The Red Queen: A Dark Paranormal Fantasy (The Broken Immortals Book 5)

A dark paranormal fantasy...not for the faint of heart!

Tessa kept every promise she ever made to the wolf pack she controlled.

Protected them from all enemies, seen and unseen.

Their children had never known a day of sickness, hunger, or violence. In return, all she demanded was that the barbaric rite of forcible mating be abolished forever.

So when Tessa's Lycan-born son violates the one rule that must not be broken, the punishment is swift and severe. But as always, it's the fiery Queen who ends up suffering the most for the sins of the people who claim to love her.

Crimson stains lined his ragged cuticles. The sharp tip of his bone-handled cursed knife dug the sludge-like blood from under his fingernails while the bells from the harbor clattered in the wind outside.

The two healer beauties sifted through piles of soiled cotton bandages and empty green potion vials at the foot of the bed. One peeked up at him, and Haldir gave her a quick grin before returning to his hands. All he was good for anyway, he thought.

Rapid, shallow breaths puffed from Tessa’s mouth, and when she shivered, tiny plumes of steam disappeared into the dimly lit room. The City by the Sea is always swimming in Autumn’s breeze, and today had a bitter chill when it blew across her from the open window.

What she hated most was the cold, and even though she was lost somewhere inside her head again, Haldir understood what Tessa wanted more than anything.

The slick ceramic knob slid between his fingers to close the shutters, and his bottom lip twitched when he looked over at her still body.

On the day of her birth, he swore he would also be the one who stood by her side on the day death came for her finally.

So when the dark presence made his way to the rounded wooden door and sucked all the warmth from the fire in the wood stove, Haldir rushed to cover Tessa with his body.

The blade of his knife rose between him and the door, but his hand reached behind him and gripped the sleeping witch’s fingers. “I’m with you. Hold on to me.”

But like she always did when she was too weak to cry out to him for help, her bloody fist yanked him into her nightmare instead.

***

The black plantation shutters of Jasper Mason’s red brick Savannah mansion were shut tight to drown out the sounds of his wife’s screams. The stale air of an abnormally hot late Autumn day hung in droplets of dust in the few beams of sunlight that graced them.

Tessa nearly slipped out of her father’s waiting hands because she sprung from her mother’s body without a push, like a fiery bat escaping hell.

Already spouting off her list of grievances to her father, Tessa’s hands bunched into fists before she even gasped her first breath. Once life filled her lungs again, the baby’s ancient wail pierced through the darkened room and rattled the old wavy windows that lined the house.

The heel of the white-haired giant’s hand slapped against his head as Billy wiggled his jaw. But as the newborn’s screams grew louder, his ear finally popped. “Great balls of fire. I think she doesn’t like the look of your face, Jasper.”

Fired up since the day she snapped back into consciousness again, Tessa’s legs and arms churned, already prepared for a fight. Dark, curly hair bunched in her fingers as she yanked at her father, and he puckered his lips as she swung at them. “No, she loves her Daddy. She’s just my little hell raiser, isn’t she?” Through her blood-curdling shrieks and red face, the enchantment that pulsed through her blood ensnared him instantly, and his tears bathed her when his mouth met her cheek. “Happy birthday, Contessa. Daddy loves you, too.”

A plush black blanket that her mother knit draped Billy’s arms, and after a moment’s pause to kiss her once more, Jasper placed her inside.

While she squealed and her hands slapped at his long black robes, the elder wizard inspected the newest member of his community. Bigger than her entire body, his hand hovered over her as he closed his eyes. But even his booming voice couldn’t break through her demands for attention as Billy said his blessings.

White lashes parted, and his bushy eyebrow rose to her mother as he gently flipped Tessa to his shoulder. “She’s perfect, Isabelle. Very loud, but perfect. Congratulations. She’ll make a fine leader for this coven someday.”

Unlike his sister, Teddy was happy to wait his turn and do things properly. Isabelle’s fingers reached for her daughter, and she got a touch of her wrinkly foot before the gentleman baby poked at his mother’s belly from the inside to announce himself. The bronzed witch glowed like the most priceless statue as she hissed a smoky breath when the next contraction ripped through her. “He’s coming.”

Jasper stroked his wife’s leg as she labored, and Billy motioned for Haldir to come closer. “Can you take our little songbird, please? She’s giving me quite a headache.”

Steely blue eyes flashed as they gathered the bit of light he walked through, and Haldir wiped his sweaty, nervous palms along the hips of his soft, faded jeans. “Of course.”

The Darke King warned that when he first looked at her face, the old man would have no doubts about being in her presence.

Two upturned hands trembled until they filled with her, and the thousand-year-old emptiness in his chest disappeared in a heartbeat. As soon as he met Tessa’s eyes, the spirit nearly as old as life itself took hold of him, pulling the Immortal deep into the inferno of her mind.

Together, they walked hand in hand through the battlefield, bathed in fire and twisted bodies, as if he fought alongside her in the long-ago war. Among the dead and dying at the bottom of the hill before them, he found her broken body.

If he didn’t understand why he was sent back before, his mission was clear to him now.

The tiny sorceress’ hold on Haldir was strong, and when he didn’t answer Billy’s questions, it took a few shakes of his massive hand to break the connection between them. “What do you see, Haldir? I must know.”

Tears dripped from the Viking’s reddish-blonde beard, and he squeezed Tessa against the soft fibers of his brown t-shirt to warm her. “She said she’s freezing her ass off, and you have to the count of three to open the shades before she rips us all apart.”

From between Isabelle’s feet, Jasper’s chin dropped to his chest as he snorted a laugh.

Haldir’s shoulder jerked while he puffed his cheek at Billy. “Those were her words, I swear. She’s got a terrible potty mouth and an even worse temper, I’m afraid.”

Deprived of his attention for far too long as he spoke to the others, she slapped Haldir’s nose until she found a fistful of beard. The edge of his lip tugged downward with every pull of her arm until his hand covered her back. “Yes, I heard you. I’m sorry.”

A tuft of his soft blonde hair dropped over his eye, and as he jerked his head to the window, it fell back in place. “She wants the sun on her face again. She’s tired of floating in the darkness. It aches her bones.”

The black wood shutters squeaked as Billy pulled them open, and when he pressed them to the wall, Haldir brought Tessa to the bright light of the balmy afternoon.

When he caught a whiff of the smoldering blanket around her, he shifted the baby as her naked body gripped his shirt with its bony fingers. The toe of his worn leather shoe snuffed out the flaming cloth underneath as he clung to her. “What the hell?”

In the heat of the sun’s rays, her bitty form glimmered in gold, and a blue flame rose from her pores. And when her blazes consumed her, Haldir pulled Tessa from the still-smoking remains of his clothing she laid against. Unburned, his hands brought her to his lips and kissed her forehead. “Daniel told me I’d know you when I saw you. That I’d have no doubt.”

Antique knees cracked and popped as he lowered himself to one on the braided rug that lined the bedroom. The beam of light he raised her into brought silence for one brief moment as he bowed his head to her. “Welcome back, Your Majesty. I am your servant.”