Ransomed in the Midlife (Fanged After Forty Book 9)(Paranormal Cozy Mystery)(Paranormal Women's Midlife Fiction)

Ransomed in the Midlife Fanged After Forty Book 9 A Life After Magic Mystery USA Today Bestselling Authors Lia Davis and L.A. Boruff Ransomed in the Midlife © Copyright 2023 Lia Davis & L.A. Boruff Published by The Phantom Pen PO Box 224 Middleburg, FL 32050 DavisRaynesPublishing.com Cover by Glowing Moon Designs Formatting by The Phantom Pen All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. CONTENTS 1. Hailey 2. Hailey 3. Luke 4. Hailey 5. Hailey 6. Hailey 7. Hailey 8. Luke 9. Hailey 10. Hailey 11. Hailey 12. Hailey 13. Luke 14. Hailey 15. Hailey 16. Hailey Life After Magic World Other Hilarious Fiction From L.A. and Lia About Lia Davis About L.A. Boruff RANSOMED IN THE MIDLIFE FANGED AFTER FORTY, BOOK 9 Ransom has been kidnapped. Let me say it again. Ransom has been kidnapped! Months have passed, and Luke and Hailey are no closer to finding Ransom than they were on the day he disappeared. They’ve called in every favor, left no stones unturned, and yet still no Ransom. No Pete. No Izora. Hailey is worried about Luke. He’s withdrawn into himself, getting more and more depressed with every day that goes by without his mate. When all seems lost, Kendra comes through with a spell to help Luke remember a very important detail. Once he does, oh boy, look out. All Hell breaks loose. They find something all right. It’s not Ransom, but it’s big. Unfortunately, it distracts them from the most important thing in the world: finding Ransom. Eventually, an unlikely set of heroes arrive with their mystical witch’s broom to help them locate Ransom. The question is, once they find him, what do they do about Pete, Izora, and the big distraction they’ve been dealing with? Luke will find a way, with Hailey by his side. He’ll take them apart piece by piece if he has to. They won’t get away with taking his mate. 1 HAILEY "Who're you young'uns?" Young’uns? I stared through the portal Kendra created, open-mouthed, at an old woman sitting on a wooden rocking chair in front of a worn-down cabin. The elderly Appalachian witch, presumably Bertha, clutched a mason jar of a clear liquid in one hand and a shotgun in the other. Given the context clues, I was fairly sure the clear liquid was some sort of alcohol. Moonshine? Did people still make that? I had no idea, but the idea was quite comical. Her dress looked like something out of the Beverly Hillbillies. Whoa, I hadn't thought about that old TV show in a long time. That little tidbit definitely didn’t qualify me as a young’un. Bertha's voice sounded like gravel as she pumped the shotgun one-handed. "Got no business messin' 'round here." Howard had taught me a thing or two about guns in our married days, and still, I didn't think I could handle a shotgun one-handed like that. If I wasn’t mistaken, it wasn’t possible to cock one with only one hand because of a little safety lever. The old Appalachian witch with her modded shotgun. Not scary at all. "Wait!" we shouted simultaneously, our voices overlapping in a desperate attempt to assure her that we meant no harm. "Please, don't shoot," Kendra pleaded, stepping through the portal with Janice, our new resident hunter. She was pretty cool, so we didn't mind so much having a hunter around. Some of the older vampires were wary of her, but that would get better with time. Jax, Luke, and I stepped forward, our eager curiosity driving us on. As we moved, something felt off in the air, like a hidden force pushing us back. We strained against it, but no matter how we tried, we couldn't move forward an inch. A magical barrier. Against vampires? Had to be, since Kendra and Janice didn’t have the same problem as we did, walking through the portal unhindered. Suddenly, Grim and Nash collided with us from behind. As Kendra and Janice walked toward Bertha, I gawked at the state of her yard. It was like stepping back in time, with antiques in various stages of decay scattered about. Even some old, valuable-looking cars were tucked away among the overgrown grass, their rusted bodies telling stories of days gone by. Some things were likely valuable but whoa. "Bertha, we're not here to hurt you," Janice said gently. "We need your help." "Help, you say?" Bertha squinted at Kendra and Janice as she set her jar of moonshine on an old, weathered table. Picking up a gnarled wooden cane, she stood and leaned on it with one hand, still clutching her shotgun in the other. "What makes you think I can help, and why can't them vamps come through?" Bertha asked, eyeing us warily. A second later her features shifted to something close to recognition like she remembered why. How'd she know we were vampires? Pearl had told us Bertha was a witch, but that was pretty cunning. "Um..." I pressed against the invisible barrier again. Nothing. "There's a friend of ours, Ransom, who's been kidnapped, and we've been searching for him for months. We heard you might have something that could help us find him." "Another hunter friend of ours, Pearl Walker, mentioned you might have an artifact that could help