SACRIFICES by KIKI HOWELL
“May the best one of us bring in his head upon a platter,” a
gruff, baritone voice hissed in her ear. The tone was as menacing as it
was seductive. A dry fire burned in her lungs as a cool chill ran its
fingers down her spine. Both impaired her breathing, but she took off into
a run along with him anyway.
Alexx knew if she was the one to capture the infamous
Richard Vosslar during tonight’s foray for spoils of the mortal kind, then
Brandon would be denied the victory. Brandon was the voice, the only one
who’d been standing behind her, huddled into a dark corner.
Intimate. Dangerous. She’d worked in close confines and on many a
deadly mission with the man in a Special Activities Division of the CIA. The
two of them, along with six others, were referred to as a Special Ops Group and
were trained to carry out the deniable covert missions of this branch of the
government. Tonight, they were on foreign soil to kidnap a man deemed ‘a
threat’ to current plans of a Middle East stationed Marine Force Recon unit.
Over the past two years, Alexx had seen Brandon in many
ways, in various states of peril and affliction. In all of them, he
appealed to her. His physical abilities were unparalleled, and his character
was impeccable. The things he’d done for others never ceased to amaze and
fluster her. Who was she kidding, she couldn’t think a rational though
about him. Yet, her feelings for him were her weight to bear alone. The man was
as silent and deadly as they came, and as dedicated and caring as she had ever
met at the same time. Trying to keep up with him was not the only thing making
her warm!
As they moved through the oddly designed building, she knew
there was no sense denying that fact to herself. Telling Brandon, on the
other hand, was a completely different story. He was a vampire, one of the
undead, and Alexx was very much alive and very much a witch. Everyone in their
secret division had some otherworldly abilities.
The Special Ops group consisted of: herself, a hereditary
witch able to manipulate energy; two vampires with power and speed; a tenacious
werewolf and a more diversified shifter; a psychic trained to be a killer by
the Marines; an actual mothman whose skills with mind control and prophesy had
proven invaluable; and an old sorcerer whose varied magic keep him equally
useful. The competition within this group was fierce. They battled for the
prize, day in and day out, whatever their mission, not for other’s affections.
And tonight, Vosslar had to disappear.
The job was delicate and critical. The eight of them were
paired up to search the premises Mr. Vosslar was supposedly on. As usual,
her partner was Brandon, not that she was complaining. Well, much.
She’d denied him a response, a reaction even. Instead, she
concentrated on his hand on the small of her back as they halted their run to
squeeze through a door. Yet, on the other side, she stiffened as Brandon’s
hands grabbed her waist to make her crouch behind a stack of dilapidated
boxes. He was always doing that, helping her with his generous nature, not
knowing he was impairing her at the same time.
The next moments went by her in a quick, adrenaline rush. A
voice came through both of their earpieces. They were so close, with his
chin over her shoulder and his cheek against hers, that the voice came through
in unison. It was the sorcerer. He and the mothman had spotted their
target boarding a plane.
“Stay put.” Alexx took charge after a moment’s pause. “Sorcerer,
use a telekinetic manipulation spell on him. Don’t let him leave. I will support
with a shield of energy to prevent him from running once we get there. Brandon
and Moth will enter the plane. You will have mind control, quickness, and
muscle between you.”
Brandon turned her body toward him as if she were nothing
but a rag doll. His one slightly raised brow made it seem as if his eyes bore
right through her.
Her frozen body trembled, heat blazed within.
He let out a growl, animalistic and lethal, rather than
words. Then, he let go of her and took off toward the back of the building
where the plane was.
She followed.
Once on the black pavement, she met the sorcerer’s spell
with straight magic to immobilize the aircraft. Not cognizant of time
passing, she waited, hoping she’d handed Brandon the win by letting him go in.
Her reward was feeling the imprint of his cool hands still heating all of her
flesh. It was enough. Focus, she shouted at herself, taking a deep breath as
she let the fire of her magic burn through her hands to hold the shield.
So, it took a second where time stood still to comprehend
seeing Robert Vosslar come running from the plane. Her heart began
thumping hard enough to make her stomach roll. Worry if her vamp had been
hurt somehow was pushed into a throbbing part of her head, while she moved her
efforts to binding the bad guy with invisible, magick rope.
As Richard fell to the ground, there was a flash of blurred
colors. She met with the smoky-blue eyes of her sexy man of the night over top
of her captive seconds later. Held by unseen ties of a more emotional nature,
she couldn’t see if he was unscathed.
“You okay?” Her voice, pitched high, hurt her own ears.
“Yeah. Thanks, Alexx,” he huffed in a breathy voice. “I
don’t know how he got by me.”
“You let me escape, you fool! You told me to run to the
gorgeous woman outside the plane or I was dead rather than a captive of the US
government. What the hell game are you up to?” Richard spit out, his voice
booming over her even from his position at her feet.
“What? I thought he’d hurt you! I could’ve cared less
about some win.” She glared at Brandon. “Your fool move makes us both losers! I
didn’t really win if you send him to me to capture! Why did you do that?” The
last words, spoken quietly, strained her vocal cords as her chest heaved up and
down.
“You volunteered to hold the plane to concede the win to me.
I got it.” He shook his head at her. “I love you, too. Don’t you get it?”
Brandon’s response left her speechless, but his searing kiss
left her feeling victorious in a way she’d only dreamed of.
GIVEAWAY
I am giving away one t-shirt with the Coming Soon
Mystical Mayhem Image on it. The t-shirt is an x-large from Vistaprint in
white.
Image from Vistaprint Preview
Close up of Image on T-shirt
To enter, email me at howell.kiki@gmail.com with "MM
T-Shirt Giveaway" in the Subject Line. I'll choose a winner one week from
today :)
MYSTICAL MAYHEM BOOK INFO
Mystical Mayhem, a
novella
Blurb:
When rogue shifters capture Aiyanna, a Native American
Indian with a dragon spirit, she finds herself tied to the wall of a cave,
about to be the sacrifice in their twisted sex ritual. Their intention is to
conceive another chimera, the legendary paranormal superman of Alaska. What the
group didn’t plan for is the real chimera, Xander, coming to their sacrifice’s
rescue.
Once in his cave, as Xander cares for Aiyanna’s wounds and shares a little of his rough life, the two find they’re mates. The next step in their lives should be clear. Instead, in this world gone mad, where paranormal creatures who once lived secretly on the fringes of society are currently joining together for evil purposes, indecision reigns. As lines are drawn, war ensues and personal struggles mount, Xander is called to join a Special Activities Division of the CIA. Decisions must be made even as the mystical mayhem continues around them.
Once in his cave, as Xander cares for Aiyanna’s wounds and shares a little of his rough life, the two find they’re mates. The next step in their lives should be clear. Instead, in this world gone mad, where paranormal creatures who once lived secretly on the fringes of society are currently joining together for evil purposes, indecision reigns. As lines are drawn, war ensues and personal struggles mount, Xander is called to join a Special Activities Division of the CIA. Decisions must be made even as the mystical mayhem continues around them.
Genres: Paranormal (Chimera, Dragon Spirit, Vampires,
Witches, and then some…), Erotic, Romantic Suspense
Excerpt:
Pain cut like a blade stuck in her wrists each time she
hurled her weight forward. Aiyanna needed her Dragon in order to break the
ropes that tied her arms above her head. Yet, deep inside this cave, the Spirit
remained elusive. A maize-colored light surrounded her – stifled her ability to
call to her animal, the only one left to save her.
Rogue shifters had invaded her reservation here in Alaska,
or at least what remained of an old one. Aiyanna had no idea what’d happened to
the others there, those she called friends and family. She, alone, had been
captured, taken in the dark in complete silence. Now, she hung against a cold
rock wall listening to a man who’d shifted into a Hawk when he’d gotten
frustrated a moment ago, but was now a man again. He fought with the other
shifters present, as well as a witch about the specifics of a sex ritual she
was to be sacrificed in.
“You listen to me. Bottom line. Ideal or not,” the Hawk-man
hissed. “We have a sacrifice: a mystical woman, an Indian with a Dragon Spirit.
The bitch is perfect. We have shifters here to represent each element with a
corresponding animal. Don’t get all fuckin’ simpering woman on me because you
know her.”
“I know of her. She is gifted, maybe too gifted to kill, was
all I was saying, Aiden,” spat the witch, though she was wringing her fists in
front of her. Aiyanna knew of the witch too – mostly rumors though. Her name
was Selene, and she practiced on the dark side of magick despite the way she’d
been raised. Selene, like Aiyanna, had lost her mother young.
“You listen to me. I’ve planned this for too long. You knew
how it would work. You will do this! It’s your choice how easy or hard your
participation will be. Got it? The moon is right. The ritual stones and other
shit have been gathered.” The Hawk-man’s voice was rising, beating at the air
as his wings had a few minutes ago. “We do this tonight. We kill her tonight!
We will all mate with you, witch, tonight! A child will be conceived. One like
the legends.”
Aiyanna knew exactly the legend they spoke of. The superman,
if you will, of the shifters. She could use his help right about now. Not many
had seen him, but the one who shifted into a combination of many beasts at
once, the Chimera, saved those in dire need. She felt hanging from a wall, about
to be sacrificed qualified as a bit dire.
