Heathens in the Shadows

Heathens in the Shadows Creatures of Scales & Savagery K.J. Jackson Copyright © K.J. Jackson, 2023 This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any forms, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author. First Edition: May 2023 ISBN: 978-1-940149-82-0 http://www.kjjackson.com ~ I found you and you found me—let’s not lose each other! Be sure to sign up for my VIP List for news of my next releases, sales and freebies. ~ Don’t miss my other books Fantasy Romance Creatures of Scales & Savagery The Way You Break Tear the World Down Heathens in the Shadows A Dynasty of Death ~ Historical Romance If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my historical romances—many of my fantasy readers like my historicals as well, as they all still have my flair for steamy angst and drama. Each is a stand-alone story and they can be read in any order (here they are in order of publication and series): Hold Your Breath Stone Devil Duke, currently free! Unmasking the Marquess My Captain, My Earl Lords of Fate Worth of a Duke Earl of Destiny Marquess of Fortune Lords of Action Vow Promise Oath Revelry’s Tempest Of Valor & Vice Of Sin & SanctuaryOf Risk & Redemption To Capture a Rogue, A Logan’s Legends Novella To Capture a Warrior, A Logan’s Legends Novella The Devil in the Duke Valor of Vinehill The Iron Earl The Wolf Duke The Steel Rogue The Christmas Countess Box of Draupnir The Heart of an Earl The Blood of a Baron The Soul of a Rogue Exile Exiled Duke Wicked Exile Dangerous Exile Guardians of the Bones Discreet Destruction Shadows of Scandal A Savage Deception Wicked Reckoning Dedication – For my favorite Ks . Contents { Chapter 1 } { Chapter 2 } { Chapter 3 } { Chapter 4 } { Chapter 5 } { Chapter 6 } { Chapter 7 } { Chapter 8 } { Chapter 9 } { Chapter 10 } { Chapter 11 } { Chapter 12 } { Chapter 13 } { Chapter 14 } { Chapter 15 } { Chapter 16 } { Chapter 17 } { Chapter 18 } { Chapter 19 } { Chapter 20 } { Chapter 21 } { Chapter 22 } { Chapter 23 } { Chapter 24 } { Chapter 25 } { Chapter 26 } { Chapter 27 } { Chapter 28 } { Chapter 29 } { Chapter 30 } { Chapter 31 } { Chapter 32 } { Chapter 33 } { Chapter 34 } { Chapter 35 } { Chapter 36 } { Chapter 37 } { Chapter 38 } { Chapter 39 } { Chapter 40 } { Chapter 41 } { Chapter 42 } { Chapter 43 } { Chapter 44 } { Chapter 45 } { Chapter 1 } They were born with extraordinary powers, these diversions of evolution. Panthenites and malefics. Then humans made them into gods. Worshipped them. Time passed, as did their favor as gods. But they never disappeared. They never lost their powers. ~ Skye ~ A gargle of air popped through Charlotte’s mouth. Her last breath. “For fuck’s sake, Skye, just do it, dammit!” Anguish cut through Triaten’s words. “She needs it quiet.” Aiden’s voice, small, not booming, floated away from me. I pulled tighter into the ball I’d wrapped myself in, blocking out the red haze surrounding me, the fury, the words floating about like smoky wisps in the air. “What the fuck, Aiden? Charlotte’s dying and Skye needs it quiet?” Triaten screamed, sounding so far away. “She can do it, Tri, just shut the hell up. Do it now, Skye. Charlotte is dying. You can do it. Just send it back.” Aiden’s demanding whisper faded to silence. A long breath, almost of relief slipped through Charlotte’s lips. I could hear it so clearly. Death. Her breath gone. Her body done. Spinning, my body coiled as my arm flew through the air, my fist aimed at Triaten’s jaw. Yanking back on the furious momentum in my arm, muscles ripping, I stopped the punch a hair away from his face. Frozen. Both of us. Both of us standing in the study at the ranch, we stared at each other. It was the day Aiden and I had come back from Mustique, and I was smack dab in the middle of decking Triaten for sleeping with my sister. The exact moment in time I was aiming for. Neither of us could look away from the other, the enormity of what I’d just done sinking in. I’d erased the massacres. Triaten orientated himself to the time shift faster than I did and he jumped at me, wrapping his arms around me and crushing me to him as he yanked me off the ground. “You did it. Thank the saints. You did it.” The relief in his words shook, vibrating against me as he smothered me. “Thank you. Thank you.” “Skye.” Aiden yanked open the study door and charged in. Triaten reluctantly released me, only to pass the manhandling to Aiden. Aiden grabbed my shoulders and spun me toward him. He bent over so he was eye level with me, searching my face. Concern angled his brows inward. “Are you okay?” “I’m fine.” I rubbed my forehead, my brain having a hard time catching up with the here and now—with the shift back in time. I was the one that actually had control over the time shifts, but they were disconcerting to me. How Triaten and Aiden took a time flip so in stride, I didn’t know. When the reality of the present moment actually manifested in my mind, I exhaled a pitiful breath. “Oh hell, Shiv.” “Shiv? She’s