Marlow's Curse

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Marlow’s Curse ISBN 9781419913921 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Marlow’s Curse Copyright © 2008 Amarinda Jones Edited by Helen Woodall. Photography and cover art by Les Byerley. Electronic book Publication March 2008 With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/) This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

MARLOW’S CURSE Amarinda Jones

Dedication My father was in the Army. Like all army brats I traveled a lot and my schooling was affected. This is dedicated to the school official who told me at age thirteen I would never amount to much in life. Thank you. It’s nitwits like you that make me strive to prove you all wrong.

Marlow’s Curse

Prologue

The Legend of the St. Michael Witches If a St. Michael witch be unwilling, great pain will afall ye. Your innards will twist and your manhood die. Seek no help as none will come. If a St. Michael witch be willing, true love and pleasure will be yours for an eternity as those who give themselves only in love will take no other.

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Chapter One Present Day

“Touch me and it will be the last thing you ever do, you bastard,” Sybylla St. Michael hissed threateningly between gritted teeth as she stared her enemy in the eyes. The demon before her grinned with malicious delight at her words and he threw back his head and laughed. His rancid breath polluted the air and his yellow eyes held an evil deadly gleam. Sybylla stared back defiantly willing herself not to flinch at his repulsiveness or choke on the fumes that strangled her senses. There was no way she would show fear to this hideous son of hell. “Tough talk for a woman who is strung up tight against a wall and is helpless, witch,” Scar pointed out as he ran one long gnarled finger along her jaw toward her mouth. In his other hand he held a wickedly long knife. He hated this woman with a passion for what she had done to him. Making her pay was his one goal in life. Sybylla opened her mouth wanting that ugly finger to slide inside so she could bite down hard on it and hear the sound of bone crunching as the demon screamed in pain. Even though the taste of him would be disgusting, Sybylla knew she would enjoy biting his finger off and spitting it back into Scar’s revolting face. “Face it, witch woman, you are trapped and I can do whatever I like to you.” Scar’s fingers trailed down from her mouth to her neck and to her breasts. “You know you are quite fuckable for a witch.” His finger circled one cotton-covered nipple lazily. “Go fuck yourself!” Sybylla spat out loathing the feel of the creature’s hand on her breast. Scar just chuckled in amusement at the woman who looked at him with such hatred. “Such big boobs and long, pretty hair. I wonder what it will feel like to have that hair against my balls when you are on your knees before me sucking my cock.” He ripped down the front of her shirt exposing her white lace bra. His fingers dipped into the deep cleavage groping at her flesh. Sybylla pulled at the tight rope restraints that held her wrists and ankles fastened to the wall. The rope manacles had cut deeply and painfully into her soft flesh. But that pain and the threat of the knife the demon held was nothing compared to the disgusting feel of his hands on her body. The rough, clammy touch of his clawlike hands made her cringe inwardly. Yet Sybylla willed herself to remain focused on her hatred for him instead of fear. She would rather die first than let Scar know that he frightened her. Scar sliced through the shoulder straps of her bra with two quick slashes. He smiled lecherously as her large breasts popped out of their restraints. He grabbed one and squeezed hard. 6

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“Very nice,” Scar licked the puckered tissue around his mouth in a slobbering fashion. “I promise you, Scar, I will kill you for this.” Sybylla winced in pain as he fondled her bare breast with his gnarled hands. The only thing that separated her lower half from his disgusting touch was the flimsy material of her skirt. “How? Your hands are bound. I know the true power of a St. Michael witch lies in the connection of their mind and their body—restrain you physically and then mentally your power cannot work by itself.” Scar leaned forward and lipped one pink nipple. “Is this the only way you can get a woman, demon?” His oozing wet tongue lapping at her nipple made Sybylla want to throw up in revulsion. “How sad that you are so grotesque that you have to trap a woman to have sex.” Sybylla was only too aware that his physical appearance enraged the demon deeply. His festering face was a mass of red angry burns that refused to heal and the rotting sores were open and infected. She could only imagine with disgust what his body looked liked. But then it was his own fault that the demon had been burned so badly. Sybylla was just pissed off she had not finished the job properly. “I can fuck you right now and you can do nothing about it!” Scar was enraged by Sybylla’s words and he yanked her skirt down and watched it fall to her feet leaving her only pale pink panties. He pushed his hand down the front to them and sought roughly for the opening between her legs. Sybylla pulled wildly at the ropes as his hand jabbed angrily between her legs. Damn him! The demon was right. As a St. Michael witch she could chant a spell but without the use of her hands it was useless. The power of her mind and body could not be channeled to full capacity if one element of her being was bound. Her gift, at times, was also her weakness. She could not even use her power of transformation to morph into an ugly old hag and turn him away in disgust. Sybylla forced herself not to shudder and cringe at the loathsome feel of his fingers as he tried to force them inside her. She knew to show fear would give Scar even more power over her than he had already. “Despite your brave words you know you cannot take me, Scar.” Sybylla looked knowingly into his sickening yellow eyes. “You know what happens if when a demon like you rapes a St. Michael witch.” She saw a small stab of fear in his ugly eyes. Sybylla would feed on that fear. “If a St. Michael witch is not willing to be taken then the consequences are devastating and irreparable. Are you prepared to have your dick shrivel to the size of a prune and your intestines to knot into an agonizing ball for all eternity?” “That is just an old legend witch. It does not mean it is true.” Yes, it was a legend. Maybe true, maybe not. Sybylla St. Michael, descended from a long line of St. Michael witches, was not sure how correct it was, however she was not averse to using any weapon she could to get the demon off her.

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“You want to fuck with me but do you want to fuck with a legend that may be more fact than fiction?” Despite the demon’s outward bravado Sybylla could see the sudden fear in his eyes at her words. “Are you brave enough for that, Scar?” “It won’t be rape, witch. I’ll make it so good you’ll beg me to take you.” Scar pulled his hand out of her panties and slid his body tightly against hers and ground his already engorged cock against her groin. “In a pig’s ear!” Sybylla spat out, trying to stay calm and think rationally despite his slimy body against hers. She knew by the feel of his angry erect cock against her that only her words would save her now. “I know you pride yourself on your ability to rape the innocent, ugly man. Are you strong enough to risk the chance of losing that pathetic lump of flesh between your legs and having your guts twisted painfully inside you forever?” As far as she knew the legend had never been tested, if this was to be her ghastly fate she prayed to her guardian Saint Michael for the legend to be true so that she would not be the only one to suffer. “You know I can and I will make you suffer as painfully as possible. Scar looked at her thoughtfully as if assessing the threat she presented. The witch had commanding eyes. One green eye and one blue eye. All true St. Michael witches had these distinctive eyes. They were eyes that sought out truth and controlled great power. He hissed angrily as he knew he could not risk taking her just yet. “No, it is I who will make you suffer. I will fuck you but I want to torture and maim you first.” Scar pulled away from her furious that she had won that round. “You destroyed everything I had, witch, and you will pay painfully for that.” Sybylla scoffed at his words, relieved that he no longer touched her. “I destroyed what, demon? Your tin-pot kingdom of demonic followers?” Sybylla looked at him dismissively. “They were the scum of the earth and I hardly raised a sweat sending them to hell.” “They were mine to command!” Scar roared angrily at her. “You destroyed them!” “I vanquished them to hell where they belonged. I am only sorry you did not go screaming in agony with them.” Up until the moment he captured her, Sybylla had hoped that Scar had been destroyed as well. But she knew that the truly evil did not give up their ravenous hold on earth without a hell of a fight. If he wanted a fight Sybylla would give it to him. However not tied to a wall, but free and no-holds-barred. She would rather die on her feet that submit to this asshole. “Tell me, are you more upset I rearranged your pretty boy face into the ugly mask of festering scars you wear now, or that I got rid of your demonic boot lickers?” She remembered only too well the firestorm she had whipped up to burn both him and his evil followers from the face of the earth. Scar slapped the witch hard, enraged at her words. “You have no idea how much you have ruined everything I held dear.”

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“And I care even less.” It mattered little that the man was disfigured. The noblest person could carry such scars and still be beautiful. With this rotting creature his ugliness went straight to the bone and nothing would change that but death. “I may have lost my followers but you are going to lose your life.” “If I can take you to hell with me then I’ll be happy.” Sybylla spat defiantly in his eye.

***** “Damn her!” Scar roared as he stormed into the next room and slammed the door hard. The run-down warehouse beside the Brisbane River where he was hiding was due to be pulled down to make trendy apartments for yuppies. He had two days to torture the witch. He did not want to kill her straightaway. He wanted to see fear and pain in her eyes as he made her suffer for what she did to him. “Those horrible fucking eyes!” That mocking stare of hers was burned into his brain. Sybylla St. Michael had the ability to make him flinch just by a look. Scar longed to blindfold her so he could no longer see her eyes. But he knew she would see that as a weakness. “Fucking witch!” Scar angrily slammed his fist into nearby wall. He wanted to shove his cock high up inside the witch filling her time and time again, tearing her inside and out, making her scream in reluctant passion just before he killed her. He knew all women were the same. They liked to be taken hard and rough and the witch would be no different. But damn her, she was right. All demons knew of the centuries-old legend about anyone, mortal or immortal, taking a St. Michael witch without her consent. He had not met anyone who could verify the truth of the legend. It was unlikely any man or demon would admit to experiencing the pain of having their innards twisted into a mass of agonizing knots and their cocks shrivel into nothing. It may be just a legend but it was a risk he was not sure he should take. He hated her with an enduring passion. The witch deserved to be taught a lesson but he had to judge whether the price he might have to pay would be worth it. “How do you plan to kill her, sire?” Ratchet scuttled up close to his master. Scar looked at his weasel-faced sycophantic henchman. Fucking hell! Of the few demons who still followed him it angered Scar that he was stuck with this one as his most devoted. It was a huge slap in the face. He had lost all credibility with the other demons of the underworld when the witch vanquished his followers and humiliated him a couple of months ago. Maybe death would have been better than being left the scarred pathetic lump of walking flesh she had made him. Every day he lived in pain. When he looked at his reflection he saw the oozing, pus-filled welts that branded his once handsome face and body. He was grotesque and it was all because of what the witch did to him. He was a constant, living reminder to himself that a witch had gotten the better of him. Although he was immortal, even his immortality could not save him 9

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from the agony of his scars. Everything always came back to the witch. It had taken him this long to regain the power she had ripped from him. His demon brethren no longer called him by his real name, Llewellyn. They called him Scar to remind him of his humiliation. “I intend to torture her until the witch begs me to kill her.” He hated explaining himself to any minion but he needed to sound like he had a plan and he was in control. He did not trust this jackal. Scar knew Ratchet would betray him in a heartbeat. Demons were untrustworthy bastards. “That witch is a strong one.” “I am stronger!” Scar yelled in anger as he loomed over the ratlike man before him. It would take so little to slam his fist against the puny man’s temple and leave him a slobbering spineless wreck. Ratchet cringed at the threat in saw in the evil yellow eyes that bored into him. This demon was pure bitterness and evil and he was not someone Ratchet wanted to challenge just yet. “I know that, sire.” His words were prated simperingly. “You will win. You are the master of all.” “Shut up!” Scar swung out one meaty hand and hit the man sending him across the room to impact hard against the wall. He stormed over and looked out of one of the unbroken window panes into the night. He could see no one lurking around outside. Scar tried to ignore the reflection of his own face in the glass but it was damn near impossible. He had once been a handsome man, and women had been eager to let him do whatever he wanted to their willing bodies. But not now. He was no longer the handsome Llewellyn who the women craved. He was as Sybylla St. Michael had made him. He was Scar. The face that started back at him was a puffy road map of festering red scars that never healed. His eyes were the only thing that had not changed. His hands were clawlike with fused-tight membrane that made every action almost an arthritic chore and the skin on his body was puckered and hard. The women who once looked at him with desire, now did so with disgust instead. Scar cared little of what they thought. He took women now by force to sate his needs. And it was all because of the witch, Sybylla St. Michael. “I will fuck you witch and be damned,” Scar hissed angrily. It would be worth taking her with him to hell as there was nothing but his revenge on her to make him stay in this wretched mortal city of Brisbane, Australia.

***** Two men stood watch outside the old building in a rundown part of Fortitude Valley. Only the dregs of society hung out here. However, the strung out and the murderous passed by the two men dressed in black quickly as if they knew better than to tangle with them. 10

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The tall dark man was handsome, yet there was an intense coiled energy emanating from him, almost as though he would strike with an unexpected speed and make no apology for it. The other man, with the long white hair, was quieter, more reserved yet for all that there was an edge of danger about him that could not be dismissed. That and the large high powered weapon he held in his hand by his side. It was a flamethrower. “This will not stop a demon but it will damage him badly and will give us time to get Sybylla out,” Asher Marriott said grimly as he surveyed the rundown building before them. “I can feel Sybylla. I know she is in that building.” Marlow’s voice was calmly quiet yet his fists were clenched in anger and his jaw set with a determination that would have frightened a lesser man than his companion. He knew Asher Marriott did not scare easily. He was a very old friend. As for anyone else, Marlow did not care what they thought about him. Scar had taken his woman and the demon was going to pay. That was the only thing Marlow was interested in. They had tracked Scar down through word of mouth. Every lowlife vampire, werewolf, demon and drug pusher knew Scar was back in town and where he was hanging out. He made no secret of it. His type always considered they were invincible. His competitors were happy to see trouble visit any of their brethren as it was one less scumbag to share power with. “You know and I know that we cannot rush into this, Marlow. Scar is not one to be underestimated.” Asher Marriott knew that was exactly what his old friend wanted to do. He understood that. If it was his woman he would have kicked down the gates of hell and taken out anyone in his path. Marlow nodded his head and listened to Asher’s rational words. Asher was a cop. He was smart and logical. However at that moment smart and logical did not rate highly with Marlow. He wanted to kill now and ask question later if he felt the need to. “Sybylla was so sure Scar was dead.” Marlow had only heard about Scar from Sybylla and lowlife night dwellers who whispered his terrible deeds fearfully. The demon had killed and tortured many. He was cunning. Marlow knew saving the woman he loved would not be easy. But then nothing ever was in Marlow’s life. “We thought Madigan Ap Lyr was dead.” Asher remembered only too well how he had once believed he had killed his old enemy. Evil was hard to kill but not impossible. Madigan been dragged back to hell. They would do the same to Scar. “I want to kill him for taking Sybylla, Ash.” Marlow punched his hand into the brick wall beside him. He was beyond feeling pain. Revenge had that effect on him. His only plan now was to kill Scar, save Sybylla and then try to work out their lives. Asher saw the hatred in Marlow deep blue eyes. He knew what this man capable of. “We will kill him, but we have to do this right. Scar is powerful.” Asher was only too aware of this. He remembered what Sybylla had told him about this man. For him

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to have survived one of Sybylla’s spells meant they were dealing with someone who was incredibly powerful and could not be underestimated. “We cannot rush in…” “Where angels fear to tread? We are not angels, brother.” Although they were not related by blood they had been through an ordeal that had made them like family. “We are vampires.” Marlow hissed angrily his razor-sharp fangs glinting in the dim hue of the streetlight. “Yes we are vampires.” It was a curse Asher had been fighting against for years. “But we are also men.” “You are, but not me. I am not longer a man. I am but a thing.” Marlow knew how long and hard Asher had fought to deny his vampire cravings. It was only due to his stubborn nature, Sybylla’s magic and the love of his woman that Asher was the man he was today. “You are not a thing, Marlow. You are a cursed man. You can break the curse.” It was just a matter of wanting to and believing you could. “I am not like you, Asher.” Marlow shook his head dismissively. “It’s too late for me to alter what I have become.” He wanted to change. He wanted to be different, to be normal. The problem was Marlow just wasn’t sure whether he deserved it. He had done so many things wrong in his life. Did he deserve a second chance? “You are no different from me.” They had been cursed to be vampires. Although Asher led a comparatively normal life there was always the threat of the darkness that could overwhelm him. When that happened, he thought of Temperance, his true love, his sanctuary. “We will get your woman back.” “My woman?” Marlow looked away from Asher’s knowing gaze. What Marlow thought and said out loud were two different things. She was his woman in his heart but who knew what was in the woman’s mind? “Sybylla is…” he blew out a frustrated sigh as he tried to find the words to describe the woman in question. Beautiful? Independent? A pain in the ass? “Sybylla is the love of your life.” Asher held up his hand to silence the man’s refutation. “Do not deny it we both know it is the truth.” Asher knew that Marlow and Sybylla were meant to be together just as he and Temperance were meant to be. True love could be stalled but never stopped. “Love is a two-way street, Ash.” Marlow’s jaw clenched tightly in frustration when he thought of all the time he had lost with Sybylla. But what she had done to him still pained him deeply. “Sybylla loves you. The problem is you both have ridiculous ideas when it comes to love. You are worthy of her and she will not be weakened by giving in to her true feelings. Regardless of what happened between you in the past nothing can change the fact that you still love each other.” “The past is hard to forget, brother.” “Maybe, but you have to get over it and move on.”

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“It’s hard to move on when the woman you love aborts your child,” Marlow snapped. The pain still ate at his insides. He felt Asher’s hand on his shoulder. “There are reasons behind every action. Let’s save your woman and go from there.”

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Chapter Two Six Months Ago

“So you’re a vampire, so what?” Sybylla squared up to the darkly handsome man who stood in her path blocking her from moving any further. She gripped the cane handle of the basket of herbs she carried and looked him defiantly in the eye. “Do you think I’m going to fall apart and get all scared over the likes of you?” She had been walking on her own land picking herbs in the twilight when the intruder appeared before her. But he was not an intruder The sudden wild hammering in her heart told her he was not. There was something she had recognized about him instantly. She knew this was the dark man she had dreamed about for years. She knew his face as she knew her own. Dreams were all very well and good but that did not mean he could trespass on her land and take advantage of anything without her say-so. Sybylla normally carried a spear with her—sometimes concealed, sometimes not. But for some reason this night she had decided she did not need it which was crazy considering the constant problems in her life. Being a witch was not easy. Strange people sought her out and evildoers always wanted to pick fights. Yet as she had left the house she’d had the strongest feeling that she would be protected this night. As a believer in following natural instincts Sybylla had obeyed it and left the spear behind. “You’re not the slightest bit scary you know.” This vampire was hot though—melt in the mouth hot with his shoulder-length dark brown hair and lean muscular body clearly evident under his simple black clothes. Men like this did not need to flaunt themselves. They had it and everyone knew it and this man had more than his share of “it”. Sybylla’s heart pounded wildly as she tried not to stare at the tall, rakishly handsome man. But staring seemed obligatory. This man was lickable sex on a stick. Sybylla swallowed hard. She had to control her wayward thoughts. She had long ago trained herself not to react to any man or his advances. Her life was set and no man could play a part in it. Yet she instantly knew this man was different from any other she had met and it scared her right down to her toenails. She could tell at a glance he was the kind that could make her do irrational things and irrationality got people killed in her line of work. Sybylla just knew he would stuff up her plans well and truly if she let him. So dream or no dream, do not let him. “I’m busy. Move on, vampire.” She had to fight this, even though in her heart she knew it was a fight she was destined to lose. But sometimes they were the best and most important battles. Marlow threw back his head and laughed in great amusement, his razor-sharp fangs glinting in the moonlight. “You’re a tough one.”

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“You have no idea.” Sybylla was no stranger to supernatural beings. After all she was a witch and she cared for them as part of her work. She healed those who society feared or looked down on. Sybylla gave aid willingly and unstintingly. However she did not play games. “If you are looking for a victim you have come to the wrong place.” She had to admit that she was surprised to see a vampire so far from the bright city lights. Sybylla knew of only one other vampire who steered clear of the city and that was Asher Marriott, the vampire she was helping to change his life. “My blood is my own and not freely given.” “You fascinate me.” Marlow looked her up and down as if trying to assess the true measure of whom he was dealing with. “You are fire and ice, beauty and spirit.” Sybylla snorted in derision. “Do most women usually fall for such crap?” They probably fell big-time when he smiled that sexy smile. I will not fall. I will not stumble. Sybylla knew if she kept chanting that in her mind she would feel better when she took the inevitable fall. “I don’t have a problem when it comes to most women.” Marlow grinned at her charmingly. “But then I have a feeling you are not in the category of most women.” Sybylla St. Michael knew she was woman enough to know she was feeling exactly what other women would feel around this man. Her heart pounded and her knees trembled when she looked at his rakishly handsome visage. Chiseled cheekbones, deep blue eyes and a full lower lip that enticed a woman to suck on it. She had seen this face so many times before. It was the one from her dreams. This was the man she knew she had been destined to meet. “You are not going to suck or take any part of me this evening, vampire.” Even as she said the words his eyes locked knowingly on hers and a wild rush of wet heat shot between her legs. No man had ever made her feel like that. What threat did he present to her? What threat did she present to herself? She breathed deeply and tried to control her wildly beating heart. It’s just the surprise of seeing him so suddenly—nothing else. Yes, believe that lie, Sybylla. “We’ll see,” Marlow walked toward the woman who stood so rigidly controlled before him. His eyes roamed her sweetly defiant face and continued on down to her full breasts and the shapely hips encased in the long soft skirt that fell to her ankles. He could imagine the taste her against his mouth already. “You are a true beauty.” He reached out to touch the long braid of auburn hair that hung over one shoulder. With a determined wave of her hand Sybylla knocked the vampire on his ass without touching him. She smiled smugly, satisfied with her actions. She did not believe in hurting anyone. Yet she enjoyed knocking him to his ass. He was a definite sexual threat and they were sometimes more powerful than a physical one. She used her power of transformation to change herself into an old hag with one blinded eye, lank gray hair and a hump on her back. Marlow jumped lightly to his feet, a look of intrigue in his eyes.

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“What are you? A witch?” He moved toward her again. “You don’t look like one. You may pretend to look like an ugly old crone but I know the truth. I have seen your beauty.” Sybylla knocked him on his ass once more. Some people, vampires included, needed to fall on their asses several times to understand she was not someone to be taken for granted. Besides Sybylla had a feeling she would take pleasure in knocking this man down a peg or two. She transformed back into her normal self. It was an illusion, a party trick that was designed to deter or dissuade. However it did neither to this vampire so it was pointless to continue. “And I know that you are a stuck-up smart-ass vampire who is trespassing on my land.” She watched as he rose up and came toward her again. “What are you doing out here?” Sybylla had ringed her property with powerful crystals to keep evil out. Yet this vampire had made it through. Was there a weakness in her defenses or was there something more to this man? And why hadn’t she felt him coming? Normally she sensed someone’s presence long before they came anywhere near her. This was disconcerting. Sybylla relied on her instincts. They had never let her down before. The only people who got past her normally astute senses were those she knew, those who were close to her and those who presented no threat. Sybylla could tell he was going to threaten the hell out of her. “Your land?” Marlow looked around him at the thick ghost gum trees and abundant large gardens sprawling out around him. He felt an overwhelming wave of solitude rush at him. It was a feeling he knew only too well. But he also sensed peace. That was something he had not known for the longest time. “You live here alone?” “I am not a defenseless woman.” Sybylla put her basket on the ground and raised her hands to set him back on his ass again. “And don’t smile at me like that.” Although she could see the edge of his fangs they did nothing to detract from the charming smile he gave her. It was a sensuous smile that promised much. Problem was Sybylla did not want promises or him. Correction. Part of her wanted him but it wasn’t the part of her that thought rationally. There is a reason you have no man in your life. Remember it, Sybylla. “So you like my smile. That sounds promising.” Marlow was pleased. “My name is Charles Dalton Marlow.” He held out his hand in introduction. “I don’t care if you are John Q. Citizen. I am not some dim-witted woman who is going to fall at your feet and beg you to take me.” She would never beg any man. She knew sex was just a fulfillment of a biological need. Nothing else. Just keep believing that. You’ll do just fine. “But many ladies do.” “I don’t doubt it.” He was incredibly sexy in that dangerous oh-what-the-hell-takeme kind of way that had been getting women in trouble for centuries. This charming vampire was the kind you did wonderfully dumb things over. You are not dumb Sybylla and you have lived without “wonderful” for a very long time so remember that. Sybylla raised her hands once more to set him back down on his ass.

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“You don’t want to do that.” “Why not?” Sybylla had to admit it was pleasurable and the safest thing to do in the circumstances. It did not hurt him and if she did it often enough he would get annoyed and go away, like any other man who had crossed her path. “I’m a nice guy.” Marlow smiled widely at her. He noticed her eyes. One blue, one green. “You have beautiful eyes.” Sybylla scoffed and shook her head in bemusement. “Does this fake flattery work on most women?” “Many are glad to give me a taste of blood for fantastic sex with me.” There was something in those unfathomable depths that appealed to Sybylla. There was an ageless, old soul quality that did not fit well with the outward appearance. He was a vampire but there was something about him that called to her. That he was undeniably attractive was a given. But it was more than just the physical. However whatever it was she did not have time for him or “fantastic sex”. Her work was her life. People in need were the only ones she could allow herself to concentrate on. Not this man. Sybylla had hardened her heart to wanting any more out of life than just what she already had. And she knew in her heart this was not a man any woman could forget after having sex with him. She did not want to be remembering him when he was gone. But would he go? What about the legend? “I will not have him willingly so it will not matter,” Sybylla mumbled softy to herself in determination. “What did you say?’ Marlow asked gently as his hands touched her hers, enfolding them in a firm yet gentle grip. “What are you doing?” Sybylla jumped back in alarm. How had he come so close without her realizing it? Why was she concentrating on his eyes and his smile when she should have been concentrating on setting him back down on his ass? This man was a distraction she did not need. “Come on you feel the wildfire between us.” Sybylla tried to pull her hands from his. She felt the fire but that did not mean she was going to allow herself to burn. “I feel nothing.” I feel everything I do not want to feel and it must stop. “When did you last let yourself go?” Marlow still held her hands. He could feel the shiver that ran through her body. He smiled gently as he pulled her body close to his. “When did you last lose control?” Never. I can’t. I won’t. “I don’t have time for this.” The sudden heat of his body was intoxicating. She had not been held by anyone for the longest time. “You need to make time,” Marlow crooned softly as his hands went down to rest on her waist.

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Sybylla gulped hard at the warmth of his breath against her face. She knew she should be pulling away but she couldn’t seem to find the power to do so. “I…ah…” Sybylla stammered. She could not think straight. That was so unlike her. “Let me go.” It sounded as halfhearted to hear as it was to say. “No, I don’t think I will. I have the most urgent desire to kiss you.” Marlow’s lips hovered teasingly near hers. “Don’t…” Oh God, please don’t. Sybylla knew at that moment if he kissed her she would be lost. “I must.” Marlow’s lips met hers and two worlds collided and meshed together as if meant to be. “Oh no…” Sybylla murmured against his mouth. She gasped for air as her lips sought his with a hunger she wasn’t even aware she possessed. This was the one. The one man she knew in her heart would come for her. The man she waited for, the man she dreaded. “What is your name?” Marlow asked between slow sensuous kisses. “Sybylla.” She breathed it out as her hands went to his broad shoulders. She had an ardent desire to touch and to taste. “Darling Sybylla, I need to be hot and hard inside you right now.” He gently pulled at her braid and began unraveling her hair to fall about her in soft waist-length waves of auburn. “Beautiful,” Marlow murmured in deep appreciation as his mouth found hers once more. “I…” Sybylla gasped as his mouth plundered hers. I what? I want you? I need you? I have this aching emptiness inside me that I know only you can fill? Why am I acting like this? Marlow cradled her face in his hands and his eyes were tender on hers. “I will not hurt you.” “I know.” It was crazy but she knew he wouldn’t. He was a stranger but he wasn’t. Sybylla knew she should slap away the hands that were undoing the buttons of her shirt and yet she felt completely powerless to stop him. As Marlow slid the shirt from her shoulders, he caught his breath. “You are stunning, Sybylla.” He pulled off the bra that encased her large breasts and hungrily fondled the firm flesh. Marlow smiled as Sybylla dropped her head back and sighed in pleasure. Until that moment Sybylla would never have called herself “stunning”. At her best she would have described herself as “okay looking”. But this man who touched her with such hungry passion made her feel wildly desirable. It was a feeling she had never experienced before. She felt the muscles between her legs tighten and tingle in anticipation. When he dropped his head and licked her nipple Sybylla moaned. She pulled at his shirt buttons needing to feel his skin against hers. But as desperate as her fingers were to touch him, she also had the burning need to hold him hard again her. “Oh, Charlie…” She felt so confused. She was hot and shivering and this was a fever she would willingly burn with. 18

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Marlow stiffened as she gasped his name. He could not remember the last time he been called “Charlie” He sucked down hard on her breast and put his hands to her ass pulling her close. He wanted to give her everything he had. Sybylla closed her eyes and pulled his head close to her breasts. She had never felt anything as wondrous as the sensation of his mouth sucking hard on her nipples. Her whole body was aching and itching with connected need and anticipation. She ran her hands through the thick locks of his hair and wondered what the hard jutting cock against her stomach would feel like all hot and tight inside her. She pressed herself closer to him. Sybylla felt no fear whatsoever of him or his pointed fangs which was crazy. But just for once in her staid, organized life she wanted to be wild and out of control. She felt sexy and alive and she liked it. How exactly they came to tumble to the ground Sybylla could not have said. Maybe he gently tripped her up or she eagerly pulled him down. Whatever it was, it came down to a case of mutual need that made them take the fall onto a soft bed of lavender plants. Marlow ripped off his shirt and made short work of removing the long skirt that tangled up Sybylla’s lushly curved legs. He moved his head down to the white panties that covered her pussy. “These have to go.” Marlow grinned at the wild eyed look she gave him. He leaned down and tugged at the front of her panties with his teeth. “Oh God…” Sybylla squirmed at the hot breath that burned deliciously into the skin of her stomach as he slowly inched her panties down, his lips and teeth grazing her skin lightly. “I…ah don’t know about this.” This was too fast. This was not like her. She was hot and shaking with a need she had been unaware she’d even had. Out of control seemed good in principle but could she let herself go in reality? “Do you want me to stop, darling Sybylla?” Marlow asked as his eyes locked on the auburn curls he had uncovered. He dipped his tongue into the exposed cleft. Sybylla stiffened at the sudden hot intrusion of his tongue. She had never felt anything like it. She was hot and wet and hungry for this man. Control be damned. “No…don’t stop.” Her fate had already been sealed and she knew it. To fight the inevitable was to fight against herself. “Please…” That was all Marlow needed to hear. He swiftly pulled her panties down her legs until she was completely bare and exposed before him. He pulled her legs apart and looked at the pink moist flesh before him. “I have to taste you.” Marlow pulled her hips closer to his mouth as he dipped his head toward her pussy. “On no don’t… No one’s ever…” He wouldn’t would he? She grabbed at the stalks of lavender beside her, knowing by the look in his eyes he would do that and so much more. “Oh but I will and I’m glad to hear it.” Marlow’s tongue touched the soft slick flesh and licked from her vagina to her clit in one slow stroke. 19

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The shriek that tore from Sybylla’s lips bounced off the ghost gum trees that grew strong and tall and enclosed her land. The smell of crushed lavender perfumed the air as she squirmed in pleasure under the gently insistent path that Marlow’s tongue took back and forth as he continued licking her in long deep strokes. She stiffened suddenly as his tongue slid inside her vagina and began mimicking what his cock would do later as his fingers found her clit and rubbed softly. Overwhelmed by sensation Sybylla screamed. “I think you like losing control, my darling,” Marlow said as he gently dropped her legs. He reached down and undid the zipper of his trousers. He pulled them off and kneeled before her naked. Sybylla’s eyes widened in surprise at the size of his cock. She was a witch and a healer. She had seen most things. She thought nothing could surprise her but this man’s cock was phenomenal. Long, thick and hard. Perfect. Marlow grinned at her shock. “It’ll feel even better inside.” Inside. That was going inside her. This was too fast, too soon. She should close her legs. She should push this stranger away and yet the only thing she knew she should do was give in to the feeling. As Marlow settled into the cradle of her thighs and pulled her hips up to meet his, she knew that nothing would ever be the same in her life once he took her. Marlow kissed Sybylla lingeringly as he linked his hands with Sybylla’s and raised them over her head. Then he slid the head of his cock to the tight slick entrance of her body. The hot feel of his cock about to slide into her was strange. Part of her wondered if he would fit. The other part wondered what he would think when he found out the truth. Marlow stiffened in shock at the sudden tightness he’d never expected to find. “What the…” He looked stunned at the woman beneath him. “How is this possible? You’re a virgin?” Marlow gritted his teeth and held back from sliding the full length into her. “How? Why?” He shook his head as if trying to understand what was happening “How old are you?” The man was gobsmacked and yet secretly pleased. “Twenty-nine and what’s that got to do with anything?” It was hard to act tough and cool when you were burning with both embarrassment and need. She was actually blushing! Sybylla felt incredibly naïve and self-conscious. There was a delicious man almost inside her and she didn’t know whether to push him away in embarrassment or pull him closer for total possession. “It’s odd to be a virgin at twenty-nine in this day and age, darling.” There was a wild passion and burning possession in his eyes as he looked down at her hot pink face. “I’m odd then.” Sybylla tried to wriggle out from beneath him. This had been a very bad idea. Need always got you in to trouble. Lesson learned, Sybylla. Move away from the hot vampire. “Let me go.” 20

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“You know I can’t.” Marlow groaned as she wriggled beneath him. “I’m ready to move inside you and wriggling around is not helping the situation.” “But you’re not all the way in.” As she said the words Sybylla knew it was the dumbest thing she could remember saying for a long time. This was not an either-or situation. But her defense was a man thrust almost inside her and there was no way her thoughts could be entirely rational at that moment. “No,” Marlow conceded as he gave into need and her wriggling and pushed the long length of his cock fully inside her. “But now I am.” He stilled and looked down into her eyes as he brushed the hair from her face. “Have I hurt you?” “No.” I was made for you. There was something intense and powerful having this man tightly and full inside her body. She felt him right up to her stomach. It was like he filled every inch of her being. The pain of his possession was nothing compared to the feel of him inside her. “Are you angry?” “I’m…” What was she? She was overwhelmed. She was hot and aching and needy. But angry? No, it was more that Sybylla wanted action. “Are you going to start moving?” The still fullness inside her body was intriguing as she became accustomed to it but she needed more. She needed movement. Marlow looked down at her in and chuckled in pleasure. “You want me to move?” “Yes,” Sybylla whimpered as she felt his cock start slowly moving within her body. The heat and the power of the man was overwhelming and she wanted to experience every long luscious inch of his cock as he made her his. Made her his? Had generations of St. Michael witches felt this at this moment? Yes—the answer was whispered in the night air by a soft chorus of feminine voices. “So you want me?” Marlow kissed her softly. “This may be my first time but I know what I want and need.” “Do you need me, darling Sybylla?” Marlow moved his lips down to take one pink nipple back inside his mouth as he started gently thrusting into the tight core of her. “Yes I do,” she responded with a gasp as she wrapped her legs around Marlow’s waist. Sybylla slid her hands down to his ass urging him on. She wanted feel every moment. “Now move, Charlie boy!” Marlow laughed in triumph at her demand. He increased the pace of his thrusts needing to go hard but aware Sybylla needed time to adjust to him. “You feel so tight and hot and I could so easily explode inside you.” The feel of his hips against her, their thighs rubbing together all hot and sweaty and his mouth at her breasts was almost unbearable. How had she lived so long without this? Because I was waiting for him.

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“Oh, Charlie!” She panted as the most intense feeling of pleasure she had ever felt started to build up looking for an escape. She pulled Marlow closer to her as their lips and tongues hungrily sought each other. Marlow pulled her legs from his waist and lifted them over his shoulders so he could thrust deeper and harder inside her. “Bloody hell!” Sybylla ripped up handfuls of lavender as the orgasm started to roar through her body. She closed her eyes and screamed. Marlow laughed delightedly as he felt the shudders shake Sybylla’s body. “Did you like that, my darling?” “Can we do it again?” This was so much better than using her fingers to bring herself to orgasm. “Oh yeah, that’s the plan.” Marlow exploded hotly inside Sybylla.

***** Charles Dalton Marlow slumped down on his lover in exhilaration. He had never felt such an intense rush as just now, having taken Sybylla for the first time. He rolled over, pulling the breathless Sybylla with him in his arms. He felt incredibly powerful. No one had ever made him feel so alive and he had been dead inside for the longest time. But this one woman, a witch, had opened up a light in the darkness of his soul, a possession he thought he had lost a long time ago. He looked down at his cock. There was blood on his shaft. He should have worn a condom. Next time. He looked down at the woman in his arms. For the first time since he was cursed a vampire he did not feel the need to taste the blood in his mouth. He felt at peace. What a paradox this woman in his arms was. She was tough and strong and ready to knock him to his ass for daring to step on her land. But she was also sweetly innocent and interestingly wanton as she urged him on to thrust inside her. There was also something incredibly familiar about her. It was as though he knew her, but he didn’t. It had not been in Marlow’s plans to venture this far from the heart of Brisbane city this night. However a wild restless feeling had called him to this place almost as if he was meant to be here with this woman. Marlow did not believe in much but he knew there was no such thing as coincidence. Things happened for a reason. But why him and why now? He was not a good man. Why was he given such a gift? “Thank you,” Marlow brought the palm of her hand to his lips and kissed the soft skin. “But why me, Sybylla?” Marlow stroked her body as it curled against his. He had been extremely careful not to cut her with his fangs as his mouth sought to taste every part of her body she had offered to him. He was amazed and humbled that she looked at him as a man and not just a vampire. Marlow looked up at the stars in the night sky and wondered how he had suddenly become so lucky. It meant everything to him that she had given herself in passion and trusted him. That Sybylla had called him “Charlie”—not Marlow or Charles, but Charlie—had made him feel needed and

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wanted. He felt an amazing sense of pride when he looked at the woman at his side. “Why was I your first?” Because it was meant to be. Sybylla rested her head against his shoulder unsure how to answer that question as no one answer was be satisfactory. “I had to have sex sometime.” It was a lie but she was too uncertain to admit to anything else at that moment. How could she tell this delicious stranger that she dreamed of his coming to her and she had maintained her virginity just for him? It smacked of being needy, pathetic and spinsterish. Marlow chuckled at her words and kissed her softly. “Liar.” “I don’t know why,” she responded deep in thought as if the real answer scared her. “Yeah you do.” Marlow curled a lock of her auburn hair around his finger. “Who are you really, Sybylla?”

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Chapter Three Sybylla St. Michael was descended from a long line of St. Michael witches. They were healers, seers and like their namesake guardian, the Archangel Michael, they protected the weak and defenseless. They were women who had battled evil for centuries. They fought with their hearts and minds. And if necessary with the long sharp-pointed spears that were ever-present beside each witch, usually camouflaged as an innocuous cane or stick. It was their fate to fight against evil and they did not shirk it. Although the St. Michael witches wanted nothing more than to live in peace with their chosen true loves they were ever vigilant against attacks. The St. Michael witches had originated back in France in the year 826 AD. It had been during a full eclipse of the sun that that the very first Sybylla had been born. Her parents, a God-fearing family of peasants, had seen her coming on such an ill-omened day as a portent of evil and they had quickly abandoned the helpless newborn baby in the woods. They believed whether she survived or perished was God’s will. It was no longer up to them to save this child. They did not count on God’s will being usurped by the local witch Christabel St. Michael who found the weak, shivering baby and brought her into her home. The minute Christabel looked into the baby’s eyes she knew the child she held in her arms was unique. She was an old soul. One eye was green and the other blue. It was unusual for eye color to be established so quickly in one just born. But then Christabel had not been surprised. She had been praying and waiting for this child to arrive. She knew the babe she held protectively to her breast was sent by the Archangel Michael himself, her guardian, her mentor. She knew it was her own destiny was to make sure this child lived and flourished. Christabel could feel the life force pulsating within the baby’s tiny body. This child was destined to save many and heal with great skill. She was the future and Christabel had every intention of seeing this child live and helping her to develop her true powers. The ancient Sybylla had lived a hard life. Her skills as a healer were well known and sought-after. But not everyone believed or understood the great good she brought into people’s lives. In the dark times they lived in, Sybylla was branded a heretic by her enemies. Her lover, their child and Christabel were treated like criminals by those who feared anyone different. When it came to the point that Sybylla knew her enemies would win she made the only decision she could. “Save my child, Christabel.” Sybylla had thrust the child into her mentor’s arms. “Flee this place and do not look back.” She looked down into the blue and the green eyes of the babe. “This one must live and continue on our work. She is blessed by St. Michael.”

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“I cannot leave you, my child.” Christabel shrieked in panic as she clutched at her arm knowing it was the end but not wanting it to be. “You know I must stand for what I believe in. I will not run from who I am.” Sybylla smiled softly at Christabel and gently pulled her hand away. “I know Saint Michael will look after me and I will come back one day to a better place and a better time.” Like all such innocent people the church authorities condemned Sybylla to death with her lover. They died in each other’s arms as the flames consumed them and the papal authorities applauded their sanctimonious work. Christabel fled and started the first coven of the St. Michael’s witches, never forgetting brave Sybylla.

***** The present-day Sybylla knew all about her ancient ancestor. It was a teaching that was passed down from mother to daughter. Though she lived in a commune-like setting on a secluded bushland property in the outer suburbs of Brisbane, Australia, the French Sybylla of so long ago was never forgotten by any of her current-day kin. The present generation of St. Michael witches did not worship in a church or at shrines. They did not pontificate or hold themselves up to be symbol of any religion. Their job was to help the weak, defenseless and sick. They lived and worked peacefully together helping those in need. The men they loved worked with them. The authorities left them in peace as they hurt no one and paid their taxes. They were busy, happy and complete. And like all perfect things it was never meant to last. Sybylla, the current-day St. Michael witch, first learned about true evil when she was eighteen years old when the demon Scar first came into their lives. Back then though, he had been called Llewellyn. But a demon was a demon and could never be trusted regardless what he looked like. Sybylla, although young, had immediately felt the threat from the handsome, smiling man. And so had her witch sisters. They had surrounded their home with an invisible barricade of life force which pulsed out to protect their clan. That he was evil was undoubted. His malevolent reputation for murder, rape and pillage preceded him so no amount of smiling and charming could ever make the St. Michael witches lower their guard to him. When he realized his charm was not working, he had instantly dispensed with the smiles and demanded their help. He needed their power to gain the great wealth he believed was his due. He threatened their lives if they did not help him. “We cannot help you,” Sybylla’s mother, Katherine, had said, her hand casually leaning against the cane at her side as she had measured up the man before her. Sybylla knew whatever fragile front her mother had put up was just an illusion. The St. Michael witches never allowed any weakness to show to anyone but the men they loved. Their lovers were their Achilles’ heel. When the demon called Llewellyn left quietly no one had been fooled into thinking of dropping their guard. St. Michael’s witches never foolishly made the first move, they waited and watched and assessed

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every threat. Unfortunately for them, they waited too long. And in one tragic night they lost their strengths and succumbed to great weakness. The night Llewellyn came back and slaughtered the husbands, lovers and sons of the St. Michael witches was to live in Sybylla’s memory forever. The witches had been out collecting herbs in the moonlight. They had not been able to save their men and the men had died because of their connection to the St. Michael witches. It was a terrible tragic lesson that the young Sybylla would never forget. In the following weeks one by one the St. Michael witches weakened and died. Having surrendered to true love, and having suffered the loss of it, quickly devastated the witches. Only Sybylla was left standing. All the younger children had been taken into foster care by the government. She vowed two things on her mother’s grave. She would kill Llewellyn and she would never fall in love and be weakened. No man would suffer because of her. For years Sybylla had searched fruitlessly for the demon known as Llewellyn. He never lurked on the surface of earth for long, preferring instead to keep to the underworld with his cronies. He only surfaced long enough to cause mayhem and great pain to many. It angered and frustrated Sybylla that she was supposed to be an allpowerful witch but she could not find this demon. But that was always her problem. If she let emotions rule her they overrode her natural gift. A couple of months ago the chance for revenge had come to Sybylla. She’d heard from her clients—the shapeshifters, the vampires and the down-and-outs who sought her aid and kindness—that Llewellyn had taken over a rundown section of Fortitude Valley in the heart of Brisbane. With revenge in her heart, Sybylla had found him and his demons torturing a young woman in an alleyway. They had stripped her naked and were taking turns to rape her. Llewellyn had been watching the woman’s torture and laughing. Sybylla believed there was a time for peace and a time for action and that was the time for these demons to die. Sybylla knew the long-handled steel-tipped spear she carried was useless against the demon. She tossed it to the ground preferring to use her true weapons—the power of her mind and the strength of her heart. The demonbusting spell she had memorized over the long lonely years sprang easily to her lips. “Hear me now, Llewellyn!” Sybylla’s voice was loud and commanding as she raised her hands in a slow arc from her sides to above her head and she breathed out slowly as she focused all her power on her target. The female victim fainted in terror. “Who are you?” Llewellyn roared as he turned on Sybylla. “I am Sybylla, a lady of St. Michael. I am the woman who is going to make you burn in hell for your crimes, you demonic asshole,” Sybylla said as she summoned the elemental forces of nature—earth, wind and fire—that were the basis for every spell for a St. Michael witch. As the wind started to whip through the alley and the streetlight flashed on and off, Sybylla began her spell. Heart of darkness, demons of hell No longer on this earth you dwell.

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One by one against the wall One by one you’ll start to fall. It was too late for any of the demons to react. Sybylla had counted on the fact that they would be too arrogant to think themselves vulnerable. A wild gust of wind ripped Llewellyn and his demon followers off and from the woman and slammed them helplessly up against a dingy brick wall where they were pinned and struggling. In flames you shall perish Evil shall burn Banished below Never to return. As Sybylla finished chanting the words, she watched with grim satisfaction as one by one the demons burst into flames and disappeared. None survived the flames…or so Sybylla thought. But one evil-hearted demon had survived. The once handsome Llewellyn escaped the flames, scarred and twisted and full of revenge. When Sybylla had heard the tale about a horribly burned demon called Scar, she knew it was Llewellyn and she knew it was not over. He would come back to take his revenge and she would be ready.

***** “I destroyed that spawn of Satan two months ago. My family have all passed and I am the only one left standing.” Sybylla looked up at the star-filled sky and said a silent prayer for those departed. She looked back at Marlow. “This land belongs to the St. Michael witches and I am the last one.” She had never told anyone about the St. Michael witches before but lying in a bed of lavender with this man seemed completely natural to her. Well, probably weird to anyone else, but Sybylla was not one to worry about appearances or other people’s perceptions. “Do you think this demon is still alive?” Marlow’s fists clenched angrily as he thought about the creature who had caused so much pain. “I have no proof he died. I don’t want to believe he is still alive but I feel that it is so.” Sybylla sighed tiredly as she thought of having to face this demon again. If fire did not kill him what did? She knew she would have to delve deep into old books for the answer. Everything could be vanquished. It was a matter of finding the right key. “You have had a hard life Sybylla.” Marlow held her close offering her whatever protection she needed. “My life has been no harder than anyone else’s.” Sybylla looked up into Marlow’s face. He was angry and concerned for what had happened to her. That was sweet and caring. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to have someone care for her. The fact that he was a vampire was irrelevant. Deep down where it counted, he was a good man. “My ancestors had it much worse over the centuries. Being a witch back then was not a safe thing to be. Although the St. Michael witches did much good they were often

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blamed for things that went wrong in day-to-day life by the simple people of the times.” She wondered how the first Sybylla had coped in such a dark turbulent time. “The St. Michael witches came from France to settle in Australia in 1812. It was a new country with new values where they could live their lives without being hounded.” Marlow smiled a tight, sad smile as he remembered back to another time, another place when life wasn’t as sweet as it was with Sybylla lying naked in his arms. “Not everyone in the 1800s in Australia would have taken so kindly to witches or anyone considered beyond the norm that I know.” Sybylla knew then what she had thought before. This man was old in years but young in spirit. Marlow nodded his head at her look. “I feel like I have been alive forever.” He sighed deeply and rolled Sybylla on top of him, his hands settling on her ass holding her close. “What happened to you?” Sybylla knew that vampires were either born that way, destined to enjoy every moment of their selfish existence, or they were cursed by another vampire to live a desolate lifestyle remembering their previous mortal life as they wandered aimlessly throughout their lonely lives. Unlike Hollywood legend, those cursed as vampires had no magical superpowers. Yes, they craved blood and they were immortal. However living forever meant nothing if you had no one who remembered you or loved you. “In 1824 I made the mistake of being found in bed with the local landowner’s daughter. He had some very powerful friends. One of them was a vampire called Madigan Ap Lyr.” That Marlow had been alive so long did not surprise her. Vampires had been around for centuries, only dying out when slain by hunters or when they changed their lifestyle so dramatically that the curse of being a vampire started to break down and they aged and died normally. Sybylla had heard of Madigan Ap Lyr through Asher Marriott whose mortal life had been ruined by him. He was an evil Irish vampire who was born to create and enjoy the agony of other people. “Madigan had a female vampire entice me into sex.” Marlow could still remember the woman’s porcelain doll-like features and midnight black hair as he pounded into her body looking for release. But it was only momentary. The minute he came he saw her fangs. The feel of them tearing into his skin haunted him to this day. “I died on that day and became the creature you see before you.” “I see only a man who needs help and needs to be loved.” Even as she said the words Sybylla knew she had been destined to provide both to him. So be it. “What happened to your family?” Marlow jaw tightened as he thought about his family.

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“I heard they had been told I had gone to the gold fields to seek adventure and fortune. It’s was probably for the best as it would not be such a stretch for them to believe this as I was always searching for some wild and wonderful thing I could not have.” He shook his head sadly. He was a vampire but he still felt things deeply no matter how hard he tried not to. “I found their graves in the cemetery. I go there to be with them and to talk to them.” Sybylla understood his sadness. Her family was gone too, their ashes thrown into the four winds to be free and at peace. “They would never have forgotten you or stopped loving you, Charlie.” “Maybe.” Marlow wanted to believe that badly. “Definitely,” Sybylla asserted as she sat up on Marlow and ran her hands lightly over his chest. Even though she felt a dull soreness between her legs she wanted to feel this man buried deep and hot within her once more. She looked down at his cock. It was hard and full and pushing impatiently at her stomach looking for action. “You can change your life if you want to.” She had been working her magic and healing skills on Asher Marriott over the years to bring some normalcy back into his life and it was succeeding. Her hand rested on his heart feeling the strong life force within. She could help this man too. By helping him she helped herself. She knew deep in her heart Marlow was her future. She would not have given herself to anyone but him. That he was a vampire did not worry her. Society had so many stupid tags it applied to people—thin, fat, ugly. Tags were for people who felt compelled to worry about the latest fashion in for next season. Tags were not for real people. Real people had infinite power to change themselves if they believed. If you believed you could do something then that was halfway to making it happened. She wanted to make this man believe in the possibilities. “I don’t deserve any better. I was not saint in my past life. I screwed around, I cheated and I stole.” Marlow looked at the woman astride him, her hair flowing over her shoulders and her pale skin glistening in the moonlight. “I was what you would call a ne’er-do-well, my darling.” “You past life does not define you, Charlie.” She rested her hands lightly on his cock. She liked how the soft velvet cover encased the steel hardness below. Marlow sighed contentedly as she fondled his cock gently. “Why do you call me Charlie?” It intrigued him. “Because to me you are Charlie.” Sybylla grinned softly at the look of pleasure on his face she stroked his hard shaft. She liked this power she had over him and it had nothing to do with magic. “What do you feel for me, Sybylla? You are a St. Michael’s witch. Even I have heard the legend. You do not give yourself without reason.” “No.” She could have had any man over the years. But none were right for her. Yet this man was.

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“Have you never felt the need for a man between your legs?” “Oh yes, but there are ways of…” Sybylla blushed wildly as she realized what she had been about to admit. So much for not wanting to come across as needy and pathetic. Here she was virtually admitting she was a hot, horny spinster who played with herself to orgasm. Marlow smiled at her embarrassment. “There is nothing wrong with touching yourself.” He licked his lips and looked at her with interest. “Show me how you pleasure yourself.” “No.” Sybylla let go of his cock and started to get off Marlow. She was adventurous but not that much. How embarrassing. Marlow grabbed her hips and kept her astride him. “Why not, darling?” “I’d feel silly.” And hell, she had a real live man to give her an orgasm why would she use her fingers to get there? “You never have to feel that way with me.” Marlow caressed her hips gently. “I want you to show me.” To masturbate or not to masturbate in front of the hot vampire. Could she do that? “Really, Charlie? I’d rather have your cock inside me making me come.” She had only had Marlow inside her once but it was enough to know she wanted him again and again. “Oh believe me, I will be inside you soon.” Marlow watched as she bit her lip in thought. “When you touched yourself, did you dream of a fantasy lover taking you?” Good God how did he know? “I…ah…yes,” stammered her face aflame. Sometimes an orgasm was the only time Sybylla felt something. Her life was full of helping people but it was essentially an empty life devoid of feeling. God I am pathetic. “What did this lover do to you in your dreams?” “Everything I wanted him to.” And it was always you, Charlie. “Show me.” Sybylla licked her lips and looked at him in uncertainty. “Please, Sybylla darling.” Just the way he said it made Sybylla want to show him anything he asked to see. She had just met this man and now she was going to do something she would never have admitted doing to anyone before. Before she allowed herself time to think further Sybylla spread her legs wider and bent her knees so her feet were flat either side of Marlow’s body. She locked eyes with his and slid her fingers inside the wet cleft between her legs seeking out the tight bundle of nerves that she knew so well.

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Marlow’s eyes watched as she slid her fingers inside and started rubbing her clit slowly. He groaned softly as Sybylla played with herself on top of him while he looked on. He slid his hands around to her ass. “How did you want your fantasy lover to take you?” “Anyhow…anyway.” Sybylla moaned as she felt the heat from his hands caressing the cheeks of her ass. She grasped his cock with her free hand and started to gently pull on it. “Oh, darling,” Marlow growled out huskily at the milking action of her hand on his shaft. “Did you dream of being taken hard and fast, or in the ass? Did you suck his cock as he sucked on your sweet clit?” “Yes,” Sybylla panted softly. Just the way Marlow said the words made her hotter then she imagined possible. She pulled harder on his cock making his hips buck beneath her as he tried to keep control. “Do you always come for your fantasy lover?” “Yes.” But this was better than any fantasy. She rubbed her clit harder and started to moan softly. “Stop!” Marlow commanded hoarsely, his hand covering hers on his cock. “What? Why?” Was he insane? She needed to come. “You are not going to come without me inside you. Are you game enough to climb on board and ride, little virgin?” “Virgin no longer.” Her hand stilled on her clit. Sybylla liked the idea of playing cowgirl. “No that is true.” Marlow smiled smugly. “You are mine.” Yes, for this life and beyond. Sybylla pulled her fingers out from between her legs. She positioned herself so that the head of his cock sat at the entrance of her vagina. She rubbed herself slowly back and forth against the engorged head so the slick wetness between her legs coated the tip. “You’re pretty adventurous for a novice.” “I have been dreaming of you for a long time, Charlie.” Sybylla liked the teasing feel of his cock sliding back and forward against her. Marlow stiffened at her words. “You’ve been dreaming about me?” He was as stunned as he sounded. “Oh yes.” Sybylla she slid down over the length of his cock. Her vagina muscles expanded to accommodate the welcome intrusion. “I have dreamt about you for years—your face, your touch.” She began moving unhurriedly on top of him. “I am your fantasy lover?” Marlow knew it was true even as he said the words. It was no fluke that drew him to this place this evening.

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“Yes,” Sybylla hissed as she enjoyed the feeling of power that ran through her body as she slowly rode back and forward on his cock. The connection between them was so intense that it was not just physical. It was something she had never felt with anyone before. She wanted to give this man everything. Marlow pulled her forward against him as he kissed her passionately and rolled her underneath him. “Does it always feel this good in your dreams?” “This is so much better.” Sybylla wound her legs around his waist. “And you waited for me.” The idea of it struck Marlow forcefully. “I don’t want to wait any longer. Fuck me now, Charlie.” “Sybylla darling, I believe I am falling in love with you.” Marlow started thrusting deep and hard. He always said that he loved her in her dreams, too. And Sybylla always pulled away from him in her dreams when he did, because even in her dreams, she knew one day she would endanger Marlow just by being with him. But she would not think about that now. All Sybylla wanted to deal with was feeling Marlow hot against her and inside her. “Harder,” she gasped as she gripped his ass and pulled him closer. Sybylla felt every hard thrust deep in her body, in her soul. This was the way it was meant to feel. Hot and incredible and life changing. Marlow stopped and pulled out of her. He raised himself onto his knees, his cock wet and club-like against his stomach. “Get on your hands and knees.” “What?” Sybylla wanted him back inside her now. “Doesn’t your fantasy lover tell you want to do?’ “Well yeah, but…” Where was this going? “Do as I say.” Marlow loomed over her, dark, sexy and in control. A sudden wild thrill of excitement ran through Sybylla as she rolled onto her stomach and rose to her knees to do as he bid. As soon as she did Marlow grabbed her around the waist and pushed her hands down flat on the ground. “Charlie?” Sybylla felt his body slide tightly against hers. “You will enjoy this, darling.” Marlow’s cock slid into her vagina from behind. “Oh God!” Sybylla shrieked as she shoved her ass back against him. This was even better than she imagined it could be. The penetration was so deep that she panted with wanting him. “Please, Charlie…” She was almost incoherent with need. “Please what?” Marlow pumped hard inside her. “Please make me come.” Sybylla knew she sounded desperate but she did not care. How the hell have I not had sex all this time? “Yes, my darling.” 32

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The sound of his balls slapping against her ass, the hard feel of his cock deep inside her and his soft lips against her neck made Sybylla come harder and faster than she ever thought was possible. She felt the heat of his semen as Marlow came inside her a moment later. “We must to do that again, Charlie.” Sybylla fell down into the soft lavender and knew she was in love with Charles Dalton Marlow.

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Chapter Four The next evening Marlow came out of the night as if her thoughts had summoned him into her arms. Sybylla had spent the whole day thinking about him and how he made her feel. She knew that a vampire could not go out in the daylight without inflicting illness upon his body. So she prayed for his return that evening. What if he did not return? “Snap out of it. Charlie will return.” Her normally well-attuned senses were all over the place. Sybylla could not think straight. She relied on clear thinking and the ability to see danger before it happened. “Screw clear thinking. I’ll worry about danger after he comes to me.” Sybylla felt such a deep hunger for a man who was virtually a stranger. Or was he? She remembered how the other St. Michael witches were with their men. There had always been a deep passion and an intense need emanating from them that Sybylla had never been able to understand until now. When she looked over and saw the dark, sultry Charles Dalton Marlow through the glass of her kitchen window she suddenly understood need—the hunger and the intense yearning to be a part of another person. She opened her kitchen door and let the object of her desire in. “I need you, Sybylla darling.” Marlow’s were eyes were full of passion as his hand reached out to enfold hers. “Then take me, Charlie.” Sybylla was not one for pretense. She wanted him so why pretend otherwise? Marlow swept her up into his arms. “Bedroom?” “Third door on the left.” He strode through her house his eyes on hers, his intent clear. He placed on her on the floor and kissed her passionately. “I have been longing for you all day.” He reached over and pulled the band from Sybylla’s hair allowing her long hair to flow freely over her shoulders. “Undress me Sybylla. I need you to want me as badly as I want you.” He kicked his boots off and presented himself to her as a package waiting to be unwrapped. “Oh I need… I want…” Sybylla’s voice was low and husky. She reached out to him and started unbuttoning his shirt. Marlow wore black. It was dead sexy on him. But then this man could make shorts and knee socks look sexy. She pulled his shirt off and threw it god-knows-where. Tidiness was not her objective at the moment. Sybylla wanted to see and feel his flesh. She reached down and tugged at the zipper of his trousers freeing his tightly constrained cock into her hands. She stroked it gently and

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smiled as Marlow groaned and kicked his trousers free. There was no shyness, only a desire to be fulfilled. She licked her lips as she looked at the wondrously naked and erect man before her. “Get on the bed, Charlie, I want to show you how badly I need you.” Marlow smiled wryly at her and did as she requested. “Can I do anything to you?” Sybylla asked as ripped off her clothes. She was already so wet that she knew it would not take long for her to come. “Anything at all, Sybylla darling. I am yours.” Sybylla crawled onto the bed and looked at the man laid out before her. Everything about him was magnificent from the head of his already engorged cock to the hard flat abs and his delicious kiss-me-now lips. She swung one leg over him and sat astride his muscled thighs. “You are beautiful.” Marlow slid his hands down between her parted thighs. “You are wet already.” “You make me so.” Sybylla pulled his hands out from between her legs. “Not just yet, Charlie.” She slid her hands up his body feeling the firm smooth flesh that held compacted muscles. “I want to taste you.” “By all means, be my guest,” Marlow growled with delight. Sybylla could feel the hardness of his cock pressed against her stomach as she leaned over and licked the fine hair-roughened skin of his chest in long soft strokes. “Hmm…yummy,” she purred as she slid her tongue over his flat nipples laving them as the tips of her breasts gently rubbed back and forth over the wetness on his skin. Marlow groaned and ran his hands down her back cupping her ass. “That feels so good.” “And I’ve only just begun.” She pulled his hands from her ass. “No touching until I have finished with you, Charlie boy.” Sybylla started to lick down his sternum stopping every so often to place wet sucking kisses on his skin. Chocolate tasted good but Marlow tasted much better. She liked how he writhed beneath her. She felt in control and powerful. She slipped her tongue into his bellybutton and looked at the veins that ran down his stomach to his straining cock. She liked the way his cock pushed insistently at her breasts demanding her attention. She held it firmly in her hand as her tongue began tracing the veins down to their source. “Sybylla…” Marlow’s voice was hoarse as she licked ever closer toward his cock. “You don’t have to do this.” “Oh but I want to, Charlie.” Sybylla continued to tongue down until she reached the base of his cock from there she slid sideways and licked along the line where his thighs met his torso. She could feel the power in his cock as it pulsed in her hand looking for release. Not yet. Sybylla licked the other side of his body. She let go of his cock and parted his legs and knelt between them and looked at him.

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“How much to you want me, Charlie?” That this one man was hers made her understand more and more why the St. Michael witches only gave themselves totally to one man. Maybe it was old-fashioned, but in her case Sybylla knew sex was most definitely worth the wait. “I would give up everything for one more taste of you, Sybylla.” “Excellent answer.” Sybylla bent down and licked the tip of his cock in reward. “Oh, darling,” Marlow growled hoarsely as he bucked his hips seeking more. Sybylla had imagined doing this to her fantasy lover and as with everything the reality was so much better than the dream. It was exciting to have this much control over a man by such a simple action. She kept licking the head of his cock in catlike strokes. He tasted of musk and salt and she wanted more. “For a virgin you learn fast.” “As you well know, Charlie boy, I am longer a virgin and you make me want to excel in my studies.” “You know I’m not going to last long if you continue doing this.” Marlow writhed beneath her. Sybylla stopped and looked at him over innocently. “So you don’t want me to suck your cock inside my mouth?” “Hell yes,” Marlow said between gritted teeth as his eyes, intense on hers, silently begged her to suck him inside. “Excellent because that’s what I plan to do.” Sybylla took the head of his cock into her mouth and sucked down hard. She felt Marlow’s hands entwined in her hair as she sucked and nipped his cock with her mouth and teeth. “Bloody hell…” Marlow groaned as he gave himself up to her. “Granted you are a fast learner but I don’t think you are ready for me to come in your mouth, darling.” “Oh but I am.” Sybylla sucked him into her mouth as far as his shaft would go. She swirled her tongue around his cock and sucked him hard like a large salty lollipop. She knew instinctively that Charlie was not going to last long. And that was okay. She wanted to taste him as he came in her mouth. She wanted to experience everything she could with this man. Her eyes locked with his as she felt his cock thrust and twitch inside her mouth. “Sybylla…” Marlow choked out her name as he clutched at her hair as he started to come in her mouth. It was a crazy, wild sensation yet not unpleasant. Marlow was totally helpless and out of control and Sybylla liked that. She sucked and swallowed down every milky drop as the man beneath her let loose. The taste of semen in her mouth was unusual yet wildly arousing. Marlow sank back against the sheets and looked at her lovingly. “You learnt all this from a dream?”

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“But you taste better than the dream, Charlie.” Sybylla sat back on her heels and looked at him in satisfaction. She had to admit she enjoyed making Marlow come. Power may well corrupt but sexual power was deliciously honest and she wanted more. “Not so smart-ass tough now are you, Mr. Vampire?” Sybylla arched her eyebrows at him teasingly. She ached to be filled. She looked down at his still semi-erect cock. She knew little about men and sex but what she did know was they needed time to recover. Yet Marlow was already rising to the occasion. Excellent. “You talk tough, witch.” “Oh but I am and you know it.” Marlow launched up and pulled Sybylla into his arms so she sat facing him between his legs, her legs spread either side of his hips. She was open and ready for him. “Yes you are tough but also very sweet.” Marlow kissed her hungrily as his arms wrapped around her body holding her close. Sybylla clung to Marlow in wild abandon. How had she lived so long without him? She pulled his head down to suck on the aching tips of her breasts. Marlow sucked hard and bit her nipples lightly making her gasp and cry out for more. “Taste me,” Sybylla moaned as she clutched his head to her breasts. “I am, darling,” Marlow murmured between mouthfuls as he sucked her nipples to swollen dark pink peaks. Sybylla pulled his head from her breasts and looked him in the eye. “My blood, I want you to taste it.” She knew what she was offering and how it would affect their relationship forever but she wanted to give him the other life force he craved. “I can’t, Sybylla.” Marlow looked at her in a mixture of wild desperation and need. “I’m not sure I will be able to stop if I do.” “You will, Charlie.” Sybylla knew that as she knew nothing else. This man only took what he needed and she wanted to give him that. She pushed her hair away from her shoulders and offered him her neck. She saw the hesitation in his eyes. “You will not hurt me.” Marlow needed no more encouragement. No one had ever offered themselves as completely as Sybylla did. He kissed her deeply and then slid his mouth to her neck to where her blood pounded freely. As Marlow’s fangs punctured her skin lightly she felt a momentary stinging sensation before his mouth fastened on her neck and he began to suck her blood. “Oh, Charlie,” Sybylla gasped as the most incredible wild and primitive sensations rocked her body. She heard her heart beat loud in her ears and her thighs began to sweat with anticipation. She had never expected to feel so hot and horny. It was so

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incredibly sexual that Sybylla felt she would come then and there. She fell back on the bed with Marlow on top of her holding him close to her heart as he sucked her gently. Marlow stopped and slid his mouth from her neck. He applied a slight pressure to the small twin fang marks on her skin. He looked down at Sybylla lying on her back her eyes glazed with ardor. “Did I hurt you, darling?” He stroked the skin on her neck softly and kissed her lips tenderly. “That was incredible.” The vampire movies had it all so wrong. There was no pain, no horror. There was only heat and passion and incredible wanting. “Thank you,” Marlow breathed the words against her lips. He sat up and looked at Sybylla spread wide before him. He smiled at the look of barely contained passion in her eyes. He pulled her hips up tight toward him, spread her legs wider either side of his hips and slid his cock inside her. “Oh yes,” Sybylla sighed in relief. How she needed Charlie. She struggled to sit up. Marlow pushed her down gently. “Just lie back and enjoy.” Marlow moved her hips back and forward as his cock slid in and out of her wet heat. Sybylla grasped the bed sheets. She felt so passive. She enjoyed the feeling of being taken and not being able to do anything about it. Not that she wanted anything less. She wrapped her legs around him as she started to feel the spiral of pleasure start to coil up and seek release. “Faster.” She wanted to come now. “No, you’ll still come if I keep it slow and deep,” Marlow chuckled at the look of desperation in her eyes. He reached down and slid his fingers onto her clit and rubbed gently. Sybylla screamed in pleasure as Marlow’s cock pumped deeply into her body as his fingers kept up a steady rhythm against her clit. “I love you, Charlie,” Sybylla gasped as she started to come against him. Her body shook with the sensation. Marlow reached forward and pulled her up into his arms. “And I adore you, Sybylla darling.” Marlow kissed her hungrily as he came inside her body. They collapsed in a tangle on the bed both replete and neither wanting to let the other go. “I wish I could be with you in the day,” Marlow said as he gently pushed the hair back from her face. His days were spent restlessly pacing in the darkest place he could find to hide in until the nighttime allowed him to be free once more. He did not sleep. He did not eat. The only thing that kept him sane was the thought of Sybylla. “You can be if you want it.” Sybylla wanted to be with this man forever. But she would not push him to change. Marlow had to change because he wanted to and because he believed he could. 38

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“The nights can be ours,” Marlow kissed her softly. “Yes, come to me at night, Charlie.” Sybylla would take whatever he could offer her at that moment. “Come to me any time. I will be waiting.”

***** And for the next couple of months every night she awaited her lover’s return with the eagerness of a giddy schoolgirl. In the day she kept busy with the needs of the sick and the injured. She worked healing the people and creatures society feared and shunned. The werewolves, the shapeshifters, the vampires, and others like junkies and working girls came to her because they trusted and needed her. Sybylla did not judge any of them. It was a St. Michael witch’s duty to care and protect the downtrodden, the misunderstood and the cursed so they could try to live as normal a life as possible. As Sybylla carried out her day-to-day tasks of mixing herbs and tending wounds that no doctor would understand, she thought of Marlow. She knew she had fallen in love with him after that first night together in the lavender. Love was sweet and exciting. But did that love mean they had a future? Could a witch and a vampire have a happily ever after? Did she dare risk taking the happiness that was offered to her knowing, as she had always known, that one day it could end in sadness? Charles Dalton Marlow was her true love. But she could be his downfall. Could Sybylla allow him to be hurt? “I will not allow it.” Even as she said it Sybylla knew when the time came to make a decision about the future whatever she chose was going to hurt Marlow. She was his weakness as he was hers. “I will live for today and cry about tomorrow when it happens,” she decided.

***** Marlow stood and watched Sybylla through the kitchen window as she worked away making her potions and lotions to aid the sick and the desperate. There was so much goodness in this one woman. He had never known anyone like her and he had lived over two centuries. Sybylla never judged. She just gave and expected nothing in return. The people who came to her door at night were hideously malformed through fate or curse and yet she treated everyone with a firm gentleness that amazed him. To Marlow, Sybylla was beautiful inside and out and he wanted to be a part of her life forever. But did he deserve to be? Sybylla was everything he was not. She was good, she was honest and she never railed against her fate. Instead she accepted it for what it was and did what she could with it. And Marlow knew being a witch was not as easy as Sybylla liked to make out. The fact that she had seen her family members die one by one had not embittered her to anyone but the demon who killed them. That she still felt the pain, Marlow did not doubt. But unlike him she did not feed off the anger. But then how could she? Sybylla had no time to be angry. She was in constant demand for her skills of healing and her 39

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ability to see glimpses of the future. People needed her and she made herself available. She did not shut herself off from tragedy no matter how she felt. She made herself move on. And yet Marlow knew there was something hidden deep inside Sybylla that he could feel but not see. But then everyone had dark places where secrets and fear lurked. How could he expect this incredible woman to be different? Marlow smiled as he saw Sybylla glimpse at the clock on the wall as if wondering where her was. The idea that Sybylla awaited his return made his heart beat with love and his loins stir with anticipation. It was so nice to have someone who cared about him after so long. It was even nicer to care for someone. Sybylla St. Michael made him crave more. He wanted to be a better man for her. “But you are still a vampire,” Marlow muttered under his breath in disgust. He toyed constantly in his mind with the idea of trying to change back to being a man but he was not sure he deserved to be anything but a vampire. And reverting back to the man he once was would impress no one. In 1824 he had been a flimflam artist cheating rich people out of their money and fucking any woman who offered herself regardless of who they were married to. And that had been his downfall. The local landowner’s daughter eagerly spread her thighs and Marlow had been more than willing to oblige. Unfortunately he had been caught in the act. And worse still the father of the girl was one of the rich men he had ripped off for a huge sum of money. “It was your own stupid fault.” Marlow had always been too cocky for his own good. Well, he had met his match in Madigan Ap Lyr, the Irish vampire, who it seemed had been born and bred to punish and torment. The rich landowner had paid him very well to take care of Marlow, who in turn had not suspected the woman he bedded so eagerly was one of Madigan’s vampire acquaintances. He had not seen that shock coming. As her fangs had sunk into his neck, he had felt his blood start to thicken and heat as the change from mortal to vampire happened. At first he could not believe it when his teeth started to form fangs and his body shook with illness any time he went out in the daylight. All too soon, the craving for blood had his head spinning. Marlow was sickened at what he had become. He did not want to take someone for their blood. He tried to kill himself over and over, but the curse of immortality would not allow it. When he took his first victim he only took enough to sustain him. Marlow would not kill unless he had to but sometimes over the years he had been faced with no other choice. Some people needed to be killed. The child molesters, the wife bashers and the rapists. He never took their blood as evil tainted it. Killing them made him feel marginally better about himself and he knew he was freeing people from having to endure a monster in their lives. When Marlow needed blood he took if from the women who sought him out for sex. He was aware he was considered attractive. He knew he could walk into a bar and have women seek him out. In exchange for their blood he made sure he gave them sexual pleasure and he never took more blood than was absolutely necessary.

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That Sybylla had offered her body and her blood to him in such a way still shook him to the core. He had never tasted such sweetness, such purity. It made him question whether he should be with someone like her. “But I love her.” And the knowledge that Sybylla loved him humbled Marlow. He walked to the door more determined than ever to change his life so he could be with her day and night.

***** Sybylla turned and smiled as her lover came through the door. “Charlie,” she sighed happily as she walked into his arms. “I have missed you.” It felt so good to have someone to hold and to hold her. “I need you, Sybylla darling.” Marlow’s held her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly. “Then have me.” Sybylla stepped back and started to pull off her clothes until they lay in a heap at her feet. She had been hot and wet all day waiting for Marlow to come to her. She saw no reason to pretend otherwise as she reached over and pulled down his zipper, freeing his cock into her hands. “Oh, darling, what you do to me,” Marlow groaned as she slid her hand up and down his straining shaft. Sybylla smiled into his eyes and walked over to the kitchen table. “I need it hard and fast, Charlie.” She was in dire need of his hot strength inside her body. Then they would have it soft and slow, followed by hard and fast once more. Sybylla wanted to make every second with Marlow count almost as if she knew something would take him away from her. She bent over the table and presented her rounded ass to her lover. Marlow dropped his trousers and wrenched his shirt off over his head. He stepped forward and ran his hands down the cleft of her ass to the soft folds between her legs. “You are so wet.” He slid his body up against hers. Sybylla sighed contentedly at the heat of his body against hers. Her skin was hypersensitive to his touch. “I always am when I think of you.” Sybylla shoved her ass back against him. “I need you inside me, Charlie.” The sound of raw need in her voice did not surprise her. It was what she felt when Marlow was near her. “And you shall have me.” Marlow’s pushed his cock deep inside her in one thrust. He smiled as he heard Sybylla softly squeal in delight. He teasingly slid in and out several times only letting the tip of his cock remain inside her. “Charlie,” Sybylla hissed in a mixture of pleasure and annoyance. “I want you to stay inside.” She ground her ass back against his thighs needing his cock to be deep inside her.

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“So you will be happy if I am fully inside you?” Marlow leaned followed and kissed her neck as his hands fondled the firm mounds of her breasts. “Oh yes.” She craved that sweet, hot physical connection with Marlow. “Anywhere inside you?” Marlow slid one finger into the tight puckered hole of her ass. Sybylla stiffened suddenly as his finger then another slid in and out of her anus. He wanted to take her there? The thought of his cock hard up her ass made her thighs tremble with need. “Anywhere…please,” Sybylla was not one to beg but everyone had their moments. “Take me now.” Marlow pulled his cock out from her body. It glistened with Sybylla’s juices. He spread her ass cheeks wide and positioned his cock at the tight puckered entrance of her ass. Sybylla gasped as the fullness of his cock penetrated through the tight muscled opening of her ass. She bit her lip at the sudden discomfort yet she did not want to cry aloud for fear Charlie would instantly stop what he was doing. She did not want that. Sybylla wanted him inside her. She did gasp out loud as he finally pushed past the tight opening and slid all the way inside. “Oh, Charlie,” she moaned as he started to move slowly inside her. She felt so full and tight. It was a completely different sensation and she liked it. Marlow moved his hand around to the front between her legs and slid his fingers inside the folds to massage her clit. Sybylla dropped her head back against Marlow and offered him her throat. She sighed as she felt the slight nick to her skin then his mouth as he fastened down and sucked slowly. There was nothing she would not give this man. “I love you, Charlie.” She felt her legs start to shake as he increased his thrusts. She panted as the orgasm started to build up inside. Marlow took his mouth from her neck and licked it softly, lapping up any last traces of blood and soothing her skin like a balm. “Do you love me because I have my cock up your ass and my fingers on your clit?” Marlow whispered low in her ear as he rubbed and thrust harder. “Yes,” Sybylla moaned gripping the table firmly as Marlow slammed into her. She heard his amused chuckle. “I love you for that. I love you because you make me feel so happy and that you are a beautiful man. I cannot wait to see you every day.” Sybylla shrieked the last word as the orgasm hit her. Marlow stiffened at her words. No one had ever thought anything but contempt for him before. That he could be considered “beautiful” and capable of making Sybylla happy made him swallow hard with emotion. “Thank you, darling.” Marlow pulled her tight back against him and came inside her in a rush of heat and pleasure. “I want to be with you forever.”

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“Yes,” agreed Sybylla softly. Or as long as we can before it all falls apart.

***** Meanwhile across town “And who might you be, you rat-faced individual?” Scar yelled at the weedylooking demon who stood before him. The man looked like a rat and smelled like a rat. But Scar knew all lower order demons were ratlike in their cunning and actions. They could never be trusted. But then neither could Scar. “My name is Ratchet and I am yours to command, sire.” Ratchet’s voice was ingratiating as he looked at the ugly, scarred demon before him. “Why would I need you?” Scar lashed out and struck the lower order demon and sent him flying across the room. “You are clearly a weakling.” Scar needed power and brawn to aid him, not sniveling sycophants. “Because you have no one else.” Ratchet said pointing out the obvious as he got to his knees and faced the demon he planned to call his master for the moment. Plans changed as power changed. Even a demon had to be flexible. Scar hated the fact that this little creep was right. He had no one else to answer his call. He had lost all credibility and supporters when that witch had damn near destroyed him in that fire. No one took him seriously now. If it was possible to be a joke in the demon world, then he was it. He did not want friends as demons did not have friends, but he wanted respect not amusement at his own expense. But that would soon change. He was back stronger than ever and looking for swift payback. “I am looking for a witch.” If this rat-man could help him then why not use him? He could always kill him later. Besides, at the moment Scar had no other options. “The St. Michael witch who burned you?” Ratchet made sure he kept well away from the meaty fist of the demon as he spoke. His skill was in his cunning not in brute strength. “Yes,” Scar hissed in anger. “I want to kill her.” “I can help you with that.” “How could you, the scum of the earth, help me?” Scar looked at him in contempt for even daring to think he could be of use to him. “I can move freely above ground and find her. I am not as…noticeable as you.” Ratchet put his hand to his face casually, trying not to make it obvious that he was covering his nose against the stench of rotting flesh coming from his new master. That Scar smelled like a rotten corpse did not worry him. That was not his problem. But the rat-faced man had a point. Scar knew his grotesque face stood out too much to fit in with the crowd of pasty-faced humans above ground. Demons dwelled in the underworld. A hazy, sulfur-smelling netherworld that was only one level above hell. He fit in there. Not that he cared what the earthbound mortals thought of his face. They 43

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were nothing to him. But he could not seek out the witch without drawing too many questions. He did not want her warned. Scar wanted to take her when she least expected it. Like she took him. “Find her but do not touch her.” Scar wanted her in one unsullied piece when he started to torture her. “If you fuck her I will know.” He wanted to be the only one to sink his shaft deep inside her. “No one can take a St. Michael witch unless she is willing.” Ratchet knew that along with a lot of other useful information he planned to use when the time was right. Fucking a witch with a legend behind her name was not a smart move to Ratchet, no matter how much the witch had pissed you off. “Oh I will fuck the witch and she will be willing. Torture anyone enough and they’ll beg for anything to save them.” Scar lived for the day he could break her in two. “Find her!” “Yes, sire.” Ratchet smiled nastily. He would find the witch. That would earn Scar’s gratitude and then he would crush him like a bug and earn the respect of the demon world. He did not plan on being a lower level demon forever.

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Chapter Five Two occurrences struck like lightning bolts in Sybylla’s life. One she knew would happen and the other came completely out of the blue and wounded her deeply. For a witch who could catch glimpses of the future, Sybylla was dismal at seeing her own. But then her powers were not for self-gain and with Marlow in her life she had trouble concentrating on anyone but him at times. The first bolt of lightning was confirmation that Llewellyn was indeed the demon called Scar and that he was very much alive. And looking to pay her back for what she had done to him by whatever means he felt necessary. This was not a complete surprise for even though Sybylla had hoped he was dead, she always had a sick feeling he wasn’t. Sybylla was not scared for herself. She would cope no matter what came her way. The thing she feared most was the threat to the child growing inside her. Marlow’s child, the second bolt from the blue. She was pregnant. However while she was worried about the first problem, the second took care of itself. Sybylla miscarried before she even had a chance to tell Marlow the news. Although she grieved deeply and in silence for the loss of her child, Sybylla realized that maybe this child at this time was not meant to be. How could she bring a child into her life when her life was now so uncertain? There was no question that she loved Marlow but her love for him weakened her and if she was to fight Scar she needed to be strong. How could she keep a child protected with that threat hanging over her head? She also needed Marlow to be safe and he would not be if he had to protect both her and her child. And if Scar found out about Marlow? Sybylla shuddered to think. It would kill her to see Marlow hurt. She knew everything in the Universe happened for a reason but it did not mean that the Universe did not suck badly when it dumped obstacles like these in her path. As much as Sybylla hated the thought, she knew she had to get Marlow out of her life and the further he was out of her life the better. Sybylla did not want Scar knowing of her connection to Marlow. He was her weakness but she would not be his ruin. She did not want to see him destroyed as Scar destroyed the last men who loved the St. Michael witches. With a heavy heart, Sybylla knew what she had to do. She had to stop what was between her and Marlow now, no matter how much it would pain her to do so. He had suffered enough in his life. He did not deserve to suffer more because of her. That night when Marlow came to her, Sybylla refrained from throwing herself into his arms as she had been accustomed to do. She held herself still and quiet and told herself that she had to be strong. “We have to talk.” Sybylla knew he was going to hate her deeply after she had said what she had to say.

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“You can talk to me about anything, darling.” Marlow’s hands slid to her waist and pulled her toward him. Marlow looked at her so lovingly that she almost gave up on her plan. Almost but not quite. The thought of keeping him safe and whole outweighed her need to have Marlow as a constant in her life. With Scar an ever-present threat this was no time to be selfish. “We have not been using condoms and we should have considered pregnancy.” “You are pregnant?” Marlow smiled with delight. “This is wonderful.” The hope and happiness in his eyes crushed Sybylla’s heart. She knew what she was going to say next would destroy anything they had between them. But you have to do it, so just do it. “I was pregnant.” Sybylla bit back on the tears that threatened to spill over. She knew if she started crying now she would not stop and would tell him the truth and then she would never let Marlow go. “Was? What happened? Are you all right, darling?” Marlow grabbed her hands, his expression worried. Sybylla knew her next words would hurt him as much as they would hurt her. But they had to be said. She had to hurt the man she loved so he would not be hurt later on. He was her weakness. She would not be his. As long as she kept telling herself this she would be fine. Marlow had more than enough to deal with in his life. Sybylla did not want to bring him down further. He might never find happiness but she did not want him to have any more pain. “I decided not to keep the child.” The words cut her deeply inside as she said them. One look into Marlow’s eyes and she knew she had wounded him severely. But he could never know her despair over the miscarriage, the pain she felt at her words, or the loss of hope that they could be together forever. “What?” Marlow staggered slightly as Sybylla said the words. “A child does not fit into my plans at the moment.” Sybylla hated herself at that moment as much as she knew Marlow probably hated her. It was wrong and unfair what she had to say, but she had to say it. “You are a vampire and I’m a witch. What sort of a life is that for a child?” She never knew she could sound so hateful. Marlow pushed away from Sybylla, dropping the hold he had on her hands as if she had burned him. “So you killed our child?” he asked as if he could not quite believe what he was hearing. “Is that what you did? “I had to do what was best for both of us.” Hate me, but live. “You had no right, Sybylla,” Marlow snapped out angrily. “Do I mean nothing to you?” Charles Dalton Marlow meant everything to her. He was like the air she breathed. She needed him to feel alive, to feel, to be. Without him she would go back to being just

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an empty shell. But that was her destiny and she could do nothing about it with the ever-present threat of Scar. “Sex with you is great.” That sounded horrible and flat even to her ears. It was like two acquaintances commenting on weather—meaningless, shallow drivel that meant nothing. Marlow looked at her incredulously. “That’s all you think we have? Great sex?” He held out his hands toward her as if looking to grab hold of something between them that was slipping away. “Was there anything else?” Sybylla felt a cold chill run through her body as she worked at making the man she loved hate her. “I love you, Sybylla.” There was the slightest touch of desperation to Marlow’s otherwise flat voice. “I know.” And I love you but it may kill you one day. Marlow threw his hands up in the air questioningly. “You know?” He watched her bite her lip at the awkwardness of the situation. “So this is what you and I come down to? I’ve killed your baby. Thanks for the sex but you are no longer needed?” “Yes.” No but go before I break down and beg you to hold me. “You are a heartless woman, Sybylla St. Michael.” Sybylla knew she had a heart as it was splintering into a million pieces at that moment. “I think you should leave.” And don’t look back…please don’t look back, Charlie. “I will never forgive you.” Marlow turned and walked out the door. “At least you will live,” Sybylla murmured quietly to herself as she shut the door on him and her emotions.

***** Marlow staggered outside. If he had doubted he still had a heart he knew now he did as it was in such agony he could barely breathe. Sybylla did not want him. That the woman he loved so deeply could have aborted his child—the only good thing he had ever created in his life—cut him deeply. Sybylla had destroyed the child because of who he was. A vampire. A lowlife. He wanted to yell and scream and grab someone by the throat and shake them in anger. In one fell swoop his future had been kicked out from beneath him. He had thought Sybylla was different. That she cared, that she loved him. “You are and always were a fool, Marlow,” he snapped out at himself in contempt. He wished he was dead instead of living this long never-ending nightmare of an existence. If he could find a vampire hunter at that moment he would gladly hold the wooden stake to his heart and make them end his pathetic existence for he had nothing left to live for.

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The thought the he would never see Sybylla or touch her or taste her again made him remember how empty his life had been without her. That he could have had a child with the woman he loved would have been a dream come true. “Fucking dreams!” he yelled angrily at the heavens and dared whichever God was the most powerful to take his life and get it over and done with. He did not wish to live any longer. “Stop fucking torturing me like this!”

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Chapter Six “You know Marlow is staring at you.” Asher Marriott looked at the woman standing quietly behind her market stall. Sybylla had a regular stall at the night markets on Brisbane’s north side. She sold dried lavender, herbs and oils that she made. But commerce was not the real reason Sybylla had the market stall. She had a small inheritance that she managed carefully. It kept her from having to get a mainstream job and allowed her to maintain the St. Michael tradition of helping those in need. The real reason behind the stall was to give aid to her clients, like Asher, who wanted to maintain as normal a life as possible as they struggled to deal with whatever affliction they had been born with or cursed with. The stall was set up do so they could be like any normal buyer interacting at the marketplace. But of course the so-called “normal” buyers were not aware of the potions and lotions the Sybylla kept aside for her supernatural and wounded human clientele. “I know Marlow is watching me.” Even if she could not see him she could feel him. It had been that way ever since they had broken up a couple of months ago. She felt no threat from him. Marlow was not a stalker. He was a man who did not give up easily and she knew that although she had hurt him terribly, his mind was still not set against her. It was like he was watching her and waiting for some sort of sign to come back to her. As much as she wanted that in her heart, Sybylla knew she could never allow who she was to hurt the man she loved. Asher had known Marlow a long time. They had both been cursed as vampires though they had handled it differently. Asher looked for an escape in normality while Marlow lived his accursed life as if not believing he deserved more. Asher knew Sybylla had been good for both of them. “What happened between you two?” Sybylla twisted the ribbons on a sachet of lavender and willed Asher not to pursue this topic. She could have compelled him through a spell but she only used spells when there was no other way. “Nothing happened.” Nothing was the reason she could not sleep at night. Nothing was the reason she dreamed of the man she could not allow herself to have. In essence Sybylla had a whole lot of nothing in her life that was making her tense enough to break in two. “Sybylla.” Asher looked at her knowingly. “Asher,” Sybylla responded lightly. She was not about to get into a deep and meaningful conversation with anyone no matter how much she valued that person. Her thoughts were her own, no matter how regretful and dumb.

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“You have helped me so much now I want to help you.” “I need no help.” I need Charlie but I can’t have him. “You love Marlow and don’t deny it.” Sybylla sighed deeply. Loving him was not the issue. Letting Marlow live without further pain was. “This is all irrelevant.” Even as she said the words Sybylla wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince—herself or Asher. “Love is never irrelevant, Syb.” Sybylla smiled at the tall man with the long white hair tied back in a ponytail. “That is what I always like about you, Ash, you are a dreamer.” She looked into his clear green eyes and saw only goodness. “You will find true love soon.” Sybylla could feel the presence of the woman who would change his life and become his sanctuary. Asher just smiled at her words only half believing them. Sybylla turned to see a man approach her. He had on a baseball cap, large sunglasses and his body well covered up despite the leftover heat of the day. The man was a werewolf trying to fit in as best as he could. She smiled encouragingly at him. These were the people she helped. “Scar is looking for you, Sybylla.” His voice was gruff and low but his eyes were gentle. “Yes.” She was not surprised by this news. It just confirmed what she had always felt. That she would have to once again try to rid the planet of this demon. Sybylla had tried to locate the demon’s whereabouts but so far she had failed. It was almost like Scar was toying with her, waiting to pounce when she least expected it. “Where is he?” Asher’s fists clenched tensely as he looked around checking for evil. “He is everywhere and nowhere,” the werewolf replied. I hate riddles. My bloody life is one never-ending riddle. “Thank you for coming to me.” Such loyalty gave Sybylla a warm glow. “I would do anything for you.” The devotion in his eyes was evident as he spoke the words. “Watch your back, Sybylla.” Sybylla touched the werewolf’s shoulder gently in appreciation. He smiled a smile that would have scared many, but Sybylla understood he wished her only good. She watched him lope off onto the crowd. “So, this is why you dumped Marlow.” Asher looked at her with understanding. “You are worried about history repeating itself.” He knew all about the history and legend of the St. Michael witches. “I did not dump him, we…ah…parted ways.” Not that the difference between the two made it any easier. Pain was still pain and loneliness had the ability to keep her up at night re-thinking her actions over and over. “And history always repeats, Ash.” Asher watched as the tall vampire walked through the crowd toward them.

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“Marlow is coming over.” “Bugger, he would.” Just when I am barely holding myself together. She touched the spear at her side, knowing she would never use it against the man she loved. It was more that the strong, powerful feel of it made her feel more in control and belief was everything to Sybylla. “You want to use your spear on him?” Asher saw her hand touch the shaft of the spear. “What the hell did he do to you?” “Marlow did nothing. I ruined everything.” She blinked back some traitorous tears quickly. “Oh, Sybylla,” Asher sighed sadly as he saw the pain in her eyes. Sybylla drew in a deep breath and told herself to be calm. He was just a man. He was nothing special. She gulped softly. What a liar I have become. “Brother.” Marlow’s eyes locked on Sybylla as he acknowledged Asher with a quick clasp of hands. “Sybylla.” “Marlow.” “I see you are still giving aid to the lost and the lonely.” Sybylla looked up at him and felt her heart tighten. What was I thinking? As if I could ever forget you. “You know me.” He was the only person who ever did. “I thought I did.” His eyes never left her face. Bloody hell Those eyes. They always got to her. “Is there something you want?” Sybylla tried to ignore the breathless tone of her voice. Marlow moved in closer to her giving her no option but to look at him and be aware of his presence. “What can I have?” Sybylla wanted to throw herself against the warmth of his chest and hold him close to her heart. “I don’t have time for this, Marlow.” Toughen up for God’s sake! “It seems you only have time for lost causes.” “Some are more lost than others.” They were both lost to each other. The sudden descent of silence between them was deafening. Asher knew someone had to break the tortured stillness between them. “Maybe you should leave, brother.” “Yes, it appears there is nothing for me here.” Marlow eyes were on hers waiting for Sybylla to give him some sign to make him stay. When she didn’t he turned and walked away.

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Sybylla dropped her head. She was so terribly lonely without him. Seeing him now made her realize how the self-inflicted solitude of her life was slowly killing her. “Whew!” Asher breathed out in amazement. “You two could melt a circuit board. What the hell happened with you and Marlow?” “I hurt him.” And myself. “You can heal him, Syb.” Asher eyes were softly encouragingly. “He is better off without me.” “Is he really? Would your mother and the other St. Michael witches have given up on love even when they knew their fate?” “No.” They never would have. “But I do not have the courage to see Charlie hurt.” Sybylla’s eyes stung with tears she refused to shed because if she started to cry now she would never stop. “Charlie is a strong man.” Asher was amused at the thought of the powerful vampire he knew being brought to his knees by a witch who called him “Charlie.” “But love makes people do silly things.” “Yes it does, doesn’t it, Sybylla?” Asher shook his head at her stubbornness. “You push away the man you love and punish yourself.” “I never said I was smart, Ash.” “You are smart in some things and dumb in others.” Asher smiled softly as he picked up her hand and held it tightly as if sensing she needed the contact. “When you love someone you have to do what’s best for them. I need Charlie to be safe.” “So you deny yourself and him love. Smart move, lady witch.” Sybylla took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. “Yeah well wait until you fall in love. It’s not that bloody easy.” “I long for it.” And he did. “I know,” Sybylla touched his face lightly. Who could not love this sweet, giving and sexy man? “She will be here very soon and no, I’m not going to tell you who she is as that would spoil the surprise.” “Was Marlow a surprise to you?” “He knocked my socks off.” “If you could go back in time and change meeting him would you?” “No, but that does not mean we can be together.”

***** Marlow looked at the blonde naked woman before him. She was stunning but she was not Sybylla. And her hand on his cock was okay but it did not make him tremble with the same urgent hunger he felt for Sybylla. No one felt and tasted as his darling

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did. Ever since their breakup every time he thought of having sex with another he thought of Sybylla and he could not do it so he remained celibate. Sybylla had claimed him for life. No other woman could ever compete. For Marlow, having just seen her now was torture. She was so proud and beautiful and he wanted to be hot and tight inside her so badly despite the anger he still felt at her actions in destroying their child. Or maybe it was more anger at himself when he knew in his heart she had probably done the right thing. What life could his child have with him as its father? “Come on, sugar,” the woman purred at him enticingly as she stroked his rock-hard cock. “I know you want to fuck me.” No I don’t actually. Marlow was quite aware that his cock would get hard at any stimulus but that did not mean he wanted just any woman to fuck. Not anymore. And why Marlow had thought he could take another woman right after seeing Sybylla was crazy. It was like some misguided act of teenage revenge. But the only one he was pissing off was himself. He knew in his heart Sybylla would have been with no other. And that in itself was confusing. Push me away but deny yourself love? There had to be more going on than Marlowe knew and that thought ate at him. “My dear, I have changed my mind.” He smiled apologetically at the blonde woman. “I know you want me.” She tugged on his cock. You don’t have this hard bad boy going on for no other reason than fucking me.” Yes that had been the plan and the woman was certainly fuckable, but sex for the sake of sex no longer interested Marlow. So it would be another night of jacking off alone to relieve the tension in his body. “Sorry.” “But what about me?” The woman let go of his cock in despair. “I cannot help you.” Marlow was mildly amused at the desperation in her face. He knew how she felt. He felt desperate for Sybylla and no substitute could ever take her place. “Well shit, that’s so unfair!” the woman cursed. Yep, that’s the about the size of it. It was not always a case of love the one you’re with. And it was going to get more unfair for this woman. Marlow needed blood and this woman was going to supply it. It was a case of “give me your blood and I’ll give you nothing in return”. “Come closer, my dear.” Marlow held his arms out and drew the eager naked woman into his embrace. He licked the column of her neck and felt the strength of her veins below. “This will only hurt for a moment.” “Oh, sugar, I’m up for anything.”

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“Excellent.” Marlow’s fangs sank into her neck. The woman groaned in a mixture of pain and pleasure. Marlow sucked down hard on the warm richness of her blood in his mouth. He found it odd that like Sybylla, most women found him sucking their blood erotic. It was anything but to him unless it was with Sybylla who he was sucking. Then it was wildly erotic and intensely sweet and loving. Marlow took only enough of the woman’s blood to sustain his needs. He gently pushed her from him. “Bloody hell!” The blonde looked dazed. “Are you sure you don’t want sex?” After that experience she knew sex with this guy would be mind-boggling. Marlow smiled at her gently and bent down to pick up her clothes. “Thanks but no, my dear.” He gave her the clothes and he pushed his hard cock into his trousers. He needed to find a quiet place to think about the woman he loved and relieve that tension in his body. The tension in his heart would have to wait.

***** “I have found her, sire.” “So soon?” Scar was not surprised. This weaselly man obviously wanted to impress his current leader. Scar was not stupid. He knew there was an ulterior motive. No one, demon or not, did anything for anyone without there being some benefit in return. “Her name is Sybylla St. Michael.” Ratchet had found the woman weeks ago. But he did not tell Scar that. He wanted to let the demon sweat and need him more. “She is a do-gooder who heals those whom society refuses to acknowledge or believe in. The witch has a loyal following among the weirdos and freaks who inhabit the city of Brisbane.” Ratchet did not consider himself in the same lowly league as these people. Demons were never weak enough to seek help. “I had to kill people to find her.” Scar waved his hand dismissively as if that was of no interest to him. “Where is the witch?” The sooner Scar could have the witch at his mercy the better. “I hate fucking do-gooders.” He killed her family because they were too good and noble to help him with his greedy plans and he had pleasure killing their menfolk. The old legend of the St. Michael witches was well known even among the demons. St. Michael witches mated for life. If you killed their mate you killed them. Did this Sybylla St. Michael have a mate? “The witch lives alone on a property on the north side of Brisbane. The property is ringed with powerful crystals set up for protection. Only people who are pure of heart and without evil intention can cross them.” Ratchet looked at the ugly demon wondering what he was thinking. “That counts us out.” “Go find a woman we can use.” Scar had not had sex for a couple of days and he needed to fuck someone hard. “We need to have someone break the force of the crystals.” Scar knew the crystals would be placed in such a way that if one were taken a

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chain reaction would cause the power of the others to fade. “And find a woman fast weasel-face or I’ll have the pleasure of ripping you from limb to limb.” Ratchet flinched momentarily at Scar’s words. He would do this demon’s bidding as long as it suited him. When it no longer did then it would be a much different story. “I’ll be back within the hour.” “Make sure it’s a woman.” Scar yelled at his departing back. “I need a woman.” “You need to die horribly, you pathetic asshole,” Ratchet muttered angrily under his breath. “And I plan to make that happen.” Finding the witch suited Ratchet’s plans. If this Sybylla St. Michael did not kill Scar then he would.

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Chapter Seven Present Day

Sybylla knew it was pointless to pull against the ropes. She had tried to break them with her mind power alone, but damn it that bastard Scar was right. Without the full power of her mind, hands and body she was powerless to free herself. Sybylla looked around the room she was being held in. She shivered slightly as the breeze blew in over her near-naked body from a nearby broken window. If she hadn’t planned to kill Scar because of what he had done to her family, Sybylla was gunning for him for touching her as she did. No man was allowed to do that. No man but Marlow. “Bloody, Charlie!” Sybylla swore angrily as she yanked on her restraints again. None of this would have happened if he had just left her alone after their meeting at the night market. But no, Charles Dalton Marlow had been distracting her since the day she met him. She had never been able to think straight around him. He was everything she feared and everything she desired. She had thought deliberately hurting him as she had would have made him avoid her for life. But Marlow was not like anyone else. And she had a weakness for him that endangered them both. “Your strengths are your weaknesses and you are a bloody fool for him, woman,” Sybylla muttered angrily to herself as she thought back to two hours ago. She still burned with the memory Marlow’s flesh against her skin and his cock full and thrusting inside her.

***** Two Hours Earlier “No, I can’t, Charlie. This is wrong,” Sybylla had groaned in a mixture of desperation and lust as Marlow hoisted her skirts up to her waist and pushed her back and up onto a kitchen bench top. “I can’t do this.” She gasped as he ripped open her shirt sending buttons flying everywhere. “Yes you can, Sybylla darling.” Marlow made short work of her bra, flinging it to land on top of the refrigerator. “It has been so long since I touched you.” His hands went to her breasts kneading the soft flesh. “It was only a month ago.” Sybylla remembered it only to well as she had craved a taste of him ever since. She panted as she struggled to sit up as Marlow pushed her back on the bench and reached for her panties. She had only just said goodbye to him at the markets when he suddenly turned up at her house like old time’s sake, and old times were certainly not forgotten but more pushed aside until nasty-assed demons

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were out of the way. Why the hell had she let him into her house? She could have just ignored him when he stood at her kitchen door and looked at her with a look that made her instantly wet and needy. But no, the wet and needy Sybylla had let him inside her home and now she knew she was doomed to let him inside her body if his mouth met hers. His kiss was like no other. It drugged her senses and made her his slave. “Last month? It seems like an eternity.” Marlow leaned down, his body hot against hers as he ripped her panties off in one go. “I don’t want you.” Liar. If she really did not want Marlow she could have knocked him to his ass when he first touched her and they both knew it. They also both knew she only had to say a firm no and Marlow would stop. Marlow slid his fingers between her legs and felt the creamy wet heat of the soft folds. “You lie very badly, darling.” Marlow saw rampant desire in her eyes but he also saw fear. He knew what scared Sybylla. He had worked it out. It was the same thing that scared him. They knew each other so well. They were ruled by their pasts. It was time to break those rules once and for all. “I love you, Sybylla.” Marlow’s words were as wonderful to hear as they were terrifying. Sybylla had tried so hard not to love this man. But she did. Now she had to go and try hurting him all over again to get him out of her life. Why the hell couldn’t I have been born plain old Sybylla Smith? “What about…” Sybylla’s words were cut off by his lips on hers. Their tongues met and fought a duel of their own. But they were only playing a game that they knew so well and that had an ending they both enjoyed immensely. Marlow broke off the kiss and reached for his zipper. His cock had been pushing frantically at the fabric of his trousers to get out and in Sybylla. “I need a condom.” He pushed into his trouser pocket for one. “I’ll never hurt you again, Sybylla.” She watched as he rolled the condom on. She had been the one who had hurt him yet here he was thinking about her needs. “I don’t want to talk about the past.” He pulled Sybylla’s hips to his. “The past is over and I need you now, my darling.” His mouth descended on one pink nipple and sucked hard. Sybylla dropped her head back and pulled Marlow’s head down to her breast. He knew she could not think straight when he sucked her like that. “For the moment you need me,” Sybylla panted the words out as she tried to retain some small measure of control. Marlow looked up, his eyes on hers. The both knew the truth. Their need was most definitely mutual. “And you need me.” Marlow’s hands went to her ass to pull her closer to his cock. “Don’t deny it, darling.”

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“All right!” Sybylla spread her legs wide so Marlow could fit hot and close within the cradle of her thighs. “Yes I need you but that does not solve our bloody problems!” She wrapped her legs around his waist. Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me and to hell with tomorrow. “Just let me love you,” Marlow murmured the words against her mouth. “Oh, Charlie,” she sighed in quiet desperation as his lips met hers. She had missed him so. Sybylla gasped as if feeling a burst of energy race through her veins. It had always felt like this with Marlow. Sybylla entwined her arms around his neck and welcomed the first hard thrust of his cock inside her.

***** “I promise I won’t hurt you. Just pick up the crystal and throw it over there.” Scar knew only too well that Ratchet was right. The crystals that ringed and subtly lit up the Samford property with their energy could not be crossed by anyone but the pure of heart. This St. Michael witch was obviously expecting an attack hence the chain of protection she had created. That was a shame as he wanted to take her unawares. Scar was momentarily surprised the witch had kept the same property that he had killed the menfolk of the clan on so long ago. She was either a sentimentalist or stupid. Ether way it was a weakness and weaknesses could always be exploited. Scar looked at the scrawny young woman who Ratchet had picked up off the streets with the simple promise of money. She was homeless and hungry and desperate. She was also expendable after she had done what they required. “And you’ll give me five hundred dollars just for that?” The homeless girl stared in fascinated horror at Scar’s face. She lived on the streets so the smell of him did not bother her. It was the evil gleam in his yellow eyes. She knew and understood greed only too well. She was so desperate for money that picking up a simple crystal for this greedy bastard seemed too easy a chore for five hundred dollars. “I’ll give you exactly what you deserve for doing this.” Scar hated dealing with mortals. They were so weak and greedy. But to get to Sybylla St. Michael he would do whatever was necessary. “Okay.” The young woman bent down and picked up the glowing white crystal. “It’s so pretty.” She held it in her hands and stroked the beautiful surface. So few things in her life were pretty. “Throw it or you won’t get your money, you stupid cow!” Scar barked out at her. Humans were so stupid. He watched the girl pitch the crystal far away from where they stood. Scar smiled. He watched as small beacons of light slowly died one by one around the property. The power of the crystals was broken. He could pass through onto the witch’s land undetected. “Where’s my money?” The young woman turned on him. She wanted her money and she wanted to leave this man and his creepy assistant now.

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“Ratchet,” Scar called as he moved toward the woman. “Yes, sire?” The rat-faced man approached the girl from the other side. “Hold her still.” It had been so long since he had a woman. Scar was used to having several a day. Abstinence pissed him off. “What?” The girl shrieked in alarm as she was spun around and forced against the tree. She turned her head to see the large scarred man pull out a huge blackened yet erect cock. “Oh God.” She had sold herself many a time to survive on the streets but this time she knew would be the last time for her. “There is no God,” Scar spat out in contempt as he watched as Ratchet ripped her faded old jeans down. He looked at the skinny shaking body. She was not normally to his taste but he could not be choosy. Until he had the witch in his grasp, fucking this ass would have to do. He grabbed her hips cruelly and jammed his cock inside her hard. The young woman cried out in pain as he pounded hard inside her all the time visualizing he was fucking the witch instead. As Scar thrust inside her one last time, his hands slid to her neck and he broke the delicate bones. He slid out of her and watched her body fall to the ground. “You killed her! I wanted my turn!” Ratchet whined and was backhanded by Scar. “We’re not here for you to get your rocks off.” Scar hissed at him. “We’re here for the witch.” He stormed over and dragged Ratchet up and hit him again. “Do you want me to kill you like I killed her?” Lower order demons were easy and enjoyable to kill. Ratchet staggered from the brutal demon. He knew one day his time would come. He followed his master to the house. Scar stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the witch with her legs wrapped around a tall man as he slowly thrust in and out of her naked body making her moan loud enough for Scar to hear it where they stood outside. “I want her.” Scar was immediately hard watching the way her full breasts bounced with each thrust, the sheer pleasure of being fucked evident on her face. “What about the legend about the St. Michael witches?” “Fuck the legend.”

***** Marlow thrust slow and deep inside Sybylla. She clung on to him like her very life depended upon it. This was sex but it was so much more. There was great hunger and need and overwhelming feelings surging through Sybylla. She wanted him but she wanted to push him away. At the same time her legs held firm around Marlow’s waist as she met every grinding thrust with a gasp of pleasure. “Harder, Charlie.” Sybylla grasped his ass in her hands and urged him on.

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Marlow’s response to this was to push Sybylla gently back on the bench top. He pulled her legs up to her shoulders and leaned into her thrusting hard and fast. Sybylla shrieked loudly as the first spasm of pleasure overtook her. “Oh, Charlie.” “Oh, Sybylla,” Marlow murmured in amusement as he came hard inside her almost lifting Sybylla off the bench top with the power of it. He collapsed down into her arms. Sybylla clutched Marlow to her, reluctant to let him go as she knew she had to. She loved everything about this man. The feel of him inside her, the sexy smile as he came and the fact that he knew her better than she would ever admit. She gulped softly as she knew she had to let him go again. “Are you crying?” Marlow asked as he felt a sudden wetness on his cheek. “No.” Sybylla wiped a tear away from her face. Marlow raised himself up from her slightly and looked down at her in concern. The pain in her eyes alarmed him. “Have I hurt you?” he could not bear it if he had done so in his rush to be with her as one again. “No.” Sybylla pulled him back against her. “What are we doing to each other, Sybylla?” Marlow sighed in desperation. “Why aren’t we together?” “I don’t bloody know anymore.” Sybylla swallowed the sob that caught in her throat. She wanted to be strong and tough but she was only channeling weak and needy. So much for being a bloody witch. Her own powers could not help her. “Did you ever know?” Marlow tipped her chin up and wiped away the last of her tears. “Sort of.” Like every half-assed ill-conceived plan pushing him out of her life had seemed to be the best thing to do. They looked at each other silently as if both were wishing words could be taken back and that their lives were different. But they were what they were and words once said could never be swallowed. “I have to go.” Marlow reluctantly pulled out from her. “I understand.” Stoic, stupid Sybylla. “Do you?” Yes…no… “It doesn’t matter.” “It matters more than you will admit, Sybylla darling.” Marlow pulled her to him and kissed her hard. “I want you to think about me, about how I love you and about how good we are together.” Marlow pulled up his trousers and turned and left her. Sybylla knew that thinking about what he said would be a no-brainer. She had not stopped thinking about him from the day she had pushed him away. Maybe they could 60

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work it out, Maybe they could be together. Maybe, maybe, maybe. There were always so many “maybes” between them. “I need a yes definitely.” Sybylla had a quick shower and pulled on some fresh clothes. She was feeling both sated and confused. She needed some fresh air and time to think. She walked over to her door and stepped out into the moonlight. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and summoned the calming image of her guardian Saint Michael in her mind. Although she could not physically see the angel, Sybylla always felt Saint Michael’s reassuring presence whenever she needed guidance. She called out for the archangel in her mind and the soothing essence of Saint Michael always came to her. It was in the touch of the night wind on Sybylla’s face and the soft rustle of leaves at her feet. She asked questions and whether the angel gave her the answers or she knew them already Sybylla was never sure. “What do I do about him?” she whispered softly at the star-filled sky. You cannot do anything but love him. “I don’t want to hurt Charlie.” Life is full of pain and great joy. Do not let go of true love because of fear. “I love him but I am worried he is more cursed being with me.” You curse yourself, Sybylla, by pushing away love. “Will we be happy?” You will be as happy as you deserve to be. “Saint Michael I…” Sybylla stopped suddenly. The wind died down and the leaves fell down flat as if in warning. The fine hairs on the back of Sybylla’s neck rose in warning. “Oh no…” A horrible stench of rotting corpse filled her nostrils. “Talking to yourself, witch?” Scar reached out and grabbed her wrist tightly. “Grab her other wrist and we bind her power.” He watched as his rat-faced henchman rushed forward to do his bidding. Scar knew that a St. Michael witch needed her hands, mind and body free to conjure up any power. Restricting one restricted all. Sybylla cursed at her own stupidity. She did not have her spear at her side, nor had she felt Scar until it was too late. She was so sated by sex and confused by her thoughts that she had been captured easily. She looked into the demon’s ugly, scarred visage. How had this son of hell crossed the crystal field? “Gee, Llewellyn, you used to be so attractive before. It must kill you to look this fucking ugly. No wonder they call you Scar among other less flattering names I have heard mentioned.” Sybylla was not going down without a fight. Scar slapped her hard, smiling in satisfaction as her lip split and blood oozed down her chin. “Listen well, slut, you are now mine do what I please with.” He leaned over and ran his hands roughly over her breasts. “I saw you with that man. He well and truly fucked you. I plan on doing the same.” 61

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“You will never have me, you ugly asshole,” Sybylla spat out as she struggled against the hands that held her. Scar swung his fist and hit her hard knocking her out. She slumped at their feet. “Tie her wrists and ankles, ratboy.” Scar looked at the crumpled form at his feet. “Prepare to be in much pain, witch. It’s time for payback.”

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Chapter Eight “Are you ready?” Asher looked at Marlow and saw the grim determination in his eyes. “Ready from the moment that bastard took her.” Marlow knew he was going to have great pleasure killing the demon who had taken his woman. He was well aware of the history between Sybylla and Scar. Marlow now knew what haunted her dreams. He knew it had a lot to do with why Sybylla pushed him away from her. There was no way he was going to allow this bastard demon to ruin their lives. It was time for the devil to pay. “So what are we going to do?” Temperance Larkin whispered quietly behind them in the darkness. Asher spun around and looked at the woman he loved. “What the hell are you doing here?” “You did not expect me to sit at home like a tame pussycat did you?” Temperance asked looking at the two men. She loved them both in different ways. They were smart, gorgeous and brave. Problem was they sometimes did not have a clue when it came to women. “Sybylla is my friend and I intend to help her and no, I am not going home so don’t bothering wasting your breath and demanding it.” “I don’t want you hurt.” Asher pulled Temperance close to his side as if doing so made her safer. “I won’t get hurt,” Temperance assured him as she looked into the worried eyes of the man she loved. “Ash, if I can deal with Madigan Ap Lyr then I can deal with this asshole demon.” Madigan Ap Lyr had been a powerful rogue vampire who had ruined not only Asher’s life but that of many others. With the power of Sybylla, Temperance had helped send Madigan back to the hell where he belonged. “Scar is much more powerful than Madigan.” Even as Asher said the words he knew he was powerless to make Temperance go home. “I’m staying.” Temperance was not about to be sent home like a wayward schoolgirl. She loved that Asher cared so deeply for her. But she needed to help Sybylla. The woman had done so much good for everyone—everyone but herself. “Let her stay, brother.” Marlow looked at Temperance. “But keep behind us, little one.” “‘I can see why Sybylla loves you.” Marlow always called her little one and she was anything but. Marlow was good for a woman’s ego. “And don’t tell me it’s not love because we would not be freezing our asses off out in the dark for a mere

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acquaintance.” Vampires weren’t so tough. It was all in the handling. “So what’s the plan?” “I go in and kill him.” That was the only plan as far as Marlow was concerned. He was going to kill Scar and save Sybylla. “It’s a very simple plan.” “We—that is Marlow and I will go in,” Asher added looking down at Temperance. “And you will stay here and wait patiently.” “Sounds like a crap plan to me. You need me, a woman, in this enterprise.” “What?” Marlow smiled despite himself and the situation. He had had liked Temperance Larkin from the first moment she crossed his path. She reminded him of Sybylla. They were women who did not mince words. “I can distract him better than you two can.” “How?” Asher asked, not looking the slightest bit happy with her suggestion. “How does any woman distract a man?” Temperance looked at Asher meaningfully. “How do I distract you?” “You’re not doing that!” Asher hissed furiously. “No, I’m not talking about sex.” Temperance shook her head at Asher. Men had one-track minds sometimes. “I can confuse the crap out of him enough to allow you time to get in and rescue Sybylla.” “She has a point, brother,” Marlow said looking at Asher. “Women are confusing.” “It’s dangerous.” Asher was not happy with the plan but he could see the merit of going in softly at first. “I’ll be fine.” Temperance assured him, secure in the knowledge she could confuse a man with the best of them. “Now just get me in that building.” “That’s why we have these, little one.” Marlow held up the bolt cutters.

***** “Hello, my car broke down and…oh my gosh,” Temperance gasped in overly innocent surprise as she saw Sybylla tied to the wall, half naked and her eyes, hard with anger, on her tormentor. Temperance looked at the ugly-as-sin man who stomped over to her. His entire face was a patchwork of festering scars. Yick! And the smell! It was nose breaking! She had an urge to smack the ugly bastard hard in the head for touching her friend and follow that by dousing him in bleach to get rid of the dead dog smell. “Golly, how embarrassing! Is this a bad moment? Are you filming a porno flick or something with the half-naked woman tied to the wall like that?” Temperance also wanted to kick him in the balls for tearing Sybylla’s clothes off and tying her up. So much for the going-in-softly approach. “What do you want woman?” Scar roared at the buxom woman before him. “I need a phone. My car stopped and I can’t start it.” Temperance tried not to flinch as the man towered over her. “I am so dumb about cars. I heard some gizmo go ping

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and then a red light flashed and then the car stopped and steam started coming out of the engine. I think that’s a bad sign. Don’t you?” “I don’t know and I don’t care.” Scar yelled at the woman. “Get out!” “Well that’s not very charitable. I’m sure I’d help you if your car went ping.”

***** Sybylla had been stunned when her friend Temperance Larkin had walked into the room and that she was now casually discussing cars going ping with the evil Scar. Of course she knew it meant one thing. Marlow and Asher were somewhere close by and Temperance had come in to distract him. She tried not to look at Temperance, but it was damn near impossible when she stood like David before Goliath prattling on about her car. It was both fascinating and frightening. Sybylla closed her eyes and willed herself to be calm. She needed all her strength for whatever was ahead of her. She opened her eyes and looked suddenly to her left. Although she could not see him, she knew Marlow was nearby. Sybylla could feel him. She wanted to yell for him to save her, but also scream for him to save himself. If anything happened to Charles Dalton Marlow no pain Scar could inflict on her could ever compete. “Leave, woman!” Scar bellowed once at Temperance who in turn looked like she wanted to punch him. “What is it, Scar?” Sybylla called out. She wanted his attention on her and not Temperance. The woman had guts but this was Sybylla’s fight and she did not want to see her hurt. “Not another woman upsetting you?” Scar turned from Temperance and stormed over to her and slapped Sybylla hard. “You need a good fucking to shut you up witch.” He glared at her with a hatred that would have made most people back down. But not Sybylla. She tasted the blood on her lips and the pain in her bruised face and she knew whatever it took she was going to make this man pay for all his evil. If she had to sacrifice her own life, then so be it. “Well you’ve probably got a small prick anyway so having it shrink down to the size of a prune probably won’t make a big difference to you.” She looked at him with contempt. “So, what the hell, it’s just a legend after all. Go ahead give it a try if you need to prove your manhood or lack thereof…” The pain from the gnarled fist that struck her jaw silenced her immediately. “You touch her again and I will kill you.” Marlow stood dark, lean and deadly. He glanced once at the near-naked Sybylla to make sure was alive. He returned his gaze to Scar. The look Marlow gave Scar chilled Sybylla. If looks could kill. “This has nothing to do with you, vampire.” Scar stalked over to him, furious at having been disturbed again. “It has everything to do with me. This is my woman.” 65

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Sybylla closed her eyes as Marlow spoke the words. This was the last thing she wanted Scar to know. Now he had a weapon to use against her. “Really?” Scar looked at Sybylla with interest and smiled evilly as if reading her thoughts. He turned back to Marlow and sized up this possible threat. “And who exactly are you?” “I am the man who is going to kill you.” Scar snorted in amused contempt. “You’re only a vampire.” “And you’re just a fucking ugly-assed demon that the other demons won’t play with.” He moved over to where Sybylla was imprisoned against the wall. “You know I’ve already tasted what she has between her legs.” He smiled sickening at Sybylla. She saw the muscle jump in anger in Marlow’s jaw at his words. “There is no way I would have let the likes of a small-balled prick like you take me,” Sybylla snarled in contempt. “How sad for you to be so impotent that you have to lie about sex.” Marlow’s words indicated he did not believe Scar for a moment. “Fuck off, vampire. This is none of your business.” “Oh but it is.” Marlow caught a glimpse of Asher circling behind out of eyeshot of Scar. “This woman is mine.” Sybylla locked eyes with Marlow. God she wanted to believe that. “You know what happens when a man loves a St. Michael witch.” “He kicks the ass of anyone who hurts her.” “You cannot kill me.” Marlow watched as Asher gently pushed Temperance away from him and positioned the flamethrower so it was away from Sybylla and directed solely on Scar. “Everyone has a weakness.” “This witch will be your downfall.” “And I promise I will be yours.” Asher pulled the trigger on the weapon and a violent burst of flame shot out toward the demon. Scar felt the first burst of heat on his already tortured skin and screamed in pain. If it had of been anyone else, Sybylla would have been horrified at seeing another in such agony. But this was Scar and he deserved everything he got. She knew it would not kill him but only allow them time to escape. The smell of corrupt burning flesh choked the air. She watched as Marlow pulled out a large, deadly looking knife. He slashed through the ropes that bound her quickly. Sybylla fell into his arms gratefully.

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“Thank you.” She clutched at his chest seeking the warm support he offered as his arms pulled her tight against him. “I did what I did because I love you.” Marlow moved them toward the exit. “Hopefully one day you’ll understand that.” “Ratchet help me!” Scar screamed as he slumped to the ground in flames. “I saw your rat-faced mate scarper, ugly boy,” Temperance spat out at him as she raced over to help Marlow with Sybylla. Temperance ripped off her shirt and pulled it on over Sybylla’s head to cover her. It left Temperance wearing only a shocking pink bra. “Get out!” Asher yelled as he held Scar trapped in the force of the flames. “What about you?” Marlow asked directing Sybylla and Temperance out. “I will be there in a moment. Just get them out of here.” Asher called back his eyes intent on the demon in his sights. Marlow made his way outside with Sybylla cradled against his chest and Temperance at her side. “We’ll be fine.” Temperance assured Marlow. “Go and help Ash.” The two stood silently, arms around each other as they watched Marlow go back inside to finish off what they had started. “Are you okay?” Temperance looked at her bedraggled friend. “Yep, dumb question. How could you be okay?” “I’ll be fine, Temp.” Sybylla kept her eyes glued to the door where Marlow had dashed back in. Logic told her that he and Asher would cripple Scar enough then put out the fire. But that still did not mean she would not worry about his safety. “Marlow will be okay.” “Yes.” This was all the more reason Sybylla could not have Marlow back in her life. Scar now knew about their connection. That put Marlow under direct threat. “That man of yours loves you.” “Yes.” And I love him so much it hurts. “So, Syb, what are you going to do about it?” Temperance had a vague idea of Sybylla and Marlow’s history. Neither had chosen to share the private details with her. “Whatever happened between you two can be sorted out.” “I don’t want to hurt him.” “That’s just par for the course when it comes to true love.” Temperance looked at Sybylla speculatively. “This is true love, isn’t it?” Sybylla smiled slightly at her friend and shook her head. Temperance had been trying since she met both of them to get the details on her and Marlow’s relationship. “I will tell you when I’m ready, Temp.” Sybylla knew now was not the time. Too much had happened in such a short space of time. Her head was still reeling. “Thanks for the shirt.”

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“Thank God I put on a good bra.” Temperance pulled Sybylla close to comfort her. “It’ll work out as it should, Syb.” The two women watched as their men returned. Marlow looked immediately for Sybylla. She looked so small and defenseless dressed only in Temperance’s shirt. “I’m taking you home.” “There is no need.” “Shut up, Sybylla,” Marlow muttered softly in exasperation as he grabbed her hand gently and led her away.

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Chapter Nine Sybylla stood in her kitchen and watched quietly as Marlow softly swabbed the cuts on her wrists with tea tree oil-soaked pads. His large hands were gently capable in their task. Neither of them spoke as if each was scared of breaking the silence with something the other feared to hear. His light yet firm touch was killing Sybylla. She wanted so much to throw herself into his arms once again and feel his heart beat against hers. She shivered as she remembered how good he felt up against her body. She wanted to be with him so much that she knew he could quite easily overwhelm her good sense and all the reasons she made herself stay away from him. “Are you cold?” Marlow’s eyes locked with hers. “No.” Sybylla shook her head and looked away. There was so much she wanted to say. But the words seemed to choke in her throat. “Are you scared?” Marlow’s gently cupped her face in his hand. Oh God, yes… Sybylla pulled away from him. His touch was not helping her already shattered control. She needed him badly but she wanted more than just sex. She wanted all the things she knew she had destroyed when she had destroyed him with her callous untrue words over the loss of their child. “I can do this.” She grabbed the swab and snatched at the bottle of disinfectant in his hand. “I am sure you have other things to do.” “Witch, heal thyself?” “Something like that.” “About yesterday…” “We had sex.” Sybylla interrupted before he could say more. She remembered only too well what it had felt like to be with him. Marlow laughed lightly and shook his head at Sybylla. “You are a pain in the ass.” “Well so are you, Marlow.” Was this what it came down to? Name-calling? “So I am back to being Marlow, am I?” He leaned back against the countertop and scrutinized her. “I’m Charlie when all I’m hot and tight inside you and you are screaming as you come, but when it comes to anything that scares you, I am back to being Marlow.” He reached forward and grasped her hand in his. “You are such a liar, Sybylla St. Michael. You talk about truth but you are not honest in what you feel.” “I am a realist.” Only Marlow could make a simple hand caress sensual. Any pain she felt in her wrists and face seemed to have disappeared. She swallowed hard and

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looked into his eyes. They were eyes that had seen much and knew more than he would ever let on. “I knew it was nothing more than sex and you do not have to have to worry about me getting any illusions.” Her illusions had been shattered years ago. “It was more than sex and you know it.” Marlow looked at her knowingly. “Has there ever been anyone else but me? Do you crave that taste of another as I crave you?” No and there never will be another like you. Sybylla dabbed at her wrists trying to act calm and in control—everything she wasn’t. She was one massive ache—her face, her wrists and her heart. “Cravings are not always good. Look at all the people who smoke and have lung cancer or those who have weight issues and drop dead of a heart attack.” Even as she said the words Sybylla knew she was going off on some weird tangent and the tender smile Marlow gave her wasn’t helping. “My point is these people lost control at some point in their lives all because of cravings.” “Are you going to talk crap all evening, Sybylla?” “Possibly.” I don’t frigging know. I never know what I’m doing when I’m around you. “You’ve been through a lot.” “I let my guard down.” With both you and Scar. “You don’t have to be Superwitch all the time.” His hand slid gently along her arm. “Don’t I?” Sometimes it felt to Sybylla she had been a witch longer than she had been a woman. Did she even know how to be a woman? She looked at the hot sexy man beside her. Oh yeah, I remember. “I know letting your guard down with me scares you.” “I…ah…” Sybylla stammered trying to find the words to make herself sound less vulnerable. “Scar will come after me.” That was one answer. Think of a bigger problem than Charles Dalton Marlow being sweet and caring and wanting nothing more than to help her. “I know, but we will be ready for him.” Marlow watched her eyes widen in surprise. “You did not think I would let you handle him alone did you?” Sybylla was both grateful and worried. Grateful that she was not alone and worried that allowing this man back into her life would cause her great heartache. The reason she pushed him away was so he would not get involved and that he would not get hurt. And yet here he was being all dependable and loving. And everything I want him to be. “I have always sorted out my own problems.” It was hard to be reliant on someone when she had never had the luxury of it before. Could she trust herself enough to let go again with this man? “Sybylla, your problems are my problems.” Marlow moved in close to her and looked into her eyes. “We are good together and you know it.” Sybylla knew that with every fiber of her being. She put her hands to her face and tried to think of the most rational thing to do, but only the thing she needed to do most came to mind. She needed to tell him the truth. 70

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“Oh, Charlie,” Sybylla murmured with a tired sigh. She knew she could no longer lie and hold him at arm’s length. It was impossible to do when she loved him so much. Sybylla looked at him and swallowed hard. “We have to talk abut the baby.” She had needed to talk about the loss of their child with Marlow. But she had kept it inside her not wanting to burden or sadden others. But she had to let it out if she wanted to move on. Marlow shook his head as if that was the last subject her wanted to pursue. “Do we? I thought you had sorted that out all by yourself.” Marlow could not hide the trace of bitterness in his voice. “If you did not want my child, Sybylla, you only had to say.” Sybylla bit her lip. She had wanted his child badly. The minute she felt the life force stirring within her she wanted to run to him and tell him. But it did not matter now. He would not believe anything she said and Sybylla could not blame him. She had handled the whole thing badly. “You should go.” Before I start crying. Marlow saw the tears in her eyes. He gently traced one that spilled over onto her cheek. “Did you kill our child, Sybylla?” “Does it matter now?” Sybylla tried to push away from Marlow. She needed him gone. She had to collect herself and work out how to deal with Scar. “You thought the worst of me so let’s leave it at that.” Marlow grabbed her shoulders and held fast to her. “Yes, it damn well does matter.” “No,” Sybylla responded softly, the tears running unchecked down her face. “I miscarried before I had a chance to tell you, Charlie.” “Oh no,” he murmured sadly as the pieces all fell together. “Why did you make me believe you had?” Marlow cupped her face in his hand, his eyes soft and loving on hers. “It’s complicated.” “Everything in my life is, Sybylla.” “I did not want you hurt.” “Oh, darling, I get it now. I should have worked it out before but I was so hurt. What a fool I have been.” Marlow pulled her into his arms and held her close. “Is this because of what happened to your family?” Sybylla held on tightly to the man she loved. Nothing felt as good as being in his arms. “You are my greatest weakness, Charlie. I do not want to be yours.” She looked up at him. “I do not want you hurt because of me.” “You cannot hurt a vampire.” “You know that is not true.” Every living thing was vulnerable to something.

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“I love you so much I went crazy thinking about you when we were apart.” Marlow kissed her bruised face softly. “Did you think of me, Sybylla?” “Only every other thought, Charlie. I was so lonely without you.” Sybylla returned his kisses hungrily. She had missed the taste of him on her lips. “Every time I walked past the lavender garden I thought of you. Do you know close I came to ripping it up?” Marlow laughed at her words as if they were exactly what he wanted to hear. “And do you love me, Sybylla?” The need in his eyes matched the need in her heart. “I never stopped loving you, Charlie.” “You know that I would walk through the flames of hell for you.” Sybylla shook her head sadly and placed her hands against his chest feeling the strong heartbeat within. “And that’s the problem. I don’t want you hurt because of me.” That would kill her. “If Scar comes after you…” Sybylla stopped and choked as she thought of it. “I will deal with it.” Marlow massaged her tense shoulders gently. “But, Charlie…” Sybylla’s words were stopped as his mouth descended on hers. “I only care about you,” Marlow said as he broke off the kiss. Sybylla dropped her forehead to rest on his chest. “I was devastated after I lost the baby.” “I was horrible to you.” Marlow tipped her face up to his. “You did not know.” “The thing is, I should have known. I know you, how you think and how you feel.” “Yes, you do.” Sybylla pulled Temperance’s shirt over her head and she pulled down her panties leaving herself a naked in the eyes of the man she loved. “I need you, Charlie.” She only had herself to give and she wanted to give him everything. She placed her hand in his. “You’re hurt.” Marlow kissed the red welts on her wrist. “I don’t want to hurt you further.” “You never could.” And at that moment Sybylla knew whatever happened she would never have this man leave her life again. Come what may they would either endure or fall together. “Come shower with me and wash away my hurt.” Marlow picked her up in his arms and carried her through to the bathroom where he gently placed her down on the floor. He quickly removed his clothes and looked at her with longing. Sybylla slid open the door of her clear glass shower cubicle and reached out for Marlow who happily took her hand and followed her inside. She turned on the taps and let the water gently run down over her body. She reached for the soap. “Let me,” Marlow insisted gently as he took the soap from her hand and began lathering up his own hands. 72

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Sybylla turned to face him. How she loved this man. So gentle, so caring, so sexy and all man as he stood before her—tall, broad-shouldered and with a wonderfully hard cock begging for her attention. Sybylla reached out to touch it. Marlow gently pushed her hand away. “As much as I want you to touch me, my darling, this is about you.” Sybylla felt the tears sting at her eyes. No one had ever cared about her before this man. She spent her life caring for others and it was wonderful to give herself over to someone who loved and cared about her. “I love you, Charlie.” She willingly gave herself over to the sensual feel of Marlow’s touch as he started to slide soothing slippery hands over the tense muscles of her shoulders. Her body ached for his touch—her breasts and her pussy tightened in anticipation. “Thank you, Sybylla, for loving me. It means everything to me.” Marlow leaned forward and kissed her lips softly. “And to me.” Making this man happy was the most important thing in the world to Sybylla. She loved everything about him. His strength, his smile and the cock that was thrumming eagerly against her stomach. Marlow’s hands slid down to her battered wrists. He kissed the torn flesh gently. “I will kill Scar if he touches you again.” Marlow looked angrily at the welts on her wrists as he touched her bruised face gently. “Forget about him. Tonight is just about us, Charlie.” Sybylla sighed in soft satisfaction as his hands went to her breasts. She closed her eyes and gave into the feeling. “I want you to suck me, Charlie.” Her nipples craved the feel of his lips and tongue. “And I want to but not yet, darling.” Marlow grinned softly at the look of longing in Sybylla’s eyes. “I need to do this first.” Marlow dropped to his knees and looked up at Sybylla. She gasped with delight as his hands parted her thighs and gently slid into the folds between her legs. Sybylla grabbed at Marlow’s shoulders and thrust her body forward as he slowly started massaging her clit with soapy hands. “Do you like that, Sybylla?” Marlow crooned huskily as he felt her thighs tremble with excitement. “I love it so much I may just fall down if you keep doing it.” Fall down on top of him and make love to him until neither had the breath to speak. “That would be a shame because you would miss out on my doing this.” Marlow leaned forward and licked her clit. He smiled as Sybylla screamed. “So do you want to fall down or do you would like me to lick you until you come?” He licked her clit again and clutched the cheeks of her ass to pull her close to his mouth.

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“Lick…please lick,” pleaded Sybylla desperately as she closed her eyes and gave into the feeling as he tongued her clit repeatedly. Her legs were wobbly but the promise of an orgasm beat falling down any day. Marlow looked up at her. “Open your eyes, darling.” He looked into her eyes. “Do you want my tongue inside you?” “Yes.” “Will you come with my tongue inside you?” “Oh God yes.” Sybylla was on the verge of coming just by his words and the look in his eyes. “But I want your cock as well.” Sybylla could not let all that contained power go to waste. She was greedy for this man. “You shall have it but not just yet.” Marlow slid his tongue inside her vagina and began thrusting in and out while his fingers continued massaging her clit. Sybylla held on tight to Marlow’s shoulders and panted at the rhythm of his tongue and fingers. She could feel the orgasm building up and no power of earth could stop it. “Oh, Charlie,” she moaned as the first wave of pleasure ripped through her body. She pushed her pussy into his face wanting more and more. Marlow was happy to oblige. He kept up the pace until Sybylla screamed and collapsed over his shoulder worn out from pleasure. He grasped her firmly to him and slowly stood. “I take it you enjoyed that, darling.” Marlow chuckled at the satisfied sigh that escaped her mouth as he kneaded her ass then carried her out of the shower over his shoulder. “You take it correctly and you can take me any time, Charlie boy.” Sybylla stood on wobbly feet as Marlow placed her on the ground and gently started to towel them both dry. She looked down at his cock. It was enormous. She knew it had to be killing him but she admired his self-control. She reached out again to touch. “No, you need to sleep.” Marlow said pushing her hand away as he dropped the towels and gently guided her to the bedroom. Once there they collapsed on the bed in each other’s arms, safe, happy and complete. “Oh this is heaven.” Sybylla snuggled against the warm wall of Marlow’s flesh. “I am so tired.” “Just sleep, darling. You are safe.” Marlow kissed her temple tenderly as he lay on his side and cradled her in his arms. Sybylla reached down for his cock, her hand encircling it. “I want you.” “No, you need to sleep.” Marlow place soft kisses on her forehead and nose. “You have been through a lot.”

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“Yes, we both have but I want to fall asleep with you inside me and I want to wake up with you inside me.” Sybylla put her fingers to Marlow’s lips to still any protest. “I love that you care about me but I need to feel you as part of me once more. I crave it, Charlie.” “Are you sure?” “If you don’t slide on in me now I will scream.” Sybylla lifted her leg over his hip so his cock was poised at the entrance of her body. “I can’t have you screaming unless it is as you come,” Marlow murmured as he pulled her closer and began sliding slowly inside her. “You are heaven to me, Sybylla.” It was not until every glorious inch of Marlow’s cock was inside her that Sybylla felt truly relaxed. The solid heat between her legs made her feel complete. She put her lips to his as they kissed deep and lingeringly as if savoring the taste of each other as he began to thrust slowly inside her. When she came it was a different kind of coming. It was not wild and fierce. It was more one of two people who needed each other for so many reasons than just lust. It was true, deep, overwhelming love that was meant to be. “I want this to work between us, Sybylla. Whatever happens we face it together.” Marlow place soft kisses against her lips. “I need you and I love you. Can you do forever with me?” His voice was full of quiet hope. Forever. It sounded perfect. Sybylla looked into his eyes and knew there was only one answer she could give. “Yes, Charlie.” “Thank you.” Marlow kissed her deeply, as they nestled close together. “Sweet dreams, darling.”

***** “I want to change, Sybylla,” Marlow said as he lay curled beside her on the bed, their legs and arms entangled and his cock twitching with renewed vigor inside her. “You don’t have to change for me, Charlie.” She kissed his lips softly. I love you the way you are.” Sybylla’d had the best sleep. There was something about lying in the arms of the one that she loved, feeling his heart beat against hers that made her feel safe and relaxed. “I want to live a full life with you. I don’t just want to come to you at night.” Marlow twisted a silky strand of her hair around his finger. “I don’t want to live forever. I just want to live with you. I need to change.” Sybylla looked at him with hope in her eyes. It was what she wanted but she did not want to push Marlow into doing something he was not ready for. “I thought you believed you did not deserve more and that fate had cursed you for a reason.” While Sybylla believed in fate, she did not believe people had to be controlled by it.

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“I am no more worthy of that than I was yesterday, but I want to be with you.” Marlow’s eyes locked with hers. “I envy what Asher has with Temperance. I want that with you.” Changing from vampire back to mortal being could be done. Asher was living proof of it, but it was not easy. “It is hard work, Charlie.” Yet Sybylla knew he could do it. “You were hard work, Ms. St. Michael.” Marlow grinned at her and ran his hand caressingly down her hip. “You had me when you first smiled at me.” “Really?” Marlow’s eyes softened with love on hers. “I would have given you anything.” “You gave me yourself and that was the best gift anyone has ever given me.” Marlow rolled Sybylla on top of him so she straddled his hips. “Are you serious? Do you want to change for me or yourself?” A wild feeling of hope beat within her. However she knew he had to change willingly or not at all. “I want to be a better man for you and I want to feel normal again.” “Whatever it takes I will do it, Sybylla.” She leaned forward and cradled Marlow’s face in her hands. “I love you, Charlie Marlow.” “And I adore you, my darling.” Sybylla felt his cock harden with a jerk. “Again?” The man had stamina to burn and she loved every hard hot inch of his stamina. “And again and again.” Marlow grabbed her hips and smiled at her wickedly. “Ride me, witch.” “With pleasure.” Sybylla pulled off from his hard cock and removed the used condom. She reached into her nightstand drawer and pulled out a fresh one. She liked rolling the thin latex over the straining muscle. It was fascinating to her how so little rubber could expand to hold so much cock. Once it was on she sank back down on it with a sigh. “I’ve missed this.” She began grinding her body up and down against his. “I see, you only want me for my cock,” Marlow growled in satisfaction. “That was my fiendish plan all along. Do you have a problem with that?” Sybylla’s smile was smugly content. She increased her pace. She had the heat and the fullness. All she needed was more friction. She smiled as Marlow’s hands caressed her breasts. “So this is a case of love me, love my cock? I can live with that.” Marlow watched as Sybylla’s breasts jiggled as she rode him hard. “I love it when you bounce up and down like that.”

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“I aim to please, Charlie boy.” Sybylla grinned at him as she leaned down and kissed him. She placed her hands on either side of his head and began rubbing her breasts back and forth against his chest. She had almost forgotten her ordeal with Scar. Marlow slid a finger into her anus and slid it in and out in time with her body as it moved against his. “Oh, Charlie,” Sybylla gasped as he slid another finger inside. She loved the full feeling of his fingers and his cock inside her. “Come for me, Sybylla,” Marlow growled as he pumped hard inside her. “Come with me, Charlie,” Sybylla asserted huskily as she ground herself down on him and moved hard and fast needing them to both come at the same time. Marlow shouted aloud in release and Sybylla groaned and collapsed on top of him. “Was there any other woman when we were apart?” Sybylla needed to know. He was a man. It was logical he would crave sex and she wanted to be logical and rational about a bodily function, but as far as her heart was concerned Marlow was hers as she was his and that was that and she really did not want to have to tear the eyes out of some innocent woman. “No, there were many to choose from but no one compared with you, Sybylla.” Marlow held her tight in his arms. “I never stopped wanting you.” “And now you have me for life, Charlie.” Sybylla snuggled against his chest listening to his heartbeat. “I am given.”

***** “Fucking Witch!” Scar swore as he punched his hand into the dingy hotel room wall leaving a bloody stain. He and Ratchet had commandeered the room by throwing the previous tenant down the stairwell. They needed a place to hole up as Scar was badly burned after the attack with the flamethrower. His body was a mass of peeling bloody skin. “Who were those men?” Ratchet looked at other demon’s festering face and tried not to show distaste. He would follow Scar as long as it suited him but that did not mean he had to like him or feel sympathy for him. “I recognized the one with the white hair. His name is Asher Marriott. He is a cop and a vampire. He took on Madigan Ap Lyr.” Scar thought about the dark-haired vampire who saved the witch. He was the same man they had seen balling her. “The other—I am not sure who he is but it matters little as I plan to kill all of them.” “You know the legend of the St. Michael witches. They only allow those they love to take them.” Ratchet looked him significantly. “So?” Scar was in so much pain he could barely concentrate. ‘The witch loves him.” “Get to the point, ratboy!”

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Scar was not immortal. He could be killed by the right weapon. Fire was effective in stopping him momentarily but it would not kill him. There was only one way to kill a demon and Scar wasn’t about to cross the threshold of a church on a moonlit night and be the notch on a belt for any demon hunter who knew the right sequence of ancient words to say. Ratchet looked at the ugly man before him. For one who was so powerful he was not particularly smart. “That vampire is her weakness.” Scar looked at him thoughtfully. Of course he was right. Scar now remembered the look of despair in the witch’s eyes when the vampire had declared her to be his woman. He hated it that this lower-class demon had to point that out to him. If he did not need Ratchet just now he would kill him just to make himself feel better. “You are a nasty little man but you have a point.” Scar snatched up a nearby towel and wrapped it around his hand to stem the bleeding. “We go after her lover to get to her.” “She will try to save him like the lovesick woman that she is and then you will have her.” “And I’m going to fuck her until she screams for mercy and then I’ll burn her inch by inch so she understands exactly what it feels like.” Scar’s mouth stretched into an ugly pretense of a smile. “Then I will be the top demon again.” “Excellent plan, sire.” Ratchet nodded obsequiously. Scar walked toward the other demon. There was no way he could trust him. Demons were an untrustworthy lot. He wondered just what Ratchet believed he could gain from his association with him. “Tell me Ratchet where were you when I was burning up?” Ratchet pondered what to say. “I knew it was pointless for both of us to burn. One of had to remain strong to help the other.” Scar chuckled without mirth. “You are full of shit, ratboy.” He slammed Ratchet across the room with one swing. He smiled as he watched the demon slide down the wall and collapse in pain. “Do not let your ambition be your undoing.”

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Chapter Ten Marlow watched tiredly as Sybylla efficiently dealt with the bullet wound in the shoulder of the werewolf sitting at her table. Nothing seemed to faze her. In the last week all manner of creatures had come to her door seeking aid. Marlow had just sat and shivered and wondered how he was so lucky to have found someone like Sybylla. She flinched at nothing. The naked, hairy werewolf had trailed blood through her kitchen and collapsed at her feet and Sybylla had gently helped him into a chair and given him something for the pain then dug the bullet out. She had no medical degree. She had only the centuries of stored knowledge of the St. Michael witches embodied within her. Marlow closed his eyes and willed himself stronger. Sybylla was not wrong. Changing his lifestyle was damned hard. In the daytime he shivered and sweated like an old man as the daylight touched his skin. He did not burn up as the vampires did in the movies but he felt a weakness that was akin to having what he remembered as influenza. His bones ached, his body shook and he just wanted to sleep. But he fought it as he knew he had to get into the routine of a normal, human being—sleeping at night and awake during the day. As a vampire, Marlow’s regular pattern had been to find somewhere dark and quiet and sleep away the day if he could. Even that had always been hard as he had no home. Suddenly now he had a home and the last thing he wanted to do was waste time sleeping when he could spend time just being with Sybylla. Only as the sun set did Marlow feel stronger. As for his craving for blood, he was like a junkie going through withdrawal. It had been so long since he had eaten real food. The smell of it made him sick yet Sybylla had insisted he eat small portions to keep up his strength. “Are you okay, Charlie?” Sybylla asked glancing over at him in concern as she bandaged the werewolf’s shoulder firmly. “I wish I could help you.” Marlow felt as weak as a kitten. That Sybylla cared for him as she did touched him deeply. He wanted to be strong for her and yet here he was being all pathetic. “I love you, Charlie, and you will be as strong as you always were very soon,” Sybylla told him as if reading his thoughts. “As for you, Damon,” she said looking at the werewolf, “you have to be more careful where and when you decide to shift into being a wolf. Doing it and then running off into a hen house to sniff the chickens is just asking for trouble. You are smarter than that.” Marlow shook his head in amusement as he watched the powerful-looking werewolf nod meekly at Sybylla’s gentle scold. She was one hell of a woman. Caring, loving and ready to kick ass if she had to. This was the woman he wanted to spend his

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life with. It would have been a pipe dream six months ago, but now he wanted the dream to be a reality. “Thank you, Sybylla.” The werewolf stood and pulled on the clothes that Sybylla had found for him. “I’ll be okay to get home now.” “Just be careful.” She helped him to the door. “Come and see me tomorrow and I will check the wound.” She turned and looked at Marlow. “Strip, Charlie boy.”

***** Sybylla, fully clothed, straddled Marlow’s butt as he lay facedown naked on her bed. She ran her hands soothingly over the hard planes of Marlow’s back. She could feel the tension in his muscles as she massaged the knots beneath. The first couple of days had been hard on him. The chills that racked his body as sunlight touched it were to be expected. Sybylla had seen it in her treatment with Asher. But she did not like to see anyone in pain especially the man she loved. In the dim candlelight that glowed in her darkened bedroom, she could see the tension start to disappear from his eyes. “That feels so good,” Marlow groaned as he gave himself up to Sybylla’s ministrations. Sybylla smiled. Touching him did feel good. Bloody good. In the last week she had watched him suffer much as the withdrawal from craving blood hit him hard. She needed to touch him as much as she needed to relax him. They had not made love in a week due to Marlow’s condition. The healer in her understood. The woman in her was as horny as hell. But she could be patient as all this treatment was a means to an end. It would free Marlow from the life he had been cursed into. Sybylla moved her hands down to his ass and started to knead the firm flesh sensuously. She could feel the wetness between her legs. God how she wanted him. Sybylla leaned forward and started slowly to rub the mound of her pussy against his ass. Even through the thin layer of her panties the feeling was delicious. “Did you do this for Asher?” The note of jealousy in Marlow’s voice was hard to miss. He turned his head slightly toward her so he could look her in her eyes. “Of course. Any time I get to straddle and touch a gorgeous man, I do.” “Liar.” Marlow smiled wryly at her. “You know it’s only ever been you.” “I know,” he replied smugly confident in that fact. Sybylla slapped his ass. She was sure it was totally against every rule in many feminist doctrines but she liked the possessive tone in his voice. It made her feel wanted and loved and protected. “Are you enjoying yourself there?” Marlow growled lightly as he felt her move slowly back on forth on him. “Oh yes, Charlie.” Rubbing any part of her body against this man was going to create a spark. 80

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“I can’t believe I am going to say this but I am still too tired for sex.” Bugger, thought the woman. “That’s okay,” said Sybylla the healer. She was not desperate—yet. “Turn over.” As he rested on his back it was impossible not to notice his club-like cock erect against his stomach. She looked at the tightly stretched cock and then at the man. She licked her lips hungrily. Hmm maybe… “I said I was tired, darling. I did not say I was incapable.” “Just relax.” Sybylla slid her hands up to his collarbone and slowly started to massage her way down his body from his pecs to his biceps and his rock-hard abs. Her aim was to soothe him. How she was going to soothe herself after this was beyond her at that moment. Sybylla bypassed Marlow’s cock. There was only one thing that would relax that and she did not want to take advantage of him in his weakened state. Being noble sucked, especially when there were more interesting things to suck and lick and kiss…get off the man, get off the bed. “You should sleep.” Sybylla sprang from the bed before she did something she shouldn’t. Marlow turned on his side and watched her. “Take your clothes off and come to bed with me, Sybylla darling.” He patted the empty place beside him. God that sounded good. Sybylla cleared her throat and tried not to get caught in the sexy smile and knowing look in Marlow’s eyes but that was like breathing—it just happened naturally. She wanted him. He knew it. It was beautifully simple but the timing was wrong. The man was ill. “It’s the middle of the day.” Yeah like that made a difference. “So?” Marlow ran his hand slowly back and forth along his rigid cock, his eyes locked on hers. Sybylla gulped hard. There was something incredibly erotic in watching him touch himself like that. “People need me.” “I need you and you need me. Think of yourself for once, Sybylla.” “I…” Sybylla stopped short forgetting what she was going to say as she watched Marlow curl his hand around his cock and began tugging back and forward in it. Her thighs began to sweat just watching him. He wouldn’t come without her, would he? That would be so wrong. “Come on, darling. The doors are locked you have done enough ministering to others today.” He started to pull harder on his cock. “Give yourself a break. Please.” Just the soft, low way he said “please’” and the look in his eyes made her heart flip over.

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“Get your hand off your cock, Charlie boy. That is all mine.” Sybylla started to strip off her clothes quickly. As soon as she was naked she crawled into bed and plastered herself against him. “Turn over,” Marlow ran a caressing hand down her hip. “But I want you to fuck me.” Just hearing the words from her own mouth make her hotter. Marlow chuckled loudly at her hot desperate words. “Oh trust me, I plan on fucking you, darling. Just turn over.” Sybylla turned with her back facing him. She felt Marlow move in tight behind her, his cock butting up against her ass impatiently. He slid one hand around to caress her breasts while the other one delved between her legs. “You are always so beautifully wet.” “You always make me so,” Sybylla liked the way this felt. She pulled one leg forward to allow him easy access to her clit. “And how do I do that?” Marlow’s fingers gently massaged the sensitive pressure point between her legs. “Just by the look in your eye, the touch of your hand…ah, especially when you do that.” “I believe I have my second wind.” Marlow rubbed his cock up and down the cleft of her ass. Oh yes… “I though you were too tired for sex?” The man at her back felt anything but tired as his hands roamed her body. “Saying and doing are two different things.” Marlow kissed her shoulders and nipped lightly with his teeth. “Do you want me, darling?” The man was in withdrawal. She should not tax his strength. It would be wrong yet so incredibly right. “You know I do but…” “No buts except the delicious one I am going to fuck now.” Marlow slid into Sybylla from behind. It was slow and full and they lay like that for a couple of moments just feeling, experiencing once again what it was to be a part of each other. “Oh, Charlie…” Sybylla whimpered as he began thrusting into her in a slow heavy way. It was so incredibly arousing. She opened her legs wider so he had complete access. It was a slow, soft fuck and she never wanted it to end. “Damn, someone is outside.” Marlow hissed in annoyance as he pushed in and out of her body lazily. He did not want to stop. “What…no! I want to come!” As much as Sybylla liked helping people in need at this moment her need to come was much greater than anyone else’s need. She knew she

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should have been looking for her spear for protection against the unknown intruder but there was only one spear she was interest in at that moment. “I don’t want to stop.” “Oh I am not stopping and you will come screaming. I can easily ignore whoever that is out there to make sure my darling comes.” Marlow increased the pressure of his thrusts. “I am not going to scream if someone is outside listening.” That just seemed wrong and potentially embarrassing. How the hell could she look whoever it was in the eyes afterward? It would not take a genius to work out what they had been doing in the bedroom. “We should stop.” That was a weak sounding suggestion even to Sybylla’s ears. “No, I insist on making you scream as you come.” Marlow’s cock started to pound harder and faster inside her and the familiar wild, itching sensation started to over take her body. To scream or not to scream? When his fingers slid into her vagina and began mirroring what was happening to her ass, Sybylla shrieked out loud in pleasure. “You are so bad, Charlie,” Sybylla panted as wave after wave of pleasure shot through her body from her head to her toes. She screamed as Marlow’s last thrust pushed her over the edge and they came together. Sybylla caught her breath and turned to look at her lover. “How am I going to face him?” “Who?” Marlow pulled his cock out from within her and rolled over onto his back. His hand reached out to pull Sybylla close. She pulled away from him. As much as she wanted to enjoy that particular ride with Marlow again she would not be able to concentrate on enjoying herself knowing someone was outside listening. “It’s Asher.” “I am pretty sure Asher has had sex.” Marlow put his hands behind his head and looked at her with the ease of a satisfied man. “Anyway how do you know it’s him? Your sixth sense?” “No you totally screw up my sixth sense when you’re near me.” “Not the only thing I screw.” She slapped him on the chest and smiled cynically at him. “No it’s common sense that it’s Asher, as only he has a key.” There had been no sound of forced entry. “And Asher can cross the crystal barrier.” Since the attack by Scar, Sybylla had set the crystals into the ground with a spell that would not allow them to be moved unless she chose to remove them. Only the pure of heart could cross without harm. Anyone else was instantly repelled. “I crossed over the crystals.” “You are a bad boy, Charlie, but you were never evil.” Sybylla got out of bed and started to dress. She did not want to leave him but Marlow was tired. If she stayed in 83

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bed with him he would get a whole lot more tired. While she loved the fact that he had just exerted himself for her, Sybylla knew he had to rest. “I will go and speak to Ash.” Maybe he did not hear. Yeah right. “Ignore him and come back to bed with me.” When Marlow looked at her like he had many wicked, delightful plans for her she wanted to do just that.” “Renew your strength, Charlie boy. I have plans for you and you are going to need it.”

***** “How long have you been here?” Sybylla tried to look casual but she felt awkward and she knew her face was red—which was crazy. Both she and Asher were adults. Sex was nothing to be ashamed about. It just felt weird talking to him knowing he had to have heard her screaming in release as the orgasm hit her. The inside of her thighs still tingled with sensation. “Long enough,” Asher murmured as he grinned at her significantly. “Having a honeymoon?” He picked up her spear and twirled it around like a baton. “Something like that.” Sybylla looked around for something to busy her hands with but her kitchen was spotless. “Marlow’s pretty weakened.” “I bet he is, Syb.” Asher chuckled at her words. “You know what I mean.” Sybylla started to giggle despite herself. “Yeah I do.” Asher had been through the same withdrawal process. “He will be weak for a while.” He looked at her with interest. “Why do you still call him Marlow? I know he’s Charlie to you.” “I don’t know. I think it’s just all so new to me and…” Sybylla tried to find the right words to describe how she felt. “You know I think in some ways you are still trying to hold your love for him at arm’s length.” Asher knew he was right by the look on her face. “I think you are still scared of what could happen to Marlow.” “I am worried. What if Scar attacks him now because of his association to me?” Sybylla was only aware how weakened Marlow’s defenses were. “We will handle Scar.” Asher voice was adamant on this. “This is no longer you against him, Syb. He has taken all of us on.” Sybylla felt a lump in her throat at his words. She knew she was blessed to have such friendship in her life. “Thank you, Ash.” She reached out and grasped hands. “Sybylla St. Michael, the day I met you my life changed forever.” Ash held firmly to her hands. “I would do anything for you. And I know Charles Dalton Marlow would kick the gates of hell down to save you.”

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“Hopefully it will not come to that.” Even as Sybylla said it she could almost imagine Marlow kicking the gates in and smacking the devil around to get justice. “I know how to get rid of Scar for good.” She had been reading through centuries-old texts that the St. Michael witches had preserved trying to find anything she could use against Scar. One text dated 1772 and written in Latin held the answer. “So how do we kill the bastard?” Asher was a cop. He followed the laws of society. However a demon like Scar had no place in society so the rules did not apply. “It requires a full moon and a church.” Sybylla saw Asher’s eyebrows rise in surprise. She knew he had been expecting something more lethal. But that was the problem. Sometimes the unexpected worked better. “The next full moon is in a couple of days then none for a month. We may have a problem finding a church. I suspect not many churches are going to be happy to have a demon killed on their threshold.” “Whatever it takes, Syb, we will get him with the next full moon.” “Yes,” Sybylla responded. She did not want this to drag on any longer than necessary. She wanted to start her life with Marlow. “Whatever it takes.” “What does Scar want most of all?” Asher looked at Sybylla significantly. “Me.” “Then let’s give the demon what he wants.”

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Chapter Eleven Sybylla gasped when she saw Scar’s ugly face under the harsh lighting of the night markets. Although she knew she would see him this evening it was still a shock to see his festering visage looking so threateningly into hers. If he had been a pleasant-natured person the scars on his face would not have mattered, as scars do not define a person— their nature does. Scar’s nature was pure evil and the scarring only accentuated that fact. She wanted to grab her spear and run him through but that was not the plan. “As you can see I am not dead, witch,” Scar hissed the words out hoarsely as he stared down at her with a look of intense loathing. “That’s a damn shame, Scar,” Sybylla said coolly as she started to raise her hands above her head to begin a spell to get rid of him. “Are you sure you want to be doing that in a crowded marketplace, witch?” The markets were full of the normal crowd of people shopping, looking and chatting. No one cared other than a select few who were watching this moment between Sybylla and Scar. “I don’t think anyone will give a rat’s ass if you disintegrate in front of their eyes, you malicious bastard.” Sybylla’s voice was overly sweet but her eyes were hard on his. “Maybe not you freaky-eyed bitch but I am sure you don’t want your vampire lover killed in front of you.” Scar smiled evilly. “Ratchet!” he called out, and his henchman appeared with a knife at Marlow’s chest. Sybylla stiffened in alarm. She knew she had to remain calm and in control despite the fear that ran through her veins like wildfire. She looked into Marlow’s eyes and she knew the struggle he was having not reacting to the man who held the knife at his heart. Despite fanciful legend, any form of stake, be it metal or wood, to a vampire’s heart would kill him. Sybylla was well aware that Marlow could have broken in two the neck of the weasel-like man at his side, quite easily. But that was not the plan. Stick to the plan. “So killing me will make you happy, Scar?” Her voice was low and yet firm. “Eventually yes but I have another plan for you.” It was the plan that came to him while he was tracking her down and preparing to kill her when he had heard about the rumors of his demise at her hands. This plan would ensure he could torture and fuck her for life. “Killing you would be far too easy. I want you to suffer as you have made me suffer.” “If you have suffered it is due to your own evil nature.” Sybylla, although a healer by nature, felt nothing for any pain he may have endured. He had killed her family and it was not something she would ever forget.

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Scar smiled at her words. He looked at her lover. The knife glinted under the streetlight. “I will not kill him if you come with me now.” He watched her eyebrows lift suspiciously at his words. “I will not kill him if you agree to marry me.” Sybylla knew if she looked shocked it was just a case of pretending to be so. She had seen this coming in a premonition she’d had several hours ago. Normally her premonitions were not about herself. This one had been more about Scar. Therefore she was not surprised at his demand. However she knew Marlow and Asher would be. She relied on the common sense of Temperance Larkin, with whom she discussed the premonition, to explain it and their alternative plan to both men later. Sybylla had no intention of tying herself to a man who hated her with a passion. Scar wanted her dead. But this plan of going along with marrying Scar would work out better than they all had hoped. Marriage meant a church and crossing a threshold. She hoped that both Marlow and Asher were thinking the exact same thing as they listened in. Marlow was. While he understood this change of direction would help them he did not like it however there was little option but to go along with it. “No!” Marlow howled in an anger he did not have to feign. “Don’t do it, Sybylla. I would rather die that let you go with him.” He knew she would do it as Sybylla never flinched at change or danger. “I must, Charlie.” Sybylla knew by the look in his eyes he understood this change of plan would work better for them. “Why?” Marlow knew why and he hated every second of it. He wanted to snap the neck of the asshole who held him and pull Sybylla away from Scar. But he knew he couldn’t. “I do it because I love you and you must live.” No matter what happened this one fact would always remain true. “I can’t live without you.” Marlow’s eyes burned into hers as he spoke these words in a quiet yet passionate tone. He had no life without Sybylla. “For me, you can.” Scar grabbed Sybylla by the arms and pulled her out from behind the stall. “Well it’s is all very touching, but do you come with me, witch, or do you watch me have your vampire lover killed?” Sybylla detested people who spat but for one moment she could understand the need to spit in his ugly face. He was detestable. “I’ll go with you, Scar.” She saw Marlow’s mouth tighten. She knew he had hoped for one moment she would give up the plan and try to kill him then and there, with Marlow joining in. “Get your sad-assed flunkey to drop the knife.” “Don’t do this, Sybylla,” Marlow called out his voice full of an anguish he did not have to fake. He did not want her to go with that monster. He wanted her back in his arms.

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“I love you, Charlie,” Sybylla affirmed softly as she tried not to flinch at the pinching hold Scar had on her arm. “How you two carry on,” Scar spat out disgusted. “It’s fucking sickening.” “If you sicken and die that suits me,” Sybylla snapped at him as she took one more glance at Marlow before Scar dragged her away. One more night, Charlie, and we’ll be free.

***** “I hated having that small-balled henchman of his take me so easily.” Marlow snapped out angrily. The original plan was staged so Scar was able easily to take Sybylla at the night markets. Then they would follow him to wherever he held her and then drag him kicking and screaming to a church. They made sure a rumor had been circulated by Sybylla’s faithful clients that Scar was dead and that once again a witch had beaten him. Marlow and Sybylla knew that Scar would hear the rumor and he would become so enraged that he would come out into the open and hunt her down personally. So they had made it easy for him. They had made sure Sybylla was at the night markets at her usual spot ready and waiting for Scar to approach her. Marlow had to swallow his pride and let Ratchet capture him and use him like bait. “I’m not happy about this, brother.” Marlow looked at Asher and Temperance for some reassurance. “That devil’s spawn hates Sybylla. We cannot guarantee her safety.” “I know Marlow but this is the only chance we are going to have until the next full moon to get Scar.” Asher pulled Temperance closer to his side as if wanting to reassure himself she was safe. “We needed to utilize the fact that that Scar hates Sybylla and would be pissed off enough about the rumors to rush in without thinking of further consequences.” “He seems to hold the upper hand at the moment.” Marlow’s face looked grim. Although this new development of Scar demanding to marry Sybylla had even more chance of succeeding than their original plan, it did not mean he had to like it. “I wanted to rip Scar’s head off.” “The full moon is tomorrow night, Marlow,” Temperance reminded him gently. “Sybylla is smart. She will not let this chance to destroy Scar once and for all, pass her by.” “Scar is evil but he is not smart. He acts on pure ego that alone will make him slip up.” Asher stated it as if he knew it to be fact. Marlow was not a pessimist by nature. He wanted to believe everything would turn out right. However he would not be truly convinced of that until Sybylla was back once again in his arms. ‘“But what if he senses a trap?” How fast can I get in to save Sybylla? “Maybe he will. Maybe he won’t. We have to work on the fact that his need for Sybylla will outweigh his need to be rational and we use that.”

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“I still don’t see why Sybylla has to agree to marry Scar.” Marlow wanted to be the only one Sybylla would agree to marry. “I think it’s more a case that you see the reason but you don’t want to accept it and that is understandable as you want to marry Sybylla yourself,” Temperance told him. “Are you reading my mind now, little one?” Marlow smiled at her fondly. Temperance Larkin was his second favorite woman in the world. “I am a woman. We naturally know everything.” Temperance smiled sweetly at him. Marlow was inclined to believe that women knew everything. Sybylla was certainly gifted with the wisdom of the ages. He hoped that this Saint Michael that Sybylla’s coven had been guided by for centuries would stand by her now and protect one of his own. Marlow blew out a deep breath and tried to keep himself focused on doing what needed to be done. “Okay, so the plan is we have to get this asshole, Scar, over the threshold of a church on a full moon and Sybylla will chant a spell that will send him to hell forever.” Yes, simple rational stuff that happened everyday to normal people. “Yes.” Marlow shook his head worriedly. “Bloody hell. I still don’t like this, brother.” “It is the only way, Marlow.” He had never felt so frustrated before. But then he’d never had anyone in his life to love before. “I can’t protect Sybylla like this.” Temperance’s eyebrows lifted in surprised at his tone. “Listen here, Charlie boy, women do not need to be protected. We are capable of looking after ourselves,” Temperance told him in no uncertain terms. “Sure it’s nice to have a man around who cares for us, but we can kick asses by ourselves and get ourselves out of trouble. Sybylla is a witch and to me, she is the queen of being capable. So you have no option but to go along with this.” She softened her eyes on the dark man. “Do you honestly think Sybylla would put herself in a position that she was not going to survive to come back to you?” Marlow never doubted Sybylla’s ability. If he doubted anything it was his ability to cope if anything happened to her. He had never had so much to lose before. “You are a spitfire when you get going aren’t you, little one?” “You have no idea.” Asher smiled at his woman as he kissed her cheek lovingly. “Temperance is right. Sybylla can kick ass with the best of them.” Marlow took a deep breath to keep him calm and in control and not going on the warpath to hunt down Scar. “So what part of the plan are we up to now?”

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“Well our plan has changed with this wedding demand.” Asher looked at his friend thoughtfully. “Okay we know Sybylla will use the legend of St. Michael witches having to be willing before they are taken any way by a man. We know Scar believes there is truth in tale.” Asher nodded in agreement. “And Sybylla needs us to find her so—” “I believe Sybylla will insist on having the wedding in a church and with someone she knows present at this wedding as a witness,” Temperance chimed in interrupting him. Both men looked at her. “Well it’s only logical. A woman wants to marry with people she trusts around her. Added to that when I am taken as her witness you can follow me and save both me and Sybylla.” “You ‘taken as her witness’?” Asher looked alarmed at her words and pulled Temperance around to look at him. “Did you and Sybylla discuss some alternative plan?” “Sybylla had a premonition that this would happen—that Scar would demand to marry her.” Temperance held her hand up before either man could speak. “And no, before either of you gets all strung out about not being told, the reason you weren’t told was because we both knew you would veto the plan.” Temperance stood her ground under the furious, worried scowls of the two men. “Sybylla is not an idiot and neither am I. Do you honestly think she would go ahead with this plan if she thought either of us would not be rescued by you two? So snap out of the brooding stares and work with this plan.” “I’m not happy, my love,” Asher shook his head in exasperation. “You should have told us.” Marlow was annoyed, yet not surprised, Sybylla had not told him this part of her plan as he would have tied her to the bed and never let her out of the house. “God, you vampires are so dramatic,” Temperance scoffed lightly as if they were two little boys who did not get their own way. Marlow sighed deeply. He knew there was no other way to go. “So we wait for his henchman to come and take you, Temperance, and then we follow.” Marlow looked at Asher for his thoughts on the plan. “I am no more happy about this than you are, with Sybylla being taken by Scar but the women are clearly the key to this plan.” Marlow could hardly wait to watch the demon’s demise. He would have gotten more satisfaction killing him with his own hands but he knew he had to be realistic. Only Sybylla had the power to destroy Scar. Marlow had every intention of making sure she did so and survived to be with him. “So we wait for wedding bells to sound and then we destroy that bastard Scar?”

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“Then we destroy him,” Asher agreed, his mouth set in a grim line of determination. “God I hope the maid of honor’s dress isn’t too ugly,” murmured Temperance cynically as she tried to maintain calm.

***** Scar did not want or need a wife. That was something that humans craved—all that happily ever after crap. However two things appealed greatly to Scar. One was the minute she became his wife he could fuck her into submission, and the other was that he would be being able to torture Sybylla St. Michael for the rest of her life. Though after spending the last twelve hours with this woman he was not sure he would let her live too long. She annoyed him with her cool, calm gaze. He wanted her frightened, terrified or crying. Stoic calm people pissed him off no end. It was why he had not made a move on her yet. He was unsure and he hated that feeling. “You will marry me, witch.” “I would rather eat dirt than marry you.” Sybylla was calm yet wary. The plan was working almost too well. Scar was either incredibly arrogant or amazingly stupid to think Sybylla would actually marry him. So for the moment she decided she would take her cues from him and wait her moment and the coming of the full moon. Sybylla knew Scar was too scared to take her without her being willing and knew that was the only reason he had not taken her yet. Was the legend true? Sybylla was not sure herself as no man had tested it that she was aware of, however she was more than happy to use it to her advantage. Sybylla looked around the crypt that Scar had decided to hole up in. It was old and smelt of decay and yet it did not frighten her to be there. Sybylla knew the remains of good people lay within. And she knew the cemetery well. It may have been odd to some, but the cemetery was to her a place of peace. Death or dying was never to be feared, as opposed to evil. Evil was to be watched and destroyed at the best possible moment. I watch, I wait. “Eating dirt can be arranged, bride of mine.” Scar looked furiously at the woman who sat so calmly on the edge of the grave. “Do you want to save your vampire lover?” “Yes.” That was the only thing keeping Sybylla on her course. “Then you will marry me.” Sybylla feigned dismay at his words despite the fact she really wanted to just rip his face off. “You are mine now.” He reached over and touched her breast. Sybylla slapped his hand away. Disgust was not something she had to fake. He was loathsome with his peeling skin and foul stench. “I am your captive for the moment, Scar, but I will never be yours.” “You will be, witch!” Scar spat out. 91

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“The only way I will marry you or anyone is in a church with a proper witness.” Sybylla looked him coolly in his nasty yellow eyes. “You know you cannot take a St. Michael witch against her will in anything, marriage included. I do not believe you have the balls to marry me in a church so this whole matrimony question is irrelevant.” In effect Sybylla was daring the demon. Scar looked at the witch and wondered if she knew about the potential to kill him at a church. Even if she did he was confident that he could manipulate the situation to his advantage. He knew that once a woman was married to a demon it was forever. The only way out was death. “Do you think I’m scared to marry you in a church?” Scar could and would marry her in a church. He feared nothing and he would prove it to the witch. “Yes, I think you are scared.” “Never! In fact I’ll marry you tonight, witch.” He watched to see how she reacted. If she was pleased he would know she knew about the way to destroy him. Sybylla looked at him blandly, yet all the time thinking “perfect”. “Marry me and I won’t stab your lover in the heart.” How I want to kill you, demon. “I will only marry you if my conditions are met. Marlow will never be harmed in any way and I will be married in a church with witness.” “Ratchet!” Scar summoned his henchman. “Stupid woman, I won’t harm the vampire. However I will marry you in a church with a witness and teach you some of the most painful lessons in your life in return.” “Yes, sire.” Ratchet had been lurking around outside watching for anyone who might approach the crypt so he could warn his boss. At least that was what he told Scar. “I will marry the witch tonight.” It worked in Scar’s favor to marry under the cover of darkness otherwise there might be too many questioning people to kill. It was not that he minded killing people, it just slowed up his other plans. “Find a witness.” “I said a proper witness, not just someone you drag off the street.” Sybylla told Scar assured in the knowledge that he was now too consumed with thoughts of torturing her to think rationally about anything else. “I meant as a witness and there is no way you can get her without getting yourself killed.” “Her? Are you referring to the chubby one who came to your rescue babbling inanely about a car breaking down?” Sybylla tried to look worried. “You wouldn’t,” she gasped in fake alarm. Scar was as dumb as—no wonder all the other demons treated him like the evil fool he was. “Ratchet, find the chubby one and bring her here to me.” Scar smiled at the look of terror on her face. “Please don’t!” Sybylla stood and wrung her hands as she did her best to look panic-stricken. 92

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“My dear you said the only way you would marry would be at a proper wedding and you shall have one.” Scar looked down at her and licked his lips. He was going to enjoy fucking her once she was his. “Once a woman marries a demon she is married for life. There is no chance of a reprieve. If he dies she dies.” He laughed harshly at the look of terror on her face. Sybylla sat back down and placed her hands over her face in mock despair. Be still, be calm and await your time.

***** “Let go of me, you slimy-assed bastard!” Temperance Larkin yelled wildly as Ratchet pushed her through the doors of the crypt. “Hello, my dear,” Scar greeted the woman sarcastically as she fell in a heap at his feet. Temperance scrambled to her feet and looked at Scar defiantly. “Fuck off, ugly boy. God you stink!” Scar slapped Temperance hard. “You are here as a witness to my wedding.” “Who the hell would marry you, you monkey-faced fat-assed pig?” Temperance staggered under the blow but regained her footing quickly. “Temperance,” Sybylla called out quietly to her friend. She did not doubt for a second Temperance would stand her ground with Scar all day if need be, but her getting injured was not part of the plan. “Sybylla?” Temperance looked at her in feigned amazement. “What’s going on?” She went to where her friend stood calmly. Sybylla had to give it to Temperance. She was a fine actor and clearly enjoying her role. “I am marrying Scar. I have to in order to save Charlie.” “On no,” gasped Temperance in pretend shock. “There must be some other way.” Temperance knew there was not. “You cannot do this, Syb!” Temperance grasped Sybylla’s hands in hers for both emphasis and support. It was an award-winning performance Sybylla was watching, and she was proud of her friend’s skill and loyalty. “I have no choice, Temp.” “Oh, Sybylla.” “I wanted you to be here.” Sybylla knew that if Temperance was here Marlow and Asher were nearby, no doubt pissed off by the change in their plan. But Sybylla would deal with that issue later. “I need your strength.” “I would do anything for you, Syb.”

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“Fucking hell! You humans are annoying with all this sickening crap you go on with!” Scar roared in disgust. “Let’s just get this over and done with.” It was dusk now. The full moon would be in the sky soon enough. “Eager, my dear?’ So looking forward to the moment you die, asshole. “I just want to save the man I love.” “You will love me now,” Scar told her. “Oh, fuck off! As if she would ever love you, you son of a pus-faced maggotcovered camel!” Temperance dodged the blow from his hand quickly. “I may be chunky but I’m fast on my feet, pigswill.” Sybylla pulled Temperance to her and whispered low. “Don’t piss the demon off too much.” “I wish we had your spear now as I would shove it in his ass and make him howl for mercy,” Temperance hissed out softly, her eyes hot and angry on Scar. “Be calm, Temp. I need you in one conscious piece.” Sybylla loved people with passion but too much passion could get you killed. Scar looked like he very much wanted to kill her friend. Sybylla wanted him dead but there was a time and place for everything. “Just get a grip.” “I can’t all be Zen like you.” “What are you two whispering about?” “Girl talk,” Sybylla responded coolly. She was mildly amused that the demon looked momentarily startled as if unsure how to respond to this. “The wedding will be tonight, witch.” “Remember this has to be done my way or I will not be willing and are you game enough to suffer the consequences?” Sybylla looked him in the eye. “I will do my part. Make sure you do yours.” “I am a witch, not a demon and my word is my bond.” I promise to kill you once and for all. On this I swear.

***** Marlow and Asher had followed Ratchet as he dragged Temperance along to the cemetery. Although Marlow’s body was weary his mind was set on their course and his determination would not waver despite his symptoms of withdrawal. He had the strength to save Sybylla and kill the demon. “Temperance is giving a damn good performance of being unwilling, brother.” If it wasn’t so serious Marlow would have laughed at the blows she gave the rat-faced henchman and the heel-dragging antics of Temperance.

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“My love has many talents,” Asher watched as she was dragged to a crypt. Both he and Marlow knew this cemetery very well. They had kin buried here. It was almost like a second home to them. “I just hope Temperance does not overdo it and get herself hurt.” “She is smart, as is Sybylla.” It was something that Marlow counted on. He and Asher stopped a short distance from the crypt and watched as Temperance was pushed inside. “Scar will be in there with Sybylla.” “Yes.” Marlow and Asher both looked at the crypt thoughtfully. Both wanted to rush in and save their women. But they also knew it would not solve the problem of Scar. “Do you think we’ll meet any of your followers here?” Asher asked casting a quick glance around him. Marlow thought about the mischievous band of vampires who had attached themselves to him. At times they had been the closest thing to family that he’d had. Yet since meeting Sybylla he spent less and less time with them. “I think it’s unlikely, brother, as they are smart enough not to get involved in anything that does not benefit them.” They were as selfish as he once was. However Sybylla had changed all that. His own needs came a poor second to those of his woman now. Marlow looked to south of where they stood. “You know that the nearest church to here is St. Michael’s.” “Yes. Scar is a cocky son of hell.” “He clearly thinks nothing can touch him. His arrogance is perfect for us as it will lead him to his doom.” Marlow was looking forward to the moment. “He is stupid but then most demons are. They rely on brute force and not smarts to get what they want.” And he is never going to get Sybylla. “We have to kill the weasel-like helper. He had his hands on my woman.” Asher was resolute on that. “Absolutely. That piece of shit demon laid hands on both of our women so it’s a given he will follow his master to hell.” Both men watched as the door to the crypt opened and the two women they loved were pushed out with Scar and Ratchet close behind them. Sybylla was calm and still while Temperance was mouthing off at Scar. Marlow held Asher back from racing forward and killing Scar with his bare hands when he slapped her. “Remember your police training, brother.” “It does not apply when Temperance is hurt.” Asher’s hands were clenched into fists. “I want to kill him.” “We all do, so just stand in line.” Marlow was proud of the way Sybylla stood cool and in control even though he knew she would be feeling anything but that. Sybylla was able to put up a good front for most people. But not him. He knew her too well.

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“Temperance is tough and Sybylla will be calm enough to pull her into line.” He loved and admired how she did not flinch in adversity. “So all we can do is watch and wait for the full moon.” “Yes but let’s get to the church before them so we are ready for whatever Sybylla has planned.” Marlow took one last look at Sybylla. “Scar dies tonight.”

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Chapter Twelve As they stood like a motley crew outside St. Michael’s church. Sybylla wasn’t sure whether to laugh at Scar’s stupid bravado for forcing a St. Michael witch to her namesake’s church or to worry that maybe he knew more than he was letting on. Though, somehow she doubted it, as he was vindictive but not smart. She idly glanced at the moon. It was bright and full and perfect. They had one chance and Sybylla was determined to make the most of it. St. Michael’s church was made of large sandstone blocks that had been laid over two hundred years ago. There was a deep sense of history and timelessness in its simple façade. It did not have the grandeur of some churches. Instead it stood plain, simple and solid as if it could withstand anything that was thrown at it. Sybylla looked at the curved arch doorway. The door was ajar. She knew Marlow and Asher were inside ready and waiting for whatever she needed them to do. Sybylla could feel it. “I think it’s fitting your guardian angel witnesses our joining, witch.” Scar leered down at his future bride anticipating the moment he could impale her with his cock. “You need a padre to marry someone, dickhead,” Temperance snapped at Scar as if he was a moron. Scar turned on the woman pissed off she just stood with her hands on her hips glaring at him in contempt. “I am going to enjoy killing you after this, fatso.” Temperance snorted in derision. “I can lose weight but you can’t lose butt ugliness and as for the god-awful smell…” Sybylla put a restraining hand on Temperance’s arm. Like all curvaceous women, her friend reacted badly to being called fat when she wasn’t. “My friend is right about the padre.” Also in the fact that ugliness was forever. But then, you don’t have forever so the smell is not going to be an issue either. “I have that sorted,” Scar assured her with merciless glee. Ratchet appeared dragging a frightened man who had his hands bound before him. “This godly wimp will marry us so I can begin my life torturing you.” And it will be such a very short life for you, Scar. Sybylla looked at the minister. “I am sorry you have been involved in this, Padre.” “What evil is this?” The man looked at Scar, horrified at what he saw. “It’s nothing your God can fix that’s for fucking sure,” Scar laughed with malicious glee. 97

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“What we do here tonight, Padre, is for the best.” Sybylla tried to calm the frightened man. “We are saving lives.” All but one that is, but he was never alive to begin with. “Are you willing to marry this…this…” Words failed the man of God. “Creature?” Temperance suggested helpfully, ignoring the look of loathing from the demon. “I have no choice. I have no other option.” Sybylla’s fate had been sealed at her birth. Whatever it took, Scar had to be destroyed. “It’s most peculiar,” the man muttered as he looked around himself in goggle-eyed fright. Peculiar is my life. “I will be okay. Just please go along with this.” Sybylla could feel the power of the moon upon her. They need wait no longer. “Just shut up with the small talk!” Scar roared at them impatiently. “Let’s get on with the marrying. I have much fucking and torturing of my bride planned.” Sybylla could see Temperance narrow her eyes angrily as her fist curled up into a tight ball. That she wanted to punch the demon in the face was only too obvious. Sybylla grabbed her hand and held it in her own. “Patience, Temp,” she whispered calmly. “I really want to smack him around the head,” hissed Temperance. “What did you say fat-ass?” Scar looked at Temperance with intense hatred. “My friend said let’s get this wedding over and done with.” “Yeah so we can kill you, you piece of pus,” added Temperance in a quiet murmur.

***** “Temperance is a pistol.” Marlow grinned at her barely heard “piece of pus” remark. Asher sighed and ran a frustrated hand down his long white ponytail. He was a worried man. “I love Temperance deeply but I really want to tell her to shut up so she does not get hurt.” “Sybylla will not let anything happen to her,” Marlow commented as he looked around the inside of the church. He could not remember the last time he had been inside a church—probably when he was a kid and that was a couple of centuries ago. Marlow grinned as he thought of how long his confession would take if he had to make it. Better to start again and chalk sins up to being a human being and not a saint. From where they stood they could just see the women and the demons outside.

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“As a trained police officer I would like to say I knew what we were doing but I don’t have a clue. This is all Sybylla’s game now.” Asher had his service weapon in the back waistband of his jeans even though he knew bullets were wasted on demons. “Sybylla needs to get Scar to the threshold of the church.” There were two ways that would happen. Either Scar married Sybylla or Scar charged forward of his own accord. Option one was unacceptable as far as Marlow was concerned. Pissing the demon off what Marlow was going for. “Scar is a hotheaded fool of a demon.” Marlow nodded in agreement as he walked quietly to the doorway. “And hotheads react badly to surprises. So let’s give him one.” Marlow pushed the church door wide open and he stood at the threshold. “What did the lady call you, Scar? A piece of pus? That’s seems pretty accurate to me.” He glanced quickly at Sybylla. His heart calmed slightly when he saw she was unhurt. “You!” Scar roared in anger. “What are you doing here?” He became further enraged when he saw Asher at Marlow’s side. “We heard there was to be a wedding,” Asher commented as he leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe. Marlow casually walked down the steps of the church toward Scar. “I cannot allow that to happen, demon.” “You cannot stop it, vampire!” Scar was wild at the interruptions to his plan. “Oh, but I can. There is a legend that says if a St. Michael witch is not willing to do something then you cannot make her do it without great pain befalling you.” Marlow’s voice was casual but his eyes were focused with deadly intent. “It has something to do with balls shrinking. Though that probably is not a problem in your case.” Marlow looked the grotesque demon up and down dismissively. “The witch knows I will kill you, so she has no choice,” Scar spat out as if he had all the right cards in the game they were playing. Marlow shook his head as disdainfully. “No, the lady in question is just playing with you.” He looked at Sybylla. “Isn’t that right, darling?” Scar whirled around to face Sybylla. “I will kill him!” He roared at her trying to get any reaction at all from the quietly stoic woman. Sybylla just raised her eyebrows mockingly. Scar whirled around and charged wildly at Marlow. Asher raced down the steps to protect the women. Ratchet cowered, waiting to see who would be the victor, and the clergyman fainted.

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Marlow caught the full force of the demon. Even thought he was weakened by his treatment, Marlow fought, struggled against and dragged Scar to the threshold of the church. “Any time you are ready to send the demon back to hell, Sybylla darling,” gasped Marlow as he pinned the demon up against the doorframe of the church. “No!” Scar yelled as he suddenly realized where they planned to send him.

***** “Get ready to let him go when I say, Charlie,” Sybylla called to Marlow. She needed Scar to have no physical contact with any other person in order for her to bind him with a spell. Because of their power demons could only be bound for a very short period of time. Sybylla knew she had to act quickly. “Now, Charlie!” Sybylla flung her hands out toward Scar as Marlow flung himself back from the demon. Scar staggered as a bolt of energy from her hands hit him in the head. “I bind thee, Scar, by this spell. I will you still. I bind you tight. You will not move until I command thee so,” Sybylla chanted as invisible cords of energy wrapped around the struggling demon. She looked at Marlow. “Step away, Charlie.” Marlow walked to her. “No move away I need to concentrate. I need this to be the end of Scar. Marlow understood and he joined Temperance and Asher. Sybylla inhaled deeply and slowly raised her hands above her head as she exhaled and began chanting the Latin words she knew would destroy Scar. Ego sum Sybylla secuutus of Saint Michael. Curator of mei hic mihi iam quod suffragium mihi in meus vicis of postulo. She smiled suddenly as she felt the warmth of a gentle hand rest on her shoulder. Sybylla turned her head slightly to see the kind blue eyes of her guardian angel Saint Michael. He looked like a man but he was not. He was tall, blond and incredibly handsome. Too handsome for a mortal. A brilliant, yet soothing light shone from him. He was everything Sybylla imagined her guardian angel to be. “Oh my God! That looks like…like an angel behind Sybylla!” Temperance gasped in surprise at the being radiating a light of pure goodness. Sybylla felt a surge of power tear through her like electricity. It was thrilling to feel and wondrous to know she was protected. Per angelus supremus in dico in thee Saint Michael ut expello malum ex orbis terrarum. “No!” Scar screamed in pain as she began the words every demon dreaded to hear. “This cannot be! Help me, Ratchet.” He looked around wildly as if seeking help from anyone. When his eyes locked with those of the angel Saint Michael, he knew he was doomed. He struggled vainly. Ratchet just stared in fright. He could not help even if he wanted to. “What is that language Syb is chanting?” Temperance was riveted to the spot in fascination. “Scar looks terrified.” 100

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“It’s Latin.” Marlow was mesmerized by the woman he loved and the angel at her shoulder. Both held great beauty and power. He did not believe in religion but he always believed there was an unknown power that controlled the Universe. “You speak Latin?” Temperance was agog with all that was going on around her. “That’s what schoolboys learnt in the 1800s.” As an impatient schoolboy, Marlow had wondered when he would ever use Latin. Now he knew it when it counted most. “Sybylla called on Saint Michael and the angels to help her banish Scar from the earth.” “And that’s why Scar is horrified. He knows this is the end of him.” Asher held Temperance close to him as they watched in wonder. Ego dico in elementum of incendia ventus quod pluvial. Malum est tendo quod malum must vado. Malum must intereo. Scar howled in agony as lighting bolts shot from the clear evening sky and tore into his corrupt flesh making him jerk in misery. He tried uselessly to move his body to avoid them but the spell still bound him. He screamed as they penetrated fast and hard ripping and tearing at his body. Expello Llewellyn accersitus Vix ut perpes abyssus nunquam ut revero. “Scar is going to be destroyed this time for certain. Sybylla is asking for evil to die.” Marlow kept interpreting Sybylla’s words. “She is expelling Scar to hell never to return.” Vigoratus orbis terrarum licentia non vestigium of Llewellyn Beatus illud cuius ago Llewellyn pulsatus Permissum nos ago in pacis permissum nos diligo in pacis. “What is Syb saying now?” Temperance asked eagerly. “Sybylla is calling for peace for anyone whose life Scar has touched.” Marlow smiled at the words Sybylla spoke. She was foremost a healer. She only did to Scar what needed to be done to save many. “That sounds like Sybylla,” mused Asher as he watched as Scar twisted and turned futilely trying to free himself. Licentia orbis terrarium Llewellyn absum ut abyssus! Absum everto! “Leave the earth, Llewellyn. Be gone to hell. Be gone, demon,” Marlow repeated in English. Scar screamed in terror as his body exploded into millions of tiny pieces. His scream echoed eerily in the night air for a minute after his demise. The power of the spell made Sybylla stumble slightly. She felt the gentle hand of Saint Michael on her arm as she righted herself. She sighed in deep satisfaction for she knew this time she had succeeded. Scar was gone from their lives forever. Sybylla felt

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the power humming thought her body. But she knew her job was not finished. She turned and looked at Ratchet. “You have two options, demon. You either walk over the threshold of the church of your own accord or I bind you like your master and you die as horribly as he did.” Ratchet looked at the woman and the angel and he knew this was not a fight he could win. He walked slowly to the door of the church. “I was more than his equal, witch.” Whatever plans he had for demon glory after seeing Scar die, fell to pieces when the witch pinned him with her eyes. “That is not something to be proud of, demon.” Sybylla responded pointedly. “Go and join your master in hell.” “You cannot always expect to win.” “No, but I beat you and your master and that’s the main thing.” Sybylla flung her hand at him and the energy coming from it pushed Ratchet through the door and he exploded. “Wow!” Temperance exclaimed at a loss for words. Knowing her friend was powerful and seeing it were two different things. Sybylla turned to face her guardian angel. The brilliant light that radiated from him was warm and luminous and she felt incredibly loved and understood. “Thank you Saint Michael.” The angel took Sybylla’s hand in his. She closed her eyes momentarily as an intense feeling of wellbeing flowed into her veins. She opened her eyes and smiled. “I have always been proud of your strength, Sybylla, even from the first moment when Christabel found you in the woods all those centuries ago.” “But…” Sybylla looked at him in open-mouthed astonishment. That was her ancestor. That was not her. She looked at him in confusion. Or was it? Sudden images of an old hut and the kindly face of Christabel shot into her mind. Of course…I should have known. “You are the reincarnation of the first Sybylla,” Saint Michael nodded as realization dawned on her face. “Your life is a reflection of her life.” “But that Sybylla was burnt alive at the stake for being a witch.” Sybylla was not scared of death but a death so painful was not one she wanted to embrace. “You will only find happiness in your life, my child,” Saint Michael assured her gently. “There is a universal law that people who had a tragic life will reincarnate into a happy life. There will still be evil and battles to be fought but none that you cannot handle.” The angel looked over at Marlow. “The man you have given yourself to is a good man. He will overcome his battle and be the whole man he was before.” Sybylla had always known that in her heart but to hear it from her guardian affirmed it. “I love Charlie.” It was a fact that did not need to be embellished. It was as it was— simple and true. 102

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“It is meant to be between you. No one can separate you now.” Sybylla felt a jolt of excitement run through her. Saint Michael smiled indulgently at her. “You know he loves you, my child.” Yes he was right, she did know it. Sybylla felt it every time she and Marlow touched but she had not wanted to live in false hope. But now she believed their passion would live. “Thank you for your help, Saint Michael.” It seemed inadequate thanks but it was heartfelt. “It was mainly your power Sybylla that crushed the evil demon. I just supplied moral support.” The angel leaned down and kissed her forehead lovingly like a proud father. “Any time you call, Sybylla, I will come to you. Live and love in peace. This life will be a happy one for you, my child.” Sybylla watched as Saint Michael shimmered into nothingness before her eyes. He was a beautiful being but there was another she was much more enamored of. She turned and walked straight into Marlow’s arms—the only place she wanted to be at that moment. She had never felt so safe and so loved in her life. “What did you two talk about?” Marlow held her close never wanting to let her go. “You did not hear our discussion?” Sybylla was surprised as she and the angel had stood only a few feet away from them. Marlow shook his head and looked at Sybylla with interest. “No, you were standing inside something that looked like golden cocoon of light that we could see through but we could not hear what you spoke about.” “That angel was beautiful.” Temperance breathed out in awe. Sybylla smiled. Saint Michael was beautiful in both form and spirit. “Angels always are.” “You’re an angel to me, darling Sybylla.” Marlow kissed her softly. Temperance and Asher smiled and walked off arm in arm to give them time alone. “Saint Michael said you were a good man.” Sybylla ran her hands through his shoulder-length hair, entwining her fingers in the soft thick strands. “Really?” Marlow was stunned and humbled that anyone, let alone an angel, would say that. “I did not need Saint Michael to tell me that, Charlie. I already knew that. I felt it when I first saw you and touched you.” Sybylla ran her hand down to his heart. “You have a good, strong, loving heart.” “Oh, darling Sybylla, how I love you.” Marlow’s lips met hers in a lingering kiss. “Er…what happened?” The clergyman asked in a befuddlement as he stumbled toward them.

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Sybylla look at Marlow and smile whimsically. There were some things that were easy to explain and other topics just needed to be avoided as it saved a lot of problems. “How are you feeling, Padre?” Sybylla walked up to the man and looked at his dazed face. But for the vacant, confused look in his eyes, he appeared to be in one piece. “I am not sure what happened.” The man said as he slowly looked around him. “I seemed to have fallen down and when I woke up at one stage I thought I saw an angel.” He shook his head in disbelief. “And then it all went black again. Was there an…an angel?” Sybylla saw the hope in the eyes. She would like to tell him the truth but a lie would get her back home with Charlie faster. “I don’t recall seeing an angel, Padre.” She smiled knowingly at Marlow who just nodded his head in understanding. The passion she saw in his eyes made her hot all over. “Oh,” the man said in disappointment. “What happened to the ghastly man who was here?” “He just disappeared,” replied Marlow as he walked to Sybylla’s side and wrapped his arm around her waist. “It’s been a long night, Padre. I am sure you will excuse us.” Marlow looked down in Sybylla’s eyes. “Let’s go home, darling.”

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Chapter Thirteen Sybylla and Marlow barely made it through the door of Sybylla’s home before they started pulling frantically at each other’s clothes. As they wove their way clumsily into the living room, lips locked and clothes went flying everywhere. A vase smashed to the ground as Marlow’s elbow knocked it over in his haste. “Bugger,” Marlow swore softly as he maneuvered his way over the debris. He pulled the ribbon out of her hair and kissed her lips hungrily as he worked on the buttons of her blouse. “I never liked that vase anyway,” Sybylla murmured as her hands pulled his shirt out from his waistband. “God, why do you have to wear so many clothes?” Marlow questioned in frustration as he ripped the blouse Sybylla was wearing in two. “Why do you?” Sybylla yanked at his belt buckle and unzipped his trousers. She reached for his already hard cock. As Marlow’s trousers dropped down to his knees he lost his balance and he fell back on the sofa behind him pulling her down on top of him. “You are awfully clumsy, Charlie boy.” Sybylla sat up astride him. Marlow’s trousers were around his ankles, his shirt was all wrenched up and he was still the sexiest man she had ever seen. “I can only concentrate on one thing at a time when you have my cock in your hand.” Sybylla leaned forward and licked his stomach as she caressed his impatient cock. “That’s right you’re a man. You can’t multitask like a woman.” Marlow groaned as her tongue licked his stomach in long slow strokes. “I’ll show you multitasking, witch.” Marlow pushed her back gently. “Get off.” “What? Why?” Sybylla resisted the hands that urged her off. “I don’t want to.” She wanted to play some more with his cock. “Trust me, you will enjoy what I have planned.” He slapped her fabric-covered ass gently. He watched as Sybylla climbed off his body. “Strip.” Sybylla was happy to comply with this. She pulled off the shreds of her blouse and unsnapped her bra. The look of possession in Marlow’s eyes made her wet with longing to be once again joined hot and tight with him. She slid her skirt to her feet and kicked it up over a nearby table lamp. “Panties off now!” Marlow growled, his eyes watching her every movement and he kicked his trousers free from his ankles. When Sybylla stood totally naked before him,

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Marlow held his arms out to her. “Now climb on board.” As Sybylla lifted her leg to straddle his body, Marlow shook his head. “No, the other way around.” He pointed to his shoulders. “You want to lick me and I want to lick you.” Sybylla’s eyes widened in surprise and a greedy delight. She straddled Marlow so her pussy was directly in his face and she was lying on top of him so his cock was at her lips. She moaned as she felt Marlow’s tongue between the already wet folds of her legs as he clutched at her ass. Sybylla felt his body stiffen beneath her as her lips sucked the head of his cock into her mouth. She squirmed as dual sensations of giving and taking started to overwhelm her. She giggled suddenly. “What?” “I want to suck you hard but I can’t concentrate when you’re doing that.” “So much for a woman’s ability to multitask.” Marlow slid his tongue inside her vagina. Sybylla almost choked on his cock in excitement. “Who am I kidding? I can’t multitask around you!” Sybylla panted as she scooted down Marlow’s body and turned around to face him. “I need your cock inside me now.” She straddled his club-like cock and slid down the hard length of it with a satisfied sigh as if filled her completely. “Oh yes,” Sybylla hissed with delight as she bit her lip and slowly started riding back and forth on top of Marlow. “I want to do this when we’re ninety years old.” His hands on her hips urged her on. Ninety and still having sex with her man? She chuckled at the thought of it. She, old and crotchety and Charlie chasing her around the bedroom with a hard-on. It was a nice thought. “What if I have arthritis and cannot climb on top of you like this?” “You’re smart, darling. You’ll think of something.” “Maybe I should stop and try to conserve my stamina for my twilight years?” Of course there was no way Sybylla wanted to waste the hard heat between her legs. She forged on in her movements knowing Marlow was helpless to stop her as they both wanted the same thing. She would face old age with Charlie when it happened. “Don’t even think about stopping,” he groaned as she ground herself against him in a rhythm that was as old as time and full of primal need. “Then I won’t.” Sybylla closed her eyes as the orgasm started to spiral up within her. “Besides I have much more I want to do to you before this evening is over.” “You’re insatiable and I love it.” Marlow clutched at her hips and urged her on. “I’m in love with you, Charles Dalton Marlow, and I’m free of demons and I don’t want to waste another minute of our time together.” Sybylla gasped out loud as the orgasm hit and her whole body shuddered with the intensity of it. She felt Marlow‘s cock erupt inside her as he came a moment later. Marlow pulled Sybylla down into his arms. 106

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“Sybylla St. Michael, you are the best thing that ever happened to me.” “I know,” Sybylla said and smiled when he slapped her playfully on the ass. “Do you feel cursed anymore, Charlie boy?” She snuggled against his body and knew nothing could ever touch them now. “No, I am blessed because of you.”

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Epilogue Sybylla locked her legs around Marlow’s waist and sighed happily as she felt his cock slide inside her body. “Are you sure no one will see us, Charlie?” Even though his hands were under her ass, Sybylla could still feel the gentle swell of the waves as they slapped against her. Making love in the ocean was a totally different sensation. If was wildly erotic to have Marlow hard and strong inside her and the waves softly caressing against her body. Her bikini top was wrenched sideways and the bottoms had probably floated off toward New Zealand. The possibility that someone might see them both alarmed and excited Sybylla. How she was going to walk back to the beach in a dignified manner was something she would think about when the time came. “Do you care, darling?” Marlow asked Sybylla as he held her tightly against his body and started to thrust slowly in and out of her. “No,” Sybylla moaned as she looked into his eyes. “I just want to be with you.” They had been at the Sunshine Coast for two days. To Sybylla’s great amusement Marlow had been like a big kid as he had soaked up the beach life enthusiastically. He had never been to the beach before. A couple of hundred years ago when he was a child a trip to the beach had been too far away. In the twenty-first century it was an hour’s drive from Brisbane. “Yeah I never got to do this as a child and the whole vampire thing precluded it later,” Marlow had explained to her as they lay under a large umbrella on the beach. Although he was over the worst of his withdrawal, his skin was still sensitive to the sun and Sybylla burned easily so they were happy to laze away in each other’s arms watching the waves crash onto the shore. Sybylla had thought Marlow had been joking when he had suggested making love in the ocean. “I want to experience everything with you, darling,” Marlow had crooned low and sweetly as he pulled her to her feet. So here they were experiencing making love in the ocean and Sybylla had to admit it was a hell of an experience. The hard, hot feel of him inside her body made her moan with pleasure. She kissed him hungrily. “Have you any idea how we are going to get back to the beach without disgracing ourselves?” She giggled at the thought of it. “Hell, I don’t care if people see me naked.” “Well yes you are beautiful, Charlie boy, but I am a little shy of strangers seeing me.”

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Marlow looked at Sybylla possessively. “You’re right I hadn’t thought about that. I don’t want other men looking at you naked, as you are mine alone.” “Yes I am,” Sybylla murmured against his lips. “Make me come, Charlie.” “My pleasure, darling,” Marlow growled huskily as he began thrusting harder inside Sybylla. “Oh, Charlie…” she moaned as the thrill of the orgasm built up inside her. Sybylla panted breathlessly and she bit her lip and tried not to scream as a feeling of intense pleasure overwhelmed her but it was useless. Marlow laughed triumphantly as she yelled out. “You make me feel so powerful when you scream like that.” Sybylla sighed contentedly as he came inside her. “How did I ever get so lucky to find you?” “If I recall correctly I was out wandering aimlessly one night and I tumbled you into the lavender.” Marlow slid Sybylla gently off and down his body. “We must make love in the lavender again.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. “You are beautiful.” “You make me feel so.” Sybylla turned and looked at the beach. “Can you see anyone?” It looked fairly deserted. All the sun worshippers had gone in for the day as the sun had started to lose its tanning heat. Marlow took Sybylla’s hand and started wading to the shore. “I think we are in luck. Let’s make a run for it.” Hand in hand they dashed up the beach naked and laughing. Sybylla flung herself down on her towel and grabbed a shirt to cover her body. She looked over at Marlow who dropped down beside her and lounged naked and contented. “Are you going to cover up?” Not that Sybylla cared. He was a glorious hunk of man. His lean muscular body was delicious to look at and his cock was already starting to get hard again. “Are you ever not hard?” She smiled as Marlow threw back his head and laughed. He no longer had his fangs, they had been filed down and she kind of missed them as they had been strangely sexy. “I always have a hard-on around you, my darling.” Marlow pulled her into his arms and gently stroked her. “Do you know what I want to do?” “I am not building any more sandcastles,” Sybylla teased him. Marlow’s almost childlike zeal with all things beachy amused Sybylla greatly but there was just so much one could do with sand. Marlow shook his head and smiled at her words.

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“No, it’s much more important then building walls of sand that will fall down.” He got to his knees and pulled Sybylla up with him. “Stand up.” “Why?” Sybylla was intrigued but did as he requested. “I want to do this properly.” Marlow grasped her hands in his. “Sybylla St. Michael, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you, I adore you and I need you. Please marry me.” Sybylla felt all girly and excited and so in love as she smiled down at the man before her. She was an independent woman and a powerful witch but none of that meant anything if she did not have Charles Dalton Marlow in her life. “Wow! A naked marriage proposal how lucky can a girl be?” At that moment Sybylla St. Michael considered herself the luckiest woman on the planet to have found her man. “So is it yes or yes?” Marlow asked his eyes on hers. “It’s yes please, and what took you so bloody long?” His puzzled look amused her. “I would have married you after the tumble in the lavender.” She had been hooked from that moment. Sybylla dropped to her knees before him. “I dreamed of you and you came to me. I have wanted you and loved you for the longest time.” She kissed his lips softly then swatted his chest playfully. “‘Like I’m going to let you go now after all we have been through.” “I owe you everything, Sybylla,” Charlie pulled her into his arms and he fell back on the sand with Sybylla lying on top of him. “Just remember that when I ask you to take out the trash or do a load of laundry.” She smiled in anticipation as she felt the long hard length of his cock against her stomach. Would she ever get enough of or tired of this man? No way. “I’d do anything for you, darling,” Marlow kissed her face softly all over. “You are completely and utterly rash and I love you, Charlie Marlow.” “This is forever.” “I can do forever.”

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About the Author Amarinda Jones believes anything is possible and sometimes just asking for the impossible will surprise someone enough that they will give it to you. Writing is like that. Put it out there and wait for a response. There is always the possibility you may fall on your ass, but after all, that’s what cellulite is for. Amarinda believes in taking chances, speaking her mind and aging disgracefully. Twenty years from now she plans on being the neighborhood witch that all the kids are scared of. But then, everyone has to have a hobby. Amarinda welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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