Moonlight Rising Read online

  Moonlight Rising

  A Paranormal Romance Collection

  Megan Linski

  Alicia Rades

  GK Derosa

  Jessica Hawke

  Juliana Haygert

  T. Ariyanna

  Copyright © 2018 Gryfyn Publishing

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The reproduction or utilization of this work in part of in whole including xerography, recording, and photocopying is strictly forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  BISAC Category: Young Adult Paranormal Romance

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Art by The Cover Collection

  Distributed in the USA by Gryfyn Publishing

  For information about custom editions, special sales, ARCs, and premium and corporate purchases, please contact Gryfyn Publishing at [email protected]

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Contents

  Introduction

  Trust by Megan Linski

  Trust: An Angels & Demons Short Story

  The Vampire Rise by Juliana Haygert

  The Vampire Rise: A Vampire Heir Short Story

  Reaper by T. Ariyanna

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Aura, Aura by Alicia Rades

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  A Spark in Shadow by Jessica Hawke

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Before Magic by GK Derosa

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Introduction

  Welcome to Moonlight Rising!

  Within this collection are various short stories and full-length novellas of the paranormal variety. The stories are organized by length, from shortest to longest, and include tales of all sorts of midnight delights, including vampires, psychics, angels, demons, shifters, ghosts, alchemists, reapers, and more. Inside this anthology are steamy kisses, forbidden romances, and romantic desires illuminated by moonlight. There are also quite a few bad guys!

  Grab your favorite beverage and settle into your favorite cozy reader’s nook to enjoy Moonlight Rising!

  Trust by Megan Linski

  Trust: An Angels & Demons Short Story

  Okay. So, Cass, before you say anything, let me first say that it's been over a month and we haven't seen the sun in weeks. We’re not vampires, we’re fricken Nephilim. We can't spend all our time hiding out from demons, right? RIGHT?

  The rehearsed speech sounds bad, even in my head. If Cassia and Cairo find out that Thames and I snuck out of our safe, cozy, and very boring bunker for a bit of afternoon fun, there’ll be an explosion.

  Sure, we know there’s a mad man hunting us. He’s hellbent on killing us before we stop him from enslaving the human race. Oh yeah, he’s out there looking, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be teenagers every once in awhile.

  I hope.

  “Don't worry about it, Lena. I'll take care of it,” Thames offers as we fly away from the bunker. His leathery wings pump strongly as he carries me through the sky, over the farmer’s field that looks nothing like home.

  I want to go back to Michigan, but that would be a death wish, so Thames and I have settled on creeping out to the local mall instead to get some fresh air.

  The look on Athias’ face when he figures out where we’ve gone… I nearly wish I was there, so I could take a picture.

  I want to fly alongside him, but Thames didn't want to chance me using my wings. He’s being too protective, as usual.

  “I'll take care of it.” I mock Thames’ deep, strong voice. “What, you gonna punch your brother again if he says something?”

  Thames smirks. “Maybe.”

  I shake my head. Cairo and Thames are always going at it. If they weren't indestructible immortals, they would’ve longed killed each other by now.

  Thames lands outside of a small town and puts me down. Even though it’s the middle of the day, no one’s here. Talk about a po-dunk place. It makes our hometown of Heaven look huge. I half expect the sound of a banjo to play as we stroll down Main Street.

  “Why are we here?” I ask Thames. “We could've just flown to the mall.”

  Thames snickers. “I haven't gotten to drive anything in awhile. Have you?”

  I can’t help the grin that takes over my face. Thames and I are avid bikers and huge car enthusiasts. Being forbidden to go near anything with a motor for weeks is killing us both.

  “So you want to steal a car?”

  “It’s not stealing if we bring it back.”

  Something catches Thames’ eye. Something dark purple, shiny, and very expensive.

  An SRT Hellcat. It’s parked on the side of the street with not a soul to watch over it. That’s a $60,000 car.

  Stealing that thing would provoke a Texas-wide manhunt. It’d draw attention.

  What fun.

  Thames and I are grinning at each other. We have the same idea.

  “Let’s go.” Thames and I hurry to the Hellcat, hoping we’re not seen. The door is locked, but when Thames’ hand touches the handle it melts off inside like butter. The anti-theft device doesn’t go off. He easily opens the door, slides in, and unlocks the other side for me. I’m giddy as I hop in and as Thames starts hotwiring.

  When the engine roars to life, Thames laughs. I snap in. This ride is So. Sweet. He takes up the wheel and asks, “You ready, baby?”

  “I’m way ready.” Thames puts the pedal to the floor, and I lurch back in my seat as the Hellcat goes from zero to sixty in a matter of seconds.

  Thames takes back country roads at a sideways angle. He treats the Hellcat like a racecar as we veer from left to right, not in any particular direction.

  “Are you sure this is the way to the mall?” I shout over the engine’s roar.

  “I’m sure we’ll find it eventually.” Thames changes gears and takes the traction control off, and the Hellcat lurches violently to one side as he rips the wheel around. A funny feeling rises and falls in my stomach as Thames’ pushes the limits of the car. My angel blood was meant for heaven, but it doesn’t make being bad feel any less good.

  I’m almost disappointed when we finally pull into the mall parking lot. There’s a group of guys our age fre
aking out over the Hellcat, swinging out their phones to take pictures.

  Thames does a couple of burnouts to impress them before parking the car in the far back. We hurry away from it, leaving it where it is with the doors open.

  “You didn’t see anything,” I tell the boys as we pass them. Thames makes a humorous noise, and we proceed into the mall.

  “Ah, finally. Air conditioning,” I say. Texas is unbearably hot. I can’t imagine why my Romani ancestors chose to live here.

  “Do you think the cops will catch up?” I ask casually as we enter into a beachy-themed attire store for young people.

  “I don’t know. But he’s gonna have to stop by the gas station,” Thames says.

  We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile. Supposed to being the keywords. Thames and I like to draw attention, but unfortunately, that’s rather frowned upon when you’re a target for demons.

  We’re not worried about humans catching us. Thames and I could escape out of any prison no problem.

  No. It’s the supernatural ones we’re worried about.

  But it’s hard to imagine anything that goes bump-in-the-night is lurking around here. The scariest things I see in this store are all the preppy girls and total bros.

  Thames walks around and starts grabbing stuff off the shelf that will fit him, which you can do when you’ve got more money than God, but I’m more cautious. I rummage through the t-shirts slowly, not sure what to get.

  “Lena, stop looking at the prices,” Thames tells me. “Just get what you want.”

  “I don’t want to spend your money,” I whine.

  “And I don’t want to hear it.” Thames grabs a teal dress off the rack that’s covered in a design of large tropical flowers and throws it at me. He must’ve seen me eyeing it as we walked in. Busted. “Try it on.”

  By the time the dress is on me, I don’t want to take it off. Thames pays for our clothes and shoves my old outfit in the bag as I stroll around the mall happily, feeling like a total badass.

  A very pretty badass, anyway.

  “You look great.” Thames gives me a kiss on my cheek. “And the cowboy boots really make the outfit.”

  Another gift from Thames. He got them for me a few weeks ago, when he could get out due to his brother’s back being turned. He said that every girl needed a pair of boots for the racetrack, and that we’d really get to put them to use after the war ended.

  If this war ever ended. Right now, the end to the war between angels and demons seemed nowhere in sight.

  I push the negative thoughts out of my head and force a smile on my face. Most of our time in that bunker is spent discussing how we’re going to beat our enemies. I don’t want to think about that. I just want to be happy today.

  Thames is fiddling with the edges of my skirt. I giggle and push him away, grabbing his hand to hold instead.

  We go into a few more stores, which are mostly empty. No one’s shopping in the middle of a weekday. One store, a goth band/fangirl outfitter, practically has no one inside of it but the clerk. He’s a pasty-looking college student, with a long, sallow face and short dark hair. He looks like he’s dying for a drink. He eyes us in annoyance as Thames’ tugs me toward the back.

  “Thames, where are we going?” I whisper, trying not to laugh. That clerk looks pissed.

  “Sssh,” Thames says. He turns the corner to the dressing rooms, pushes me inside one of them, and locks the door behind us.

  “You’re just too adorable in that dress. I can’t resist,” Thames says. He plunges forward and kissing me, wrapping his muscular arms around me and bringing me tightly to his chest. I run my fingers up the crests of his sculpted abs as he puts his tongue in my mouth. I bite his lip, and Thames gives a throaty moan.

  Looks like he can’t wait until we get home, either. This is super hot. And really fun. The thrill of potentially getting caught just makes Thames’ kisses even sweeter.

  Thames lifts up the edges of my dress, but something stops us from going any further. An audible sound.

  A growl.

  Thames and I stop kissing. He puts his hands on my hips and looks at me.

  “Did you hear that?” Thames asks me.

  I nod slowly. “Yeah.” There’s a rotten blood smell permeating the air. It came out of nowhere.

  “You thinking what I’m thinking?” Thames says slowly.

  “A dhampir.” Some sort of cross between a human and a vampiric demon. Oh boy. This should be fun.

  “Stay behind me.” Thames pushes me behind him, unlocks the changing room, and steps out.

  I roll my eyes. Thames seems to forget I’m the best demon huntress there is… that is, until I got hurt in my latest fight. The only one I’ve lost. I haven’t tried any demon hunting since. I probably am a bit rusty.

  Like that’s going to hold me back. I summon my rapier by opening my hand, and the thin blade materializes in my palm. Thames’ hands swell with his fire, and we proceed through the goth store, wondering what could possibly be in here.

  A figure blocks the exit. The chain has been pulled over the entrance to the store, blocking our only way out. It’s the clerk, but he’s changed. His skin has become whiter than a sheet, his ears pointed. His eyes are completely black, like pits, and the bones in his face have become jutted and more pronounced. He opens his mouth into a broad grin. Inside is a deadly mass of long, sharp fangs.

  The clerk is the dhampir. Oh. That explains the thirstiness. God, that sounds wrong. But we should’ve picked up on that when we came in here. We must be getting slow.

  What the hell is a dhampir doing inside a mall in the middle of the day? We don’t have a lot of time to find out. Guess vampire-demons like working at hardcore emo stores. Who knew?

  “You picked the wrong people to mess with, buddy,” I warn. “Now you better move out of the way, before we make you.”

  The dhampir hisses. “No Nephilim here,” he says. “You have ventured into my lair. Now, you must pay the price.”

  “Can you get any cheesier lines?” I ask him. “It’s like you’re reading straight from the Evil Villian Handbook.”

  “Lena, I don’t think this guy wants to talk,” Thames says slowly. The dhampir is proceeding toward us with slow, deliberate steps. His mouth is watering, and his attention is focused on me, not Thames.

  I’m not worried. I’ve handled worse than this dude. “Come on, Thames. We can take him,” I say, and I spring forward.

  “Lena!” Thames shouts, but I’m not listening. I run at the demon with my rapier held high, but before I can bring it slashing downward, a spasm quakes throughout my back. I give a cry of pain as the agony in my back brings me to my knees.

  I look up in fear, and the demon grins. I’m still injured from my last battle. I can’t fight this creature. He’s totally going to kick my ass.

  “Lena, you have to trust me!” Thames shouts. He runs at the dhampir, jumps into the air, and delivers a harsh kick to the monster’s chest. The dhampir goes flying backward into a display, and Thames reaches out a hand to help me up.

  “I told you before I don’t need anyone to save me. I’m not a princess in a tower. I don’t need your help,” I say through gritted teeth. The pain is agonizing now. It’s only spreading. Whatever I say, I can’t fight like this.

  “I know you don’t need me to save you. But I need you.” Thames steps in front of me, and dhampir climbs out of the wreckage. The two run at each other, the dhampir hissing. When tehy meet, they begin wrestling, tossing each other into shelves and walls. But Thames isn’t small by any means, and he’s bulkier than the dhampir, and not as easy to toss around. The demon realizes this and changes his tactic, trying to beat Thames’ down instead. They trade punches back and forth for a moment, before the demon rakes his claws across Thames’ face and draws blood.

  That pisses him off. Thames draws his fist back and pummels the demon in the nose. Once again, the demon is thrown backwards into another display. Thames puts his hands together and a
jet of fire emerges from the two of them, engulfing the dhampir (and much of the store) in flames. The horrific screams of the dhampir grow as the hellfire spreads throughout the store.

  “Come on, Lena!” Thames says. He doesn’t wait around to see if the dhampir is being burned to a crisp or not. He grabs my hand, and we haul ass out of the mall.

  The sprinklers come on and the fire alarm goes off. The small crowds that were inside stampede out in a panic. Fire trucks pull up as Thames and I emerge from the mall soaking wet.

  We avoid the first responders coming up and duck around to the backside of the mall. Thames summons his wings, and takes me into his arms as we launch into the sky. Thankfully, everyone below is too preoccupied with the giant flames swallowing the mall to pay attention to two immortals sailing through the air.

  “Well,” I say as I look down at the burning mall, “So much for keeping a low profile.”

  “Yeah…” Thames makes a face. “I don’t think we’re going to be allowed to leave for a long while.”

  When we return to the bunker, Cairo is standing there with his arms crossed, a stern expression on his face. Cassia is lounging on the couch, and the concern disappears from her eyes as we walk through the door, replaced by a barely veiled amusement. There’s a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen-- Isolde is making shrimp scampi for dinner.