Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (127 page)

My heart soared. Perhaps Emily and I
did have a chance. She patted me on the hand, as I had done to hear
previously, almost in a mocking manner. Perhaps it contained
motherly love with the advice only a caring parent could give, but
her tone reminded me of the elite air of a god, something she maybe
already possessed and it made me immediately understand that I did
not completely know this side of my mother. This old woman before
me was a source of unknown power like all the celestial
goddesses.

“
Amore. I couldn’t wish
anything more for you, my son. I’m so pleased. You’ve done very
well, Vincent,” my mother mused.

Once we made it to the sands of the
beach, she paused for a moment as she looked at her feet. “I miss
the beach,” she muttered. “It’s been too long.”

I stood by, collecting my thoughts as
my mother danced about in the sand. The moonlight’s rays reflected
the gems lined in her dress and she sparkled amid the night.
Visions of her past beauty haunted me. A savage desire to kill my
father rose up in me again.

My mother reached out and took my hand
in hers. “Vincent, my son, you must move on.”

“
I’m sorry? What do you
mean?”

“
You can’t keep hating your
father. He’s angered the gods. He will pay. I have it on good
authority. You will have your revenge, but it will not be by your
hand.”

Throwing my head back in a roar of
laughter, I let my voice reach to the heavens and then listened as
the echo returned to us from across the water. Finally I asked my
mother in a low, thunderous voice, “I’ll stop hating him when he’s
dead and gone. What do you mean I will not have revenge? He will
pay for what he has done to you, what he’s done to us. He will
pay.” I clenched my fists over and over, glaring down at her,
forgetting the small creature in front of me had given birth to me,
not as a man, but as a vampire.

I felt a soft and familiar warm touch
on my elbow. Emily.

“
Vincent,” she
whispered.

I recovered and, like a statue, I
introduced the women, getting the distinct impression they already
knew one another.

“
Let us sit down.” Emily
motioned for me to escort my mother to the wooden bench under the
palm trees. Gently Emily touched my arm and my angry mood lifted.
“Who will have revenge on the demon of the Dark Place, Moon
Goddess?” She uttered, directing her question to my mother after
the ladies had settled on the bench and I stood nearby. The moon
bathed us all in its light.

When my mother answered her, I nearly
fell to my feet.

“
You know the answer to
that, Emily,” she began. “You’ve already tasted Alichino’ blood. It
flows in my son’s veins. And you have tasted Vincent’s blood, have
you not?”

Emily nodded.

“
Then you know the rest. I
can inform you that you will be allowed to seek revenge for the
deaths of your pack. There are more than just your immediate family
members unfortunately. If you are strong enough, my dear, then you
will have your revenge.”

I watched stunned as Emily faced my
mother, the Moon Goddess, her angelic features almost turning to
stone. Fear suddenly took hold of Emily. The color drained from her
tanned face.

“
No, Mother. You can’t do
this. I’ll go. I’ll go instead,” I argued.

“
I see love has found you
as well, my dear.” She motioned to Emily, reached out, and wiped
her face. Emily was crying. I knelt by her and gathered her hands
in mine. “I won’t let you go back. I’ll go instead. Mother, Emily
is not going back. You can’t do this!”

“
Vincent?” My mother
addressed me as Emily looked at me.

Suddenly Emily’s face was gloriously
radiant and refreshed in the moonlight as if my mother’s touch had
taken away all her discomfort. Her eyes glowed with a new life, a
brilliant fire.

I
struggled to fully understand the events unfolding before me. My
own fear and anger threatened to consume me. The earlier
conversation with my father hit me square in the face. His words
flew through my head and I realized their full impact. I realized
Emily’s destiny. I saw it unfold before my eyes.
If she’s a Livonian werewolf, Father, that means
she’s bound to the Moon Goddess and she’s a threat to us. Do you
really want the Moon Goddess showing up and blasting us away or
exiling us to the Land of Intolerables?

My mother’s voice turned my blood
cold. “My dear husband, Alichino has invited a Livonian wolf into
the Dark Place and by Zeus’ law he must face the consequences. If
Emily finds her courage, you both will have your day of reckoning,
Vincent. No force can stop a Livonian wolf in its true werewolf
form. And you have seen only a glimpse of this jewel’s real Wolfen
magic. Heaven help your father and his brothers.” Her laughter
returned.

Emily squeezed my hand and brought me
back to my senses. The glow of her werewolf amber eyes mesmerized
me and she smiled at me with an expression of confidence and
defiance that I wanted to claim as my very own. But didn’t she
understand? The Dark Place was not like going to a garden
party.

“
We’ll face challenges you
can’t begin to imagine. Do you understand that, my
love?”

The moment I said ‘my love’ her face
changed. Tears brimmed in her eyes and spilled forth. She chewed on
her bottom lip and looked back with a questioning glance at my
mother, the Moon Goddess.

The words
of my friend, Michel filtered into my head and I found my courage
again, the real courage to take back my life instead of going
through the motions as I had done for so long.
Going into battle is scary enough. Knowing you’re not going
in alone, that’s key to victory.

“
I want you with me,
Emily,” I announced. “Not just now, but forever. If we don’t
survive the wrath of my father and his brothers, I want to do this
now.”

My mother and Emily both eased in and
looked at me intently. I had their attention.

I bent down into the sand on my left
knee. I held my right hand to Emily.

She took my hand.

“
Emily, with the Moon
Goddess as my witness, will you be my bride?”

Seeing Emily’s emphatic nods as new
tears of happiness streamed down her face and hearing my mother’s
screams of delight as she danced around the palm trees like she was
twenty-nine-years old reminded me of the one thing I had been
searching my entire existence to find, that of a soul-mate, a
partner, someone to share every moment of my life with, good or
bad. And here she was, this ex-virgin, the woman who had inflamed
my undead vampire heart, my werewolf bride who would help me rain
Holy Hell down upon my asshole of a father, the dark lord
Alichino.

###

Coming Soon

Emily and
Vincent’s story continues in
Vampire Moon
(A Werewolf/Vampire Romance #2)
.

Italian to English
Translations

The following are English translations for any
words spoken in the language of the Lunar world which is very
similar to modern day Italian. Each is organized by
chapter.

Chapter 1 – Vincent’s
New Pet

Una
bellezza come nessun altro. Così bella. Calmati. Calmatevi, mio
dolce. Io non ho intenzione di permettere a nessuno di farti del
male.
= A beauty like no other. So
beautiful. Calm yourself. Calm yourself, my sweet. I’m not going to
let anyone hurt you.

Chapter 3 – Vincent’s
Idea

Con la
luna e le stelle, deve essere così testardo mia bellezza? Cosa c'è
di qualche goccia di sangue tra amici. Siamo amici. Non
siamo?
= By the moon and stars, must you be
so stubborn my beauty? What's a few drops of blood among friends.
We are friends. Are we not?

Chapter 4 – Emily’s New
Experience

Riesci a
capirmi?
= Can you understand
me?

Sì,
posso capire.
= Yes, I can understand
you.

Dimmi di
nuovo nella tua lingua. Sei un lupo mannaro o no?
= Tell me again in your language. Are you a
werewolf or not?

Mia
bella lupo
. = My lovely
wolf.

Chapter 5 – Vincent’s
Confession

Al di
là, al di là, la dea della Luna, fatemelo sapere di mia
madre.
= To the beyond, to the beyond, Moon
goddess, bring me word of my mother.

###

About the Author

Ally Thomas loves writing paranormal
books that showcase vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches, and any
furry monsters who go bump in the night. Her Vampire from Hell
series has been on the Top 100 bestsellers list in Fantasy at
Amazon since 2011.

Ally is
currently working on the next installment of her popular paranormal
fantasy series, the Vampire from Hell as well as exploring her
passion for vampire romance. Learn more at:
http://allythomas.wordpress.com/about/contact-me/

Books by Ally
Thomas

To see what is
currently available in ebook and paperback, visit
allythomas.com

• The Vampire from Hell (Part 1) - The
  Beginning
  

• The Vampire from Hell (Part 2) - A
  Vampire among Angels
  

• The Vampire from Hell (Part 3) – A
  Vampire on Vacation
  

• The
  Vampire from Hell Revamped (1
  ^st
  Anniversary
  Edition)
  

• The Vampire from Hell Returns (The
  Vampire from Hell - Part 4)
  

• Virgin Moon (A Werewolf/Vampire
  Serial Romance, Episode #1)
  

• Love Begins in Hell (The Moon
  Journals: Part 1)
  

This is the end of the
adult stories. The young adult section is next…

Book
8 – LYRA MCKEN

ZOMBIFIED

By

Lyra McKen

Copyright © Lyra McKen,
2012

Names, characters and
incidents depicted in this book are products of the author's
imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual
events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the
publisher.

All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means
whatsoever,

including photocopying, recording or
by any information storage and retrieval system, without written
permission from the author.

Dedication

To all my friends online and off that
believed in me.

Prologue

"You know, it just makes me mad that
the news thinks we aren't people too," I said to Neil.