Palm Haven Shifters: Complete Five-Part Series Page 35

  “Her aura is the darkest and most repulsive I’ve ever seen… Oh my god.”

  “What?” Sloan and Sean asked together.

  Sarah swallowed and closed the book. “The only way a witch could kill someone without harming herself would be to…”

  Sean felt Emily stiffen in his arms. “She’s letting a demon possess her.”

  The meek assistant let out a terrified yelp and crossed herself three times.

  Sloan wrapped his arm around Sarah, pulling her close.

  A demon. Sean didn’t even know how to deal with that kind of threat. How did you kill a demon?

  It would probably take a lot more than their little group.

  They needed to make others realize their common enemy. And fast.

  Echoing his own thoughts, Sloan said, “How are we going to get our hands on that footage with the whole clan out for blood?”

  Emily pushed away from Sean and looked to the woman on the couch who sat there frightened and alone. “Sonya, go be with José and Manuel. I’ll let you know when it’s safe again. Your son needs his mother.”

  Sonya gave a quick look around to everyone before hugging Emily. “Be careful. Don’t do anything crazy, please.”

  Emily hugged her back and grinned. “Crazy’s my middle name.”

  That didn’t seem to reassure Sonya at all, but she left anyway.

  “So, what’s the plan? How are we going to get this video?” Emily said, sitting on the couch opposite Sarah and Sloan.

  “Who said we have to?” Sean said, and idea coming to mind.

  “What are you talking about? Of course we have to,” Sloan said.

  “Yeah, those witches are not going to listen without evidence,” Emily agreed.

  “A few years ago, I was in a bidding war with Microsoft for a small start-up that was blowing up. They had limited capital to invest immediately and I used that to my advantage — with a well-timed bluff, I managed to get them to drop out and I got the company for a bargain.”

  Emily frowned. “That’s really clever, but what does that have to do with this?”

  Sloan sat forward. It was their turn to have a conversation that they others didn’t understand. The girls might have their own language of magic, but Sean and Sloan spoke business.

  “If we convince Esther that we have the evidence, we can get her to out herself,” Sloan said.

  Sean smiled with a nod. “Exactly.”

  Chapter 14

  EMILY

  “I still don’t understand why we have to meet her here,” Emily whined, not even caring that her voice sounded nasally. This was her pride and joy. Her baby. Her magazine shoot. And they wanted to invite a possessed witch into it.

  “It’s better than your house, right?” Sean said, his expression apologetic.

  “There isn’t anywhere else?”

  “We don’t want to run the risk of civilians getting hurt or uh… you know, seeing tigers in town if it comes to that?” Sean answered.

  “And the temptation of the Ley Lines will be way too much for the demon. I’m not a strong enough Guardian for that kind of threat,” Sarah chimed in.

  “Don’t forget that every tiger in town is out for our blood,” Sloan piled on.

  “Okay, okay. I get it,” Emily groaned. “But I don’t like it.”

  “I know, sweetheart, I’m sorry.” Sean’s voice was enough to soothe her fears and make her feel safe even in these uncertain moments.

  “We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?”

  Sean swept his hand through her hair and pulled her in for a long deep kiss that made Emily’s toes curl. “Always. I’ve waited this long to get you and I’m not going to let anything tear us apart again.”

  “How touching,” Esther’s crackly voice sneered. She walked across the open area between sets, her cloak billowing behind her. “You’re both a disgrace,” she hurled to Sarah and Emily, “betraying your kind for… beasts.” The last word was said as if it left a bitter taste lingering in its wake.

  “Why have you summoned me here? For more laughable accusations?”

  “Like how you tried to overthrow the Elder of the Tigris Clan by using his son-in-law?” Sloan said.

  “Or how you killed him when he didn’t want to play your games anymore?” Sean added, stepping forward to stand beside Sloan, both of them forming a human shield protecting their mates.

  “You may have thought you got to him in time, but we have all the proof we need,” Emily said, hoping her voice sounded clear and confident. The demonic presence inside of Esther set off all of Emily’s warning bells.

  “I don’t believe you!” Esther screeched, a phantom grip snatching Sean’s collar, dragging him to her side. She held him hovering inches off the ground and Sean sputtered as if there were something around his neck.

  “Stop!” Emily cried, pushing past Sloan. “Put him down.”

  Esther’s grin was a gross bastardization of the gesture — full of malice and inhuman detachment. “First, you’ll tell me the truth.”

  “We have!” Emily focused on Sean’s aura, the bright copper shimmer assuring her he was still alright.

  Esther tutted. “I think you’re lying. Just like the other one. He lied to me. Do you want to know what I did to him?”

  She lowered Sean until his feet touched the ground. His hand flew to his throat as he took deep gasping lungfuls of air.

  Esther raised her arm over her head and made a pincer with her thumb and forefinger, pressing them together.

  “You see it, don’t you dear? You have that gift,” Esther said as she lowered her arm, slowly.

  Emily watched in horror as the shimmering colors of Sean’s aura left him and peeled away from his body with Esther’s movement.

  “These shifters keep everything so near the surface. It’s so simple to just rip their souls away. As simple as peeling an orange. They expose far too much of themselves.”

  Sean stumbled and clutched his chest. Esther steadily pulled his soul from him, all the while laughing with maniacal glee.

  “Stop it! You’ll kill him!” Emily could tell by their expressions that Sloan and Sarah couldn’t see what she could. They couldn’t see the Sean-shaped glow slowly being pulled out of him.

  “Well, you had better get to talking, then, eh?”

  Sean’s eyes locked with Emily’s and he doubled over with another groan of intense pain.

  “Come on, Em. You know what we’re dealing with, here.”

  The possessed witch cackled again. “Yes! He understands what I am capable of. Do not tempt me, child.”

  Emily swallowed past a lump in her throat. You know what we’re dealing with.

  That wasn’t a reminder of Esther’s strength and Emily knew it. Sean wanted her to go on with the plan. They couldn’t afford to lose to the demon. Couldn’t afford for their plan to fail.

  But there was no guarantee it would work. No guarantee Sean would come out of it alive.

  Tension knotted in her gut and her throat clenched as tears rushed from her eyes and she shook her head.

  “I wish I could tell you something else to save his life but I can’t.” She fished in her pocket and held up a thumb drive. “We have all the proof right here.”

  Esther’s eyes went wide and she released her hold on Sean, deciding instead to incinerate the thumb drive with a snap of her fingers and another mirthless laugh that made Emily’s skin crawl.

  Sean stumbled forward, weak and shaky, but with his soul intact. Emily heaved a sigh of relief.

  Her relief lasted only a moment before she felt the uneasy sensation of Esther’s aura getting darker as the demon inside her fought for dominance.

  They needed to push her further.

  “That wasn’t the only copy,” Sarah said, reading her mind.

  Esther’s smile faded and Emily stiffened her spine. “Right now, every Coven member and shifter in all three clans is getting a nice collection of videos delivered to their inbox. In moments, everyone wil
l know exactly what you’ve been up to. Face it, you’ve lost.”

  The aura around Esther expanded and pulsed, disfiguring her in the process.

  “Sarah, get back,” Sloan said, throwing an arm in front of her.

  Emily realized they could see it too, now. And that meant the demon was winning.

  The black shape took the form of a massive demonic beast with blazing eyes and tar for skin. It blew up to enormous proportions, filling the warehouse space with sinewy tendrils and acrid smoke.

  “You are too late,” the beast roared, its voice rattling the windows. “Chaos has begun.” The warehouse trembled and the demon surrounded itself in a cyclone. “And chaos will continue to reign.”

  A massive shockwave shook the ground, sending the group to their knees as the demon exploded out of the warehouse.

  Emily’s knees hit the concrete floor with a lightning bolt of pain and before she could pick herself up, Sean was at her side, extending a hand.

  He pulled her into his arms, both of them still trembling with adrenaline and panic. Emily looked up at the ruins of the warehouse. The building was barely more than a frame of metal girders and all of her hard work was ruined.

  “That was a hell of a bluff, Miss Westcott,” Sean said, sweeping her into his arms.

  Emily felt hysterical relief bubbling over. She was in his arms again. His soul was still intact. She laughed, swiping at tears that flowed without reason.

  “It was a calculated risk, I’ll admit.”

  Sean swept her up in a breath-taking kiss, full of promise and longing. She would never tire of those kisses.

  Then he frowned. “I don’t think that’s the last we’ll be seeing of her.”

  Sarah stood and brushed herself off. “I’m afraid you’re right.”

  “Sorry about your set,” Sloan said.

  It was only then that Emily took a look around and really took in all of the destruction. Months of planning and organizing all down the drain. Her reputation, done for.

  Her lip quivered. How could she be so happy and so devastated all at once? How could she think all was lost when Sean was still there, holding her as if she were the most precious thing in existence?

  “And that flash drive was the master copy of all the shots so far…” Not that there was anything to be done about it.

  “It’s a good thing you’ve recently begun the make-over of a grand mansion, isn’t it? Have the shoot at my place. You already have carte blanche.”

  Emily frowned and looked around, picking through the rubble. “There might be some stuff salvageable here.”

  “I’m sure you’re hate another trip to the magical furniture emporium, wouldn’t you?” Sean’s warm smile made it nearly impossible for her to dwell on the bad things for long.

  She could recreate her vision. Maybe even do it better with Sean’s influence. He made every part of her better. Stronger.

  She leaned in to kiss him, an overwhelming sense of peace taking over for all of the anxiety that usually ruled her.

  “You just have an answer for everything, don’t you Mister Simons?”

  Sean slipped his arms around her. “Not everything. I still don’t know if you’ll have me. I know it’s too soon to put a label or a ring on it, but if you let me, I will stay by your side always.”

  The sincerity and tenderness in his voice were too much for her.

  “How could I ever resist?”

  THE END.

  Falling for the Bear

  Chapter 1

  MONICA

  “Yes. Yes ma’am,” Monica rolled her eyes at the elderly woman on the phone. “Right, you still have to plug the phone into the wall. The receiver is ‘wireless’ not the entire unit. Uh-huh. You have a great weekend, too.” She hung up the call with a sigh and let her forehead fall to the desk in front of her.

  “Monica! Don’t forget I’ll need that paperwork on my desk by 3PM today,” a middle-aged man gone soft around the middle said, patting her on the shoulder as he walked by her cubicle.

  Monica stifled a groan. “You got it, Harris.”

  What else could she say? ‘You and your paperwork can kiss my ass’?

  Ha. Right.

  Though working in customer service wasn’t exactly the glamorous job that Monica had always dreamed of, it paid the bills well enough and the company offered unlimited overtime — always useful with her expensive lifestyle.

  With her forehead still on the desk and her eyes trained to the floor, Monica spotted a pair of sensible kitten heels walk by and she perked up, swinging her chair around to catch the passerby by the arm.

  “Tell me you’re free to go out tonight,” she asked Amy, a co-worker around her age.

  Amy shuffled the papers in her arms and juggled with her mug of coffee while pointedly avoiding Monica’s persistent gaze.

  “Um… I’d love to Mon, but…”

  Monica groaned, releasing her arm. “Let me guess, you and Eric have plans?”

  Amy gave her a half-shrug with an accompanying half-smile, “Things are going really well with him…”

  Monica felt herself frown and quickly turned it into a pout — less wrinkles, maybe? “You’re no fun anymore. Who else is going to go out on the town with me to entice unsuspecting strangers into my bed?”

  Amy’s cheeks colored ever so slightly and Monica pushed back the urge to roll her eyes again. She’d seen Amy do body shots off a shirtless guy last St. Patrick’s day. Now that she was in a semi-serious relationship she wanted to act embarrassed about the mere mention of a one-night stand?

  “Well… I wish you had asked earlier. He just texted me twenty minutes ago asking to ‘Netflix and Chill’ tonight,” Amy said, stifling her giggle.

  Monica sighed, feeling a smile push past her frustration. “Yeah yeah. I’m happy for you. You and all my other boring friends suddenly in monogamous relationships.” She didn’t mean to sound quite so bitter, but it was starting to get old.

  Amy shuffled the papers again as a few fluttered to the ground and Monica bent to scoop them up.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll find someone one day and then you won’t have to go out to all those skeevy bars hunting anymore.” She scrunched her nose up at the mention of skeevy bars and Monica just nodded without a word as she walked away.

  Truth was, she liked those skeevy bars. She liked drinking and feeling a stranger’s hand trailing up her body as she writhed to thumping music. She liked having a different guy in her bed every week and the thought of settling down with just one left a bad taste in her mouth.

  Monica didn’t think there was any way one guy could ever keep her interest long enough to make her consider settling down. The whole prospect sounded so boring.

  She had enough boring with this dead-end job.

  Speaking of… Her inbox was overflowing with Harris’ paperwork and somehow it was already 2:15 — also, it was only 2:15?! When would this day ever end? She knew she’d have to buckle down to get it all done on time.

  At 3:05, Monica delivered the papers to Harris’ desk and took the roundabout way back to her desk, hoping to spot a glimpse of ‘Hot IT Tom’, in his natural habitat.

  They’d fooled around a couple of times in the past and unfortunately, he was one of those guys that was pretty to look at, but let that excuse him from any effort in the bedroom.

  Still, he was pretty to look at. And she was free for the night.

  But when Monica got to the IT department, Tom was nowhere in sight.

  In his place, was another man, arguably way hotter than ‘Hot IT Tom’ in faded jeans and an FSU t-shirt.

  He spun around in the chair to face Monica and for a moment, her mouth went dry while he gulped down an energy drink and crumpled the can.

  Monica watched as his Adam’s apple moved in his throat. She paid close attention to the reddish stubble that extended from his sharp jawline down his throat.

  He tossed the can in a trash bin under the desk and raised a thick eyebrow at her. Monica c
ouldn’t pull her eyes away from his — dark green with flecks of gold visible even with ten feet between them.

  Her magic crackled to life and she quickly shoved her hands in her pockets.

  “Can I help you?”

  Help me out of my clothes? Sure. Anytime, slugger.

  Monica licked her lips, thinking of the deliciously sinful things she could do to this man that filled out his t-shirt and jeans better than he had any right to. What business did an IT guy have with muscles like those? She wanted to trace the outline of his biceps with her tongue and savor the salty taste of his skin covered in sweat after a marathon session of sex…

  She realized she was staring off into space and shook her head, remembering why she was there.

  “Is… uh… What happened to...Tom?” It took her longer than she’d like to admit to remember his name.

  Five minutes ago she’d been thinking about inviting Tom out for a few drinks and some hanky panky.

  Now she could barely remember his name.

  “I’m not at liberty to say. Management wants it all kept under wraps. Do you have a computer issue?”

  Monica’s skin felt hot, like she needed to rip off all of her clothes. Or maybe that was just what she wanted to do.

  Damn, no one has a right to be this sexy.

  “N-no?”

  The new IT guy smirked and Monica’s entire body thrummed with excitement. He had all those muscles, that thick head of chestnut hair she wanted to run her fingers through, and a killer smile?

  Sometimes life just wasn’t fair.

  “Are you asking me or telling me?”

  Snap out of it, Monica. Now’s your chance.

  “Well… It’s been a little weird lately,” she improvised.

  “Weird… how?” His eyes looked like they could see straight through her lies. Straight through her intentions. He wasn’t calling her out on any of it. Just waiting for her to dig herself in so deep she couldn’t get back out.

  Joke’s on him. I’m already in over my head.

  “It’s…” she waved her arms around, “like, closing windows on it’s own? It made some angry beeping noises at me earlier and then just… restarted?” Monica tried to remember all the problems she’d had with her computer for real when she’d first come over to find Hot Tom.