Paldimori Gods Rising Box Set Read online

  Contents

  Also by T.L. Callahan

  Free Novella

  Waking Chaos

  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

  Chapter 35

  Leave A Review

  Unearthing Gaia

  Prologue

  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

  Epilogue

  Leave A Review

  Rising Chaos

  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

  Leave A Review

  Free Novella

  About the Author

  First published in United States of America by Dragon Mountain Press LLC 2020

  Callahan, T.L. Paldimori Gods Rising Series: Boxed Set (Books 1-3)

  Copyright © T.L. Callahan 2020

  T.L. Callahan asserts their moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  EB ISBN: 978-1-7332562-0-9

  Cover design by: Covers by Juan

  Artwork by: janko_m

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Publisher: Dragon Mountain Press LLC, 1250 W. Ohio Pike # 199 Amelia, OH 4510

  Created with Vellum

  Also by T.L. Callahan

  Paldimori Gods Rising Series

  Dawning Chaos (Prequel)

  Waking Chaos

  Unearthing Gaia

  Rising Chaos

  Book 4 Coming 2020

  Free Novella

  Dawning Chaos

  Want more from the Paldimori world? Click here now to get the FREE prequel novella and find out where it all started!

  First published in United States of America by Dragon Mountain Press LLC 2017

  2

  Callahan, T.L. Waking Chaos, 2nd edition

  Copyright © T.L. Callahan 2019, 2017

  T.L. Callahan asserts their moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2019904913

  PB ISBN: 978-0-9991225-8-7 2nd edition

  (ISBN 978-0-9991225-1-8 1st edition)

  EB ISBN: 978-0-9991225-7-0 2nd edition

  (ISBN 978-0-9991225-0-1 1st edition)

  Edited by Book Nanny Writing and Editing Services

  Cover design by: Covers by Juan

  Artwork by: janko_m

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Publisher: Dragon Mountain Press LLC, 1250 W. Ohio Pike # 199 Amelia, OH 4510

  Created with Vellum

  For my husband who believed in me and

  supported me in achieving this dream.

  For my son who understands that Mommy visits

  dreamland when I’m at my computer.

  1

  Whoever said “third time’s the charm” was a dumbass.

  Here I was looking at number five and, apparently, he was as unlucky for me as the previous four had been.

  Five boyfriends in three years. Five boyfriends and all of them cheaters.

  It was enough to give a girl a complex—if I could still feel anything. But emotions were the luxury of others who hadn’t had their lives torn apart. Who hadn’t once abandoned the veneer of humanity to live on the streets where the bleakness of rage and despair were their only companions.

  I shoved those thoughts back into their prison. A place deep inside me that I called my lonely highway. Once, it had run through lush pastures of hopes and dreams. Now, it cut through a barren wasteland with all the things that could destroy what was left of me painstakingly sealed away under its unforgiving asphalt. What did it say about who I had become that not one of those boyfriends had rated a mile marker or pothole on my lonely highway?

  I stood in the doorway to my bedroom and felt absolutely nothing. Which only confirmed what I’ve known all along—I was meant to be alone. Which was reinforced by the fact that having to burn my new sheets bothered me more than stumbling upon my boyfriend and my assistant manager having sex in my bed. Natalie, my—until now—reliable and faithful employee, started moaning as if she were having the best sex of her life. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d experienced an orgasm in that bed—or anywhere else for that matter. The vague sense of jealousy that my sheets were seeing more action than I did was another sad statement on my life over the past five years.

  Like the proverbial train-wreck, I couldn’t look away from the acrobatics taking place in my
bedroom. How the hell did she manage to twist herself into that position? If this was what men wanted, I was doomed to a life of battery-operated relationships. Mentally I scored the performance as if they were contestants on a game show. Point deductions for this being my bed and my boyfriend, but definite high marks for creativity.

  Daron picked up the pace and started groaning. A sound that usually signaled an unsatisfactory but thankfully quick end on the few occasions we’d had sex. I don’t know why either of us had still been pretending there was a relationship—we had nothing in common and we barely saw each other. Massaging the temples of my pounding head, I backed out of the doorway. The grand finale could remain a mystery.

  I trudged downstairs wishing I had stayed in bed today instead of forcing myself to go to work when I realized my sniffles had turned into a full blown cold. Ordinarily, I lived for the moments spent at my art gallery, Whimsy. But it had been a bitch of a day. Starting with a shipping mix-up on a custom painting order. Then realizing through the fog of this cold and the drowsiness from the medication I’d taken that I’d forgotten my loan paperwork that was due today.

  In the kitchen, I chugged a glass of water hoping it would ease the scratchy feeling in my throat. I toed off my shoes and snorted at the files lying on the granite countertop. Those files were the whole reason I was here in my condo witnessing acts that not even bleach would erase from my brain instead of being at work. That paperwork would have launched the expansion of my art gallery benefiting not only me but the network of artists that I’d painstaking built since my business had opened three years ago. The papers had been due to the bank manager by noon today. When I realized I’d forgotten the files, Natalie had offered to pick them up and take them to the bank for me. She had been a trusted employee for a couple of years now so there had been no reason to doubt her. That’s why I was shocked when the bank manager, Brice Kingston, called to say that the documents hadn’t been received on time.

  Brice Kingston II’s family had owned the bank for generations and, in their own minds, they were small town royalty here in Port Lawson. Brice’s voice had dripped with smug satisfaction as he informed me that his bank had no tolerance for little girls playing at being a business owner and I would have to start the loan process all over again. Pleading with him to give me another hour had been pointless. He not only had snobbery down to a science but a chip on his shoulder to rival the Rockies where I was concerned. Beady-eyed mama’s boys didn’t do it for me, and he was still in a state of denial that I refused to go out with him. Unfortunately, he now took great pleasure in sticking his nose into all of my business dealings with his bank and enjoyed making things difficult for me.

  After that disheartening conversation, I’d tried calling Natalie’s cell since she hadn’t returned to work. My calls kept going to voicemail, and I was worried that something had happened to her. Business had been slow at the gallery, so I’d left one of the other employees in charge while I made the fifteen-minute drive home. The rest, as they say, was history.

  Please god, let us wrap up this confrontation quickly and quietly, I mentally pleaded as I washed down another dose of cold medicine, grimacing at the taste. Daron would get the boot. Natalie and I would discuss her poor life choices. We would all be civilized adults—ones that never mentioned this to anyone. Ever.

  The gossips in this small seaside town on the Olympic coast of Washington were brutal. My best friend and I called them the GG’s—the Gossiping Gaggle. A group of little old ladies that were sympathetic enough to make my teeth hurt whenever they heard of my all too frequent break-ups. I was pretty sure most of them only cared about getting juicy details they could embellish to their liking. The last thing I wanted was to be the headliner for their gossip. I liked my life predictable and low-key. Nothing to create a new mile marker on my lonely highway.

  Weariness settled on my shoulders like a shroud. If only I could sleep for a while but there were the two surprise guests to deal with. I picked up the folder of paperwork, walked over to the large bay window at the back of the living room, and sank down onto the cushioned window seat to wait. My toes wiggled into the plush cream carpet. This was my favorite spot in the condo and the deciding factor in buying this place when I’d finally pulled myself out of the downward spiral after my parents died and came back to Washington.

  Outside the window was the other reason. Windswept ocean waves crashed against the green shore not fifty yards beyond my deck. A storm was rolling in, which was nothing new for this part of the state. Raindrops tinkled against the window. The low rumble of thunder sounded off in the distance. My eyes closed as I soaked in the moment of peace. Memories tried to edge in, the sound of the storm as it raged around our boat. My mother’s scream. No! I pushed the memories down under the asphalt and opened the folder to read over the paperwork again.

  The sound of giggling and footsteps on the stairs signaled the arrival of my guests. I hung my head for a moment contemplating the broken record that had become my life. Then taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and stood to greet them. They came into sight on the stairs but hadn’t yet noticed me. Probably because Natalie had her legs wrapped around Daron’s waist, and they were still kissing like they didn’t need air. Daron’s tanned and toned surfer body dwarfed the petite Natalie as he shifted her higher against him.

  Natalie tore her mouth away as they reached the last couple of steps and tipped her blonde head back, laughing at the ceiling. “D, we have to stop. I don’t know how long I’ve been gone, but Lia has probably noticed.”

  Oh yeah, I’d noticed.

  That didn’t stop Natalie from running her hands down Daron’s chest and nibbling on his ear. My patience and ability to handle this civilly was fraying around the edges.

  Daron made a growling sound as he kissed her neck. “She never notices. I could probably bang you in front of her again.”

  Natalie purred at that and rubbed up against him like a cat in heat. “That would be hot. How ’bout you stop by for lunch tomorrow and fuck me behind the counter while we watch her talk to that pissy old guy who comes in all the time. That was fun.”

  What? Did she just say they’d had sex in my gallery? While I was with a customer? My moment of shock quickly faded as a red haze descended across my vision. That traitorous bitch! This wasn’t a one-time “oops I accidentally tripped and fell on your boyfriend’s dick” situation. It was one thing for them to have sex here in my condo, but at my place of business was beyond over the line.

  “How dare you!” I yelled, stomping toward them.

  Daron startled, dropping Natalie right onto her perky round ass. She landed on the bottom step with a squeal and tipped over backward onto the floor. Her skirt flipped up to her waist, showing all her assets to the world.

  Does no one wear underwear these days? It would have been amusing if I wasn’t so pissed off.

  “Li-Li . . . I . . . let m—” Daron jumped over Natalie, reaching for me.

  My raised palm stopped him in his tracks. “Save it. Get your shit and get out. Both of you.”

  “What’s the matter, Jillian? Can’t handle the fact that I can please a man enough to actually make him keep coming back for more?” Natalie got to her feet, glaring at me as she rubbed what I hoped was her very sore ass. “They may all be drawn to your innocent act at first, but they learn soon enough what a cold fish you are.”

  She pushed her tousled long blonde hair back from her beautiful face. Then ran her hands down her hips suggestively to toy with the hem of her short skirt. She stuck out her chest and cocked her hip inviting me to take inventory of all the reasons men might want her. She was dressed like a Catholic schoolgirl, which was certainly not the outfit she had been wearing when she left the gallery. I didn’t want to know the kind of games they had been playing in my bedroom. This time the whole damn mattress was going to have to go.

  Natalie’s gaze was full of hate and a nasty smile twisted her lips. The naive and sweet college girl I had k
nown was nowhere in sight. Who was this person? What had happened to the girl I thought I knew? The girl who had been there to celebrate our first big order. The person who had been as excited as I was over the future plans for Whimsy.

  “Natalie, I don’t know what you think I’ve done to deserve this kind of treatment, but you’re welcome to Daron. Just not in my house. And especially not in my gallery.” I rubbed my forehead, a headache throbbing behind my eyes. “Get out, both of you.”

  I walked past to usher them out the door when something sharp dug into my arm, and I was wrenched around to face a furious Natalie.