Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More (200 page)

My mom watched our expressions. Mine, at least, was mystified. Why was she telling us this? Even her own words seemed so conflicting, as if she didn’t know what she hoped to accomplish with the story. Did she want me to give up because I was not Claire’s Twin Soul, or find happiness with Claire despite never being able to share such an intense bond with her?

“When you and Claire fell in love, I hoped she was your Twin Soul. I didn’t feel the same in your presence as I had around your grandparents, but I didn’t know whether that was something that developed over time or happened instantly,” my mom said. “Now we know for certain, but still, I will not stop you from leaving, Uriah. I don’t know that I’m right to let you go, but I will not take away your right to choose. You need to be able to choose as least some of what will happen to you in the future. ”

“Uh, thanks, I guess.” I was so confused. Did she want me to leave, or not? Why tell me about this amazing love she believed I could never have with Claire, if she was fine with me leaving and disobeying the Elders? And what did that last comment mean? It sounded like she was saying there would be some things in my future I wouldn’t get to choose. Did that have something to do with my dad’s letter? I wished she would just tell me what I needed to know.

I couldn’t deal with all of this talk of myths and fantasy. I looked into Claire’s eyes and smiled. In all honesty, I didn’t care about my mom’s story, not in the way she seemed to. I cared about Claire. Even if my Twin Soul walked into the room that very second, I did not believe I would find her so irresistible. I would turn my back, with Claire in my arms.

My mom smiled. My reaction must have been what she was wanting, though I could not understand why. Her whole demeanor lightened and relaxed. Claire leaned closer to me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders, and holding me tightly. I could tell that my mom’s words had disturbed her as well. Would we receive the same cryptic permission from Claire’s mother? Or would she just refuse us entirely? It was time to find out.

“Mrs. Crowe, thank you for giving us your permission to get married,” Claire said politely. “My parents are waiting for us, though. My dad doesn’t want us to go through with this, of course, but we still need to at least get my mother’s permission before we decide anything for sure.”

“Of course, dear.” My mom tried to push herself higher on her pillow, but stopped when pain made her grimace. Instead, she stretched her hands out to my soon-to-be bride. Claire instantly reached out to her. Their embrace was warm, despite the earlier mood.

“It will take you some time to plan everything, but I’ll do what I can to help you. Have your mom call me later so we can start planning.” Claire smiled at her optimism. I was not quite as enthusiastic. Thomas was a stubborn man, a stubborn man who thought he had won today. It might take more than I could do to convince him this time.

“Thank you, Mom,” I said. “I’ll come back as soon as we talk to Claire’s parents. You just rest and let Sophia help you.” Sophia snorted at that. We both knew how well my mom took instruction from anyone but my dad. I knew Sophia was more than capable of keeping her patient in line. Thomas made me nervous. Having Sophia angry with me would honestly scare me.

“Hurry back,” my mom said with a smile. “There are so many plans to make.” Helping Claire to her feet, I promised we would be back with news as soon as we could. Good news, hopefully. I knew Claire’s father was deadly serious when he threatened calling the police if we left without his permission. Claire’s shudder revealed her similar thoughts.

“Don’t worry, Uriah,” Claire said. “Even if my dad tries to fight us on this, I know you’ll be able to change his mind. He can’t stand up to you anymore than anyone else can.”

“I don’t know, Claire.”

Patient frustration lined her features. “Why don’t you believe me about this? I’ve seen you do it a hundred times. No matter what the problem is, you tell people what to do and they do it. It’s worked on my dad before. It will work again.”

“It doesn’t work on you,” I said. That was the most bizarre part of Claire’s theory. I didn’t want to believe her and accept that there was a part of me that had no explanation, or that I didn’t understand, but even stranger was the fact that Claire seemed to be the only person who was absolutely immune to it. I told her to do things, but if she didn’t think I was right she just ignored me.

“I don’t know why it doesn’t work on me,” Claire said, “but I know it will work on my dad. You know it will, too. I don’t know why you argue with me about this.”

“Because it freaks me out. That and the other stuff, it all makes me feel like there’s something waiting for me, like I should know something about myself, but I don’t,” I said. “It scares me.”

Claire didn’t say anything for a few minutes. All the weird things that had been popping up over the last year bothered her too. It frustrated her to no end that she couldn’t figure any of it out. There was something about me that neither of us understood. I just had to hope that whatever it was wouldn’t interfere with marrying Claire. That was all I cared about right now.

“My dad will give in,” Claire said softly. “I know he will.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said. Maybe I could convince him, but what I really wanted was to have him agree on his own. Thomas looked at me with an expression that clearly said he did not think I was good enough for his daughter, and even though I knew I had no chance of ever proving myself to him, I couldn’t help but want his approval. I did not want to start off mine and Claire’s life together with a bitter fight between me and her dad.

Claire walked beside me, her usual talkative nature subdued. I tried to forget Thomas as we walked. All too soon Claire’s home appeared. The creamy off-white stucco looked brilliant against the deep red terra cotta roof tiles. The lush lawn and rose gardens that surrounded the house were a testament to Sarah Brant’s East Coast roots. Few others bothered with so much greenery in the dry Southwestern desert.

Claire stopped at the end of the paved driveway and looked up at me. “Are you ready?”

“No,” I said, “but let’s go in anyway. It can’t be any worse than facing Quaile.” Claire just grimaced. We could ignore Quaile and go somewhere else to get married. She might not like us for it, but it wasn't like we had to see her all the time. She could think we were idiots, from a distance, all she wanted. Whether I liked it or not, I was going to be stuck with Thomas for the rest of my life. One way or the other.

“You’ll convince him. Everything will be fine,” Claire said. She pulled me toward her home, but as we approached the door even Claire paused. “But if it isn’t, just remember that I turn eighteen in three months. We can make it three months. If we absolutely have to.”

“Are you doubting me, now?” I asked. “This was your theory. You can’t doubt me now.”

She laughed and kissed me. “Not doubting, just wishful thinking.”

“What?”

“My dad saying no would be the only thing that would make you willing to go against our mom’s and run off with me to Santa Fe,” Claire said. “And I, for one, would be more than happy to marry you in October instead of next August.”

I couldn’t keep myself from smiling.

She tried to keep her playful grin but it slowly turned more serious. “But seriously, Uriah, you can do this. I know you can. I don’t know why, or how, but there is something truly amazing and special about you. It scared me at first, but whatever this is, it feels important. You can’t hide from it anymore.”

“But I don’t want to be special or amazing, Claire. I just want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. For me, that’s amazing enough. You are the most important thing in my life.” I didn’t want whatever this other stuff was. I was just a rancher, and hopefully someday a veterinarian, too, but that was all I ever wanted to be. I didn’t want strange abilities or vague warnings about my future. I wanted to make Claire happy and raise my sheep. Why was that so much to ask?

Every trace of her smile was gone, now. Claire held my face in her hands and held me in her gaze. I had never seen her look so serious before. This wasn’t a theory or joke to tease me with anymore. Our future together was in jeopardy. “If you want to marry me,” Claire said, “then you’re going to have to embrace this other side of you, because nothing short of you forcing my dad into letting us get married is going to work.”

I nodded and reached for the door. It was time to see what I could really do.

“
A
bsolutely not
! I will never allow it, Sarah.”

“Sit down, Thomas.” Sarah Brant’s voice was calm, but edged with steel. This same fight had raged for weeks once already. We had all thought it was over, but not anymore. Thomas sat down with a huff. Sarah’s icy glare melted away, replaced by a sweet smile when she turned back to me and Claire. I shifted on the pale pink, antique couch.

“I have a few questions for both of you before I decide,” she said.

There was no point for Sarah to even try to make Thomas see reason. That was blatantly apparent. Him, I would deal with in a moment, but I wanted Sarah to give her approval freely. The fight she had just put up for us was a good indicator. Thomas undoubtedly saw Quaile’s refusal as his chance to change his wife’s mind, but Sarah was not about to budge for a myth she didn’t even believe in. She respected tradition, but I doubted she would let it interfere with Claire’s happiness. As much as Thomas ignored and belittled Claire, Sarah doted on her.

Sarah would make her own decision and Thomas would be forced to live with the knowledge that he had tried to stop us. “When we first discussed you two getting married, you were planning on waiting until next summer, after Claire graduates. Those are still your plans?”

Claire and I nodded in unison, but Claire’s hesitation told me that she was thinking of her eighteenth birthday just like I was. Her mother smiled at our half-hearted response and continued.

“Now, I am fully aware that the only reason you are even asking our permission is because Claire is still only seventeen and can’t get married without one of us signing for her. Otherwise, I suspect you two might have been on your way to Santa Fe by now.”

I could feel my face heating up, which brought another knowing smile from Sarah.

“If Claire had already graduated, I would be happy to sign for her, but she still has another year of school left. Even though Claire turns eighteen in October, I would still like you to wait until next summer to get married. Are you honestly both okay with that?” she asked.

“Of course, Mom,” Claire said quickly. “As long as we know you’re behind us, we can wait until next summer.” Her mother’s gaze fell on me.

“Yes, Mrs. Brant. We’re both willing to wait until next summer. I don’t want anything to interfere with Claire finishing high school,” I said. I meant it, even though I hated making the promise. Claire and I were going to have to make some new friends if we were going to get through the next year. With Tyler and Lana leaving in two weeks, I had a feeling we might need a few distractions as the days wore on.

“Wonderful,” Sarah said. Her smile widened.

“You can’t give them permission by yourself, Sarah. I am the head of this family,” Thomas said. A quick look from his wife cut off his arguing. Thomas’s money and power worked on a lot of people, but Sarah wasn’t one of them.

“Now, Uriah, darling, while I have the upmost respect for Miss Quaile and Tewa traditions, I would be thrilled to give you my permission to be married outside of the tribal lands. As for Thomas, he may still need some convincing.”

Still wary of Thomas’s anger, I kept my eyes carefully trained on Sarah. “Thank you, Mrs. Brant.”

“Don’t think you’ve won anything, Uriah. My influence goes well beyond San Juan Pueblo,” Thomas threatened. “I will never give my blessing for you and Claire to get married.”

That was it.

“Yes, you will.” I had sat and listened to him criticize me and point out all my faults for two hours. I was sick of it.

“What…what did you say?” Thomas stuttered. “I won’t.”

His voice was dangerously weak, but I had actually expected him to just agree right away.

“You heard me, Thomas. I said that you will give us your permission.” His face was pale, but his jaw was tight enough to crush the teeth right out of his skull. “This is what Claire wants. She wants me. You have no right to tell her she can’t marry me.”

Thomas still wasn’t ready to give in. “Claire doesn’t know what this will do to her. She doesn’t know. I can’t let her marry you!” Thomas said.

“Why not?”

“Because I know who you are! You aren’t right for her. You’re only going to hurt her.”

“I’m not going to hurt her,” I argued. “And what do you mean, you know who I am? That’s the second time you’ve said that to me. What do you know?”

Thomas choked on the breath he had just taken. “Nothing! I mean, I just meant that I know you aren’t the right person for her. Don’t ask me to let Claire marry you when I know it isn’t right. Quaile told you this wasn’t right.”

I didn’t understand whether he was honestly talking about me not being Claire’s Twin Soul, or not. That couldn’t have been what he meant the first time he said it, but I had no idea what he might mean if that wasn’t it. Did he have the answers Claire and I had been looking for? Did that have something to do with why he hated me so much? I doubted he would want to tell me if he did know anything, but if I could get him to let us get married, maybe I could find out what he was hiding, too. His permission first, though.

I was so tired of dealing with him. “Thomas, I’m not going to waste any more time arguing with you. You know that Claire should get to choose who she marries. You know it! Give us your permission, now, and I don’t want to hear another word about it from you,” I said.

He looked absolutely sick. He knew I was right. The fight to control his daughter’s life drained out of him. “You’ll regret this, Uriah. You’ll figure out one day what a mistake this is. But if you really want it, you have it. You have my permission to marry Claire. You knew you would get it anyway,” he said, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “At least you gave me the chance to fight it.”

Thomas sunk down into his chair. He knew he would give in. Did he know about Claire’s theory, or was it just experience that had taught him? Or maybe it was part of what he refused to tell me. He knew something about me, and I was going to find out what it was.

It took a few moments for what had just happened to sink in for Claire and Sarah. Claire’s reaction was a little more active than mine. She jumped out of her chair and ran over to her mom. The ecstatic hug knocked Sarah into the back of her chair, but didn’t diminish either of their excitement. “Oh, thank you,” Claire gushed. There weren’t going to be any hugs for her dad.

After extracting herself from the strangling hug, Sarah turned a slightly bewildered look back to her husband. I couldn’t help but follow it. “Thomas, why don’t you go and get some tea from the kitchen? We should drink to our daughter’s good news, and since they’re not old enough for anything stronger, tea will have to do.”

I watched as the scowl on his face suddenly brightened at the mention of the tea. My thoughts clouded immediately. I doubted that he really liked tea enough to overwhelm his dislike for me. Perhaps he was just glad to get away from me before I made him agree to anything else. Claire brought my attention back to her with a crushing hug.

“Oh, I’m so relieved,” she said. “I was actually kind of worried for a moment there, but I should have known you would handle him and make him see that he isn’t in charge of who I marry any more than Quaile is. Now we don’t have to wait the year, at least. I’d rather we got married in June anyway. Maybe things will still work out for the best regardless of Quaile.”

I was, of course, just as thrilled as Claire was that her parents wouldn’t stand in our way, but when her dad returned, still wearing his strangely optimistic expression, I found it hard to return her enthusiasm. Nobody else seemed to notice Thomas’s odd behavior. Claire was back at her mother’s side discussing a date for the wedding. Slowly, Thomas set the tray on the small, elegant table between him and his wife.

He passed out the dainty cups, though not with the ease of a practiced hostess that his wife possessed. I took a small sip of the tea after watching Thomas take a drink from his own cup. I really had no idea what he might do. I seriously doubted that his efforts to keep Claire away from me were over.

“Claire?” Sarah’s voice sounded slightly off. “Claire, darling, are you all right?”

Tea sloshed over my hand as I snapped around to look at her. Stunned by the look on her face, the cup slipped to the floor, my hand reaching out to clasp Claire’s. “Claire, what’s wrong?” The color in her face was fading rapidly. Her hand stiffened and seemed to lose its heat. “Claire,” I called, my voice tight and shaky. “Claire, please look at me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Her entire body crumpled, falling back into the chair. Sarah screamed and flew to her daughter’s side. She began tapping her face gently, calling her name, pleading with Claire to answer. My mind cleared in an instant and my fury rose, lifting me out of the chair. I turned to Thomas. His superior smirk disappeared quickly as he jumped out of his seat.

“What did you do to her?” I yelled. He moved to grab the phone, but I snatched his hand from his side and held it, feeling his knuckles grind together sickeningly. His stuttering denials didn’t even reach my ears. I squeezed harder. His pleas changed into frightened squeals. “What was in her tea?” I asked through gritted teeth.

Sarah Brant’s furious gaze snapped to her husband. There was no doubt in her mind that Thomas was responsible for the scene before us. Unwilling to leave her daughter’s side, the accusation in her voice was more painful than anything I had done. “Thomas Brant, you explain yourself this instant, or I will call the police myself!”

I pulled the quivering man closer, twisting his arm painfully to bring him within inches of my face. Words escaped me now. The blood thudding through my veins urged me to snap the pitiful man in half. He must have seen what was coming.

“Zarafen gave it to me,” he cried out. This did little to ease his pain.

“Shaxoa,” Sarah hissed.

“The witch?” I yelled. I couldn’t believe that Thomas would even risk speaking her name, let alone actually going to her. I knew Zarafen dealt in many things Quaile would curse as evil, but until this night, until I saw my precious Claire fall silent and still, I didn’t actually believe in her potions or curses.

The mention of the evil woman’s name was enough to tear Sarah from Claire’s side. She flew at her husband in a rage. Her small fists beat at his face and body. I did nothing to stop her. “How could you?” she screamed. “She’s your daughter, you monster. How could you do this to her?”

As if Thomas was just now seeing Claire, his body sagged. “Is she…dead?”

“No,” Sarah spat. Her gaze was still livid, but she seemed to realize that action was more important than dealing with her husband at that moment. “I can’t wake her, though. What did you give her? Tell me the truth, Thomas, or you may not live long enough to regret lying to me.” I only half doubted her threat.

“Shaxoa Zarafen, she said that it would make her forget Uriah, that she would only want her Twin Soul. She never said it would hurt her. I promise you I would never harm Claire, not on purpose,” he said, his voice pleading for understanding. He found none.

Slapping her husband across the face, Sarah turned away from him with disgust. “We need to get Claire to Sophia,” Sarah said quickly.

“She’s with my mom,” I said. I was still holding Thomas captive.

“Good. Take Claire to your house so Sophia can look at her. Perhaps she’ll know what to do to help her,” Sarah said, pulling me toward Claire’s body.

Forcing myself to release Thomas’s arm, I knelt next to Claire. Her lifeless expression tore at me. “Don’t worry, Claire,” I said, “everything will be okay.” I reached down and slid my arms under her body, nearly blacking out when I did. The pain was back. I thought it was gone, that losing my dad was horrible enough to make touching Claire seem inconsequential. The idea of losing Claire was enough to bring it all back. It felt even worse than before. Her small frame felt so light in my arms. I cradled her to my chest, feeling her slow and steady heartbeat.

“Hurry, Uriah. Get her to Sophia.” Rounding on her husband, I could hear the venom in her voice as she spoke. “Thomas, you and I will go find Quaile. If Sophia can’t help, I think Quaile might be able to tell us what’s happening. The Elders can deal with you later.” Thomas reached out for Claire with a shaking hand. Sarah pushed him away, hard enough to send him sprawling into a chair. If I hadn’t been cradling Claire, I wouldn’t have let him off so easy. My hands were itching to slam into his face.

“Get your hands away from her. You’ll never set a finger on her again if I have anything to say about it, Thomas,” I growled. The man sobbed quietly. Disgusted by him, Sarah turned away.

Pushing a set of car keys into my hand, Sarah squeezed my arms tightly. The fear and worry in her voice made me tremble as she spoke. “Take care of her, Uriah. We’ll bring Quaile as quickly as we can.” Her shaking hands pushed me out the door.

I ran.

The black SUV was only a few feet from the door, but my steps seemed slow and unnatural. Reaching the passenger’s door in a haze, I gently settled Claire into the seat, strapping the belt around her limp form. I barely noticed anything as I climbed into the driver’s side except Claire’s steady pulse.

The rocky unpaved roads made the journey twice as long as it should have been. Avoiding potholes, and scraping over the uneven ground, I raced through San Juan. Townspeople stared as I flew past them. A few called after me, but I ignored them. I had wasted so much time being afraid to talk to Claire. One year with her wasn’t enough. This couldn’t be the end for us. Sophia would help her. She had to. I focused on each of Claire’s heartbeats as I drove, terrified that the next one would be her last.