Summary:
Critter Catchers #5
A Christmas spent far from home. Cody’s father gone missing. Clues that point to another monster case.
Demetrius accompanies Cody on a trip to visit his parents in Colorado for Christmas. The house is packed with Cody’s four brothers and their extended families, which is something close to chaos and means Cody and Demmy are sleeping on the living room floor of Grant, his oldest brother. Soon after their arrival, they learn Cody’s father’s truck has been found in a ditch with no sign of his father and are out the door.
Everything going crazy around them makes Cody appreciate what he and Demmy have found together, and he opens up to his family about the true depth of their relationship. There are mixed reactions, but Cody's honesty with his family proves to Demetrius just how important he's become to Cody, and he realizes he couldn't ask for a better Christmas gift.
Between Greg Bower’s disappearance, Grant's cannabis greenhouse, and a trip to the mall with Cody’s nieces and nephews, the guys also manage to find themselves smack dab in the middle of another monster case when a sasquatch makes a terrifying appearance. As they high-step for their lives through the deep Colorado snow, they’ll end up saving a movie stuntman with a terrible sense of direction and writing Cody’s nephew an IOU for a brand new drone.
Marshmallow Spiced Omega by Susi Hawke
Summary:Hollydale Omegas #7
The best gifts in life will sometimes catch you by surprise.
Luke is a YouTuber known for his popular Omega Manny Diary videos. After a brief-yet-secret fling with his boss Ian’s best friend, he finds himself left with an even larger secret: Grazer’s baby.
Grazer had a lot of fun with Luke, but he’d been upfront with him from the beginning. He’d always preferred to chase silver foxes—not young, fertile pups.
Nearly two years after their last hot night together, Grazer returns to Hollydale, fresh from a year of guarding the toddler of a celebrity. He’s at loose ends, not to mention lonely, and wondering if maybe he’d been too brash when writing off love and fatherhood in the past.
When Grazer runs into Luke and discovers his life-altering secret, can they find a way to forgive the mistakes of the past and grab their second chance at romance?
Return to Hollydale for this second chance, secret baby romance where May learns to be the December in an age gap relationship. This is the seventh book of The Hollydale Omegas series. This book is about 34k and most likely contains an HEA. 18+ readers only please! And yes, this book contains M/PREG, adults adulting in sexy grown-up ways, and way more than an occasional use of potty mouth language.
Original Review April 2025:
I've featured many of the author's Hollydale Omegas series entries on my blog for different holiday themes but this is only the third I've actually had the opportunity to read. I loved it.
There is so many ways or plot paths the author could have taken and I'm sure each would be just as good but I'm glad the author chose this one. I know that sounds ambiguous but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, who like me is relatively new to this series. Just know it's so good.
Luke and Grazer have a past where each was potentially in a different place in their lives and what they wanted next. When a baby enters into the picture, those places in their lives may change or perhaps it just helps things become clearer. Okay, again I'm being coy but I won't spoil it. I wanted to wrap Luke in huge Mama Bear hugs and at first I didn't expect to like Grazer but sometimes we don't know what makes a character tick until we see some inner monologue that definitely can effect our perception of previous actions.
Anywho, I may have been light on any story points here as I'm a spoil-free zone kind of person but what I will simply say is I absolutely LOVED Marshmallow Spiced Omega! I may have picked it up because I was looking for Easter/spring themed stories but I'm just glad I did. Such a delightfully fun gem and I doubt it'll be 3+ years before I dive back in to Hollydale Omegas.
Summary:
Princes of Mayhem #3
Disaster #3: Date Night
Date night! Date night!
It's date night!
Life has settled down and Nolan has agreed to go on a date with Sky. There's just one catch: Sky has to promise that it's a totally normal, non-magical date.
I bet you can already see where this is going…
It would have been a totally normal, non-magical date if it weren't for the purple fungus, a completely minor nonlethal mostly harmless but useful poisoning, and the pig.
Sigh...Will Nolan give him a second chance after this mess?
How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life is a serial comprising four novellas that follow the insane adventures of necromancer Skylar Wallace and his next-door neighbor Nolan Banks. This is book three of four and contains vampires, werewolves, witches, spells gone bad, good friends who should never call during a date, and a pig. Really. This will make your worst date look amazing. And did I mention it’s a full moon?
Summary:
Fangs & Felons #3
In the world of covert operations, trust is paramount, yet I’ve been straying, fostering secret ties with the elusive “unicorn hacker,” challenging my loyalty to the ITU, my SICB family.
No doubt about it, I’m going to be in deep shit when they find out—it’s only a matter of time.
But when an investigation explodes, so does my world—and for the first time, I hear the hacker’s voice, magnetic and captivating, pulling me in deeper.
I also finally get his name.
Rowan Hart, a former agent and a tiger shifter with haunting scars. He becomes an unexpected hero, thrusting us into an alliance against Hornell, SICB’s prime target. Despite clashes with my team, we form an unstoppable duo, until a sudden attack fractures our team, leaving me changed beyond imagination.
As I fight for survival, it takes both my unit and Rowan’s unwavering resolve to keep me alive. Amidst chaos, Rowan’s commitment becomes clear—he’ll move heaven and earth to grant me a second chance at life and, perhaps, with him.
Brighter Than Fear is the third book in a gay urban fantasy romance series. Between the pages you’ll find high-octane action, snarky vampires and shifters, and scorching-hot scenes to make you swoon.
Darkvale Dragons #3
"If loving him is wrong, I don't want to be right."
An Adorkable Omega...
Ansel Anderson was only a teenager when his parents died in battle. In the years since, he's spent every waking moment studying magitech and hiding away from the world. After four years abroad, he's no longer the boy he once was. He's back home, ready to make his mark, and a mysterious voice insists that his mentor is also his mate.
A Thrill-Seeking Alpha...
Tork Davenport shoots first and asks questions later. But when his best friend dies in battle and leaves an orphaned son behind, he fulfills the dying man's request to take care of him. When Ansel returns to Darkvale, however, Tork begins to see him in a way he never has before--not just as a boy, but a man. Too bad such a mating is forbidden. As a terrifying new revelation shakes Darkvale to its core, can these two men find solace in one another?
Can they harness their forbidden feelings and save Darkvale once and for all?
The Dragon's Forbidden Omega is the third and final book in the Darkvale Dragons series. Each book follows a different couple but should be read in order for maximum enjoyment. This book contains mpreg, knotting, giant robots, masquerade balls, and an age gap relationship between a disgruntled mentor and his protégé. Don't miss the explosive finale of the Darkvale Dragons trilogy--scroll up and click 'buy now' today.
Screams of the Season by Hank Edwards
Cody stopped and leaned against a hardwood tree to catch his breath and looked back. Demmy had paused as well, propping himself against a different tree as he panted. His face was red, and sweat stood out on his forehead just beneath his hat.
"This deep snow is hard to walk through," Demmy said.
"This may not have been my best idea."
"Better than trying to skateboard down my road by holding onto the back fender of my bike."
Cody chuckled and flexed his knee. "I still have the scars from those scrapes."
"I'm very aware of every one of your scars." Demmy grinned and waggled his eyebrows.
"If I weren't afraid of passing out trying to peel off all your layers, I'd be all over you right now."
"You say the sweetest things."
Before Cody could suggest they turn back, he heard a sound. From Demmy's expression, he'd heard it too. Cody looked into the trees ahead of them. The sun was sinking fast, and the light played tricks with his eyes, making shadows seem to move. He held up a hand for Demmy to stay where he was and took three long, careful steps.
Something moved behind a tree about ten feet in front of him. It was tall and broad and looked like it was covered in hair.
Fucking hell. It could be a bear. Or Demmy might have been right about that footprint.
Cody started to look back at Demmy and motion for him to retreat, but the tall, broad, hairy figure moved. It faced away from them, shifting position as the muscles in its back flexed. It lifted its leg, pulling a massive foot out of the snow and planting it behind for better support.
And then it turned and looked over its shoulder right at him.
"Run!" Cody shouted.
He turned away from the thing and took off running. Demmy wasted no time asking what he'd seen. He had already turned and started running back the way they'd come.
Cody heard the thing rumble some kind of growl, and the sound urged him to move faster. Demmy was a few feet in front of him, high-stepping to clear the snow, both of them grunting and panting.
A mix of growls and snorts from behind sent shivers through him. He expected to feel a big hand grab his shoulder and spin him around, and then the thing would choke him until it crushed his neck.
How far had they walked away from the wider animal run? It felt like they had been trying to escape forever.
He risked a glance back, and his heart hammered even faster.
The thing was bounding after them, the fur around its face dusted with snow, highlighting the simian appearance. It reached out for him, but Cody was a few feet out of its reach.
"Faster!" Cody shouted.
Demmy looked back, his eyes big and his mouth a dark O of shock and exertion.
"What the fuck?" Demmy managed to shout between gasps.
"Just go!"
They burst out of the trees onto the animal run. Free of the thigh-deep snow, Demmy sprinted through the more widely-spaced pine trees and out into the open field. Cody was just a few feet behind him, and he could see people standing around the police cruisers in the gas station parking lot on the other side of the field.
He looked back and gasped with relief. The thing had not pursued them across the animal run. Cody could barely see its outline, glaring at him from behind a couple of trees.
Cody slowed a bit and managed to say, "Demmy… It's okay… It stopped."
Demmy looked back and then tripped over his own feet and went down on the snow. He reached Demmy and dropped to his knees beside him. They were both out of breath as they looked at each other.
"You okay?" Cody asked.
Demmy nodded. "Was it…?"
"Bigfoot? Most likely." Cody looked back, but the thing had moved back into the trees out of sight. "Fucking monsters."
Marshmallow Spiced Omega by Susi Hawke
Chapter 1
Luke
“Do you want some more of the Lucky Ballz, Luke? Or would you prefer one of our Fluffy Ballz instead?” Tom held up a plate of pretty pastel green ballz that had been rolled in edible, gold glitter, but the stomach cramps I’d been having were getting worse.
“No, I’d better not. But maybe I could take some to go? I know those mint flavored ballz won’t be around much longer, now that Saint Patrick’s Day has passed. Although, I can’t deny the Fluffy Ballz are pretty good too.”
I looked regretfully at the Easter-themed dark chocolate-coated marshmallow ballz, each decorated a different pastel glitter. It was amazing how much care they put into their ballz here.
“It’s cool, Luke. That just leaves more for me and Scott.”
Braden grinned and popped a pair of ballz into his mouth. He began clowning around for his daughter, Shannon, by stuffing one into each cheek so that he bore a strong resemblance to a hamster. At only a year old, the little one clapped and giggled as if he were the funniest thing on earth.
“So, is today the day when you finally tell us who the baby daddy is, Luke?” Tom asked as he settled down at our table with a tray of iced coffees. Decaf for me, of course, since pregnant people are denied caffeine. Reason number thirty-seven I was ready to be done with this already.
I huffed out a sigh. It had been a long nine months of my friends all asking this question that I had no interest in answering. My former bosses, Ian and Cecil, had finally given up with it, but Tom? Not so much.
“Trust me, Tom. I’m the only father this baby is going to have, so his name is unimportant. He didn’t want to have kids, he was quite clear about it when we were hooking up. This was my accident, not his. Apparently, I suck at math or figuring out my heat cycle. Either way... here we are and here he isn’t. Besides, I’m the Omega Manny. I’ve got this, okay? I have to... I’m the only parent this little one is going to need. Does that cover it for you?”
Tom nodded reluctantly and changed the subject, thank fuck. “Okay, doll. So... Tell me again how you guys met Scott here?”
“Scott is my across-the-hall neighbor at my new apartment. I thought I told you that? Sorry, preggo brain. But, yeah. Neighbor. And when we discovered we both make our living on YouTube, it was an instant connection.”
I gave a half smile at Scott, trying not to wince as another spasm rocked my gut. Holy hell. Was I about to get diarrhea in the middle of the Sweet Ballz candy shoppe? Or was my bladder so full that the baby was crowded and trying to kick it out of the way?
“Really? I had no clue people really made money that way until Luke started that popular Omega Manny channel. Then I met Braden here with his gaming. What do you do, cutie?”
Tom smiled at my newest friend with genuine interest. I wasn’t surprised. Tom had an amazing head for business and was always interested in hearing about other people’s success.
“I’m the Outdoor Omega.” Scott explained. “I take videos of some of my hikes, camping trips, and other wilderness themed sports. I did one really cool shoot when I was climbing Mt. Rainier last year. There were a few gnarly moments, let me tell you.”
Tom shuddered dramatically at Scott’s words and held up a hand. “Thanks, but no thanks, babe. Tom’s idea of roughing it is staying in a three-star hotel while his hot alpha daddy takes the chitlins out to sleep in that canvas contraption in the woods. We meet up during the day for funzies, then Tom goes back to his so-so room to sleep. Everyone is happy, and Tom doesn’t miss out on the s’mores and smoked wieners. Win-win all around.”
Scott and Braden were laughing at Tom, but I couldn’t join in. The pain was getting so bad now, I felt a bead of sweat breaking out along my brow.
“Tom,” I gasped. “Could I use your employee bathroom? Please?”
“Of course! Come on, I’ll take you right back,” Tom looked concerned when he took a good look at me.
It took every ounce of strength I had to stand up, and once I did, fluid gushed down my thigh. Oh, fuck! Did I just crap my pants? Or, piss myself in public? I looked down in a panic but couldn’t see over my belly.
Then another pain hit me, and I doubled over, grabbing at the table to keep from falling over. That’s when I saw the small puddle of translucent fluid between my feet.
Braden passed Shannon to Tom and rushed around the table to help me. “Tom, I think you’d better call an ambulance. Luke’s water just broke, and I’m not sure if we should drive him, he looks like he could deliver any second.”
Tom rolled his eyes, his phone already in hand as he stood there and balanced Shannon on his hip. “No shit, Braden. Trust an alpha to state the obvious.”
I laughed through my pain when Shannon chirped see, see, see, as if trying to say shit. Tom glanced at her guiltily before talking into his phone. Scott came over and took Shannon from Tom, tickling her belly and grinning at Braden.
“Dude-bro, you’re going to get in so much trouble with the little mister if he figures out what his angel is trying to say when you get home.” Scott chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “That’s why Uncle Scotty likes to play with other people’s kids and not try to have one of my own. All that policing of the language? My kid’s first word would probably be the F-bomb.”
Braden eased me back down into my seat. “Naw, bro. It’s cool. I’ll just sic Greg on Tom if he figures it out. No way am I taking that blame.”
Tom stayed on the phone with the 911 operator until the ambulance pulled up outside a few short minutes later. I guess it was a good time of day to go into labor, given how fast they arrived.
Tom and Scott assured me they’d be right behind me on the way to the hospital, but Braden had to reluctantly bow out since he had the baby with him. I hadn’t thought I’d need anyone with me for the labor. After all, I was going to do the whole dad thing alone anyway. Might as well start out that way, right?
But now? I was beyond grateful to have my friends here. I hadn’t planned on the pain being this intense, and I was starting to freak out. I gripped Braden’s arm, before the EMTs could carry me out on the gurney.
“Braden, promise if I don’t make it through, you and Greg will still take her for me?”
The alpha pushed my hair back and smiled gently. “You’re going to be just fine, Luke. But yeah, if anything should happen, Greg has the guardianship papers you gave us as back-up. But they’re completely unnecessary. Trust me, bro. You’ll be okay. Greg and I will be up to see you and the baby as soon as I can find a sitter. Now get out of here, before the candy isn’t the only special kind of ballz on display up in here.”
I tried to smile, but only managed a grimace. A fresh contraction hit and I clenched my jaw to keep from screaming and scaring Shannon who was still chanting see, see, see in the background somewhere.
The nice thing about getting there in an ambulance was not having to sit in the waiting room until they brought me back. They took one look at me and rushed into movement. I was being wheeled toward the delivery room when I heard Tom’s strident voice and the sound of running feet.
“Hold on! Don’t take Luke away without his labor coaches extraordinaire!”
I kind of tuned out at that point, delirious with pain. When I tuned in again, I was sitting up in bed with Tom standing on one side of me wiping my sweaty face while Scott was sitting behind me and rubbing my back. My feet were up in stirrups, and Dr. Green was massaging me in places I didn’t care to think about.
“What’s happening?” I rasped out in confusion. “Am I dreaming?”
“No, doll. You’ve been given the good stuff. Just bear with us, you’re almost done,” Tom encouraged with a toothy grin.
The mother of all painful fucking contractions hit then. Dr. Greene was saying something in her calm voice, but I had no time for that shit. I bellowed up at the ceiling instead.
“Fucking Grazer! What the fuck kind of a cockamamy-ass name is that, anyway? Wherever you are, I fucking hate you and your perfectly curved, banana looking cock! You can go fuck yourself with it, Grazer! Do you hear me?”
I vaguely heard Scott chuckling behind me. “Breathe, babe. I’m pretty sure the entire town heard you. Trust me, if that Grazer guy is anywhere within the city limits, he heard you too.”
A lifetime, and several bone crushing pushes later, I heard a cry as my daughter heralded her entrance to the world. Dr. Greene laid her on my chest, then proceeded to cut the cord with Tom’s help before going back to finish things with the afterbirth.
“What’s her name,” Scott asked softly from over my left shoulder.
“Samantha Grace,” I answered without hesitation. “I plan to call her Sammy.”
The nurse came just then to take her away so they could clean her up and do all the newborn tests and measurements. The minute she was gone, my arms felt empty. Tom’s voice distracted me before I could focus on my loss, though.
“You know, if I recall correctly, Ian’s good buddy Grayson is called Grazer. I don’t suppose you met him while you were working for them? Yeah, I’m sure you did... in fact, I’d swear we were at more than one get together with both of you present at some point or other. Hmm. Grazer... Yeah, that’s kind of a unique name. He’s a unique guy too. A hot alpha-daddy type, not total sex-on-a-stick like my own hot alpha-daddy, but still not at all hard on the eyes.”
I froze, as I slowly remembered what I’d stupidly shouted during that one ridiculously painful contraction. Shit. There should be a warning given about that possibility happening.
“Yeah, well... If I said his name during labor, it must have been the meds talking. You know how it is when you’re out of your mind with pain.”
Tom looked at me with one elegantly raised brow, but merely shrugged. “If you say so.”
This shit was making me nervous. “Please don’t say anything, Tom. Really... I need you to forget that you heard anything.”
Tom looked divided for a moment, then shrugged again. “You know what? No worries. Tom is absolutely not about outing people for their secrets. But... you should really think about telling him, doll. It’s the right thing to do.”
I shook my head. “The time for telling him was nine months ago. It’s kinda late now. Besides. He told me he likes to be on the other side of the May to December type thing when we went out. Although with us it’s more of a May to August at best, but... what are you gonna do, right? He told me silver foxes are more his speed than fertile pups like me. With his job and travels, he can’t risk it anyway, because he’d never be there. We didn’t have condoms that last time, and I calculated my heat cycle and figured I was safe, you know? But then he left on a new security gig, and I got pregnant. I was scared to ask Ian how to contact him. I mean, we only went out on a handful of secret dates over the three-month period before he left for the new job. Ian and Cecil had no idea we’d even been dating.”
Tom sighed. “The longer you wait the worse it will get when he finds out, I need you to realize that, Luke.”
Scott eased out from behind me when the nurse came back with Sammy. He paused to lean over to admire her as he spoke his thoughts. “Unless he never does? I mean, Luke doesn’t work for Ian and Cecil anymore. If the dude didn’t want to be a parent anyway, why tell him? Luke agreed to a few dates and a little fun, not a lifetime commitment with him.”
Tom’s hands went to his hip as he stared Scott down. “No. Uncool, Scott. Neither of them asked for Sammy-girl, yet here she is. And he has a right to know she exists. Whether he wants to be a part of her life or not, he deserves the courtesy of having a choice. And Sammy is going to have questions in a few years. Trust me on that one. Kids have way too many questions anyway. You’ll regret this, Luke.”
I took a deep breath and looked into my daughter’s perfect face, then shook my head again, decisively this time. “I’ll think about it another time, Tom. I never intended on not telling him—I just don’t know where to begin at this point.”
Tom looked like he wanted to say more, but Cecil and Ian showed up right then. Before he slipped out of the room, Tom paused and gave me a long look, then smiled wistfully at Sammy.
How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life: Disaster #3 by Jocelynn Drake
Chapter One
Skylar Wallace
Date night!
It was date night at last.
Sky was singing those two words repeatedly in his head. Date night! Date night! Date night!
He was finally getting his date with the elusive and sexy neighbor who’d dodged his every attempt to draw him in. The man with the crunchy, grumpy exterior and gooey-soft interior.
Sure, it had taken a threat from a vampire and somewhat scary magic to get the job done, but Nolan Banks had agreed to go out on two dates with him.
Of course, it had also taken them a week to actually get to their glorious date night. Nolan had been horribly behind on his current project (see also: his good-for-nothing brother and the now double-dead vampire, Christoph Sandor). There was no way Nolan would relax and enjoy their night out if he was worrying about work. So, they’d postponed their date for a week to give Nolan a chance to play catch-up.
The wait was made all the more tolerable thanks to them agreeing to eat dinner together each night. Nolan had blocked out one hour for them to chat over the kitchen table and eat good food—which had included vegetables. Sky had done most of the cooking, though Nolan did prove that he knew how to use a Crock-Pot with that yummy pork roast he’d made.
But Nolan’s book was safely in the hands of his editor, and the harried author was looking more relaxed. Sky might have gotten a sexy text in the middle of the day from Nolan where the man had flashed his stylish new haircut.
Tonight was going to be a perfect, normal date with no magic and no weirdness. He had everything planned out. They were going to hit an outdoor art festival for about an hour and then wander over to the Italian restaurant where he had a reservation. After dinner, they would drive a short distance to this cute whiskey bar that had live music. If all went well, he’d get a special nightcap from Nolan when they got home.
Sky stopped one final time in front of the hall mirror to check his appearance. He’d decided to be a little more subdued tonight with dark slacks, a pale-gray button-down, and a dark vest with colorful tulips stitched onto it. He slid a hand over his golden hair one more time, making sure every lock was in place. Yes. Perfect.
“Should I expect you back tonight?” Grammy teased.
Sky shifted his gaze from the mirror to where the ghost of his grandmother hovered in the hall a few feet away, a smug smile lifting the corners of her lips.
“If I’m lucky, I won’t return until morning, but don’t jinx it! Tonight has to be perfect.”
Grammy chuckled. “The boy likes you. He knows your secret and he’s still hanging around. Don’t worry about things being perfect. Just have fun.”
Sky tamped down the snort that wanted to escape. Nolan didn’t have much choice in terms of hanging around. He lived across the street.
But it had been Nolan’s idea that they have dinner each night so they could spend time together despite his hectic work schedule.
Yes, Nolan wanted to see him. Everything was going to be fine.
He grabbed the sports jacket he had tossed over the back of the sofa, slipped it on, and snatched the bouquet of flowers he’d gotten for Nolan. With his keys, wallet, and phone in his pockets, he slipped out the front door and practically skipped across the street to Nolan.
He glanced down the street to see Old Mr. Franklin sitting in a lawn chair in his driveway, watching him walk to Nolan’s. The nosy old fart had been out there all week watching him and Nolan crossing the street to each other’s homes for dinner.
But tonight, he had backup. He was joined by Mrs. Jenkins and her annoying yappy dog, Mr. Binks, and Mrs. Carlisle, who was rocking a stroller as she talked to them. The old woman must have been babysitting another of her grandkids. He waved to all of them and held up the bouquet as he shouted, “Wish me luck!”
There. That’ll give them something to gossip about.
Just as he reached the stairs leading to Nolan’s porch, the front door opened and the very sexy man grinned at him.
“Are you shouting at the neighbors again?”
Sky skipped up the stairs and presented the flowers to his date. “Their lives are boring and lackluster without me entertaining them.”
“You could introduce them to Frank,” Nolan replied as he accepted the flowers, his smile softening to give Sky a glimpse at the gooey-ness inside that Nolan liked to claim wasn’t there.
“I said I wanted to entertain them, not give them heart attacks. I’m pretty sure Mrs. Jenkins is in her eighties at least.” Sky winked. “I don’t make the dead, baby. I just raise them.”
Nolan leaned forward and stole a quick kiss. “Thank you for the flowers.”
“I wanted to go with roses…” His voice drifted off at Nolan’s barely perceptible shudder as he stepped back to allow Sky into his house.
“Daisies are perfect. I think it’ll be a while before I’m comfortable around roses again.”
“Well, if it helps, I didn’t grow these. I picked them up from the florist like a normal boy trying to win the interest of his hot neighbor.”
“Yes, my normal neighbor,” Nolan agreed with a hint of laughter in his voice. “Let me just put these in water, and then I’ll be ready to go.”
Sky trailed after Nolan into the kitchen, where he dug out a glass vase from under the sink and filled it with water. This was the perfect opportunity to admire Nolan. The grumpy author who needed to be reminded to shower and lived in his flannel pajama pants and hoodie cleaned up very nicely. For their date, he’d selected black slacks and a black button-down under a soft, cream cable-knit sweater. His hair had been trimmed enough that it didn’t immediately block his eyes. He’d even shaved!
How was Sky supposed to not swoon at this man’s feet?
With the flowers properly settled in a vase, Nolan carried them out to the living room and placed them in the center of the coffee table.
Nolan turned to Sky and flashed a somewhat crooked smile. “I hate to admit it, but I’m a little nervous. I haven’t been on a date in a couple of years. There’s a good chance that I’m rusty at this.”
Sky walked over and took one of Nolan’s hands in both of his before tipping his face up toward him. Not needing any additional prompting, Nolan leaned close and pressed a slow, soft kiss to his lips.
“See. I don’t think you’re rusty at all,” Sky purred when Nolan broke off the kiss.
Nolan huffed a laugh. “No, you’ve just got me well trained already.”
Holding on to one of Nolan’s hands with his, Sky tugged him to the door. “Come on. This is totally low-key. No stress. No pressure. Some art, good food, and then a drink with live music. A quiet evening out of the house with no magic.”
“All right. All right.” Nolan scooped up his keys from a bowl on a table near the sofa and followed Sky out the door. “I can do outside.”
Sky stepped back to allow Nolan to lock his front door and nearly jumped as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Who could be calling him? Every one of his friends—and a few complete strangers—knew he was on a date with Nolan tonight. No one who valued their life would dare call him right now.
His teeth clenched against a curse, he grabbed his phone and frowned at the screen. It was Maddox. The witch knew he was going on his date tonight. Both he and Red had supplied a list of great restaurants. Mad had even come up with the suggestion for strolling through the art festival. If he wanted to tease Sky, he’d send a text.
He wouldn’t dare call now…unless it was an emergency.
“Are you going to answer it?” Nolan inquired, looking over his shoulder at the phone that was still vibrating in his hand. “It could be important.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Sky sighed as he thumbed the screen to answer the call. “Tell me you’re dying,” Sky said the second he lifted the phone to his ear. “If you’re already dead, you can wait until later and I’ll raise you tomorrow night, when I don’t have a date.”
“Shit! Sky, I’m so sorry. You know I wouldn’t call you unless it’s an emergency,” Mad apologized in a breathless rush. “But I can make this quick. It’s on the way for you anyway!”
His fingers tightened on the phone. Sky turned away from Nolan and hunched his head down while raising his shoulders, as if trying to hide from his date. “Wait! What’s on the way? Nothing is on the way. I’ve got Nolan with me right now. We’re leaving for the art festival in Morrison right now. You can’t do this to me, Mad.”
“No! No! It’ll be fast. I swear. A spell went apeshit on me. You still got that cleansing kit I made for you last summer, right?”
“I’ve got the kit. What spell? Are you okay?” It felt like a hand had tightened on Sky’s throat, making it hard to swallow. Mad had been using magic for more than ten years now. He was the oldest and most practiced of their coven, even if Sky was the most professionally trained. It was rare for a spell to go bad for him. Even more odd that he’d sound this harried.
“I’m okay for now, but can you bring it over to me? My house is one exit off from Morrison. It will literally take you five minutes to drop it off and then leave.”
Sky clenched his teeth and barely suppressed the urge to stomp his foot. “But I promised Nolan no magic tonight. We haven’t even gotten into the car yet, and you’re making me break my promise.”
A gentle hand landed on his shoulder and Sky jerked, twisting around to find Nolan watching with warm brown eyes. “Does Maddox need your help with something?”
Sky pulled the phone away from his ear and winced. “Just a mishap with a spell. He wants me to bring him a cleansing kit.”
“It’s on the way!” Mad shouted as if he were trying to convince Nolan rather than Sky. “He just needs to drop it off!”
Nolan shrugged. “If it’s on the way, it’s not a big deal to drop it off, right? We’ll have enough time to check out a little art before dinner.”
“But I promised no magic. A normal night,” Sky whined.
Nolan leaned down and pressed a kiss to the center of Sky’s forehead. “I won’t hold this one against you. This is all Maddox’s fault.”
“Okay. Just a quick drop-off, and we’re gone again. I swear,” Sky said to Nolan and then put the phone to his ear again. “You hear that? We’ll be there in about ten minutes. And you owe both me and Nolan so fucking big.”
“Fine. Fine. I’ll plant watermelons for you this year. Just get your ass here,” Maddox grumbled and ended the call.
Oh, that was a nice win. A date with Nolan and he was going to get watermelon from Maddox this year. The man grew the best, sweetest watermelons in existence, but he bitched that the vines took up too much room in his garden, so he didn’t often plant them.
They crossed the street to Sky’s house, and he unlocked the door to his car so Nolan could get comfy while he raced inside and snagged the small pine box filled with witch’s spell-cleansing essentials. Both Mad and Red were big on spell-prep boxes. Everything needed for particular practical spells in one handy spot. Mad’s cleansing spell box was the best. As much as he hated to admit it, Sky was also a huge fan of Red’s hex in a box. Not that he ever used it.
No. Never.
It was a little strange that Mad didn’t have one of his own cleansing spell boxes on hand. This whole thing was strange.
Sky paused in the foyer and frowned at his own leather spell-supply bag. Should he grab it? Just in case?
He reached for it, only to jerk his hand back as if it had started spouting hellfire. No. Not tonight. He’d promised no magic. There would be no emergencies that required him to cast a single spell. Normal humans went their entire lives without casting a spell. He could go one night.
Sky hurried out to his car, dropped the box onto the rear seat, and grinned at his date. “This’ll take five, ten minutes at most. No big deal.”
“It’s fine, Sky. Really. Jennifer has asked me to drop everything a few times to come over and kill a spider. She lives fifteen minutes away and knows how to wield a shoe just as well as I do.”
Sky hit the brakes, stopping their reverse down his driveway. “Seriously? You offer a spider-killing service?”
Nolan’s smile turned oh-so-smooth and suave as he leaned against his door. “Only for my close friends.”
Sky resumed pulling out from the driveway as he chuckled. “Hot and you kill spiders. You are never fucking getting rid of me.”
They talked easily on the relatively short drive across town to Mad’s house, discussing their wildly different music tastes. But at least Nolan was open to trying new things. Sky’s own tastes bounced all over the place depending on his mood.
As they sat at a red light just a few blocks from Mad’s house, Nolan leaned forward in his seat, his brow furrowing heavily.
“Um…I’ve got a wild guess as to where Maddox’s house is.”
Sky shifted closer to the steering wheel, following Nolan’s line of sight toward the sky that was darkening with the setting sun.
“Fuck. Me. Sideways,” Sky muttered, dropping his head onto the steering wheel.
“I’m guessing that’s bad.”
Sky turned and just stared at Nolan for a second with his mouth hanging open. “Do you think there’s ever a time when a big neon-purple cloud is a good thing?”
“I honestly can’t say I’ve ever seen that before.”
A sharp horn honk jolted them both. Sky looked up to find that the light had turned green. He stepped on the gas and cruised through the intersection, drawing closer to Mad’s house and the purple cloud. Judging by the size and shape, there was a good chance that it was hanging only over Mad’s house. Yeah, that didn’t appear suspicious at all.
“To be honest,” Sky started again as he fought to keep his eyes on the road and not on the cloud, “I’ve never seen anything like that either.”
“So, you don’t know what spell he was doing?”
“Not a freaking clue.”
“But you’ll be able to help him with your magic?”
Sky sighed and slumped a little in his chair. “Maybe, but probably not. Magic is…” He pressed his lips together and glanced over at Nolan.
The sweet man actually smiled at him, melting Sky’s heart into a bubbling puddle in his chest. “I know we agreed no magic to give me a night off, but you’re definitely allowed to talk about it. It’s a big part of who you are, and I want to know everything I can about you. I do want to understand your world. Just…not all at once.”
“Well, not all magic is the same. As you know, I’m a necromancer, and a lot of my magic is powered through death and the underworld. I can do some things like my friends, but my power comes from a different place. Mad and Red are earth witches. They’re sort of the other end of the spectrum from me. Mad and Red can work together on a single spell because they’re the same. If I try to cast a spell with Mad or Red, things tend to get really weird.”
“What about Moon?”
Sky bit his bottom lip and watched Nolan out of the corner of his eye for a second. “Moon…Moon is very rare. Even more rare than a necromancer. He’s a blood witch.”
“That means his magic is blood based?”
God love Nolan, the man didn’t even blink at that. Of course, every other fucking witch out there would be hissing and freaking out.
“Yeah, pretty much. He does use his own blood for about ninety percent of his spells, though.”
“Does that mean that on the spectrum, Moon is between you and Maddox?”
Sky wrinkled his nose. “Not really. In the realm of magic, Moon is his own separate thing. He can’t cast spells with me or Mad and Red. But he is a total badass.”
Nolan chuckled softly. “He seems so chill. Like nothing could ever surprise him or ruffle his feathers. Totally go-with-the-flow.”
He nodded. “He is very chill. There have been times when we’re all together and doing a little witch’s brew. It goes completely wrong. Mad, Red, and I are losing our shit. Moon is just nodding and saying, ‘Yeah, we got this.’ Nothing ever surprises him.”
“That makes him the laid-back one of your coven. What’s your role?”
Sky sank in his seat and huffed. There was a question he’d never expected Nolan to ask. Definitely not this early in their dating life.
Oh, he knew the answer to the question. He knew exactly what Mad, Red, and Moon would say without a second of hesitation.
“Mom,” Sky mumbled. The single word barely lifted over the sound of the tires on the road.
“What? Did you say ‘Mom’?”
Sky sighed again. “Yes. They say I’m the mom of the group. I keep Red and Mad from fighting. I nag them when someone doesn’t dress appropriately for the cold weather. And I’m always the one who has snacks, ibuprofen, and sunscreen for outings.”
Nolan fell against his door, his laughter flooding the tiny car. Sky rolled his eyes. Lovely. This certainly helped to make him sexy to the man he very much wanted to drag to bed.
“Oh, my God, it’s not just me you try to feed!” Nolan gasped between snickers.
“No, but you’re my favorite person to feed.” Sky wanted to keep flirting, but all words had left him.
He’d turned his car onto Mad’s quiet street filled with homes that were well over a century old. The sidewalks were lined with old maples and oaks that were just beginning to fill with new green leaves. Streetlights had popped on, pushing back some of the shadows and illuminating the big crowd of neighbors who were standing in the middle of the road, gawking at Mad’s three-story house with the intricate scrollwork, pretty white shutters, and elegant stained glass.
Mad’s house was a work of art and the crown jewel of the street. It was even more eye-catching during the summer, when all the flowers were in bloom and the hedges were neatly sculpted into whimsical shapes.
But right now, the crowd wasn’t paying attention to the house. No, they were all pointing toward the purple cloud hanging directly above the house, as he and Nolan had predicted. As the sky grew darker with the approach of night, the cloud took on darker and darker purple tones so that some of it now looked black.
There was no way to shrug this off and say it was nothing. The cloud was squatting over Mad’s house. A light breeze stirred the leaves in the trees and sent bits of flotsam scurrying down the street, but it did nothing to move the cloud.
What the hell had Mad done now?
Brighter than Fear by Becca Seymour
CHAPTER 1
FLYNN SMYTHE
With the loud throb of music pulsing through my EarPods, the thud of rubber on concrete provided an extra beat as I finished my run. It drove me forwards and urged me to keep up the pace.
One more kilometre, and I could collapse and crawl into the shower before finally starting my day.
I pushed myself harder, focussed on the pavement ahead, on the apartment block I called home since graduating from the SICB—Supernatural Investigation & Crime Bureau—Academy seven months ago.
My condo was situated on the edge of the hustle of Sydney CBD. Just close enough to experience the vibrant offerings of the city—which one day I hoped I’d be able to find time to enjoy—and the location was perfect for work.
With just a fifteen-minute drive, I could be at the secure doorstep of the Infiltration Tactical Unit—the official location rather than the kick-arse “lair” my boss, Agent Lucas, created.
I zeroed in on the building’s entrance, my breathing shallow despite my piss-poor attempts at controlling it. The door beckoned me, practically mocked me.
Just twenty more metres.
I slammed my hand against the wall next to the door and gasped, losing all semblance of control as I pulled in ragged breaths. Hanging my head, I inhaled deeply, wincing at the cold air hitting my teeth and making them ache.
How being a human in this world I lived in both sucked as well as kicked arse was a quandary I contemplated daily.
My teeth being sensitive to the biting edge of the winter’s morning air was almost winning top spot of things that sucked.
Obviously, the top spot belonged to me having to work my backside off exercising twice as hard as my fellow agents of the supernatural variety.
But it was a duty I took on willingly.
And I had the best bloody job in the world to remind me that each shuddery breath and aching muscle was worth it.
The door opened, taking me by surprise.
I held back my humourless laugh when I smiled at Macca, the guy from apartment 4, as he headed out for his day on whatever construction site he needed to be at. Because, yeah, not having supernatural hearing or reflexes or any superpowerful senses also sucked monkey balls.
The human plight wasn’t something I wanted to get caught up in. Life was far too amazing for that.
The warmth of the entrance hall embraced me as I stepped inside. While it offered a welcome relief, I still had to get my butt up to the third floor, and the lift remained broken.
With a sigh and a few grumbles, I made it up the staircase and unlocked my apartment door. Less than two minutes later, hot water sluiced down on me, easing my burning muscles.
Absorbing the heat and stillness, I centred myself before going over my itinerary.
On top of some initial investigative research I needed to pull for Michaels, one of the field agents in our unit, my day ahead looked intense.
Running point as the lead handler for a case Chris was working meant I’d been running on adrenaline for almost two weeks. Hell only knew how field agents, deep in infiltration, dealt with the mounting stress and pressure.
I suspected all field agents fit the mould of an adrenaline junkie and were slightly unhinged. A smirk formed on my lips as I thought about my friend Shaw’s reaction to the assessment. No doubt he’d be in complete agreement.
I washed, dried myself off, and downed my premade smoothie. As I settled into my car, my phone buzzed. I started the engine, using it to distract myself from the uptick of my pulse.
Right on time.
I ignored my shaking hand as I opened the encrypted messaging app. My heart stumbled, just like it did every single morning at 7:12 a.m.
And fuck if I could hold back the twitching of my lips when I read the name selected for today’s exchange.
SparkleSorcerer:
Why did the hacker stay calm during the cyberattack?
Every day the jokes got worse. But at least today, it was one about hacking rather than unicorns.
Was I frustrated that I couldn’t figure out how the unicorn hacker had discovered our inside ITU joke about the name that stuck? Quite possibly. Especially as I’d asked more than once but never received a straight response.
AgentTech:
Do I want to know?
Was it possible to flirt in a text when you didn’t even know who the person on the other end was? Hell, I didn’t even know if it was a man, but fuck, I really, really hoped it was.
I’d had too many horny dreams featuring a faceless man over the past few months—occasionally with the not-as-disturbing-as-it-should-be addition of the unicorn hacker fucking me hard with a unicorn-horn-shaped dildo.
Since I had practically zero experience bottoming, it was one hell of a dream.
Though maybe one of my dreams when the unknown hacker actually had a “real” horn protruding from his head as I debased him should have been more concerning. Especially when I’d woken panting and wishing I could drift back to sleep to ride the horn as he jacked me off.
It said a lot about my life and state of mind that the thought of riding a unicorn horn got me revved up.
I shook my head, trying to push away the visual.
Everything about this exchange was wrong on so many levels.
It would likely be the reason I got my arse fired or even arrested one of these days.
SparkleSorcerer:
Because they had CTRL of the situation!
I snorted. How could I not?
AgentTech:
Bad… oh so bad.
Every single time I responded to the unicorn hacker, I was one step closer to being in a whirlwind of trouble. But I couldn’t stop.
Nor did I want to stop.
It wasn’t like I was hooked on our exchanges.
My eye twitched at the thought, and I called bullshit.
A new message cut off my spiral into weighing up the odds of right and wrong.
SparkleSorcerer:
Before you drive away, are you ready…?
I’d been freaked the first five or so times they’d said such a thing—explicitly implying that they knew what I was doing or where I was. But now, a shiver of awareness rippled over my skin. Errors flashed, and warning signals begged for me to take notice, but I was blind to them. Ignored every single alarm.
Being in so deep, pushing too far made me feel alive.
Reckless.
Forbidden.
Perhaps I was on the brink of a system crash, and everything I’d worked for would short-circuit and blow up around me, but in the rush, the charge of something “more” was too addictive for me to ignore.
SparkleSorcerer:
I’m the science of atoms, reactions, and more, mixing elements and compounds, that’s for sure. When you study me, you’ll surely be vexed. Tell me, what comes after “chemistry”? What’s “next”?
Fuck, how I loathed and thrilled at these frustrating riddles I got from the hacker.
The app shut down, just like it always did when they signed off. It was my cue to pull away and drive to work.
Disappointment weaselled its way through my system, a familiar feeling lately.
I swallowed down my self-loathing at just how needy and pathetic my crazy crush was and focussed on getting to work, my thoughts not straying far from the final words in our exchange.
Whatever they meant, I suspected by the end of the day, they’d make sense.
They always did.
All that meant was, the unicorn hacker knew what I was working on and had information I’d yet to figure out for myself.
Did I feel resentful? Envious? I sighed as I passed through the first security barrier at the official office, showing my ID and passing the retina scanner.
Guilt shifted in my chest as I realised I didn’t feel either of those emotions. I wasn’t sure what that actually said about me.
Instead, I was impressed as hell by the hacker and fell a little deeper.
I was one giant push away from being swallowed whole by the illegal exchanges I’d been having.
But hell if I was willing to stop.
It didn’t take long to settle in at my workstation and become absorbed in my tasks. With a deadline looming, I stayed focussed, or as much so as Shaw would let me.
“What do you mean, you’ve never had a birthday cake?”
Shaw looked so perplexed that I reached out and patted his shoulder. It wasn’t enough to distract him, though.
My mortification grew when he said, “Seriously, Flynn.”
My eyes widened. Shaw never first-named me. Shit had apparently just got real.
“What? It’s no big deal.” I willed my cheeks not to turn beet red, hating the attention, especially when it was about something as silly as a birthday cake.
“Mate, not a big deal?” He parted his lips, his brows shooting so high, I started to cringe in expectation.
“Smythe.”
I jumped to attention at the sound of my boss calling my name. I was always eager and never one to drag my feet. My speed would give Shaw a run for his money when in panther form. “Coming,” I hollered towards Mathew Lucas’s retreating back.
The interruption couldn’t have been timed better if I’d orchestrated it myself.
“Don’t think this conversation is over.” Shaw’s disgruntled voice followed me, but I wasn’t too concerned about him accosting me when I stepped foot back in the main hub of our base of operations.
Michaels, a senior agent who was also Shaw’s boyfriend, was due back any time now. It meant they’d disappear somewhere to suck face for at least half an hour.
Entering Lucas’s office, I offered a tentative smile. So far, I’d never been in his bad books. Never pissed him off enough that I feared for my jugular.
I suspected that if—though when was more likely—he found out about my communication with the unicorn hacker, that would change.
But from the expression on his face—soft smile and questioning gaze—I figured I was safe for another day.
“Why don’t you take a seat.”
Following orders had become the norm. Two years at the academy drilled that into me. The almost seven months working for the SICB’s elite covert Infiltration Tactical Unit—the ITU—made the whole rule-following aspect as natural as breathing.
Something I thought my boss appreciated, especially since not everyone on the team was all that great at following directives. They did provide hefty entertainment, however. It helped that they were incredible agents. Though if it was possible for vampires to go prematurely grey, I suspected Lucas would be a total silver fox by now.
As soon as my butt hit the soft leather of the visitor’s chair, I relaxed my shoulders, my attention on Lucas as I waited for him to begin.
“Any update on the Kaldone case?”
“Yes,” I was pleased to report. “I’ve followed a trace to Melbourne. Found four offshore accounts, at the last count. I’m just formalising the data to send up the chain of command.”
“That’s great. I’ll catch up with Kent this afternoon.”
Contentment fluttered in my chest, all soft wings and gentle calm.
Kent, my mentor, was a vampire who apparently didn’t pull her punches. Except with me. Since meeting her during my last few weeks at the academy—when I was brought onto the team early with Shaw—Kent had seen something in me that nobody really ever had before.
Not even my parents.
Potential.
Not only that, but she’d also sort of dragged me into the close-knit unit with a threatening glare and a sharp tongue directed at anyone who dared to underestimate me.
It was a hell of a thing and made it impossible not to lean into her special kind of acceptance.
My weekly dinners with her and her wife, Jada, simply cemented my place in her family.
Aware Lucas remained quiet, silently studying me, I focussed hard on controlling my breathing.
Every day I surrounded myself with supernaturals. I had done so for years, even before joining the academy. It didn’t make that natural fight-or-flight instinct any easier to ignore.
As a human in a world filled with supernaturals who had far superior strength, speed, and reflexes, I learned at an early age to rely on my intelligence. It was the reason I’d come so far.
My affinity with computers came easily. There was little I couldn’t navigate or figure out. Few digital loops and routes I couldn’t travel. And with both Lucas and Kent being literal geniuses, too, every day I learned from and was supported by the best.
With the exception of one person I couldn’t figure out—species unknown—who continued to perplex us all. Truth was, they ran circles around us.
Of course I was back to thinking about the unicorn hacker. They were never far from my mind.
Being intrigued was one thing—acceptable and understandable, even. It would be a whole other ballgame if anyone realised just how much I was crushing on the mystery person.
Not sure how anyone would react to that news.
With the way Lucas stared at me, I suspected where his thoughts lay.
“And the”—he winced, and I managed to bite back my lip twitch—“unicorn hacker?”
My boss detested the name coined for the hacker who’d not only infiltrated our system eight months or so ago but had also created a program so terrifying and mind-blowingly ingenious—Mirrormat coding—that it put us all on edge.
It was only because of the hacker’s immediate removal of the software—after we no longer needed it—and the fact that there hadn’t been any satellites pulled out of the sky or complete blackouts around the world that Lucas hadn’t organised an all-out mission to find the hacker and bring them in.
Would we even be successful if that was the direction Lucas or the bureau’s director wanted to go?
I suspected not.
Swallowing my guilt, I kept my voice steady. “Nothing. The last communication was three months ago.” There was no need to add that we only suspected it was the unicorn hacker who’d fed us intel on Captain Hornell, a piece-of-shit villain responsible for heinous experimentation and bloodshed.
Unfortunately, while the intel proved fruitful in closing down a small lab in Perth, Captain Hornell had been long gone. Again.
The man took the role of dastardly villain in a frustrating and worrying direction.
As such, Hornell occupied the top spot on the bureau’s most-wanted list.
That didn’t mean, however, that we could focus only on his case. The director fed us a fast stream of cases. Most demanded the specialised infiltration skills of the unit—requiring hours, days, and sometimes weeks of work—though sometimes, easy cases came our way.
Those were fun, and we could theoretically handle them with our eyes closed.
I suspected they came our way due to the speed our unit worked. Being a covert unit came with a wonderous assortment of red-tape-snipping abilities.
The Kaldone case was one that required them.
“Okay, just keep me apprised of any changes or suspicions.”
I bobbed my head. “Absolutely, sir.”
Lucas smiled, not trying to correct me for the millionth time by telling me to call him by his surname. I’d tried. Truly. Every time, the discomfort made me itchy.
Taking that as my cue to leave, I exited his office and made my way to the kitchen tucked to the right of the open office space. A quick coffee fix, and then I’d get those reports completed and sent to Kent. It should only take an hour.
After that, I had two leads to follow for Chris’s case—one for a possible location, and the other should lead to money. The sooner I gathered the information for him, the sooner he could close the investigation on the BloodRush drug ring.
He was in deep and had been for two weeks.
It was time he came home—something the whole unit agreed on.
Not that anyone had expressed a specific concern.
As an experienced agent, Chris could hold his own. No doubt about it, he could handle the case. Compared to other investigations I’d witnessed in my short time being here, this one wasn’t especially taxing.
The knowledge didn’t help the flurry of nerves threatening to solidify and take hold whenever I thought about the mission, though. Our mission. Because I was acting as Chris’s point of contact. As his digital ears, his safety net, it was my job to always have an eye on and ear open for anything and everything surrounding his mission.
It was my first flying solo.
That the team trusted me filled my chest with pride while I simultaneously battled nausea and self-doubt.
My daily reports to Kent indicated she was happy with everything I was doing. While that gave me the brief relief of reassurance, I wanted the mission over and Chris safe.
By the time I’d inhaled my coffee at my desk, I’d sent the data report to Kent and was now focussing on my screen.
This aspect of my work—following digital footprints, navigating through the labyrinth of possible pathways—I loved. The challenge fed my anticipation, charged my excitement, and powered my synapses.
Rather than listening to music, I took comfort in the soft, familiar hum of my computer—a Lucas special. The man lived for electronics and had built some ingenious security tech over his long years. And his computer-building skills were particularly impressive.
While I was a dab hand myself and had fun creating tech, I much preferred working with it.
Determination thrummed in my veins as I pulled up the database, passed through the high-spec security measures, and flexed my fingers. The money would be an easy trail to follow.
It usually was.
After spending a few moments sifting through the behemoth of data, searching for the right coding, I grinned. There it was. A giant red flag. The data might as well have had flashing neon lights.
I grabbed the data and pulled out the coding, looking for the seven numbers and three letters that would tell me exactly what I needed to shut down.
Once the money became untouchable, there’d be a reaction in the organisation responsible for the BloodRush ring. That would be the first cue for Chris.
He’d previously fed me the information, having finally managed to pull some records from the ring’s offline database.
Tomorrow would be when I pulled the trigger so he could make his move.
But there remained one more detail I needed to locate before he could do that so we could get Shaw and Michaels out there to assist.
When I opened the main folder to which I’d been periodically adding content, a cascade of subfolders spilled out. Hours had been spent working through the many pages of data, all carefully arranged into these subfolders.
Today, I focussed on the content of one in particular.
Locating the supplier of one of the key ingredients of BloodRush was just as significant as the money trail. Cutting the drug ring was one thing, but another would just pop up.
Cut the head off the proverbial snake—or “wolf,” based on Chris’s intel—by going for the chemical supplier, and the operation would collapse like a tower of playing cards.
Chemical supplier.
With my heart skipping a beat, the message from the hacker bounced around in my brain.
I’m the science of atoms, reactions, and more, mixing elements and compounds, that’s for sure. When you study me, you’ll surely be vexed. Tell me, what comes after “chemistry”? What’s “next”?
Of course they’d known I’d be focussing on the chemicals—a.k.a. the “chemistry”—today.
My cursor flew across the screen as I scrolled and searched. With no supernatural sight or speed, it was a painstaking process, but I was fast.
I’d sure as hell given the nonhuman trainees at the academy a run for their money.
Double-clicking on a piece of code, I dragged it to a secondary screen. From there, I ran it through the decoding program the SICB had developed a few years back—well before my time. But this version had a few key adjustments I’d made. Ones approved by Kent and Lucas.
Dabbling and fine-tuning was not only fun but second nature.
The program now ran lightning-fast and separated coding to identify broken and illegal backdoors.
Data flooded my screen, dancing and jumping as the program ran through its final stages. The whole time I watched, scanning all that I could.
There it was.
I snapped the Return key, pausing the program.
My heart raced, a warm flush settling in my chest.
Holy fuck.
The unicorn’s riddle smacked me in the face. The words “chemistry” and “next” danced on the screen in the form of NexChem, a chemical manufacturer based right here in Sydney.
Or at least their main office was.
“What have you got?”
There was no concealing my rush of excitement as I cut a glance to Kent as she joined me. Not with a vampire present. Or most supernaturals, truth be told.
My focus returned to the screen as she stood by my side. “I found the string. Just transferring it now.”
Every chemical created contained some sort of fingerprint—a type of chemical coding. In this instance, the additive revealed exactly who the manufacturer was.
A few clicks and I verified that the company NexChem was above board. In fact, it was a government-approved manufacturer. A search provided no intel that even hinted at corruption.
It gave us the lead we needed to trace the supplier from there.
“I’ve got an in at NexChem.” Kent’s fingers flew across her phone screen. “I’ll see what intel they can get me.”
That Kent had a contact there wasn’t much of a surprise.
I bobbed my head. “What do you want me to do?” Time was creeping on. We didn’t have the hours to spend on waiting to see if Kent’s connection could provide information. If the plan remained in place to shut the operation down tomorrow, sitting on our arses and twiddling our thumbs while relying on someone else to gather additional data wasn’t an option.
I had enough info that I could bypass NexChem’s firewall and search for it myself if needed.
“I’ve just sent the chemical coding assigned to BloodRush that Chris obtained. With each batch having its own unique fingerprint, it shouldn’t take her long.” Kent focussed on her computer as she spoke.
In these instances, the government, for all its Big Brother ways, had established some useful protocols. Branch and production coding being a couple of them.
I waited, my gaze on Kent. A ping on her phone followed.
Making eye contact, Kent set her jaw, instructing, “Break through their firewall.”
Sounded good to me. Sitting on my hands never felt right.
“On it.” My fingers immediately flew across my keyboard, adrenaline fuelling my speed. I lived for this shit.
“Check the batch yourself,” Kent ordered, her face a mask of stoicism.
Her expression told me all I needed to know: whatever I found was likely going to piss her the hell off.
“See which department was involved, who signed off, where it was meant to go.”
“Understood.”
Even as I did so, I couldn’t help but wonder who her contact was and why the shift in her tone. Based on her directive, it left little doubt there was something more going on.
Kent having tucked me under her proverbial wing meant I’d grown familiar with her tells. Not that she had many. Unless Callen, the division leader, was around. Then she tended to devolve into this spiral of sharp-tongued, sarcastic banter. As well as hilarious, Callen getting under her skin was fascinating to watch.
I’d mentioned it once to Jada—only when Kent was nowhere near hearing distance.
With a small, knowing smirk, Jada had taken great delight in telling me it was because Callen and Kent were scarily alike. I suspected Kent would tear the head off anyone—except her wife—who dared to voice such an opinion.
“I need to speak to Lucas. Do you have this covered?”
With my focus on the screen, I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll let you know the second I find anything.”
The squeeze of my shoulder no longer took me by surprise. It did pull a smile from me, though.
My parents were never affectionate. It went deeper than them not buying or making me a birthday cake. It made every kind word or touch of approval and gentleness I received more meaningful.
Especially coming from Kent, a renowned hard-ass.
With my gaze bouncing between the two screens, my fingertips warmed up as they barely broke free from the keyboard. The security measures, while standard, contained some interesting code. I smiled, enjoying the challenge.
The cool glow of the screens, familiar and welcoming, flickered as I navigated through the virtual wall. Between the rhythmic clicking of the keys and the hum of the servers, I relaxed into my search, barely holding back a fist pump when the barrier started to crumble.
The lines of coding changed.
I had to hand it to the company. Whoever had installed the security measures had done a decent job. A few more clicks and I’d find the signature that any coder worth their salt would have slipped in there.
And there it was: The information Kent tasked me to find. The vulnerability I was looking for. Right there for me to squeeze on through. When I left the program, I wanted to build everything right back up again. Not every person breaking in would be working for the government and simply taking a sneak peek.
My job wasn’t to steal formulas or funds. There was little doubt anyone else’s agenda would be nefarious. I wouldn’t make it easy for them.
A fine line existed when working for the SICB while searching for answers and trying to prevent the unimaginable from happening. Especially when staying true to my moral code.
But my confidence in our unit was unshakable. We were here to do good. Every single person on our team was someone I trusted implicitly.
Did I feel the same about the whole bureau? Not quite so much.
Even before I’d learned the truth about the demise of the former SICB division leader a couple of years back and how the ITU had taken him down, I wasn’t naive to corruption and power.
I’d witnessed it first-hand in my last few weeks at the academy.
But not only that.
Being brought up by apathetic parents who did all they could to put distance between me and them meant I’d never see the world around me or the people in it through a rose-tinted lens.
Numbers and letters zipped across the screen, and my heart stuttered. The wall of encryption faded away, revealing full access to NexChem’s server.
Heck yes.
A rush of satisfaction kept me company as I navigated through the system and matched the data pulled from the samples provided by Chris.
“Holy shit.” The words rushed out of me when I reread the assigned records. Swallowing hard, I took a surreptitious look around before I researched the name.
The employee record appeared, complete with a full overview, personal data, and a photograph.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Piercing green eyes stared back at me. The shape and the colour looked so familiar. The lips were different, though, as was the nose. With a shock of black hair against olive skin, there was little doubt the vampire was beautiful.
She just wasn’t as striking as her sister.
Hearing Lucas’s office door open, I flinched.
Self-protection told me to shut the screen down. Instinct told me to stay still and wait for Kent to appear behind me.
Barely a heartbeat later, I felt her presence. The vampire moved with a stealth I was envious of, even with the shit-kicker boots she’d paired with ripped black jeans today.
“That everything?”
Silently I nodded, then angled my chair a little so I could see Kent more clearly while still being able to monitor the screens.
Her expression was blank. Not even a tic of her jaw.
The lack of visible emotion was more terrifying than her losing her shit.
“Everything’s there,” I confirmed, falling back on my training to keep my voice steady. “The batch is labelled as destroyed on site. Signed off by Seraphina Kent four weeks ago.”
Our gazes connected, and she nodded sharply.
“Good going.” Kent folded her arms, narrowing her eyes a little at me.
I spun my chair immediately to give her my full attention.
“Get your service weapon. You can come with me for an early-afternoon trip. Finally get to meet… the golden child of the family.” With that, she turned around and headed to her desk, leaving me with a frantically racing pulse and wondering what level of shit I was going to be seeing.
Ivy Kent in action, I suspected.
And her sister, a woman I only knew two things about.
The first was that Kent loathed her.
The second—she used to date Agent Lucas.
Not that I wasn’t already moving to get ready, but intrigue made me move faster.
I’d only been out of the office in an official capacity once since working for the unit. And while my two years of training had equipped me for every aspect of life as an agent—including being in the field—I suspected Kent confronting her sister wasn’t something I’d be prepared for.
It took twenty minutes to get out of the city and another fifteen minutes to reach our destination. The whole journey, Kent questioned me about the case I was working on with Chris. The plan was to confirm by late this afternoon that everything was in place for tomorrow.
I didn’t want to let him or anyone in our unit down. Whatever it took to make sure this case was closed and he returned to base safely, I’d do.
I stared out the window as the gap between buildings stretched further apart. Signs of winter surrounded us, and with no clouds drifting in the sky, days like these never seemed to fully warm up. The southerly winds bringing frigid air didn’t help. The early-afternoon sun pressed down on the metal of Kent’s car, though, providing a welcome warmth.
Spending so much time in the temperature-controlled office meant it was always a shock to the system when I stepped out of the comfortable twenty-three-degree heat Lucas maintained.
Sure, my early-morning runs always jolted my senses, but the frigid air was also what helped me to get my arse moving and picking up speed.
Kent, angling to look at me as she cut the engine, caught my whole focus. While she usually wore an expression of indifference, there was a fierceness in her gaze that I struggled to comprehend, let alone glance away from.
“Seraphina is a viper.”
Surprise had me shooting my brows high.
“She was forty when I was born and had already carved her place in the world,” Kent continued, her voice steady, her gaze unflinching. “She manipulates and won’t let anyone, or anything, stand in her way.”
My brow furrowed. “Yet she’s the golden child?”
“Always. Think Cersei Lannister crossed with the skills of Natasha Romanoff. Fuck, throw in the sadistic streak of Ramsay Bolton for good measure.”
“Jesus.” I huffed out a breath. If this were a conversation I was having with Shaw, I’d be laughing my arse off. This description coming from Kent… not a chance would I dare.
That she was a fan of Marvel as well as Game of Thrones threatened to boggle my brain.
“So, bundle all that together, but stick a halo on her head, as no fucker thinks she can do wrong.”
“Except for you.” There’s no challenge in my voice, just unwavering concern and curiosity.
“There’s something to be said about the bond between sisters. It just took me fifteen years to see beyond her mask.” Kent’s blink was slow, and the first inflection of emotion edged into her voice when she said, “She’ll already know about you and what you mean to me and Jada.”
My training flew out the window at my sharp inhale. But it was a hell of a thing: being cared for and considered family. In just eight months, Kent… Ivy had made me feel like I belonged.
Like I mattered.
All those months ago, when she’d jokingly announced she wanted to adopt me, she pretty much did so. Just without the formalities.
Hell, she’d thrown me a graduation party. From all the movies and shows I’d watched over the years, that reeked of something that family did for people they cared for.
“It’s why I brought you here.”
“O-kay.” Puzzled, I waited wide-eyed for an explanation.
“Whatever we’re about to walk into is undoubtedly going to be her attempt at a pissing contest. She’ll weave her web of lies. She’ll also be all over you like bees on honey.”
Well, at least she didn’t describe me as shit and her sister as a fly. I took it as a win.
“This is me staking my claim.”
My brows jerked high, but heck if I didn’t want to laugh at the discomfort pouring off Kent. It was the first time I’d witnessed her behave in this way.
“And if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll write you out of the will.”
“I’m in your will?” The fuck?
In response, Kent rolled her eyes. “You’re important to Jada,” she said stiffly.
My heart squeezed with affection for this fierce take-no-shit vampire who’d decided she liked me enough to bring me into her somewhat obscure fold. “You’re both important to me too.”
A twitch of her eye was the only tell she let slip. Yeah, she loved me. Having two vamps as mums who’d unofficially adopted me went beyond anything I’d imagined happening to me.
Gratitude buzzed in my chest.
“Right. You ready?”
With Kent at my side, I suspected I’d be ready for anything. Before I could answer, her cell buzzed.
After reading the message, an honest-to-god wicked smirk split her lips. Her vivid green eyes glistened, elation swirling in their depths.
“My contact came through.”
Well, that was a relief. For a moment there, I’d been confused as hell. A contact who wasn’t Seraphina made much more sense. And that Kent had a contact at the company where her sister worked wasn’t even all that surprising, given what I now knew.
“Let’s go, Smythe. After this, we should have what we need so you can reach out to Chris and get the team assembled for tomorrow. Sound good?”
“Damn straight, it does.”
It took but a few moments to get through security and make our way down the sterile corridor that would apparently lead us to Seraphina’s office. We passed six labs along the way, and I counted nineteen employees in white coats and six security guards. That tally didn’t include the single lion shifter who escorted us.
Lions were one of the easier species to spot without supernatural senses. Panthers were right on up there, since they had golden eyes. However, the popularity of species-specific contact lenses could make it tricky.
The sheer size of born lion shifters coupled with the way they moved was one tell—all grace, strength, and an abundance of confidence. All of which could be faked if someone had the will and the patience, however.
What really separated them were the birthmarks all lion shifters were born with.
With no real origin story beyond myth and legend that seemed to change from country to country and generation to generation, no scientific explanation had been provided.
Nature’s branding tattooed various shades of golden browns along all lion shifters’ necks at birth. While they differed in shape and size, a distinctive shimmer was always present. And as far as I was aware, nothing and nobody had ever been able to replicate it. Even lion shifters who were gifted the gene—which was rare, as the exchange usually resulted in death—received something similar. The same shimmering of golden browns but always in the distinctive pattern of the lion’s claws who’d shared their gift in their last breaths.
Hypervigilant, I kept my gun hand relaxed but close to my side, ready to draw should I need to. The ratio of security to visible staff was off, but my quick research had already revealed that the Sydney base employed more than ninety staff. Add in the size of the compound, and there was a lot hidden away from this route clearly intended for unannounced visitors.
Before the shifter could reach out to knock on the closed door, Kent brushed on by, opening the office doorway without an official announcement. Though technically her “Knock, knock, Sera-fang. No doubt you were expecting me” was a greeting of sorts, right?
I clamped down my amusement, my gaze eating up the opulent office space. Like the rest of the areas we’d been led through, it was clinical with its glaring abundance of white. Sharp lines of furniture made the room feel cold, and from the icy glint in Seraphina Kent’s stare, it suited her completely.
“Agent, how lovely of you to pay me a visit.” A well-aimed arch of her brow followed, and I had to hand it to the vamp—she managed to say a silent “fuck you” in that one movement. It was kind of impressive.
Seraphina’s gaze snapped to mine, the ice melting to something more calculated.
“Oh, and you’ve brought your little pet.” She covered her mouth, eyes widening, and a tiny, regretful gasp followed.
Shit, she was good.
“I’m so sorry, I meant Agent Smythe. It’s so wonderful to finally meet you. Anyone who receives an invite to my sister’s summer solstice celebration is clearly important. I don’t know why she’s waited for so long to introduce us.”
I stared her down, offering her a relaxed “Ms. Kent.”
Seemingly unaffected, Seraphina, who’d been standing, manoeuvred around her desk and sat. For a beat, she remained quiet, turning her focus to her sister. Leaning back an inch and settling further into her white leather chair, she steepled her fingers in front of her mouth. “And the reason you’re here?” she finally asked.
“Hemagenex.”
Relaxed in her chair, Seraphina didn’t respond.
“Knowing that you’ve clearly fucked up so much that you’re having to scrounge together extra cash by selling to narc manufacturers, I have to tell you, Sera-fang, fills me with so much warm satisfaction.”
Despite desperately wanting to see Kent’s expression, I didn’t look away from Seraphina.
“What was it? Or who was it, I suppose?”
The slightest narrowing of her gaze marked Seraphina’s first tell.
Kent continued, “You know, selling mutagenics is a felony. I hear Eosteric Penitentiary is really delightful this time of year.”
“Unless you have a warrant or are here to arr—”
Kent cut her off. “I’ll get to that.”
The vein in Seraphina’s right temple appeared, a bright blue against her olive skin. It throbbed once, swelling a second time a few moments later.
“For now, how about we cut through the bullshit, and you give me the details of your buyer? It’ll make our parents proud, knowing you cooperated.”
Seraphina moved. She was out of her seat before I could blink and was in a chokehold by the time I had my hand on my service weapon, my gun aimed at the shifter who barrelled through the door.
“Sera-fang—hell, sister, you must be wading in shit to react like this. Attacking an SICB agent on top of your charges…. Colour me intrigued.”
“You don’t have anyt—”
Tightening her hold, Kent shut Seraphina off. “You think I’d be here if I didn’t have anything?”
I assumed Kent’s mole really had come through.
The lion’s finger twitched, so I narrowed my gaze. “Slowly drop your weapon”—I indicated the gun at his hip—“then back away towards the window.”
Sensibly, he did so. Once he’d eased away, I collected his discarded Glock, my aim unwavering.
I stowed both away and bound his wrists with my issued cuffs—the hardened metal unbreakable. As I worked, I remained aware of Kent, catching her low words as she secured her sister and shoved her into a chair.
Her tone hard while maintaining an edge of disinterest, Kent ordered, “Speak.”
I moved so I could see both the shifter and Kent, curiosity and self-preservation urging me on. In my periphery, I kept half an eye on the open doorway.
Seraphina cast a furtive glance at the shifter. Interesting, for sure.
The lion focussed on Kent’s sister; a short nod followed.
I swallowed my surprise. The security guard held power?
“Put me in front of Lucas. I want an immunity agreement.”
Kent scoffed. “Not a fucking chance.”
A honey-sweet, self-satisfied smile tilted Seraphina’s lips. “This is so much bigger than one shipment of Hemagenex.”
I eyed Kent, who turned her focus to me. Unasked questions filled her gaze, and I nodded, working hard to keep my heartbeat steady.
Sure, she’d led point on this visit, but the BloodRush case was Chris’s and mine. Despite not needing my response, since she was my superior, she asked me my thoughts. It was a hell of a thing, her trust and faith.
“Marlow too.” Seraphina indicated the shifter.
“You’ve got to be shitting me. All this over a guy?” Exasperation tinged Kent’s words. “Smythe?”
“We’ve enough room in the back.” I shrugged, feigning indifference. What I wanted more than anything was to get this show on the road and the information out of her ASAP. Only then could we shut down the lab and the supply chain.
“Fine by me. Let’s go on a family outing.”
I let my grin break free and pulled out my phone to shoot off a text to the team.
A secure site existed just ten minutes away. I sent the instructions to my boss, confident Kent knew what she was doing by arranging the meet.
An alert signalled he’d be there not long after we arrived. It would give us enough time to secure the vampire and shifter we had in custody and give me a moment to school myself for when I witnessed Lucas face off with Seraphina.
With both Seraphina and Marlow in cuffs, we led them to the SICB-issued SUV and secured them in the back seat. Once the doors were closed, Kent walked to the rear of the vehicle. I met her there.
“What did Lucas say?” Her voice was low, her eyes trained on the back window as she spoke.
“He’ll meet us at the Lichfield building.”
“Good plan.”
I tried not to peacock at her compliment, but I had no doubt the quick and heavy thump in my heartbeat gave me away.
“Your intel?” I asked.
“Video footage of Sera leaving with an Esky the day the batch went missing.”
My brows darted high, and Kent huffed out a humourless laugh. “Weak evidence, I know, but Sera doesn’t know that.”
“Sneaky.” I smirked. “So, is there anything I need to know before Seraphina and Lucas come face to face?”
Kent’s lips twitched. “Is that your not-so-subtle way of saying you want to know the dirt?”
Heat hit my cheeks, and I shrugged. “Exactly that. Just wondering how Lucas could wind up with Seraphina.”
“The only good thing to come out of that relationship was my connection with Lucas.”
Seriously, that was all she was giving me?
It was at times like this that it would be useful to have Callen, the division leader, around. While I didn’t know him as well as I did those in our direct unit, I knew he gossiped.
“You can dr—”
My encrypted messenger alert went off, and I froze, my heart stumbling as I reached quickly for my phone to silence it.
Kent zeroed in on my expression and watched my every move.
It was obvious the sound was a notification of some kind.
“You going to get that?” A slow arching of her brow followed.
“It can wait.” A tug in my gut called bullshit.
“You sure?”
Fuck. No, I wasn’t.
That the hacker reached out to me at this second meant something. They’d never done anything without well-timed intent.
I quickly completed the security checks.
SparkleSorcerer:
Get away from the vehicle.
My heart punched the inside of my chest.
“Smythe?”
A new alert.
SparkleSorcerer:
Now!!!!
“Fuck. We’ve gotta move.” I barely had time to make eye contact before I darted for the back passenger door closest to me, shouting, “Get them out of the car.”
Reacting immediately, Kent yanked the other door open. I followed a split second later, my hand on the lion as I shouted, “Move!”
Confusion registered, but he jolted towards me with startling swiftness, lunging out of the car with his lightning-fast reflexes. Before I could check on Kent, a deafening explosion shook the ground, reverberating through my bones. The world around me quivered, shuddering violently, hurtling me skywards.
In that fleeting moment, a searing wave of scorching heat pressed down on me, accompanied by the violent scream of grinding metal. My consciousness clung to a thin thread, the onslaught of pain weighing me down, before everything dissolved into a void of unfathomable darkness.
The Dragon's Forbidden Omega by Connor Crowe
1
Tork
“You’d sooner find me with a bag over my head,” I told Lucien with a scowl. “I’m not going to the ball, and I’m definitely not dressing up or wearing a mask.”
Lucien’s shoulders slumped. “Not even if I lend you one? It’s been a long time since we had reason to celebrate, Tork. Join us. You don’t have to dance or anything, but there’s going to be a lot of food there, at the very least...”
There was no winning with this guy. He had a point, though. The last days, months, hell, years had been spent in isolation, battle, and a constant state of moving, running, protecting. Not to mention my buddy Marlowe just reunited with his long time love Nik and they had a darling baby girl. The smell of love was in the air, I guessed. Not too long ago Lucien himself had brought home a human mate, of all things.
There was so much to be grateful for.
When I looked at it that way, the Flower Festival was the most normal thing to happen to us in years. The Firefang tradition celebrated family, beauty, and each other. It had been a wonderful festival, and the week wound to a close with an extravagant ball complete with musicians, food from across the world, and jaw-dropping performances.
I huffed out a breath through my nose.
“Fine, I’ll go.” I held out my hand. “But I’m gonna need that mask.”
My lips quirked up in a grin, and Lucien’s did the same. “I knew I’d get you to see reason.” He shook my hand briskly, then his eyes glinted again.
That meant there was a “but...” coming.
“Now there’s the matter of your date.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t push your luck. We gonna go get that mask or stand around talking?”
Lucien led the way off toward his home but kept talking. “We’re not on the battlefield anymore, Tork. I bet there’s more than one omega out there that would love to have you.”
“It’s not like that,” I shrugged. “I’ve got everything I need already. Date...mate...it’s all the same. All a distraction, if you ask me.”
Lucien chuckled. “Whatever you say.”
I grumbled and quickened my steps to keep up with him. “Let’s just get this over with.”
We arrived at the door to Lucien’s home and he swiveled to face me before opening the door.
“A tip from your Clan Alpha? Keep your eyes open. Never know what you might find.”
* * *
The bubbly champagne burst across my tongue and tingled as it went down. I sat down the glass flute and gazed out at the couples gliding across the floor in merriment.
Alphas and omegas of all shapes and sizes had come out to the ball tonight, humans and shifters alike. I scratched my chin underneath the full-face mask Lucien had lent me. At least no one would recognize me like this.
The clash of floral scents hung heavy in the air, making me a little lightheaded, if I was being honest. Perhaps that was just the drink, though. Lucien twirled around on the dance floor with his mate in his arms, both of them wearing expressions of unfettered joy. They clung to one another so closely, as if they were one person instead of two.
Must be nice.
I couldn’t help thinking about what Lucien had said on the way to pick up my costume. Sure, I was busy with work and loved what I did, but that didn’t change the fact that I was a dragon shifter, and an alpha at that. My beast, much as I didn’t like to admit it, had needs too.
Needs that I’d been willfully ignoring more often than not. I told myself I didn’t need anyone, that it would be too complicated, too messy. I’d seen plenty of relationships go sour, including my parents’. I wasn’t in a hurry to replicate that any time soon.
But the way people like Lucien and Alec looked at one another was different. Any bystander could clearly see they adored one another, trusted one another, leaned on one another when the other couldn’t be strong. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have someone like that.
Keep your eyes open, Lucien had warned me. I straightened my back, squared my shoulders, and ran a hand through my hair to slick the wavy strands back across my forehead.
A dangerous scheme began to brew in my head as my dragon twisted its way through my chest, aching for release. I hadn’t lain with anyone in a long, long time. Longer than even I could remember.
Don’t you want something like that?My dragon urged me on. I glanced at the couples again.
Yes. Yes I did.
What if I could learn to let go, just for a night? What kind of man could keep up with not only my fast-paced lifestyle but the dangerous nature of my profession?
Not many, that was for sure.
I raked my gaze over the crowd. There were plenty of single omegas in dashing costumes, but none of them caught my eye. Lace and flowers and dyes assaulted my eyeballs at every turn, and they were lovely, yes, but who could say what kind of man lie beneath?
Fuck it, I shrugged. One night is hardly forever.
My stomach growled in protest after the multiple rounds of champagne and no food. “Fine,” I muttered to myself and pushed through the crowd to the snack bar.
A delicious array of fruits, cheeses, crackers, and other delicacies decorated the long serving table, all arranged in artful patterns while the ball-goers filled plates and chatted among themselves.
I had my eye on a chocolate-covered strawberry when my hand brushed a silk glove reaching for the same morsel. I jerked my wrist away, looking up in surprise.
A thin, shorter man stood before me, decked out in an elaborate costume of black, cream, and gold. He cut quite the dashing figure; even under the intricate swirls of the mask he wore I could see glowing embers of eyes.
A spark shot up my arm as we touched. Even through the silk glove, his presence was electrifying. I could tell right away that he was an omega, but his floral perfume covered any other scent coming off him.
“Excuse me,” the man said softly and drew his hand back, shoving it behind his back.
The strawberry, chocolate covered or not, was all but forgotten. My gaze rested on the flamboyant omega, so different from the shifters I was used to seeing. Perhaps it was something in the man’s voice. Something in the way he held himself or the way he slightly tilted his head when considering me. Whatever it was, I couldn’t shake the feeling I knew him from somewhere.
I shook my head. Maybe I’d had a few too many glasses of that champagne. I fought back the urge to say “do I know you?” and instead offered a greeting. “Good evening.”
“Is it?” The man asked quizzically, now leaning over me to fill his plate. A smell wafted off of him I’d never noticed before. It was omega, all right, but different than the other shifters I’d been in contact with in the village. There was only the faintest hint of it, but as I considered the omega smell grew stronger, and stronger still.
My mind reeled and I yanked my gaze away as he straightened with his plate.
He cocked an eyebrow in my direction.
“It’s the Flower Festival,” I said, suddenly flustered. “The ball. Most people wait all year for such an occasion.” And surely this one’s costume was long in the making. The sequins caught my eye in the light, feathers blossomed from his shoulders, and he presented himself with all the elegance of a jeweled peacock.
The omega shrugged. “I’m not most people.”
That was for certain.
I gave an amused chuckle as that current of desire flickered through my veins again. “Nor am I, Sparkles.” I grinned at the nickname, stroking my chin. Where did I know him from? Surely somewhere, right? I would have noticed such an omega before.
Now he’d roused me both body and mind. I wanted, no, needed to know more about him. But not here.
Sparkles tilted his head away from the snack bar to a quieter corner of the ballroom, shrouded by heavy velvet drapes and whispering couples. He pointed at his ear and gestured for me to come close.
I held my breath as I leaned in. The scent of him poured off his skin and invaded my senses, lighting up my dragon from deep within.
He’d do. He’d do nicely, the dragon crooned.
“It’s a bit loud around here, yes? I’d like to hear the man I’m talking to.”
I nodded and Sparkles led the way. He slipped through gaps in the crowd so easily, twisting and turning as he danced to the rhythm of the music. I…well, let’s just say I wasn’t nearly so graceful. After a few awkward jostles and mumbled apologies, I made it to the other side of the room. Only, Sparkles was nowhere to be found.
“Over here!” His glittery head poked out from behind a large flowerpot and waved at me. He patted a plush cushion in an alcove where tiny globes of dragonfire floated on garlands and gave off a flickery, cozy light. Totally romantic…if I was into that kind of thing.
I grabbed another glass of champagne from a passing server and joined him, my long legs sticking off to the side of the planter. Not so private now, I chuckled to myself.
Sparkles continued to eye me. Was he struggling with the same hidden mystery I was? Was he feeling the same inklings of desire?
I took another sip to steel myself and leaned back against the cushions. My ears rang. I hadn’t realized just how loud the ball was with all the people and music and talking. But now that I was away from it all, my senses were still catching up.
Delicate hands picked up a strawberry and popped it into his mouth. I couldn’t help but watch the way those luscious lips closed around the fruit. Couldn’t help but wonder what they might feel like around my…
“I’m not much for crowds,” Sparkles said sheepishly, interrupting my wayward thoughts.
“I never would have guessed,” I teased. He carried himself like a peacock, but perhaps it was all an act? A character he put on like a costume for this occasion alone?
A hint of chocolate smeared on the corner of his mouth. A vision flashed through my mind of grabbing him right then and there, of licking that sweet filling off and so much more. This was so unlike me. I shook my head and put a hand to my temple.
Other alphas got all worked up over sex and mating.
Not me.
I swallowed hard, straightening and taking a deep breath. Wrong choice. I got a lungful of that intoxicating scent and my cock grew even harder as I watched him enjoy the strawberries one at a time. He closed his eyes as he bit into each one, a low sigh escaping from his lips.
“You really like strawberries,” I chuckled, grasping for what to say next.
“They’re my favorite,” Sparkles agreed. “And the chocolate…mmm! I haven’t had chocolate in years. Such a delicacy! This has been the best Flower Festival ever, wouldn’t you say?”
His eyes locked with mine and I couldn’t tear myself away. I was trapped there, held in this omega’s burning gaze as he set the plate aside. The familiar rumbling of fire rose in my chest, sparked on my tongue. But this time it was more than a passing annoyance. It was a strong, all-encompassing heat that soaked through me and wiped out all other thoughts.
Take him, my dragon screeched. Take him now!
I couldn’t taste the champagne on my lips. Couldn’t smell the fresh scent of the flowers. There was only him. I drew closer to him as if pulled by some external force, my lips slightly parted as I honed in on that perfect mouth…
“Oh, shit!” Sparkles yelped in what sounded like pain and shrunk away from me. I blinked, my mind screeching to a halt with the whiplash. The omega scrambled to his feet and put a hand to his forehead, wringing his hands. “Shit, shit, shit!”
“What?” I rasped, my voice husky. Lust still simmered there, hot and ready, but there was something else, too. My protective alpha instincts kicked into full gear. What was wrong? Had I hurt him?
“I’m…oh, Goddess, I’m so sorry, I have to…”
Sparkles scrambled off through the crowd without another word, disappearing easily among the throng.
“Wait!” I called after him, lumbering to my feet and scanning the crowd. He might have been small, but I could see over many of the bobbing heads. Not to mention that costume made him pretty easy to find.
There he was.
I pushed through dancers and servers, accidentally trampling a few toes on the way. I knocked over a wobbly vase and it shattered on the ground in an explosion of glass. It only barely registered in my mind as I fled toward him, every alpha instinct roaring to the surface. My heart leapt into double time as my eyes locked on to his small form, crouched and panting near the end of a long hallway. His eyes widened in fear when he saw me.
Not so sparkly anymore.
That’s when I realized what was happening. Why his smell had come on so strong. An unexpected heat, right in the middle of the whole town.
Goddess, no wonder he was panicked.
I held up my hands in a gesture of peace, taking a few cautious steps in his directions.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here to help.”
As much as my dragon wanted to take this omega right here right now, I pushed through it to a higher plane of reason. He needed help. He needed to get to safety before some less scrupulous alpha got to him first.
The scent and energy in the air was electric. It crackled with power and arousal and possibility. And I couldn’t have any of it.
Sparkles shrank back further, his small body quivering.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said slowly, and our eyes locked.
There. Hidden within those masked depths was the shining amber core I was looking for. It called to me like a magnet to my soul.
Mate…? The word bounced around in my soul but I pushed it away. It couldn’t be. Not here. Not now.
I took a breath and extended my hand. “Let me help you.”
“You know what this is, don’t you?” The omega whispered, voice shaking. His forehead shone with sweat and the very visible evidence of his arousal pressed through his pleated pants.
“Yes,” I growled.
Focus, Tork, focus.
I grit my teeth and reached out to him, knowing what I’d feel when our skin touched. But I couldn’t leave him here. That wouldn’t be honorable at all.
“Should I be scared?” He breathed.
“No,” I assured him, and he took my hand.
His skin on mine lit up every pore, every nerve, every cell. My vision narrowed to focus on him, only him. “I won’t hurt you,” I assured him and gave the hand a squeeze. “There are other alphas I would not be so sure about, but you’re in good hands. You’re safe with me. Let’s get you out of here.”
I looked to my left and right down the hallway. No one was coming, which was good. No one to see our particular predicament. I ducked around a corner and found a spare room. “Come on,” I beckoned. Sparkles followed.
The omega sank down onto a plush couch as I slid the door closed. It wasn’t exactly the lap of luxury, but we could hide out here until the crowds died down, then make our escape. Sparkles let out a sigh and put a hand to his head, swaying a bit before righting himself.
“Do you need water? A blanket? Anything I can get you?” The words tumbled out on top of one another. Speaking too fast again. I wanted, no, needed to help him, and seeing the look on his face made me even more concerned. My pulse raced in my veins and my dragon begged for release as I realized just how close we were.
We were alone. Alpha and omega. And he was in heat.
Goddess help me.
I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything. More than the new chemicals for my lab. More than a new adventure. This little omega was the adventure, and this was an adrenaline rush greater than the most action-packed heist. Red flags flew up in all directions in the back of my mind, but the intoxicating smell of an omega in heat wiped them all away.
I promised to look after him, and I had to do that. No matter how much my cock ached.
“I’ll just be outside, I’ll watch the door and send for someone to help…” I needed air. Yes, that was it.
My hand was on the doorknob when the omega responded.
“No,” he rasped. “Stay.”
I turned slowly to face him, blood roaring in my ears and sparks crackling on my tongue. Did he know what he was doing to me?
“Are you sure about that?” I rumbled, my self restraint holding on by only a thread. “In your condition…”
He leapt to his feet and grabbed my hands, pressing me into the door. His scent smothered me. I was lost. The omega’s lips whispered over my chest, my neck. He looked up, locking eyes with mine.
“I said…stay.”
Even through our masks I could see the flaming desire there, like molten metal ready to be forged. My body strained against him as he pressed me against the wall, and even though I could easily push him away, I didn’t want to.
May I be damned, but I didn’t want to.
“You wanted to help me. So help me,” he whispered. His hand was soft in mine, only a few callouses on the fingers and palm. I didn’t care. He led my hand to his bulging crotch and left it there. My eyes widened and I sucked in a breath. Omegas were known to be forward while in heat, but this was something else.
“I can’t,” I groaned through gritted teeth. I’d never lost control like this before. Never. I prided myself on it. But here I was, every inhibition and shred of decency gone. It should have been humiliating.
But I’d never been so turned on in my life.
“Please,” the omega moaned. He fumbled with the layers of costume and soon the bottoms came free, exposing his hard and leaking cock.
The moment I saw it, there was no turning back. My dragon roared to the surface, blocking all out reason, all honor. This omega was mine.
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.
Susi HawkeI'm a happily married mom of one snarky teenage boy, and three grown "kids of my heart." As a reader and big romance fan myself, I love sharing the stories of the different people who live in my imagination. My stories are filled with humor, a few tears, and the underlying message to not give up hope, even in the darkest of times, because life can change on a dime when you least expect it. This theme comes from a lifetime of lessons learned on my own hard journey through the pains of poverty, the loss of more loved ones than I'd care to count, and the struggles of living through chronic illnesses. Life can be hard, but it can also be good! Through it all I've found that love, laughter, and family can make all the difference, and that's what I try to bring to every tale I tell.
**Taken from the author's FB Page June 15, 2022**
It is with a heavy heart that we're making this post. On June 14th, 2022, Susi/Susan Hawke passed away.
Susi loved her readers, fellow authors, and writing community with every ounce of her heart, and we are all better for having her in our lives.
New York Times Bestselling author Jocelynn Drake loves a good story, whether she is reading it or writing one of her own. Over the years, her stories have allowed her to explore space, talk to dragons, dodge bullets with assassins, hang with vampires, and fall in love again and again.
This former Kentucky girl has moved up, down, and across the U.S. with her husband. Recently, they’ve settled near the Rockies.
When she is not hammering away at her keyboard or curled up with a book, she can be found walking her dog Ace, or playing video games. She loves Bruce Wayne, Ezio Auditore, travel, tattoos, explosions, and fast cars.
She is the author of the urban fantasy series: The Dark Days series and the Asylum Tales. She has recently completed a gay romantic suspense series called The Exit Strategy about two assassins falling in love and trying to create a life together, as well as a MM paranormal romance series featuring a family of vampires.
She has co-authored with Rinda Elliot the following series: Unbreakable Bonds, Ward Security, Pineapple Grove, and the Weavers Circle. She has also co-authored with AJ Sherwood the Scales 'N Spells dragon series.
Becca SeymourBecca Seymour is the #1 gay romance best seller of the True-Blue series. Known for “steamy and endearing” and “emotionally profound love stories” (InD’tale Magazine) her books have been nominated for multiple RONE Awards.
Becca lives and breathes all things book related. Usually with at least three books being read and two WiPs being written at the same time, Becca’s life is merrily hectic. She tends to do nothing by halves so happily seeks the craziness and busyness life offers.
Living on her small property in Queensland with her human family as well as her animal family of cows, chooks, and dogs, Becca appreciates the beauty of the world around her and is a believer that love truly is love.
Connor Crowe grew up reading stories about dragons, magic, and adventure. He often liked to imagine himself as a character in those stories, and as he grew older he began to write some of them down. He couldn't just write any old fantasy, though. As a die-hard romantic, he tells stories of men finding true love amidst adversity.
When you read a Connor Crowe book, you know you're getting action-packed fantasy mpreg that will make your heart race in more ways than one ;)
Hank Edwards
WEBSITE / NEWSLETTER / KOBO
FB VENOM VALLEY / BOOKBUB / B&N
FB VENOM VALLEY / BOOKBUB / B&N
Susi/Susan Hawke
Jocelynn Drake
Becca Seymour
Connor Crowe
Screams of the Season by Hank Edwards
KOBO / SMASHWORDS / WEBSITE
Marshmallow Spiced Omega by Susi Hawke
How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life: Disaster #3 by Jocelynn Drake
Brighter than Fear by Becca Seymour
The Dragon's Forbidden Omega by Connor Crowe
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