A Tale of Two Goblins Read online

  Other Titles by H.P. Mallory:

  TO KILL A WARLOCK (Book 1 of the Dulcie O’Neil series)

  The murder of a dark arts warlock.

  A shape-shifting, ravenous creature on the loose.

  A devilishly handsome stranger sent to investigate.

  Sometimes working law enforcement for the Netherworld

  is a real bitch.

  Dulcie O’Neil is a fairy. And not the type to frolic in gardens.

  She’s a Regulator—a law-enforcement agent who monitors the creatures of the Netherworld to keep them from wreaking havoc in the mortal world.

  When a warlock is murdered and Dulcie was the last person to see him alive, she must uncover the truth before she’s either deported back to the Netherworld, or she becomes the next victim.

  Enter Knight Vander, a sinfully attractive investigator sent from the Netherworld to work the case with Dulcie. Between battling her attraction to her self-appointed partner, keeping a sadomasochistic demon in check, and fending off the advances of a sexy and powerful vampire, Dulcie’s got her hands full.

  As the body count increases, Dulcie finds herself battling dark magic, reconnoitering in S&M clubs and suffering the greatest of all betrayals.

  Other Titles by H.P. Mallory:

  FIRE BURN AND CAULDRON BUBBLE (Book 1 of the Jolie Wilkins series)

  A self-deprecating witch with the unique ability to reanimate the dead.

  A dangerously handsome warlock torn between being her boss and her would-be lover.

  A six hundred year old English vampire with his own agenda; one that includes an appetite for witches.

  The Underworld in a state of chaos.

  Let the games begin.

  Life isn’t bad for psychic Jolie Wilkins. True, she doesn’t have a love life to speak of, but she has a cute house in the suburbs of Los Angeles, a cat and a quirky best friend.

  Enter Rand Balfour, a sinfully attractive warlock who insists she’s a witch and who just might turn her life upside down. Rand hires her to help him solve a mystery regarding the death of his client who also happens to be a ghost. Jolie not only uncovers the cause of the ghost’s demise but, in the process, she brings him back to life!

  Word of Jolie’s incredible ability to bring back the dead spreads like wildfire, putting her at the top of the Underworld’s most wanted list. Consequently, she finds herself at the center of a custody battle between a villainous witch, a dangerous but oh-so-sexy vampire, and her warlock boss, Rand.

  TOIL AND TROUBLE (Book 2 of the Jolie Wilkins series)

  The Underworld in civil war. The cause? A witch who can reanimate the dead.

  A sexy as sin vampire determined to claim her.

  An infuriatingly handsome warlock torn between duty and love.

  Who says blonds have more fun?

  After defending herself against fairy magic, Jolie Wilkins wakes to find her world turned upside down—the creatures of the Underworld on the precipice of war.

  The Underworld is polarized in a battle of witch against witch, creature against creature, led by the villainous Bella, who would be Queen.

  While Jolie has one goal in mind, to stake the vampire, Ryder, who nearly killed her, she also must choose between the affections of her warlock employer, Rand, and the mysteriously sexy vampire, Sinjin.

  And as if that weren’t enough to ruin a girl’s day, everything Jolie knows will be turned inside out when she’s thrust into the shock of a lifetime.

  A Tale of Two Goblins

  by

  H.P. Mallory

  A Tale of Two Goblins

  Published by H.P. Mallory at Smashwords

  Copyright © 2011 by H.P. Mallory

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Acknowledgements:

  To my fabulous mother, as always, thank you for all your help—none of my books would be what they are without you!

  To Dia Robinson: Thank you so much for entering my “Become a character in my next book” contest—I am thrilled with your addition to the book, Diva!!!

  To my husband and my son: I love you

  To my beta readers: Sofia Oberg, Belinda Boring, Evie Amaro, Mary Genther, Sally Arnold, Laura Gibala, Jennifer Widener, Meagan Mize and Val Averill, thank you so much for wanting to read this book and for all your comments. You were all a huge help!

  To all my readers: I cannot thank you enough for your continued support—I never would have made it this far without all of you…thank you.

  One

  I yawned but forced the desire to crawl back into bed out of my mind. Exercise was important in my line of work, and although it was only five in the morning, it was my favorite hour to jog. I grabbed my iPod and glanced down at Blue as he pawed my toes, only to lean back on his haunches and stretch. Guess it was early for him too.

  Pushing an ear piece into my ear, I opened the front door of my crappy apartment and inhaled the cold Splendor air. The chirping of insects was as loud as the finale of any symphony and I shivered as a cold wind assaulted me. I wasn’t a big fan of November in California—give me hot, sunny weather all year long and I’d be as happy as a pixie on a bliss potion.

  I leaned over and grabbed my ankles, stretching my quads and stood up, pulling my arms over my head and stretched my triceps. One should never exercise with cold muscles. Blue started groaning and circled me as if to say “hurry up already.” Feeling limber enough, I stepped outside, locked the door and started my jog while Katy Perry sang “Teenage Dream” into my head.

  Maybe five minutes into our run, Blue slowed and cocked his head to the side, but I didn’t need his canine sixth sense to know someone was following us. I swallowed the anxiety in my throat and went into autopilot or auto cop, as the case may be. Turning the volume down on my iPod, I didn’t remove the ear buds, not wanting to alert my visitor to the fact that I knew he was there. Rolling my arms in tight circles, I waited—well figuratively, I was still jogging, still giving the illusion of everything being hunky dory in the life of Dulcie the fairy.

  Before I had the chance to think, a shadow flickered from between the trees. My breath caught in my throat, and I paused, bending over to pretend to tie my shoelace. Even though I was doing my damndest not to give anything away, Blue wasn’t quite so stealthy. Instead, he stood as if in rigor mortis, his hackles raised and his lips curling back to reveal an impressive set of sharp teeth. His growl interrupted the otherwise still night, and I glanced back at the tree line, watching and waiting for whatever was out there to make itself known. When it did, I’d be ready to take it down with a palm full of fairy dust—my weapon extraordinaire. I stood up and braced myself, feet shoulder width apart.

  I didn’t have to wait long. My assailant made himself known, jumping out at me with a huge…smile?

  “Knight!” I leaned onto my knees, breathing out the angst that just seconds ago would have dictated I use my fairy powers to take him out. “You bastard,” I breathed, refusing to look at him.

  Blue wasn’t as polite. His g
rowl sounded like a large truck driving over rocks. The dog must have thought growling wasn’t threatening enough because he then broke into a deep and angry bark. I petted his head and tried to calm him with “it’s okay, boy” but the dog wouldn’t back down. Instead, he lunged for Knight and much as I was annoyed with Knight myself, he didn’t deserve to get bitten. Not that I thought Blue would bite him, but better to be safe than stuck in the emergency room. So, I grabbed Blue’s collar and held him back with a none too subtle “No!”

  “Nice dog,” Knight scoffed as Blue continued to growl. Hmm, maybe I hadn’t socialized him well enough. Come to think of it, I hadn’t socialized him at all, which shouldn’t have been much of a surprise as I wasn’t a very social person myself.

  “What do you want?” I demanded.

  “Morning, Dulce,” Knight said, completely disregarding my less than friendly greeting. Unable to avoid looking at him for more than a few seconds, I finally brought my attention to his face.

  Knight Vander was a Loki, a creature from the Netherworld who also happened to be an investigator working for the Association of Netherworld Creatures otherwise known as the ANC. And he also happened to be the hottest thing in Splendor.

  “What the hell are you doing outside my apartment at five am?” I insisted, and patted Blue’s head so he’d stop growling. He finally obeyed and sat silently at my feet, wearing a happy dog smile.

  “Technically I’m not outside your apartment,” Knight said and flashed me a beautiful smile. Holy Hades, the man was sexy.

  “So, we’re going to play word games?” Rather than waiting for an answer, I started jogging again. Not that I disliked Knight but he was a cocky SOB and there wasn’t any room in my life for cockiness or SOBs or, for that matter, Knight. “So, what, you just hang around my house waiting for me to come out?”

  “I needed to get in touch with you,” he said in his alto voice, as rich as a piece of dark chocolate cake.

  The moon was still in full effect, and the milky rays glowed against Knight’s white tee shirt. His shorts ended just below his knees, and I couldn’t help but notice how muscular his calves were, muscular and evenly covered with black hair. Realizing I was checking his legs out and very obviously, I brought my attention to the road and tried to increase my pace. Knight easily kept up with me which wasn’t hard considering I was five-one and he was at least six-two, maybe six-three. To me, he looked like a giant.

  “Have you heard of this pretty cool invention called the phone?” I asked, keeping my attention straight ahead. “Through a series of wires and electrodes, my voice travels to you and you never have to leave your house! Imagine that!”

  “Haha, Dulce, I’ve called you countless times over the last two months, and I’ve lost track of how many messages I’ve left.” He didn’t sound angry, merely conversational.

  Okay, so I was guilty about not calling him back, so what? “I’ve been…busy,” I said, though it was farthest from the truth. Having recently given Knight my letter of resignation (he’d been my boss), I now had lots of free time but not a whole lot to fill it with. Course, Knight didn’t need to know that.

  “Busy?” he repeated, his tone just as dubious as his smile. “I see you’ve got a dog but other than that, what’s been occupying your time?”

  The sound of our footfalls against the pavement echoed my shallow breathing. I hadn’t been on a jog in at least a week and it was making itself known in every section of my body.

  “Writing,” I answered succinctly. And it was the truth. I’d been spending all my time working on a book, the second in a series. I had aspirations to be a full time writer, and it seemed those aspirations might actually be headed somewhere—recently a literary agent had requested the full manuscript of my book, “A Vampire and a Gentleman.”

  Knight just nodded, and I felt my breath becoming more and more shallow. It wasn’t easy to run and talk at the same time. I glanced at my companion, the Loki, and found he didn’t seem to be huffing or puffing. Instead, he just wore an amused smile and looked me up and down appreciatively. I frowned and glanced back at the road, feeling the need to slow my pace. But, I wouldn’t give in—not yet.

  “Where’d you get the dog?” he asked, eyeing the subject all the while.

  “He was a gift,” I answered and felt like I was going to pass out with the effort.

  “Who from?”

  Hmm, this was a question that wouldn’t get an honest answer, or at least not a full honest answer. Blue had been given to me by my ex boss (the one before Knight), Quillan, who was now a wanted potions smuggler. Quillan…just his name left a bad taste in my mouth—he’d been my boss, yes, but also my friend, and I’d sort of lusted after him…just a little. But, when it came down to apprehending him, when I was still a cop, aka Regulator working for the Netherworld, I’d failed. And so far, I hadn’t been able to forgive myself for failing, for allowing my emotions to get in the way of my position as Regulator. It had been a sign that I wasn’t the Regulator I’d thought I was or needed to be. So, I’d resigned.

  I didn’t like to think about Quillan, and I really didn’t like to talk about him.

  “Just a friend.” I made the mistake of glancing up at Knight. The cock-eyed expression he wore made me look away quickly. He seemed to always know when there was more to a story. Course, I was also a terrible liar.

  “A friend?” he inquired.

  Not able to continue on, I stopped jogging and faced him, irritation seeping into my gut as I fought to catch my breath. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s rude to put your nose in other people’s business?”

  Knight also stopped jogging, that same smile still hanging from his lips. “Can’t recall that she did.”

  I crossed my arms against my chest, trying to ward off the cold night air and wished I’d worn something over my sports bra. Maybe my annoyance with Knight would be enough to keep me warm. “Let’s cut the crap, Knight, what are you doing here?”

  “I need your help.”

  That could mean many things but due to the fact that I’d promised Knight I’d be available to work as a consultant whenever he had a tough Netherworld case, the playing field was narrowed. “What do you need my help for?” I asked, watching Blue arch his back and pee against a bush. He still hadn’t mastered the art of lifting one leg but I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to teach him.

  “There’s a case that’s been baffling us all.”

  Before I decided to hear anymore, I turned around and started walking back toward my apartment, rolling my arms in big circles. No use in discussing ANC business while we were standing in the middle of the road. Knight was beside me momentarily and threw me another disarmingly handsome smile. With his black hair, blue eyes and tan complexion, immense height and broad build, he looked like a God. And, boy, wouldn’t he have loved to know that.

  “Let’s talk about it in my apartment,” I started.

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  “Don’t get any ideas,” I grumbled, watching Blue scout the bushes and trees before us. I never took him on a leash because we never met anyone on our five am excursions. Guess I couldn’t say that anymore.

  “Dulce, I’ve been getting ideas where you’re concerned since we met,” Knight said, his voice heavy.

  “Well, keep them to yourself,” I snapped. I’d already made up my mind not to get involved with Knight.

  “Why do you fight your attraction to me?” His tone wasn’t clipped or otherwise pointing to a hurt self esteem. Course, he was never anything other than sure, and his infallible confidence was one of his character traits that bothered me the most. I mean, didn’t everyone succumb to self doubt once in a while? Ha, not if you were a Loki who answered to the name of Knight.

  “Who said I’m attracted to you?” I insisted, wishing I could wipe the cocky and proud smile right off his mouth.

  “No point in denying it; I’m fully aware of your real feelings for me.”

  I laughed, but it
was an acidic sound because I was suddenly worried that he could sense it. Even though I’d pledged never to develop feelings for him, I couldn’t deny the fact that I was attracted to Knight and always had been. But, I tempered that attraction by keeping him at arm’s length.

  As a rule, I didn’t get involved with men. Now, before you question that statement—I also didn’t get involved with women—I just didn’t get involved period. After a pretty crappy breakup two years earlier, my heart still hadn’t fully mended and Knight was the type of man who would break it again, into tiny little shards that would be impossible to glue back together. If he ever got the chance, that is.

  “Hmm…” I started, really not knowing what else to say. Even though as a fairy, I had the innate ability to detect creatures just by looking at them, Knight had thrown me for a loop from day one. Course, the reason had been that I’d never come into contact with one of his kind before—a Loki. Furthermore, the unfortunate thing about Knight’s being a Loki was I had no clue what his powers were. Unlike my ability to create magic from fairy dust, Knight’s abilities weren’t quite so straight forward. I’d actually been keeping a list of the types of powers he’d demonstrated so far. Guess I could add attraction detector to the mix. Unless he was full of it…

  “You just know?” I asked doubtfully. “What, is that another of your Loki character traits?”

  “Nope,” he said in a self-satisfied sort of way. “It’s just Vander instinct, one hundred percent.”

  “Well, your Vander instinct is confused by your Vander cockiness,” I snapped.

  He laughed, but his eyes were hot, hungry and I felt consumed just by his wolfish stare. I dropped my attention to the ground and mumbled something under my breath, trying to keep Knight from noticing the red flush currently overtaking my cheeks. We reached my apartment and could now talk about ANC business and not the fact that I was lusting after Knight and furthermore, that he knew it.