Hex Me With Your Best Shot: Magic and Mayhem Universe: Hex Drive, #4

By Renee George

When you lust after a bear and start a deadly affair, it's time to practice safe hex.

 

Vampire Dee Delgados has a huge problem in the form of a seven foot, four-hundred-pound bear named Time Bomb. The hunky bear Shifter thinks Dee smells like mushrooms, and, for her, he smells like sweet blood and wine. 

 

Unfortunately, vampire blood is highly lethal for Shifters, and one drop can end their relationship before it even begins. So what's a love sick vamp to do when she has the mating blues? 

 

Run away, of course.

 

But when Dee goes on a year-long mission for her king that takes her all the way to the Bering Sea, the job puts her in the crosshairs of a heartless dragon and lands the bear Shifter she loves in a fight to the death. 

 

Dee, Time Bomb, and the RMCA team will need their wits and a lot of luck if they want to best the dragon on his own turf. At least, they'll give it their hex shot.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Renee George
• Release date: Oct 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393930587

Renee George

Join Renee's Newsletter and never miss another new release! Sign Up Here--> https://www.renee-george.com/about-renee/newsletter About Renee: USA Today Bestselling author Renee George writes paranormal mysteries and romances because she loves all things whodunit, Otherworldly, and weird. Also, she wishes her pittie, the adorable Kona, could talk. Or at least be more like Scooby-Doo and help her unmask villains at the haunted house up the street. When she’s not writing about mystery-solving werecougars or the adventures of a hapless psychic living among shapeshifters, she is preyed upon by stray kittens who end up living in her house because she can't say no to those sweet, furry faces. (Someone stop telling them where she lives!) She resides in Mid-Missouri with her family and spends her non-writing time doing really cool stuff...like watching TV and cleaning up dog poop. Connect with Renee George! Join Renee's Rebel Readers (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/reneesunusualsuspects/ Like "Renee George, Author" fan page: https://www.facebook.com/authorreneegeorge Follow Renee on Twitter: @reneegeorge2008 Website: http://www.renee-george.com Instagram: author_renee_george Author Note: For readers who have enjoyed reading my books and taken the time to share their love in reviews, thank you so much! I can't tell you how much it means to me to know my work is valued. Hugs, Renee George

Book preview

Chapter One

The road to En-dor is easy to tread

For Mother or yearning Wife.

There, it is sure, we shall meet our Dead

As they were even in life.

—Rudyard Kipling, En-dor ,1919

---

What in the fuck does En-dor have to do with dragons? —Dee Delgados, vampire and all-around kick ass chick.

—Dee Delgados—

At the wedding reception for Drag Jones and my dad, dying for a drink…

The wedding ceremony between my father, Baz Delgados, heir to the throne of the Ravenblood Clan, and Drag Jones, the pink-haired witch, had gone off without any real pushback in the community. Of course, there were only a handful of us who knew the truth about my new step-mommy. It turned out, she was not just a formidable witch, she was also a necromancer for the dead—and the undead. That was a scary as Hell power.

Baz and Drag had wanted to leave the Ravenblood compound in the Green Mountains of Arkansas as soon as they'd said their I do's, but King Legabute had insisted on a reception after the nuptials to solidify the treaty between the Midwest vampires and Baba Yaga's people.

I wasn't fool enough to think it was the king's only reasoning. My father's coupling with a witch had made him formidable. I'm certain the reception was a little bit of a power play. Legabute had nothing to worry about. My father, who had been the seventh in line to the throne before the Saturday dudes, a group of vampire killing necromancers, took out five of his brothers and sisters, was happy not being in charge. He didn't want power. Baz's motivation had always been about keeping the people he loved safe, and right now, that was a party of two, his new wife and me, his only child.

The reception hall was wall to wall with vampires, witches, warlocks, and even a few Shifters, creating a tension thick enough to be cut with a cake knife. Even so, everyone was on their best behavior. Legabute and Baba Yaga had laid down the law, and there wasn't a single person in the place prepared to face the consequences of crossing the two of them.

Even so, my past experience as a security specialist on my father's team made it hard to relax, as I was constantly waiting for the shit to hit the fan. Quite frankly, though, the only Shifter I was worried about was my new stepmom's best friend, a berserker bear named Time Bomb. A ridiculous name for a ridiculously gorgeous man. He wasn't a threat to anything but my sanity, though.

I'd spent a lot of time with him, in groups, since we'd taken down the Sabbatianoi, or as Drag liked to call them, the Saturday dudes. The group of first sons, all born on Saturdays, had somehow gained necromancy over the undead. We’d managed to stave them off, mostly thanks to Drag, but they were still dangerous enemies.

I'd faced a lot of foes over the years, but my unwanted attraction to Time Bomb might be the one enemy I couldn’t conquer. Mostly, because I liked him a lot and the big lug wouldn't stop saying I smelled like mushrooms. Even after I'd spritzed myself with enough citrus spray to choke a horse, or in his case, a bear Shifter!

I'd told him he smelled like buttercups, but the problem was, Time Bomb had no clue that the scent of buttercups was acrid and bitter, so the insult had been lost on him. What I hadn't told him was that he actually smelled like blood and red wine, an intoxicating aroma that made me want to sink my fangs into him anytime he was near.

Unfortunately, my scanning of the room had caused me to make direct eye contact with King Legabute, and now he was headed in my direction. I stifled a groan.

Legabute, a slender man with high cheekbones and a large aquiline nose, stopped about a foot away from me. Vampires had extraordinary hearing, so he spoke quietly. Are you enjoying yourself, my dear?

It's a party, uncle, I replied.

His lips spread into a thin smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. It is indeed. He nodded curtly. I'd like to speak to you, Desma.

I kept my face calm and mimicked his smile. Desma was my given name, but I hated the familiarity with which he used it. Of course, uncle.

He ushered me to an isolated corner of the large alcove overlooking one of the lakes on the Ravenblood property. I fought the urge to flee. There was no need. Legabute was a dangerous man, but he saw me as an asset, not an enemy.

When he was certain we were at a proper distance away from prying eyes, he took my hand. I need you to do me a favor, Desma.

If I can, I said.

He patted my hand. It will only require you to leave your father's service for a short while. Not that it should matter since he's taking a year off for his honeymoon.

The truth was, Drag was pregnant, and my Dad was taking a year off so they could have their baby in peace without a throng of vampires demanding to know how in the hell she got pregnant in the first place.

How short? I asked.

A year, maybe two. He shrugged dismissively. A drop in the bucket for our kind.

I wasn't old enough to feel the same way about time, but Legabute was close to five hundred years old. That's a big ass drop.

His smile widened. Granted, but it's important.

Important enough to take me away from Baz's service? My father won't like it. He's put me in charge of security while he goes on his honeymoon.

You have a talent for finding lost objects, he will understand. I need someone I can trust, and after this latest attempt on all our lives, I know you can be discreet.

So, this is something that you don't want my father to know about. The ask was shady. My uncle knew it and so did I.

This is something I'm not sure I'm ready for anyone to know about, yet. He stared off into the moonlit night, his green eyes a mirror to the stars. Not even you.

I can't say yes if I don't know what the mission is.

He turned to me, his expression intense. When you say yes, you'll know. And on that ominous reply, he let go of my hand and slipped back inside with the crowd.

I stayed a few moments longer until the scent of blood and wine snuck up behind me.

Hello, Bear, I said without turning around.

Care to dance? The low timber of his voice sent a warm shiver over my skin. This close, his scent made my fangs drop.

I glanced up at him. His wavy brown hair skimmed the top of his wide shoulders. His arms were the size of my waist and his legs as thick as tree trunks. He stared back at me, his eyes the color of burnt sugar, as he licked his lower lip and waited for my response. Cripes. If I was still talking to the Goddess, I'd have thanked her profusely for creating such a fine specimen. Or maybe I'd curse her. It was hard being served a dessert you weren't allowed to eat.

Well, he said, raising a brow. You gonna dance with me?

I don't know, I replied, upping his raised brow and raising both of mine. Are you sure my fungus odor isn't too overpowering?

Nope, he grinned. Just about right.

I grinned then shook my head as he offered me his hand. I took it because there was so much about the Shifter that I didn't want to resist.

Time Bomb was surprisingly light on his feet for such a giant man. I was tall, five feet eleven inches, but the bear Shifter towered over me as he encircled me in his large arms. I'd dated a few humans in the past, I mean, I was over a hundred years old after all, and their body temperature ran a few degrees higher than my own, but Time Bomb radiated the kind of heat that warmed me from the inside.

Without thinking it through, I rested my cheek on his chest. His hand slid down my back, his long fingers resting at the curve of my hip. I bit my lower lip, as my body reacted to his touch. As a vampire, I didn't have to breathe, but I let out a stuttering breath.

Time Bomb chuckled. Low, sexy, knowing.

I turned my chin up toward him and took in his caramel brown eyes. He stared at me with such a possessive passion that the rest of the room

Reviews for Hex Me With Your Best Shot

[shannon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun story with a good blend of emotions and humor.