we survived. This infighting won’t do us any good. Like it or not, these two are soulmates and they are pretty damn strong. The things I’ve seen them do… Miracles. Even in this day and age, they are still doing things I’ve never seen before. And they don’t ask for anything in return.”

  “So, you weren’t all just on one long vacation while you were gone?” Felix asked with big innocent eyes.

  My mind was buzzing with all that was going on. I was exhausted, emotional, and really just overwhelmed. I started laughing.

  Phillip looked over to me with wide eyes and then started to join me in laughter.

  “What the hell’s going on?” Erik growled.

  I looked at him and my chuckling died down as I caught his angry face. “Just so you all know, since Lisa banished us, yes, we made friends and explored Ireland. We also fought ghosts, got attacked twice by a Jinn, and battled an army of dark Fae and man-eating plants. We also trained hard under a very powerful witch who communicated with Mae. And before you ask, she couldn’t get us to return home either.”

  “Mina,” Erik said, grabbing my hand.

  “There were no piña coladas or beaches. Moral of the story is, we’ve been through a lot. I know you guys think he’s a heartless, cruel, insidious, selfish, self-centered, arrogant, monstrous, psychotic—”

  “Is there an end here?” Phillip asked in a low voice.

  “—despicable person who deserves horrible things done to him, such as maiming, putting him in a coma, giving him a lobotomy, taking away his magic—”

  “Quick question, why are you giving them suggestions?”

  I ignored him and continued. “And even though he may have deserved all of that—”

  “Giving me a lobotomy seems to go beyond what’s fair, but okay.”

  I spoke louder. “Even though he may have deserved all of that, he isn’t actually the person he was when we left. Since being in Ireland, Phillip has done good.”

  “The whole time?” Charles countered. “He didn’t try to control folk?’

  “I did a little, in the beginning when I was still fully under the curse,” Phillip stated, looking down as he pressed a hand into his bruised face and wincing.

  Ed turned slightly to him. “What’s that now, mate?”

  Phillip nodded, actually looking apologetic. “When we first met, I thought you wouldn’t let us into your village, so I magically influenced you. I was a piece of shit in the beginning. I should have said something when I recovered but I was…I was scared.”

  I frowned, both strangely sad for Phillip and proud that he’d admitted such weakness in front of everyone. I looked over to Ed, who sat motionless as if pondering his words. His face betrayed no emotion, which was not uncommon for Ed. He was a teddy bear at heart but his poker face would keep you on the edge of your seat if you had to deliver bad news. You weren’t sure if he would pat you on the head and say it was okay or punch you in the face and curse you out.

  “He cried about all of the bad things he’d done while under the curse,” I stated.

  Phillip raised his eyebrows in surprise. “It was actually a watery eye condition that was ongoing.”

  I tilted my head at him and twisted my lips.

  “Other people might call it crying. Fine, I had crying fits about what I did.” He shook his head and looked away from the group.

  Finally, Ed sighed. “Were you using your powers the whole time?”

  Phillip shook his head turning back to Ed. “No, I stopped soon after. Amina made me. Then I wanted to.”

  Ed looked to me and I nodded.

  “So, it’s all sorted out, then,” Ed replied with a sniff. “All’s forgiven. Mercy did cut you when she first met you. So, I suppose we’re even.”

  “Who is she? I like her,” Faith cracked.

  “How about we compromise?” I asked the group.

  “Are you crazy?” Erik announced.

  “Clearly,” Charles said. “What did you do to my sister?!” He glared over at Phillip, fists balled, ready to pounce again.

  “I can’t hear any more of this,” Chelsea said. She got up and left the apartment.

  “I need to talk to her,” I said softly.

  Phillip pushed away from the wall. Blood caked around his nostrils and the corner of his lips, which were already swollen, along with his right eye. In less than a minute, my brother had really done a number on him. “The compromise will be that I prove to you all through my actions that I am not the man I was before. If I do something reminiscent of my previous actions then you may put me in a coma. I’ll also heal everyone I’ve hurt.”

  Silence followed from the group as they pondered his offer.

  “I think that what Phillip is proposing makes sense,” Bill said in a quiet voice.

  Bill rarely spoke but when he did, like Mae, people listened. The medical mage got up and walked to the center of the room. “What spell is this that Phillip is under?”

  “We were told that our true enemies were the cause of what happened to Phillip,” I stated. I then went on to recount all that Ahmed and the Fae had told us. “This was all part of their plan. It was either to weaken our bond or make us easier to control. They want followers. Especially strong ones. We can’t let them win.”

  “Well, then it stands,” Bill
announced. “We will allow Phillip to show what kind of person he is. We are not in a position to waste resources. We don’t know how many followers these soulmates have but we must not underestimate them. We must convince more people that danger is coming and put aside our differences for the greater good. At least for now.”

  “This is bullshit,” Faith muttered and Charles let out a series of expletives from his corner of the room.

  “You all hate me,” Phillip began. “I don’t blame you. I will accept full responsibility for my previous actions. Spell or no spell, I did these things. Perhaps if I were a better man, I wouldn’t have succumbed to that curse. If you need to hit me, Charles, or anyone else here, I get it. You can. You can hate me forever. But we’ve also got to focus on the bigger picture. The Fae are formidable and we only have a small window where fighting the first soulmates would be easier. We have to focus on finding them before they get stronger. If any of you want to talk, I’m willing. Any time. I’ll be moving into the witch complex, so you can find me there,” Phillip stated, crossing his arms. “For now.”

  I could already see the wheels turning in his head of how he’d regain control of the town. Hopefully, he’d do so in a way that didn’t involve controlling minds and cutting off limbs, or else he’d be in a permanent dream state.

  Another knock at the door. Faith went to answer it and seconds later, Grace appeared with Lisa.

  She looked the same; thin and petite, except her hair was deep red now. She gave me a sad smile before speaking. “I’m so sorry, Amina. I really am,” she said in a soft voice.

  She actually sounded sincere. Lisa looked to Phillip. “I’m sorry to you, too,” she said.

  I narrowed my eyes. Now, that was odd.

  “Why are you apologizing to him?” I asked.

  She looked back at me. “I’ve told the others, so this is not new to them, but you need to understand why I did what I did for anything to make sense. I was visited by a fairy I knew, some time ago after the trial. She asked me to come with her to the fairy realm and since I thought Charles was really dead, what did I have to lose?” Lisa said, shrugging.