Nightshade (17 tales of Urban Fantasy, Magic, Mayhem, Demons, Fae, Witches, Ghosts, and more) Read online

  “Like a reminder you have a boyfriend?” I asked as gently as possible.

  “Oh, fuck Ian.” She scowled. “He wants to break if off but doesn’t have the balls to do it.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “And you know this because…?”

  “He said as much the last time I talked to him. Something about needing some space and having to figure out what he really wants. You know, guy code for I don’t want to be an ass. Whatever I’m over it. Forget him. I need you to be my chaperone for the rest of the day. I don’t know what it is about Julius, but when I’m around him I can barely control myself.”

  I cast a glance at Kat. “You’re not the only one.”

  She followed my gaze. “She felt it too?”

  “Yeah. But I didn’t.” I pursed my lips in thought. “It’s weird. I didn’t feel anything radiating off him.”

  “Good.” She grabbed my hand and tugged me back toward her work room. As we passed Kane she said, “I’m borrowing your wife for the rest of the afternoon.”

  Kane bent and gave me a soft kiss. “Take care of her.”

  “Yeah. Sure. Whatever.” Pyper pushed the door open and then stopped dead in her tracks.

  I glanced around the deserted room, my heart sinking for her. In the short time she’d been in the ballroom Julius had vanished.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Interesting costume choice,” Kat said eyeing me.

  I glanced down at my slutty red-leather demon outfit. The micro mini showed ample leg while the bodice did a fine job of amplifying my cleavage. “What? Cliché?”

  “In the extreme. But fitting I guess, considering you hang out with your fair share of demons and angels.”

  “Funny.” I smirked. “And what are you supposed to be, a milkmaid?” I asked eyeing her lace up black and white bodice and poufy red skirt.

  “Oh.” She shrugged into a red hooded cape and twirled. “Little Red Riding Hood. Better?”

  “Much.” I secured a staff badge to my outfit and passed one to Kat. “Ready?”

  “Yep.”

  Kat followed me out of the hotel’s meeting room and down the hall to the ballroom. The party was scheduled to start in thirty minutes and we just needed to do a quick sweep to be sure all the last minute details were in place.

  “Can you check with the girls at the raffle ticket table and make sure they have everything they need?” I asked her.

  “Sure. What’s the prize?”

  “VIP tickets and balcony access for Mardi Gras.” The party was being thrown by one of Pyper’s biggest clients. He was a music producer and often threw parties to promote his musicians. He’d employed Wicked, Kane’s club, to see to all the details even though it was being held in the hotel. The club just wasn’t big enough.

  So we did. Or Pyper, Charlie, and I did actually. The gift bags of CDs, USBs and other swag were ready to go. The booze was in place. The dancers were standing by. All we needed was the party goers.

  “Hey, beautiful,” Kane said, grabbing my waist from behind.

  I twisted in his arms and let my gaze wonder from head to toe. “Hey, yourself.” I raised one eyebrow, taking in his kilt, the demon hunter dagger strapped to his belt where a traditional dirk would be, and the white linen shirt that was partially open, revealing his chiseled chest. I resisted the urge to check my chin for drool. Holy eff, he was hot. “A highlander?”

  He winked. “I thought you’d like it.”

  Suddenly I was very warm in my little leather dress. “Like might not be a strong enough word.”

  A seductive laugh rumbled from his throat as he leaned down and then whispered, “Maybe later, if you’ve proven yourself a naughty little devil, I’ll let you see what’s underneath.”

  I rolled my eyes to hide the fact I wanted to jump him right there. Goddess above, kilts should be illegal on a man as sexy as Kane Rouquette. “I’m never naughty,” I said, batting my eyes innocently.

  “Never?” He ran his fingers down my neck and lightly brushed them over the crest of my breast. A ripple of anticipation shuddered through me, and I shamelessly arched into his touch.

  “Maybe not never,” I breathed and tugged on his shirt, yanking him to me. And when I looked up into his desired-filled dark chocolate eyes, I melted right there in the middle of the ballroom.

  I wanted nothing more than to push him back into the meeting room, slide my hands up under that kilt, and have my way with him in every way possible. My gaze landed on his partially opened lips. “Kiss me,” I demanded.

  “Aye,” he said in his fake Scottish accent. Then his lips were on mine, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip as he tightened his grip around me.

  I was lost in his demanding kiss, pressed against his hard body, my head swimming with not only my own, but his intense need. Every part of me was on fire, aching to be touched.

  His hands landed on my hips, his fingers gripping me hard. “Jade?”

  “Yeah?” I tilted my head slightly and took the lead, kissing him, my tongue dancing along his as my hands clutched at his shirt.

  He pulled back slightly, breaking the kiss and grinned down at me. “I think we have an audience.”

  “Huh?” I jerked back and glanced around at all our friends staring at his, amused expressions on their faces. Heat crawled up my cheeks as mortification took over. What had I been thinking? “Oops.”

  Cheers and wolf whistles erupted around us, Pyper the loudest of them all. Her hair was now all electric blue and she’d painted her face white with black eyes and stitches from the sides of her mouth across her cheeks. She was the perfect zombie bride.

  “Nice show,” she said, slipping her arm though mine. “How in the world did you get him into a kilt? Damn, girl. Can’t blame you for going all whore-of-the-damned on us with him looking like that.”

  Snickering, I snuck another glance at Kane. I didn’t know why his bare knees were so damned sexy, but they were. “I might have mentioned something about a fantasy involving a highlander a week or two ago.”

  She shook her head. “If I didn’t love you both so much, I’d have to stab you from pure jealousy.”

  I knew she was talking about the relationship Kane and I shared and not the fact that she wanted Kane in any way. They’d dated once, way back in college, but she’d been the one to end it. Something about him being too conservative for her. Which was laughable, since conservative was the last word I’d use to describe him. But Pyper was ultra alternative in almost every area of her life, from her business choices, to her art, to the men she dated.

  “What about you and Julius? What happened there?” I asked now that she was all up in my business.

  She shrugged. “No idea. One minute I was painting him, the next we were staring at each other locked in that moment. You know the one. When every stops and the only thing that exists is each other?”

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  “Well, we were right there. And then I couldn’t help it. The next thing I knew I was kissing him and he was into it like a sex-starved man. Things were moving so fast and heated, we were moments from being naked and sweaty.”

  I widened my eyes. “Really? That’s…”

  “Stupid,” she said. She clamped her mouth shut, her cheeks reddening. “We barely know each other, but there was this strange pull I couldn’t step away from.”

  “Until we interrupted you and he bolted,” I added.

  “Yeah.” She frowned. “Not my finest moment. Usually I’m much more professional.”

  I sent her a side-long glance and smirked. “Well, your performance certainly didn’t look amateurish to me, if you know what I mean.”

  Her frown disappeared replaced by mock offense. “Are you sexually harassing me, Calhoun?”

  I laughed and handed her one of the staff badges. “Not yet, but maybe later if we have time. Come on, let’s get this party going.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “First things first,” I said standing in the middle of the empty ballroom. �
�Seeing as how it’s Halloween, I think it’s imperative we cast a protection spell.”

  Lucien, my second in command and Kat’s boyfriend, joined me. “I agree.”

  “Okay,” Kane said. “What do you need us to do?”

  “Be the points on our circle, is all.” I raised my hands, imagined a pentagram and reached for my magical spark. It responded immediately. As I focused on the ground, I said, “Illuminate.”

  A large, glowing pentagram appeared in the middle of the ballroom. I stood on the point facing north and waved for the others to take a spot. Pyper, Kat, Lucien, and Kane completed the points even though Lucien was the only one with magic. It didn’t matter for a simple protection spell.

  Lucien and I met gazes across the pentagram, and after I counted to three, we each unleashed magic within the circle. Our magical energy collided and mixed, slowly spreading out within the confines of the pentagram until the entire area glowed with magic. I raised my arms once more and said, “From point to point to person to person, may the gift of the coven watch over our guests tonight to keep them safe from evil forces. From person to person to point to point, may the night be full of fun and smart choices.”

  The combined magic from me and Lucien brightened, converged into a ball, rose high above us, and then burst like confetti into tiny specs of light all over the ballroom.

  The magical pentagram vanished as a blanket of peace settled around us.

  “Wow. Nice,” Pyper said. “We should do that more often.”

  “Then what would we do for fun?” Kane asked, tugging me to his side. He winked at me. We both knew if true evil wanted in, there was no stopping it, but a protection spell would deflect any random acts of supernatural trouble.

  Kat shook her head and smoothed her short skirt while we all laughed.

  ***

  Pyper and I were behind the bar mixing drinks when Kat came running up, her face flushed. “Oh my God, look who’s here again.” She pointed across the room at Julius, who was standing around looking completely lost in his linen pants and smeared body paint.

  “What the hell is he doing?” Pyper shoved a beer at one of the guests and ran out from behind the bar straight for him. A moment later, she was pulling him out of the party toward the meeting room where she’d painted the rest of the models.

  “Do you think she needs help?” Kat asked.

  Grinning, I shook my head. “I think she can handle him. Besides there’s too much to do out here. Can you check on the caterers? The food was supposed to start coming out of the kitchen ten minutes ago.”

  I waved at Kane’s club manager, Charlie who was talking to one of the three dancers. She nodded and strode over, dressed as a badass biker chick, her staff badge clipped to the bottom of her jacket. “Hey,” I said. “I could use some help. Pyper got called away.”

  “Sure thing, gorgeous.” She winked and turned to the next customer. “The dancers are set to get going in the next few minutes.”

  “Thanks.” They were dressed as slutty angels and were going to dance in the cages high above the crowd just as soon as the theatrics started.

  It took no time at all for Charlie and me to fall back into a regular working rhythm. I used to tend bar with her regularly at Wicked before Kane and I had gotten married. It was fun to be at it again.

  “Hey, boss lady,” Charlie said. “Looks like you’ve still got skills. Are you cheating o me tending bar somewhere else these days?”

  “Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. “And I’m not the boss. Cut it out.”

  “You are tonight.” She jerked her head toward Kane who appeared to be socializing more than anything. “Looks like the boss man is in his element.”

  I nodded. “It’s one of his gifts.” Ever since he’d been turned into an incubus, people of all walks of life were drawn to him. It was as if they couldn’t get enough. And I couldn’t blame them, I felt the same.

  “Gift, right.” Charlie snorted. “Lucky bastard.”

  That made me laugh as I poured half a dozen shots of tequila for the group standing in front of me.

  Charlie smiled at a cute coed wearing a barely-there peacock outfit.

  I turned to the next customer, but all the lights went out, leaving us in pitch-black darkness. The crowd gasped and a scream came from the corner.

  I glanced up and waited. The hallowed organ music filled the club, followed by three spotlights aimed at the three cages. Each angel was perfectly still in the moment. Then the music stopped for a beat, followed by the dramatic shift of Pink singing about getting the party started.

  Soft lighting lit the room and a cheer went through the crowd as the angels started to dance.

  “Nice touch,” Kat said, slipping behind the bar to grab a couple bottles of beer.

  “Everything going okay?” I asked.

  “Perfect.” She nodded to the body-painted models making their way through the crowd, each carrying an appetizer tray. They were covered in an array of intricate designs, from a blooming forest with day of the dead skulls, to gruesome vampire victims, to mutilated zombies. Pyper’s skills were simply amazing.

  I glanced back at the door where she’d disappeared with Julius and frowned. Was she okay? Or more than okay? The thought sent a ripple of unease up my spine. Something wasn’t right when it came to Julius, the way he’d disappeared and then returned so disoriented. Maybe he needed help?

  I was just about to send Kane to check on them when Julius walked through the side door, Pyper close on his heels. His chest had been repainted with the skeleton hand appearing to rip out his heart, but his face had been left untouched, unlike the rest of the models. And damn if he didn’t look even more handsome in the dim lighting. Who could blame Pyper for sticking with him? He had her hand tucked in his as he led her to the middle of the dance floor.

  “Who’s that?” Charlie asked.

  I shrugged. “Some model named Julius.”

  “They look good together,” she said.

  They did. I couldn’t keep my eyes off them. Julius placed on hand on her waist and held her hand with his other in a traditional dance stance. They stood facing each other for just a moment. And then they started to move.

  The music suddenly cut off from a popular Black Eyed Peas song to a fast roaring nineteen twenties song. The lights came up and shone on the makeshift dance floor.

  “Whoa. Was that part of the plan?” Charlie asked me.

  But I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. I was too busy gawking at Julius and Pyper.

  They had morphed from gruesome dead guy and zombie bride to a shiny happy, swing dancing couple from the twenties. The body paint was gone, replaced by Julius in a white suit and Pyper in a blue and white polka dot dress.

  “Oh my god,” I heard Charlie whisper.

  Then I tore my eyes from my friend and sucked in a hard breath as magic pooled automatically at my fingertips.

  The center of room had morphed into a nineteen twenties dance party and everyone on the dance floor along with it.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I glanced down at myself. A rush of relief washed over me at the sight of my slutty devil outfit. Charlie hadn’t changed either and was still clad in her biker leathers. “You see what I see, right?”

  Her eyes were wide with disbelief. “You mean the roaring party that’s going on and the fact three quarters of the guests are doing the Charleston?”

  I nodded.

  “Yeah. I see it. But I don’t believe it.” She glanced up at the former angels who were now wearing flapper dresses and kicking their feet back as they danced with abandon to the new music.

  I glanced around looking for Lucien and spotted the half dozen body painted models standing off to the side, gapping. A handful of other guests were transfixed, watching with interest.

  “It’s not magical,” Lucien said from behind me.

  I spun. “Are you sure?”

  He nodded.”We’d feel a magical signature.”

  Of course we would
. I was in the habit of closing down around too many people to protect myself. That meant I was working without one of my most powerful resources. I took a step back and released all my guards, letting all the emotions slam into me. Wonder, elation, joy, and an underlying trace of despair.

  And as the music sped up the despair intensified.

  “Do you feel that?” I asked Lucien.

  He took a step closer and peered at the dancers. “What?”

  “Their pain.”

  He startled. “No.”

  Threads of hopelessness bubbled to the surface. I had to find figure out a way to bring everyone back, to snap them out of this weird trance. My attention fixated on Pyper and Julius just as Julius twirled Pyper halfway across the dance floor, leaving a clear opening to see the rest of the dancers.

  My heart all but stopped. Kane and Kat were right in the middle, dancing their hearts out. Both of them appeared to be having the time of their lives, seemingly oblivious to what had happened.

  “Kat!” Lucien cried and tugged me out from behind the bar.

  I went with him willingly, but stopped him before he could pull us onto the dance floor. “Wait.”

  He frowned. “For what?”

  “We don’t know if we’ll be affected if we cross over. I think it might better to try to break…” Shoot. I was going to say spell, but it wasn’t one. Lucien was right. I couldn’t feel even an ounce of magic radiating from the area. “Have you ever heard of a time warp?”

  He shook his head. “No. You think that’s what this is?”

  “I don’t know. It’s not a spell.” I circled the wooden stage until I was closer to Kat and Kane. Then I called, “Kane!”

  No answer.

  “Kat!” Lucien waved, trying to get her attention.

  Neither noticed us. No one did.

  The rest of the guests were gathering around us, moving closer to the dancers. Even Charlie. They were moving trance-like toward the stage, not at all disturbed by the turn of events.