Summary:
Spandex and Superpowers #1
Rex Devious -- Dr. Devious to meddlesome do-gooders everywhere -- can go toe-to-toe with superheroes without blinking an eye. So picking out a Christmas present for his new boyfriend should be no problem. After all, he and Sanjay seem perfect for each other. But with a terrible track record for finding gifts that won’t scare his potential partners away, Rex is paralyzed with insecurity.
Until, of course, he decides to change tactics. Instead of having to pick out that perfect present, why not just destroy Christmas altogether? It’s perfect, and definitely the Devious thing to do! But with his nemeses -- and perhaps his conscience -- trying to stop him from ruining the beloved holiday, can he really become the supervillain who stole Christmas?
Now I read Charles Payseur's newest entry in this novella series, The Werewolf Before Christmas just a couple of weeks ago and it was obviously my introduction to his Spandex and Superpowers universe. I love it! I love superhero movies but I will admit that it is not a genre/trope that I read but after reading these that may change.
I think what really intrigues me most about this entry was again, we got to see the supervillain as the center of the story. Rex has not had much luck when it comes to his past relationships and Christmas gift giving so naturally, as a supervillain his solution is to stop the holiday this year instead of finding a gift for his new boyfriend, Sanjay. Apparently, that is easier said than done. I won't give anything away but let me just say this: How the Supervillain Stole Christmas was a delightfully fun, clever, sexy, and surprisingly romantic way to begin my holiday weekend. Whether you read this during the holidays won't matter because you'll be entertained whether Santa is coming down the chimney or lazying away on a weekend getaway in July.
RATING:
I think what really intrigues me most about this entry was again, we got to see the supervillain as the center of the story. Rex has not had much luck when it comes to his past relationships and Christmas gift giving so naturally, as a supervillain his solution is to stop the holiday this year instead of finding a gift for his new boyfriend, Sanjay. Apparently, that is easier said than done. I won't give anything away but let me just say this: How the Supervillain Stole Christmas was a delightfully fun, clever, sexy, and surprisingly romantic way to begin my holiday weekend. Whether you read this during the holidays won't matter because you'll be entertained whether Santa is coming down the chimney or lazying away on a weekend getaway in July.
Summary:
Haunted Souls #7
A mysterious vision sends P.I. Jude Byrne into a near-frenzy. The skinwalker who killed his father is about to strike again. With his family in danger, Jude knows he must return to the Navajo reservation where he was raised to confront the killer head on.
Psychic Copeland Forbes is a stranger in a strange land. He doesn’t know much about the Navajo culture or his place in Jude’s family. What he does know is that his gifts aren’t welcome, even though the spirits trying to speak to him may hold the key to the killer’s identity.
As the investigation progresses, there’s something niggling at the back of Jude’s mind, a shadowy memory that could stop this evil in its tracks. Can Jude recover this ghost of a memory in time, or will the killer claim his next innocent victim?
Summary:
Holiday Surprise #3
Tristan knows that no alpha will want him, so he needs to face the future on his own.
Alphas have expectations from their mates, and Tristan knows he will never meet two of the biggest ones. He can't be bonded, as a previous bond has been severed, and he will never have children after losing his womb. But facing the future alone would be easier if the owner of the local coffee shop wasn't the perfect alpha.
Chase wants nothing more than to protect the lonely omega in his coffee shop.
Chase's dream has started to come true. He's opened his own coffee shop, and it's wildly popular. But his world flips upside down when a new omega named Tristan visits. All he wants to do is protect the other man, but Tristan keeps running. When he learns why, he has to face the question: are bond marks and babies really that important when every instinct he has tells him that Tristan is the man for him?
More importantly, can Chase convince Tristan that everybody deserves love?
Coffee Shop Cupid is a 20K word , non-shifter, M/M, omegaverse romance (no mpreg)
Content note: There are heavy themes of infertility and 'spousal expectations' in this book, as well as a panic attack. Therefore it may not be suitable for readers sensitive to those topics.
Original Review February 2024:
Another delightful omegaverse story by Lacey Daize. In Coffee Shop Cupid, mpreg exists but not for the main couple due to Tristan losing his womb. Because of this I think Coffee is more drama filled then the other Daize stories I've read but there is still plenty of light-heartedness to balance out the emotions.
Right out of the gate you want to strangle Tristan's ex and that only leaves you wanting an even happier ever after for the omega. When he meets Chase, it's a cute-meet but also a very tough meet for Tristan. I know that Tristan doesn't feel like it's huge steps at first but after his loss and past relationship, every step forward is huge and it just wanted to make me wrap him in a huge Mama Bear hug. Oh and Chase, bless him, he never gave up but whether he can convince Tristan that he's worth a new path and new love is something you'll have to discover for yourself but trust me, you won't be sorry.
Coffee Shot Cupid is a true Valentine treasure.
Summary:
Demon Debacles #2
Demons made great mannies. I'd know, I had one...
When I hired Calux to be my son's caretaker, I didn't think there was anything strange about him. On the contrary, he was perfect.
Calux was good at his job, and my son Gunner seemed to like him. The fact that he was a man also helped since it meant no pesky feelings would get between him and his job.
Or so I'd thought.
When Calux told me he was a demon and I was his fated mate...everything changed.
My plan had been to stay single and raise my son, at least until he was a little bit older, but when Fate intervened, I found myself falling in love in spite of all my best intentions.
My Demon Manny is an MM demon x human romance featuring a human single dad who realizes he might not be straight after all, a sweet demon who loves taking care of people, and a six-month-old baby boy who isn't at all afraid of his big, demon manny. Full of sweetness and low angst fun, My Demon Manny is book 2 in the Demon Debacles series but can be read as a standalone.
Critter Catchers #3
A family emergency far from home. A list of people gone missing. A long, simmering attraction that finally reaches a boil.
When Demetrius flies to Florida to support his parents during his mother’s health scare, Cody is left to manage their Critter Catcher business alone. And feel guilty he didn’t go along to provide support.
Finally unable to stay away, Cody heads to Florida with Demetrius’s Aunt Amelia. Demetrius is shocked they came to support him. And Cody is shocked about his powerful and romantic feelings for Demetrius.
But all that will have to wait as they are tragically yanked into another monster hunt. In the Everglades. During a tropical storm. If they live through this latest challenge, Cody and Demetrius will need to have a long overdue conversation about their future.
It will change everything between them, forever.
Random Paranormal Tales of 2024
How the Supervillain Stole Christmas by Charles Payseur
Sanj laughed. “I forget that you’ve never really worked in an office,” he said. “But it’s ... I’m not even sure that anyone likes it. Everyone drinks too much except the people who don’t like drinking and take pictures to remind people of how stupid they were acting for the next year. There’s terrible cookies and a tray of cheese and crackers and ...”
“You’re not exactly selling it,” Rex said. It sounded like a nightmare, a torment of fake smiles and repressed frustration.
“But it’s also that feeling,” Sanj said. “Of Christmas. Of childhood and presents and magic and wonder. That must be why people get so upset about it. They remember the Christmases when they were young and it was all about them, and then they see where they are now and ... well ...”
Rex had a sudden vision of his own childhood. Christmas in the castle had always been a grand affair, decorations hung from every window and sconce. And Rathfeld, the butler, standing next to a tree that seemed to take up the entire great room, stoic face betraying just the hint of a smile. And the gifts. His mothers always got him the best gifts. There was the year of the Super Magnet that he used to erase the data on all the computers at his boarding school. He recalled his mothers smiling. And the year of the Freeze Ray he had used to turn the pool into a block of ice to get out of swimming lessons.
The nanobots are present in sufficient quantity to deploy, Audrey said, snapping Rex out of his reveries.
“Do you have fond Christmas memories, then?” Rex asked.
“I’ll tell you sometime when I’m much less sober than I am now,” Sanj said, and they both laughed, leaning against each other, faces close, breath hot in the chill air.
Deploy, Rex thought as he leaned farther forward, his lips finding Sanjay’s, his eyes closing.
Deployment commencing, Audrey said, but Rex was hardly paying attention. Much more urgent was the tongue slipping into his mouth, the hand resting on his hip, the sudden painful heat that seared its way through his entire body.
I’m detecting a deviation from protocol, Audrey said. It pulled at the corner of Rex’s mind, but he didn’t stop, didn’t want to stop the way Sanjay’s hands had moved around to his back, to his ass. There was a gasp from nearby, and Rex felt a swell of worry. They were in public, after all, and as much as he wanted this to continue, he knew they couldn’t ... not here.
He broke the kiss, pulling back and -- and what the fuck?
I’m detecting a deviation from protocol, Audrey said.
Rex blinked. She wasn’t kidding. The entire tree lot was lit up. Not with rapidly disintegrating Christmas trees, though. He realized that the gasp had nothing to do with him and Sanjay making out among the trees. No, it was at the brilliant light displays going on in each and every tree present. Somehow the nanobots were ...
Instead of deconstructing the trees at a prodigious rate, as intended, the nanobots seem to be slowly eating the organic material and transforming the power into luminescence.
They were glowing. The entire lot was glowing with hundreds of millions of nanobots flickering like fireflies on the branches, among the needles. Rex stared, saw everyone around him doing the same. It was ... magical.
“But ... how?” Rex whispered. There was no way that his protocols could have been that far off. They were devouring the trees, yes, but would they complete their job in time?
According to my calculations, the trees will be completely digested about a week after Christmas, leaving no waste or mess. The bots seem to be programmed to self-destruct at the stroke of midnight, giving off small puffs of light.
Fireworks for New Years. Great.
And I’m getting an incoming message from Tech Knight. Ey says, “I fixed your little nanobots for you. No need to thank me.”
Tech Knight. Figured. Of course Metro City’s resident supernerd would stick eir nose into his plans. Rex turned to Sanjay, saw the smile spread across his face.
“It’s ... perfect,” Sanj said.
Rex sighed, shook his head, and wrapped his arms around Sanjay again. It was beautiful, Rex had to admit, and it did mean that no one was paying any attention as Rex leaned back in for another kiss.
Ghost of a Memory by Pandora Pine
PROLOGUE
Jude
The first thing Jude noticed was how fresh the air smelled. It was clean and sweet. He knew for a fact this wasn’t Boston. Hell, this wasn’t even Massachusetts. There was only one place in the world that smelled like this. Home.
When Jude opened his eyes, he was surprised to find himself sleeping in his childhood bed at his grandfather’s house on the reservation. What didn’t surprise him, was the fact that the room hadn’t changed in the fifteen years since he’d been gone. All of Jude’s books and treasures were in the exact spots they’d been the last time he saw this room the morning he’d left the reservation for good.
Jude wasn’t stupid. He knew this was most likely a dream. He’d fallen asleep after a wild night with Cope in their bed in Massachusetts. A dream was the only thing that could explain why he’d woken up here in Arizona by himself and in his childhood bed.
A second smell caught Jude’s nose. It was the unmistakable scent of fry bread. His stomach grumbled. It had been far too many years since he’d had true Navajo cuisine. They sure as hell didn’t sell this homemade treat in the bread aisle of the supermarket he and Cope shopped at.
Jude knew he needed to take in every detail he was seeing here. Cope would want to hear every bit of this story once he got back home. Or woke up. Whichever happened to be the case.
Getting out of bed, Jude’s joints snapped and crackled, making him feel his age. His body certainly hadn’t made that much noise when he was only eighteen years old. He crossed the room to his desk, where he’d spent so many nights working on homework and sketching out his dreams for the future. Opening the center drawer, his dream diary was right where he’d left it. It was just a ratty old college-ruled notebook, but inside it had been all of his hopes and dreams for his future. He’d left it, and everything else behind on his eighteenth birthday when he’d loaded up the Thunderbird and headed out of town.
As much as he wanted to explore his old bedroom, the smell of breakfast and his growling stomach drove him from the room. When he opened his bedroom door, the house looked exactly as it had the last day he saw it. The hallway didn’t elongate as he continued to walk down it, just one more reason to think he was experiencing a vision rather than a dream.
Crossing from the hall into the kitchen, Jude saw his grandfather at the stove. He was scrambling eggs in a cast iron fry pan. The sound of the fork striking the pan had always set his teeth on edge. Today was no exception. “Grandfather?”
“I see you finally managed to get your lazy bones out of bed, Little Phoenix.”
Jude felt himself blushing over the use of his Navajo name. His grandfather only called him Little Phoenix when he was looking to rile him up. It wasn’t going to work. Dream, or vision, Jude was going to do what he should have done decades ago. He walked to his grandfather and pulled the old man into his arms. He wasn’t going to let go no matter what.
“Have you smothered me enough yet?” Running Eagle asked.
“I’ve got fifteen years to make up for.” Jude took a minute to memorize everything about this moment.
“Nonsense. You did what you had to do. Your destiny has always been in your own hands. It wasn’t up to me to decide your future for you.”
Jude hadn’t expected to hear anything less from his grandfather. He’d grown up hearing about his destiny and how it was all in his hands. He’d taken that concept and run from it. He’d run so far away that he’d ended up at the opposite end of the country from his true home.
“I hate to ask this question, but why am I here? Am I dreaming? Or did you call me home?” It could have been any of those reasons or a half dozen others.
“There is something you need to see. Something is coming that I cannot bring into focus.” Jude’s grandfather had turned serious. Jude knew he wasn’t exaggerating the situation.
Okay, so this wasn’t a social visit. Jude was glad he’d hugged his grandfather before the serious shit hit the fan. “What is it you need me to see?” Jude had a feeling he was going to regret that question at some point in the future.
Running Eagle set his hand against the side of Jude’s head. Before Jude could ask what he was doing, everything went dark. When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing on a familiar street. He was in Flagstaff, Arizona. He thought it was Tombstone Street, but it easily could have been Main Street.
It had been years since the last time he’d been here. Flagstaff was where they would shop for food and other essentials when the reservation couldn’t provide what they needed. For Jude, the city had always reminded him of his old life in Albuquerque with his parents. He supposed the biggest question now was what his grandfather wanted him to see here.
It looked like a typical day. People were rushing past him with shopping bags in their hands. Others were holding hands with their kids. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on here. Across the street from where he was standing, Jude thought he saw a familiar face. As the man and woman drew closer, Jude knew for a fact it was his cousin, Jacob, and the woman looked like a girl named Susan. She’d grown up on the reservation before moving away, before Jude and Jacob had gone to high school. Sue was pushing a stroller with what Jude could see was a tiny baby inside. Not that he was an expert, but he would guess that the child was no more than a month old.
A shadow moved over Jude’s face. When he looked up at the sky, it was cloudless. Jude was chilled to the bone. The last time he’d seen a shadow like that was when…
Out of nowhere, Jacob and Sue were attacked. Their bloodcurdling screams echoed down the street. They both clutched their chests while they struggled to breathe. There was no one attacking them physically, at least not that anyone else standing in the street could see.
Jude was rooted to the spot. He knew the person killing his cousin and his wife was a skinwalker. There would be no signs of trauma to the bodies. It would look like the couple had simply had dual heart attacks. That’s what his father’s death had been ruled, even though he was only forty years old and in perfect health.
As the screams on the street died down, strangers rushed to help Jacob and Sue. The only thing Jude could hear was the cry of the infant. A breeze stirred Jude’s hair. He could swear there was a word whispered upon it. He heard the word clear as day, but couldn’t believe his ears.
Wolf…
Coffee Shop Cupid by Lacey Daize
Chapter 1 - Tristan
~October~
Iglanced around the living room while my former mama-in-law looked on, tapping her foot impatiently.
“Are you going to be much longer?” she grumbled. “I have an appointment this afternoon.”
“You don’t have to be here Helen,” I replied. “Vince and I worked out all the details.”
“As if I’d trust him to do that properly.” She crossed her arms. “He mated you after all.”
I pushed my glasses up and pinched my nose. Of course she would try to get one last jab in, she’d always hated me.
“You could always call the cops if you think I’m going to walk out with things that I shouldn’t. I’ve got the divorce papers and they can check the list.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” she sneered. “Just hurry up.”
I turned away and started to rub my neck, but flinched when my fingers brushed the bandage on the back. Of course my asshole-ex was so impatient to get on with his new life that he hadn’t even allowed me time to let my severed bond heal properly.
No, he had to move in his new omega as soon as possible. The one he’d learned he’d knocked up while I was recovering from my final miscarriage.
The omega he’d been cheating on me with while I’d still been pregnant. The miscarraige that had caused me to lose my womb.
Don’t cry, I scolded myself as I forced back angry tears. Don’t you dare cry in front of Helen. Don’t give her the satisfaction.
I walked over to the mantle and took down my collection of figurines, feeling her eyes on me the entire time.
It wasn’t as if anything of Vince’s was up there. She just wanted to intimidate me.
I considered calling the police myself, but it wasn’t worth the drama. She’d play the victim card if I did and I’d never hear the end of it. She was too big a figure in our small town, and my mama would catch hell if I pissed Helen off. I just needed to do my best to ignore her. Still, I knew her, and that she would only escalate given her current mood.
Once I had everything down from the mantle, I started wrapping my figurines in newspaper and setting them in a box.
“Do you really have to wrap each one?” Helen demanded, coming over and kicking the box for good measure.
“I’ve had each of these appraised recently,” I replied, warning in my voice. “They’re antiques. If you chipped even one of them just now I will be sending you a bill.”
“Hah, as if you could prove I did anything. Things get damaged in shipping all the time.”
“Yes, but I have proof you just kicked the box.” I pointed to the security camera at one corner of the room. “The cameras are still on my account. No matter how much you whine, Vince has no access to erase footage of your harassment this time, and I’m not afraid to use it either.”
“Well as far as I’m concerned, you shouldn’t be taking them anyway,” she retorted. “You obviously bought them with Vince’s money…”
I held up my hand. “I inherited these from my grandpapa, and I used my own money to appraise them. They’re mine, and I’m not leaving them just because you think Vince’s new omega needs to step into a perfectly ready house. He already got almost everything, so back off and let me take my things in fucking peace.”
“Your money?” she scoffed. “Maybe if you’d quit working you wouldn’t have lost…”
“Don’t you dare complete that sentence!” I yelled, propriety be damned. “Did you ever once think that your constant nagging might have been a source of stress?”
I was done, and I realized I shouldn’t care about my own mama either. She was too busy lamenting my infertility to those who would listen to actually support me through it.
Helen gasped in mock-horror. “Well I never…”
“And you never will, you psycho bitch,” I snarled, standing and staring her down. “Just leave, go to your appointment and stop harassing me. You’ve already got everything you wanted. Vince is with a new omega, one who will give you your damn precious grandchildren. I’m about to be out of your life for good, so leave me alone so I can finish packing.”
“But…”
I pointed at the door. “Leave!” I shouted. “You’re not here by court order, and I’m sick of you questioning everything I pack. You don’t have any power over me anymore. If you don’t go I’ll call the cops and have you trespassed.”
“This is Vince’s house!”
“Not until he finishes buying out my half, which isn’t complete yet. I have every right to throw you out of here. Now leave or I’ll have the police escort you out.”
She glared at me for a moment, then, when she realized I wasn’t backing down, stomped towards the door.
“This isn’t over.”
“Yes it is, Helen.”
She slammed the door as she left, but the ringing in my ears was preferable to her nagging.
I walked to the front window and watched her get into her car and leave. Then I pulled the curtains closed, sunk to my knees and started shaking.
I’d never stood up to her before. Eight years of being mated to her son, and I’d always allowed her to run roughshod over me in order to keep the peace.
But I was on my own now, and I would need to learn to stand up for myself.
No alpha would want me. I couldn’t be bonded, and I no longer had a womb to give them children.
My own family, except for my older sister, viewed me as a failure since I was barren, and had almost completely shunned me.
I took several deep breaths, then got to my feet again.
I wasn’t going to break. If years of fertility treatments, IVF, and miscarriages hadn’t broken me, then I could face my future alone.
∞∞∞
“Are you sure about this Tristan?” my principal, Robert, asked as I handed in my resignation. “You’re a good teacher, and we don’t want to see you go.”
I nodded as a group of children ran down the hall outside the office, squealing about something.
“I can’t do it anymore,” I said softly. “Not now. It’s still all too raw.”
I took a deep breath. “Besides, the kids only knew me for a few days before I went into the hospital.”
He sighed, rounded his desk and sat. Then he motioned to the guest chair.
I sat, and readied myself for the pushback. The school was already short on teachers, and my leaving would make it worse.
“What would it take to make you stay?” he asked. “Leave of absence? Can I relocate you to an administrative position until you’re ready to come back?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m moving. There are too many memories here, and in this city.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ve decided to move to Valle Granja for now, though I don’t know if I’ll stay or not.”
“Do you have family out there?”
“No. I’ve never been at all.”
“Then why there?”
I shrugged. “Precisely because I’ve never been. There are no memories.”
“I guess I understand.” He paused, the silence in the office heavy. “What are you going to tell the kids?”
I flinched. The last time I’d seen my students I’d still been pregnant. My class had been excited to watch me grow.
How could I tell them that there would be no baby, and that I was leaving because of it?
“Can I just write a letter to the parents?” I whispered. “I… I don’t think I can face them.”
He blew out a long breath. “Bring it by when you come to collect your classroom decor.”
I shook my head. “I’ve decided to leave it. The kids are probably used to it by now, and it’ll give the new teacher a classroom ready to walk into.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded. “I’m not going to need it anyway. I don’t think I can teach anymore, at least not the young ones.”
“Ok.” He stood and paced behind his desk. “I’ll send your resignation to HR. They’ll want an exit interview, and to make sure there aren’t any problems.”
“Please have them call my cell, or email me the details. I no longer live at the address with the landline.”
He paused and sighed. “He really… divorced you?”
I reached back and touched the bandage. “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea Vince was capable of such cruelty.”
I shook my head. “He wanted kids, I can’t give him any. It…”
“Is downright disgusting what he did to you,” Robert said. “Years of treatments, then the moment they took your womb he asked to have your bond severed.”
I looked away, forcing myself not to cry.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn't mean…”
“It’s ok.”
“No, it’s not. I should have watched my words.”
“I can’t let it get to me. This is my reality now. I have to face it,” I replied, studying the fading pattern on the floor rather than face him.
“You shouldn’t have to face it alone though.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It is what it is.”
“We’ll have a place for you here, if you ever decide to come back.”
“Thank you,” I replied, standing and heading towards the door.
“Tristan?” he asked before I could walk out.
“Yeah?”
“Things may look bleak, but I hope you can find happiness.”
“Thank you,” I replied, studying the worn doorknob. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
∞∞∞
I lounged on the bed in the long-term hotel I was staying at until all the loose ends of my prior life were tidied up.
Despite knowing where I was going, I had no idea what I was going to do when I got there. I had no intention of teaching, and was still under doctor's orders to take it easy. My meager savings and what I got for my half of the house would only support me for so long.
I sighed, pulled over my laptop and opened the online jobs board for Valle Granja.
“Retail, retail, restaurant…” I grumbled. “No, no, no.”
I scrolled past a number of scam ads, and was about to give up when something different caught my attention.
“Matchmaker?” I wondered as I opened the ad.
For a moment I wondered if it was a different type of scam, but the pay was reasonable, the requirements made sense, and the best part was that I wouldn’t be interacting with people. It was a remote position that I could do from anywhere: reviewing client profiles and creating lists of possible matches.
It meant that even if I decided to leave Valle Granja, I would still have a job.
I swallowed. “You can do this.” Then I sent off my resume.
∞∞∞
“Tristan,” I said, hitting the button that would connect my cell phone to the car’s bluetooth.
“Mr. Hall?”
“Yes?”
“This is Amanda from Touch of Fate Matchmaking.”
“Yes, I remember you from the online interviews.”
“That’s fantastic. Is this a good time?”
“I’m on the highway.”
“Oh, well I’ll send an email. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve decided to offer you the position. Please review the details and send back the paperwork at your earliest convenience.”
I smiled. At least something was going right. “That’s fantastic. Thank you.”
“Thank you, and welcome aboard,” she replied before ending the call.
“I guess it’s official,” I said. “I’m a matchmaker now.”
My Demon Manny by Stella Rainbow
One
Calux
I loved babies.
Not in the weird demonic 'I want to eat them' way—though I was a demon, no demon had ever eaten a human baby...that I knew of—but in an 'awww, they're so cute; I just wanna hold them and cuddle them all day' way.
The only problem was, as a demon who'd lived in the demon realm until just a few short months ago, it was practically impossible for me to find a baby to cuddle with.
It wasn't like I could just walk up to a human parent and ask to hold their baby. That would be bad. "Call upon me the wrath of the King of Otherworld" bad.
So, I'd started looking for alternatives, and that was when I discovered something life-changing.
There was a job out there where I'd get paid to take care of a baby all day long. All I had to do was finish a twenty-hour course, get my certification, and then apply to a few agencies that connected parents with nannies.
I'd done all of it. I'd had to magic up some papers that said I went to high school and I had my GED, but I actually did the course that taught you how to take care of babies. If I was going to be responsible for helping raise a baby, I wanted to know exactly how to do it right.
I didn't know where exactly my fascination with human babies had started. Maybe it was because I didn't remember the time I was human, much less my childhood. I'd just woken up one day and known I was a demon, with no idea what or who I'd been before then.
Maybe I just found it interesting that sweet, innocent babies grew up to be such fascinating individuals. I wanted to know if how a baby was raised changed the type of person they'd grow up to be. Was it possible that a person who did the worst kinds of evils would change completely if they'd had a different childhood?
Of course, there was no true way to test it...until Hitler's soul was reincarnated, I supposed. It was still in the Burning Chasm, nicely being burned to a crisp until it was purified of all its darkness.
Shaking my head, I placed my phone on the coffee table and stood up, heading into my small kitchen. The apartment I lived in was small, cozy, and exactly what I needed. It was painted in warm colors, and I'd filled it with as many soft and colorful things as I could.
Since I'd checked the live-in nanny box when I applied, there was a possibility I'd have to move out for a while if I was hired, but until then, I was happy living in this place, even though it was much smaller than my chambers in the demon realm.
When I first came to the human world, I'd thought I would miss the demon realm. I'd thought I'd miss my bed, my many silk pillows, and the demon hound, Hella. But surprisingly, I didn't. Okay, well, I missed Hella a bit, but it wasn't like she didn't visit. She preferred to stay with Azazel, since he had a human summoner who gave her a lot of cuddles and treats, but she also stayed with me a lot, so I didn't mind too much.
We hadn't just come to the human world on vacation, though. No, we were on a mission, on standby until something needed our attention.
A few bad souls had escaped the Burning Chasm, and they'd taken a demon with them. Though Mammon—one of the oldest demons currently in existence—had gone willingly, we still needed to get him and those souls back before they created havoc in the human world. They were lying low for now, but we were all on high alert for the moment they started acting.
I didn't know when that would happen, but I wasn't going to just sit around and wait for it. Until something occurred, I was going to live this life we'd been given, and enjoy every moment of being in the human world.
My kettle beeped, and I hopped over to it, pouring the water in a cup and dunking in a tea bag. Emptying a packet of cookies on a plate, I carried them both back to the living room and placed them on the coffee table before switching on the TV.
Humans were such fascinating creatures, and I loved watching the shows they created. They had such creativity, and such a vivid imagination. Somehow, without ever knowing the truth, they'd created their own versions of the realms. They called Afterworld 'Heaven' and the Burning Chasm (or rather its old—now destroyed—counterpart, the Underworld) 'Hell.'
What irked me was that they thought demons were evil creatures who lived in this hell, which was, quite frankly, a bit offensive. I supposed they couldn't always get it right, or mostly right. Still, knowing most of the human-kind thought we were evil when we'd once been humans ourselves wasn't fun.
As I was watching a show that focused more on drama between married couples than anything else—was that truly how much human pairs argued?—my phone pinged, and I almost dropped my teacup in my rush to grab it.
There was an email waiting for me, and I clicked it open, crossing my fingers the way I'd seen a human do on TV when he was hoping for good news.
Calux, you have an interview!
A prospective parent saw your resumé and would like to meet you to see if you'd be the perfect fit for their little one. Below are the listed details. Please reply with a yes if you're interested, and you'll be sent the time and location of the interview.
"Yes!" I cheered, then quickly read the parent's details.
Single dad, looking for a live-in nanny.
Six months old baby boy.
Hitting reply, I sent back a yes, then placed the phone back on the table so I wouldn't keep refreshing it as I waited for a reply.
I had an interview! I was going to completely ace this thing, and then I was going to take the best care of that little boy. I'd put all the human nannies to shame with my nannying skills, just you wait.
Archer
I hadn't realized how difficult it was going to be to find a good nanny that still fit my particular criteria.
I'd spent the last six months in a bubble of new-dad glow, taking care of Gunner and just soaking in his presence. The minute his mom—a one-night stand I'd hooked up with on a business trip—had called me with the news, I'd been committed to him.
Maya was a law student in her final year, and she wanted to focus on her career, something I perfectly understood. I'd offered to take full custody of Gunner, and she'd agreed. It'd all been very amicable, and the moment I first held Gunner in my arms, I'd known I would do anything for him.
Finding the right nanny, though? That was kicking me in the butt.
I'd decided I wasn't going to hire a woman if she was anywhere close to my age. I had a feeling that if I saw a woman taking good care of Gunner, I might start developing feelings for her, and that...wasn't good. Right now, all I had space in my life for was work and Gunner. There was no place for a relationship in my life, and I wasn't going to do anything that put my singlehood at risk.
So, all the young-ish women were out, which left me with two middle-aged women and three men.
Since I'd be working every weekday, I wanted to hire someone who'd stay at my place and help me take care of Gunner even when I was home, because I'd need some time to sleep. I needed a live-in nanny, and I was willing to pay whatever it took. Only the best for my kid.
The two women didn't offer live-in services, since they both had families of their own. Same with one of the men. Which left me with two men. Their resumés were open on my computer side by side, and I was having a hard time picking one of them.
While Rupert, a man in his early twenties, had a lot of references, he'd scored just above average on the test the agency took to qualify their nannies. The other nanny, Calux, a man in his mid-twenties, was a new hire, but he'd scored 100 percent on the test. It was a tough decision of practical experience versus learned knowledge, and I wasn't sure which one would be the better choice.
A soft cry caught my ears, and my eyes flicked to the baby monitor. Leaving my desk, I made my way to the living room crib, where I'd put Gunner down for a nap. He peered up at me with blue eyes very much like his mom's, and I smiled as I picked him up, cradling him in my arms.
"Hey, there, little one. How about you help me pick, hmm? After all, you'll be spending the most time with whoever I choose."
I had two weeks of vacation left, and I wanted to make sure I had a good nanny as soon as possible so I could observe them work and make sure they're the right choice for my baby.
Carrying Gunner to the desk, I settled in my chair with him cradled against my chest.
Gunner glanced from me to the desktop screen, then waved his hands. Between one moment and the next, he had a grip on the mouse wire, and he tugged it off the desk, making me scramble to catch it.
I grabbed it, the buttons going click-click as I tried to keep it from falling, and when I'd returned it to the desk and slowly pulled the wire out of Gunner's grip, I glanced up at the screen and sighed.
Only one profile lay open now, twenty-five-year-old newbie nanny Calux's.
"I guess you made your choice," I said, smiling down at Gunner and then pressing a kiss to his nose. He babbled up at me, as if assuring me that Calux was the right one.
Some people might think I was dumb for taking that as a sign, but I didn't care. It wasn't like I was going to outright hire him. No, I'd call him over for an interview, and only after I'd evaluated him properly would I make a decision.
Typing with one hand, I emailed back the agency, telling them I'd like to meet with Calux, and giving them the basic information they needed.
As the email was sent, I turned my attention back to Gunner, rocking him gently as I gazed down at his chubby face. His eyes sparkled as he watched me, his arms upraised and his hands opening and closing again and again like crab claws. I knew better than to lean closer. The last time I'd done it, he'd almost ripped out half my beard. I'd ended up trimming it a little shorter the very next day so he couldn't grab it as tightly. Baby grip was no joke.
"What do you think, Gunner? Will Calux be your perfect nanny? He's never done this before. What if he sees one of your explosive diapers and freaks out?" I asked, raising a brow at the little dude, and he broke into giggles, like he could understand exactly what I was saying. I liked to think he could.
"Okay, how about a little snack for you and then I'll tell you a story, hmm?" I asked, turning off my computer as I stood up, holding Gunner close. I was going to miss this when I went back to work, but hopefully, the nanny I hired would take just as good care of my baby as I did.
Whether that nanny would be this Calux or not remained to be seen.
Swamped by Fear by Hank Edwards
“Hey Mr. Gator," Demetrius said as he dipped the end of the leaf net in the water and made some splashing sounds. "Let's get you out of there, okay? You've got to hate the chlorine, don't you? I bet it's messing up your eyes, isn't it?"
The alligator floated closer to the edge of the pool. Demetrius took a step back, extending his reach to keep the edge of the leaf net just above the water.
"Careful Demmy," Cody said in a calm, gentle voice.
"Yep, absolutely."
He knew alligators could move fast, but when the thing lunged at the leaf rake, as prepared as he thought he was, it still surprised him. The gator grabbed the leaf rake in its strong jaws and twisted as it dove beneath the water. Demetrius reacted without thinking and tightened his grip instead of releasing the rake. As the gator pulled the leaf rake under, it pulled Demetrius into the pool and under the water as well.
Fear flared inside him, hot and suffocating. He remembered to release the leaf rake and struggled up to the surface. This section of the pool was ten feet deep, so he couldn't touch the bottom. Every moment he expected to feel the alligator's jaws clamp down on his foot or his leg and drag him underwater for good. Demetrius swam toward the pool's edge that seemed miles away instead of just a few feet. Cody was shouting something, but Demetrius couldn't make it out over the sound of his own panting breath and splashing water.
Something hit him in the back of the head and Demetrius screamed, thinking it was the alligator. But then he realized it was the life ring that Cody had thrown to him. He grabbed the ring to hold himself up and looked across the length of the pool as he reached out for the concrete edge. The alligator swam right for him, its snout creating a furrow through the water. Demetrius's heart pounded, and his breath came in short pants. He was never going to see how his mother's surgery went. He was never going to see his parents again. He was going to die with a whole list of things he had yet to do.
Cody was shouting his name over and over again, but Demetrius could not understand what he was saying. All he heard was the blood rushing in his ears and the sound of his own breathing. The alligator lifted its nose up out of the water and started to open its jaws. It was only a few feet from him now, and coming fast like a speedboat.
Demetrius pushed off from the wall, dragging the life ring along without thinking about it. The alligator missed him and hit the edge of the pool, sending a tidal wave of water out onto the deck. It thrashed its tail in anger. Demetrius did the sidestroke, heading for the shallow end of the pool as he kept the gator in sight, his left arm hooked through the life ring.
The alligator dove under the water and a sense of panic enveloped and consumed the fear inside him. The panic built on the fear, quadrupling then octupling it until it lived within him like some kind of invasive spirit, making it difficult for him to breathe.
Something tugged on the life ring, pulling him off his course and toward the side of the pool closest to the house. At that moment he felt the swell of displaced water behind him and it pushed him even closer to the house side of the pool. The alligator had surfaced right where he had been swimming, and if he hadn't been pulled out of the gator's path, it would have dragged him beneath the water and drowned him.
Cody crouched on the side of the pool, Hubert right behind him, both of them pulling on the rope tied to the life ring, dragging Demetrius through the water. Both men were shouting, but Demetrius still couldn't understand what they were saying as his heart pounded, his breath rasped in his throat, and the water sloshed around him. He touched the side of the pool and then reached up, feet kicking, stretching for the bottom but still unable to find it. How fucking deep was this pool, anyway? Then Cody had hold of his hands and lifted him out of the water and into his arms.
"I've got you," Cody said, holding him tight. "I've got you. You're safe."
Demetrius's heart pounded, and he could feel Cody's heart beating in time. They both had been frightened by his fall into the pool.
Charles Payseur is an avid reader, writer, and reviewer of speculative fiction. His works have appeared in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Lightspeed Magazine, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among others, and many are included in his debut collection, The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories (Lethe Press 2021). He is the series editor of We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction (Neon Hemlock Press) and a multiple-time Hugo and Ignyte Award finalist for his work at Quick Sip Reviews. When not drunkenly discussing Goosebumps, X-Men comic books, and his cats on his Patreon (/quicksipreviews) and Twitter (@ClowderofTwo), he can probably found raising a beer with his husband, Matt, in their home in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Sick of the slogging rat-race of her 9-5 job, Pandora Pine put pen to paper (literally!) to make her ambition of becoming a romance novelist a reality. She cut her teeth in the dog-eat-dog world of fan fiction, still dreaming of the day when she would be a published author.
In her spare time, Pandora fancies herself an amateur nature photographer. She enjoys mucking around in swamps, hiking through the woods and crawling around on her hands and knees in her backyard seeking out the perfect shot. Pandora is a fan of roadside seafood shacks and always thinks Mexican food is a good idea at the time.
Some of Pandora's favorite things are chocolate, writing longhand with purple pens, and handsome men falling in love with each other.
Lacey DaizeLacey lives in New Mexico with her four critters. She’s a Jill-of-all-trades by day, but loves writing in her spare time. She dabbles in a variety of pairings, but jumped feet-first into the deep end of omegaverse the first time she read it. She loves the play on social expectations and the different ways to express romance.
Stella Rainbow is the pen name of a twenty something woman from India. Her heart is too full of rainbow colored stories to be limited by the lack of awareness in her home country.
Stella spends her days cuddling up with her cat, typing out new stories, daydreaming and reading all the books she can get her hands on.
She loves talking to her readers and other book lovers, so don't hesitate in contacting her on any of her socials or emailing her at authorstellarainbow@gmail.com.
Hank Edwards has been writing gay romantic fiction for more than twenty years. He has published over thirty novels and dozens of short stories. His writing crosses many sub-genres, including romantic comedy, contemporary, paranormal, suspense, mystery, and wacky comedy.
He has written a number of series such as the funny and spooky Critter Catchers, Old West historical horror Venom Valley Series, suspenseful Up to Trouble series, and the very erotic and very funny Fluffers, Inc., He is also part of the shared universe Williamsville Inn series of contemporary gay romance books that feature stories by Brigham Vaughn as well. He's written a YA urban fantasy gay romance series called The Town of Superstition, which is published under the pen name R. G. Thomas.
No matter what genre he writes, Hank likes to keep things steamy, kind of sassy, and heartfelt. He was born and still lives in a northwest suburb of the Motor City, Detroit, Michigan.
Charles Payseur
EMAIL: cypayseur@gmail.comLacey Daize
Stella Rainbow
Hank Edwards
How the Supervillain Stole Christmas by Charles Payseur
B&N / KOBO / GOOGLE PLAY
Ghost of a Memory by Pandora Pine
My Demon Manny by Stella Rainbow
Swamped by Fear by Hank Edwards
KOBO / SMASHWORDS / WEBSITE
