Sharon Ashwood - Dark Forgotten 03, page 1
Unchained: The Dark Forgotten
by Ashwood, Sharon
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Unchained
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
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
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Teaser chapter
Unchained
“I urge anyone who is a fan of urban fantasy and paranormal romance to put Sharon Ashwood at the top of their list!”
—Night Owl Romance
Praise for the Novels of Sharon Ashwood
Scorched
“Scorched: The Dark Forgotten is a fast-paced urban fantasy that will keep you up long into the night. Hanging with the supernatural never felt so good!”
—Romance Junkies (Blue Ribbon Favorite)
“Ms. Ashwood’s stories are multidimensional, and it is hard to second-guess this author. I can’t wait for a third adventure in Ms. Ashwood’s unique and twisted version of the world!”
—The Romance Studio
“With the darkness and danger lurking on every page, it will keep readers engaged until the very end.”
—Darque Reviews
“Sexual romps, fight scenes, shopping expeditions, and magic . . . Scorched has it all.”
—The Romance Reader
“The second Dark Forgotten urban fantasy is a terrific thriller.”
—The Best Reviews
“Sharp and stylish writing, plenty of action, a well-conceived and intriguing mythology, and a great sense of dark atmosphere.”
—BookLoons
“Sharon Ashwood has convinced me to put the Dark Forgotten on my must-buy list. This tale is dark and sexy, romantic, full of action, and filled with all kinds of fascinating creatures and people.
If you love paranormal romance, you simply have to get a copy of Scorched.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“Sharon Ashwood has become a must-buy author for me.”
—Fallen Angel Reviews (5 Angel Review)
Ravenous
“Sexy, suspenseful fun.”
—New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong
“A multilayered plot, a fascinating take on the paranormal creatures living among us, plus a sexy vampire, a sassy witch, and a mystery for them to solve . . . Ravenous leaves me hungry for more!”
—Jessica Andersen, author of Demonkeepers
“Strong world building. . . . Readers will look forward to the sequel.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The world building is complex and absolutely terrific. But most of all, it’s the powerful attraction between the spunky witch heroine and her sexy vampire partner as they battle evil that makes this story a real page-turner!”
—Alexis Morgan
“The world is interesting (I look forward to seeing more of it!), the romance gorgeous, the sex sizzling. There’s plenty of action as well.”
—Errant Dreams Reviews
“This tongue-in-cheek, action-packed urban fantasy hooks the reader from the opening moment . . .
and never slows down.”
—Midwest Book Review
“A fast-paced urban fantasy . . . nonstop action that will keep the reader turning pages long into the night. Ashwood has created a wonderful fantasy romp that’s tough to put down until the end. I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.”
—Romance Junkies
“I think I have found a new favorite series. . . . I guess I have to wait for the next story, hopefully not for too long!”
—The Romance Studio
“Ravenous is a fantastic read, filled with action, suspense, lush details, sizzling romance, and very memorable characters. Ms. Ashwood has created a very compelling world and left us with enough questions about the fate of certain characters to have us hoping that this is the start of a very promising new series.”
—MyShelf.com
“Ms. Ashwood has created an intriguing world where both good and evil dwell in the shadows and things are rarely what they seem. Ravenous is a well-written and sexy read that makes for a great escape from the norm. I look forward to the next visit with the Dark Forgotten.”
—Darque Reviews
“Ravenous is packed with action, humor, and a drool-worthy vampire. The demons and the hellhounds and the evil house with a killer mind (oh my!) are what set it apart from the fold. A whole new mythology surrounding the supernatural and how humans police [it] is introduced, and I can’t wait to see where Ashwood takes it. This book earns 5 tombstones for creativity, sex appeal, and one kick-ass house.”
—Bitten by Books
“Sharon Ashwood hooked me from the first page! Ravenous gets off to a roaring start and the fast pace never relents. Ravenous has all the elements of a top-notch urban fantasy tale. . . . It will be hard to surpass this book! I can’t recommend this one highly enough!”
—CK2S Kwips and Kritiques
Unchained
Also by Sharon Ashwood
Ravenous
Scorched
Unchained
Unchained
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First published by Signet Eclipse, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, July 2010
Copyright © Naomi Lester, 2010
eISBN : 978-1-101-18840-8
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Unchained
For Dad.
I wonder what you would have thought of all this.
Unchained
“A good night to you girls, ghouls, and fangsters out there, and happy April Fools’ Day. You’re hearing the velvet tones of Errata Jones on 101.5 FM, coming to you from the beautiful University of Fairview campus. I’m your hostess on this nighttime ride on CSUP, where we put the super in supernatural.
“On tonight’s show, our guest will be my own good pal and computer-savvy werewolf, Professor Perry Baker. Perry’s going to tell us about the new UnWeb for the Undead, how you can log in, and what it can do for you. So listen up and get your bytes on.
“But first, for those of us who’ve never met a conspiracy theory we didn’t like, we’re going to spend some time talking about a portal into another world—a dark and dangerous world—that has appeared in our very own downtown core. That portal leads to a prison called the Castle. This is no April Fools’ joke, but the biggest news for the nonhuman community since vampires and shifters came out of the crypt and hit the talk-show circuit in Y2K.
“There’s a lot about this Castle we don’t know. Those of us in the news biz thought the secrecy would end last fall, when Fairview locals took over management of the prison and immediately released hundreds of inmates they felt had been unjustly incarcerated. However, the new administration reluctantly admitted that this was only a small percentage of the total prison population. Apparently there are demons in there who’d eat us up faster than a high school ball team would a meat lover’s pizza.
“What exactly is the prison administration doing to make sure these demons don’t get an unscheduled day pass?”
Unchained
Chapter 1
Wednesday, April 1, 10:30 p.m.
Fairview Botanical Gardens
Evil lurked in public bathrooms.
It wasn’t just the bad lights and weird green soap. Predators loved hidey-holes where folks could disappear from view and no one thought anything about it. Any slayer worth her salt—and Ashe Carver was a pro—knew to look for monsters in those boring, ordinary, deadly places.
Ashe hugged the outside wall of the brick building, her boots sinking into the carefully tended tulip beds. It was dark, damp, and cold. She could smell the green tang of the crushed plants mixing with an antiseptic stink leaking from the vents. The washroom had been recently cleaned, probably just after the Fairview Botanical Gardens had closed for the night.
Thankfully, lurking evil had waited until late to pay a visit. On any day of the week, thousands of tourists came through the Gardens’ rose-decked gates, swilled overpriced soft drinks, and headed straight to the rest-rooms. Tonight, timing alone saved them from an encounter with worse problems than an empty towel dispenser.
Around nine fifteen that night, something had eaten the concessions clerk. He’d been identifiable by the name embroidered on the pocket of his candy-striped shirt. Security guards had dialed 911. Po-
lice had called a supernatural expert—aka Ashe’s vampire brother-in-law—who had called Ashe. As he put it, carnage was her thing.
First stop, she had looked at the body. In a word, ick. She’d never seen bite marks quite like that, but bet on a werebeast of some kind.
She cursed the flowering bushes that obscured the ladies’ room entrance. The blooms were pale in the dim light, and blurred into the shadows like watercolor stars. Pretty, but a security no-no. She crept toward the entrance one step at a time, eyes and ears tuned to the slightest disturbance. The problem was that the garden clamored with bugs, birds, bats, rodents, and a dozen other noisemak-ers, even at night. Most predators could hide beneath that rustling chaos.
The human noises were worst. Even from a distance, voices and motor sounds carried in the dark.
She’d called in her location and switched off the radio the guy at the gate had given her. If there was something lurking around the corner, a sudden spew of static could give her away. Besides, she’d been born a witch. A bad spell had broken most of her powers when she was a teenager, but she still had a sixth sense that had saved her backside time and again. Electronics messed with that.
Ashe stilled, straining to pick up the slightest whiff of Nasty Critter. A light breeze chilled the sweat along her hairline. Her heart hammered hard, but her thoughts were clinically calm. If you were going to kick the ass of anything bigger than a garden sprite, discipline was key.
Another two steps, and she was behind the door-guarding rhododendron. The petals kissed her skin, the cool, soft touch making her shiver. She shifted her grip on her Colt automatic—a custom make loaded with the best silver-coated ammo she could afford—and smacked open the bathroom door with a sideways kick.
Her foot blammed against the wall, the noise meant to shock her quarry into revealing itself. Her gaze went first to the ceiling—you just never knew—then scanned across the long rows of sinks and stalls. It looked pin-neat, gleaming, and empty. Ashe shuffled inside, crouching, gun ready, letting the door swing shut behind her.
The echo of the door slam faded to the buzz of a faulty light ballast and the drip-drip of a tap. The suggestion of water made Ashe lick her lips. Her mouth was dry because of her nerves, but that was okay. Fear made her careful.
A quick look told her no feet showed beneath the stall doors. Of course, any high schooler knew that didn’t mean a thing. Next, she would have to go banging open each door in the double row of stalls, which meant the monster in the last stall could jump her while her back was turned.
That had happened once. That was so not going to happen again.
Ashe took one long step onto the countertop, and from there cautiously pulled herself up the metal side of the first toilet stall. Yup, it was empty. With a heave, she hooked one leg over the side and used the wall for balance. In a very few seconds, she had gained a good aerial view of all the stalls.
They were empty. Too bad; from up there it would have been like shooting fish in a barrel.
Werewolves in a can? She winced at her silent joke.
So the bathroom was a bust. Time to move on. Carefully, Ashe twisted to look behind her, gauging the distance to the countertop. She caught a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror against the wall. Heavy boots, black-on-black clothes, blond hair straggling out of her ponytail. Yep, she was workin’ the black ops chic. While dangling from the side of a toilet stall.
Good to know she’d put those junior high modeling classes to good use.
Ashe dropped back to the counter just as the outside door swung open and someone walked in. In a flash, she aimed her gun in a two-handed grip.
Then she froze. Oh. My. Goddess. But she let her surprise last only a microsecond. Her eyes on the new-comer, she hopped to the floor. “What are you doing here?”
Captain Reynard gave a slight bow. “I am looking for you.” His so-English accent sounded like something off Masterpiece Theater, but that baritone voice was pure seduction.
“Oh.” For a moment, her mind hydroplaned. Looking for me?
The last and only time she’d met Reynard, he’d taken a battle-ax to the gut. He should have died. At best, he should still be moving like a cripple.
Now Reynard looked more than fine. No, that didn’t cover it. He was Sleeping Beauty’s dreams made flesh. The gold braid of his scarlet uniform glinted in the light. He wore his dark, thick hair pulled back into a neat queue, showing the angles of his lean face. His steel gray eyes were guarded, promising a thousand secrets, and enough bad boy lurked in the set of his mouth to make any red-blooded woman lick her chops in anticipation. If she was really, really naive.
Ashe turned her mental sprinkler system onto cold-shower mode. The guy looked her age, but for all she knew, he might have been three hundred. Reynard wasn’t human anymore, but some kind of immortal. Who knew what that scrumptious packaging hid?
The muzzle of her gun was still aimed squarely between his eyes. He just stood there, ramrod straight, and made no move to draw his sword or raise the long firearm he carried. The piece looked like it belonged with the uniform—several hundred years out-of-date.
“I trust you are well?” he asked blandly.
She dragged her gaze away from the weapon and back to his face. “I didn’t think you could leave the Castle, Captain Reynard. From everything I know, you shouldn’t be here.”
Reynard gave a smile more lethal than any gun. “Do you think this is a demon wearing my appearance?”
“Can the charm. I don’t know. I don’t know what happens when you leave your prison—and something deadly is stalking these grounds. Sue me for being cautious.”
He glanced at her Colt, and a slight flicker of expression showed both amusement and annoyance.
That annoyed her right back. He didn’t think, or didn’t care, that she would shoot. He didn’t go for his own weapon—gun, knife, or anything else. No one was that cool unless they were crazy or a liar.
He met her eyes. Liar. Crazy. Iceberg. She couldn’t read him. He was granite. Damn. Reynard studied her, his body nearly as still, as not there, as that of a vampire.
“I can leave my post for an hour or two. Nothing happens. I’m a guardsman, not one of the Castle’s prisoners.” With his free hand, he tapped the hilt of his sword, the gesture reminding Ashe of a detective flashing his badge.
“Why are you looking for me? How did you find me?”
