Cross the Line: A Gabriella Cross Paranormal Romance Book 2

Copyright © 2016 Traveling Bard Publishing

All rights reserved

Cover art by
Ravven

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Gabby woke up to the new day with a smile on her face—then she remembered the guy sleeping next to her.

What was his name? Chaz?

Gabby groaned but then checked herself, not wanting “the Chaz” to wake before she got some clothes on. The sliver of light glaring through the bottom of her shades suggested a beautiful autumn day outside.

She slipped on her sweatpants and a t-shirt just as Prince Charming woke up. Gabby groaned again—he looked to be no older than twenty.

“Mornin’ sunshine. I’d offer you breakfast, but I’ve got something important in a little bit,” said Gabby, tossing him his jeans.

He came to sleepily and smiled, rubbing his obvious morning wood. “Are you kicking me out already? We haven’t had morning sex yet.”

Gabby offered him a friendly smile. “Sorry babe, got people to see and things to do.”

Chaz said no more, but threw back the sheets, revealing his impressive erection. “Have it your way,” he said playfully, rubbing a hand across his waxed chest and chiseled abs.

“Maybe I’ve got ten minutes,” said Gabby, quickly tossing the shirt aside and straddling him.

She was a little sore from the previous night, so she took it slowly, taking her time to take him in fully. He grinned at her teasing and matched her rhythm, taking hold of her hips with strong hands. When he was deep inside, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down to ride him slowly. He tried to kiss her, but Gabby hadn’t kissed a man since Victor. It was too intimate, and Gabby wasn’t looking for love. She sat up and pushed him down before pinning his arms behind his head and gyrating urgently. He flexed and thrust upward, pressing himself deeper still.

Gabby grabbed a handful of hair and yanked his head to the side. “Faster!” she panted as the climax slowly built inside of her.

Chaz responded with renewed vigor, breaking free of her grip and pulling hard on her shoulders. A shocked breath escaped her and she cried out, “Yes, yes, yes…”

The orgasm took her breath away as Chaz held her firmly upon his shaft. Wave after wave of pleasure rocked her body, leaving her spent and shaking in their aftermath.

Chaz gave her a moment, holding her there and caressing her back. She found herself giggling stupidly as she often did after an orgasm.

“Thanks, I needed that,” said Gabby as she slowly withdrew from him.

“Get that little ass over here,” said Chaz with a playful slap as she walked around the bed to grab a shirt.

“I’m hungry,” she said and left him and his blue balls staring after her.

When he finally left, it was well past noon. He had coaxed her from the kitchen table to the large shower, which, it seemed, Maggy had remodeled with sex in mind. Gabby finished him off and sent him on his merry way, telling him that she had had a good time. He tried to give her his number when he left, but she wanted nothing to do with the dating scene.

“Oh, I’ve already got it. Remember, last night you gave it to me,” she said before waving and closing the door in his face.

Gabby peeked out the window to make sure he was leaving, and seeing that he was, she checked her phone. There was a text from Quip:
Hey bitch, I’ll be over in ten.

She glanced at the time of the message and then the clock; they were ten minutes apart.

A knock came at the door, and Gabby opened it to find Quip checking out Chaz as he drove away.

“At least one of us got some ass last night,” said Quip, shouldering past her and going straight to the coffee machine. She should have been used to it by now, but Gabby had to ogle his latest and greatest outfit. He wore a white skirt that was zipped to a tight-fitting sleeveless turtleneck with many folds. Fingerless white gloves went all the way to his shirt sleeves, where they too attached with shiny zippers. On his feet he wore white leather military boots. “I hope you got them wrapping it up, the rate you been notching your purse the last few months,” he added with a grin.

“Excuse me?” said Gabby, shutting the door and joining him at the island.

Quip raised an eyebrow and eyed her in her towel. “Girl, don’t even give me that indignant shit.”

“Whatever,” said Gabby, waving him off. “Did you put a bug in my father’s ear about going along on the next mission?”

Quip didn’t answer immediately. He added two teaspoons of sugar and stirred the coffee, still eyeing her knowingly. It was obvious that he would rather talk about her sex life. Like a cat, he feigned boredom and glanced at his nails. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

“Of course I’m ready. If Dad wasn’t such a nervous Nelly, I would’ve started going on missions with you guys weeks ago.”

“They’re not missions, honey, they’re jobs.”

“Really? Do you get paid? No, so they’re missions,” said Gabby.

“Whatever. You understand your father’s hesitation…don’t you?”

“Not really,” said Gabby. “I’m the only nullifier in the last what, hundred years? I gotta get out there.”

“Don’t be so eager to play in this sandbox,” said Quip. “Yous likely to find a cat turd buried somewhere beneath that sparkling sand.”

“I did just fine without all of you fussing over me. I did kill Victor, you know.”

“Yeah, one of the highest-ranking vamps in North America. Babe, this ain’t a game. They’ll be coming after you, don’t you doubt it.”

“Let them come,” said Gabby. “I don’t need Michael’s weres keeping them back.”

Quip let out a sigh and put his hand on hers. “Lord help me if you ain’t just like your sister.”

It was meant to be a warning, but Gabby took it as a compliment. Maggy was fearless, smart, powerful; everything Gabby had always wanted to be.

“Did you talk to him or not?” Gabby pressed.

“I did, but he saw right through it. He knew I was asking for you.”

“What did he say?”

“He said that there was something coming up that he was considering bringing you in on.”

Gabby gave a little cheer and hugged Quip, who laughed despite himself. “You’re crazy. Here you are sitting on a fortune, don’t have to work, and all you can think of is jumping right into the middle of the supernatural shit pile.”

“That’s just it,” said Gabby, plopping onto the stool beside Quip at the island. “I’m losing my mind with all this…peace and quiet. I need some excitement.”

“The boys you been bringing home aren’t doing it for you, eh?”

That made Gabby think about sex with Victor, and she found herself ashamed to remember anything good about him. He had killed her mother and her sister and then made Gabby fall in love with him. Under the spell of his vampire blood, she had felt invincible. Quip was right. The “boys” that she had been bringing home weren’t doing it for her. Sex with Victor had been otherworldly. She had fallen for him like she had fallen for no one. In her own screwed-up way, she still felt bad about killing him, and that only made her feel worse. She wondered how she could have any sympathy for someone who had wronged her so. It made her sick. Still, she thought of him often, and dreamed about him almost every night.

Gabby had thought that the breakup with Derek had been bad, but compared to the shattered heart that Victor had left, Derek had been nothing.

“I’ve got this power,” said Gabby, trying to shake the thoughts of Victor. “I’ve got to use it.”

“You are using it. Or aren’t you still working with Juliette?”

“Sure, but come on, nullifying magical trinkets isn’t exactly exciting.”

“You’ve worked with some people as well.”

“Yeah, I guess there have been a few cases that were pretty satisfying.”

Gabby had nullified a few witches’ curses, but nothing very serious. Her last “job” had been to nullify a hex that a witch had put on her cheating husband. One that left him with testicles the size of volley balls.

“Just hang in there,” said Quip. “Let yourself get stronger. You’ll get your chance.”

They ate a lunch of BLTs and french fries and chatted over iced tea. Quip did most of the talking, as usual, but Gabby liked it that way. She had always been a better listener than a talker, which had gained her the ironic nickname of Gabby Gabby back in high school.

A few hours after Quip had left, a knock came at the door. Gabby answered it to find Michael’s sister, Juliette, standing on the porch.

Juliette Steele was built like a stork—an alluring, lithe, high-cheeked and beautiful stork. But behind her sleek beauty and unassuming half grin, there lurked the nature of the beast. As a wolf, she was said to be as violent and wild as she was beautiful.

“I’ve got another one for you,” she said, waving in whoever was waiting outside the door.

A tired-looking woman walked through the door, coaxing a frail young girl to follow. The woman might have been beautiful, if not for her unkempt hair and haunted eyes ringed by dark circles. The little girl shyly walked in and hid behind her mother’s legs. She was so thin that she looked sick, and strangely, she had the same haunted, tired eyes as her mother.

Gabby felt the powerful magic emanating from both of them, and she quickly realized that this was by far the most serious case that Juliette had ever brought before her.

“Gabby, this is Miss White and her daughter, Sophia,” said Juliette.

“Hello, Sophia,” said Gabby.

Miss White laughed nervously when Sophia burrowed further into her mother’s shadow.

“She doesn’t talk anymore,” said Miss White. “Not since…well, not since it happened.”

“Come in, please,” said Gabby, extending a hand toward the kitchen. “Can I get you anything?”

“Is it true, what they say you can do? Can you help her?” asked Miss White.

Gabby smiled warmly at them both. Little Sophia was peeking out to see her reaction to the question. “Yes, I can help.”

“Please,” said Juliette. “Make yourselves comfortable in the living room. We will be with you shortly.”

Miss White led her daughter to the living room, and Juliette nodded for Gabby to follow her into the hall leading to the bedroom.

“What’s wrong with her?” Gabby asked when they were out of earshot.

“She isn’t real,” said Juliette, watching Gabby’s reaction closely.

“What do you mean…she isn’t real?”

“That woman, Carrie White. She’s a witch, but she’s also schizophrenic. That
girl
is actually her inner child come to life through magic.”

“Holy shit,” said Gabby, trying to imagine how in the world one might go about bringing a figment of their imagination to life. “And if I nullify her, I’ll actually be…killing her.”

“She isn’t a real person.”

“She looks like one to me,” said Gabby, shocked.

Juliette gave her a dryly serious glance. “She is a figment of Carrie’s imagination. And she is dangerous. That is why we are here. The little girl has already killed people.”

“Who did she kill? And how? She looks to be afraid of her own shadow.”

“She has killed five people. All of them senior citizens. You don’t want to know how. It seems that she has…powers. Telekinesis to be exact.”

“Why is Miss White going along with this?”

Juliette gave her a slightly guilty glance.

“She doesn’t know what they are here for, does she?” said Gabby.

“No,” Juliette admitted. “She thinks that you are a witch, and you can help her to become more powerful.”

“Why have you brought her to me? What will Miss White do when she learns of our deception?”

“You are to nullify both of them.”

“I see.”

Gabby felt sorry for the child, and Carrie as well. Seeing this, Juliette took her by the arm. “Do not let your emotions get in the way of this one. They are both extremely dangerous. The child’s last victims were residents at Shady Pines. I assume you’ve heard of it.”

“The retirement home that burnt down a few weeks back?”

“Yes. Three people died in that fire. Aside from that, she’s killed two others.”

“Why bring them to me? Why not…just take them out?”

“Let’s just say that Miss White comes from a powerful family. They are paying us handsomely. Your cut is of course fifty percent. Exactly one million dollars.”

Gabby reluctantly agreed and followed Juliette into the living room where Miss White’s inner-child-come-to-life was clinging to her arm. As Gabby approached, the little girl whispered in her older self’s ear.

Carrie White’s eyes went wide, and she looked from Juliette to Gabby.

“Do it now,” said Juliette.

“Do what? What are you going to do?” Carrie insisted, instinctively moving little Sophia farther behind her.

“I’m sorry,” said Gabby, raising her right hand.

“Do you know what they did to her?” Miss White asked, springing to her feet and holding Sophia back behind her. “Do you know what those men did?”

Gabby dreaded what Carrie was about to say. She looked to Sophia with renewed sympathy.

“Do it now,” Juliette repeated, her voice steady.

Gabby ignored her, waiting.

“They raped her,” said Miss White. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

A lump formed in Gabby’s throat and hot tears stung her eyes, blurring the images of Carrie and Sophia and making them one. The memories of being raped by her ex-husband came rushing back to her then. She remembered the terrible, suffocating feeling of helplessness, the pain. She remembered his weight, the sickening warmth of his violating seed, and his voice, so loving despite his crime.

“I’m so sorry,” said Gabby, but it came out in a cracked whisper. What had happened to her had been horrible, and she couldn’t stomach the thought of it happening to a child.

Little Sophia peeked around her leg at Gabby, her own tears mirroring her older-self’s. Gabby lowered her hand and glanced at Juliette, unsure. Juliette’s eyes were urgent.

“Both of those bastards were boyfriends of our mother. And both of them…” Carrie dropped to her knees pleadingly. “Don’t take her from me. I promise she’ll be good.”

“What are you waiting for?” Juliette asked calmly. When Gabby didn’t respond, she yelled, “Gabby!”

Gabby tried to hold back her tears. She tried to think. Wiping her eyes, she looked back to Sophia.

“They want to hurt us,” said the child, tugging on Carrie’s arm.

“Don’t let them hurt us, never again,” said Carrie, moving out of the way.

Behind her, the eyes of the little girl began to glow red. Fire erupted from her palms, which were now held out to her sides.

“Sophia,” said Gabby, raising empty hands up before her and taking a step back. “You have to stop this. You have to be good. I don’t want to hurt you. But you must stop this.”

“What are you doing?” Juliette asked. She shifted her weight, preparing herself for imminent violence with a step back.

Miss White looked unsure.

“Caywee?” Sophia asked, holding the ready flames.

Carrie was trembling. She looked from Gabby to Juliette quickly, studying them. “They want to hurt us, Sophia! Kill them!”

Sophia shot her hands forward, and blinding fire erupted from them. Gabby cried out and instinctively leapt to the side. The flames licked her feet before subsiding, and she scrambled to get up. Sophia and Carrie had turned on Juliette, who had fallen back as well. She pulled a pistol from inside her jacket, but Carrie was the quicker. The mad woman gave a cry and lashed out with both hands, hitting Juliette with an invisible force that sent her careening into the wall. Sophia turned to Gabby and cocked back a glowing fireball. Gabby quickly raised her right hand, unleashing her nullifying power upon the two. The fire died out with a hiss, and Sophia threw her arms skyward, her little neck snapping back. A small cry escaped her as she suddenly disappeared.

Carrie White reeled around, shrieking and pawing at the sofa. “No! No! Sophia! What have you done?”

“I’m sorry,” said Gabby pleadingly.

Carrie turned on her with murderous eyes and suddenly charged the short distance across the living room, leaping from the coffee table as she went. Clawed hands reached for Gabby’s throat as the frantic woman slammed into her. They went tumbling into the kitchen, careening into the dining set and toppling chairs. Before Gabby could get the upper hand, Carrie was on her neck, choking her from behind. She fought to get free, but the woman’s grip was crushing, and the lights were slowly beginning to go out.

Gabby felt Carrie tense, and suddenly she released her. Gabby came up choking and rubbing her sore throat. She turned to see Juliette holding an African wood carving that had sat on the coffee table since Maggy owned the place.

“Thanks,” said Gabby in a hoarse voice she hardly recognized.

Juliette scowled at her and wiped blood from her lip. “We’re clear,” she said into a mouthpiece on her sleeve.

Two grunts burst through the door and took up the unconscious woman.

“Don’t hurt her,” said Gabby as they carried her out of the house and into the waiting vehicle. “What’s going to happen to her?” she asked Juliette.

“She will live comfortably the rest of her days. But she will never practice magic again,” said Juliette. She leveled on Gabby and held her with her gaze. “You’ve got to learn to trust me.”

“I trust you,” Gabby lied.

“Well then, when I say do it now, that means do it now. She could have killed us both.”

“I’m sorry,” said Gabby.

“You’re doing well. Just trust that if I bring someone or something before you, it is for good reason.”

“What if she hadn’t been violent toward us?”

“What if?” Juliette asked. “She still needed to be nullified.”

“But they molested her when she was a child. They deserved to die.”

“And what about the innocents who died in the last fire. Did they deserve to burn alive?”

“No,” said Gabby, deflated. “I just feel bad for her.”

“I know,” said Juliette. “You’re a good person…for better or worse. You did good today. Expect the money in your bank account in a few days.”

She left the house, and Gabby watched the two black SUVs drive away.

She knew she had done the right thing. Still, she could not help but lament over little Sophia.