Beyond the Mist

By Robin T. Popp

Haunted by her past and reeling from her sister's murder, Jenna Renfield thinks a cruise is just what she needs to get away from all her troubles - including gorgeous, but irritating Dave Runningbear who seems to have nothing better to do with his life than have fun and chase women. Not that he chases her, of course. She’s glad to be the exact opposite of the women who normally fill his bed. One day, if she keeps telling herself that, she’ll actually believe it.

When Dave learns that Jenna ignored his warnings about the dangers of traveling alone, he slips aboard the ship and stows away in her cabin. He’s hoping that a little time alone will help her see past his playboy image to the man he really is. Maybe then, he can convince her that she’s a woman worth loving – and not just for a single night.

Unfortunately, love may have come too late for them because they soon discover they are trapped on a ghostly cruise ship and death is its destination. Can they find a way to escape before it carries them beyond the mist?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robin T. Popp
• Release date: Mar 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310237720

Robin T. Popp

USA Today Bestselling author Robin T. Popp has built a reputation of delivering highly sensual, action-packed reads. Three-time RT Bookclub Reviewers’ Choice finalist, she is best known for Too Close to the Sun and her Night Slayer series (Out of the Night, Seduced by the Night, Tempted by the Night, and Lord of the Night) but she also contributed to the Immortals series (The Darkening, The Haunting and Beyond the Mist (part of The Reckoning)).Weaned on Star Trek and science fiction stories, she's now exploring "strange new worlds" of her own creation --a trip she has thoroughly enjoyed.Read more about Robin's books at www.robintpopp.com

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BEYOND THE MIST

By Robin T. Popp

Copyright 2016 Robin T. Popp

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. The only exception is short excerpts or the cover image in reviews.

Please be a leading force in respecting the right of authors and artists to protect their work. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Chapter 1

Do you want some help? Jenna Renfield asked. I know sometimes the longer words get to be a little tricky.

Dave Runningbear didn’t bother to look up from his Iron Man: Legacy of Doom comic book. He lounged sideways in the recliner with one leg draped casually over the arm. We can’t all be scholars like you, Jenna.

I’m not a scholar. I just happen to read books that don’t have pictures in them. She turned her attention back to scrubbing the kitchen counter. How come you didn’t go with Mai and Nick to the party? I know you were invited.

He shrugged and kept reading, leaving her to conclude that Mai and Nick had left Dave to babysit her; not wanting her to be alone after she’d just lost her sister.

You don’t have to stay with me, you know. I’m not a child.

He lowered his comic to peer at her, his gaze slowly ravishing her body. His coppery brown eyes sparkled with amusement. Believe me. I would never mistake you for a child – ever.

Jenna had to remind herself that he didn’t mean anything by it. Flirting came as naturally to Dave as breathing.

As it happens, he continued, I didn’t go because I’d already made plans. He turned his attention back to his comic book, clearly having no intention of sharing the details of those plans with her – though she could guess.

She’d been living with Mai, Nick and Dave since before Mai and Nick were married, just over two months now, and she’d come to know Dave fairly well. A spirit walker just like Nick, he did personal protection work for Nick’s security agency. When he wasn’t off working some security assignment for the agency, he was playing host to a steady stream of female visitors, most of whom looked like they worked at the local nightclubs.

Deciding she really didn’t want to know his plans, she went back to her work in the kitchen. She’d just about finished when the intercom buzzed. Before she could even think about walking to the door to answer it, Dave flipped his comic book aside and hopped out of his chair. He moved across the room with the smooth ease of a natural athlete. His muscle shirt and loose cotton sports pants showed off his body to great advantage. He might be a jerk sometimes, but even Jenna had to admit he was hot.

He pressed the intercom button and spoke into the box. Yes?

Dave? It’s me, a bubbly female voice announced.

Come on up. He pressed the button that gave his caller access to the penthouse’s private elevator.

How nice for you, Jenna said dryly. You scheduled a play date.

Yes, I did. And if you ask real nice, I’ll let you play with us.

A threesome? she asked, pretending to be shocked.

Just you, me and Tiffany. He waggled his eyebrows at her like a silent-movie villain, coaxing a smile to her lips.

Tempting – and yet I find myself completely turned off. Sorry.

You don’t know what you’re missing, he teased just as the elevator chimed its arrival.

No. You don’t know what you’re missing. Setting down the sponge, she walked from the kitchen into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

She threw herself on the bed, fighting a sudden but familiar wave of loneliness. She missed her sister so much.

Sarah.

The name echoed in her head like a mournful cry. It was her fault Sarah was dead. If Jenna had learned how to control of her magic, she might have saved Sarah from the evil genie who’s kidnapped her. With Sarah gone, so was Jenna’s primary purpose in life. Now she faced a future that lay bleak and dismal before her.

# # #

It had been a long, full day in Ravenscroft and though the sun had gone down hours ago, the birthday celebration continued. Mai finished singing Happy Birthday, and smiled down at her godson as he grinned at the adults gathered around him. Where had the time gone? It wasn't that long ago that she and Lexi had been single and the greatest excitement in their lives was a night at the local club. One Immortal warrior, an ancient demon, a battle of apocalyptic proportions, a missing woman, a haunted apartment, an evil genie and a devilishly handsome spirit-walker later, she and Lexi were both married to the men of their dreams and Lexi had a child. Life was good.

She glanced at Nick standing beside her. As if feeling her gaze, he looked down. The sparkle in his eyes was hard to resist when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side.

What do you think? he whispered. It wouldn't be so bad having a little one running around the house.

No, it wouldn't, except we don't live in a house. We live in a large apartment, which sometimes I think we're already sharing with two children. We might want to wait a little longer before we add to that confusion.

Jenna and Dave still not getting along? Darius asked as his son devoured the slice of birthday cake Lexi had placed on the tray of his highchair.

Who can't get along with Dave? Sekhmet interrupted. He's perfectly charming.

Darius rolled his eyes at his mother. You only think that because he flirts with you.

What's this? Darius’s father asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned to his wife, a goddess once feared by many for her fiery temper. Who dares to flirt with you? Perhaps I should teach him some manners.

Sekhmet, who despite being a grandmother looked like she was twenty-something, smiled at Wesley affectionately. It is nothing, love. There is no need to be jealous. I only have eyes for you.

Wesley pulled her to him and kissed her. As I for you.

At that moment, Zach let out an irritated scream. He’d pushed his cake away and was holding both arms in the air, impatiently opening and closing his tiny fists.

All right, all right, Lexi said in a placating tone as she grabbed a cloth to wipe off the sticky remains of cake from his face and hands. Once he was reasonably clean, she lifted him out of his highchair and carried him into the family room.

The rest of the adults followed and Mai took a seat beside Nick on the couch while Sekhmet and Wesley claimed the twin recliners. Darius sat opposite his parents in a large stuffed chair.

How’s Jenna doing? Darius asked.

It's hard to know, Mai replied. I didn’t know her very well before Sarah disappeared, so I don't know what she was like before. She seems depressed and carries around a lot of guilt which she tries to hide it from the rest of us, but I think she has bad days - and worse days.

That's sad. Lexi went to perch on the arm of Darius's chair now that Zach seemed to be happily entertaining himself with his new toys. But maybe that’s why she and Dave don’t get along. He’s not exactly Mr. Sensitive.

I don’t think that’s it, Nick said. I actually think he likes her. And it’s not like Jenna is the kind to sit around and mope. She gives back as good as she gets. And while those two are at one another, she isn’t thinking about her parents or Sarah, which is why I think Dave teases her.

I know what happened to Sarah, Sekhmet said. But what happened to their parents?

Mai shot Nick a worried look before meeting the goddess's gaze. We're not sure exactly, but we think Jenna might have killed them. By accident, of course, she rushed to add. When Jenna was in the hospital in that catatonic state, Nick and I entered her dreams hoping to help her. We found her in the middle of a memory. She was a teenager arguing with her parents. They accused her of misusing her magic. She must have been drawing on her power without realizing it while they argued. When she shouted at her parents to go away, they just disappeared; vanished into thin air.

How tragic. Lexi sounded aghast.

We can't be sure that what we saw was an actual memory, Nick cautioned. All we know is that she blames herself for her parents’ and Sarah’s deaths.

I feel bad for her, Mai said. I just don’t know how to help her. She was in the hospital for so long after Sarah’s death that she lost the two jobs she was working to put Sarah through school. Right now, she’s got no income to pay for rent, food or anything else. Nick and I want to help her. After all, the genie was after me when he took Sarah by mistake. That makes us feel responsible, in a way.

Seems like you’re doing plenty to help, Sekhmet assured her. You’re letting her live with you, paying her bills while she’s out of work, making sure she eats and isn’t alone.

It’s only until she gets back on her feet, Mai said.

At that moment, Zachary tossed his toy aside. Like his father, his chest and arms were covered with tattoos. He tapped the dragon one on his young chest. As he pulled his hand away, a dragon the size of a baby alligator rose into the air and started flying about the room, emitting tiny bursts of fire from its nose that singed whatever they struck.

Mai and the others jumped