Rosie Read online

  Copyright © 2019 Caged Fantasies Publications

  Written by Jessica Cage

  Edited by There for You Editing Services

  Cover Art by Solidarity Graphics

  Book design by Inkstain Design Studio

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 9781096336204

  Thank you for picking up a copy of Rosie and continuing the journey with the Djinn Rebellion Cast! Things are getting really heated for the team! As a show of my gratitude, and excitement to have you as a reader, I have a special gift waiting at the end of this book!

  Happy Reading!

  JESSICA CAGE

  To my Carleda (Quanie),

  Through thick and thin, no matter how much we fuss and fight, I know that you always have my back and I always have yours.

  Family is not always the one you’re born into.

  Sometimes it’s the one you make.

  I’m glad you’re a part of mine.

  Love you always,

  Jessie

  “Mama!” the shrill voice of her daughter rang out. “Help, Mama! They're going to get me!” The little girl with long, thick braids that hung to her waist bound into the room. Her laughter echoed around her as she slammed into her mother’s legs and ducked behind her. She pulled the worn-out apron that was wrapped around her mother’s waist over her head and pointed her tiny finger to the door she’d just entered through. Moments later, two rowdy boys skidded to a halt by the door and their wide eyes stared up at their mother’s face. The terror they felt over being caught in the act was punctuated by their sister’s shriek. “Get them, Mama!”

  “What did I tell you two about picking on your sister?” Their mother stared down at them, wagging a finger in their direction and tapping her toe as she waited for them to respond. “Well?”

  “Um.” The eldest of the twin boys dropped his large brown eyes to the ground and pouted. Chewing on his bottom lip, he tried to figure out how to respond.

  “You mess with the cub and you deal with mama bear!” Their mother continued before she lunged forward with a playful growl. She grabbed the two boys, wrapping them in her arms, and tickled their bellies. As they all laughed, she peppered them with kisses before dropping them back to the floor. “Now, go get cleaned up for dinner.”

  “Yes, Mama!” The three called out as they ran to their rooms, and the sounds of their roughhousing continued up the stairs.

  “You really do know how to wrangle them, don’t you?” The milk chocolate voice of her husband caused chills to rush up her spine as he walked through the backdoor wiping a line of sweat from his forehead.

  “It's a natural talent.” She winked at him, and before she could say another word she was wrapped in his arms. “Welcome home baby.” She ran her hand along his face, removing the dirt smeared across the deep tones of his flesh. She frowned at her fingertips, but didn’t question him about it. It was often he came home covered in soot or some sort of filth.

  “Mmm, I sure have missed you, my sweet Rose.” He planted a kiss on her so good that it caused her toes to curl. Closing her eyes, she smiled wide against his lips and hoped to hold on to that moment forever.

  As he always did when he had been away for a long time, he said her name in her ear, once for every morning and night that he’d been away. This trip had lasted two weeks, which meant twenty-eight variations of her name between kisses on her neck and cheek. As she lowered her head back and closed her eyes, Rosie’s name repeated in her husband's voice, over and over, made her smile. That was until the sound of his voice began to grow in urgency. The sweet, melodic tone morphed, and she realized that the voice did not in fact belong to her husband. She refused to open her eyes to the truth. She clutched her arms tighter around the memory of him and held on for dear life, but it was no use. His presence, the feel of his body pressed against hers began to fade along with the smooth timbre of his voice and the delicate touch of his lips on her flesh.

  Angered by the deception created by her own mind, Rosie opened her eyes, and when she did, she saw the frightened face of Bruto—not her husband but her lover, the man she’d recently committed herself to. He called out to her, pleading for her to let him in. It was then that she realized the force that shielded her from him. Part of her wanted to give in to him, allow him to come closer and soothe the hurt that she felt, but a stronger, deeper part, clung to that hatred, to the fire of her anger and denied his request. Rosie turned her back to the redheaded man with a force that expanded the shield produced by her dream, and sent his massive, ginger-toned body flying out of the nearby window and off into the distance away from the island she claimed for her own. She shut herself off to the world, to her love, and to the dangers she could feel coming for them all.

  Jinn groaned as he climbed from the warmth of his bed and the woman who snored softly at his side. The sound of movement in the house had pulled him from a dream of whiskey and butterflies. It was an odd combination, but he had been enjoying it. He looked down on Nitara, the love of his life, and wanted nothing more than to climb back in next to her, but the sound of bottles clinking told him they had an unwanted guest and that guest was hitting up his liquor cabinets. He vanished from the bedroom and reappeared where a very large and upset man raided the bar that sat off in the corner of the suburban living room. Even after rescuing Nitara and bringing her back into his life, he’d kept the little home he’d claimed for himself after the world war ended. Though he was no longer a neutral party in the new world order, he was still allowed his peace away from the world. That was, until the world came knocking on his door and drinking up his good whiskey.

  “Bruto, what the hell is going on? What are you doing here?” Jinn shook his head at his friend who drunkenly turned on him with bloodshot eyes.

  “It’s Rosie, man. She… she kicked me out!” he yelled, but was quickly hushed by his friend, who pointed to the hall that led to the bedrooms.

  “Cool it, Nitara is sleeping.” Jinn sat on the sofa and watched Bruto pop the top from the bottle he’d snagged and took it straight to the head. “So, what happened?”

  “I honestly have no idea. We were good, man. You saw us together, but something changed. Since we got back from shifter territory, she’s been different. I just assumed it was all the Daegal shit. You know, he really fucked her up, even if she won’t tell us all of the details. I was trying to give her time, but it only got worse. In the past few days she has gotten more distant, and angrier.”

  Jinn sat up in his seat. “Okay, slow down. Worse, how? What happened?”

  “Jinn, man, she started having nightmares, and the worse they got, the worse it got for all of us. Her dreams would leak out into reality and cause all sorts of hell on that island. It’s gotten so bad that all of the little bird fuckers are gone and she doesn’t care, not one bit.” He fell into the chair beside him, thinking about the thousands of penguins that had inhabited the island before Rosie started to change. “You know how much she loves those damn birds. They annoy the hell out of me, but they bring her so much joy. Or at least they used to.”

  “Seriously?” Jinn stood from his seat and began to pace the floor. Every time he thought they were okay, more shit surfaced. “What is causing this? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “I don’t know, man, I thought it was a temporary thing. I know the shit with Daegal always gets to her a lot more than any of us. Like I said, I figured it would pass in time, but this past week shit just blew up. I’ve been trying to get back in, but she has a forcefield around the entire place. Like nothing I've seen before. I need your help, man. I’m worried about her."

  “What's going on?” Nitara appeared at the doorway. Try as she might, she was unable to sleep through the noise coming from their new guest. “You again? Come to steal our b
ooze?” She joked as she tried to get a feel for the room.

  “It's good to see you, Nitara.” Bruto walked over to her and gave her a messy hug.

  Nitara peered around the wild red hair that was usually kept in a neat bun and shot a questioning look to Jinn. Bruto was always a big character, but this was different. She’d never seen the man so vulnerable before.

  “Something is wrong with Rosie. She basically kicked him out.” Jinn shrugged. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the story told to him by Bruto.

  Nitara sucked her teeth. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing!” He let her go and held up his hand. “I swear it. Whatever is going on with her has nothing to do with me. At least, I don’t think it does."

  “It’s more than that. Even her penguin pals have left the island, and Bruto can’t get back in. Something else is going on here, something isn’t right. I think I’ll go check it out.” Jinn added for clarity as he prepared to leave. “Keep him out of my whiskey please.” Then in a flash of blue smoke, the djinn vanished from the room.

  “That’s fine, I’m all right with bourbon.” Bruto shrugged and headed for the bar to grab another bottle.

  “What the hell happened?” Nitara wanted answers. “When did this start?”

  “I really don’t know. We were fine, I think. But she started to change. She got more and more aggressive. At first I liked it, ya’ know, that kinky stuff.” He raised a brow, then frowned. “It was more than that, though. She became violent, abusive to me and those damn birds. One minute she was the spicy Rosie I love, and the next, she was something else, something dark.”

  “That doesn’t sound good at all. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.”

  “I sure as hell hope so.” Bruto sat down with the unopened bottle. “I love her, Nitara. I don't know what I’ll do without her.”

  “Stop thinking like that, you haven’t lost her yet.” Sitting next to him, she rubbed his shoulders. “Listen, after everything that we’ve been through, Jinn and I, we’re still here, together. If we can get through that, you and Rosie will be fine. We’re a family, Bruto. We stick together and we make sure that our family is okay!”

  “Thank you, Nitara. That really means a lot to me. I’m sorry to have interrupted you guys again, I know that you’re trying to make up for lost time here. That’s why I didn’t come sooner.” He shook his head. “I just kept telling myself she would get over it. That the effects of that bastard would wear off and she would be okay again.”

  “Hey, it’s okay. We have all of the time in the world.” She kissed the top of his head.

  Jinn reappeared. “Yeah, I can’t get in there at all. The place is completely deserted, and it smells… well, it smells like death.”

  “Yeah, that would be the ones she killed.” Shaking his head, Bruto wiped his face with his hands.

  “Killed?” Nitara froze. “Who did she kill?”

  “She had a fit, and a lot of those birds, before they could all run away, they took the heat. The first time, she felt guilty, locked herself away for two days, but after that, it was like it didn’t matter. It was like they could tell they weren’t safe anymore, and they all left.”

  “This is a lot worse that I thought it was.” Nitara stood but left her hand on Bruto’s shoulder. The physical contact was all that had calmed the man down and given him reassurance. He wasn’t alone in this.

  “This isn’t good,” Jinn muttered as he thought about their options which seemed to be very few. Rosie was one of the strongest djinn he’d ever encountered; it would take a lot more power to get through her shield.

  “What the hell would make this happen? I don't understand.” Nitara questioned. “Could she really have been that affected by Daegal?”

  “I don't know, but we aren’t going to figure it out here. I think I know someone who might be able to shed some light on things.” Jinn met her worried eyes.

  “Who?” Bruto lifted his gaze from the unopened bottle in his hands.

  “The seer.” Jinn responded with a frowned expression. “Though, you aren’t going to like what happens when we visit her.”

  Vilar, the fairy capital, was thriving under the reign of its new queen. Briar had really come into her own as their leader, and her people followed her with faith and pride. With all of the challenges that had occurred in their world, Briar had expressed her worries about her people’s ability to trust in her. This was the driving force behind her decision to stay behind during the attempt to rescue Praia, their fae friend who had gone missing, though she sent some of her most trusted guards to aid in the attempt. Things were settling in Reverie with Graham as the new leader of the vampire territory, but they could all tell that they were far from the peaceful times that they hoped for.

  “You’re back! It must mean that things have once again reached a level of desperation.” Briar called out as Jinn entered her chambers. The queen was dressed in the attire Jinn had come to know her for long before the crown claimed her. She’d opted out of the grand wardrobe of the queen for a more basic and comfortable look. Black pants, a simple top, and combat boots. She looked like she was back in the days of leading the queen’s guard, ready for war.

  “Yes, well, you know me.” Spreading his arms, Jinn grinned widely. “Always the bearer of bad news, but such a handsome bearer I am!”

  “The ego still intact I see. And you bring guests! Nitara, I haven’t seen you since we left Reverie.” She tilted her head to the woman who stood close by Jinn’s side. She had never been to the fairy home. “I hope you are adjusting well.”

  “I am, thank you.” Nitara did a polite curtsy as a show of respect to the queen, something Jinn nor Bruto, who was meandering behind them, had acknowledged. “It's good to see you again.”

  “I wish we could have spent more time getting to know each other.” Briar had been so curious about Nitara and her reunion with Jinn, but hadn’t had the time to check in with them since returning home. “This queen stuff is a drag on the social life. I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “Me too, thank you.” Nitara never knew Briar before she was queen; she’d heard great stories about her, but never was able to validate those claims.

  “So, how can I help you?” Briar turned her eyes back on Jinn who she assumed would be asking a favor of her.

  “I am hoping for some time with Sybella,” Jinn admitted without pause. There was no sense in tiptoeing around the issue. With as much as their group had been through in such a short time, no one was expecting anything other than the absolute worst when they came together again.

  “You, eagerly wanting to let her into your head? Things must really be bad.” Briar chuckled. Jinn was no fan of the seer’s power. He didn’t like the idea of someone knowing more about himself than he did.

  “This time, it's not my head she needs to look into.” He glanced over her shoulder at Bruto who still lingered behind them.

  “It isn’t?” Following his eyes, she frowned.

  Bruto raised a drunken hand and belched. “I’ll be under the scope this time around.”

  “You’ll have to excuse him, he’s dealing with a tough time.” Nitara made an excuse for the ungodly display the man had put on in front of the fairy ruler.

  “Must be lady troubles.” Briar shrugged and pointed to Jinn with a smirk. “He’s just like you were when we finally pulled you out of the black hole of whiskey bottles and empty pizza boxes that was your living room. Only you were worse.”

  “Really?” Nitara asked with a pang of guilt coloring her curiosity.

  “Man, guy code!” Jinn joked with Briar, ignoring the look Nitara shot at him

  “I’m sorry, last I checked, they didn’t call me king.” Briar laughed. “I will call for Sybella and she will meet you. I’m sorry I can’t really stick around, I have the summit to attend.”

  “The summit?” Bruto choked. “What’s that?”

  “It’s a boring gathering of leaders from around the world who get together
to discuss the hot topics like politics, climate, suspicious activities, and on and on. Honestly, I don’t know why they have to happen so often.”

  “How often is that?” Jinn asked.

  “Yearly, but still too much!” she laughed. “Mike will be there, this is the first time the slither people will be represented, so that will definitely liven up the festivities.”

  “Let me guess, you convinced him to go?” Jinn laughed as he imagined the response that elicited from the ruler of the Slithers.

  “He’s all healed up, and if he wants a real place in the world for his people, he is going to have to start playing the game, rubbing elbows and whatnot. That’s just how it goes. Not everyone on the guest list is hostile toward him. Some are just not fans.”

  “Right.” Jinn shook his head. “You be sure to let me know how that goes.”

  “Sybella, you look well.” Jinn stood from the seat at the large table positioned in the middle of the council chambers. Briar had made her exit, but not before ushering them off to her favorite room and ordering one of the guards to retrieve the seer.

  “Pampered by fairies, it has that affect.” She beamed. “Nitara, so glad to see you!” She paused with an odd glint in her eye, glanced over the frame of the female djinn, and then looked to her partner with a raised brow. “Jinn, always a pleasure to see you, old friend.”

  “It’s good to see you, Sybella,” Jinn responded, but the seer had her eye on someone else … the brooding Irishman in the corner.

  She crossed the room to him and cocked her head to the side as she assessed his condition. “You, however, look terrible.”

  “Thanks,” he grunted, and fondled the bottle in his hand. He’d been carrying the same bottle with him since he’d snagged it from Jinn’s bar.

  “How can I help you?” She kept her gaze locked on Bruto though he refused to look at her.

  “There is something wrong with Rosie and we need your help to figure it out,” Jinn offered since his sour-faced friend seemed content with leaving the woman wondering about their intentions.