Once Scorched Always Safe

Well That was Unexpected

Rayne

California

She woke to the sound of the shower running. She looked around the bed, stretched her body, feeling relaxed. Deciding that a shower sounded nice, she stood and walked naked to the bathroom to join Parker in his shower. He grinned as she stepped in behind him, wrapping her arms around his wet soapy torso, as she pressed herself against him.

Keep that up, love, and we will be late.” He laughed as he turned around to face her. He lifted her face to his for a soft kiss, then rinsed clean leaving her to shower alone.

Rayne laughed as he left. Then took the heat more, then got down to the business of getting clean. After her shower, she found that Parker had laid out clothes for her on the bed. A blood–red halter top that clasped behind her neck, a pair of black skinny jeans with holes in the knees, on the floor was a pair of black combat boots with red laces.

“You know Parker, I can pick out my clothes.” She yelled to him as she hears him rummaging in his closet for clothes. Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

He said something that she couldn’t hear above the banging coming from his closet. She just shook her head, deciding it would be easier and faster to just wear the clothes he chose for her. He wasn’t controlling, he just had a trained eye for what would look good on her. She finished the outfit with a black and red checkered bandana wrapped over her head and tied underneath her long hair, and an enormous pair of red hoops earrings. Looking in the mirror on the wall above her dresser, she applied some light makeup, a bit of eyeliner, mascara, and a neutral tone lip gloss.

A low whistle from the door let her know that Parker approved, “I think I may have made a mistake in picking that out, because now for the rest of the night I am going to be thinking of peeling you out of those jeans.”

Rayne laughed as she sauntered over to him, slid her hand teasingly up bare his chest, then moved around him with a grin to head towards the kitchen His low chuckle followed her as she left him to finish getting dressed. She decided coffee was in order, so she set about making two to–go cups for them. Her stomach growled as the wonderful aroma of the coffee hit her senses, reminding her she had not eaten breakfast, she made a mental note to grab something at the bar before they opened for the night.

She glanced at the clock on the coffeepot; it was already nine pm, they would have an hour before they were to open the bar. “Parker put your shirt on and let’s get going.”

He came into the kitchen, tucking his t–shirt into his blue jeans, sniffing the air as he did. “Coffee please.”

She held his cup out to him as the coffee pot made a ding, letting them know it the coffee was done. He smiled at her, took the cup from her and made his coffee the way he liked it. Reaching into the refrigerator, she took out the hazelnut coffee creamer, added some to her cup, then handed it to Parker. Being together for as long as they had been, be it friends, lovers, or just roommates, they learned each other’s likes and dislikes as time went on

Sometimes it struck her as funny as they had a relatively smooth flowing rhythm of an old married couple. The idea had always made her scoff in the past. She had never wanted a mate at all, with Sebastion solidifying that idea with his harsh words five years ago. Since last night with Parker, the thought of mates was swirling around in her mind as she went about her tasks of getting ready for her work night. Her wolf had long given up on her mate coming to his senses, Ruby liking Parker well enough even though he was not a werewolf.

Maybe if things between them stayed this way, she would bring the topic up with him. He had after all these years still shown her that he was more worthy of a mate than the one that the Moon Goddess had given her. The events of yesterday after Bridgette left were still hazy in her mind, but waking up to his warm comforting embrace was something that had made her heart tremble. They had loved each other as their relationship evolved over the years, but to Rayne, something had shifted.

Parker brought her out of her thoughts with a jingle of car keys, “You were a little lost there love, everything ok?”

Rayne nodded her head, grabbed her messenger bag off the stool by the kitchen counter, then headed for the back door. “I am alright, now let’s go meet your new bartender.”

He frowned but took her word that she was fine, then followed her to the door. “She is a unique character, that is for sure. I am sure she witch.”

ure she is a powerful

They discussed more of his encounter with the witch as they drove in Parker’s jeep to the bar. His story making her curious what this witch was capable of, and if she was here with good intentions. Rayne had run afoul of a dark witch two years ago, barely making it out of that situation alive. The scat vin her inner thigh from the dark witch’s silver blade would be with her for the rest of her life. The way Parker described their new employee made Rayne believe that there was no direct threat to them or the bar, but she would hold her full acceptance of the witch until they got to know each other better.

fell That was Unexpected

Thirty minutes later they pulled up to the back–parking lot of the bar, Rayne noticed that Argyle their bouncer was leaning up against the wall next to he backdoor. He had an unlit cigar hanging from his pale lips, while he dug around in the pocket of his black trouser for his lighter. He was a vampire wer one hundred years old, which was young by vampire standards. His black hair was cut close to his head in military fashion, a habit from his old life hat he never could seem to break.

fe looked up as they stepped out of the car, his honey–brown eyes twinkling with some internal thought he found entertaining, then he lifted a hand to vave at them. “Bonjour la patronne,” His voice had a thick French accent

Rayne nodded her head at him as she walked to the door to unlock it, “How long have you been here Argyle?*

‘Not long” He tilted his head to the side as he looked over her outfit, then looked at Parker, giving him a sly grin.

Is Spencer here yet?” She asked referring to their doorman who worked directly with Argyle checking identification at the door. Occasionally turning way the rare human who saw the bar through the wards that were in place to hide their supernatural retreat.

‘He is dealing with a personal issue regarding his now ex–lover.” Argyle shook his head as he recalled the brief look of outrage on his coworker’s face when he had arrived for the evening.

“Another one bites the dust, it seems,” Parker chuckled.

“Parker, can you go open the front door and wait for your new employee?”

“Ah, we getting a replacement bartender?” Argyle now looked interested.

“Follow Parker and you can meet her.” Rayne opened the back door, stepping into a small employee break room.

The guys followed her in, headed to the door on the wall directly across from the exit, while she headed to her right to head up the stairs that lead to her and Parker’s offices. There was paperwork to be done, a new employee file to create, and current employee personal drama to consider. She would never hold Spencer’s love life against him, but if it impeded him from doing his job, then she would have to talk to him. Since he had been with her from the start, Rayne was reluctant to let him go, but she needed him to focus while on the clock.

A knock on her office door made her look up from her desk, Lena, one of her waitresses stood in the doorway frowning at her. Lena was a Fae from Northern Ireland, she moved to California to escape a war on her kind a hundred years ago. With her pale skin, red hair, a dusting of freckles, Lena passed well for a human, her pointed ears similar to Elven ears were the only physical feature she had that marked her as nonhuman. She hid her ears. with her hairstyles while out during the day, walking among the humans who were unaware of the existence of real–life supernatural creatures. Rayne encouraged Lena not to hide her ears while at work. Shadows Retreat was created as a safe place, and often a refuge for supernatural species.

“Boss, there is a situation downstairs that you might want to check out.” Lena’s Irish accent was heavy with suppressed laugher, but her emerald green eyes were dancing with it.

“Does this involve Spencer in any way?” Rayne stood from her desk, making her way to where Lena stood.

“No, but it involves Argyle and your new bartender.”

Rayne’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Argyle was one of the gentlest vampires she had ever met. Hopefully, he had done nothing bad. Having not met the new bartender yet, she had no way to know what could have caused the issue. She sighed, nodded her head, then motioned for Lena to lead the

way.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs that lead into the back room, they could Argyle’s normally soft voice raised as he yelled in French at someone in the primary room of the bar. Rayne moved to stand in front of Lena as she opened the door to the hall that would lead her to the main room, even though Lena was stronger and more powerful than she looked, it was the instinct to protect her employee and friend that took over. She didn’t sense any dark magic, the wards around the bar protected the entire building from any forms of dark magic, but one occasion proved there were ways around her wards

A smooth southern draw! retorted back in French, but without the anger that Argyle’s held, the owner of the voice was female. Most likely her new employee. This could blow up in their faces fast, and just maybe she would have to have Parker find them another bartender. They walked down the halt, passed the swinging door that lead to the kitchen, the two doors that were the restrooms, then to the doorway that would lead them to the primary rooms

The sight that greeted her shocked her, yet made her very curious how it would play out for them Standing in the middle of the room was a woman with pure white curly white hair, braided to the side over one shoulder, wearing all black clothing, but her eyes stood out the most. The shade of pale amethyst was surprising. This must be jazmine, their new bartender. Rayne could feel the powerful aurn of magic radiating off the woman, but it was pure magic, nothing malicious, so that was a good sign. Jazmine was a White Witch.

Argyle had his hack to the door, his stance was rigid, the anger pumping off him in waves. Around the room stood Parker, Spencer in all his tall line-

Well That was Unexpected

was all here, so getting

etting this situation

backer glory, Shelby their second waitress with her golden dreadlocks tied back, and Malcolm their cook. The gang was under control fast was in order.

Rayne stepped into the room, let out a loud growl the echoed in the room, then waited for everyone to look her way. When she had their attention, she walked to Jazmine and Argyle, motioned everyone else out of the room to go about getting the bar ready to open. When the room was clear, she just pointed to a nearby table for them to sit at, then tapped her foot as she waited for them to sit.

“Now, I understand a passing bit of French, and from the little snippets that I got, the one word that stood out the most was Mate.” She stared at Argyle, then at Jazmine. “Which one of you would like to explain?”

Argyle huffed out a breath, looked at Jazmine, then looked up at Rayne. “Yes, you heard right, she is my mate.”

“I didn’t know that other species had mates like werewolves, and the other were animals do. How is it she is your mate since you are a vampire and she

“The Moon Goddess is tricky. All creatures of the supernatural are her subjects.” Jazmine spoke to Rayne with a soothing tone in her voice.

Her tone, and the extra information, surprised Rayne. This was something she had always wondered but never quite knew who to ask. “So, if you two are mates, what is the issue here, Argyle?”

“She is my second mate.” He glared at Jazmine,

“Wait a damn minute! You have a mate already? Does the Moon Goddess give people two mates?”

A look of sadness crossed his features before he sighed again. “No, I had a mate. She died long ago.

“Because of the way she died, the love you still have for her, you do not want another mate.” Sadness crept into Jazmine’s voice, “The Moon Goddess rarely gives second chance mates, maybe she thought you had mourned long enough.”

“Stay out of my head, witch,” Argyle practically hissed at her.

“I thought when half of a mated pair dies, the other half dies as well?” Rayne spoke her thoughts out loud, then looked at Argyle with an apologetic look.

“It is rare, but it happens, however not all supernaturals are quite the same so it differs between species.” Jazmine stood from the table, walked to stand next to Rayne. “If this complicates things too much for you, I will look elsewhere for employment.”

“It doesn’t complicate things for me. Parker is very impressed with your mixology skills, so if the two of you can either work this out or ignore it and still do your jobs, then let’s get this night started.” She looked directly at Argyle as she spoke the last part.

“I will be at the door all night, just stay out of my way, then we will have no problems.” He stood from the table, marched to the front door of the bar yanking it open, then walked outside letting the door slam behind him.

“Well Jasmine, as first impressions go, that was a big punch.” Rayne let out a small sigh after Argyle was outside.

“You may call me Minny or faz. I am sorry that this has become so hard.”

“It will work itself out, but I request that be done off the clock. Parker gave yo

you a tour of

of the storeroom, correct?

“Yes, he was very thorough with showing me where the liquor is kept. He is very devoted to this place and you.”

Rayne looked at her with a frown, “Let’s keep the intuition and mind reading to an emergency basis. Though, use the intuition on the customers and their orders.”

“I do not mean harm by it, sometimes the emotions are just very strong, then I see more than intended.” Jazmine smiled sheepishly.

“Noted. Alright, I will leave you to get set up. We open in ten minutes. If you have any problems, Parker is usually on the main floor throughout the night, if he is unavailable, my office is upstairs.”

“Thank you for giving me this chance……. Her pale eyes went suddenly opaque as a vision took over her mind.

Rayne looked stunned at the sight. She had known Lynn for years but had never been near when she had one of her visions. This was slightly unnerving, yet captivating to watch happen. After a minute of watching, a feeling of unease settled over her. Something bad was coming. Lynn had warned Parker of this only yesterday, now this was happening.

Well That was Unexpected

Jazmine’s eyes cleared. She looked momentarily confused but when she saw Rayne standing next to her she sighed. “Something is coming, something dark, I cannot see faces, just shadowy figures. Two of them, but they are not together. Each has a different purpose. One wishes you great harm. The other is unclear, but the darkness of guilt, sorrow, and regret cling to him. One is closer than you think.” She shook her head to clear the vision, looking at Rayne with concern.

This revelation startled Rayne. Who would want to hurt her? Was it someone she knew? Someone from her past? Questions swirled in her head about the threat that was revealed to her. Who was the other figure? Those emotions that Jazmine said he was wrapped in made her frown. Why would anyone feel any of that towards her? She had no enemies she was aware of, nor anyone that she had left behind that would want to find her to redeem their guilt……..

Sebastion.

Her rude, heartless, unwanted mate.

Could that be him? How had he found her? No one from Jade Moon even knew where she w Bridgette. Was Sebastion in Jade Moon territory when the attack happened? She shook herself from those thoughts as the bell above the door rang

went. It was a pure coincidence that she had run into signaling that they were open for business as customers walked in.

She motioned for Jazmine to head to the bar while she turned to head back to her office. Things in her life seemed to take a turn for the complicated and potentially dangerous. She would have to make time to talk to Parker, have him get in touch with Arabella, the witch who did the wards on the bar, and their home. See if there was some other form of protection that could be done to help against this coming threat.

Not knowing what was coming would drive her crazy for the rest of the night. Dread settling in the pit of her stomach, making all of her earlier happiness seem so small now. She would cling to the hope that all would be alright, that nothing would break her down again as she had been in her childhood. She was stronger now, with friends who cared for her, with people who were willing to protect her, and those who were willing to fight with her and for her if there was a battle to be fought.

With so much to lose, she was more afraid of the unknown that was coming to do her harm. She had more now than she ever did back when she was a beaten, broken down little girl. Despite that fear, she would stand her ground, not back down, and fight for those she loved. Fight for the life that she had built for herself. Fight for what she wanted her future to be, for who she wanted to become.

She would not be broken again.