Regina Paul Author

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I thought I'd share a piece of a series I started about six months ago. I haven't done much with this since I'm still working on Heart of a Jumper my M/M/M/M romance, but this is something that I can easily work on in between since it will be shorter than a novel and come in chunks. This is my first attempt at a series.

Some days it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. This is one of those days.

My day started with being woke at 3:00 am to my bed shaking. Yes, you read right, the bed was shaking. Not an auspicious way to start my day let me tell you.

I opened one eye and then glared at the glowing figure standing at the foot of my bed. “Goddammit, Gabe!” I snarled. “It’s the middle of the fucking night, what now?”

“Good evening to you too, Angel.” His voice was mellow, too mellow for 3:00 am in my opinion.

“I repeat, what now?” The damned Ascended had woke me up the last three nights, always at 3:00 am. I had a good mind to kick his translucent ass for doing it yet again.

I groaned and rolled over on one side before forcing myself to sit up. I pushed my hair out of my face and waited for Gabe to tell me what he needed my help with now. He wouldn’t be here unless it was important and I knew that, but I was becoming seriously sleep deprived.

“There’s a child spirit trapped on the East Side. She won’t let any of us help her, and I’m hoping that maybe you can convince her.”

I sat up straight. Children could be the worst to cross over, especially if they’ve been trapped for a long time, and or didn’t want to believe they’d died. “How long has she been trapped?”

Gabe gave me a sheepish look. “She died in 1880.”

“You’ve tried everything?”

“Yes. We think she needs a woman’s touch.”

“And you don’t have any female Ascended that could fit that description?”

“You know we do.”

“Then why aren’t you using one of them?” Yeah, I was grumpy.

“We’ve tried but the child is not responding well.”

“What makes you think she’s going to respond any better to me, Gabe?” There had to be a catch, a reason, Gabe was coming to me instead of one of the female Ascended.

Gabe sighed and his glittering light dimmed just a bit. “She doesn’t believe she is dead, and no amount of proof on the part of any of the Ascended seems to be enough to convince her otherwise.”

I took a deep breath while my exhausted mind worked things out. “So…what? You want me to convince her she’s dead? Can’t it wait until tomorrow? I haven’t had a decent nights sleep in three days.”

“I know you’re tired Angel, I do, but this can’t wait, it comes from higher up.”

“Shit.” I said quietly as I rubbed my eyes. Then I looked at him. “How high up?” I wanted to know if we were talking about Angels who were some of the closest to the Creator, or just his superiors, Ascended who were higher up in the chain of command.

“The highest.”

“So are we talking Angel high?”

“Higher.”

“Okay, higher, like the Creator higher or like between the Angels and the Creator higher?” There was a group for which I wasn’t even allowed to know the name of that was between the Angels and the Creator. If they wanted something you couldn’t say no because it came straight from the highest level of the afterlife.

I watched as Gabe appeared to take a breath, keep in mind he was already dead so breathing was out, the Ascended just liked to keep up appearances. “Does it matter?” He finally asked.

Still feeling grumpy, I muttered, “Not really. I just wanted to know.”

“You mean you wanted me to clarify just who made the request?”

I knew that this was probably not for me to know, especially if it came from that unnamed group I mentioned earlier. Humans like me were only allowed to know so much before the whole system sort of shut down and no one would talk anymore, and that included my personal Ascended, Gabe.

“Fine.” I stood up in a less than smooth motion, and tipped slightly sideways before I got my feet under me. “Let me get some coffee so I can at least think.”

I stalked into the bathroom stood in front of the sink and stared blearily at myself in the mirror. I had dark circles under my eyes and there was a pallor beneath my dark skin. In a few words, I looked like hell.

I leaned down and turned the cold water on and then cupped my hands under the free flowing stream until my hands were overflowing before lifting them and splashing the cold water onto my face. It took a few seconds but I began to feel more alert.

“I’m sorry, Angel.”

I didn’t respond right away just grabbed the towel and wiped my face dry before turning to look at Gabe who had followed me into the bathroom.

“Not your fault.” I said finally. “We all have to do what we’re asked to, and they don’t give us more than we can handle. That’s the theory anyway.” I ended wryly.

“I hate seeing you this tired.” This wasn’t Gabe my Ascended talking, but Gabe my lover, and husband from several past lives that I now only remember bits and pieces of.

“Yeah, well we both knew what we were getting into when we signed on for this gig.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier for me, Angel.”

Gabe’s countenance was sad, and I tried to cheer him up. “Hey, it’s only for another seventy years or so!” I joked.

Unfortunately, it was clear from the fact that his eyes didn’t clear that he didn’t think my joke was that funny.

“C’mon, Gabe, seventy or eighty years is a drop in the bucket for an Ascended. It’ll be over before you know it. And who knows with my line of work I may be back with you sooner than you think.”

“Don’t talk like that!” He scolded me. He hated the thought of my dying even if it meant I’d be with him sooner rather than later.

I took a deep breath, rolled my eyes at him and reminded him, “I was joking, Gabe. I have no intention of dying anytime soon. I still have too much to do on this plane of existence.”

“Oh.” Now he looked hurt and I figured I just couldn’t win. The whole thing just made me cross again.

“Look, Gabe, you can’t have it both ways. As long as I’m here and in a physical body then we’re never going to be anything more than Ascended and Student. You know that. You’ve always known that, and you’ve reminded me of it on more than one occasion.”

“I don’t have to like it though.” He said softly.

I softened. “No you don’t. I don’t like it either Gabe, but it is what it is. As I said we both knew what we were getting into, we both volunteered. You to stay behind, me to be reborn. Of course this whole ability to see and communicate with ghosts thing, I think if I knew what that was going to be like, I might’ve changed my mind.” I rolled my eyes at him before heading to the kitchen.

“Coffee, I need gallons and gallons of coffee.” I muttered to no one in particular.

I grabbed the coffee pot from the coffee maker and filled it with water, lifted the lid and poured the clear liquid in.

Just as I leaned up to reach into the cabinet to get a filter, I banged my toe on the lower cabinet door. “God damn it!” I yelled, dropping the filter and lifting my foot and shaking it, hoping that and the cuss words and the shaking would somehow make the pain zinging up my ankle stop.

I looked up to see Gabe with a little smirk on his face as though he found the whole situation humorous. Well, at least I made him feel better.

Photo from Morguefile

“Tiana pulled her new truck up to the front of her gallery, and just sat there as she felt herself get first hot and then cold. After a few seconds she leaned her head against the steering wheel. Damn.

She sat there for several minutes just controlling her breathing and then pulled her cell phone out of her purse. It rang once before being picked up.

“Waters Investigative Agency.” A perky voice answered. Tiana nearly rolled her eyes, she liked the teenager that James had hired to be the receptionist for his Kamiah office, but still it was eight o’clock in the morning and she’d only had one cup of coffee so far.

“Hi Dawn, this is Tiana. Can I speak to James, please?”

“Oh, hi Tiana. Sure, he just walked in a few minutes ago, I’ll transfer you.”

Powwow music played on the line briefly and then the reassuring sound of her intended’s voice came across the line.

“Hi babe, what’s up?”

“Honestly, I wish I wasn’t.” Tiana knew her voice sounded odd, but with seeing the terrible vision in front of her she just couldn’t work anything else into it.

“What’s wrong?”

“What isn’t?”

“Honey, what’s happened? You sound like you did when your grandmother was in the hospital.”

“Yeah, well this is almost as bad.”

“Where are you?”

“My gallery.” Tiana sighed and then rubbed her eyes tiredly with her other hand. “It’s toast, James.”

She heard a thump, and then James’ breath accelerated. “Someone burned it down?”

“No, but they might as well have. The front window is busted out, the door is hanging on one hinge, and from what I can see through the window, any and all stock I had is completely destroyed. Anything that was breakable is smashed. I can’t see the glass case that I locked the beadwork in but it’s probably been destroyed as well.”

“Stay right there. Don’t get out of your truck, you are in your truck right?”

“Of course.”

“Stay there, and lock yourself in. Whoever did this could still be around, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I know that James, I’m not a complete idiot.” Tiana growled.

“Sorry babe, can’t help it. I just found you again, and I have no intention of losing you the way we did Grandmother. Have you called the police yet?”

At the mention of her grandmother’s death the year before, Tiana’s heart clenched tightly before she took a deep breath and released the tension.

“You’re kidding right? After what happened last year, I think it’s going to be a long time before I trust a tribal cop again.” Tiana’s voice turned sour.

Tiana heard James take a deep breath. “Tiana, you can’t blame what happened with Starla on the entire tribal police force. Most of them are good people, she was just one bad apple in the barrel.”

“Want to bet?” Tiana muttered beneath her breath. No way was she trusting anyone but James from now on. He might not be a cop, but she would trust him with her life. He would never betray her, she knew that with complete certainty.

I thought I'd share an excerpt from the novel I'm currently working on. This is an M/M/M/M romance, so if gay romance, or polyamory offends you or if you're under the age of 18 then please click away.

I was born on Earth in the year 1997, and I was a cop. A cop who was lucky enough to have a good home life, and a loving husband, son and daughter. That was the only thing that kept me centered as far as my job was concerned. At the time I was convinced that it was the only reason I was able to be effective in my job; their love was what kept me going. That all changed at 9:00 am June 23, 2037 on my fortieth birthday. It was a Tuesday and I had gotten the day off to go with my husband Eagle and our children Forrest and Jessica to the ocean and just spend the day splashing in the water and playing. At the time we lived in Portland, Oregon so the water didn’t get that hot, but in the city was a different story. It could get as high as the upper 90’s some days so a day at the ocean was a good way to cool down. I had to go back inside because Jessica had forgotten her beach ball and she was adamant that she had to have it.

I remember rolling my eyes at Eagle and then getting out of our minivan. Just as I reached the front door of our home, I heard the click of the key turning in the ignition and then a loud explosion. I knew before the shrapnel, broken glass, and fire from the destroyed minivan scored the skin of my bare back and legs that my family was dead. The noise brought the neighbors, with their fire extinguishers and horror filled cries, but it was too late to save my lover or my babies. They had died instantly and the licking flames quickly cooked through their bodies fed by the gasoline in the tank we had just recently filled. By the time I lost consciousness from the shock and pain of my own injuries, the fire trucks, and ambulances had arrived though I only know this because I was told by my partner.

I woke up a week later in the hospital suffering from third degree burns all along the back of my body. It’s fortunate I was unconscious for a week because I imagine digging all that shrapnel and glass out of me before being able to treat my burns was extremely painful. I would gladly have suffered it though if it meant I could have my beloved Eagle, Forrest and Jessica back.

It was another two weeks before I was able to arrange their funeral and attend it. Even then I was pushing it what with the skin grafts and the very real possibility of infection. But I was so numb inside I no longer cared if I lived or died.

Once my back and legs finally healed I took every dangerous assignment I could, while on the side I tracked the man who had killed my family. Because it was my family who had died the case was given to some of my fellow cops. I believe though that my partner Danny knew that I was in tracking mode. I was determined to find my family’s killer and bring him to justice.

In those days most people didn’t believe in the winagi or demons as the wasichus called them. That all changed when the winagis got bolder and bolder going so far as to possess senators, governors and one president. Since the demons were essentially immortal it was difficult to fight them. The thing is I always knew they were real and every bit as nasty as the fictional tales tell. I grew up with the traditions of my people and was raised by my grandfather who was a wichasa wakan, or holy person. Before he died, he told me that I would come face to face with a winagi, the literal translation is “ghost” but it refers to an evil non-human entity. He told me it would be my greatest challenge and that I must stop this winagi at all costs. I took him at his word. Unfortunately, I wasn’t careful enough and was mortally wounded. That’s when I found out about the Jumper Program.

Turns out the government had been testing ways to detect and fight the demons. Also turns out that my partner Danny was related to one of the scientists who developed the science behind the Jumper Program. He was able to convince his cousin to use me as their first test subject. Since I was going to die anyway, his relative agreed. After all they needed a guinea pig, it might as well be me, right?

I was out of my body and I could hear everything that was being said and decided. Honestly I didn’t really think they’d be able to do it. I mean how can you transfer the soul of one body into another body, especially one that was being kept alive only with machines? Even if you thought you could, what kind of guarantee would you have that that was really what was happening? Especially since that was what the winagi were doing. How could you be sure it wasn’t a winagi pretending to be the transferred soul? Personally, I could see them having a field day with that one.

Well the next thing I knew, one minute I was standing over another body, staring into lifeless blue eyes and the next minute I was staring out of them. Don’t ask me how I knew, I just did. What a rush!

Now you may be wondering why it would be important to be able to “jump” from one body to another. The government’s idea was that since winagi or demons were immortal, in order to effectively fight them we needed people who were not only well versed as cops, but well versed in the well, what they called “mythology” and what I called the “history” of man’s relationship with these things. I fit the bill on both counts. Also, a Jumper could just switch into a new body and continue to track and destroy winagis for as long as he or she wanted.

Well, that was the idea anyway. Unfortunately, the government didn’t do all their research, typical for them. You see, what we discovered was that the new body was only good for about six months before it began rejecting the new soul. This meant that the government had to provide a new body every six months. This became tricky because the program was black ops and the general public had no idea about it. Not even my fellow cops knew.

Time became an endless river to me with little change, and all I knew was jumping from one body to another, chasing the winagi that had possessed the man who had killed my family. If I got to destroy a few others along the way that was just as well.

Fifty years after jumping technology was developed man figured out how to go on deep space expeditions. Fifty years after that we were colonizing Earth like planets. As man went out into space the winagi or demons followed us, and I followed them. I continued to change bodies like I changed my clothes which after you’ve done it a few hundred times is exactly what it feels like. Eventually as the knowledge of demons became common everyday knowledge, the public was told about the program and jumpers were hailed as heroes.

But I didn’t want their adulation. I wanted my family back but that wasn’t going to happen, and the only way I could ensure that what had happened to me didn’t happen to someone else was to continue jumping.

So, that’s what I did, even going so far as to follow the younger generations into space. Interestingly enough though, most women weren’t interested in space travel, instead, they wanted to stay home on Earth. That’s not to say that a few didn’t go, but the percentage was much smaller than I or anyone else would have thought at the time. That was how I obtained my first male body. That took a little getting used to. I liked being stronger in most cases, and not having a period totally rocked, but I had a difficult time with the whole having your sex organs on the outside as opposed to the inside. That first involuntary erection was a real eye opener! For the first time, I totally got how that could happen and how embarrassing it was. Overall, it just felt weird. At first anyway, but after the first couple of times I got used to the vagaries of having a male body and in time I grew to prefer it.

So I followed generation after generation to one new colony planet after another. I saw the rise and fall of new human civilizations. I saw these new generations lose touch with Earth, and in some cases, a few who totally forgot about their mother planet, instead believing that the colony was their home world. Not surprising really when you think about it. It used to happen all the time on Earth, grandparents came from Italy and intermarried with other Americans and in four generations it could be completely forgotten that grandpa and grandma were Italian. Throw in the Plagues of the 2070’s where millions died thanks to the winagis, that was them using our own science against us, and it wasn’t hard to imagine how it could happen.

It wasn’t until sometime in the 3050’s when people were living almost one hundred years longer and bodies were in short supply for jumpers, that our scientists discovered if you put the donor body into a sort of suspended animation, then you could preserve it and the soul inside until such a time as a body became available. This in turn kept the jumper alive until he or she was needed again to fight the good fight. By this time we’d gotten very good at our jobs and there were fewer demons, or so we thought.

Her people had been coming to this mountain for ceremonies for longer than recorded history. It was the one place she felt that she truly belonged. It had been her sanctuary when James left for good. She had spent a month in the cabin relying on nature and the Spirits to teach her what mistake she had made by trusting him. Sadly, for once, no answer had come from those quarters.

The peace she normally felt along with the energy given her by the trees was spoiled by the grief she was re-experiencing with James’ return. Firmly she pushed the thoughts away. She would not think about that time; it hurt too much.

She tipped her head up and listened to the trees; they were trying to tell her something.

A spiritual cry that was not her own moved in her mind, her spirit. Tiana received a visualization of the energy around the cabin. Bright red streaks marred its aura, anger and hatred hung in the air like an awful stench. Tiana approached the cabin in a wary fashion. The door was standing wide open. She was positive she had not left the door open the last time she had visited.

Tiana pulled white energy from her mind and projected it around her body for protection. She entered the cabin and gasped, her hands covering her mouth. The entire room had been turned upside down. The mattress was torn from the bed and dumped on the floor. Does the looter think I would hide it here? The person had also dumped all the drawers in the dresser. Littering the room were towels, clothes, and sacred items like sweet grass and sage.

Leaving the cabin, she returned to her truck, knowing she was going to have to bring the police into it. Damn! James is going to find out about this eventually, but I’m not going to be the one to tell him.

Tiana picked up her cell phone and called a woman she knew who was a Bureau of Indian Affairs cop. The woman also knew about Tiana’s secret and could be trusted. After dialing the number, she waited while the phone rang. Finally, someone picked up.

“Kamiah Police Department, Ken speaking.”

“Hi, Ken, this is Tiana Slickpoo. Is Starla available?”

“Yeah, let me transfer you. Before I do, though, have you had another theft?”

“No, but my cabin up on the mountain has been trashed.”

“Do you know what they were looking for?”

Tiana paused. Ken knew that she was the carrier of sacred objects. However, he did not know about the one the thieves were looking for, and she did not want to talk to anyone but Starla about it.

“Could you please transfer me to Starla now?”

Tiana listened to the oldies station that served as hold music. As soon as she gave the report to Starla and talked to the police, she needed to go and make sure her grandmother was all right.

“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?” Starla’s cheerful voice came on the line.

“Hi, Starla. You’re not going to believe this, but the cabin up here has been completely trashed. I think they’re looking for what we talked about before.”

“God, I hope you’re joking. Because if you’re not, this explains why they’ve hit the tribal museum and your gallery. They must not be sure who the carrier is.”

“I wish it was a joke, but it’s not. How could anyone have found out I have it? You know the carrier is kept secret from all but a select few who can be trusted. I’ve only had it for six years. If the wrong people get their hands on it, it could mean devastation not just for the tribe, but for the idiot who steals it. That person would have no clue the kind of destruction it would wreak on the thief.”

“Does James know?”

“No, and you’re not going to tell him. Please, Starla, it wouldn’t do any good now anyway.”

“Tiana, you know how I feel about this. You should’ve told him when your grandmother gave it to you. Also he’s here to investigate the thefts and he’s not going to be able to help us if we can’t tell him what they’re looking for.”

“Look, I know I’m going to have to tell him eventually, but let me do it okay? I’ll do it when I absolutely have to and not before.” Tiana sighed. Starla had been badgering her to tell James about it for the entire time she had been the keeper.

“Okay, but if the thieves aren’t caught quickly, I’m going to have to. As it is he’s going to wonder why he hasn’t been told everything from the beginning. He could even accuse us of withholding information pertinent to the investigation. I mean it, Tiana, you need to tell him if this isn’t put to rest soon.” Starla’s voice became hard. She had always disapproved of the fact Tiana had not told James why she could not go with him when he had left.

“Yeah, all right, I’ll tell him in the next day or so if the thieves aren’t caught by then. Do you know who’s coming out to look at this mess?”

“I’ll be up soon. Can you wait?”

“Yes, I’ll just go for a walk until you get here. Look by the stream if I’m not around.”

This is bad, Tiana thought after ending her call with Starla. Tiana did not want to tell James the truth. All she had told him six years ago was she would not leave the reservation, so it would be better if they just broke it off. She remembered he had not even gotten angry, just had agreed it was for the best. It was the last time she had spoken to him, until today.

Lifting her eyes to the sky, she sought a sign from the Spirits. If only an eagle would appear, then she would know it would be all right if she told James the truth. What she got for her trouble was a rumble of thunder and the sky opening up. Big fat raindrops began to fall mixing with the dirt beneath her feet, plastering her long hair to her face.

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