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  The demon fell to his knees and reached out to the crack. “No! Master. I tried. Please don’t go.”

  He glared at them. Valerie saw the murder in his eyes. He was going to kill all of them if he got the chance. Valerie grabbed the silver sword. Once her fingers touched the hilt, a zing of static electricity ran up her arm. The weapon was lighter than it appeared. She didn’t have time to study the blue writing on the blade. She raised the sword and then hesitated. Astaroth’s power played over her body. The bliss it brought her was only a fraction of what it once had been. He had been weakened considerably.

  “You can’t kill me. You swore yourself to me,” he crooned.

  “I didn’t swear shit. You don’t own me. I take back everything I ever gave you. You have no more hold over me. Now go back to hell where you belong!”

  She brought the sword down and aimed it at his chest. The blade slid into his flesh easily and pierced his heart. Astaroth yowled and clutched the blade. Black blood spurted from his body. He collapsed on the ground. Cracks appeared in his form, radiating blue light. He reached out to her one last time and then evaporated in a cloud of blue smoke. The energy of the circle disintegrated and the sounds of the dead ceased. All the shadows disappeared, and the tavern was silent. Valerie felt a weight lift off her soul. She was finally free of him.

  Serena raced to Bruno and gathered him up in her arms. “Can you do anything for him, Emera? I don’t have the ability to heal silver poisoning this severe. A little I can deal with, but…” Serena had tears in her eyes.

  Emera touched the side of Bruno’s face and a laid a hand over his wound. Valerie watched with amazement as the light that surrounded her washed over Bruno. It filled his wound and began to run along the veins in his body. The blood on his stomach flowed back in while a dark liquid flowed out. The light began to fade, and the wound sealed itself under her hand. The color returned to his face once the wound healed. He slowly opened his eyes and then smiled at Serena. Valerie felt her happiness and relief. Once that was over, James had his arms around Valerie, patting her down. She spun in his grasp and laughed when he stopped because she was a little dizzy.

  “I’m okay,” she said.

  He lifted her up and kissed her. “I had to be sure. I saw you kiss him. The way that you touched him, it seemed that you were under his spell again. Our life flashed before my eyes. I thought I lost you. Why didn’t you ever tell me about those dreams you were having?”

  “How could I tell you what he was doing to me? The way he made me feel? I didn’t want you to think I was cheating on you with some guy from my dreams. You never lost me. I never cared about him. It was all lust. I only lo—”

  He cut her off by pressing his mouth to hers. She indulged him. For once she opened her psychic abilities and took in everything about James. Normally she didn’t like to read him, but she felt his emotions wash over her. He wasn’t mad at her. The love she felt in him was so overwhelming it choked her up. He didn’t want to let her go. She deepened their kiss, running her hand down his chest to feel his firm muscles underneath.

  “I love you, Val. I don’t want you to ever forget that. You’re my whole world. I don’t hold anything against you for what he did to you in your dreams or otherwise. If you want, maybe you can teach me some of the things he did to you. I found your whip in the closet. I’ve been hoping you would show me.” He nipped her neck.

  She giggled. “I didn’t realize that you had found it or that you wanted to get rough. We can do that. Let’s go see how the others are doing. We can talk about this later.”

  They went to check on the other couples. The werewolves were kissing one another. The vampires were murmuring and holding one another. The two Demon Catchers were in the corner. It seemed that Keenan had come around. She breathed a sigh of relief. Peace had settled over the tavern. Everyone had made it through, and now it was time to celebrate. She was about to say something when the floor began to sway. She let out a small scream. Everyone looked up.

  The building trembled again. The crack in the floor reopened, only this time larger than before. Valerie jumped from the edge of the fissure. A red eye pressed up through the tear and stared directly at her. All of the others gathered around the opening. James held her to him, preventing her from seeing what was below them. The floorboards began to ripple as something ran underneath them. The vampires were thrown off-balance. Chaos had escaped hell, even though the circle had collapsed and Astaroth was dead. A wisp of darkness snaked out of the hole. Smaller ones began to seep from between the floorboards. Everyone darted out of their way.

  “Valerie, get back,” James said, shoving her out of the way.

  It wasn’t quick enough. The wisp latched on to her leg and began to pull her toward the crack. She screamed and dug into the wood. Serena reached out and grabbed on to her hands, pulling her backward. The werewolf gripped her wrists and began to pull her backward toward them. The tug-of-war on her body was harrowing. The tentacle around her leg wasn’t letting go. It was starting to burn through her pant leg and onto her skin. She felt its heat dissolving what it was touching.

  “Get this thing off of me.” Instantly the pressure of the tentacle on her leg was gone. The burning still remained. She looked back quickly enough to see the silver sword come down to chop off the tentacle. Where the silver touched, it began to disintegrate into dust. The remains on her legs squeezed one more time and then they also fell away to ash. She yanked her leg back from the hole and scooted away from the fissure. When she looked up, a man with long black hair held on to the sword. He was dressed in black jeans and a white leather vest without any shirt underneath it. His skin was bronze, and he had a sculpted figure.

  He plunged the sword deep into the red eye peering at them from the vent. A loud rumble shook the tavern. The tentacles that had appeared from between the floorboards all fell away. There was a loud bellow that forced her to cover her ears. He lifted the sword again and brought it down on the beast below the surface. The sounds stopped. From there the crevice closed completely. He offered her a hand that she took gratefully. She got up slowly. Every bone in her body hurt. The wound in her leg burned some, but it wasn’t so bad. The ghosts were silent around them. She didn’t sense any more evil in the place. For once the atmosphere was light. The evil that had permeated the environment when she arrived wasn’t so thick.

  “Thanks.”

  He bowed, sheathed his sword, and turned to face the others.

  James wound his hand around her waist and tightened his hold on her. When is this going to be over? All I want to do is go back to being a regular person. I don’t want anything to do with any more evil beings. Valerie sighed and started looking around at the others. They were all staring at the newcomer. She looked at him too. He was tall, almost seven feet. He was well-muscled. He had a square jaw and a high forehead. His amber eyes stood out as the best feature on his face.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “I’m a friend from on high. My name is Estiel.”

  “What are you doing here?” Emera asked the newcomer. Keenan held her tighter to him.

  “Who is he?” Josephine asked.

  “He’s another angel,” Bruno answered.

  “That’s correct. I was making sure that Chaos didn’t rise. We have been monitoring the situation. It was only recently learned that Vangelis was killed. It is a shame to lose one of our brothers. However, there is another reason for my coming. I’m here to welcome the other Demon Catchers to our ranks.”

  “Other Demon Catchers? Are you sure? All of them?” Keenan inquired.

  “All of us what?” Nathan asked.

  The angel turned to him. “Yes, all of them. Forgive me for coming to you this way. We were aware of the assembly of the unique creatures. We did not know to what end this gathering was about until we felt the ceremony begin. It was only then that I was dispatched to be sure Chaos was taken care of as well as Astaroth. The other Warrior Angels watched you from above. You have al
l fought well, and for that you have been selected. You have proven your worth and have been chosen to be Demon Catchers.”

  Keenan and Emera glanced at one another. “I didn’t know we were recruiting.”

  Estiel laughed.

  Valerie glanced at the others, wondering what was going on. “Demon Catchers? You want us to go around and kill demons? Honestly, I’ve had enough of demons. I just want to go home and get back to a normal life.”

  “I understand that. Unfortunately, your destiny was not written that way. Why do you think you were given the dreams of all of these creatures? We don’t expect you to fight demons at first. Right now you’ve all been assigned to work together and get to know one another.”

  “A team?” Bruno snorted. “That’ll be the day. Why would God want us to work with a vampire and a human? Wolves don’t work well with other species. Besides, the vampire doesn’t even believe in the Almighty.”

  The angel shrugged. “That is not my call. I’m not your new handler. I am only here to deliver the news. It is being debated above who will be your new handlers. For now, Keenan will begin to show you the ropes. It’s a great honor to be chosen. Emera and Keenan are the Warriors, Valerie the prophet, and James her protector. Nathan and Josephine are the ones who will document. Bruno, you have been gifted with His power, and Serena is immune to demon attack and possession. All together you are stronger. Plus, we don’t know what else will come of this union.”

  “So we’re now all some gathering of demonic bounty hunters?” Valerie asked.

  “You defeated Astaroth and stopped Chaos. This congregation of so many different souls has never been seen before. Heaven wants to see what you can do. I wish you all the best of luck.” Estiel bowed before Valerie and then was gone.

  Her gaze traveled to all of the other inhabitants of the tavern. Something was growing between them. They were a ragtag bunch to be together, and how they were going to get along was another thing. A warm sensation began to burn above her right breast. She lifted up her shirt and saw the imprint of a dream catcher with a sword through it forming on her skin.

  “What the—?”

  James did the same. Valerie saw the identical mark on his chest. The others all made a noise, and she glanced at them. Valerie’s mind lit up, and she saw all of them bathed in brightness and tied together. A wonderful sense of tranquility washed over her. No matter what happened, it would all turn out okay. She had James, and the others had their other halves too. Together they were strong and loved. That in itself would always triumph over darkness any day.

  “So what happens now?” Nathan asked. He started to gather his fallen equipment. Josephine was fiddling with one of the cameras.

  Valerie noticed one by the bar. Wonder if they actually recorded anything? If they did, I sure hope it doesn’t end up on the Internet. She took it and brought it over to Josephine. She smiled. This is going to be very strange that I’m going to have a vampire for a new best friend.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I guess I better start to teach you how to be Demon Catchers. There’s a lot to learn. But I’m sure we have some lead time to get acquainted with one another. That was what happened with me and Emera.”

  “Well, that’s good. I could use some R&R. Say, now that we’re all going to be buddies, I have to tell you this joke.” Bruno clapped Keenan on the back.

  “What is it?” Emera asked.

  “A vampire, a werewolf, a fallen angel, and a psychic walk into a bar—”

  Valerie rolled her eyes. Oh brother. This is going to take some getting used to. But no matter what, good triumphed over evil. And I now know that things besides demons exist in the world. I wonder what’s next. Maybe vampire fairies.

  The End

  About the Author

  Crymsyn Hart is a bestselling author of Erotic Romance. Her worlds are filled with luscious vampires, gorgeous gods, quirky witches, and everything else that goes bump in the night. Crymsyn worked as a psychic for many years in Boston while attending Emerson College. She graduated with a BFA in Writing, Literature, & Publishing. When she gets bored, she sneaks away to local cemeteries and coffee shops to find peace and quiet. Crymsyn shares her life with a small zoo, two playful puppies and her hubby Mark. If you come after dark, you’re more than likely to find her snuggled up with a gory horror movie, or a bloody vampire movie. Crymsyn has a collection of Living Dead Dolls and five bookshelves overflowing with books. Of course there's always room for more.

  Visit her on the web at:

  www.RavynHart.com

  PURPLE SWORD PUBLICATIONS

  Romantic Speculative Fiction

  www.purplesword.com