Possession of the Soul Read online

  Possession of the Soul© 2015 by Trinity Blacio

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Contributors retain the rights to their individual pieces of work.

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  Riverdale Avenue Books

  5676 Riverdale Avenue

  Riverdale, NY 10471.

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  Design by www.formatting4U.com

  Cover by Insatiable Fantasy Designs Inc.

  Digital ISBN 9781626011830

  Print ISBN 9781626011847

  First Edition May 2015

  Chapter One

  Light-years away, in the Realm of Royal Lights, Wol-itelm studied the human woman who would be joined to him and his other two mates. She was a beauty, for a human. He knew he had no choice but to sit back and watch his mates come together, at least for now.

  Wol-itelm knew the Anasazi would be sleeping for another hundred earth years. It was rare for any of them to be awakened from their slumber, but he’d somehow sensed that something was going to disturb Earth’s balance, and he only hoped his friends would not prevent his joining with the three mortals on Earth.

  Since Chax’s birth, Wol-itelm had watched him and protected him, making sure Satan kept close tabs on him. It was the only way the threesome would be safe. Otherwise, they would always be sought after for their powers, and hunted. Separated, they were no threat, but together, their powers exceeded those of anyone else on Earth.

  “I have to be there for them, even if it’s from a distance.” Wol-itelm thought, as he turned and summoned his Earthly servant, Satan, The Master of Hell.

  “What can I do for you, Wol-itelm?” Satan bowed before him.

  “My mate, Chax, whom you call your Grand Duke, will be coming across his other mates soon. I want you to watch them all carefully. Others will try to stop their union, but this cannot happen. Even those close to you will fight to destroy them. I can’t do much from here, but I will make my presence known to them. Chax already carries my mark, and soon, so will his mates. At least with my mark I can summon them. I’ve waited to contact Chax because I didn’t want to draw attention to him.”

  He turned and studied Satan. “You’ve done well to protect him and you will be rewarded. I want you to release Chax’s brothers from your service also. It will give Chax, Hoyt, and Tabatha more protection to have them close.”

  Wol-itelm turned on his heels and walked to his window. “You won’t be alone much longer. Your companion will show herself soon. I wish I could tell you more, but the fates have blocked my sight from ascertaining anything further. The only reason I can see my mates now is because of you, and for that, I thank you.” Wol-itelm smiled and flicked his wrist, sending Satan back to his domain.

  “Soon, my mates, soon.” Wol-itelm strode back to his huge bed and laid down. He was so tired. “Just a little nap.”

  ***

  The heavy wooden door opened with a shove of her hip.

  Thank God. Home at last! Tabatha sighed as she entered the apartment and flicked on the light switch.

  She stared at the small place she now called home with Melody, her best friend. Bangor’s city lights flickered through her bay window and cast shadows on the buildings surrounding hers. The shoulder-bag/briefcase she carried tugged on her arm as she let it drop on to the oak coffee table. All her personal belongings from the office now rested inside that case. Shaking her head, she started to sort through the day’s mail while she sat down on an overstuffed couch. Lifting her feet and resting them on the coffee table, she kicked off her pumps and sighed.

  Her feet ached, and it felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to her head. She pushed her hair away from her face, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes. Boots, her cat, jumped on her lap, begging to be petted.

  God, my life sucks, Boots!

  Her morning had started out a nightmare, and her day had gone downhill from there. First, someone had stolen her car from her apartment building’s parking lot. Frantic, she’d called the police. After the police officer had taken her report and given her a case number, she had walked two miles to work, where she’d arrived two hours late. At the end of the day, her boss had called her into his office and fired her. Cutbacks, he said.

  Why couldn’t they have fired me when I arrived? They wanted more work out of me before they let me go, she surmised, that’s why!

  The shrill ring of the phone disturbed her peaceful moment. Moaning, Tabatha let the answering machine pick it up.

  “I know you’re home,” a male voice hissed. “I love those pumps you wore today. We’re coming for you next, Tabatha. We haven’t forgotten you.”

  Chills skirted down her spine. She noticed the front door was unlocked. With panic racing through her, she jumped up, stumbling to the door. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her hand trembled as she turned the lock. The sound of it engaging seemed almost as loud as her terrified heartbeat. She slid down to the floor, leaning against the door.

  “You should have died with your family, but that’s okay. Those luscious tits and pussy will be fun to explore before I kill you,” the voice threatened.

  To think that in one day she’d learned so much and had lost so much. Her parents’ protection had hidden so many things she had never known existed. Hell, at her very first job, The Red Fox Bar, where she worked as a barmaid, she’d met many different shifters and even a couple of witches. She had known the bar catered to the supernatural, and what better way to learn about the weird and magical than to observe it?

  So, working her way through college, she’d waited tables, learning all she could. Tabatha remembered meeting Sammy that first weekend at her job. She had nearly scared the life out of her. As a cougar shape shifter, Sammy was minding her own business when two huge male cougars started to harass her. Both Sammy and Tabatha had laughed the next night when they’d talked about what had happened. Sammy had handled both of the male shifters, transforming and swiping both their faces with her paws. They never bothered Sammy again, that Tabatha knew of. Soon after that, she and Sammy had become close friends, laughing all the time when the subject was brought up. Sammy had explained many different shifter customs to her over the next year.

  To top it all off, one of her closest friends was a werewolf who was dating her best friend. To think she would have gone out into the world not knowing anything about shifters and other beings if it wasn’t for the fact her parents had been murdered by one of them.

  The worst day of her life flashed before her eyes.

  ***

  Ten Years Earlier

  The sun’s rays reflected off the lake, blinding her for a moment as she stared out the bedroom window. Shielding her eyes with her hand, Tabatha watched her mother step outside with supplies to stock their boat for their outing. She had to wait for the right time to tell her mom she couldn’t go today, and if she didn’t figure out something reasonable to tell her, the following week her room would be her prison. She couldn’t count the times her mother had grounded her for not doing homework, but now Tabatha had a plan. She’d put off a major report due for school and today was the only day she had left to complete the project with Melody.

  Walking to the porch door, Tabatha pushed open the screen and yelled, “Hey, Mom. I can’t go out on the boat today with you guys. Melody is coming over and we’re going to work on our science project. It’s due Monday.” She moved out onto the deck.

  “Tabby, why do you always put things off?” Her mom frowned at her. “You know today is supposed to be for the family. It’s rare for your father
to have a day off.”

  “I didn’t know Dad was going to be home. You said we had no plans. Plus, Mel’s mom is on one of her drunks, and I told Mel she could stay with us tonight.”

  “Fine, but I want it done before tonight. You’ll be at the table for our family dinner. Is that understood? And tell Melody she is more than welcome to stay as long as she wants.”

  “Hey, why does she get out of this and I have to go?” Her older brother Ben asked, frowning at her. “I had plans with a friend, and you made me cancel those.”

  “Don’t you start, too,” their mother warned over her shoulder as she carried a cooler to their father, who waited on the boat.

  Ben followed their mother onto the vessel and sat at the front of the boat. Ben’s glare should have burned a hole in her, he was so pissed. Tabatha waved at her parents before the engine was started. Her father looked down and turned the key. A clicking noise followed, and then a bright light exploded in front of Tabatha, sending her flying back onto the porch.

  As she lifted her head, a steady drip of blood clouded her vision, but it didn’t prevent her from seeing the destruction. Scraps of white wood lay on the ground around her. With part of the boat’s deck now gone, Tabatha stared at it in shock and shook her head as she tried to stop the ringing in her ears. She wiped the blood from her face and she watched the black smoke rising from the water where pieces of the boat still burned.

  “They’re all gone!” she screamed and sobbed. “Mom, Dad and Ben!”

  ***

  Present

  The jingle of the door lock and the push of the door against her back shook her out of the memory. Tabatha leaned harder against the door as she tried to bar anyone who tried to enter.

  “Tabatha, let me in. Why do you have the door blocked?” Her roommate, Melody, yelled behind her.

  “You’re alone, right?” Her voice squeaked, showing her fear. Numb all over, Tabatha rose and peeked out the safety hole.

  Melody stood there alone. “Yes!”

  Tabatha backed up, waiting for her best friend to come in and shut the door.

  “What are you doing?” Melody asked. She put her hands on her hips and gave her that irritated look she always did when Tabitha didn’t do something right. “We have to be ready in an hour. Shane will be here soon.”

  “Please put that chair against the door and block it, Melody. Do you know where I put that phone number for the detective who’s working on my family’s case?” Panic surged through her system. “Would you make sure the door is locked, too, please?” Dumping her purse out onto the coffee table, Tabatha searched for the detective’s business card.

  “Tabby, what’s wrong? Something’s happened, hasn’t it?” Melody grabbed Tabatha’s hands and stared into her eyes.

  “The person who killed my family is after me now. There’s a message on the answering machine. You have to leave. It’s not safe here with me. I won’t have you taken away, too, Mel. You’re all I have left.”

  Pounding on the door startled them. They screamed, grabbing one another’s arms.

  “What the hell is wrong?” Shane demanded. “Melody, are you okay? Open this door right now.”

  “See?” Melody hugged her. “It’s okay. It’s just Shane.” She turned to open the door. “I’m coming. Hold on!”

  “Peek through the hole, Mel. You never know. It could be the same ones who killed my family. The other day I heard my boss talking to someone over the phone about demons. Maybe a demon killed my family and made it look like something else. They can turn into any kind of animal they want to.”

  Melody paused. “What do you mean, demons? And I wouldn’t believe anything that little weasel says. Look at what he did you!” She said over her shoulder.

  “The detective who is working on my parents’ case hinted that something unusual killed my parents. He smelled something that didn’t belong at the site. At first I didn’t understand what he meant, but later he informed me of the special unit he was in, and he believed it was a shape shifter or something along those lines that had killed my parents.

  “I didn’t just apply at the Nightlife Club out of the blue and spend the next three years at the college library studying everything I could on the paranormal just too waste time. I made sure I knew everything I could on the subject, even majoring in Biology in college. I needed to understand why someone would want my family murdered.”

  Melody’s confused expression turned to understanding.

  “You know I had to find something tangible to prove who killed them,” Tabatha continued. “I still can’t believe all they came up with was some fur fragments left on the dock. I couldn’t make heads nor tails of it.” She held the phone tightly and sighed. “Ask Shane a personal question that only he and you would know.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an old business card lying partly under her purse. Grabbing the card, she held it up in the air. “What are you waiting for? Ask him. I’m calling the detective.” She dialed the number and kept her eye on Melody.

  A deep voice answered the phone.

  “Detective Cyrus, here. Can I help you?”

  “I’m looking for a Detective Branson.”

  Mel gave her a thumbs-up and opened the door.

  “I’m sorry, miss. Detective Branson retired two years ago. Can I help you with something?”

  “What? He can’t. I need him. He said he wouldn’t quit on my parents’ case until he found out who murdered them!” Fresh tears ran down her face.

  “Give me the phone, Tab. You’re in no shape to talk to anyone,” Shane said softly, once he’d entered the apartment. He took the receiver from her.

  Mel wrapped her arms around Tabitha and pushed her toward the couch.

  “Hello, this is Shane Whiteson.” Shane’s gaze held Tabatha’s as he spoke. “I’m a friend of Tabatha’s.” He got up and stared down at her. “Oh, shoot! Hoyt, is that you? I forgot you’re captain of the Paranormal Special Unit. Sorry, Alpha.”

  ***

  “Damn it, Shane, how did they find out about Tabatha coming to the club?” Hoyt leaned back in his chair, eyeing the people outside his office door.

  “I don’t know,” Shane whispered into the phone. “There has to be a leak in the pack. How else would anyone know she’s going to have contact with the pack? No one but you and I know she’s your mate.”

  Hoyt got up and closed his office door, not trusting anyone at the moment. “When I talked to Branson last year, he was still convinced the only reason her parents were killed was because they planned to introduce Tabatha to the pack. Now I’m beginning to believe him. Shit! It could be anyone.” Hoyt knew he could trust his personal team at the office, but the others he just didn’t know about. “Listen; bring her to the club anyway. We’ll just have to surround her with the ones I trust.”

  Hoyt hung up the phone and called in his team. Tonight he would make Tabatha his and no one would stop him.

  Chapter Two

  Shane walked to the kitchen, talking quietly to the detective. Tabatha couldn’t hear a word he said but knew he would take care of everything.

  Minutes later, Shane hung up the phone and strode over to where Melody sat on the coffee table.

  “Okay, as you heard, my Alpha is now the captain of the Special Force. I’ve told him everything Mel has told me, and I could hear what you said through the door. There’s another answering machine recording? He wants us to bring the tape to the Halloween party. He also wants you to pack a bag, Tabby. You and Mel are going to be staying at our house for a while.” He pushed his hand through his hair.

  “I need to just go away. I shouldn’t be around you guys. They’ll take you away from me too!” Tabatha jumped up and began to pace.

  “You’re not going anywhere. We can protect you, Tab. Now, I want you to get into a nice, hot shower, and then put your costume on. You’ll be surrounded by werewolves that Hoyt and I know. No one will dare try to hurt you at the club.” He nodded toward the bedroom and swatted her ass. To
Mel, he said, “Take Tabby and go get ready. I told Hoyt we’d be late, but I don’t want to be too late.”

  Tabatha stared at Shane. “But what if one of your pack’s werewolves is involved, Shane? You can’t be sure about all of them. Then there are other things out there that can just pop in at will. Demons can come and go as they please!”

  Shane used two fingers and lifted her chin. “Tabatha, I promise you with my life, no one will hurt you there. The Alpha was best friends with your brother. He will protect you with his life. Believe me, you’ll be safe.” He kissed her nose. “As far as demons and other beings, you wouldn’t be safe anywhere else. So why not be with people who know you and are ready to fight for you instead of running the risk of sitting here alone? Now, little sister, go and get ready.”

  Tabatha laughed as he released her chin. “You better watch your hands, Shane. Melody knows you’re like a brother to me, but if you go and swat some other chick’s butt, you’ll have World War III on your hands.”

  Melody laughed, hooked her arm in Tabatha’s, and together they walked toward the bathroom. “Yep,” said Melody, “he sure would. Plus he’d be minus some balls.” She paused in the bedroom. “I tell you what. You go soak in the tub, Tabby, and I’ll lay out your costume. This party is just what you need.”

  “Shit! I forgot to tell you I lost my job today and that my car was stolen.” She stared over her shoulder at Mel. “It seems my luck has run out.”

  “What?” Melody yelled. “Those idiots at your office don’t know what they’ve done. Hell, you ran that place!”

  Tabatha made her way to the bathroom. She threw her clothes off as she went, not caring where they landed. Melody is right. Maybe a night out will be fun. The captain of the PSU will be there.

  Tabatha let the warm water run down her body. The shower massage did its magic. The muscles in her neck loosened under the steady pressure of hot water. Halloween was Tabatha’s favorite holiday, and after this nightmarish day, she needed to relax. Tonight she would try to forget her troubles. Tomorrow would be a good day to worry anew.