Reggie’s words hummed in the darkness. I remembered the feeling of her power brushing my skin before I fell into a heavy sleep. I knew this was the real battleground, my mind. “Little one, are you listening? I will not stay, but I wanted to tell you to be brave. You will feel panic as you start to slip away. Relax, and have faith. It will only be brief.” It was Zin’s voice. Don’t panic. Easy for him to say. “Alright, let’s just hurry. I can’t guarantee I won’t wake up.” There was a soft sigh, and then he spoke softly, “You won’t wake. I am already almost finished. I will end the conversation here. Soon he will come.” That was all he said before I felt the weight of the dark nothingness around me. It was like carrying a heavy box, but you couldn’t see around it. The air thinned out suddenly, and I was trying to breathe. I was now drowning in the emptiness, like something had dragged me down into deep dark water. Panic started to set in, and my soundless voice screamed unheard. D

We went through one of the doors and descended stone steps. The walls were painted, and light fixtures hung above wooden railings meant to hold on to. “I wasn’t going to let you leave me, I was responsible for taking too much blood, and like I said, I should leave you once I took enough, but I couldn’t let him have his way with you any longer.” I assumed he meant Nybbas, and this was an attempt at an apology. “I see. So you bit me again?” I watched the back of his head nod before he answered. He didn’t know I knew. “Yes, I wasn’t sure what came over me, but alas, here we are, and that demon is back where it belongs.” I let the conversation drop as we reached the bottom steps. There were rows of stone cells with metal bars sitting in a vast stone room. “Um, I’m not sure you can surprise me with something good down here, and I’m not sure I want it, either.” He turned around right as I heard a loud familiar hiss. Both of my hands covered my scream of surprise before I ma

It was dark, and damned streetlights were flickering in and out as I came up the side road by my house. It usually would annoy me, but I stayed feeling content anyway. Ayda was learning to open up. She needed to. Plus, I was safe from that crazy bitch that kidnapped me. Through it all, I’d found the sexy man, or wolf, of my dreams. I was never into dating, let alone sleeping with Others. I was quite against it. However, when I met Pheral for the first time, it was like love at first site. Or was that lust? Either way, his tall, dark, and quiet demeanor swept me out of my striped socks. Did I mention he was sexy? With those almond shaped exotic eyes, he could melt the polar caps. When I pulled up along the stone walls shielding the houses, my heart held a beat, hoping he was there, but I knew he wouldn’t be. Pheral’s boss, and pack leader, Cash, took on their pack as the new Alpha in charge. Pheral was helping with the transition. He isn’t an Alpha, or a Beta, just another wolf. “A

It took about a half hour before Michael popped back in. “Alright, you ready?” I just looked at him and asked, “Where’s the body, Michael?” “I couldn’t bring it with me. It’s at the hospital.” I jumped from the barstool, “At the hospital!? Why didn’t you just snag one from the morgue?” He shook his head, “I can’t do that. If the body is dead, the demon won’t last in it. It’s like a zombie who can’t eat brains.” “Good point, I didn’t think of that. Fine, let’s go to the hospital,” I replied while tucking Steve’s box under my arm. Michael looked at the box again nervously, “I can’t believe I am doing this. If Ayda found out, she’d skin both of us.” “Hush. That’s why she won’t find out. We don’t even know if what Steve said is true.” The Angel shook his head and placed his hand on my shoulder. I closed my eyes, knowing I was about to feel nauseous. I felt the pull of his power, and in the next instance, I could smell antiseptic while the sounds of a hospital filled my ears. I g

“He’s in Heaven,” saying it in such an evident tone, Steve shrugged and then looked at Michael. We stared at him with our jaws open before I asked, “In Heaven, how do you know?” “Last I heard, he was dying, and an Angel promised him a one-way pass straight upstairs. But, of course, that was back before I got stuck with that killer driving us around and murdering people. So I assume that’s where he must be,” Steve answered, but it didn’t help us because it wasn’t like Heaven was next door, and we could just knock asking to borrow a dead necromancer. “If it was that simple, Michael could have someone up there locate one of the souls of the women that were murdered and ask her personally. But, unfortunately, there’s a lot more to it, paperwork and approvals. Heaven isn’t just chaos and paradise. They are structured, Steve, so a dead necromancer would be hard to locate without going through the proper channels. And keep in mind, Heaven gets word a demon, especially one that was sentenc