LITMIR.BIZ

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Anton said, “what do you think of The Nocturne?”

      “I’m not sure. Why is everyone wearing black?”

      “This is a Goth hangout.”

      “Oh! Silly me, I should have guessed.”

      He grinned at her. “I take it you’re not into the Goth scene.”

      “Not really,” she replied, and then frowned, thinking that her father would be right at home in a place like this. He had an affinity for dark clothing, and he had a long black cloak. It was more than that, though. From time to time, she had sensed a darkness in her father that she couldn’t explain and didn’t understand.

      Cara finished her drink, then looked at her watch, surprised to find it was so late. “I should be going,” she said reluctantly. “My folks will be worried.”

      “Don’t tell me you still live at home with mom and dad!”

      Cara shrugged. “I like it there.” And she did, although sometimes, especially when the days were long and the nights were short, it was like living alone.

      “One more dance?” he coaxed.

      “I don’t think so. I really need to go,” she said, and then wondered why she had to be home before midnight. She wasn’t a child anymore. Why did she still have a curfew? Lately, she’d had so many questions about the way she lived. Why did she still live at home? Why did she still need a bodyguard? She was twenty-two years old and no one had ever tried to kidnap her or molest her or so much as give her a dirty look. Of course, Di Giorgio was probably responsible for that. A man would have to be crazy to try anything with the Hulk lurking in the background. Still, maybe it was time to sit her folks down and ask the questions that had been plaguing her more and more in the last few months.

      “Thank you for the drink and the dance,” she said, rising.

      “Any chance you’ll be here tomorrow night about this time?” he asked.

      She canted her head to the side, considering it, and then smiled. “I’d say the odds were good.”

      “Great. I’ll see you then.”

      Leaning back against the bar, Anton Bouchard watched his enemy’s daughter leave the bar, followed by a big bear of a man who looked as if he could easily take on every other man in the place without breaking a sweat.

      Anton grunted softly, thinking how pleased his mother would be when he told her he had put the first part of her plan into operation.

      Chapter 2

      Serafina Bouchard beamed when Anton told her that he had made contact with DeLongpre’s daughter. Serafina had waited over twenty years to avenge herself on DeLongpre and now the time was at hand, so close she could taste it. She wasn’t powerful enough to destroy the vampire or his witch wife, but destroying their daughter would hurt them far worse than any physical pain she could inflict, and they deserved to be destroyed. They had killed Anthony Loken, the only man she had ever loved, and Myra had been killed that same night. Serafina didn’t know how Myra had died, or who had killed her, but she was certain that, one way or another, Roshan DeLongpre had been responsible for her death.

      Serafina smiled. She wasn’t sorry that Myra was gone. She had always been jealous of Myra, jealous of her power, jealous of her association with Anthony. With Myra’s death, the Wiccan Way Coffee Shop and Book Store had closed and the coven had been without a leader, but not for long. When no one else seemed inclined to take over, Serafina had stepped in and taken charge. She had opened a new bookstore on the other side of town and offered it to the coven for a place to meet. Now, twenty years later, she was the undisputed head of the coven and The Wiccan Heart was thriving. When Anton grew old enough to work, she had made him her partner in the bookstore.

      Later that night, alone in her room, Serafina spoke to her beloved’s photo. “Soon, Anthony, soon your death will be avenged and you’ll be able to rest in peace.”

      She pressed his picture to her breast. She had fallen in love with Anthony Loken the first moment she had seen him, so tall and blond, like one of Satan’s angels. She would never forget the day Myra had introduced her to Anthony. He had smiled at Serafina, and she had known that he loved her in return. One night, during a spring ritual shortly before his death, she had offered herself to him. Anton was the result.

      Anthony had never known of her love for him or about the child she had conceived. By the time she knew she was pregnant, he was gone. She had raised her son alone, teaching him everything she knew about Magick and witchcraft, whispering to him late at night that he would be the instrument that would bring down the people responsible for his father’s death. And always, in the back of her mind, she clung to the sure knowledge that Anthony had loved her, assured herself every day that if he had lived, he would have married her and claimed Anton as his son. She believed it with every fiber of her being, her surety growing more unshakeable with every passing year, until she had convinced herself that Anthony had not only loved her, but married her before he died. If DeLongpre and his witch wife hadn’t destroyed her beloved, Anthony would have been hers for all eternity.

      Even though her beloved was gone, Serafina refused to let him go. His clothing filled her closet. His books and journals were in a trunk in her basement. Each Beltane, she made a list of seven reasons why she loved Anthony Loken. When her list was complete, she drew a circle of power on the floor of her bedroom. She sat on one side of the circle and on the other she placed a life-sized rag doll that she had dressed in Anthony’s clothes. Sitting in the circle, she read her list. The reasons were different each year. When she finished reading her list, she took her make-believe Anthony’s hand in hers and said, “I will love you forever because you’re you.”

      She kissed his image, then placed the photograph on her dresser. Soon his death would be avenged and when the deed was done, she would join him in the After World where they would finally be together forever.

      With that thought in mind, Serafina crawled into bed, one of Anthony’s handkerchiefs clutched to her breast.

      She would dream of him again tonight.

      Chapter 3

      Roshan DeLongpre looked up as his daughter entered the room. She was a lovely child, he thought, though at twenty-two, he supposed she was no longer a child. Still, she would always be his little girl. Her hair, the color of ripe wheat, fell to her waist in soft waves. Her eyes were as blue as sapphires, her skin smooth and unblemished. How had she grown up so fast? It seemed like only yesterday that Brenna had found Cara’s mother in an alley giving birth. Roshan had spread his cloak beneath the girl; Brenna had helped bring the child into the world.

      He remembered that night clearly, especially the look of wonder in Brenna’s eyes as she wrapped the tiny, newborn infant in her cloak.

      “You have a beautiful little girl,” Brenna had said.

      “Take her,” the mother said. “I don’t want her. I don’t want to see her.”

      Brenna had looked up at him, her arms tightening around the infant.

      He shook his head. “Don’t even think about it.”

      “But she does not want it.”

      “Brenna, what would we do with a baby?”

      “Love her.”

      “No. It won’t work. There’s no way…”

      The mother glanced at Brenna. “If you don’t take her, I’m just going to dump her in a trash can somewhere. I can’t take her home with me.”

      “Surely the baby’s father…”

      “I don’t know who he is.” The teenager was pulling on her discarded jeans as she spoke. Taking a deep breath, she stood up, one hand braced against the wall behind her.

      “What are you doing?” Brenna asked.

      “I’m

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