Chapter 1

“Where have ye been, lass?” Gwendoline called out as I carefully picked my way through a maze of rose bushes.

“How can something so lovely dish out so much pain?” I complained as I pulled a thorn from my calf. 

“Ye could always fly over them,” she said with one hand on her hip and the other shielding her eyes from the noon sun.

“Good grief,” I said with exasperation as I stepped from the rose patch to safety, “it never occurred to me to do that.” I heaved a sigh, “I wonder if I’ll ever get my act together with being a vampire and a witch.”

“Not to mention a mother and a queen,” Gwendoline added playfully.

“Let’s not forget you’re soon to be a wife,” Geo contributed as he scurried up from seemingly nowhere and wrapped his arms around me.

“You two aren’t helping,” I giggled.

“I have to say, dear future wife, that if anyone is up to the task of being super-female, it’s you,” Geo assured me as he kissed me lightly on the forehead. “Although, I also have to say it’s a good thing you heal quickly.”

I watched the deep scratches on my legs and arms slowly fade away.

“I needed rose petals for grandmother’s herb cabinet,” I shrugged.

“That Millie,” Gwendoline said with a sly smirk, “I’ll wager she insisted ye get the ones from the middle because they’re the least disturbed.”

“I’m not feeling all that well,” I complained.

“What’s wrong?” Geo asked with concern while he felt my head.

“Nothing I can put my finger on,” I said softly.  “The world seems… surreal.”

“How long have ye been feeling like this?” my mentor and future mother-in-law asked.

“I’m not really certain,” I mused. “Perhaps a few months?”

“You’re only just mentioning it?”  Gwendoline gasped.

“It’s not constant,” I said quickly. “It’s more off and on. Lately, it’s more on than off, though.”

“It started about the time Luthias left,” Geo said, thoughtfully.

I detected a touch of jealousy in his tone and quickly snuggled closer to reassure him.  It couldn’t be easy for him to know that I would always have a place in my heart for his brother, even after I became his wife.  I was sure that the fact that his first wife had also held a spot in her heart for Luthias didn’t help matters, but I didn’t know what to do about it.  I couldn’t change the way I felt and I wouldn’t enter a committed relationship as important as marriage with a lie between us.  He said he loved me more because of the way my heart was able to have room for so many, but I wondered if that would hold true.  Time would tell.

“I want to examine ye,” Gwendoline said firmly.

“I’m not pregnant,” I protested.

“There are other reasons to feel poorly besides making babies,” she chuckled.

“You couldn’t prove it by me,” I said flatly. “Having two babies so close together made me almost forget what it was like not to be pregnant.  Maybe that’s what’s wrong with me.  I’m not pregnant and it doesn’t feel right.”

“We’re in a mood today,” Gwendoline said with a slow shake of her head. “Perhaps we should skip your magic lesson.”

I have no idea why, but a panic consumed me at the possibility of missing my magic lesson. I decided not to mention it, but my body language gave me away to both Gwendoline and Geo.

“Something’s wrong,” Geo said.

“It has nothing to do with your brother,” Gwendoline assured him, “I can tell ye that right now.”

She took me by the shoulders and positioned me directly in front of her so that she could look deep into my eyes.  After a great deal of spatting and sputtering, she informed me that someone was working a spell to try to rob me of my magic.  How they managed to get through the barriers of Verso, was a mystery, but, since she, my grandparents, and myself were the only magical beings in Verso, it had to be someone on the outside.

“Who would know I’m magical outside of Verso?  I only used magic a few times while on the outside. I was very careful,” I mused.

“There are eyes everywhere,” Geo said, wistfully.

“Do you think Gondofini found out about me?” I asked.

“He works for the kingdom, not the person,” Geo said.  “You are leader of his kingdom so he wouldn’t work against you.”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked, warily.

“Lord Moken has been keeping me well informed,” Geo said firmly. “So far, so good.”

“Do we know what happened to Pierre?” I asked. “He was still in the cave when Jason took me.  I never asked Luthias what happened to him.”

“I’m assured that Pierre is not at Vampire Land,” Geo insisted.

“That doesn’t mean he’s not working to get back in there,” I said excitedly.  “He tried to have me killed while I lay helplessly giving birth to Owena.  Is having some spell cast to rob me of my magic… or worse… so farfetched?”

“The lass has a point,” Gwendoline mused.  “I say we head back to the cottage and talk with Millie and Arthur about this.  They might think of something we missed.”

Although I wasn’t eager to bring my grandparents into more drama, I saw no way out of sharing our suspicions with them. 

We walked in silence to Gwendoline’s quaint little cottage.  I smiled when I saw my grandparents sitting on the front porch, each with one of my children in their arms.  They looked so content. I hated the fact that we were about to ruin the mood, but there was nothing to be done about it.  My magic meant more to me than I could possibly articulate. If someone was trying to strip me of it, they had to be stopped.  Clearly, Gwendoline felt we needed my grandparent’s assistance in the matter.  I wasn’t about to argue.

Something in our body language or our faces must have alerted them because looks of concern consumed their faces as they stood up when we approached.

“What’s happened?” my grandfather asked with a bold and protective tone.   “Who has broken the barrier?”

“Why would you ask that?” I asked with surprise.

“I’m not sure,” he said wonderingly. “It’s what flew out of my mouth.”

“So, your eye is still in ye,” Gwendoline said as she patted my grandfather on the arm as she walked passed him and into the house.  “Come on then.  We’ll need all the seers working on this one.”

“It’s been a while since you’ve done that, Arthur,” my grandmother said with wonder as she handed Owena to me and followed Gwendoline into the house.

“I never needed it before, old woman,” he said with a teasing manner as he handed Braedon to Geo. “Not with such a curious wife in the house.”

I could hear my grandmother chiding him about saying such things as the door closed behind him.

As much as I longed to be in the room with my mentor and my grandparents, I understood the necessity for them to be removed from my energy to track down the source of the spell.  If someone had miraculously tapped into the seat of my magical vortex, having me next to them could block the path to the originator; making it look like it came from me instead.  Whoever was doing this to me clearly knew what they were doing.

“My girls look tired,” Geo said as he kissed Owena’s forehead and then mine.

“I can’t speak for this little lady, but I could use a short nap,” I admitted.

“Why don’t I take the children for a bit and you go rest?” he suggested.

“Can you handle both?” I asked

“I have a kingdom at my disposal,” he chuckled.  “Surely I can find someone to assist me.”

“A vampire nanny,” I said with glee.

“Indeed,” he said with a smile.

“I read about nannies.  I didn’t realize they still existed,” I said.

“Maybe out there they don’t, but we supernaturals have a difficult time letting go of tradition,” he said.

“I like that, for the most part,” I admitted.

“Most part?” he said with raised brow.

“Okay, I like it all,” I chuckled. “I was thinking about being forced into an arranged marriage, but that’s not really old fashioned now, is it?”

“There was a time when it would have been,” Geo mused.  “I think you would have liked that time. People were freer and the earth was alive with life.”

“Before the wars,” I mused.  “Do you think the earth will ever be like that again?”

“I think a lot depends upon whether they are able to remove the leaders from the New World Order and put someone in their place who actually cares more about rebuilding life on the planet instead of controlling it,” Geo said thoughtfully.  “I have seen, firsthand, the devastation their new weaponry causes wherever it strikes.  They care little for the effects it has on the landscape as long as they destroy whatever target they are aiming at.”

“We’ll eventually have to battle them, won’t we?” I asked with trepidation.

After seeing the condition of Geo and Luthias after they battled Bartholomew’s army when it attacked Sybil’s subterranean mutant-vampire kingdom, I had a good idea of what we were up against and the destruction that could ensue.  I should rightfully say, “my subterranean mutant-vampire kingdom”, since I inherited it after I killed her, but I had no desire or use for it or the mutants who inhabited it. If it weren’t for Geo and his desire to keep all vampires -mutant or not- working together, they would be leaderless.

“I’ve got our scientists studying the weapon you had your men steal.  It’s my hope that we can replicate it and then go one better.  It would be nice to come up with something that is more powerful, but maybe not as detrimental to the environment,” he said.

“Is that possible?” I asked.

“Time will tell,” he shrugged.  “Now, my pretty soon-to-be wife… why don’t you and lovely Owena go take a little rest while my little man and I take a nature walk.”

I looked down at Owena’s little cherub face.  Even with all the talking between Geo and me, she’d managed to fall sound asleep.  With a smile and a quick peck on his cheek, I did as Geo asked and went to our room. After carefully placing Owena in her bassinette, I stretched out onto the welcoming mattress and almost immediately drifted off to sleep.

As I fell into a blissful state, the dream I’d dreamt several times before came back.

I was walking through an enormous field of flowers; some so tall I could caress their silken tops as I moved aimlessly along. The sun shone brilliant in a cloudless sky, but I didn’t need sunglasses to protect my eyes. I delighted in the brilliant colors all around me.  It was such a pleasure to see them in their natural state without the tinting of colored lenses muting their beauty.

Birds of all varieties soared playfully over my head and I laughed with delight. Off in the distance a tall, well-built, and very familiar figure walked slowly toward me. I looked with admiration as his strong thighs pushed their way through flowers that seemed to bend to his will and then salute him as he passed.  My heart pounded with anticipation and my mouth went dry as he drew closer.

By the time Luthias stood in front of me, I was a speechless mess. I hadn’t realized just how much I missed seeing his handsome face, teasing smile, powerful and lean physique every day. He said nothing as he cupped my chin with his strong, slender fingers and tilted my face at an angle that made it easier for his lips to caress mine.

Our kiss was soft and slow at first, but soon turned possessive and needy. It was a feeling that far surpassed vampire or werewolf lust. It was the need that two lovers who connected after a long time of missing each other felt. It was a need to consume each other until they blended into one.

My face was moist with tears that were a mixture of joy, loss, guilt, and love. What was happening? I knew I was dreaming, but I couldn’t stop what was happening. I wanted -no, needed to be kissed by Luthias. When his hands slid down my back and he pulled me so close that our bodies molded as one, I didn’t resist. In the back of my mind, I knew it was wrong, but I didn’t care. It may be only a dream, but it was a dream I needed to play out.

As he lay me gently amidst the sweet-smelling flowers and then lowered his body onto mine, I tingled all over. One of the nice things about a dream is that you can skip the boring scenes and move right on to the good stuff; which is what I did when it came to making love to Luthias.  One minute we were standing in a field of flowers kissing passionately and the next I was lying naked beneath him while he took me with a fury that surpassed the passion of a vampire.

As I lay spent in his arms, he kissed me gently on my temple, then each breast, then my abdomen. I shouldn’t have been surprised when his tender kisses found their way to my most private area, but I was. Perhaps it was more the fact that I would have such an erotic dream more so than the fact that Luthias pleasured me in such a way. It certainly wasn’t as if he’d never done it before.

I closed my eyes while I reveled in the sensations as Luthias took my shameless body to heights beyond measure. I allowed myself the privilege of screaming out his name as I reached my peak. When he took me again, it was slow, gentle, and oh so loving.

My cloudless sky began to shift into a dark, foreboding mass that reminded me of dirty cotton balls. They moved together in a slow rhythm that matched Luthias’ thrusts until they created the foreboding image of Geo’s scowling face.  I gasped and clutched Luthias’ shoulders as I struggled with what to do. I needed to stop the dream and wake up, but I couldn’t.  The harder I pushed at Luthias’ shoulders to get him to stop, the more aggressive his thrusts became. I wanted to turn away from Geo’s glowering eyes, but I couldn’t. It was clear Luthias was almost at his peak and it was equally clear he wasn’t about to stop until he reached it.  It was with great effort that I finally managed to pull my eyes from Geo’s and close them once again. I was no longer enjoying the dream and couldn’t wait for it to end.

I awoke exhausted, sore, and naked!  I had no idea how I managed to strip my clothes off in my sleep, but there was no denying that it happened. I looked at the chair by the bed to see them neatly folded in a pile. I reached between my legs and felt the remnants of love making. How could that be?

Guilt consumed me as I jumped out of bed and rushed into the shower. I’d dreamt of Luthias off and on since he left, but never had they been so vivid and certainly not so true to life.  I had no idea how or why I’d managed to literally have sex with Luthias in my sleep, but I knew I needed to keep this fact from Geo.  Memories of his scowling face in the clouds rushed back and I said a silent prayer that it was only a part of the dream and not something else that really happened.