Chapter 1

What in the hell was I thinking? I mean really! It’s bad enough my family and hers has such a long history, but to actually take her to bed? Damn, the shit was going to hit the fan for sure, I could see it now. Well, might as well tell you what’s going on. It started, oh I’d say ‘bout four hundred years ago. I was ... me? Oh, I’m Johnathon Timmins, Mage at your service.

Huh? You don’t believe me, well that’s okay, not many norms really know about us any way. So, to continue on, it started over a hundred years ago. My family has a curious ability, sure we have the normal powers and such, but you might say we have been blessed (or in my case) cursed with an ability no other mage has.

Everyone in my family was a mage of one type or another, At that time we were living in Europe, not too far from Germany. We were well protected, but we still had a problem with the local clan of vampires. Don’t get me wrong, yes, we didn’t like them nor them us, but for quite a while we kept away from each other.

That was ‘til one fateful day, my father met up with the leader of their clan. Now two strange things happened when they were only a hundred yards from each other. One, All of my fathers powers vanished, just poof! Nothing and two, the heart of the vampire leader started beating. As my father told it later on, they both were scared shitless!

Both being extremely intelligent men, they proposed a compromise, a way that this strange occurrence could benefit both clans. They both talked ‘til sunrise, the leader of the vampires remarking that he hadn’t seen the sun for over one thousand years now, leave it to say, he was crying and wished to see more. This in turn led to the second part of the compromise, if they were both normal, then perhaps they could have children.

Enter me and the vampire leader’s real daughter, Lana and our betrothal. I was a mere one hundred years old at the time, just fully coming into my powers. She, on the other hand, was roughly the same age physically, but had me by about five hundred years. Problem was, centuries of mistrust and hatred was so in grained in us, that there was no real compromise between me and her.

It seemed she loved being one of the undead, from the first time she felt her heart beat, when I drew near her, she hated me. I can’t say I was exactly thrilled over the idea of being close to (as I called them) a leech. As you can guess, this didn’t go over too well with our fathers, and you could say led to some major insulting, a lot of it basically about family lines and morals.

Then separation of the families occurred again, shit took months to get up, years to plan and she and I screwed that in just a few minutes. As Father said, I didn’t play around, it either happened now or it just didn’t happen. Any way, suffice it to say the groups split again for another hundred years and of course there were no children.

In the mean time I honed my skills as a mage, always careful to avoid the vampires and the ‘norms’ as we called them. It was the start of the 1800’s when a lot of my family wanted a change and went to the new land of America. It seemed that for a while at least, they were doing well. It was decided then that I was to go and oversee the families holdings in this new country. Not long after arriving, I noticed that the conditions here were really primitive, something I could easily deal with.

Though they had only a few problems, I was able to take care of everything with minimal exposure or interaction. Every thing was fine ‘til the day she showed up, yeah showed up and completely screwed everything up again! I was checking on a delivery of silk that had just come in, when I felt rather than saw her, stepping off the train. Moments later, Lana stepped off the train and started looking around, finding me at the other end of the platform, she threw looks of pure hatred my way.

I was in shock enough, but to see HER again not a good day. Moments later, she walked closer, then stopped in front of me, “Mr. Timmings, I hope to see as little of you as possible while I am here,” she hissed.

“I expect the same courtesy from you,” I spat back, both of us passing sinister, threatening looks at each other.

She started to move past me, then stopped and leaned closer whispering, “I despise you, lowly creature, I will not hesitate to kill you given the chance.”

“I hope you also realize, that I, will also not hesitate to end your pitiful existence, you leeching filth.” I answered.

If looks were weapons, then everyone around us would have been dead many times over. Many were backing away, seeing the looks of pure hatred we were fixing upon each other.

“Damn boss,” my human assistant said, “that was one heated moment.”

“You don’t know the half of it, and no, don’t ask just suffice it to say, hers and my families have a very long history.” I replied.

“Well hell, boss, she’s beautiful! You saying you have a problem with her?” My assistant asked, surprised.

“It’s not just a problem with her, but her whole damn family.” I spit back at him.

“Okay, sorry boss, my bad,” with that he was quiet as we finished with inventory.

I had to feel for the man, he didn’t know of the centuries of disagreements between us, nor the near feud she and I had started.

“Sorry Dan,” I started, “We’ve never really liked each other, plus we’ve known each other a long time.”

Dan’s eyes grew large, “Ah, I see you were together at one time, ok.”

“No, not quite, we were betrothed at one time, but no longer, as we can’t stand each other.” I tried to explain.

“Oh my, is it really that bad?” Dan asked.

“No, it’s far worse than you can imagine,” I couldn’t go any farther without giving anything away, it would just have to lie where it was.

Stepping into my office, I opened the communique from my father, hmm, it seemed that many of the vampires in the region back home were dying off. At first, the clan leaders had met, but no one on the mage side had anything to do with it. My father had worked with the other leader and finally found what had happened, it seemed a human disease had effected the clan, a first in their history.

Father had agreed to help the vampire clan, but the compromise was brought up again. Sighing, I laid the letter down, not again! That explained why she was here! Damn it, after all these years to have that reawakened again.

Okay, so I lied some, we had been together a short time, hell, there were even the stirrings of feelings. Then her family and mine wanted things their way, that wasn’t going to happen. So we split, well she did, I knew it had to be her, so I had done everything I could to make a break between us, something I wasn’t proud of but was the only way to end it and both of us keep ourselves. Now she hated my guts and I still had feelings for her, feelings that I buried as deep as I could every night.

Truly, I had volunteered to come to America, to help strengthen my resolve against my feelings for her. It figured that her and my fathers were still hard at it, trying to get us together. Sighing, I realized that I was going to have to go down that f•©king heart ache road again.

I think I was going to kill my father and maybe hers too. Looking out on the dusty road, I knew things had just gotten a hell of a lot more complicated. Sitting, I grabbed a glass and a stiff drink, feeling the alcohol burn down my throat, I knew I had to start planning or this would get out of hand rather quick.

The next morning I arrived at the shop a little late, not really warding off the effects of the alcohol I was a little hung over, go figure. I’d spent the better part of the night and two bottles trying to come up with a plan to be as far from her as I could.

Sighing, as I neared the shop, it now appeared that it wasn’t going to be that easy, my least favorite person in the world was in my office and from the sound of things, my assistant wasn’t getting off easy from her wrath.

“I don’t care, you run and fetch him immediately! Tell him I demand his presence here NOW!” Always with the damn threats. Christ, when she started shouting reminded me of a pissed off rat squealing at the top of it’s lungs.

Throwing open the door, I stared at her hard, “For one thing, NO ONE demands my presence anywhere! That includes my father! Secondly, lower your voice and depart my office, at least ‘til such time as you can keep civil tones to my staff and me!”

I opened the door and pointed out of the office. Visibly shaken, she and her cronies left, the biggest stopping to whisper to me. “This isn’t over,” he breathed to me.

“Yes it is! You obviously don’t know who you are dealing with, I am Timmings of the European Timmings, press it and you won’t last past today. Am I understood?” The shocked expression on his face turned to hatred, but he quickly left.

Obviously he was a newly formed disciple of her family’s and was a little to stupid to know that you didn’t go against a full mage. If I remember right, the last time that happened was some two thousand years ago, it had taken well over three thousand vampires, actually almost two whole clans to kill the mage, but not before he decimated both clans. The clans of course no longer exist.

The thing is, I heard that the mage hadn’t even been mad. Shit, let’s not even begin to point out how much more powerful a mage is when mad or upset. I watched all of them leave, yeah she knew better, as I am sure she would express to her cronies some time soon.

Still, I didn’t trust the newly made, they were always stupid to a point. I’d make sure all my wards were up tonight, along with a few extra traps specifically geared toward vampires.

Oh well, another sleepless night thanks to the leeches not keeping a tighter leash on their pets.

“I’m sorry boss, she barged in demanding to speak to you and you only. I told her I didn’t know where you were, that was about the time you got here. I was as nice and courteous as I could be, but she seemed to get more and more upset, I didn’t mean to upset the lady.” Dan said shaking visibly. He was dam lucky she hadn’t ripped his throat out as mad as she had felt, yeah, and then leave it for me to clean up, something she was very good at.

“It’s not your fault Dan, as I told you yesterday, THAT was one of the reasons I am no longer with her.” I said to help calm him down.

“Yeah sure boss, I always knew you were strong, but if you can take her on, I’m glad you’re on my side!” He said now excited.

I just smiled, you have no idea Dan, no idea at all. I figured I’d get a little work done, then go turn in. As I figured it, the young ass would try to attack me tonight at sunset, might as well get a nap before I destroyed it.

Hours later, I awoke as the sun was starting to set, I figured any time now. Sure enough, I felt him as he tried to slip past my wards and traps, hmm, not bad, too bad he had to die tonight.

“You know,” I said when he appeared in my room, “I just might let you survive. You are better than I at first thought, but even you ought to know not to take on a full mage with or without your powers.”

“WHAT? I can fell my heart beating? I am alive? But that can’t be! Plus, if you have no powers as she said, how can you hurt me?” he said surprised.

“I guess she forgot to tell you, though I have no powers, everything I set up before is still active. I know where they are, you do not, now that you can’t see them. So the choice is yours, either way you are most certainly dead, out the window, or back down the stairs. Either way isn’t going to be particularly good for you.” I sneered at him looking like a trapped rat.

“You can’t win you know,” he told me, “This time both councils are on hers and your father’s side.” With that he dived out the window, the muffled thump I heard let me know he didn’t make it. Sighing I thought, vampires, always thinking they can land on their heads.

Hmm, both councils huh? I was really wondering if she knew anything about this? In all probability not, or I feel she’d have been three times as angry this early morning. Sighing, I decided I was going to have to go and see her after all, great! That’s all I needed, another confrontation with her, though this one will not be as public. Walking to her darkened room, I felt her as soon as I entered. Damn, this wasn’t going to go well I could tell.

“To what do we owe the pleasure of the great Mr. Timmings!” I heard her spit sarcastically.

“I thought you might want to know of news I just found out from your now dead man. But if you want to play it that way, so f•©king be it!” I shouted as I turned to walk out.

“You will show more respect than..., “ her crony started, then was quieted when she held up her hand.

“It’s alright, Mr. Timmings and myself have uh hum ... history,” she stated.

I stopped and handed her the communique I had received from my father that morning. “I had wondered why father had sent me out of the country just now. I can not stand you Johnathon Timmings, I am not sure I ever will, but in this instance we have a common enemy and purpose. My men will be over soon to clean up the mess my associate has left.”

I nodded then left, hell she’d used my first name. It was the first time in over one hundred fifty years I’d heard her speak it. Unless I guessed wrong, and anything was possible right now, I think she might still have feelings for me.

A movement behind me caused me to stop, “What do you want? I know who and what you are, so don’t try it, you’d be surprised.”

“Tsk, tsk, is that any way to speak to an old friend?” came a voice from the past. A voice I had sorely missed these last two hundred years.