Hexes and Handcuffs: A Limited Edition Collection of Supernatural Prison Stories

by Margo Bond Collins

  “Those were our children,” I state. I can’t take my eyes off her.

  The vision or whatever it was that just happened may have only lasted a few minutes but it felt like that was our life right now.

  “Yes. They were. Something happened today and I have to speak to you.”

  “What is it?”

  She puts out her hand to mine. I take it and the surge of emotion that fills me makes me stare at her delicate hand. That vision was real . She was real , the kids were real and they were mine.

  Selene tugs on my hand and I allow her to lead me to the cavern. It looks the same as it was when we left it. the faint light coming from outside is bright enough for me to see her beautiful face.

  She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a vial of purple light.

  “The key?” I ask. I’ve only seen drawings of this object on scrolls from the elders quorum. “Is this really the key?”

  “Yes. The fae gave it to me. she said you need to leave tonight. Without her. She has a special mission she needs to fulfil, someone she has to help defeat Roth.”

  I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “I’m supposed to take her away from here.”

  Selene shakes her head. “No, she was very clear that we’re to leave her here and take the key to the leader of The Hallowed. You have to leave before midnight.”

  “When did she tell you this?”

  Selene tenses and a tear slides down her cheek. “I was called to Roth’s office. He wanted me to see him torture her. He asked me to follow you around and spy on you because he knows something is up. So, you were right not to trust me.”

  “You were working with Roth?”

  “I’m so sorry, Victor,” she whispers. “He threatened to kill me and my family. That night we were together wasn’t that though. That was me. I wanted to be with you. He knew we were together and I was scared. I was scared.”

  I’m looking at her and I’m processing what she’s saying to me.

  Her working with Roth is enough to piss me off but I can’t hold it against her for the threat on the lives of her family. I couldn’t hold it against her even if I wanted to. The vision of me and her and what we could be in the future has a hold on me because I want that.

  I see how scared she is, but the fear I sense is more to do with me not forgiving her.

  I step closer and cup her face.

  “I’m so sorry Victor. I truly am.”

  “It’s okay.” I tell her and she looks surprised to hear it.

  “It’s not okay and it was wrong of me to charm you in the first place and mess with your head. I saw you and … well. Elves aren’t known for being with night creatures of the dark like vampires. I never meant to hurt you.”

  I shake my head. More tears stream down her cheeks and I wipe them away.

  I lower to meet her lips and she moves to me too. The kiss that follows is the kind that is filled with greed and a mingle of desire.

  I only pull back to place the vial in my jacket and put it down, when I reach for her again it’s with every intention of making her mine.

  Again.

  Chapter Four

  Selene

  The kiss was the kind to fill my thoughts with everything I’ve ever dreamt of.

  A kiss from a man I desired for so long, day in, day out.

  It makes every fiber in me tingle with the wild sensation of him. only him. I’ve only ever felt like this about him.

  We kiss the clothes off each other. I just manage to admire the masterpiece of his naked body before he turned me to face the wall and lines his cock up with my entrance.

  I gasp when he plunges deep inside me and soon the sounds of our bodies slapping together envelope us.

  I get lost in him. Lost in the pleasure he gives me as he pounds into me and lost in the pulse of sizzling hot electricity that sparks over me.

  He speeds up and starts rutting into me hard and sure, relentless, making my core quiver and my soul shiver.

  The tension roils within me and comes full force to claim me and we both come together in a shared release that severs me from reality.

  His pumps slow languidly and he holds me against him, right against the corded muscles of his chest.

  I want to stay here forever, I do, but we don’t have time. He pulls out of me and turns me around to face him. His hair, wild and ruffled looks off the charts sexy, but so does the sweat dripping down his shoulders.

  “You…”

  “You…” I say too.

  He places his hands either side of me and lowers to brush his nose over mine. He doesn’t move away though.

  “You’re coming with me to the Starlight realm. You’re mine now, Selene.”

  That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard in my life.

  “Yours?” I beam unable to contain my excitement.

  “Mine. That is where I’m taking you.”

  I run my hand over his cheek. “Victor… I’m human in the future. Something must happen to me.”

  “It will not be something bad. I will never allow anything bad to happen to you. And, whether you’re human or vampire, I will love you.”

  I throw my arms around him and hold him close to me. He holds me too. Those words will forever be imprinted on my soul.

  “I love you,” I whisper.

  “And I you. Let’s get out of here Selene.”

  We gather together after and plan.

  At ten to midnight we make our move.

  Victor, Heath and Phoebe go to the ship. I stay back to cast the spell.

  It’s strange that I know exactly what I have to do. I know exactly what to do.

  I make my way to Roth’s office just like I did earlier.

  He’s always in there late doing what he calls paperwork. I don’t give a shit what it is he’s doing to night.

  No one would dare walk into his office uninvited and not knock, so the look of fury on his face is a sight to behold when I push the door and walk right in.

  “What are you doing in here?” he fumes, nostrils flared.

  That’s all he gets to do. I wish I had the power to destroy him. I truly do.

  Maybe one day. I’m happy to allow someone else to do it for me though.

  I’m also happy with what I can do now.

  I raise my hand. That is all it takes.

  I’ve enchanted the ship the guys are in so they won’t be affected by the mass spell I’m about to conjure.

  Roth stills and stares at me blank as the invisible controls of my spell begin to take effect and I start to control his mind.

  “You will not remember us. You will release the ship that’s about to leave the hangar and leave us be. The names Victor, Heath, Phoebe and Selene will not exist to you. We were never here. Never existed to you or anybody else.” That is my command and he will follow.

  I thank Leora for the powers she’s given me. I know it is no mere thing because right now I’m beyond vampire and anything I’ve ever been before.

  Roth nods and I leave.

  I make my way to the ship where Victor takes me into his arms.

  “Is it done?” he asks.

  “It’s done.”

  Heath and Phoebe join us. I learned a lot about those two in the last few hours.

  “It seems so easy,” Heath states. “It doesn’t sit well with me to leave the fae.”

  “We must.” I tell him.

  Phoebe nods and links her arms with his.

  “Come on guys, let’s get the hell out of here.” Victor smiles. His smile is infectious. It’s a rare thing. But I get the feeling I’ll be seeing more of those.

  It’s a good reward.

  Epilogue

  Victor

  It feels easy all so easy, but maybe it’s our reward for the hard journey we faced.

  Heath uses his magic to get past the hollows and we fly far, far away from Thebe.

  I don’t even look back.

  I don’t want to.

  We won’t be remembered and I don
’t want to remember the horror of that place.

  All that I want to remember is right here with me.

  Selene next to me and Heath and Phoebe.

  Selene smiles at me and reaches for my hand. I take it and bring it up to my lips to kiss.

  “Journey starts here, guys,” I say looking from her to the others.

  “It does. Maybe a journey too of happiness,” she offers.

  I nod. That is definitely something to savor.

  I can’t wait to see what will happen next.

  The End

  Stay tuned for The Chosen coming out next spring xx

  About the Author

  Faith Summers is the Dark Contemporary Romance pen name of USA Today Bestselling Author, Khardine Gray.

  Warning !! Expect wild romance stories of the scorching hot variety and deliciously dark romance with the kind of alpha male bad boys best reserved for your fantasies.

  Dive in and enjoy her naughty page-turners.

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  Paranormal Guard

  Magical Prison Prequel

  Nicole Zoltack

  About Paranormal Guard

  As a part of her training to become a paranormal executioner, Mirella has to be a guard at Magical Prison for one week. It shouldn’t be that hard, right? Only she quickly discovers an inmate is innocent. Suddenly, seven days doesn’t seem nearly long enough for her to find justice.

  Chapter One

  The troll stares at me with her large, unblinking red eyes. Unlike all of the other trolls I’ve seen, she has purple complexion and large, pointed ears. Maybe she has some fairy blood in her too.

  "Are you listening, Mirella?" she snaps. "You have large boots to fill. Your parents were amazing paranormal executioners, and if you want to become one, you have to serve an internship at the Magical Prison for a week as a guard as part of your training."

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Don’t call me ma’am,” she says with a sigh.

  “Yes…”

  “Illa. That’s my name.”

  I nod. “Yes, Illa.”

  “Go. Be ready to leave for the prison in twenty. Dismissed.” She waves me away with a flick of her clawed hand, the part of her silver hair not in her twin braids falling forward over her shoulder.

  My thoughts churning, I head to my temporary quarters. It seems as if every week, there’s a new mentor, a new training regime. When will I become a fully fledged paranormal executioner? And why would a paranormal executioner need to see the inside of a prison?

  And Magical Prison? Really? What kind of a name is that? It’s about as rousing as the school I went to that trained me to be a hunter—Magical Hunters Academy.

  Hunters, Slayers, Executioners Unite, or HEX U as I refer to it, is the organization that decides which evil paranormal creatures need to be either hunted, slain, or executed. It’s closely tied to the academy, which feeds it paranormal hunters, slayers, and executioners. My parents were executioners before me until they had been murdered.

  I have no intention of being murdered, and neither will Kayden, the love of my life. He's also on the fast track to becoming a paranormal executioner, but he's been training under different mentors. Executioners always work in pairs, so once we make it, they better have us partnered up.

  I’m not sure why Illa gives me twenty. I’m ready to go over now. Once the twenty minutes are up, a brownie comes up to me and tells me I’m to enter the car out front. An orc is driving, and he says nothing to me. The drive doesn’t take long at all, which makes me happy. I’m eager to get this done and over with.

  It doesn’t surprise me that an angel of all creatures is waiting out front for me. We arrive so quickly I don’t even have time to look at the prison. Angels might be good, but they value punctuality, and I do not want things to start off on the wrong foot. Err, wing.

  “You are Mirella Sharpe?” she asks in a lilting voice.

  “Yes.”

  “I am Portia. Follow me.”

  I comply, falling into step beside her as we enter the prison. She wears iridescent armor, which has holes in the back for her gold-tipped translucent wings. Her eyes are a little freaky, completely white, and she’s tall and willowy.

  “We will commence with a tour,” she says. “Here is the guard desk. All visits must be signed in, but you don’t have to worry about that.”

  “No?”

  “You’ll be a guard on the floor. You’ll be too busy making sure the inmates stay in line to worry about signing in their relatives.”

  “Do a lot have visitors?”

  She snorts. “Hardly any. Only the worst of the worst come here. This is where they’re booked, where they wash, and where they get changed.”

  Next, she shows me the area where the inmates eat and the kitchen where it’s cooked. So far, I haven’t seen another person, not even a guard out front or anyone in the kitchen. It gives the entire place an eerie atmosphere, especially combined with the tarnished-looking tiled floor and the concrete walls.

  “Up here,” she says as we climb the stairs, “is the first floor of prisoners and their cells. There are five floors of inmates.”

  “How many on each floor?”

  “It varies. We try to place like inmates near each other, but sometimes, that isn’t a good idea. Demons, for instance…” She pauses to scowl, and I cover my mouth to hide a grin. How cliché is her disdain for demons? “They have to be kept separate. Otherwise, they will try to organize a breakout."

  “Has that ever happened?”

  "In all of the years that the Magical Prison has been in operation, there has never been a breakout. Do not allow one during your watch."

  “Understood.” I nod. Red hair falls forward over my shoulder, and I shove it back.

  We arrive at the first floor.

  “Here is a vampire. Not all vampires are evil, of course, but the ones who—”

  "Like to have a midnight snack," the vampire supplies with a grin. His fangs flash in the dim lighting.

  “Sandor, don’t even,” Portia snaps. “The ones who kill their victims have to be incarcerated until they can be trusted to drink, erase memory, and release the human back into society safe and ignorant.”

  “Come on, now, Portia. You know I’ll—”

  “You’ll never get out of here. This is your third stint. You can’t be rehabilitated.”

  “I can change!”

  “You can, but you won’t. Come along.”

  We pass by a few empty cells. Then, she tells me a little more about select inmates, including a banshee who won’t stop crying, a bogeyman, a cyclops who doesn’t blink his eye that takes up half of his face, a satyr, and several harpies all in one cell together.

  Portia stops abruptly once we’re on the third floor and heading northward. “Do not go any farther unless you are wearing earbuds.”

  “Why is that?” I ask curiously.

  “That is the siren’s wing. Their voices and songs are so powerful that even a witch with nine of the ten disciples of magic will be hard pressed to remain unaffected.”

  I nod.

  "Do not forget," she says sharply. "We have not had a breakout, but we have had deaths before."

  “Have inmates killed themselves?”

  “No.” Her white eyes are somber. “No, but inmates have killed each other, and they have killed guards as well.”

  Well, isn't that just dandy?

  Chapter Two

  After the tour, Portia gives me a tray and tells me to hurry up and eat before the inmates are released and are allowed to eat.

  That’s all I need to know, and I shove in my meal. I’m more than a little nervous. Lately, I’ve been paranoid. My parents had been killed while performing the job of paranormal executioners, and I do not want that to happen to me. As a result, I’ve been trying to keep up a sh
ield around me and any close by friends. It means I’m constantly hungry and fatigued.

  “You will take the night duty shift,” Portia says once I’ve finished everything on the tray.

  “You want me to be the only guard here?” I ask. “On my first night?”

  “Is there a problem?” Portia snaps.

  “Not at all,” I say with a lot more confidence than I feel.

  A few hours later, I’m on night guard duty. Basically, I’m supposed to walk up and down all of the floors with inmates and make certain their asleep or at least quiet and not getting into any trouble. The shackles they wear are supposed to inhibit their magical abilities, so I should be safe as long as I don’t do anything stupid.

  “Hello, what do we have here?” a man says in a silky smooth voice.

  I glance over to see an elf. “You should be sleeping.”

  “Sleep is overrated,” he says with a wave of his hand. “Who are you?”

  “A guard who won’t accept inmates who won’t listen.”

  “No? What will you do if I keep talking?”

  “I’ll throw you into solitary,” I say airily.

  His nostrils flare. “You do not have that authority.”

  “Oh, I don’t? I wouldn’t be too certain on that account if I were you.”

  “You’re merely a guard here for a week. You’re one of those kids who aspire to be a paranormal executioner, am I right?

  I scowl. He’s right, but I don’t want to admit that to him.

  “You’re nothing more than a glorified babysitter,” he gloats.

  “Do you need a pacifier to keep that mouth of yours quiet?” I snap. “Some of the others are trying to sleep. I'm sure most if not all of them would appreciate you being silent, so unless you want me to make that happen, I suggest you zip your lips.”