Night Fury: a Scarred, Plus size, Paranormal Romance, page 1
Night Fury
Chronicles of The Otherworld
Book 2
Melissa Cummins
Published by Melissa Cummins
Copyright © 2022 Melissa Cummins
https://melissacummins.com/
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
For permissions contact: melissa@melissacummins.com
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover by Secret D’Artiste
Editing and Proofreading by E.M Editing
Formatting by Melissa Cummins
Published by Melissa Cummins on June 14th, 2022
Contents
Author’s Note
Playlist
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Let’s Connect!
Also by Melissa Cummins
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Dedication
To those who have been hurt. To those who have been wronged. To those who may have believed the world left you to rot. You have a home out there, someone who loves and supports you.
Don’t give up, even when it’s hard. Don’t give up.
About Night Fury
He will never let her go.
* * *
Luke has experienced a lifetime of loss. It weighs heavily on his soul, leaving him terrified of losing the person he wants most–his fated mate.
* * *
When his greatest fear comes true, Luke vows to do everything in his power to save her, no matter the cost. But he may not get the chance.
* * *
Johanna has never felt good enough for anyone. She longs to experience love, to be seen and accepted completely. But that will never happen now. Not when she’s been taken captive by Luke’s enemy and used for her body and blood.
* * *
Johanna will do everything she can to protect Luke, but she's not sure how much longer she can hold on. Her will to live is slipping and she finds herself wondering if it would just be easier to die.
* * *
With the clock running against him, can Luke save Johanna in time, or will he be too late?
* * *
Please turn the page and read the Authors Note or visit my website for content warnings.
Author’s Note
Believe it or not, this book is what made me decide to start publishing the Chronicles of The Otherworld series. It’s deep, disturbing, hard, and gritty. The love story is beautiful, but what both of these characters have been through isn’t. If you like love that preservers through every obstacle and characters that refuse to give up on one another, this book is for you!
* * *
Night Fury is the second in the Chronicles of The Otherworld series, as well as the second book in part one, The Vampire War. Each part of the series will feature a different paranormal species. Each book will feature a different couple and will always have a Happy Ever After (HEA) for that couple.
* * *
The tropes are: Strong, Scarred, Tortured, Plus size, Magical Heroine, Billionaire, Spanish Hero, Fated Mates, Angst, Kidnapped, Witch, Vampire, Not good enough, Amnesia, Morally Gray Hero & Heroine, Touch Her and Die Vibes, Touch Him and Die Vibes, and I’ll Never Let You Go.
* * *
This book picks up where Night Shade leaves off, so you do need to read it prior to reading Night Fury to get the full experience.
* * *
Night Fury is intended for mature audiences. This story contains mentions and detailed depictions of physical, emotional, mental, and sexual abuse, including rape and sexual harassment, suicidal thoughts, extreme violence, murder, death, torture, explicit language, sexually explicit scenes, and blood drinking.
* * *
This book also heavily discusses negative self-talk, feelings of unworthiness and inadequacy, criticism, depression, PTSD, manipulation, trauma, amnesia, and therapy.
* * *
The following kinks have also been included in this work: agoraphilia, begging, breeding, praise, primal, Dom/Brat behavior, breath play, and spanking.
* * *
Reader discretion is advised.
Playlist
Want to listen along while you read? Visit the Spotify Playlist here!
* * *
Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
Feel Good - Gryffin, ILLENIUM, feat. Daya
A Little More - Alessia Cara
One Night - Christina Perri
Light Me Up - RL Grime, Miguel, Julia Michaels
Not Giving In - Tom Walker
Waking Up - MJ Cole, Freya Ridings
Mind Is A Prison - Alec Benjamin
Artistry - Jacob Lee
Good Enough - Evanescence
Courage To Change - Sia
Hollow - Submersed
Distance - Yebba
Shadows - Canyon City
Chapter 1
The day of the battle
Something called to Luke, playing with the fringes of his mind, teasing him with answers to questions he’d never dared to speak out loud. But he needed those answers desperately. He needed them to help make sense of everything he’d felt over the last few months, and they were worth everything, even Greg’s wrath.
Luke ran away from the group, ignoring Greg’s shout. He followed the call as it pulled him further down the passage. It turned, narrowed, and then opened to a full room. The moment Luke entered, he was forced to duck, missing a punch aimed at his head.
“You weren’t who I was hoping for.” Zachariah smirked, his brown eyes gleaming. “But you’ll do.”
Luke rushed him. He landed a punch to Zachariah’s face and another to his gut before jumping back in time to miss Zachariah’s counterattack. Ducking under a kick, Luke delivered a punch to the underside of Zachariah’s knee, satisfied when the bone splintered.
It wasn’t enough.
Zachariah caught him with an elbow to the chest. He kneed Luke in his ribs before punching the side of his head. When Zachariah’s kick connected, Luke flew back, rolling until he hit the cavern wall.
Luke stood slowly, faking weakness. The healing agent in his blood was already working through his system and renewing his strength, but he needed to be smart about this. Zachariah’s enhanced strength would make him difficult to take down directly, and there was still speculation that Zachariah could copy another immortal’s ability. Without knowing how that ability worked, being impulsive could land Luke in a very dangerous situation.
And then there was Johanna. She stood in the middle of the room, her face blank, emotionless. She was still under Zachariah’s control. Luke had strategically pulled Zachariah away from Johanna during the fight, but he was still too close to her. Luke knew that if pushed, Zachariah would use Johanna as a hostage, and Luke would never risk her life. The best strategy was to tire Zachariah out without using his abilities. If Luke made him believe that he was weaker, Zachariah would grow cocky, ensuring Luke’s victory.
As Luke went to step forward, his body froze. An unseen pressure knocked him to his knees. He struggled against it, but the bone-crushing weight held him down, pushing his stomach flat against the dirt.
“Luke?” a soft voice whispered in his head.
His eyes darted around the room, but no one else had entered. Zachariah stood unmoving, entirely too still, and Luke wondered if he felt the same pressure. Luke’s eyes darted to Johanna. While she hadn’t moved, something seemed different about her—electric.
Confused, he responded mentally, “Johanna?”
“Good.” Her sigh of relief flitted through him. “You can hear me.”
“How are you doing this? What are you—”
“That doesn’t matter now. Please, stay down and lie still. Don’t fight me.”
Something akin to panic squeezed at his chest. Was it hers or was it his? “Johanna, whatever this is, stop it. Let me go.”
“No!” The force of her shout was so strong it made his ears ring. “You don’t understand. You can’t kill him!”
“Yes, I can!” Luke tried to will his body to move but it wasn’t responding to him.
“No, you can’t!” Johanna’s voice softened. “Please, stop. Zachariah isn’t the leader you’ve believed him to be. It’s someone else, and she is far more powerful than you or I. If you kill him, she will come after you, and she won’t stop until she breaks you. I don’t … I don’t want to see you hurt. I don’t want anyone to ever experience that again. Now please, stop—”
“Johanna—”
“We don’t have any more time! You’ll be able to move when
I’m gone. As soon as you can, take the passage to the left. It’ll lead you outside.”
Zachariah suddenly twitched and shook his head, as if coming out of a daze. He stared down at Luke and then tsked. “I thought he would have lasted longer. Oh well.” He turned toward Johanna. “Since he left me so unsatisfied, you’ll have to make up for it. Now, let’s go.” Zachariah grabbed her by the arm and dragged her behind him.
Johanna followed him meekly, but Luke heard her quiet sob in his mind, and recognition pierced his heart. He fought against the pressure holding him down like a wild man.
Move! Move damn it! Move! he urged himself.
“I’m sorry,” she hiccuped. “At least you’ll be safe. Goodbye, Luke.”
“Johanna!” he screamed, fighting against her power until she disappeared around a corridor.
And just like that, she was gone.
Luke was still screaming when he woke up.
Every night for the last two months Luke had awoken drenched in sweat, his mouth open, screaming at the horrible memory. It never changed, never stopped, never got better, never distorted. It was always the same. It was the day he finally got the answer to one of his questions, the moment he realized Johanna was his mate.
The four walls of his bedroom felt like they were closing in, and the air was too hot, too humid to breathe. He kicked off the covers and goosebumps raced over his skin as a brush of cool air flitted over him. He was the problem—not this room, not this house, not anything else. He was the one who was broken, the one who had failed.
He’d failed Johanna. Occasionally, Luke would relive his nightmare as a specter. His corporal form would float just above the unfolding scene, and in those moments he’d revisit everything. If he had taken more risks instead of being concerned about Zachariah stealing his power, if he had moved closer to Johanna instead of away, would she have felt safe enough to reach out to him then? Would she be in his arms right now?
Those weren’t the only times he should have fought harder for her. Luke would give anything to go back to the times he’d tried to speak to Johanna at work and she’d run away from him. If he had followed her, pressed her to explain why she kept avoiding him, would she be here right now? If nothing else, he would have finally known why she was able to combat the connection between them, the mate bond that had finally snapped into place in that cavern.
Luke would even have been at peace if she had outright rejected him. It would have devastated and destroyed him, but this? Not knowing if she was even … He couldn’t go there, not again, because if she wasn’t alive, he’d lose it. He’d lose every single piece of himself and spend the last remaining minutes of his life killing Zachariah and anyone else he could get his hands on before they took him down.
The only thing that gave him hope was that after being on the receiving end of Johanna’s powers, he knew Zachariah would never give her up easily. She was extraordinarily powerful. A feeling of pride for his mate flashed through his heart before it was crushed under the heavy weight of despair. If it weren’t for those powers, would she even be in that position?
No, she’d be dead.
That thought had him reaching out before his arm froze in mid-air, shaking so badly with the need to hurt, to break, to destroy with his rage. Luke took a deep breath, then another, and another, trying to settle his mind.
The simple fact was that if Johanna wasn’t powerful and Zachariah discovered she was Luke’s mate, he would have killed her, much like he had tried to kill Daniella. At least this way Johanna was alive, and Luke was sure she would stay that way.
But that still didn’t answer how Johanna had hidden their mate bond, and Luke was sure she had. Even if she were able to hide it from everyone else, he should have been able to feel it immediately. And why was it that he finally felt their mate bond in that cavern when she had seemed so … different? So real? When her voice seemed softer yet stronger than he had ever heard it, and she had become so determined, so protective over him? Why then and not before?
Luke rested his head back against the headboard and ran a shaky hand through his brown hair, swiping the stuck strands from his forehead. No matter how hard he tried to figure it out, he couldn’t. Every time one mystery resolved itself, another one unfurled. It was endless, and it would stay that way until he found her—and he would find her. But rage still barred its fangs and tore at him, peeling back more and more layers until it reached his soul and covered it in something dark and sadistic.
Luke sighed. He couldn't keep doing this. He couldn’t keep being this way. It wouldn’t be good for the battle tonight, yet another attempt at finding her.
You’ll find her. You’ll find her, he chanted in his head, hoping that thinking the words would somehow make them come true.
Luke needed to move, to do something to keep his mind busy. Checking his phone, he saw he’d only slept for two hours and had another two before he’d have to drive to Greg and Daniella’s home for the strategy meeting. He cracked his knuckles and left his room, heading toward his gym where he beat and kicked the punching bag, unleashing a fraction of his wrath until the bag itself exploded. But even then he didn’t stop, not until he’d ripped it to shreds.
Chapter 2
The wind picked up, tousling Luke’s hair as he sped down the back roads to Greg and Daniella’s house. He’d be a little early for the strategy meeting, but he needed the escape.
Breaking that punching bag felt good, too good, and he would have moved on to something else if he’d stayed home. His emotions had always been a little too intense—passionate was the word Luke liked to use—but while he was known for being a loose cannon, for the first time in his life he felt like one.
Luke took another deep breath, like Dani kept telling him he should do, and let the fresh air carry away his thoughts. He wasn’t alone here, even if he felt like it in his rage and anguish. He was surrounded by people who loved him, people who were willing to fight to help him get Johanna back. And even though that was more than most could ask for, it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough, not until she was by his side.
Luke’s somber mood engulfed him as he approached the house. He swiped his badge and froze at the entrance when he heard Dani laugh, knowing he’d intruded on something. The sound was cut short, and Luke sighed before shutting the door.
Greg and Daniella were sympathetic to Luke’s grief and tried not to do anything that would remind him of his pain, including being affectionate in front of him. It hurt Luke to be grateful for that. He wanted them to be happy and had always pushed for them to be together, but if he was being honest, he couldn't stand seeing it now. And for that, he was a bastard. He loathed and cursed the part of him that couldn’t witness two people he loved be happy, not when he knew that his person wasn’t next to him.
But she will be, he reminded himself again.
As he entered the kitchen, Dani greeted him with a soft smile and met him for a hug. “Hey, you.”
“Hey,” Luke said as he feigned a small smile, but she was on to him. Dani squeezed his arm as they separated and her dark brown eyes met his, full of concern, worry, and something else.
Luke averted his gaze, not wanting her to see how close he was to drowning in the weight of his emotions, and instead looked over her head to Greg. “Sorry I’m a little early.”
