A Gift of the Darkest Magic Read online

  A Gift of the Darkest Magic

  by

  Ashlynn Monroe

  A Gift of the Darkest Magic

  Copyright © 2012, Ashlynn Monroe

  ISBN: 9781937325329

  Publisher: Beachwalk Press, Inc.

  Electronic Publication: July, 2012

  Editor: Leigh Lamb

  Cover: LFD Designs

  eBooks are not transferable. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written

  permission, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews.

  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 author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Back Cover Copy

  Would you be willing to betray the person you love in order to save their life?

  Clarissa’s husband Matt is dying of cancer. They’ve tried everything that medicine has to

  offer, both traditional and experimental, and nothing’s worked. Clarissa spends her days in the hospital, watching the man she loves slip closer and closer to certain death.

  When her sister tells her she knows a way to save Matt, but it involves visiting a local

  club run by vampires, Clarissa is outraged that her sister would believe something so insane. But then she learns the truth.

  Braden, the sexy and mysterious vampire who runs the club, does indeed have the means

  to save Matt, but he demands a high payment in return. He doesn’t want money, her blood, or

  even her life…he wants something she never expected. Clarissa has a choice—spend twenty-four

  hours in Braden’s bed or let her husband die.

  But what she never foresaw was how much more the vampire would truly want after he’d

  given her the gift of the darkest magic.

  Content Warning: infidelity, light bondage, anal sex, and rough sex

  Dedication

  I’d like to dedicate this to cancer survivors and to anyone who’s ever lost a loved one to this terrible disease…you have my support and prayers. **HUGS**

  A Gift of the Darkest Magic

  1

  Chapter 1

  The quiet drip of the IV and the occasional bleep of the monitor were the only sounds in

  the dim hospital room. Clarissa Blair held the cold hand of her husband, Matthew. Matt’s

  diagnosis of cancer, just after Christmas, had been a horrible surprise. His condition rapidly deteriorated. The vibrant forty-year-old lay reduced to a thin husk, wasting away in the small room on the fourth floor of Mercy General Hospital. Clarissa could only wait and mourn quietly.

  She’d tried to hide her pain and stay positive for Matt, but it was getting harder to pretend as he slipped closer to the end of his life.

  Their twin seven-year-old daughters spent a lot of time with her mother. She didn’t want

  them to remember their father as the corpse she saw each day when she came to the hospital after work. Her life was a cycle of working and grieving. She knew the girls missed her, but she just didn’t have the strength to be there for them and keep up with the day-to-day battle of holding herself together. Matt was leaving them.

  The sound of the door opening roused her from the dark, sad thoughts. She stood up and

  hugged the visitor. “Hi, sis.”

  Caren, her younger sister, breezed into the room smelling of sunshine and fresh air, in

  contrast to the stale stench of death she’d come to associate with her husband’s hospital room.

  “How is he today?”

  Her sister’s sadness only added to the weight in Clarissa’s heart. “About the same. The

  nurse said last night was tough, but he pulled through. He’s a strong fighter.” She knew the last words sounded bitter. He was the strongest man she’d ever known; she couldn’t understand why

  he couldn’t beat the disease ravaging him. His once handsome face was pale and sunken. Her

  Matt had left long ago, leaving the dying man in his place. Her Matt would never have

  abandoned her and their daughters as this man was doing.

  For a long moment, Caren looked into her face. She knew Caren wanted to say

  something, but was holding back.

  “Go ahead and say what’s on your mind. You’re always so afraid of saying something

  that’ll make me cry. I’m past that stage now. Just talk, you’re irritating me.” She knew her shrill A Gift of the Darkest Magic

  2

  statement bordered on cruel, but she didn’t care. What was the use of pleasantries when her

  whole life was over and she’d never be happy again?

  “Sorry, sweetie,” Caren whispered, laying a gentle hand on Clarissa’s shoulder.

  The simple act of kindness tore at her soul, making her want to lash out again. She

  shrugged off her sister’s caring touch. The unwavering love in the deep turquoise eyes, the same shade as her own, sent a little stab of guilt through Clarissa. “I’m the one who should be sorry, but seriously just tell me what’s on your mind.”

  Caren gave her a weak smile. “You know I love Matt too. He saved my life when Jim

  was beating me. If he hadn’t intervened and made me come to stay with you guys, I’d probably

  be dead right now.”

  Clarissa nodded. Matt had no siblings. She’d married him when Caren was still in high

  school and he’d taken to her sister as if she were his own. It was just one of the many traits that made her husband completely irreplaceable. “I know.” She sighed.

  “I think I know a way to repay the favor and save him, but I need your help,” Caren

  whispered.

  Clarissa’s eyes narrowed. Her whole body began shaking. “How dare you!” She hissed at

  her beloved younger sister. She’d never felt such a hateful, intense fury toward the other woman before.

  “Really. I mean it, Clarissa. I think I know a way that we can save Matt’s life.” She said

  the words with genuine hope.

  “We’ve tried faith healers, herbs, expensive specialists, what more can there be? I can’t

  believe you’d spout such bullshit. Especially when he’s so close to…” She couldn’t say “the

  end”, but it was true. Her husband only had a few more weeks to live, maybe less. The doctors had made it perfectly clear. It was time to give up hope. She’d already picked out his casket and bought the plot. Matt was gone.

  “I’m not pulling your leg, or giving you false hope. I saw it work!” Caren’s eyes were

  large and wild as she finished her statement.

  “You saw what work?” Clarissa couldn’t hide her anger, or her annoyance. She just

  wanted to have her last painful moments with the man she loved in peace.

  “Do you remember Tiffany Morgan, the woman with the sick little girl?”

  “Sure, the kid was in Marcie’s class, they were in kindergarten together. The girl had

  A Gift of the Darkest Magic

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  some sort of heart thing, right?”

  “She did. I work with Tiffany. She appreciated how much you and Matt helped when

  things were bad and she thought she was going to lose her daughter. I finally made her tell me how her daughter recovered miraculously overnight.”

  “God works in mysterious ways, Caren. I’m sure the mother had nothing to do with her

  daughter’s recovery, other than giving her love. Sometimes you get the strangest ideas. I can’t believe you’d bother the woman about such a terrible time in her life.” She blew the
bangs out of her face. Her sister could be so irrational. For as much as she loved her, times like this tested her patience with Caren.

  “Tiffany is a regular down at The Full Moon Club. She said the owner, Lord Drago, gave

  her something to give her daughter that no doctor could.” Caren was speaking quickly. There

  was a haunted quality to the look in her eyes.

  “Lord Drago? Who calls themselves ‘lord’ anything? That place is full of wackos. If the

  club wasn’t so exclusive and impossible to get into, no one would even go there. The girls who lurk out front all day and night look like they’re one hit away from an overdose. I wouldn’t trust anything that came out of the building.” Clarissa put her hands on her hips and glared at her sister. She was desperate, and people in her state were easy to exploit. Now it seemed her sister had fallen into the same trap she’d already stepped in.

  In the beginning, Clarissa spent thousands of dollars on pills and herbs that made claims

  they could stop, and even reverse, the growth of cancer cells. Glancing at her husband, she

  frowned sadly. The treatments might have even hurt him, considering how quickly his health

  declined after she began trying to save him with alternative medicine, but it was clear traditional medicine had nothing miraculous to offer them.

  “I know it sounds crazy. I’d never thought I’d say something like this, but Tiffany

  showed me the pictures of her daughter, one taken each hour for twenty-four hours after she used the blood.”

  “Blood! You want me to use blood on my husband? Great, give him AIDS to save him

  from cancer. Just leave. I’m sick of this. Let me have my last days with him in peace.”

  “No. I love him too. He’s too damn good to die and you know it.”

  “What I know is that what he’s got doesn’t care if he’s a good husband and father, a good

  brother. This disease is going to kill him no matter what we do. He’s sleeping and we’re getting A Gift of the Darkest Magic

  4

  loud. Go now!”

  “I’m going to the club tonight. Tiffany is getting me in. I wanted you to come with me.

  I’m afraid. Tiffany told me they pay her to give blood at the place, live donation. She said they drink blood there, but their blood has magical properties. That’s why she knew what the blood could do. She said it took her months to get one to give her a little blood. She put it on candy, fed it to her kid, and a day later the kid was out of bed and playing with toys like she’d never been sick.” Caren took a firm hold of her sister’s shoulders and shook her slightly. “The kid was

  dying, and then she wasn’t. I don’t care how creepy or gross it sounds. If there’s a way to save Matt, I’m willing to risk my life to get the stuff. I wanted you to come with me, but if you won’t I’m still going.”

  Clarissa pushed her sister’s hands off. “You’re fucking crazy! What kind of crap is this?

  Vampires? Come on, Caren, you don’t believe in vampires, do you?”

  “Maybe. I don’t care who or what is in that club, as long as Matt lives. He deserves to see

  his kids grow up. You two are like the perfect couple. I don’t want to see that end. I’ve seen what this is doing to you. His death is killing you. I can’t lose you both. Please, if I get some, will you try it? What do we have to lose?”

  Clarissa stood shaking. She wrapped her arms around her middle. She fixed her attention

  on her sleeping husband. He was one of a kind. Caren was right, she felt like she was dying with him. She didn’t want to leave her kids alone, but the part of her that was fun and happy would die when Matt took his last breath. She wouldn’t have the will to go on.

  Her head snapped back in her sister’s direction. “Tiffany really said something she got in

  that club saved her daughter? What time?” she questioned quietly, fueled with determination.

  “She did. Nine. I’ll pick you up,” Caren answered with no emotion in her voice. “We will

  save him.”

  “God help us, if whatever we get there hurts him worse. I’ll kill us both.” She stumbled

  back numbly into the chair next to the bed, watching him sleep.

  She caught a glimpse of her sister’s blonde head ducking out of the door. They looked

  very much alike, but their personalities couldn’t have been more different. She loved her

  irrational, emotional, funny sister, but she hoped the girl wasn’t leading her down a dark rabbit hole she’d never crawl out of again. Matt was worth any risk, but she didn’t want to cause him any additional suffering. His death would be hard enough without having to endure regrets over A Gift of the Darkest Magic

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  his last days.

  A Gift of the Darkest Magic

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  Chapter 2

  “Hi, Marsha. The girls are already fast asleep. They tried to wait up to see you, but the

  sandman didn’t give them the chance,” Clarissa said, opening the door for the babysitter. Marsha was Caren’s best friend and used to babysit every Thursday night when she and Matt enjoyed a

  date night. She hadn’t seen the woman in six months. Marsha gave her a big hug. “Thanks for

  coming.”

  Caren came in the door behind her friend. “Ready?” She gave her sister a strange once-

  over.

  “What?”

  “You look like someone’s deranged secretary. You do know we’re going to a club and

  not a meeting?”

  Clarissa looked down at her white, cotton button-down shirt and knee length, black skirt.

  She’d lost a lot of weight since Matt had gotten sick. This was the best outfit she had that still fit.

  “My husband is dying. I don’t exactly feel like whooping it up like a co-ed. I’m dressed

  and I’m going. Be happy you’ve gotten me out of my uniform.”

  Caren rolled her eyes. “People would be giving you orders for drinks all night if you

  wore your waitressing uniform.” The younger woman chuckled. “Okay, I get it. Tiffany said she could get us in, so I guess you don’t have to change. That is a cute skirt. Come with me into the bathroom, I can make this work. We’re getting in, but not if you look like someone’s mother

  coming to drag them out of the club.”

  “I’m old enough to be most of their mothers.”

  “Yeah, but you don’t usually look like it.”

  Caren took her sister’s hand and led her into the bathroom. She took the bun out of her

  sister’s long blonde hair and grabbed the hair spray as Clarissa just watched. She scrunched, sprayed, shook, scrunched, sprayed, and instantly Clarissa looked much more casual. She hadn’t done anything with her hair for so long, she forgot what it felt like.

  Next, Caren grabbed a big red crystal necklace and matching earrings out of the jewelry

  armoire that sat next to the bathroom vanity and put the jewelry on Clarissa. She grabbed some eyeliner and thickly lined a black strip under her eyes, bringing up just a little curve at the corners. She used a little blush and some red lipstick to complete the transformation.

  A Gift of the Darkest Magic

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  “You’re still pale, but you look a heck of a lot better.”

  “Thanks so much. You make it sound like I looked awful before.”

  “If the shoe fits, sissy. Just kidding, the girls are sleeping and Matt’s in good hands at the hospital. Let’s go see if we can get your husband a miracle.”

  “I just hope this isn’t a waste of time. If this is some kind of scam, I’m never speaking to

  you again.”

  “Tiffany said they won’t take money for the blood. She said it took her months to

  convince one of them to give her some. She’s risking her life getting us in. She said they might want to bite us.”

  “Bite us! You’re telling me
this now? What kind of psychos go around biting people? I

  can’t believe you’ve talked me into going there. This is crazy!”

  “I know, it sounds crazy to me too, but Tiffany genuinely likes you and Matt. It’s taken

  me months to get the truth out of her. She was scared when she told me and agreed to get us in.

  Give this a chance. I believe her.”

  “You’ll have to believe for both of us. I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t go.

  No matter how insane this sounds, if there’s anything that might help him and I don’t try, I won’t be able to forgive myself.”

  Caren wrapped her arms around her sister. “I know,” she murmured.

  “Have fun, you two. Your daughters will be just fine. Stay out as late as you’d like. If I

  get tired, I’ll just sleep in the spare room next to the girls’ room,” Marsha said.

  “Great. Thanks, Marsha,” Caren chirped and gave Marsha a quick hug. “You’re a life

  saver.”

  “No worries. I love those kids, and it’s not like I have a life since Brad broke it off,” she pouted.

  “You’ll find a better guy,” Clarissa told her, but she knew how empty those words must

  sound. Love wasn’t something replaceable. Marsha gave her a little, sad smile.

  They left the house and climbed into Caren’s small blue Toyota. Her favorite angry metal

  band began screaming from the speakers. She quickly flipped the radio off. Clarissa was a

  country music girl all the way, so they seldom listened to the radio together; death metal and country never found common ground. Clarissa’s palms were sweating, so she wiped them on her

  skirt.

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  “I told Tiffany I’d pick her up. She said she doesn’t need a ride home. They have a

  courtesy service to take donors home after they check out with a clean bill of health. I guess vampires are more conscious than the movies would have us think,” Caren teased, but the words only increased the thick tension in the car.