Wonder: A Soul Savers Collection of Holiday Short Stories & Recipes Read online

  Table of Contents

  Books by Kristie Cook

  Dedication

  HALLOWEEN STORIES

  POSSESSION

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  ENDINGS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  HALLOWEEN RECIPES

  Keep the Monsters Away Spinach Artichoke Dip

  Tristan’s Birthday Cake

  Graveyard Cake

  Spirit Blasting Leek and Potato Soup

  Blossom’s Last-Minute Stew

  Charlotte’s Perfect Carmel Corn

  Vanessa’s Blood Jam (Low Iron)

  THANKSGIVING STORIES

  AMITY

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  BELONGING

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  GRATITUDE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  THANKSGIVING RECIPES

  Jewels’ Human Dip

  Sundae’s Pack Stew

  Blossom’s Oh So Tender Turkey!

  Mindy’s Homemade Stuffing Craving

  Mindy’s Fake It ’Til You Make It Thanksgiving Casserole – My Grandma’s Spin On the Traditional Green Bean Casserole

  Blood on Snow Almond Fudge and White Chocolate Cranberry

  Sasha’s Delights – Dog Cookies

  CHRISTMAS STORIES

  JOY

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  MIRACLE: A Vampire’s First Christmas

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  PRESENCE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  CHRISTMAS RECIPES

  Were Brownies

  Vanessa’s Old Time Oyster Stew

  Vanessa’s Sweet as Blood Meatballs

  Snow Dusted Poffertjes (Tiny Pancakes)

  Vanessa’s Veggie Treat

  Blossom’s Magical Christmas Jam Pop Up’s

  Owen’s Quick Farmhouse Fruit Cake

  Claire’s Wonderful Winter Christmas Cake

  Claire and Tony’s Cuddle Up Anti-Christmas Casserole

  Claire’s Warlock Cookies

  Blossom’s Sassy Spice Cookies

  It Sucks To Be a Vampire Brownies

  Dingle–Barrys: Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Balls With a Kick

  Pinwheel Cookies Recipe

  Sheree’s People Chow

  Beverages

  Peanut Butter Sasha Snacks (Dog Treats)

  NEW YEAR’S STORIES

  RESOLUTIONS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  FERVOR

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  DESIRE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  NEW YEAR’S RECIPES

  Christina’s More Powerful Than You Know Baked Chicken Wings

  Tristan’s New Year’s Good Fortune Pork Tenderloin

  Kate’s Unforgettable Chinese New Year’s Dish

  Faerie Dill Pickle Dip

  Magic Shrimp Dip

  Bewitching Carrot Cookies

  Midnight Kiss Bourbon Drops

  Christina’s Magical Caramel Sauce

  Masquerade Crisp

  A Faerie Nutty Chocolate Delight

  A Were’s Delight Strawberry & Vodka Fritz

  Alexis And Tristan’s New Year’s Breakfast

  Around the World Club Sandwich

  Hemelse Modder (Heavenly Mud)

  About the Author

  Connect With Me Online

  Acknowledgements

  Books by Kristie Cook

  An Excerpt of Promise, Book 1 in the Soul Savers Series

  Soul Savers Series

  WONDER:

  A Soul Savers Collection of Short Stories & Recipes

  KRISTIE COOK

  Ang’dora Productions, LLC

  Naples, Florida

  Summary:

  A fun collection of holiday short stories and recipes from Kristie Cook’s internationally bestselling Soul Savers Series. Last year’s shorts for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s have been rewrapped into one big gift, along with NEW content. Bonus material includes two stories for Halloween–including a choose-your-own-adventure-type ending! Also, find recipes for each holiday, submitted by the most avid of Soul Savers fans. That’s 11 short stories and 48 recipes in one neat package ready for the holiday season.

  Enjoy your Halloween treats with a scary story from Tristan and Alexis and a choose-your-own-adventure where you get to decide your fate—supernatural or human.

  Stuff yourself full with three Thanksgiving stories about a baby vampire yearning for a traditional feast, a lost werewolf who finds love, and Tristan, Alexis, and the crew struggling to enjoy dinner when the enemy attacks.

  Open three gifts that include a Daemoni warlock finding her own way to celebrate anti-Christmas, a vampire converted to the good side who discovers the miracle of Christmas, and a special, fan-inspired story from Tristan–winner of multiple best hero/best book boyfriend awards, including UtopYA Con 2014 Best Supernatural Hero.

  Finally, ring in the New Year with a were-romance, a party that tests four witches’ resolutions, and your favorite couple struggling to grab their midnight kiss.

  Books by Kristie Cook

  — SOUL SAVERS SERIES —

  www.SoulSaversSeries.com

  Promise

  Purpose

  Devotion

  Power

  Wrath

  Books 6 & 7 (Coming late 2014)

  Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella

  — THE BOOK OF PHOENIX SERIES —

  www.TheBookofPhoenix.com

  The Space Between

  The Space Beyond

  The Space Within

  Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Kristie Cook

  All rights reserved.

  Published by

  Ang’dora Productions, LLC

  24123 Peachland Blvd C4 #148

  Port Charlotte, FL 33954

  Ang’dora Productions and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Ang’dora Productions, LLC

  Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the copyright owner.

  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN 978-1-939859-12-9 (ePub)

  Dedication

  To all of the strong women in the world and the men who love and respect them

  HALLOWEEN STORIES

  POSSESSION

  This story first appea
red a few years ago on A Life Bound by Books blog for their Haunted Halloween feature. I spruced it up a bit and posted it on my blog in 2013, and I thought it would be a great addition to include in this collection. Please note that this doesn’t really fit anywhere specific in the actual story because it’s made up. If you must try to stick it somewhere, it would basically fit in right after Devotion, when they’re all still on the Amadis Island. Of course, if you’ve read that book and read this, you know that doesn’t work either. Really, it’s just a tiny little story for fun.

  Chapter 1

  I placed the last candle in Tristan’s birthday cake before my eyes swept over the banana-gasm goodness Blossom had prepared on my behalf. When I deemed the job perfect, I turned to face Owen.

  “So are you going to tell me where he is or not?” I demanded.

  Owen leaned back against the counter, crossed his arms over his chest, and shook his head. “You know he wants nothing to do with this day.”

  “Yeah, yeah. He doesn’t like to be reminded of how old he is, which reminds him of his previous life. But I’m glad he’s here in my life now so—” I shut my mouth at the peculiar look Owen was giving me. “What?”

  He pushed his hand through his blond hair, making it stand up like a scarecrow’s. Thus his nickname. “That’s, uh, not the real reason he doesn’t like this day.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s not just his birthday. It’s Halloween, too.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I think I’ve brought him around to liking it.”

  “I doubt it. Have you ever even spent his birthday with him?”

  “Well … I didn’t know it was his birthday at the time. When we first started dating. But we did Halloween stuff together and he had fun.”

  “But were you with him at midnight?”

  I tried to think back. “It was a long time ago. I don’t remember the exact time he brought me home.”

  “It had to have been early. Because at midnight …” Owen’s voice trailed off. His sapphire blue eyes lit up, and his mouth twitched with excitement.

  The anticipation was killing me. “What?”

  “Well … it’s not just Tristan’s birthday, and it’s not just Halloween. This also happens to be the day—” He paused for effect. “—Jordan died.”

  I cocked my head and squinted my eyes. “Jordan? As in—”

  “As in the Daemoni, the first of Tristan’s kind. And since Halloween’s when the veil between our world and the Otherworld is thinnest—”

  “Wait. Do the Amadis believe in that?”

  Owen shrugged. “I just know it seems to be true because that’s when … well …” He cleared his throat, again building up the suspense. “That’s when Jordan’s spirit takes possession of Tristan’s body so he can roam the earth again and search for his sister, if just for a few hours.”

  I burst out laughing so hard I nearly hit my head on the counter’s edge.

  “Ha! Nice spooky story, Owen. Hilarious!” I cut off the guffaws and glared at him with all seriousness. “Now tell me where he is.”

  He stood up to his full height and lifted his hands out in emphasis. “Alexis, I’m serious. And since you look so much like Cassandra, Jordan’s prey, you should probably stay far, far away from Tristan tonight.”

  “Now that’s absurd. Fine. Be that way. I’ll find him myself.”

  “Alexis, please—”

  I didn’t listen for his plea, but I thought I heard a sigh of frustration just before I flashed.

  Chapter 2

  I appeared in the place where we’d all been earlier this morning—an ancient stone house in the Greek countryside. Tristan and Owen wanted to check it out, but I felt edgy as we explored the ruins. Ready to leave long before they were, I’d left them here and went back to help Blossom with Tristan’s cake. Tristan hadn’t come home with Owen, and since Scarecrow wouldn’t spill where else he might be, this was my best guess.

  The sun had set already and the moon hid behind a heavy blanket of clouds. Darkness filled the dilapidated house, making it even spookier than earlier. Although in remarkable condition considering its age, the house was losing its shape, some walls nothing more than piles of rubble. A breeze blew through holes where stones had crumbled away and through windows with no glass, ruffling my hair. I tried not to think of the cobwebs in the corners or of the spiders and other creatures that made this place home, but I couldn’t help it. The hairs on my arms rose and a hint of fear traveled down my spine. Soft light briefly filled the room, and I looked up through a hole in the roof to see the moon disappearing again behind a thick cloud. Complete darkness consumed the house and me, and my breath caught in my lungs. Maybe I should go.

  Then lightning flashed and showed the silhouette of a large figure standing by the window. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Tristan!” I hurried toward him, toward the safety of his muscular arms and his powerful body. Of course, I could have probably taken on whatever would attack me, but there was no comparison to the security I felt when in my husband’s arms. Nothing would harm me when he was by my side.

  But before I took more than a step, a strong gust of wind blew up around me and whipped my hair at my face. A raspy voice hissed, filling the air around me with “Caaaa-sssssannn-ddddrrrraaaa…”

  I froze. The hairs all over my body stood on end, and my heart raced. What the hell was going on? And then I remembered a stray bit of today’s conversation between Owen and Tristan—something about this being Jordan’s house. Son of a witch! How had I missed that earlier? The story of Jordan and Cassandra and the different paths they chose ran through my mind. We were right on Jordan and his witch’s old stomping grounds! And on Halloween, no less.

  Had Owen been serious? Was this the real reason Tristan had come here today? My whole body began to tremble.

  “T-t-tristan?” I said again, my voice small and shaky now. I could barely make out the figure at the window, but I sensed the movement as it turned. Lightning flashed again, illuminating his beautiful face. And although it looked very much like Tristan, the deep blue eyes and white-blond hair definitely weren’t his.

  I opened my mouth to scream. The figure suddenly stood next to me, silencing any noise that tried to make its way out. My mouth slammed shut as I stared up at the menacing form.

  Lightning flashed. Tristan’s face right before me. Then Jordan’s. Hazel eyes. Blue. Sublime face. Twisted with malice.

  His hands clamped onto my shoulders and squeezed. I swung my arms and bucked my body. He tightened his grip on me, holding me still.

  “Hello, little sister,” he whispered in my ear. Definitely not Tristan’s lovely voice. This one resonated with something sinister, full of horror and threats. “Nice of you to come play. I’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time.”

  I closed my eyes and screamed.

  Chapter 3

  Again, no sound came out. My body thrashed, and I tried to kick my legs, but something wrapped around them. Eris’s magic tangling me up? Had Jordan brought his evil witch with him? Well, I had my own power. I began to gather the electricity within me, growing the force into a strong current. My lids popped open to glare the revolting demon-man in the eyes before I fried his soul out of my husband’s body.

  Except bright daylight blinded me.

  I flew up to a sitting position and gasped as I found myself on the couch at home. Owen and Tristan, standing in the kitchen and holding plates full of birthday cake, turned to look at me.

  “You slept through Halloween,” Tristan said. He held up his plate. “But thanks for the cake.”

  “Bad dream?” Owen asked.

  I nodded, still unable to speak. A sharp pain shot from the base of my neck to the front of my skull. I winced. They exchanged a knowing glance, and I remembered when I’d felt a similar pain—as though someone had jabbed around inside my brain while I slept. Another time I supposedly had a bad dream only to learn differently later.

  “Um �
��” My voice came out roughly, as though sandpaper made up my vocal chords. I cleared my throat. “What happened last night?”

  Tristan raised an eyebrow and studied me with sparkling hazel eyes. “We took Dorian trick-or-treating, came home, and you passed out on the couch. You don’t remember?”

  Dorian bounded into the room then. “You shouldn’t have eaten so much of my candy, Mom. It made you sick and probably gave you nightmares.”

  I blinked, trying to clear the cobwebs from my mind. Of course. What else could it be? Tristan doesn’t really become possessed on Halloween. I peered at Tristan—my soul mate, my true love—and he gave me my favorite grin. But something flashed in his eyes and not the usual gold sparkles.

  Was that a hint of blue … or just my imagination?

  ENDINGS