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

by CC Solomon

  He walked over to her. “I’ve never had anyone turn down my gifts.”

  “Well, this is a first for you, then.” She turned to him, a frown on her lips.

  However, her eyes weren’t angry. Those beautiful emerald eyes, they did something to him. Made him feel a fluttering in his heart that he had not felt in a while. He had no time for such nonsense. He was running on borrowed time as it were, and this fairy was his ticket out of his situation. He might not get such an opportunity again, so he had to act very thoughtfully.

  “Nothing I’ve given you has swayed you?” he asked, an eyebrow raised. He didn’t know her but he’d thought that things would affect her in a world where such gifts were hard to find now. The fact that she didn’t want the jewelry, clothes or perfumes told him more about her than he knew before. Despite her beauty, she was not superficial and she was loyal to this boyfriend of hers.

  Lisa sighed. “The gifts you gave are tempting, but jewels and clothes aren’t enough to get me to forget about Charles. I’m going to be returning home soon anyway.”

  “I can go to wherever you go. Distance is no problem.”

  Lisa shook her head. “You are very persistent. Which is super annoying. Especially because I know all you want to do is get me in bed. You don’t even know me.”

  He frowned. “But I want to. I can’t help it. You’ve not left my mind since we first met. Yes, all I know is your beauty but I want to know more. Somehow, you’ve enthralled me.” He surprised himself by saying that because it was true. As much as he wanted Lisa for his own purposes, she had possessed his thoughts beyond his initial desires.

  Lisa cocked an eyebrow. “Well, I’m sorry my fabulousness captured you and all but there’s nothing I can do.”

  “What if I shared knowledge about the Fae? Arwa said you were here to learn.”

  “Yes, I’m here to learn from Queen Arwa. So, I don’t need your help.”

  “She doesn’t know everything.” He had to offer her something to entice her. She was smarter than she seemed. He knew she was a member of The Six but she didn’t know that he was aware. If he told her, he’d be showing her his hand. He also couldn’t talk about the soulmates, at least not now. However… “I have seers who can tell your future.”

  She tilted her head. “You have fortune tellers, too? Do they know about some big bad coming?”

  Jackpot. He could feed her just enough information to keep her interested and keep him around her. Which, he had to admit, he quite liked. Even if she was being cold to him. There was something about her strong stance that turned him on. If he was smarter he would ignore this irksome feeling but instead he enjoyed the possibility of her. Could she really be his? He nodded. “We know about something coming that could hurt paranormals. We are trying to find out what it is and stop it.”

  This was the truth. It was another reason why he was inclined to side with the original soulmates. They would be strong enough to prevent the elimination of the paranormals by whatever was coming.

  “Any information I learn, I’d be more than happy to share with you.”

  Lisa crossed her arms. “Thanks,” she replied in a dry voice.

  He leaned back and smiled at her. She didn’t look the least bit grateful or the slightest smitten with him. How would he break into her shell? If he didn’t do it soon Misandre would kill her. He debated telling her about the bet. If she knew what was good for her she’d just give in. Siding with him was the safest thing for her. However, he knew she wouldn’t come easily. Telling her the truth would only push her further away.

  She really was so much like Her. It scared him.

  “Why are you really after me?” Lisa asked. “I may look young but I’m not. You are a king and I’m just a former hair stylist. We’ve barely spoken before. Have you been spying on me?”

  “Oh, how I wish I had. But sadly, I’ve only had the recent pleasure of seeing you.” He frowned. If he was going to get her attention, he’d have to do something drastic. He’d have to tell her the truth. Not about the bet or his deadly predicament but about Her. “You remind me of someone.”

  Lisa twisted her lips in disbelief. “I’ve heard that one before.”

  “Doesn’t make it any less true. She was a human from Korea. I met her over two hundred years ago. She was the last woman I ever truly loved. You resemble her in the eyes. She had green eyes as well, although not as vivid as yours. Her name was In Ha. I had to work hard to get her to love me. She thought I wasn’t serious about a commitment to her.”

  Lisa moved to sit down in a chair. “Was she wrong?”

  Joo-won chuckled and sat down on the couch. “No, she wasn’t…at first. But I soon became willing to put that all aside for her.”

  “So, if she was the type to not put up with your crap, why’d you like her?”

  “In Ha was smart, protective of those she loved, and fearless. I first met her when she was trying to fight off a band of thugs who were terrorizing her village. Magic was gone then, so she was only human, but she was an amazing fighter.” Joo-won smiled and looked out of the window but he wasn’t watching the view.

  “How do you figure I’m like her?”

  He glanced over at her. “You’re not a fighter? Because I’ve heard stories.”

  Lisa cocked an eyebrow. “You have?”

  Joo-won nodded slowly. “You saved some paranormals who were kidnapped for their blood. We had some elves come to us and sing your praises, along with that of your friends. You didn’t know any of those people but you risked your life to save them.”

  “So, you’ve been doing some research on me, huh?”

  “Of course.

  “What happened to In Ha? Did you marry her?”

  Joo-won lost his smile. “I did. And we lived together for a couple of decades and had kids.”

  “Just twenty years together?”

  He nodded again, looking to her. “I’m immortal. I don’t age. So that people didn’t get suspicious, I had to leave.”

  “You left your family?”

  “I helped them from afar and made sure they didn’t suffer. In Ha understood. It was what she wanted. I think the fact that she began to look older than me started to bother her. Anyway, she lived a good life. She remarried. My children went on to be successful adults. And then they eventually died. My children lived longer than normal lives because they were part magic, but they weren’t immortal. Seeing your whole family die, even when you are estranged from them, is a heartbreak you cannot prepare for.” Joo-won looked away, thinking of his family. “I still watch out for my descendants. Some of them did not survive the Sickness, others became full elves.”

  “Are you a bad guy?” she asked, searching his eyes.

  He raised an eyebrow. “If I said no, would you believe me?”

  She didn’t reply, only looked at him with her suspicious eyes. Something about those eyes, those beautiful yet shocking green eyes, got to him. She was smarter than he took her for initially. He should have known. If she was part of this mysterious Six, then she would be far from average. Unfortunately for him, he liked women who were far from average.

  This would make pursuing the bet easier but it’d be risky for his own emotions. He’d have to constantly remember that he wasn’t actually trying to get anything from this woman beyond means for his own survival. He didn’t want her. After In Ha, he’d closed his heart to any thoughts of romantic love again. And he’d make sure it stayed that way. He couldn’t feel the hurt of losing a woman he loved ever again.

  Chapter 7

  Lisa didn’t believe Joo-won meant her any good. She was just a simple curiosity to him and not worth risking the ruin of her relationship with…with… That was odd, she couldn’t remember what his name was. She had someone back in the human world but his face was starting to become blurry along with the others. Chuck? Cain? Was that his name? Carter? No, that wasn’t it. She thought that might be someone else’s name back in… Harford? No, Springfield?

  She
growled in frustration as she adjusted on the cushioned seat in Queen Arwa’s study.

  Bella, seated in a matching seat next to her, gave Lisa a sideways glance. “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “I can’t remember some things. It’s frustrating,” Lisa grumbled.

  “Like what?”

  “The name of the man who I was seeing before I came here. I thought he was dead but he came back as a zombie or something.”

  Bella frowned. She opened her mouth but then closed it.

  “Maybe Joo-won did something to me.”

  “You think he placed some magic on you? I don’t think so. Elven magic doesn’t work on other fairies. Besides, he seems to really like you and it’s not in his character to do such things. He’s trying to woo you.”

  “He could try to woo me with magic. Maybe because I’m a new fairy, his magic can work on me.”

  “I don’t know, Lisa.”

  Lisa leaned towards the other fairy, resting an arm on the armchair. “Why are you defending him all of a sudden?”

  Bella shrugged. “If he genuinely likes you, then maybe it’s not so bad to see what he’s all about. He’s a king after all. It could help relations with our court. And it’d piss off Misandre.”

  Lisa squinted her eyes. “Do I want the evil fairy queen pissed at me?”

  Bella waved a hand. “Oh, we’d never let her hurt you.”

  “Who would hurt you?” Queen Arwa asked, suddenly appearing in front of them on the couch across from their seats. Twila, the pixie, fluttered her wings above the Queen’s right shoulder.

  Lisa sat up straight. How had the fairy just appeared like that? She was seated as if she’d been there the whole time. Lisa looked to the door but it was closed. She hadn’t even heard it open.

  “You have to show me how you do that,” Lisa said.

  Arwa smiled, crossing a leg beneath her long, chocolate-brown dress. “I simply blink my eyes and I am where I want to be. With time you will get there.”

  “How much time?”

  “A few decades.” She shrugged as if she’d just said a few months and not the decades part. “But tell me, who would hurt you?”

  “Misandre, because Joo-won has taken a liking to Lisa,” Bella replied with a wide grin.

  Arwa nodded slowly. “Ah, I see. King Joo-won is an interesting soul. He is one of our allies, so I would approve. You are very important to us, Lisa. Who you let into your life is of the upmost importance to us,” Arwa replied, as if reading Lisa’s mind. “Well, let us get to what you came here for. I am sorry I have been so busy the past week. You need to know about the soulmates and The Six.”

  Lisa nodded eagerly. “I have a question. Are there any other special six or is it just us?”

  “It is just you, for now. The Six are not like the soulmates, made of spiritual magic by the fates. The Six are made via a spell. Someone conjured your connection up. They either did it when there was no magic in preparation for the future need or they connected you after the magic.”

  “How’d they know which of the countless humans in the world to pick? And who is they?”

  “I cannot say that I know who bonded you. It is possible that they did not even handpick you. They could have simply made a spell of six to help what they foresaw as a troubling future for mankind and the rest they left into the hands of the world and fate. Or they could have used seers and psychics to pick who they believed were the best for the trouble to come.”

  “So, someone basically just called for help and a light switch turned on in our heads to come together?”

  Arwa laughed. “In a sense. A switch did turn on and that switch propelled you to make decisions that led you to each other. The switch also gave you a bond with each other. One that you must nurture and grow.”

  Lisa scratched her head and looked up at the ceiling, processing this information. “Okay, so are we stronger than other paranormals?”

  “You are certainly among the strongest. Also, your bond enhances your strengths and abilities. Your power comes from your bond, not from yourselves. That is very important to remember. If you do not work together, you will not succeed at any of the challenges that come to you.”

  “Maybe we’ll find out who brought us together one day. I’m curious. I wonder if they even know who we are. Or, wait, I wonder if that person is even alive.”

  “A very long time ago, a witch cast a spell to bring The Six of her time together. It was the last thing she did before dying,” Twila said in her tiny voice.

  Arwa nodded. “We will never forget Esmerelda. She saved the world. Not everyone is powerful enough to cast the spell to bring forth The Six. Even fewer survive the spell.”

  “So, I may never meet whoever brought us together?”

  Arwa shook her head. “It’s highly unlikely.”

  “What happens when The Six don’t work out? Like they don’t get along and don’t work together or one of them dies?”

  “Then The Six would not succeed. There was one time in history where the spell had to be cast again to bring forth a new Six because the ones prior did not make it.”

  “Sooo, if we fail, someone else could, in theory, get six more special people?”

  Arwa nodded. Lisa frowned, suddenly feeling a little less special.

  “But as I said, not many are powerful enough to make that spell happen, so we cannot take you for granted. You may be our only chance to protect mankind from what is to come.”

  Lisa nodded. “So, we can’t slack up. Got it. Okay, please, can you tell me about these soulmates? You said Phillip and Amina are mates? Evan, no that’s not right, Edgar? Erik, yes, Erik, won’t be happy about that.”

  “How come she remembers Phillip and Amina, but has trouble with the other people?” Twila asked, hand on her chin.

  “Because Amina and Phillip are the new soulmates. No one can forget them once they learn who they are,” Arwa replied.

  “Why is my memory of my friends getting so fuzzy?” Lisa asked.

  “Being here in fairy realm can do that to humans. Perhaps because you are a new fairy, the realm affects you the same way. However, as soon as you return home your memories will be back to where they were.”

  “I need to go home now then. Before I forget everyone.”

  “As long as you come right back!” Twila exclaimed.

  Lisa smiled and nodded. She’d only been in the realm for slightly over a week but she’d made fast friends with Bella, Twila and a few other Fae she’d encountered along the way.

  Lisa looked to Arwa. A cloudy look of concern briefly passed over the regal woman’s face. As if noticing eyes on her, Arwa looked to Lisa and smiled, erasing her prior look of concern. She reached forward and tapped Lisa’s hand. “I understand that you have to get back to see the others. That’s important.”

  “Thank you for understanding. I know you all want me here a little longer, but if I just pop back there for a bit and then come back, I’d feel a lot better. I can head back tomorrow and then come right back.”

  Arwa nodded with a smile. “Now, as I was saying about the soulmates. The Fae have always taken a keen interest in monitoring them. We stopped being as diligent when magic first died. Soulmates still exist without magic but their importance to our realm diminishes. There are Fae who become mates with humans, but without magic, the need was not great to us and we did not encourage the bonding. Humans who are soulmates to other humans were still important. At times, we did maneuver those unions, as those bonds aided mankind for the better. They helped to end wars, invent life-saving cures and save lives.

  “A couple of decades before magic returned, our collection of seers pushed us to pay special attention again. That is when we discovered the new mates Phillip and Amina. There is only one soulmate pairing at a time. Soulmates live long lives, although they are not immortal. Only the Fae, vampires, angels and demons have that privilege. Therefore, a soulmate pairing does not come as often. As soon as a new pair is born, the previous pair b
egin to lose power and can eventually die. This is not always a welcomed transition and has caused great trouble in the past. With the return of magic, we believe such trouble is resurfacing somehow.”

  “So, the soulmates are not necessarily good people?” Lisa asked.

  Arwa nodded. “Correct. Their purpose is divine-like but as they are not actually divine beings, they can succumb to evil. Such power can be corrupted if left unchecked too long. This is why, although they live long lives, they are not immortal and also why they are not easy to unite. Soulmates do not always find each other. They can live on different continents. They can ignore all the signs or paths that would bring them together. This was much easier to occur when magic vanished. With magic, other paranormals could search for them and bring them together.”

  “Did you bring Phillip and Amina together?”

  Arwa shook her head. “I did not. Others within the magic-welding community did such. Through your Mae. She was the conduit to connect them.”

  “But they dreamed of each other on their own.”

  “Yes, that is not uncommon for soulmates. Or for anyone. Have you not dreamed of someone you never met? Perhaps you saw this person in passing on your day-to-day and that face emerged in your dreams. It is easy to brush off such a thing. For the soulmates the same face appears over and over again. That is usually the first time the mates see each other. Mae was there to ensure they did not ignore such dreams when they happened.

  “Typically, the dreams occur when the beings come of age. The teenage years. Since there was no magic before and no chance meetings, such dreams faded for Amina and Phillip. But they re-emerged in the time of magic.”

  “So, if the soulmates are meant to be good and now this Phillip has possibly gone bad, does that negate the bond? Would they die quickly so that new soulmates can come and start over?” Bella asked.

  Arwa shook her head. “No. It does not work such a way. Honestly, it’s no coincidence that among the Six there is a soulmate. That is extremely rare, but needed. The soulmates are powerful, but the Six can keep them in check. Since Amina is part of the Six, you can ensure she does not go astray. And, through her, you can ensure this of Phillip.”