Buried Alive

  The faery realm is a lot more dangerous than you’d assume.

  Athera and Grave have to enter the faery realm in search of the weapon that will kill, but Grave is injured, and to save his life, Athera does something that will have long-lasting consequences.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Buried Alive

  Copyright © 2016 Evi Asher

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-0970-8

  Cover art by Angela Waters

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

  Look for us online at:

  www.eXtasybooks.comorwww.devinedestinies.com

  Smashwords Edition

  Buried Alive

  Eternals Book Eight

  Buried Mini Series Part Two

  By

  Evi Asher

  Dedication

  For Willo Lilly. You are my morning sunshine and my moonlight at night. You are the best daughter any mother could hope for. You are my blessing.

  Chapter One

  Excitement bubbled through Athera’s body, similar to the bubbles in champagne she’d once tried. Faeries! She’d always wanted to meet the fae, but she tamped down the feeling. She didn’t want to come across like the utter newbie that she was. A girl had to have a bit of the cool factor going on, especially in front of the guy she was gaga over.

  No really, did you just have that thought?

  Athera wanted to laugh at herself. She shook her head instead and decided to be practical.

  “What is the fairy realm like?” she asked Josy.

  “If you want to survive it, you will not call anyone you meet a fairy,” the other woman supplied.

  Sighing, Athera sank into a chair in the dining nook. “Are you about to tell me that faeries are worse than vampires?”

  “Very much so,” Grave answered. He was bent over pulling something out of the cupboard under the counter.

  Athera hadn’t noticed until he spoke. Now, she found herself staring at a backside that could make a woman feel the need to compose a sonnet. She sighed in dreamy contentment and balanced her chin on her palms, determined to enjoy the view of Grave’s gorgeous posterior.

  Josy started laughing and Grave stood up to put supplies down on the counter.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  A quick death stare in Josy’s direction made the witch swallow back her laughter and shrug. “I’m nervous about going into the fae realm,” Althera said. “I know the fae are a bit... uptight.”

  “Understatement,” was Grave’s taciturn reply as he bent again to haul something else out the cupboard.

  “Either you are both trying to kill me with suspense, or you think it’s fun to scare me half to death. Spill it already. What is so bad about the fairies—sorry—the fae?”

  Grave looked at Josy. “You explain while I pack.”

  Josy pulled out a chair at the table where Athera was sitting and sat down. “They are more sensitive than the vampires. The smallest thing can be taken as an insult—from the mispronunciation of a name to the way you hold your utensils during a meal.”

  Athera frowned. “That bad? I’m sure you are exaggerating.”

  “She isn’t,” Grave said as he passed the table carrying a box of tins. He left the cabin to go deposit the box in the jeep.

  “So that’s why Grave is packing every tin food in the cupboard? So we don’t have to have dinner with anyone?”

  Josy laughed. “Probably.” She rolled her eyes. “Who knows how that reaper of yours thinks?”

  Embarrassed by her obvious attraction for Grave, Athera felt her cheeks heat.” He’s not mine,” she rushed out, only to see Josy’s eyebrows rise.

  “Really? You’re sticking to that?” Josy asked.

  Athera laughed, about to admit her deep and unadulterated lustiness where Grave was concerned when he walked back into the cabin, stopping her before she could utter a word.

  He’d had his chance. He’d made it clear he wasn’t interested. You can’t make someone want you. So Athera slammed her teeth closed, cringing when they jarred her. She got up.

  She’dfind out about the fae later, but right now she needed a distraction. She was uncomfortable in her skin. She’d been feeling it for the past few days, but it hadn’t been all that noticeable. Today was different. She was probably anxious from all the high drama—slash—trauma she’d been through in the vampire court.

  “What can I carry?” she asked as she made her way into the kitchenette area.

  Grave motioned toward some five-gallon water bottles as he walked past, carrying another box of tin foods.

  Athera went to the kitchen and hoisted up two of the bottles. He hadn’t given her something light to carry, so at least he didn’t think she was a wimp.

  “Are we planning on cleaning out the whole cabin?” she asked as she got to the jeep.

  “Pretty much,” Grave confirmed as he took out a box to fit the other box in better, then replaced the first box.

  “Will we be able to take the jeep into the fae realm?”

  “We are full of questions, aren’t we?”

  He glanced over his shoulder at her, but there was a small smile pulling at his lips. So Athera knew she hadn’t reached the irritate-the-hell-out-of-him stage yet.

  “The only way to learn is to be inquisitive.” Athera lifted her chin, mentally daring him to argue with her logic.

  “Who said that?”

  “I did.”

  Grave surprised her by laughing. “You have a point, and yes, we will be able to take the jeep into the fae realm. They allow technology, actually thrive with technology. Some of the best-selling tech in the world isfae technology.”

  This trip was going to be interesting. In Athera’smind, the faewere pure magic, dressed like something out of a fantasy novel, similar to the medieval era with knights and maidens. The way Grave was describing them, she was half expecting flying cars.

  “Are we ready? I don’t want to stay here much longer. It’s going to be dark soon,” Josy called out from the door of the cabin.

  “We are ready,” Grave confirmed as he shut the back of the jeep.

  Josy pulled the cabin door closed and came to the car. “We’ll have to stop and get some clothes and things before we go through the realm gate.”

  “Where is the realm gate?” Grave asked as he pulled open the driver’s side door and got in.

  Josy pulled open one of the back doors, leaving Ath to take the passenger seat. She was happy about that—riding in the back tended to give her motion sickness. “Yes, I’m curious, too. Are we going to have to drive to the other side of the country?”

  “No, the nearest gate—because, people, there is more than one,” Josy said in a sarcastic tone, “is in Virginia.”

  Athera only half heard what Josy had saidbecause in that moment she had a shoc
king realization. She knew she had something she would have to do. “The moon is nearly full.”

  “What does that have to do with Virginia?” Josy asked and even Grave looked over at Athera with a question in his expression as he started the engine and reversed onto the dirt track that was more an animal trail than a road.

  “I don’t have Trinity near, so unless you can knock me out for the duration of the full moon, you need to get me to the ocean.” The certainty had formed into a solid ball of panic in Athera’s abdomen. She didn’t have a land-friendly alter ego like Scarlet or Angelica. She needed vast quantities of water to let her beast free unless Trinity was near, in which case Trinity would put a whammy on Athera that kept her creature subdued for the duration of the full moon, much like the elders in the phoenix realm had done.

  “Do you know a spell to help me?”

  Josy frowned. “I’m not sure what you are talking about?”

  “She’s a phoenix, Josy. She needs to transform to her animal state with the full moon.”

  “Ohhhhhh,” Josy said, elongating the word. “Sorry, it’s not my area of expertise.”

  Athera turned in her seat to face Grave. “Please, get me to the ocean, and do it before the full moon rises.”

  He looked at her with a thoughtful expression before nodding. “I’ll make sure you get to the water. Don’t worry. Okay?”

  He put the jeep into gear and pulled off.

  For some reason, his reassurance worked. The tight ball of panic subsided, giving Athera enough room to chastise herself for not thinking through this problem before she left Outsiders Inc to come on this stupid quest.

  * * * *

  Grave glanced over to his left. Athera was sleeping with her head leaned against the cool glass of the window. He reached over and moved a strand of her hair off her face, thinking she looked so peaceful in her sleep, but still held that touch of what made her Athera—that quick witted edge.

  A glance to the back seat confirmed that Josy was curled up like a cat and breathing evenly in sleep. The jeep was filled with the sounds of a car engine and the kind of quiet you only got when women were sleeping. The tense knot in his shoulders relaxed as he rolled his head on his neck and stretched as much as he could in the confines of the driver’s seat.

  He calculated that the drive to the entrance to the fae realm would take about seven hours—give or take an hour, and he didn’t want to do it in one day. It would be too much, and once they were in the fae realm, there would be no time for rest. In its own way, the fae realm was more dangerous than the vampire court. They had to stay under the proverbial radar, find what they were looking for and get out before they were noticed. Having a phoenix as a traveling companion was proving to be more difficult than he’d first thought.

  They were going to do the trip to the entrance of the fae realm in two parts.

  The first was to stop in a good-sized town on the way to the coast, so they could pick up a few changes of clothing and some warm stuff, too. Everything they had taken with them into the vampire court had been left there in their rush to escape the King and his manipulations.

  Once they were fully supplied and stocked up, he was going to find a nice quiet beach so that Athera could give into her moon hunger and let her beast free.

  Grave glanced back over at the female who fascinated, infuriated and frustrated him in equal measures. He wondered what kind of sea creature she turned into and had to laugh when he had the sudden mental image of a Kraken rearing out of the water.

  Athera shifted in her sleep, so he cut off his laugh, but a smile remained on his lips.

  No, she was probably some cute sea mammal, like a dolphin or a sea otter.

  He could ask her straight out when she woke up, but he was looking forward to the surprise. He was willing to bet he was spot on with her animal alter ego. Atherahad to be a dolphin. Nothing else seemed to fit.

  * * * *

  Grave’s voice penetrated the fog of dreams that held Athera captive. “Wake up, sleeping beauties.”

  She didn’t feel the vibration of the engine, so the jeep must be parked, but she didn’t want to wake up. There was a crick in her neck demanding her attention and a rumble in her stomach telling her she was hungry, and it was easier to sleep than deal with the vague discomfort.

  Grave muttered something about waking comatose patients, then ordered, “Wake up, wenches. We have shopping to do.”

  “What? Shopping?” A sleepy-voiced mumble from the back seat made Athera grin. It wasn’t surprising that Josy liked to shop. Then again, every woman liked to shop on some level. It just depended on what they were shopping for.

  “Gah,” Josy complained, and Athera turned to see the other female looking at herself in the rearview mirror. “Can we find a restroom or a motel first? I need a shower, a soak and about a ton of makeup. Not to mention some clothes that haven’t been through vampire hell and come out the other side in tatters.”

  The look on Grave’s face made Athera bark out a laugh. He looked so frustrated and hopeless at the same time.

  “You look fine, Josy. Let’s get some fresh clothes first.”

  “Fine.” Josy opened the back door of the jeep and got out. “I pray I don’t run into anyone I know, though. That would be a disaster. Can you imagine the gossip?” Josy made her voice go high pitched and nasal. “Oh, did you see Josy? She’s supposed to be a fashion icon, but she’s walking around in tattered chic.”

  Josy nodded. “Yep, I can hear them gossiping already.” She gave a shake of her head.

  Athera was sure the excessive vanity was a deliberate distraction. Josy seemed to have an ability to pick up on emotions and stress, and in her way, she was trying to distract from the tension. It was working, and Ath would call Josy her friend forever because of the attempt.

  She opened her door and got out. Grave was already waiting for them at the front of the jeep, and she took a moment to look around.

  They were in a parking lot of a mall, right next to the main road. She could smell the brine of the ocean in the air and she closed her eyes for a moment, drawing the scent deep into her lungs.

  She’d never been near an ocean in the phoenix realm, and once she’d come here, it had been impractical to spend the full moon in the ocean, though she had gotten to do it once.

  The freedom.

  There was no feeling like shucking off her human shell and turning into her alter ego, cruising through the deep, a predator from which prey swam as fast as they could.

  The sea breeze caught and lifted her hair, so Athera opened her eyes, stretched out the crick in her neck and hustled to get to Grave and Josy so they wouldn’t have to wait for her any longer.

  They were through the door of the mall a few minutes later, and Athera made sure to get something high in sugar and low in nutritional value as they went through the food court.

  Grave raised an eyebrow but said nothing as she took a bite with relish.

  Josy wasn’t so quiet about it. “Oh, girl. That is going to stick to your hips like glue and give you curves.”

  Athera was surprised when Grave opened his mouth to say, “Leave her curves alone. I like her curves.”

  Grave must have realized what he’d said, because he shook his head with a sigh, turned and walked into the nearest clothing store.

  Josy gave Athera an astonished look, which Athera mirrored. Hearing that from Grave... But he didn’t want her. He’d made it clear, so why were her curves suddenly of importance to him?

  “Talk about mixed signals,” Athera muttered.

  Josy laughed. It was a merry tinkling sound. “What’s mixed about his signals? Grave wants you in a bad way.”

  Athera made a rude sound. “Nope.”

  “Yep, and what’s more, he is having trouble resisting you. Keep pushing, girl and you’ll bag that stag.”

  Athera felt her own laughter bubble up her throat. “Bag that stag? Really, Josy?”

  She was still laughing when Josy followed
her into the store.

  “I’m right, and when you have your first girl, you have to name her after me,” Josy informed her.

  Athera shook her head and moved to where Grave was going through winter jackets.

  Josy was delusional, because Grave had made his position clear, and Ath loved herself enough not to throw herself at the male—well, any more than she had already.

  Chapter Two

  The Creature’s eyes opened and he felt momentarily disorientated as he tried to remember where he was.

  Ah, yes, he was in the deep underground in the pits of Nexanthon’s new earthly home, where his master had summoned him.

  The Creature sat up, looking around the cell that was his. Liquid glistened on the bare rock of the walls. It was as if the earth itself was weeping because Nexanthon had awoken.

  He felt Nexanthon’s tug on his mind again and stood, because the next tug would be akin to having his fingernails pulled with pliers.

  The Creature knew this from experience.

  He walked down the tunnel toward the area Nexanthon had claimed as his throne room and tried not to smell the rot around him. There should be no reason for the smell, since there was nothing rotting, but the whole cave smelled like fresh death and liquefying corpses.

  The Creature shuddered, then tried to suppress the motion. It would not do to show his disgust for his situation in front of Nexanthon. The Creature was no longer free. He was no longer a person. He had become Nexanthon’s Creature, so he no longer thought of himself as someone. No, he had no name. He was The Creature. That was as it should be.

  To be swallowed by the utter evil that was Nexanthon meant the—the Creature—deserved no name.