Dancing With the Devil (12 page)

Somewhere, a clock chimed
midnight.

My forehead was cold and heavy.
Freezing, in fact. I lay on a hard floor, another cold weight crushing my chest
right over my heart.

“Amy.” Keisha’s voice cut through
the buzzing in my ears. Music thumped in the background, but softly. “Are you
back? Open your eyes.”

I did…and wished I hadn’t.

Gabriel, all seven foot of him,
crouched over me. One of his giant hands pressed on my chest, the other on my
head. “She lives.”

I knocked his hands away. Took a
deep breath. I was lying where I’d fallen when Adam and Eve had grabbed me
earlier. “Where’s Luc? Where’s Zayfeer?”

Keisha stood behind Gabe. Adam
and Eve were next to her. Emilia and Mikayla loomed over me, too, and Keisha
shooed Gabriel out of the way. She helped me sit up. “Are you okay?”

“What happened?”

“You passed out on us.” She
winked at me. “That champagne does have quite a kick.”

I hadn’t drunk any champagne. I
shot Gabriel a look. If Keisha didn’t know where I’d been, then that meant…“You
came on your own, didn’t you? To help me and Luc?”

The archangel’s pale cheeks
reddened. “He lives, yes?”

I pushed to my feet. “He should
be here.”

Keisha put a hand on her hip. Her
grandfather clock, with its skull and bone chimes, bonged and clacked in the
background. “What are two talking about?”

In her eyes, I saw the incredible
human she was. The incredible voodoo priestess as well. I laid a hand on her
arm. “I was in purgatory. Had a few monsters…um,
fears
…to slay. You put
a spell on Lucifer so he could come to me when he lost his magic, remember?”

Her face reflected shock. “The
blood spell? I cast that for him months ago.”

“Months? I thought you just
performed the spell tonight.”

She looked contrite. “You two
belong together, sweetie, and after you took that trip to Hell, Luc and I
decided it might be a good idea for him to be able to track you no matter where
you went.”

“He said it happened tonight. Why
did he lie about it?”

Gabriel spoke. “He feared for
your safety, but knew you would reject any magical attempt to bind the two of
you.”

Magic. “The two of us
are
magic. I’m not hiding from that any longer.”

The magic inside my chest sent up
a
hoorah
.

Adam and Eve exchanged a look. Emilia
pushed through the others and threw her arms around my neck. “First Hell, now
purgatory. What is going on with you?”

What indeed. I hugged her hard. “I
figured out who I am and why I’m here.”

“Ah.” Her eyes lit up. “Does this
mean you’re giving up Witches Anonymous?”

Cephiel came into view, Marcia by
his side. She leaned in, all ears, and I suddenly knew more about her
intentions than I cared to.

“Not yet.” I gave Marcia a subtle
back off
glare. Cephiel thought he’d been sent to protect me from Lucifer.
Little did he know he needed
my
protection. I wasn’t sure exactly how
yet, but my instincts about Marcia screamed
danger
. “I have work to do
on controlling my magic.”
And other people’s
.

Another chime of the clock
reminded me to focus. Motioning Mikayla over, I drew her and Em into a circle
and hugged both my sisters. “There’s so much I have to tell you both. About our
mother. About our future.”

Mikayla’s brows disappeared
behind her bangs. “
Our
mother?”

“Yep. We’re family now.” I
grabbed Keisha. “All of us.”

“You have definitely had enough
champagne,” she said. Over my shoulder, she told Gabriel, “Start some coffee.
Make it strong.”

Catching Keisha’s hand, I placed
it on my stomach. “Can you feel her?”

“Her?” Those big dark eyes
widened. Then danced with surprised joy. “No. Really?”

“What?” Emilia demanded. Mikayla
looked confused.

Patting Emilia’s shoulder, I
broke the circle and backed up. “I’ll explain everything as soon as I find Luc.”

“I’m here.” The crowd parted and
the last of the clock’s peals echoed through the house as the fallen angel of
my dreams, clothed in his favorite leather pants, biker boots and silk T-shirt,
materialized.

Damn. My heart climbed into my
throat. Clothes or no clothes, I would never tire at the sight of him in any
form.

He caught me around the waist,
pulled me close and kissed me. Long and deep. I waited for the Mark to come to
life. In this world, it was still a part of me.

It stayed frozen from Gabriel’s
touch. Between him and Zayfeer’s ability to reverse the curse, this might just
work. I kissed Lucifer back, reveling in the freedom.

When we broke apart, I whispered,
“Happy New Year, Bringer of Light.”

He caressed my cheek, stared deep
into my eyes. Then he hugged me tight and murmured in my ear, “Happy New Year,
Amo.”

January 1
^st
. A new
year. A new everything.

I stared out the window of my
bedroom, looking at downtown Eden. The buildings and roads were covered by a
blanket of snow. Everyone sleeping off their hangovers, dreaming of a fresh
start.

Luc slept with carefree abandon
in my bed. Cain and Abel curled protectively around him. We’d been up most of
the night, explaining everything to my friends and family. Making plans.
Reaching for each other every few minutes.

There were still questions that
needed to be answered, but every time I tried to access the knowledge the Tree
had given me, I felt a block. A wall I couldn’t get through in this world.

The information was there, that I
was sure of. One way or another, I’d figure out how to get to it again.

But maybe I didn’t need it here.
I had what I wanted
and
what I needed. Like I’d told Emilia, I knew who
I was and why I was here now.

The bed creaked and a moment later, Lucifer hugged me to him
and set his chin on my shoulder. “I know that look. You’re planning world
domination again, aren’t you?”

“We’re going to find all the fallen angels and bring them
home. Bring them to sanctuary.”

“The back room of the ice cream shop’s going to get pretty
full, isn’t it?”

Just thinking about a bunch of angels scooping ice cream and
living underfoot made me smile. “We’re going to keep helping the biblical
characters, too. Those who got raw deals like Sampson and Delilah.”

He said, “Of course”, but mentally, he was thinking,
bloody
hell
.

I patted his hand. “Cephiel will be in charge of the
biblical characters. Gabe, in charge of the Fallen. I’ve got a plan all worked
out. You’ll see.”

He drew a breath, let it out slowly. “And the angels trapped
in the City?”

“I’ll free them.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure yet.” I rubbed my belly absently. “But we’ll
figure it out.”

His fingers intertwined with mine over my stomach. We stood
like that for another couple of minutes, then he drew me away from the window.

“In the meantime…” He gave me a wicked grin as he lowered me
to the bed. “I have my own plan, witch, and it involves you with far fewer
clothes.”

I laughed. The Mark was quiet. My magic was lusty. Seemed it
was finally time to confess my sins. “You sure you want to get involved with
me? I have a reputation, you know. I jump first, ask questions later.”

He kissed his way down my neck, ran a hand over my hip. “The
first step is a bitch, I’ll give you that, but what follows…” I felt his lips
smile against the skin of my stomach. “That’s pure Heaven.”

Heaven. As Luc trailed kisses over the rest of my body, my
heart and magic purred. “Not Heaven,” I said as I wrapped my legs around his
waist. “What we have is pure magic.”

Witches
Anonymous, A Tickle My Fantasy Story (Step 1)

Jingle
Hells, Witches Anonymous Step 2

Wicked
Souls, Witches Anonymous Step 3

Dark Moon
Lilith, Witches Anonymous Step 4

Dancing
With the Devil, Witches Anonymous Step 5

Revenge Is
Sweet, Kali Sweet Book 1

Sweet
Chaos, Kali Sweet Book 2

Sweet
Soldier, Kali Sweet Book 3 (coming 2013)

Turn the page for a sneak peek at Revenge Is Sweet!

Misty
Evans is the author of four series: the Super Agent romantic suspense series,
the light paranormal Witches Anonymous series, the dark paranormal Lost Worlds
series, and the Kali Sweet urban fantasy series.

The
books in her Super Agent series have won a CataNetwork Reviewers’ Choice Award,
CAPA nominations, the New England Reader’s Choice Bean Pot Award for Best
Romantic Suspense in 2010 and the ACRA Heart of Excellence Reader’s Choice
Award for Best Romantic Suspense in 2011.

Her
Witches Anonymous series has garnered 5-star reviews and was dubbed a Fallen
Angel Reviews Recommended Read. Both the Super Agent Series, Witches Anonymous
Series and the Kali Sweet Series have been on multiple Amazon Kindle
bestsellers lists.

She
has short stories in
Entangled
,
A Paranormal Anthology,
and
Every
Witch Way But Wicked
. All proceeds from
Entangled
go to the Breast
Cancer Research Foundation and all proceeds for
EWWBW
go to Nathon
Fillion’s Kids Need To Read charity.

Misty
is currently at work on the next books in all her series. She likes her coffee
black, her conspiracy stories juicy, and her wicked characters dressed in
couture. When not reading or writing, she enjoys hanging out with her husband
of twenty-plus years and their twin sons. Learn more and sign up for her
newsletter at
www.readmistyevans.com
. Like her author page on
Facebook
or
follow her on
Twitter
.

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And
now for a sneak peek at…

REVENGE IS
SWEET

A Kali Sweet
Story

By Misty Evans

© 2012

Raj Nudra, Vampire King of the Central
United States, was waiting for me.

Seated behind a mammoth black
desk, Nudra appraised me with flat reddish-brown eyes. Two of his minions
flanked his sides, arms crossed, weapons in plain sight. Low level demons, good
for muscle but who couldn’t think their way out of a coffin.

Nudra leaned back in his chair,
long black hair falling across his shoulders as his feminine lips curved up
into a smug smile. “Kalina Dolce, what brings you here? Hoping to score front
row seats to the concert?” He pointed to a couple of tickets on his desk and
then to a bright orange lanyard with a plastic ID protector. “Or perhaps a
backstage pass? Word has it, you were once sweet—no pun intended—on Rad
Beaumont. If you’re looking to hook up again…” He let the suggestion hang in
the air.

No one had called me Kalina Dolce
since I'd left Rome in 1910. Kali Sweet was more modern, more American, and it
didn't remind me every day of what had happened to my family and friends.
Didn't make me catch my breath in fear when someone called me by it, or make my
gut cramp with guilt when I saw it written on a random envelope in the mail
pile.

I shut down the bloody memory the
name called up. Now wasn't the time to revisit the past. In fact, it was never
a good time to visit the past. Under the circumstances, however, I recognized
Nudra’s one-two punch. He'd caught me off guard with his use of my old name and
knowledge about my relationship with Rad. He obviously had anticipated my visit
and planned accordingly.

Blood-sucking bastard
.

Rule one when dealing with
vampires, always have a ready escape. Leaving the door open, I removed my
Bridge badge from the inside pocket of my cape, regaining my composure as I did
so. The weight of the shield reassured me. The way the overhead light bounced off
the gold reminded me of the responsibility I held. Nudra was king of a bunch of
undead vamps. Big deal. I was a member of the Bridge Council and the best damn
vengeance demon on the face of planet Earth.

I shoved my badge in his face.
Sniffed the air as if he stunk as I flicked the hood off my head.
Italian
flair, check
.

Offense taken, he straightened
ever so subtly as I glared down at him. “You've crossed the line with humans
again, using them as blood slaves. Trafficking them across state lines and selling
them to the highest bidders. That's two strikes this year. One more, and...”

“You’ll send me to my coffin for
a time out?”

East Indian charm, check
.

“One more, and the next time you
see me, I’ll have pliers in my hand.”

His flat eyes sized me up, and
then he
tsked
. “Such an inhumane way to remove my fangs.”

I fished the written warning out
of my back skirt pocket and tossed it on the top of his desk. “They're not for
your fangs, buddy boy.”
American snarkiness, check
. “They’re for your
balls.”

I grabbed my crotch to emphasize
my point before backing toward the door. Rule number two, never,
ever
turn your back on a vamp, especially when threatening his vamphood. “I take
your balls, you lose your sex drive, and with it your bloodlust will decrease
by ninety-nine percent. You’ll stop preying on human girls and boys, and a king
with no sac is nothing but a figurehead, so you can wave bye-bye to all this
power you’ve amassed. The Council will divide up your kingdom among the other
American vampire rulers and your fortune will be doled out to the blood slaves
as restitution.”

While his DNA gave his skin a
warm tone, the vampire disease paled it. The result was a taupey gray, making
it impossible to discern whether or not my words were sinking in.

Nudra leaned forward in his
chair. “How surprising the Council sends you, its heart and soul, to do its
dirty work.” Instantly, I felt his power rising around both of us. Sexual
power, blood lust, desire all mixed together. “I could use someone like you in
my organization, Kalina. Someone with your strength, your influence. That zest
for humans you have fits perfectly with mine. The compensation, of course,
would be exemplary. You would have everything you ever wanted.”

There was only one thing I
wanted, and no one, not even God Himself, could give that to me. Once a demon,
always a demon.

I stopped in the doorway. “My
name is Kali Sweet.” Holding up two fingers, I made snipping motions. “Don't
forget it or I’ll tattoo it into your skin when I cut off your balls.”

My nerves jangled as loud as the
music in the walls as I moved quickly into the hallway and continued to back
toward the stairs. Threatening a vampire king was stupid, but running a human
blood slave business was unforgivable, and if it had been me making the call, I
would have staked him on the spot. The Council, however, existed for this very
reason. Vigilante justice created more problems than it solved.

No surprise, Nudra’s minions
darted out of the office after me a few seconds later, weapons drawn.
Vampire
king bluster, check
. Guns won’t kill me, but bullets will slow me down. And
they hurt like hell.

Adrenaline pumping, I hit the bar
of the stairway’s door hard with my backside to push it open. I didn’t want to
engage the minions, but I reached for my trusty whip, curled around my left arm
like a bracelet anyway.

I’d just turned to run down the
stairs when I smacked into a solid wall.

Where did that come from
,
my brain screamed as the impact sent me backwards on my butt, back hitting the
cold concrete wall and knocking the wind out of me. A guitar landed at my feet,
making a funny twanging noise as if someone had run unskilled fingers over the
strings.

A vaguely familiar, surprised
sounding voice said, “Kali?” and I looked up to see my daily nightmare standing
there in the flesh.

Radison Beaumont, in too-worn
jeans and a too-tight black T-shirt, gave me a slow once-over with his
beautiful gold-colored eyes before his lips quirked to one side in a smile that
sent my already hammering heart into overdrive. Beating like a battering ram
inside my chest, it rang in my ears and drowned out the bass drum echoing in
the stairwell.

My skirt had flipped up to reveal
an expanse of skin between the top of my boots and my underwear and Rad’s gaze
lingered between my legs a second too long before lifting to meet mine. Dozens
of warnings went off in my head, but damn if I could find my voice or my
extensive repertoire of Italian curse words. I couldn’t even find my breath. He
looked a little older than the last time I’d seen him, but still perfect to me
in every way. Thick black hair, a little too long and mussed, those gorgeous
eyes, flawless skin and teeth. Not to mention faultless proportions. Like
they’d done every other time I was in the near vicinity of him, my body, mind
and heart staged a coup. Traitors.

While it seemed like an eternity
before he spoke, it was in reality only another beat of my heart. He held out
one long, perfect hand and in his eyes I saw it was more than just an offer to
help me to my feet. It was an olive branch. A peace treaty. “I can’t believe
you’re here. Did you come to see m—” He caught himself, thought better of it.
“Did you come for the concert?”

It would have been easy, so easy,
to slip my hand into his. To forget the past under the spell of those
mesmerizing eyes and allow him to help me up. Instead, I pushed myself off the
ground, keeping my back against the wall and shoved my skirt back into place.

Before I could answer, Nudra’s
minions barreled through the door and nearly knocked Rad and me both down the
stairs. As the first one reached for me, Rad snapped his fingers and the guitar
on the ground jerked upward, tripping the demon and sending him flying face
first onto the top stair. Being half-chaos demon, causing trouble was as easy
as breathing to Rad.

He turned on the second bodyguard
and the demon held up his hands and stepped back. Smart. He must have known Rad
could bring the entire building down on him if he wanted to. The demon
disappeared through the door, a soft clicking sound resonating in the now
silent stairwell as the latch snapped into place. My breathing sounded too loud
in my ears. The demon at my feet moaned, but didn’t move.

As if nothing had happened, Rad
turned to me, a smile tugging the skin over the fine bones of his cheeks. Two
dimples sprang to life. “Your hair. It’s…different.”

“Seriously?” I righted my cape,
which had twisted to the left when I fell. I kicked the demon on the stairs out
of the way. “That’s the best you’ve got after standing me up at the altar
three-hundred years ago? My hair is different?”

“It was two-hundred eighty-five
years and three days ago.” His golden eyes darkened and he grabbed me around
the waist, jerking me up against his rock-hard body. His gaze dropped to my
lips and I was suddenly seventeen again. “And this is the best way I can think
of to say I’m sorry.”

Before I understood what he was
about to do,
il pistolino
lowered his half-demon, half-human lips to
mine and kissed me.