Dance in the Hellfire: Paranormal Peacekeepers, #5

By Nicole Tillman

Grace and Miles have finally hit the one milestone many supernaturally gifted couples never live to see:

Their wedding.

With Grace's soul intact, Daimon behind bars in the underworld, and the Peacekeeper's reputation restored, it seems like a perfect time to tie the knot and embark on a new life together as Mr. and Mrs. O'Fallon.

That is, until the Honeymoon from Hell.

With Miles in trouble, Grace flounders to find a solution that doesn't end in bloodshed, but she's not alone.

Peacekeepers, both young and old alike, assemble at the compound, ready and willing to give their all in what could escalate to be a full-fledged war between Grace and a demon with one hell of a grudge.

The fifth and final installment in the PARANORMAL PEACEKEEPERS series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nicole Tillman
• Release date: Oct 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781540132017

Nicole Tillman

Nicole Tillman is an author who hasn't always had a love of reading. As a child, she struggled to string words together and would hide in the back of the classroom with her head down in hopes that the teacher would forget she existed. Eventually, she was introduced to a young adult series by a family friend and her love of reading bloomed. Nicole now weaves her own stories, content to lose sleep in order to write both contemporary romance and thriller/suspense novels. She lives in the Ozarks of Missouri with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. Nicole has an Associates Degree in General Studies though Missouri State University and was on her way to completing her Bachelors in Creative Writing when she decided to take a sabbatical to focus on work and her family. Now a stay at home mother, she dedicates her time to her boys, writing, and photography.

Book preview

Other Books by Nicole Tillman

Saving Mercy

Steady

One Vibrant Hue

DUPONT Series

Come Tear Me Down

Don't Make Me Look

Please Let Me Stay

HOPELESS HERITAGE Series

Secondhand Sapphire

Temporary Partner

FORCED HOME Series

Loving the Cult

Taming the Cult

PARANORMAL PEACEKEEPERS

Whisper in the Rain (Book One)

Scream in the Wind (Book Two)

Cry in the Fog (Book Three)

Sin in the Storm (Book Four)

Dance in the Hellfire (Book Five)

Dedicated to those who see, hear,

and feel things they can't always explain.

What readers are saying about the Paranormal Peacekeeper series:

Every book in this series keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Hauntingly beautiful.

One of the best series I have ever read!

Riveting and engrossing - each new installment is better than the last!

Paranormal Peacekeepers is by far the best paranormal series I have read.

Book Description

Grace and Miles have finally hit the one milestone many supernaturally gifted couples never live to see:

Their wedding.

With Grace's soul intact, Daimon behind bars in the underworld, and the Peacekeeper's reputation restored, it seems like a perfect time to tie the knot and embark on a new life together as Mr. and Mrs. O'Fallon.

That is, until the Honeymoon from Hell.

With Miles in trouble, Grace flounders to find a solution that doesn't end in bloodshed, but she's not alone.

Peacekeepers, both young and old alike, assemble at the compound, ready and willing to give their all in what could escalate to be a full-fledged war between Grace and a demon with one hell of a grudge.

––––––––

The fifth and final installment in the PARANORMAL PEACEKEEPERS series.

CHAPTER ONE

Grace

I don't want to die.

That one thought overshadowed all others as I stood in front of the full-length mirror, staring into my resolute brown eyes. As I pondered my mortality, two of my best friends fussed and over the white dress draped across my shoulders.

I don't want to die.

Death was a big part of my life, and an overbearing one at that. It was my job, my passion, my reality. When Death came swiftly, poised to steal people away, I was there when they decided to claw their way back, holy water drawn, EMF meter blazing.

Bravely, I stared the defilers of death in the face and demanded they go back where they belonged.

It wasn't easy by any means, but it was a process I understood; an undertaking I embraced. A woman who banished spirits to the realm of the dead held little fear in her heart.

Until now.

Fear of something much less threatening than death pounded at my chest, making breathing an arduous task.

I didn't have cold feet. On the contrary, they were plenty warm. But the constants I'd clung to so diligently didn't seem to matter right then.

Death is inevitable.

We're born to die.

It's an unbreakable, inescapable cycle.

Those were all things I knew to be true. Things that were not to be disputed.

But Life had a whole different set of rules. So many rules. Rules that, if broken, could alter the foundation of your beliefs, your sanity, your brittle emotions. Rules that, seeing as though I wasn't dying right then, I had to learn to abide by.

I didn't want to die, but I also didn't know how to live. Not really.

For so long, I'd kept my eyes open, waiting for the reaper to collect me. I had spent months anticipating his arrival.

But I wasn't dying. Not anymore.

Life and all its possibilities were breathing down my neck, demanding I make a choice, demanding I put one foot in front of the other and continue living so I could enjoy all it had to offer.

I didn't want to die.

For the first time since I begged the love of my life to kill me and put an end to my suffering, I finally had something to live for. It was a life-altering moment- transitioning from having a solid reason to die to having an irrefutable reason to live.

So there I was. Me. Grace Wildstone. Standing in front of a mirror, staring at my reflection, slowly trailing my fingers across the delicate antique lace of the only wedding dress I would ever wear, getting ready to marry the only man I would ever love.

Any normal person's heart would have been aflutter with excitement, and I was no different. But that excitement came with chains.

Hot ones.

Not everyone believes in souls, but I did. I did because my own had been picked apart, piece by piece, and almost destroyed. But as fate would have it, my soul finally resided inside my chest, strong, vivacious, whole... and hot.

Every morning I awoke to a fire raging inside of me. Every day I fought to ignore the heat that could never be extinguished because, unlike every other person on earth, my soul had returned from somewhere it never should have ventured.

Hell.

A crumb of hellfire had somehow managed to hitchhike its way back with my essence, filling me with flames that tangoed with my heart and waltzed with my lungs. Those flames could never truly hurt me, never grow strong enough to kill me, but they were always there, always raging.

But sometimes, like today, the pain that fire had the ability to dole out felt very real, and the pain reminded me that I was alive. That I could go on living for quite some time.

It also reminded me why I could carry on.

Because I was a fighter.

I persevered.

I braved the storm.

And in the instances I couldn't fight, couldn't persevere, I had someone on my side that did it for me.

Are you ready?

My eyes flicked across the room and landed on Violet. She nodded toward the clock on the wall, but I didn't bother glancing up at the time. Instead, I focused on the way my heart warmed in the best of ways as I took in her turquoise maxi dress and her hands filled with flowers. Red roses for me, daisies for her and Jenny.

You look beautiful, I said softly.

She dropped her hands with an irritated sigh. "Okay, one, I'm supposed to say that to you, not the other way around. And two, you're stalling. She pointed a slim finger at my face. What's the problem? Thinking about making a run for it?"

Absolutely not.

There wasn't a single thing in the world I wanted more than to be Miles' wife. A woman would have to be crazy to bypass a man who fought for her,  laughed with her, forgave her for all her shortcomings, and loved her to Hell and back.

And that's what I had in Miles. I felt his love for me all the way down to my molten soul, and I wasn't about to give that up. But thanks to all the rules of Life I was still in the process of learning, I knew that even if I chose to be with him, our future together was never a guaranteed thing.

He could be ripped away.

I could be ripped away.

Our friends, our family, our future children- they could all be ripped away without any warning whatsoever.

That was an awful thing to dread on the day I was supposed to start my new life with the person I loved, but there was no way around it. That's where my mind was when I took my bouquet and readied myself to walk down the aisle.

Holy crap... I'm about to get married.

Jenny and Violet quickly spread the train of my dress out behind me. When the music started, they set off down the aisle and I had to take a deep breath to keep from passing out. The room spun, but not in the unhealthy way I was use to.

Okay, I sighed, rolling my shoulders. I'm ready.

It's about that time, Grace.  Bodhi stepped through the doors, smoothing a hand down the front of his tuxedo jacket as he came to my side and took my arm. Last chance to run.

Tilting my head back to stare up at the church rafters, I begged my eyes to remain dry. There was no need to cry. No reason for tears.

It was a happy day and no one was running.

Nope. I'm good.

The bridal march reverberated through the chapel and the heavy oak doors opened quietly, revealing the white runner laid out especially for my service.

It was time.

Time to trust that the universe wouldn't extinguish my light before I'd done what I needed to do.

Time to embrace my mortality and come to terms with the fact that all of this, everything around me, was only temporary.

And it was time to pledge myself to the one man on earth that made me feel like living one short, doomed, pain-riddled life wasn't going to be enough.

I wanted more.

Because of Miles O'Fallon, I not only didn't want to die....

I wanted to live forever.

CHAPTER TWO

Miles

The doors swung open and... there she was. Dark eyes. Brilliant smile. White satin wrapping itself around her curves.

Mine.

I wasn't the possessive, alpha male type, but that's the one thought that dominated my brain when she slipped her arm through Bodhi's and began walking down the aisle.

Nervous?

I cut my eyes back to look at Zeke.

Not even a little bit, I answered honestly.

He has no reason to be nervous, Cole cut in. This is his happily ever after. His fairy tale ending. They're meant to be together.

As Zeke groaned and no doubt rolled his eyes, I only smiled, tracking Grace's footsteps as she inched closer and closer.

Closer to the altar. Closer to our vows. Closer to our forever.

Yes, Cole was a hopeless romantic and a little over-the-top for a guy, but he wasn't wrong.

Looking at Grace, the words 'and they lived happily ever after' didn't seem all that corny. For once, everything was as it should be and our fairy tale ending seemed within our grasp.

Finally.

Bodhi and Grace stopped walking and I stepped forward. I could smell her strawberry shampoo as I carefully transferred her hand into mine, and I realized I'd have that fragrance burned into my pillow for the rest of our lives. It was a happy thought.

Congratulations, guys. I'm happy for you.

Bodhi's usually stoic face was gone. In its place was a look of happiness. Contentment even. But that wasn't surprising. He'd seen his fair share of horrible happenings in all his years as a Peacekeeper, and it wasn't often that something good happened to us. That rarity itself was a reason enough to celebrate.

Thanks, boss.

Together, Grace and I turned away from the sparsely filled seats of the church and looked up to the woman officiating our marriage. She smiled down at us, winking as Grace leaned her head on my shoulder, then looked out over the crowd.

First off, I want to thank each and every one of you on Miles and Grace's behalf. I know it warms their hearts knowing that so many of their family and friends have made the journey to be with them on this very special day. Marlow laid a hand on both our shoulders. "I thought about speaking about love today. But then I thought otherwise. Because, even though I've known love all throughout my long life, I've never been privy to the kind of love Grace and Miles share.

When we fall in love, we all hope that we'd give our lives for our other half if given the chance. We all hope that they would do the same. We all think that, when push comes to shove, we'd be there to walk through the fires of hell or trek across the globe or give our last breath for the ones we love.

She took a deep breath, pressed a hand to her heart. I wasn't sure where she was going with this, but I liked it. I'd told her that whatever she said, I wanted it to be unlike anything she'd ever said while officiating. Because Grace and I... our love, our marriage, our past, present, and future- they were all so different from any other couple I'd ever encountered. And I wanted our wedding to be a reflection of that.

But we don't know that we would do that, do we? Because, in most cases, we're not tested that way. The universe very rarely throws a situation so dire at the regular John and Jane. But these two, Grace and Miles, their connection is special. For those of you who know them well, you know that they've had to fight. From the very beginning, it has been conflicts and struggles and obstacles bombarding them around every corner... but now?

She paused, and I turned away from her to watch Grace. Her eyes were misting, a sure sign Marlow's words were affecting her. Her deep red lips were pulled up in a tight smile and her chest rose up and down steadily as she listened.

I squeezed her hand and she turned to face me.