The Fallen King: The Bellum Sisters 4 (paranormal erotic romance)

BOOK: The Fallen King: The Bellum Sisters 4 (paranormal erotic romance)
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THE
FALLEN KING

The Bellum Sisters 4

 

By T. A. Grey

 

 

ACCLAIM FOR THE BELLUM SISTERS
:

 


It
[Chains of Frost] is extremely fast paced and never slows down. The story flows
beautifully together, and will lead perfectly into the second novel. This is a
truly enchanting novel that will grab the interest of readers everywhere and
will not let go.

-
NIGHT
OWL REVIEWS

 


It
[Bonds of Fire] is a wonderful story, moving fast and never stopping for
anything. It ties in beautifully to the previous book, with the stories
blending with each other, and working together to build the third novel, which
is forthcoming. Romance lovers everywhere will adore this book (and the series)
as much as I have.

-NIGHT
OWL REVIEWS

 

"Ties
That Bind is a hair-raising, nail biting, heartwarming adventure of the
grandest scale. Of all three of the Bellum sisters, Lily would have to be my
personal favorite, as she is charming, quirky, and not a little bit spunky and
outrageous. She is also still a delicate and unsure young lady. This is a perfect
conclusion to the Bellum sisters trilogy, and I absolutely loved it."

-NIGHT OWL REVIEWS

 

“The Bellum
Sisters Trilogy” is a provocative look into the lives of three young women as
they come of age in a paranormal world. Ms. Grey’s world is not only magical,
but erotic, enchanted, and deadly. In addition to the fiercely passionate
female characters, Grey creates a fresh cast of male counterpoints who are
seductive, gritty, rugged, and noble. “The Bellum Sisters Trilogy” is an
encouraging start to a promising new series. I look forward to reading more
from Ms. Grey in the future.”

-VAMPIRE AND IMMORTAL BOOKS

WARNING:
The content in this book contains explicit sexual content. This book is
intended for mature audiences only. It contains sexually explicit scenes that
may be offensive. Please keep your file in a safe area on your computer and
away from minors.

 

This book
is not transferable. If it is sold, shared, or given away it is infringement of
the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest
extent of the law.

 

This book
is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places, and scenarios are solely
the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, though
reference to actual events or locations may be real.

 

Any trademarks
mentioned herein are not authorized by the trademark owners and do not in any
way mean the work is sponsored by or associated with the trademark owners. Any
trademarks used are specifically in a descriptive capacity.

 

Stock image
by: Jimmy Thomas at
Romance Novel
Center

Cover
design: Char Adlesberger at
Wicked Cover Designs

Edited by: Brandi
Fairchild

The Fallen
King © 2012 T. A. Grey

All
Rights Reserved

 

ALSO BY
T. A. GREY

 

THE KATEGAN ALPHAS

Breeding Cycle

Dark Awakening

Wicked Surrender

Eternal Temptation

Dark Seduction

Tempting Whispers

 

THE BELLUM SISTERS SERIES

Chains of Frost

Bonds of Fire

Ties That Bind

The Fallen King

 

STANDALONE WORKS

Capturing Jeron

Midnight Sex Shop

One Last Chance (free)

Ecstasy Overload (free)

Evernight Romance Anthology –

‘The Vampire’s Mate’

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

I have the
usual girls to thank plus a few special extras. I’d like to thank my editor Brandi
for doing such a fabulous job, LuMary for being the greatest beta reader ever,
and Char for creating such an awesome cover! I couldn’t love it any more.

 

A special
shout out goes to my ladies in The Alpha Squad! You gals are the best, and I
mean that in the most sincerest way possible. You have been so supportive in
helping me to tell people about The Fallen King. You have also shown me more
glorious pictures of sexy men than I’ve ever seen in my life. Thank you,
ladies! I love you!

 

Happy
reading, everyone!

 

T. A. Grey

GLOSSARY

 

Dreenaru
gina slinah

Demonic for “You are incredible.”

futhorc
– A small furry
animal that lives in the rift.

Haute
– Royal
shahoulin
demons

idummi
– A bottom feeding demon from the
deepest layer under the rift. They are aggressive, easily manipulated creatures
with poisonous talons.

jaheera
– Dark and dangerous demons that
live at the lowest rung of the rift and are capable of incredible dark magic.

Kolan
– A black, carnivorous bird that
resides in the rift.

Krishnoe!
– Demonic for
“Silence!”

Protector
– A male in charge of protecting and caring for a succubus.

rift – The division between earth
and the nether-realm where demons of many kinds reside.

shahoulin
- A breed of demon that lives at
the top of the rift. They have magical powers and superior strength.

 

Chapter
One

 

The dead girl lay on her back
facing whoever had ended her life. Her left arm curved around her head in a
plié and her right knee bent out towards the street.

“All right, Krenshaw, do your
thing.” Mike Waxell gave her a nod then went back to surveying the scene. Mike
was the lead detective on the case tonight. She’d worked with him a few times
before.

Abbigail sucked in a deep breath
and blew it out through her nose. She already had her latex gloves donned and
cloth booties covering her shoes. The booties weren’t always necessary, but in
this case there was so much blood the whole team had to wear them. Everything
would have to be processed. With stabbing victims the murderer often cut
himself too so the his or her blood may be on the ground too.

First
,
Abbigail took in the scene just as the detectives
would do. It helped her to get an idea of how the attack took place. She was
new at this, still had a lot to learn, but she was pretty good. She’d had an
excellent mentor who’d trained her under his wing and helped her to get this
job. God, she missed Stan.

They’d already determined the
girl to be a shapeshifter from a local pack who’d gone missing two nights
before. An elderly woman walking her poodle before she went to bed found the
body at the back of an alley between two brownstone city apartment buildings.
The residents of the Green Tree apartments peered down at her from their little
windows up above. Others, mostly curious neighbors passing by, watched the team
work from behind the yellow tape closing off the crime scene.

The alley was typical with A/C
units and small windows facing each other from both apartment buildings. This
path was only here for maintenance men who needed to work on the A/C units or for
the utility companies to check their power lines. A six-foot tall fence stood
at the back of the alley, and the girl’s body was found right in front of it on
a patch of concrete.

Abbigail looked back down the
path where the faces watched with morbid, avid curiosity. She noted the alley
to be only about twenty feet wide with the AC units taking up a good four of
that from either side. A small pathway. She’d spotted the large community-sized
dumpsters as she’d pulled into the lot. Why hadn’t the killer just dumped her?
Did he want the body to be found? Was he interrupted and had to be quick about
it? If he just happened upon her here and killed her that’d make sense. Except that
a shapeshifter being out this far away from her pack alone didn’t make any sense.
Shapeshifters stuck in groups, or at least the females did.

Abbigail squatted beside the
girl. She had brown hair, the natural kind that had hints of blonde from being
out in the sun. Her eyes were open, her face tilted towards the alley. The
majority of the blood had spilled from a neck wound. Abby leaned down to inspect
it. Could be a throat cutting or garroting, but more blood covered her abdomen
wetting the girl’s brown t-shirt to her skin. A cartoon cowboy riding a horse
and lassoing a whip above his head sat on her shirt. Above it in pink scrawling
text it said: Ride me cowboy! Abby cleared her throat and moved in with her
inspection.

One shoe had come off which had
been found at the beginning of the alley. The shoe probably came off during a
struggle.

As associate medical examiner for
the paranormal unit of the Fort Collins Police Department in Colorado, Abbigail
got to touch the body first. She shouldn’t even have the job she had. She was
too young, but she’d graduated high school a year early then went through a
special FBI program, a brand-new unit on studying supernatural cases. She’d
been surprised to find her classes not filled to the brink. Who wouldn’t find
learning about the supernatural beings of the world utterly fascinating?
Apparently many since her classes had sat half empty. That’s when she met Stan
Haubermann, a middle-aged detective turned behavioral profiler who’d started
the program. He’d taken her under his wing and taught her everything he knew.
Not that she was special; he’d done it to other members from her graduating
class. She was just the only one to already have a job practicing his teachings.

Abbigail gently pushed the victim’s
head back, to the left, and then right. The cut was deep and clean. Not a
serrated blade, and the wound wasn’t thin enough to be from a garrote.

“Definitely a blade,” she called
out. “Rigor mortis has set in. She’s been here at least four hours but probably
no longer than twelve.” Her skin had already begun to turn a purplish hue. Her
muscles were beginning to tighten.

Abby arrived at the scene at a
quarter passed eight. That meant the girl had been killed during the night.

The detectives quieted and came
closer. Detective Mike leaned down next to her as his keen eyes professionally
scoped out the body. Abby pressed her fingers around the neck to feel for
splintered or broken bones but found none. She lifted the shirt and the
detectives leaned over to peer.

“Stabbed her a good four times
then took out her neck I bet,” Mike said.

“That’d be my guess,” Abby
agreed, eyeing the deep red cuts in victim’s abdomen. “Arm bent that way, I’d
say he was holding her from behind and she’d reached back to try to get his
hair or pull his arm away, something. That’s when he slit her throat. She fell
down just like that, still reaching for him.”

“Check her hands,” Mike said.

Abby lifted each of the victim’s
hands paying specific attention to her nails, fingers, and palms. “Defensive
stab wounds.” They happen during knife fights or on victims of knife homicides.
The victims throw out their hands to try to dodge or block the swinging blade
and their own hands get cut in the process. Blood was caked under the victim’s
fingernails making them look murky brown.

“How old do you think she is? The
local shapeshifter alpha said the girl they’re missing is about seventeen.” He
glanced down at his notepad. “She fits the description. Went missing last
night.”

“Yeah, I’d say that’s right judging
from the size of the body, the facial features, and her teeth. Definitely a
teen. I’ll know more once we get her back to the lab.”

Mike stood, pulled out his
notebook, and scribbled down some notes. “Anything else for us?”

Abbigail looked back down the
path. “Definitely got stabbed at least the first few times at the beginning of
the alley. Blood drops lead us back here to the body. He dragged her here and
she lost her shoe in the struggle. She fought back, maybe even got away from
him for a few seconds when he started slashing at her giving her the wounds on
her hands. Eventually he got her turned around and slit her throat for the
final killing blow.”

“All right, we’ll have the body
sent down for processing. Let me know if you get anything else,” said Mike.

“Will do.” Abbigail walked down
the path then removed her bloodied booties and gloves, handing them over to
another crime scene investigator who held open a trash bag.

“Any luck?” he asked.

Abbigail shrugged. It was too
soon to say.

She headed to her car and saw
that it wasn’t even ten in the morning yet. Time to head home and try to get a
quick nap before they got the body down to the lab. She let out a jaw-cracking
yawn then took off for home.

 

BOOK: The Fallen King: The Bellum Sisters 4 (paranormal erotic romance)
2.12Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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