Sucker Punch: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (First Fangs Club Book 3)

  Sucker Punch

  Newly appointed vampire governor of New Jersey, Belladonna Barrone is fast discovering that life as a vampire isn’t much easier than life as a mobster’s wife. But that experience certainly taught her some things about how to handle the problems that come with being governor. That is until a friend is kidnapped by the fae and his life put in danger, all because of her actions.

  Figuring out how to save him feels very much above her paygrade, but she’s the boss and the decision about how to handle this potentially deadly situation is completely up to her. With the clock ticking, she has no choice but to attempt a rescue.

  Thankfully, she has the help of her team and some impressive new friends. But going to battle with the fae has painfully real consequences and the outcome of their mission leaves them all reeling. While dealing with the fallout from the fight, Donna once again becomes the target of a jealous vampire rival, which puts her future in question. Somehow, she has to find the strength to keep going and overcome these new attacks.

  But there’s only so much a woman can handle. Or is there? With new resolve, Donna knows her only option is to fight back. Who else is going to protect her family and friends? She’s never been one to run from her problems.

  Even when her problems feel like a supernatural sucker punch.

  Sucker Punch:

  A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel

  First Fangs Club, Book Three

  Copyright © 2020 Kristen Painter

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  ISBN: 978-1-941695-60-9

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  Table of Contents

  SUCKER PUNCH

  About the Book

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  About the Author

  Other Books by Kristen Painter

  Many thanks to…

  For my State of Survival alliance, CFS.

  Thanks for inspiring me in more ways than you know, and thanks to Ishalan for the use of his name.

  Chapter One

  With dawn fast approaching, Belladonna Barrone stood in the living room of her home, the governor’s penthouse, surrounded by her trusted team: Pierce Harrison, her personal assistant and the attorney who’d saved her life. Charlene “Charlie” Rollins, her administrative assistant. Temo Danielson, her driver and head of security.

  His cousin, Penina, was also there, due to her helping out as part-time security.

  Next to her stood Rixaline, the teenage dhamfir Donna had given sanctuary to. Rixaline had returned the favor by using her skills of finding lost things to locate Donna’s supposed-to-be-dead mob husband, which made it possible to capture him and turn him over to the FBI.

  But none of those people could stop the pit that opened up in Donna’s stomach as she watched the newly arrived video on her phone. Temo, Pierce, and Charlie had gotten it too.

  The sight of friend and FBI agent Rico Medina in the clutches of the fae was unbearably awful. Sounds started to go tinny, the floor beneath her tilted, and for a second, Donna thought she might pass out. Or retch. Or punch something. Maybe all three. But not in that order.

  Instead of doing any of that, she did her best to pull herself together. But not in time to stop a curse that would have made Big Tony, head of the Villachi crime family, proud. She stared at her phone’s screen for a second longer, then finally raised her head and uttered a sentence she knew was the result of denial. “That can’t be him. Please tell me that’s not him.”

  Her team looked at her with the same kind of sinking despair she felt.

  Temo shook his head slowly. “Pretty sure it is, boss.”

  Pierce came to her side. “I’m sorry, but it’s definitely Rico.”

  Donna swallowed, but the bitter taste in her mouth went nowhere. “I know. I just don’t want it to be him.”

  Penina picked up her purse. “I should go. You all have a lot to deal with, and I don’t want to be in the way. If you need me, I’m just a phone call away.”

  Donna nodded. “Thank you for helping out.”

  “Anytime. I’m so sorry.” She looked at Temo. “Talk to you later, cousin.”

  “Later,” he answered.

  As Penina left, Donna glanced down at her phone again. “As much as I don’t want to, I need to watch that again.”

  “Hang on,” Charlie said. She grabbed the TV remote and changed the channel from the movie Penina and Rixaline had been watching, then tapped her phone screen a few times. A couple of seconds later, the video started playing on the television.

  With her hand pressed flat to her stomach, Donna watched, unable to look away. Forcing herself to be analytical and search for anything that might be useful.

  The same dimly lit holding cell appeared, all in muted shades of gray because of the low light. The walls and floor looked like stone.

  “The dungeons,” Rixaline breathed. “I would know them anywhere.”

  A man was bound to a wooden chair in the center of the cell, head down. Donna recognized his T-shirt and jeans as the same ones Rico had worn earlier at FBI headquarters to take custody of Joe and his accomplice girlfriend, Carmella.

  A fae walked into view and grabbed a handful of Rico’s hair as he talked to the camera. “We know you have the dhamfir.”

  Rixaline let out a tiny whimper.

  “Return her to us, or your friend dies. You have forty-eight hours.”

  He pulled the man’s head back.

  And once again, Donna looked into Rico’s face. He looked angry. But also a little scared. She sucked in a breath, unable to stop herself from reacting. It felt like she’d been sucker-punched. “I can’t believe they have him.”

  “Neither can I,” Pierce said. “How are they holding a wolf shifter?”

  Rixaline spoke softly. “Those ropes are laced with silver threads.”

  Donna turned to her. “That cell is in the fae headquarters?”

  She nodded. “Yes, in the stronghold’s dungeons.”

  Donna’s vampire na
ture flared like a can of gasoline that had just been thrown into a fire. It came over her with the same sudden surge as the first time she’d slugged her mobster husband, Joe, in the face. “I’m going to kill them all.”

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Charlie said.

  “Really?” Donna snapped. “Because it seems like a freakin’ fabulous idea to me.”

  Rixaline’s skin, normally a dusky gray green, seemed paler and greener than usual. “This is my fault. I’m so sorry.”

  Donna couldn’t really argue with that. This had happened because of Rixaline, but Donna alone had made the decision to offer the teenager sanctuary. From that point on, any and all consequences were hers to deal with. “No one forced them to kidnap Rico. And if there’s blame to be had, it’s mine for giving you sanctuary. Doesn’t mean I’d change my decision. Or that I have any regrets, other than what’s happened to Rico, obviously.”

  Rixaline’s distress seemed to stay the same. Her arms hugged her thin torso. “When do you want to leave?”

  “Leave?” Donna frowned. “For where?”

  “To take me back to King Dredward.”

  Donna barked out a sharp laugh. “That is the last place you’re going. You really think I’d turn you over to that lunatic? Child, you do not yet understand the kind of woman I am.”

  Charlie glanced out the penthouse windows, making Donna look too. Dull indigo light edged the horizon, and the stars were nearly gone. “It’s almost dawn. The fae will be asleep soon. Hopefully, that means Rico will be left to sleep too.”

  Donna shifted her gaze to her admin. “We have a lot to do in a short amount of time. Let’s start with drafting an email to Artemis. We’ll let her know about Rixaline first and then this situation. I can’t have the queen finding out secondhand that my sanctuary case has turned into something bigger. I need to get ahead of this.”

  Charlie nodded as she headed for her office. “On it.”

  Donna put her phone back in her evening bag. “Rixaline?”

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “You remember how to get to the fae stronghold?”

  She swallowed. “I do.”

  “Excellent. Draw me a map. Show me how to get to the dungeons too.”

  Rixaline hesitated. “It won’t do you any good.”

  “Why not?” Donna didn’t have time for games.

  Rixaline tugged at her ear. “Only those with fae blood or under the control of the fae can see the stronghold. That’s how their protective magic works.”

  “That’s an unfortunate complication, but if magic is doing that, then magic should be able to undo it. But we’ll discuss that some more later. In the meantime, draw me that map. Get whatever supplies you need from Charlie.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Rixaline headed off toward the admin’s office.

  Donna looked at Temo next. “We’re going to need a daylight-capable team.”

  Pierce frowned. “You’re going to run a daylight raid?”

  “Seems like the best time to do it, since the fae will be the most vulnerable then.”

  “But your secret won’t be a secret after that.”

  She’d been doing her best to keep her UV immunity under wraps, but that no longer seemed important now. She thought for a moment. “There has to be a way a vampire can temporarily daywalk, right?”

  “If a vampire is well covered enough, they can get away with a short daywalk. But you’re talking about something that would explain being out for several hours. That doesn’t exist.”

  “There has to be something.”

  He didn’t look convinced. “I’ll see what I can figure out.”

  “Thank you. Now, Temo. About that team. Put together the best you’ve got or that money can buy. No expense spared. If we need to hire mercenaries, do it, just make sure they know what they’re going up against. No humans. If you want to get Penina to help again, that would be great. Oh, and, Temo?”

  His dark brows rose. “Yes, boss?”

  “Your fae connections. Reach out to them. See if you can find out anything more about this situation that might be useful. Anything about the layout of the stronghold, the kind of security, anything. No detail is worthless at this point.”

  “Will do.” He gave both her and Pierce a nod before taking off toward the stairs that led to the staff penthouse one floor below.

  She turned to Pierce, shaking her head and sighing at the awfulness of Rico’s capture. “I can’t believe this.”

  “Me neither.” Lines of concern bracketed his eyes. “What else can I do? Just tell me what you need, and I’m on it.”

  “Tell me this is going to be okay. Tell me we’re going to get Rico back. Alive.”

  He smiled with effort, but it was comforting all the same. “We will.”

  She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a second to get a handle on her emotions. “I really do want to kill them.”

  “You’re not alone in that,” he said. “You may get the chance.”

  “This feels…like more than I can handle. This is a man’s life at stake here. Getting him back means basically standing up a military operation.” She put her hand to her forehead. “I don’t have that kind of knowledge. I was a housewife, not a mob boss.”

  “For one thing, you’ve already done a great job getting started. For another, Temo does have that kind of knowledge, thanks to his Special Ops days. On top of that, you have all of us to help you. You’re not in this alone.”

  “I know. You’re right. But I feel like I’m forgetting something. We need to get as organized as possible. And get some more help. Nothing can fall between the cracks.”

  “We will get it all done, I promise.” His smile took on a gentler curve. “But first, you might want to change out of that dress and that necklace that’s worth half a mil.”

  Her hand went to her throat, landing on the borrowed diamond and ruby sparkler she’d worn to the party they’d just left. “I totally forgot about it.”

  Not just any party either. The most incredible party she’d ever been to, thrown by Francine, one of the most amazing vampires Donna had met since being turned a couple of weeks ago. And all in Donna’s honor. Despite her unfortunate run-in with the vampire governor of New York, Hawke Fitzhugh, the night had been one to remember. “To think just an hour ago, we were happy and laughing and having the time of our lives. Now this.”

  “Life is funny that way.”

  She glanced down at her gorgeous red dress, then back at him in his tux. “We should both change. Then set up camp in the dining room. And you should maybe get some ice for that hand.” He’d punched Fitzhugh. With good reason. But she didn’t want Pierce to suffer for that any more than he already had. “It’s going to be a long day.”

  “It’s feeling better already.” He flexed his hand, the knuckles red and swollen. “You sure you don’t want to set up in the conference room?”

  She shook her head. “I like being close to the kitchen. We’re going to need sustenance and coffee. By sustenance, I mean pie.”

  “Good thing we have some left. There’s cake too.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Meet you in the kitchen, then.”

  She nodded as she went in the direction of her bedroom. “In ten.”

  “You got it.”

  She shut the bedroom door behind her and leaned against it, the enormity of Rico’s plight hitting her like a crashing wave.

  She could not let him die. He was a friend and an ally, but more than that, he was a stand-up guy who’d dedicated his life to the battle between good and evil. To sticking up for the underdog. To saving those who couldn’t save themselves. Like her.

  But the fae were a very different kind of evil.

  The kind that wanted to turn every vampire they could catch into dinner.

  What did that mean for Rico, a werewolf? She wasn’t sure what the fae-werewolf relationship was. Would they drain him too? The fae loved vampire blood. She didn’t know how they f
elt about werewolf blood.

  She shuddered and burst into action, stripping off the evening gown, high heels, and ridiculously expensive borrowed jewels. There was so much to do that if she allowed herself to dwell on it all, she’d be overwhelmed.

  This was one of those times when she just had to let the big picture blur a little so she could focus on the now. Get each small thing done before moving on to the next one. All while somehow keeping the big picture in mind.

  There had been moments like this when she’d been married to Joe. Like the time he’d come home suddenly in the middle of the day, thrown money at her, and told her to get out of town with the kids until he let her know it was okay to come home. Thank God the kids had been small enough to think they were just going on a vacation with Mommy.

  But this was a lot more serious than anything she’d dealt with before.

  She pulled her blessed crucifix from her bra and secured it around her neck. She kissed the cross and said a quick prayer that she’d be able to handle this. More than ever, she wished she could talk to Cammie, her sister who was an actual sister. Sister Mary Lazarus Immaculata, to be exact. But Cammie was in Nicaragua with the rest of her fellow nuns, working at an orphanage.

  Donna shook her head at the very idea of such sacrifice. Cammie was such a good person. And not just because she was a nun. She’d want nothing to do with this, though that didn’t stop Donna from wanting to talk to her. Even if only to ask her to pray.