The Plague Doctor (The Paranormal University Files: Skylar Book 4) Read online

  The Plague Doctor

  The Paranormal University Files: Skylar, Year 3

  Vivienne Savage

  writing as

  Dominique Kristine

  The Plague Doctor

  The Paranormal University Files: Skylar, Year 3

  By Vivienne Savage writing as

  Dominique Kristine

  All material contained herein is Copyrighted © Dominique Kristine 2018. All rights reserved.

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your preferred e-book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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  Edited by Theresa Schultz

  When Gabriel arranges a vacation in New Orleans with his half-faerie girlfriend, he expects creole cuisine and opportunities to watch her prance in a skimpy bikini. The local sentinel office that polices paranormal activity has another idea in mind—agency numbers are dwindling, vampire turnings are high, and they need his help on the case.

  It’s not the kind of action he hoped to get over the summer, but the NOLA sentinel chief is family, and raven shifters flock together.

  Contents

  1. An Honorable Gift

  2. Be Famous, Not Infamous

  3. The Boyfriend Lottery

  4. Don’t Be Salty

  5. Outbreak

  6. Misery Does Not Love Company

  7. Shifter TLC

  8. On the Case

  9. Shifters Give the Best Gifts

  10. Girlfriends

  11. A Kingly Gift

  12. To Honor the Fallen

  13. Moving Out Means Moving Forward

  14. Loss

  15. A Place of Healing

  16. No Supervision Required

  17. Sometimes Rainbows Carry Storms

  18. Family is Everything

  19. Doctor Plague

  20. Magical Creatures, the Endangered Species

  21. Understanding

  22. The Infallible Argument

  23. Group Texts are the Work of Satan

  24. Mending the Broken

  25. A New Development

  26. Evil Brilliance

  27. All Bite and No Bark

  28. The Descent

  29. A Beacon of Hope

  30. Choice

  31. Demands

  Other Books by Vivienne

  About the Author

  1

  An Honorable Gift

  Summer vacation was drawing to a close, gone too fast for my liking. Gabriel’s family was awesome in every way. His mother would probably never love me, but his paternal grandmother adored me. Obaachan, as everyone called the tiny Japanese ghost, had invited me to tea almost every night since our arrival. She dwelled in the finished attic along with many of her belongings from life and sometimes I awakened to find a pretty jade hair comb or some other trinket set on my suitcase.

  I loved their enormous farm house and their half-dozen horses. I loved the Texas countryside, afternoon trail rides, and evening flights over wildflower valleys and pastures. If Gabriel wanted to return here after I earned my license, that’d be cool with me.

  “Hey, Sky, you got a minute?” Sam called from the doorway.

  Gabe’s brother was a big guy like him, a little over six feet tall with shoulder-length, inky black hair. Personally, I thought he belonged on a runway rather than inside a tech office. He was just so…pretty.

  “Sure.” While Gabriel played games with Alex, his younger brother, I’d snuck upstairs to toy with different shrinking glamours. I had way too many souvenirs to take home. I shut the suitcase and wandered over. “What’s up?”

  “It really isn’t my business, but I wanted to tip you off to something about us. About shifters, I mean. Just in case Gabriel hasn’t mentioned it.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Okay, so…there’s three parts to accepting a bond from a shifter and sealing it. It starts with a claim before friends and rivals.”

  “Right. He did that.”

  “And then it has to be reciprocated.”

  Heat surged to my face. “I know that. We have to—erm…” Talking sex with Gabriel’s brother was the last thing I wanted to do, but Sam had an easygoing kind of personality like their sister Teresa, and I liked him. Besides, if I wasn’t mature enough to chat sex, I wasn’t mature enough to have it. Even if it was kinda awkward discussing it with his older brother. Ugh.

  He grinned. “Yeah, the boning is what everyone looks forward to, but that isn’t what I was getting at. I wanted to ask if you’d hunted his offering yet.”

  Offering? Then I remembered Gabriel mentioning I’d have to hunt something for him with my own two hands. “Shit. No. He actually did tell me about that, but I—I mean—” I hadn’t even decided I was going to bond to Gabriel. But maybe I had. “I don’t even know what to do.”

  “You’re part of the Wild Hunt Club, right?”

  “I am.”

  “Then you know what to do. Look, I’m not going to presume to know what you want or that you intend to accept Gabriel’s claim. That’s between you two. I do want to make sure that if you choose, you got what you need. That’s my offer. I’ll take you on a hunt wherever you wanna go nearby or in Tir na Nog.”

  “And then what? Bodies decompose, Sam.”

  He chuckled. “Nothing decomposes in the Neverspace.”

  I stared at him. Leave it to a raven to see the answer right in front of my nose. “Oh, shit, I can put it there.”

  A big grin spread over Sam’s handsome face. “I’m a genius. It’s okay to admit it.”

  “You are brilliant.”

  “Then, if you’re down,” Sam said, holding out his fist, “I’ll fabricate an excuse for us to slip away. I saw a Faerie Ring just beyond the pasture. Probably won’t be around long.”

  I bumped my knuckles to his. “Let’s do this.”

  Flames dominated my dreams, closing in all around me, but the memory wisped away like smoke the moment I opened my eyes. The harder I tried to recall the details, the hazier they all became, until I finally gave up the attempt. Besides, I had better things to think of, including our imminent return to PNRU.

  And to also panic when I thought about the dead leaf-tail rabbit I’d killed last night and hidden in the Neverspace. With a little coaching and moral support from Sam, I’d caught Gabe’s favorite wild game all on my own. The cute little buggers were fast, but thanks to my wings, I was faster. Now all I had left to do was decide when, if ever, to present it to him.

  Maybe that’s all my dream meant—that I was in the hot seat, with big choices ahead of me. Thankfully, I had time.

  I stretched in bed and twisted on my side, which brought my folded clothes and small overnight bag into view. My weeks in Texas had been wonderful, a perfect way to end the summer after time spent with my growing family. Newborns were adorable, but they weren’t much fun.

  By the time I made myself presentable and joined Gabe’s family downstairs, everyone else had gathered together. Gabe jumped up from the couch and started toward me, but Teresa beat him to it, throwing her arms around me in a tight embrace.

  “I’m
going to miss you guys.”

  “Hey, one more year and you’ll see us practically every day,” Gabriel assured her.

  “Yeah, and then you’ll know the aggravation of having your kid brother—well, sister in your case—following you around everywhere like a lost puppy,” Samuel said, grinning.

  In hindsight, I wished I’d asked Samuel for more stories about Gabe’s freshman year, but now wasn’t the time. Lucky for me, I’d gotten everyone’s phone numbers.

  Disentangling myself from Gabe’s little sister, I turned to finally face his parents, who sat together on the loveseat watching the whole spectacle of our goodbyes without comment. My gift for them seemed to weigh a hundred pounds in my clammy hands. Thanks to the Neverspace, the biscotti I’d slaved over weeks ago in my mom’s kitchen would be as fresh as they day I baked them.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Fujimoto, I want to thank you so much for having me as a guest in your home. You’ve made my first trip to Texas a truly memorable one,” I said as I bowed.

  “We were pleased to have you,” Gabriel’s father replied. “I hope you will come to visit us again.”

  “I’d really like that.” I turned to Gabe’s mom and offered her a frosted jar with a pretty bow tied around the top. “I made these for you using my father’s recipe. Gabriel told me about your love for coffee so I thought you might enjoy some biscotti to have with your morning cup. Or evening. Or whenever.”

  Please, let her like them. Suddenly I was uncertain about my choice, and wondered if I should have gone with chocolates or flowers or something.

  “Thank you, Skylar.” Mrs. Fujimoto accepted the gift after what felt like hours and raised the lid. “They smell delicious. This was very thoughtful, thank you.”

  The pressure building in my chest released all at once and it was only Gabriel’s presence behind me that kept me on my feet. He touched my hip and gave a gentle squeeze.

  “Before we all part ways, I wish to give a gift of my own,” Jiisan said, rising from the couch.

  Teresa perked. “We already had omiyage time. There’s more gifts?” Jiisan had brought a ton of presents for the family at the start of his visit.

  “This gift is for Gabriel.”

  Behind me, Gabe stiffened. “Yes, Jiisan?”

  “Of my many grandchildren, you perhaps, are the one most like me, and I sense you will go great places as a sentinel for the bureau. I wish you to take this gift and return to Chicago with my blessing, Gabriel.”

  Seeing Gabe flustered was a rare event. He rubbed his palms against his pants and his breath quickened. My gaze turned from him to his grandfather in time to see the older raven pull a sword from thin air. The illusion was so seamless I’d have believed he pulled it from the Neverspace like a fae.

  “I present you with Shōki, the Demon Queller,” Jiisan said.

  “But…” Gabriel started to take a step forward but froze and rubbed his hands against his pants again. “I thought you were going to give Shōki to Dad. Or Samuel.”

  His grandfather chuckled. “I could, but I think Shōki would go to waste in your father’s hands. He has never enjoyed working for the SBA, and Samuel has chosen a different path as well.”

  “I…I don’t know what to say.”

  “Thank you is a nice beginning.”

  “Thank you,” Gabe blurted in Japanese. I’d managed to pick that much up at least. “I’m so honored, Grandfather. There truly are no words to express my gratitude. I’m not worthy of it.”

  “Ah, but there you are wrong, Gabriel. You have earned this and much more.” He offered the weapon to Gabe with both hands and bowed. I thought my boyfriend might faint, though he managed to come to his senses and took the offered katana.

  The weapon was beautiful, a blade covered in runes that shone gold in the sunlight. I may not have known the full story behind Shōki, but I knew it meant something to Gabe.

  “Your future is bright and full of purpose. I would tell you to bring pride to the Fujimoto name, but you already have.”

  His siblings waited until their father left to take Jiisan to the airport before descending on Gabe to admire the sword. As much as I wanted to ogle it myself, I’d have time during our return trip. Then again, judging by the way Gabriel clutched the katana to his chest, he might not share it with even me.

  “I can’t believe he gave it to you,” Alex said. “He was supposed to save it for me.”

  “You don’t even take your lessons seriously.”

  “C’mon, Gabe, can I hold it? Please?”

  “No, me first,” Teresa said.

  “It’s not a toy, you two,” Samuel chided. “Leave him alone. This is why Jiisan gave it to neither of you.”

  The younger two backed off, not that I could blame their excitement. It would be like if I received my ancestor’s wand, the one she used to transform Cinderella into the belle of the ball. Then again…

  My hand lifted to the necklace I wore, brilliant fire rubies camouflaged beneath a glamour that made it look like a simple pendant. I did have an heirloom of my own, even if it wasn’t ultimately meant for me. One day soon, I’d pass the Heartflame on to the reborn Titania, queen of the fae.

  “Sky?”

  Gabe’s voice pulled me from my thoughts and I looked up into his concerned face, dropping my hand back to my side. “Huh? Sorry.”

  “I asked if you were ready to hit the road.”

  “Yeah, I guess it’s time.”

  Time for summer to end and another year at PNRU to begin.

  2

  Be Famous, Not Infamous

  The bucket seats of Gabriel’s sweet ride cradled me like a hug as cool, cupcake-scented air wafted from the air conditioning vents. We had a clear sky, dry roads, and a surprisingly empty Texas highway ahead of us when we left his parents’ place in the afternoon.

  At the end of our summer visit to Virginia, Dad had surprised Gabriel with the ultimate gift and worked a series of glamours that turned his rust bucket into a shining, tricked-out pimpmobile worthy of a Fast and the Furious movie. The new paint job sparkled like sapphires and the value of the modifications under the hood exceeded the current market value for the model by triple. Maybe more.

  Usually that kind of thing was temporary and gradually faded away. Everyone knew that. Even Cinderella’s coach returned to its previous gourd state and her ballgown shredded to rags again.

  But the slippers remained.

  Some fae couldn’t help themselves. Our kind could be a little arrogant at times and when we made a gorgeous work of art, we couldn’t help but want to immortalize and cement its existence with an extra dose of faerie dust.

  In the case of my father, he’d used, like, two years of excess happiness, hugs, and kisses because my boyfriend impressed him and Mom. Because Gabriel was so good to me. Because Gabe had saved my life and helped me achieve my dreams.

  I really, really loved him, and my only regret about spilling the words on his family staircase was that we’d had an audience and missed out on a special moment together. Sometimes, my impulsive fae nature really kicked me in the ass.

  There’d be other special moments.

  “What’re you smiling about?” Gabe asked, gaze darting from the road to me, and back again.

  “Nothing.”

  “Uh-huh. I know that smile. It’s the Skylar-Is-Up-To-No-Good smile.”

  “It is not. It’s the smile Skylar makes when she’s appreciating her hot boyfriend.”

  “You weren’t even looking at me.”

  “I was thinking about you.”

  He grinned the way he always did after busting my figurative balls a little. “Did you really enjoy Texas?”

  “Completely. Your family is great.”

  “Even my mom?”

  Back when Gabriel was a little boy, his mother made some sort of weird-ass pact with her wereraven bestie, deciding their kids’ friendship meant they were destined to be together.

  Me being with Gabriel shattered any chances of their teenage
betrothal culminating in marriage.

  “Even your mom. I mean, deep down, that’s, uh, her way of showing you love, right? She’s just concerned that I’m going to suck all of the joy out of you for my Dream Box,” I quipped.

  His grin widened. “I’m definitely not going to protest you sucking any happiness out of me, but I gotta say, I’ve already discovered better ways of putting a little happiness in you.”

  I shivered involuntarily. He had.

  For the moment, sex with Gabriel was off limits. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to, but it’d kinda be like consummating a marriage. He’d claimed me in front of his flock, so to speak. Not just his flock; the whole freaking gang of shifters, vamps, and feral fae who participated in the Wild Hunt Club at our school.

  I wanted to be mad at him for it, but it was instinct, so I couldn’t hold it against him. One moment, another wereraven had been moving in on me, inquisitive and flirting, the next—Gabe was growling at one of his own best friends. What I did want to hold against him was the fact that it took almost three months for him to ’fess up why guys didn’t hit on me anymore.

  Claimed. I was wearing a huge-ass invisible beacon marking me as his potential mate. All I had to do was seal the deal. Considering the way I felt about him, it was only a matter of time.

  Gabriel reached over the center console and squeezed my thigh. “You feeling okay?”