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  OSIRIS

  SPEED DATING WITH THE DENIZENS OF THE UNDERWORLD

  BOOK THIRTEEN

  A.L. KESSLER

  CONTENTS

  Osiris

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Excerpt

  Watch for the other books

  Find A.L. Kessler

  Other Books by A.L. Kessler

  About A.L. Kessler

  Osiris

  Speed Dating with the Denizens of the Underworld

  Book Thirteen

  * * *

  Copyright © 2022

  A.L. Kessler

  ISBN: 978-1-77357-392-2

  978-1-77357-393-9

  Published by Naughty Nights Press LLC

  Cover Art By King Cover Designs

  Edited By: No Genre Left Behind

  * * *

  Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

  * * *

  Sale of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If this book is coverless, it may have been reported to the publisher as "unsold or destroyed" and neither the author nor the publisher may have received payment for it.

  * * *

  No part of this book may be adapted, stored, copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  * * *

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  OSIRIS

  Gods aren’t supposed to fall in love with a human.

  * * *

  Tanya promised herself she wouldn’t let a man take advantage of her again. Struggling to make ends meet while working at a bar, she makes her simple life work.

  * * *

  But that changes when her friend convinces her to go to speed dating at DeLux Café. Chaos consumes the world around her as she’s pulled into the world of the supernatural she had tried to ignore.

  * * *

  Osiris wasn’t supposed to fall in love. His job was simple, convince Tanya to work for him so he could protect her. What he wasn’t expecting was her stubbornness and her ignoring the signs of danger around her.

  * * *

  When shadows and evil draw closer, he has to find a way to keep Tanya safe.

  * * *

  Osiris is book thirteen in the Speed Dating with the Denizens of the Underworld shared world, filled with a mysterious woman, a stubborn god, and more.

  CHAPTER 1

  The sound of the music thumped against Tanya Frisco as she made her way to the bar. She dropped her tray on the wood and waved at Scottie to get his attention. The bartender came over and raised a brow. “What’s up?”

  “Table six would like another round of blow jobs.” She rolled her eyes. “I think they just like saying the name.”

  Scottie pressed his lips together and glanced at the table in question. His eyes seemed to flash to a different color for a moment. “Let me guess, someone just turned twenty-one?”

  She shrugged a shoulder. “Who cares? They’re tipping me well with each round, and at this rate, I’ll be able to pay rent.”

  “Rent low again?” He frowned at her, and she waved him off.

  “Promise I’ll make it, Baldy,” she teased, and he ran a hand over his shaved head that reflected the different colored lights of the bar.

  He shook his head. “My offer still stands. You can move in with me. I have an extra room.”

  He’d made the same offer for the last seven months, ever since her ex had kicked her out of his apartment. “I know, Scottie, thank you.” She placed a gentle hand on his. “Now, go make those blow jobs, so I can go wiggle my ass and get some more tips.”

  He chuckled and turned away to make them. She didn’t have to wait long for him to load up her tray with eight shot glasses topped with whipped cream. She picked the tray up and balanced it on her hand, over her head, and moved through the crowd to the table.

  She dodged and twisted around the people moving between the tables and the dance floor, trying to get to the bar themselves. Finally, coming to a stop at table six, she sat the glasses on the table one at a time and one of the eight men started distributing the drinks around the table.

  He handed her a few fives and grinned. “Your tip for this round. Drinks go on the tab.”

  She batted her eyes at him, slipping the bills into the pocket of her apron. “Thank you.” She turned away, and he grabbed her wrist. “Why don’t you come home with us tonight, honey? We’ll show you a real good time.”

  The others howled and whistled at her as if they were jackals on a hunt. She gave him her best smile. “Sorry, sweetheart, I have plans.” She rolled her wrist, pulling out of his grip. This wasn’t the first table of rowdy men she’d dealt with, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

  Another table waved her over, and she quickly maneuvered her way over to get their drink order.

  Round after round, table after table, she served drinks, snacks, and thwarted anyone’s plans of taking her home tonight. When the bar finally closed around two am, she sat down on a stool and stretched her legs out.

  Scottie came over and sat down next to her. “Got those guys a taxi home. Hopefully, they’ll stay home.”

  She laughed. “There’s only so many blow jobs one can take in a night.” She rolled her neck. “I’m exhausted. Can’t wait to get home and go to bed.”

  “Do you need a ride?”

  Tanya shook her head. “No, Morgan is going to pick me up. She’ll be here in just a few minutes.”

  “Must be some friend to come pick you up at almost three.” Scottie laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She shook her head. “No, tomorrow’s my birthday, and I will be out with Morgan. She said she had a surprise for me.”

  He raised a brow. “Well, happy birthday. Stop by here for a shot on your way home.”

  Tanya gave him a quick hug before walking out of the bar. Her phone dinged, and she glanced at it to see that Morgan had arrived.

  The street was quiet this time of night, lights of businesses were dimmed, other bars were closing, and only the homeless and drunks seemed to wander the streets. Morgan’s sleek black sports car pulled up to the curb. She rolled down the window and grinned.

  Morgan’s smile lit up her face, her dark eyes flashing in the light, almost like a cat’s, and her black hair plaited in two braids hung over her shoulders. Her skin was darker, showing her Native heritage. “Get in girlie! I’ve got places to be!”

  Only Morgan had that kind of energy at this time of night. Tanya climbed into the passenger side and leaned her head against the seat. “Thanks for picking me up.”

  “Mmhmm, don’t want you wandering the streets all alone, not after…” Her voice trailed off.

  Tanya tried to push away the memories of what Morgan had mentioned. Seven months ago, everything changed. Seven months ago, she’d met Morgan in an alleyway after Tanya had a fight with her boyfriend. Seven months ago, terrifying creatures had tried to kill her. If it hadn’t been for Morgan, they would have found Tanya dead in an alley.

  She shivered.

  “Sorry.” Morgan’s voice was just above a whisper. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “It’s okay. You’re right, I wouldn’t want to be walking around this late. What are you off to tonight?”

  She flashed me a wicked grin. “Hunting tonight. Got some orders that I
need to take care of.”

  Hunting. Tanya nodded. She’d learned the night of her attack that Morgan hunted creatures that hid in the dark and terrorized unsuspecting people. It’d been a career passed down from generation to generation. Tanya had never asked what the creatures were, and she never planned on it.

  “Be safe?”

  Morgan nodded. “Of course. I’ll check in with you in the morning. Don’t forget, tomorrow night, you’re mine.” She flashed Tanya another one of those grins that lit up her face.

  “Don’t worry, I have the night off. I look forward to it.”

  Morgan gunned the engine and took Tanya home. Pulling up at the apartment complex, she said, “I’ll wait until you get inside.”

  “Thanks.” Tanya got out of the car and ran to the front door. She put in her security code, and the door opened with a click. She turned and gave Morgan a little wave, and her friend sped off.

  Tanya let the door close behind her as she walked into the halls. One reason she struggled with rent was because she lived in a nicer complex that had security codes for each renter to get into the building, security cameras on each level, and security guards that roamed the complexes.

  She felt safe here. And if that meant cutting the grocery budget down to make rent, then so be it.

  Her feet barely made any noise on the tiled floor as she walked to her apartment on the second floor. She unlocked her door and stepped in. The hush of the empty apartment rushed over her when she shut the door. She leaned against it and closed her eyes. She shouldn’t have taken tomorrow off. Morgan promised it would be worth it, even though she would lose a night of tips.

  She made her rounds to check the locks on all the windows and the balcony door and front door, and then headed to shower and crash for the night.

  Osiris looked up from the paperwork listing the souls that would come through to his part of the underworld realm. Morgan waltzed into his office, playing with the twin braids that hung over her shoulders.

  She grinned at him, her cat eyes gleaming. “I’m just coming to check in. I found nothing tonight, but I know he’s out there.”

  He nodded. “Seven months. It shouldn’t be taking us this long to hunt him down. You’re my best, Morgan.” He tried to keep the growl out of his voice.

  “And yet, even I have had problems finding him.” She shrugged. “I found a couple of his little minions tonight.”

  Osiris sighed. “That’s at least a start, but…”

  “I found his target, too.”

  That had him slamming his hands on the desk and standing up. “Who?”

  “You’ll meet her tomorrow at the Speed Dating that Eve throws.” Morgan gave a sly smile. “She’s not really your type, but—”

  “How long have you known she was the target?”

  Morgan threw herself down in the chair in front of his desk and pulled a dagger from her boot. She started using the tip to clean under her long nails. “I just realized it tonight. When I tracked some jackals to her place of work. They lingered longer than I would have liked, but she’s home safe.”

  Osiris sat back down. “Do we know why she’s the target?”

  Morgan shook her head. “No. She’s a flirty white girl that works at the bar and turns thirty tomorrow. She comes from a typical family background, her dad worked construction, her mom is a secretary. They live over in Colorado. Nothing exciting there.”

  He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “You’re tricking her into speed dating tomorrow? Does she know about our world?”

  Morgan didn’t look at him. “The shadows attacked her seven months ago, when I first met her. She knows a little about what I am, but not the complete story.” She glanced at him. “So, I suggest that if you introduce her further, you do it gently.”

  “There will be no introducing her to anything. I’ll give her a place at my firm where I’ll be able to keep an eye on her.”

  She gave him a smirk. “Good luck with that thought, Osiris. She’s not likely to give up her job at the bar. She loves it, and it’s been her only consistent thing since the attack.”

  Osiris pressed his lips together. “I guess I’ll have to see what she’s like tomorrow night.”

  “You both might actually have fun at speed dating. I’m hoping for a hookup myself.”

  “A human woman is not someone that I should ‘hook up’ with, Morgan. She simply needs to be protected until we find out why he wants her.”

  “If Nec—”

  “Do not say his name,” Osiris snapped. “Names have power, and we do not want to give him any more than he already has.”

  “If the nincompoop wants her, then there’s something we’re not seeing about the situation.” Morgan put her knife back and spun in the seat so she faced Osiris completely. “She trusts me, but not enough to spill her deepest secrets. Not yet.”

  Osiris tapped his fingers on the desk, thinking. He had to approach this carefully. The news of Nebo’s escape from the underworld hadn’t spread widely yet, but it was only a matter of time before the other deities found out and joined the hunt.

  Evil spirits wandering around earth were bad press for anyone, no matter which pantheon was responsible for it.

  And Nebo wasn’t just a spirit that would wander the earth. This particular Pharaoh could create jackals out of shadows and turn into a jackal himself. Supposedly, he could grant that little gift to anyone that pledged loyalty to him.

  But Osiris hadn’t seen that firsthand. The cruelty to people he had. The number of people Nebo sent to the underworld was unprecedented. He was searching for a way to live forever, as a god, in the human world.

  “What are you thinking?” Morgan asked, leaning on her knees.

  “That we need to figure out what is in that woman’s past that the nincompoop would want her.” His phone went off and he saw a text from one of his other people saying they had spotted jackals. He sighed. “The sightings are growing. Between the shadows and the jackals…”

  “We’ll find him.” Morgan jumped up out of her chair. “But I won’t find him sitting around here. So I need to head out.”

  Osiris nodded. “Thanks for your hard work, Morgan.”

  She grinned at him. “No problem. Thanks for the second chance at life.” She walked out of his office, and he shot his other contact a text to trail the jackals. They at least knew who Nebo was after now. They just needed to protect the woman and figure out why Nebo wanted her.

  He’d drag that pharaoh back to the underworld and hand feed his soul to Ammet if he had to, but Osiris was not letting him get away again.

  Tanya met Morgan outside the apartment complex. She’d pulled on tight jeans and a black crop top for tonight and had French braided her long hair back, her purple stripes in the blonde weaving through the different strands.

  Morgan pulled up, and Tanya jumped into the car. Morgan turned and grinned at her. “I hope you won’t hate me for tonight.”

  Tanya narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t even given me a clue about where we’re going.”

  “Well, I decided you needed a little of fun. So that being said, we’re going to do some speed dating at DeLux Cafe.”

  “Oh no, no, no, no, no. The last thing I need is to be on a bunch of mini blind dates with desperate men.” Tanya shook her head. “I learned my lesson with Mike and Tinder.”

  She snorted. “That’s where you met that loser?”

  Tanya bristled at that. “He was great at the start.”

  “And then he abandoned your ass. He’s a loser.” Morgan shrugged. “You are going to have fun, besides we won’t be upstairs at the cafe. We’re going to the… VIP section.”

  “I didn’t know DeLux had a VIP section or a downstairs.”

  Morgan’s gaze gleamed as she focused on the road, and her grin turned to a smirk. “Not many people do. If you don’t have fun, then we’ll leave and go get drinks somewhere, but I think you’ll have fun tonight and maybe, just maybe, meet someone you’d go out on
a proper date with.”

  “Are you also doing the speed dating?” Tanya crossed her arms. “Or are you just going to sit back and watch me?”

  “Oh no, I’ll be speed dating too, don’t worry. We’re in this together.” She shrugged. “And we’ll either both have fun, or both leave to get drinks and lament how awful the whole thing was.” She laughed and searched for a parking spot at the Cafe.

  She finally found one, and the two of them got out of the car, and Morgan swayed over to her. Her black dress hung to the swell of her curves, and she balanced her tall frame on a pair of strappy high heels. She’d done her hair back in a low bun tonight, looking both perfectly cute and effortless at the same time. Something Tanya had never mastered.

  “I feel underdressed.”

  Morgan grabbed her arm and pulled her into the cafe. “You’re not, come on.” She dragged Tanya into the cafe, past the tables that were set up, and to a set of stairs that Tanya swore she’d never seen before.

  With each winding step, she felt further away from the world above and wondered what on earth was going on. Morgan seemed more excited with each step she took, giggling all the way to the velvet-lined curtains that separated the stairs from the room beyond.

  The two of them came to a stop. Morgan pushed the curtains to the side, and they both stepped up to the table.

  “Hey, Eve.” Morgan grabbed a card and then handed one to Tanya. “This is Tanya. She’s joining us for tonight.”