Dark and Damaged: Eight Tortured Heroes of Paranormal Romance: Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (128 page)
Authors: Colleen Gleason
The real curse had been Caroline’s selfishness, and Robert’s belief that no woman would ever truly love him for what he was… a strong alpha wolf who put the needs of others before his own. He’d tied his life force to the dragon’s heart because he’d given up all hope of ever finding true love to set him free.
They were bound together now, a single heart beating as one. Aurora, who had willingly tied herself to the Shadow Wizard out of desperation for her sister, now willingly enslaved herself to Robert’s heart out of love.
Cadeyrn was wrong, she thought as Robert kissed her, his hands sliding down to her bottom to draw her closer. Family bonds of blood aren’t the most powerful force in the universe.
Love is.
Deep within the forests of Tir Na Nog, the land of eternal enchantment and beauty, home to the four wizards of the Brehon, the Silver Wizard headed for the Crystal Palace, home of the Crystal Wizard.
It was time for the ceremony.
As Tristan threaded through the trees, he heard a familiar sound. Snoring.
Glancing around, he saw a silver dragon sleeping atop a giant flat boulder, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.
“Scales. You lazybones.”
The dragon opened one blue eye. Smoke poured from his nostrils.
Then he materialized into a young man about twenty-four years old, wearing black leather pants and a gray t-shirt. His thick black curls had a silver streak.
Tristan stared at the dragon shifter, relief filling him. That stunt at Robert’s nursery had worried him. He’d empowered Sebastian with enough good magick to combat the curse, but still, knew the price the dragon must pay in the end.
“I’m back.” Sebastian stretched and yawned. “Am I free now from my service?”
“You know the rules. Not for another hundred years.”
“Another damn century?!”
“Your time spent serving me, and serving my subjects, is to pay for that little barbecue you hosted.” Tristan scowled.
Sebastian tried to look innocent. “The zombies deserved it. They were obnoxious and stealing babies they wished to devour. Although they did taste delicious.”
He belched.
“And I warned you to let Cadeyrn deal with it. You didn’t listen. The Shadow Wizard wanted to turn you into dust. I bargained for your life and stopped him.” As much as he liked Sebastian, for the dragon shifter reminded Tristan of his younger self, he aimed him a stern look. “You will continue to serve me for another hundred years. That is the price you pay for interfering.”
Sebastian sighed. “You’re no fun in a mood like this. Just cut out my heart, will yah? Oh wait. Someone else already did.”
Tristan rolled his eyes as Sebastian laughed. Then he studied Sebastian, concealing his concern. “Did it hurt?”
Sebastian shook his head. “You told me, you coated the blade so I’d feel no pain.”
Tristan sighed with relief.
The dragon shifter shook his head. “Careful, wizard. Your soft side is showing.”
He scoffed. “I’m never soft.”
“Especially when it comes to the ladies.” Sebastian blew a breath and steam misted the air. “Oh what fun you will have with Nikita!”
Not fun.
This is serious
.
“Oh, Tristan? My great grandfather doesn’t like what you did to me. He’s pretty pissed off.” Sebastian frowned and actually looked concerned. “Be careful when you cross into the Shadow Lands with Nikita.”
He felt an unusual tug of worry and dismissed it. Tristan waved a hand, and a thick, rare steak descended before Sebastian. “Enjoy dinner before your next assignment on Earth.”
“What is it?”
Tristan smiled. “Let’s just say you’ll be able to return to your original form.”
“No more measly eight-foot dragon, cute and cuddly as a child’s toy?”
“I told you, that form was for Robert and his pack so you could hide better. This time, you’ll be required to represent your true size. All dragon.”
“Where? When?” Sebastian demanded, but Tristan ignored him, walking away.
The Silver Wizard walked into the crystal palace until he reached a large room. The other three wizards of the Brehon sat at a table made of pure, shining crystal. The Crystal Wizard, the Crimson Wizard and the Shadow Wizard.
This was Tristan’s moment, and they all knew it.
Upon the table rested the still-beating heart of the silver dragon. Tristan looked at Cadeyrn, his senior by two thousand years. This could not be sanctioned without the Shadow Wizard’s approval.
Cadeyrn silently nodded. So be it.
Each wizard sliced his finger, dripping his blood into the silver dish. Then Cadeyrn cut the dragon’s heart in half. One half he turned into ash, mixing it with the wizards’ blood.
Tristan took a deep breath. He ate the other half of the dragon’s heart, the heart that he had infused with powerful magick and had been mixed with mortal blood when he’d bound it to a Lupine. It tasted dark and murky, like shadow.
Then he took a silver knife resting upon the table, and sliced his wrist. Silver blood puddled into the dish, mingling with the ash mixture. The Shadow Wizard waved a hand and the mixture in the dish became encased in a small vial.
It was done. Tristan had the potion needed to allow Nikita entrance here, into the sacred realm, where he could father a child with her. She would not die. She could remain here.
But she could not stay for long, either.
Cadeyrn picked up the vial and shook it.
“Take care, Tristan. We grant you this opportunity to fulfill the prophecy promised to you when you died as a Lupine and became one of us. But you have only limited time. No matter how much you want her. Do not fall in love with her again, my friend. For Nikita cannot remain here.”
The Shadow Wizard gave a cold, dark smile, like gray mist. “Or she will die.”
The End
Thank you for reading
Redemption
and I hope you enjoyed it.
When you've finished reading
Dark and Damaged
, please consider leaving a review for the boxed set. Reviews help other readers make decisions about books and I really appreciate every review my books receive.
Bonnie Vanak is a
NY Times
bestselling author of paranormal romance. She writes the Werewolves of Montana series and the Werewolves of Montana Mating Mini series. You can sign up for her newsletter here
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The Werewolves of Montana Series
Prequel: The Mating Heat
Book 1: The Mating Chase
Book 2: The Mating Hunt
Book 3: The Mating Seduction
Book 4: The Mating Rite
Book 4.5: The Mating Intent
Book 5: The Mating Challenge
Seduction
Obsession
Passion
Redemption
Temptation (Sebastian’s story, out soon)
by Colleen Gleason
After the vampires Max Denton hunts brutally murder his wife, he is nearly destroyed himself and spends the next ten years living a life of violence and revenge. But when sensitive information about his young daughter falls into the hands of the vampires, Max is forced to team up with the woman whose father ultimately caused the death of his wife.
Savina Eleaisa has secrets of her own, and she’s determined to do whatever it takes to clear her father’s name: even if it involves seducing the most dangerous of vampires–with or without the help of the arrogant, brooding Max Denton.
Other Books by Colleen Gleason
~ Horror ~
England, 1912
The rage—the
pain
—was so intense he couldn’t hold back a howl. It rose from deep in his gut, long and keening and empty.
Max Denton’s knees gave way as he stared at the carnage.
What was left of his wife Felicia was hardly recognizable. The vampires had torn into her flesh with fangs and nails. They’d raped and fed on and destroyed the woman he loved. The mother of his child.
Because of him.
What have I done?
My God…what have I let them do to you?
His powerful hands—slick with the blood of his wife, glistening dark and sticky, smelling of heavy rust—curled into themselves as he sank to the floor…buried his face in her matted, blood-crusted blond hair…and sobbed.
***
Max didn’t know how long he was there before soft, light hands touched his shoulders, drawing him up and away from Felicia’s cold, lifeless body.
Despite his gut-deep agony and the dull, numbing pain, Max recognized Wayren’s presence. Her very essence settled around him like a soft, light blanket. He indulged for just a moment…a breath. He tried to find an island of calm and clarity.
Then the realization hit him.
“
Macey
,” he said, dragging himself to his feet, terror shuttling through him. “Oh God,
no. No
. Is she—?”
“She is safe.” Wayren was tall and slender, hardly more substantial than a will-o-the-wisp next to him and she helped Max steady himself with her own capable hands. Though he fought her ever-present compassion, Wayren’s presence and the touch skimming his hands nevertheless brought warmth and comfort. Yet both were sensations he did not currently desire.
Dressed as always in the centuries-old, outmoded style of a medieval chatelaine, Wayren appeared even more ageless and ethereal than usual. Her straight silvery blond hair reached past the narrow braided belt she wore over a loose, floor-length gown of undyed fabric, and a trio of finger-thick braids were pulled back from each of her temples, somehow fastened at the crown of her head. From the loose belt around her waist hung a small leather pouch, a collection of keys that seemed much too bulky for such an elegant figure—yet they didn’t seem to clink or shift audibly—and other accoutrements. He didn’t immediately see her ever-present satchel that was usually filled with books, though it never seemed heavy or bulging.
Wayren possessed the most calming of demeanors and the warmest, kindest pale blue eyes. Her features were pleasing, and her words were always compassionate and wise.
And at the moment, Max did not want any of it from her: neither comfort nor warmth, not wisdom nor peace.
He wanted to be out of his body, away from this world, no longer facing this reality.
He wanted revenge. He wanted violence—brutal, ugly violence. He wanted to be alone.
He wanted to
hate
.
He wanted to kill, but really, most of all…he wanted to
die
.
Max opened his mouth to say all of those things, to send her away, but Wayren merely looked at him with steady cornflower eyes. It was as if she read everything dark in his heart and in his mind, and she didn’t care.
“Max,” she said quietly. Their eyes met, and he felt her sorrow and her grief...and it was a balm. Just for a moment, it was a balm for him.
“I have to keep her safe,” he said finally. “I have to send Macey away. They can’t find her too.”
It was intolerable, it was a
nightmare
seeing his beloved Felicia destroyed by his enemies—the beings he was sworn to hunt and slay…but he simply could not conceive of a world in which the vampires ruled by Nicolas Iscariot would do the same to a beautiful eight-year-old girl. And they would. Given the chance, they would: if for no other reason than to destroy Max Denton. To bring their most powerful enemy, their greatest threat to his knees.
If something happened to Macey, he would go mad. He was dancing with insanity at this very moment, and that would be the last step before tipping him into complete madness.
