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Never cross a witch... Gargoyle shifter Lucan is finding that out the hard way. What he thought was a fling turns out to be the mistake of a lifetime when he discovers she's bats**t crazy. And has cursed him with dark magic.
Damaged heroes, fated mates, and forbidden love. Escape into a thrilling world of steamy paranormal romance at Vamps!
Damaged heroes, fated mates, and forbidden love. Escape into a thrilling world of steamy paranormal romance at Vamps!
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“How dare you speak of me like that?”
Lucan stopped and turned at the sound of Veronique’s furious accusation. She strode out of the forest, eyed red-rimmed and burning with fury.
Merde. His pulse quickened. What had she heard?
So, he had heard someone following him. Damn it. How did he not see her?
“Veronique, what are you doing here?” He spoke in the calmest voice he could muster.
Danton and Mattias mumbled in low tones behind Lucan. Mattias muttered something like, Looks like somebody’s in trouble.
She strode toward Lucan with quick steps that made the fabric of her dark emerald dress rustle. “You think this was all a joke?” She waved her hand in a circular motion. “Some fun and games until you got tired and decided to go in search of a new toy?”
“No, of course not.” He opened his arms wide, turning his palms up.
“What now—you’re bragging to your brothers of your latest conquest?” She spat. “Before you go off to find a new one.”
“You misunderstand,” Lucan attempted to placate her. “Come now, Veronique, and let’s talk.” That was another problem. What could he say that he hadn’t said several times already?
“I’ve heard enough of your words. Lies.” She pointed at his chest.
“It’s not like that at all,” Danton added from behind Lucan.
“Back off!” She snapped at Danton. She turned back to Lucan and curled her fingers in. “I can silence your lies.”
“Hold up,” Mattias countered with a raise of his hand.
Gray smoke funneled from her fingers, followed by fiery sparks. It quickly swelled and swirled out like a charcoal tornado etched with streaks of fire. She hurled the growing mass at Lucan before he could even protest or try to block the magic.
The blast hit him like a weighted cloak and wrapped around him. He cried out, but then the smoke suffocated him and swallowed his words. He choked on the smoke, which had an odd saccharine taste and smelled like burning rubber.
The wispy threads turned solid and engulfed him in an unnatural powerful grip. His heart thundered and ribs clenched his organs.
Danton’s and Mattias’s voices sounded muted through the sludge. “What are you doing to him?” “Stop it!”
“You’re just as complicit,” she seethed. “Laughing at me.”
Their roars followed. She must have attacked his brothers, too.
Forcing himself to ignore the rising panic, Lucan tried to step through the heavy mist. He had to stop her, had to save his brothers.
The suffocating fog threatened to swallow him. He fell to his knees, gasping.
A trickle of blue broke through the gray, revealing sky. Which meant air. He could breathe!
Through the gray mist, he glimpsed Veronique, the darkness shrouding her like a widow’s veil. “You’ll do the same to other women,” she accused. “All of you. Leaving trails of heartache for your amusement.” Her expression turned wild and inhuman.
What was she talking about? He tried to protest, but his tongue had thickened in his mouth, so he could only utter slurred sounds.
“I can stop you.” The icy resolve in her voice promised danger, triggering an even greater sense of urgency.
Lucan tried to push toward her, but she threw another blast of magic at him. His limbs screamed with the effort of movement. It was like crawling through concrete.
“Oh, this is a splendid sight,” she cooed with delight. “Three cocky shifters succumbing to a witch.” She clapped. “So worth it.”
Lucan tried to claw his way through, but it was futile. How could she even see anything through the darkness?
The powerful magic that captured him explained it—she’d turned dark.
Turned? Or, had she always been that way?
How had he not sensed the darkness in her?
He’d been blinded by lust, and never bothered to look any deeper.
His muscles turned taut while his limbs became immobile. Gravity grabbed him, yanking him to the earth, and fixing his feet to the ground.
On a pedestal. A stone pedestal.
This wasn’t right. His body was shifting like it never had before. His body melted like lava flowing down a mountain before it hardened to stone.
Once his body finally stopped reshaping, a scream welled in his throat, but no sound came out. He remained silent as a statue.
Because that’s what she’d turned him into.
She’d cursed him in his stone form.
A scent of something burning battled with the suffocating stench of the smoke. It must have been the rabbit and vegetables on the grill.
As the wispy tendrils cleared the air, Lucan spotted Danton and Mattias—as gargoyle statues.
Can you move? Can you shift? Lucan communicated telepathically to his brothers, unable to keep the terror out of his tone.
No, Danton replied. I think she used a curse.
What the hell? Mattias exclaimed. We have to stop her!
“How dare you speak of me like that?”
Lucan stopped and turned at the sound of Veronique’s furious accusation. She strode out of the forest, eyed red-rimmed and burning with fury.
Merde. His pulse quickened. What had she heard?
So, he had heard someone following him. Damn it. How did he not see her?
“Veronique, what are you doing here?” He spoke in the calmest voice he could muster.
Danton and Mattias mumbled in low tones behind Lucan. Mattias muttered something like, Looks like somebody’s in trouble.
She strode toward Lucan with quick steps that made the fabric of her dark emerald dress rustle. “You think this was all a joke?” She waved her hand in a circular motion. “Some fun and games until you got tired and decided to go in search of a new toy?”
“No, of course not.” He opened his arms wide, turning his palms up.
“What now—you’re bragging to your brothers of your latest conquest?” She spat. “Before you go off to find a new one.”
“You misunderstand,” Lucan attempted to placate her. “Come now, Veronique, and let’s talk.” That was another problem. What could he say that he hadn’t said several times already?
“I’ve heard enough of your words. Lies.” She pointed at his chest.
“It’s not like that at all,” Danton added from behind Lucan.
“Back off!” She snapped at Danton. She turned back to Lucan and curled her fingers in. “I can silence your lies.”
“Hold up,” Mattias countered with a raise of his hand.
Gray smoke funneled from her fingers, followed by fiery sparks. It quickly swelled and swirled out like a charcoal tornado etched with streaks of fire. She hurled the growing mass at Lucan before he could even protest or try to block the magic.
The blast hit him like a weighted cloak and wrapped around him. He cried out, but then the smoke suffocated him and swallowed his words. He choked on the smoke, which had an odd saccharine taste and smelled like burning rubber.
The wispy threads turned solid and engulfed him in an unnatural powerful grip. His heart thundered and ribs clenched his organs.
Danton’s and Mattias’s voices sounded muted through the sludge. “What are you doing to him?” “Stop it!”
“You’re just as complicit,” she seethed. “Laughing at me.”
Their roars followed. She must have attacked his brothers, too.
Forcing himself to ignore the rising panic, Lucan tried to step through the heavy mist. He had to stop her, had to save his brothers.
The suffocating fog threatened to swallow him. He fell to his knees, gasping.
A trickle of blue broke through the gray, revealing sky. Which meant air. He could breathe!
Through the gray mist, he glimpsed Veronique, the darkness shrouding her like a widow’s veil. “You’ll do the same to other women,” she accused. “All of you. Leaving trails of heartache for your amusement.” Her expression turned wild and inhuman.
What was she talking about? He tried to protest, but his tongue had thickened in his mouth, so he could only utter slurred sounds.
“I can stop you.” The icy resolve in her voice promised danger, triggering an even greater sense of urgency.
Lucan tried to push toward her, but she threw another blast of magic at him. His limbs screamed with the effort of movement. It was like crawling through concrete.
“Oh, this is a splendid sight,” she cooed with delight. “Three cocky shifters succumbing to a witch.” She clapped. “So worth it.”
Lucan tried to claw his way through, but it was futile. How could she even see anything through the darkness?
The powerful magic that captured him explained it—she’d turned dark.
Turned? Or, had she always been that way?
How had he not sensed the darkness in her?
He’d been blinded by lust, and never bothered to look any deeper.
His muscles turned taut while his limbs became immobile. Gravity grabbed him, yanking him to the earth, and fixing his feet to the ground.
On a pedestal. A stone pedestal.
This wasn’t right. His body was shifting like it never had before. His body melted like lava flowing down a mountain before it hardened to stone.
Once his body finally stopped reshaping, a scream welled in his throat, but no sound came out. He remained silent as a statue.
Because that’s what she’d turned him into.
She’d cursed him in his stone form.
A scent of something burning battled with the suffocating stench of the smoke. It must have been the rabbit and vegetables on the grill.
As the wispy tendrils cleared the air, Lucan spotted Danton and Mattias—as gargoyle statues.
Can you move? Can you shift? Lucan communicated telepathically to his brothers, unable to keep the terror out of his tone.
No, Danton replied. I think she used a curse.
What the hell? Mattias exclaimed. We have to stop her!
Lucan stopped and turned at the sound of Veronique’s furious accusation. She strode out of the forest, eyed red-rimmed and burning with fury.
Merde. His pulse quickened. What had she heard?
So, he had heard someone following him. Damn it. How did he not see her?
“Veronique, what are you doing here?” He spoke in the calmest voice he could muster.
Danton and Mattias mumbled in low tones behind Lucan. Mattias muttered something like, Looks like somebody’s in trouble.
She strode toward Lucan with quick steps that made the fabric of her dark emerald dress rustle. “You think this was all a joke?” She waved her hand in a circular motion. “Some fun and games until you got tired and decided to go in search of a new toy?”
“No, of course not.” He opened his arms wide, turning his palms up.
“What now—you’re bragging to your brothers of your latest conquest?” She spat. “Before you go off to find a new one.”
“You misunderstand,” Lucan attempted to placate her. “Come now, Veronique, and let’s talk.” That was another problem. What could he say that he hadn’t said several times already?
“I’ve heard enough of your words. Lies.” She pointed at his chest.
“It’s not like that at all,” Danton added from behind Lucan.
“Back off!” She snapped at Danton. She turned back to Lucan and curled her fingers in. “I can silence your lies.”
“Hold up,” Mattias countered with a raise of his hand.
Gray smoke funneled from her fingers, followed by fiery sparks. It quickly swelled and swirled out like a charcoal tornado etched with streaks of fire. She hurled the growing mass at Lucan before he could even protest or try to block the magic.
The blast hit him like a weighted cloak and wrapped around him. He cried out, but then the smoke suffocated him and swallowed his words. He choked on the smoke, which had an odd saccharine taste and smelled like burning rubber.
The wispy threads turned solid and engulfed him in an unnatural powerful grip. His heart thundered and ribs clenched his organs.
Danton’s and Mattias’s voices sounded muted through the sludge. “What are you doing to him?” “Stop it!”
“You’re just as complicit,” she seethed. “Laughing at me.”
Their roars followed. She must have attacked his brothers, too.
Forcing himself to ignore the rising panic, Lucan tried to step through the heavy mist. He had to stop her, had to save his brothers.
The suffocating fog threatened to swallow him. He fell to his knees, gasping.
A trickle of blue broke through the gray, revealing sky. Which meant air. He could breathe!
Through the gray mist, he glimpsed Veronique, the darkness shrouding her like a widow’s veil. “You’ll do the same to other women,” she accused. “All of you. Leaving trails of heartache for your amusement.” Her expression turned wild and inhuman.
What was she talking about? He tried to protest, but his tongue had thickened in his mouth, so he could only utter slurred sounds.
“I can stop you.” The icy resolve in her voice promised danger, triggering an even greater sense of urgency.
Lucan tried to push toward her, but she threw another blast of magic at him. His limbs screamed with the effort of movement. It was like crawling through concrete.
“Oh, this is a splendid sight,” she cooed with delight. “Three cocky shifters succumbing to a witch.” She clapped. “So worth it.”
Lucan tried to claw his way through, but it was futile. How could she even see anything through the darkness?
The powerful magic that captured him explained it—she’d turned dark.
Turned? Or, had she always been that way?
How had he not sensed the darkness in her?
He’d been blinded by lust, and never bothered to look any deeper.
His muscles turned taut while his limbs became immobile. Gravity grabbed him, yanking him to the earth, and fixing his feet to the ground.
On a pedestal. A stone pedestal.
This wasn’t right. His body was shifting like it never had before. His body melted like lava flowing down a mountain before it hardened to stone.
Once his body finally stopped reshaping, a scream welled in his throat, but no sound came out. He remained silent as a statue.
Because that’s what she’d turned him into.
She’d cursed him in his stone form.
A scent of something burning battled with the suffocating stench of the smoke. It must have been the rabbit and vegetables on the grill.
As the wispy tendrils cleared the air, Lucan spotted Danton and Mattias—as gargoyle statues.
Can you move? Can you shift? Lucan communicated telepathically to his brothers, unable to keep the terror out of his tone.
No, Danton replied. I think she used a curse.
What the hell? Mattias exclaimed. We have to stop her!
Check prices before you buy.
Amazon US Amazon UK
Amazon AU Amazon CA