by ML Guida
“I suppose we should dress,” he said.
They quickly dressed and walked hand in hand down the hallway to the kitchen.
“Bon. You are both awake,” Grand-mère said. She gestured toward the oak table. “Sit. The pastries are nearly done and tea is brewing.”
The steamy smell of chamomile filled the familiar quaint kitchen. A fire burned in the hearth, and copper pans hung overhead. The herb garden of basil, rosemary, sage, and chamomile sat in front of the bay window. Mariah inhaled, and the fragrances soothed her beaten spirit.
William rubbed her palm with his thumb. Her protective dragon.
“I am sorry I failed you, Grand-mère,” Mariah said.
Grand-mère’s forehead furrowed as she poured the hot water into a porcelain tea cup with hand painted tiny roses around the rim. “Failed what, ma chèrie?”
Mariah lowered her head. “I did not save Lark.” William squeezed her hand and reassurance flowed through her. Her love for him had grown stronger over the last few weeks.
“Mon chou, you did save your brother.”
“No, I did not. A time spider took him, and my powers were useless against it.”
“You kept him from becoming a warlock. That is the task I sent you and your dragon out to do.”
“You wanted to see him before—” She could not bring herself to say it.
“Before I die?” Grand-mère rubbed Mariah’s back. “And I will, chèrie, I will. Zuto has set you on all path that you must carefully tread. One slip, and you will be under his spell.”
“Do you know where Lark is?”
Grand-mère shook her head. “There is a veil that I cannot penetrate. His whereabouts are hidden. But he is alive.” She gripped her cane and slid into a chair. “I have sensed a terrible presence with him.”
“Who?” William asked.
She sipped her tea. “You know who, dragon.” Her voice was low and chilly.
“Natasa,” he said.
“Oui, I fear he and Natasa will meet in a time and place worse than where my poor daughter met her death.”
The terror of her parents’ death rushed over Mariah and the tea sloshed in her stomach. She remembered the running, the hiding, and the constant fear, always the fear. “Will he survive?”
“If we can get to him in time,” Grand-mère said. “He has his wand, and he is a witch. Not a warlock. Both are in our favor. You must not rush this, Mariah. Finding someone in another time takes great magic. Something can easily go wrong. We will need help in finding him and must go through the old books to find a spell to bring him back. Patience is key.”
William leaned on the table. “Help from who? More dark magic?”
Grand-mère slapped her hand on the table. “Cease your doubt, dragon. Without my daughter and your dragon magic, the crew of the Soaring Phoenix would be no more, oui?”
William tilted his chin, and Mariah worried another fight would ignite between them. He still did not trust magic and probably never would. But he trusted her.
“He knows, Grand-mère,” Mariah said. “This will give you time to look for the spell books since Kane has granted the crew shore leave as they make ready for another voyage. However, he will not leave until you say that Hannah is well enough to travel.”
Grand-mère walked over to the oven and pulled out a tray of warm pastries, and Mariah’s mouth watered. Butter and homemade choke-cherry jam melted off them.
“Eat,” Grand-mère said. “Hannah and her father are not the only ones who must build up their strength. Soon, you will both be facing the tricky demon who will do anything to get what he wants.” She wagged her finger. “Be careful of him. He lies.”
“We know this,” William said, as he gobbled a pastry loaded with butter and jelly. “He told Drakon that he could make him alive again if he handed over Hannah and her father to him.”
“Zuto did not lie. He does have the power to lift the spell.”
William’s eyes clouded. “So, only Zuto can transform Drakon?”
“Do not put words in my mouth, dragon. I said he does possess the power, but there are others who could help.”
“Others?” William lowered his voice.
“Gods, of course. But this will take time. You and Drakon must be patient. I cannot rush this, and before this is all through, Zuto might surprise you.”
William snorted. “Are you daft? He’s pure evil.”
“Oui and no.”
William crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. “More riddles?”
Grand-mère bushed her white eyebrows and stuck out her chin.
Mariah waited for the battle, but Grand-mère turned to her. “Zuto will not lift the curse of your stubborn dragon…At least not yet.”
William rolled his eyes. “Like I said, riddles.”
Mariah wanted to pinch him for being a sullen cur. “Go on, Grand-mère.”
“Zuto is more determined. He feels Drakon betrayed him, so he will have to forgive Drakon before he can be freed.”
“Drakon did nothing wrong,” William said.
“He was given an order and disobeyed. An evil one, but an order, nonetheless.”
William’s eyes burned gold, and he muttered under his breath.
Grand-mère ignored him and focused on Mariah. “Now back to what I was saying. The soul of someone you care about a board the Soaring Phoenix is in danger of giving in to him. If he takes the demon up on his offer, more than his soul will be at stake.”
Mariah stopped buttering her pastry. “You mean Ronan, no?”
“He is in deep pain, a pain that will drive him to do terrible things. His pride will drive him to it. Be careful how you help him, mon chou.”
Slow realization slipped into Mariah’s mind. “You mean he and the undine?”
“Oui,” Grand-mère said. “Zuto has a cast a dark spell on Ronan. He will be consumed with self-loathing due to the loss of his hand. He will do anything to regain his self-respect, even if it means handing over the woman he loves and their unborn child to a devious demon.”
“How will this help Lark?” Mariah persisted.
“Ronan and the undine are the key to finding Lark,” Grand-mère said. “Once mated and loved professed, they will be able to force the truth out of Zuto on how to retrieve your brother. But time is running out. The time spider continues to spin its web. Once complete, Lark will be trapped on the other side forever.”
After the meal and cleaning up, Mariah needed some fresh, mountain air and wanted to be alone with her dragon. Once outside, she said, “Take me away from here.”
He lifted his eyebrow. “Where?”
She clasped his hand. “Where we first met?”
“The cave?”
“Oui, please.”
William sighed, but removed his clothes and transformed into a dragon. Mariah climbed on top of his back, and he soared into the air. Wind rolled over her, and she arched her back and thrust her arms wide, knowing he’d never allow her to fall. The freedom and exhilaration rushed through her, and she laughed. His muscles rippled beneath her, and she could feel the tension leaving him.
He landed on the ledge of the entrance to the cave. She slipped off his back. He changed back into a man, and she licked her lips at his lusty body. She rushed into his arms and kissed him. Protective arms held her, and she could feel his rising passion against her flesh.
“Can we spend the afternoon here?” she whispered. “I—”
William put his finger on her mouth. “Why here?”
“Because this is where our destinies collided, and I want to be in our cave away from the world, away from Coaybay, and pretend its only us. That everything is fine. Even for just a little awhile.”
He stared down at her with half-hood eyes filled with passion. “How can I deny my sweet witch?”
He lifted her into his strong arms and carried her into the cave. He lowered her on to the damp soft dirt, and she could hardly wait to spend hours in the cave loving her lusty drago
n.
Much lay ahead of them, but for the moment in time, she was content to bask in the love that they had found together. A love that no demon, no evil god, could tear apart.
Dear Reader
I’m delighted you decided to read A Pirate’s Revenge. This is the second book in the Legends of the Soaring Phoenix. I’ve always loved dragons, and I wanted to incorporate dragons into this tale. In the first book, William always looked down on his older brother for being a vampire, and I believe in the adage that what goes around, comes around. Although I wanted to have him shift into a dragon, I wanted to do a different spin on the shifter, and wanted to have Drakon be his own character.
I know I took liberties in writing this story. The term vampire wasn’t used until a much later date, but I’ve always wanted to write about pirates, especially vampire pirates.
I’m currently working on A Pirate’s Agony which is Amadi and Violet’s story which will be released around Valentine’s Day 2015. This will be a novella, and if you’ve ever heard of the White Witch in Jamaica, I’m loosely following the witch’s story.
I love to hear from readers. I am on all the social media sites, (Facebook, twitter@m_mlguida and Good Reads). I respond to emails, Facebook posts and tweets, so don’t hesitate to contact me. If you’d like to contact me, you can reach me on my website http://www.mlguida.com/contact/ or you can follow me my blog http://www.mlguida.com/blog/
Book loaning and reviews are ways that readers can help authors get the word out about books they love, so don’t hesitate to spread the word about A Pirate’s Revenge. I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative.
I have an excerpt of A Pirate’s Curse, the first book in the Legends of the Soaring Phoenix if you’ve have not read the first book.
In the next couple of months, I’ll be releasing several new stories, including A Pirate’s Revenge, and another Christmas novella, A Vampire’s Fallen Christmas Star, in my Vampires on Holiday series. Also with Passion in Print, I will be releasing Punishment, Angels of Death which is the second book in the Angels of Death series.
If you’d like to receive a new email release, please sign up at http://www.mlguida.com/
Sincerely,
M.L. Guida
Other Books by M.L. Guida
If you’ve enjoyed A Pirate’s Revenge, the first book of the series is A Pirate’s Curse. Like a dark angel, Captain Kane O'Brien rescues Hannah Knight and her father from drowning after vampire pirates murder their crew and sink their ship. Struggling to control and hide her telekinetic powers, Hannah discovers the honorable and bold captain possesses his own secrets.
Every full moon, Kane turns into a vampire. Finding out Hannah not to be the cabin boy she resembles, but a beautiful, luscious woman, tempts all his appetites. Desperate to be free of his curse, Kane considers handing Hannah over to a demon. But after Hannah uses her power to save his ship from his immortal enemy, Kane can no longer deny his attraction and vows to protect Hannah with his life.
To find true love, they must combine their powers to defeat evil vampires, thwart Hannah's misogynist fiancé and escape a crafty demon.
I have a new series with Kensington/Lyrical called the Underworld. The first book is Dark Promise. Love can unlock the secret to saving two worlds.
As the Golden Aspen Tree withers, darkness consumes the Dragon Demons of the Underworld, turning them feral. Prince Eric Wyvern must keep his darkness at bay and woo the silver-haired human tainted with angel blood whose touch is prophesied to save the Golden Tree and restore light to the Underworld.
Cassandra Wright, a gifted psychic, has dreamed of Eric her whole life. When her dream lover joins her on a ski vacation, he plunges her into a nightmare. Imprisoned in a dying world filled with abuse and torture, she must become the Demon Prince’s mate or remain trapped forever. If she fails to fulfill the prophecy, the darkness will spread to her world. But how can she give herself to this dark and frightening version of the man of her dreams?
Eric will give Cassandra the world, if only he can make her see past the darkness to the man he really is, and help him save it first.
I also have a paranormal Christmas series called Vampires on Holiday. The first book is A Vampire’s Christmas Wish. Master vampire, Janus Morano, has searched for centuries to find his lost soul mate. When he finally discovers his true love on Christmas Eve in Hawaii, she doesn’t know him, doesn’t remember her previous life, and doesn’t want him. Janus must get her to remember him and their love, but nothing comes easy with Deirdre Hahn.
Deirdre is drawn to the mysterious dark stranger, but she came to Hawaii with Brandon Delaney, to heal their broken relationship. Brandon has promised to never beat her again, bending over backwards to be Prince Charming. But the promise is broken.
Deirdre escapes Brandon’s clutches and her only hope is the mysterious dark stranger. Janus vows to help her but soon she discovers his dark secret. He’s a vampire…a vampire searching for her.
Now Deirdre is caught between two desperate men. Not sure who to trust. In order to save her future she must accept her past and when her Hawaiian vacation falls apart and she’s kidnapped, she must learn to trust Janus or die on Christmas.
The second series, A Vampire’s Fallen Christmas Star will be released in September 2014. I love rock stars, and this is based on a rock band.
I have another series called Angels of Death with Passion in Print.
Betrayal, Angels of Death is the first book in the series. Scythe tracks his demon brother to Serenity House, a drug and alcohol treatment center. His brother wants to destroy the director, Heather Bowen, but Scythe is shocked to discover she is his angel-mate and now, he must not only save his brother’s soul, but stop him from killing the woman he loves.
The second in the series is a novella, Sinful Delight. Poison has two hours to fulfill orders received from the Archangel Michael: Locate and retrieve the dark Evil Board and capture the woman has been using it to grant wishes. She is determined to succeed. Ringmaster is on a search of his own. He is pleasantly surprised to discover not only the Spell Board he has been tasked to find, but also the fledgling Angel of Death he has yearned to sample. When he learns Poison wants the same woman and board, the persuasive demon makes her a tempting offer – sleep with him and have both.
The third installment, Punishment, Angels of Death, will be released in 2015 from Passion in Print.
I also write a paranormal young adult series, Dare to Heal, under the name, J.L. Bowen, published through Featherweight Press. These are not romance stories, but the stories of young adults coming to age and learning how to be resilient.
Healer is the first book. Fourteen year old Armond Costa’s two questions – No matter the abuse, why can I heal in three days and no else in my family can? What am I? – are finally answered. But now he must figure out who is telling the truth – his cruel aunt and uncle or the mysterious Golden Demons.
Ryker’s Revenge is the second book in the series. Gunnar, the Healer of the Dark Demons, wants to escape from his sadist father, the King of the Dark Demons, and return to the Golden Demons, but his father brands him with a dragon tattoo designed to kill Golden Demons. The choice to stay away from his friends is taken from his hands when they launch a rescue operation to save him, only to have one of their own injured by the dragon on his chest while another is captured by his father. Can Gunnar trust his sister, their father's lapdog, and the dragon on his chest to help save his friends and keep him free?
Excerpt from A Pirate’s Curse
Chapter One
The ragtag sailing ship sped toward them in a thirty knot tailwind, the black flag flapping from the main mast. Pirates! Twenty-year-old Hannah’s stomach tightened as the rogue ship chased them.
“Miss,” Sally whispered. Hannah's maid, and constant companion, bit her lip and stared, her eyes wide at the pursuing frigate. “What if they overtake us?”
“We haven’t lost yet, Sally.”
Hannah praye
d they would be mistaken for cabin boys. She prayed the bindings restraining their breasts and their drooping breeches that hid their curves were convincing. She prayed they would escape her father’s warning of the rape and torture of female captives.
A cannonball sailed through the air and smashed into the Dolphin’s second mast, splintering wood. Sally clutched Hannah’s arm, digging her fingers into her flesh, and screaming.
Large holes shattered and ripped the topsails of the Dutch flute ship. Fragments of wood crashed into the black sea, splashing water onto the portside. The smell of burning wood ignited a stream of heat down Hannah’s spine. She coughed and her eyes burned.
The pirate ship’s long gun fired. Canister shot flew through the air. A sailor shrieked. His face blackened and bloody, he twirled around on the deck and fell over the side into the dark ocean.
The frigate pursued the slower Dolphin through the black smoke. The flute sailed at twenty knots, her top speed, but the frigate skipped across the moonlight water, closing the gap fast. Cannons fired. Bar shot flew through the air, knocking three men into the water.
Screams of pain, cracks of guns, splitting of wood, filled Hannah's ears.
“Hannah,” her father yelled. “Get below deck. Now.”
Ignoring her father's order, she gripped the railing and waited, praying they could out maneuver the pirates.
“Make ready the guns,” the Dolphin’s boatswain, John Vane ordered. His brown hair had fallen loose from his queue and spilled over his broad shoulders. At over six feet tall John never had to repeat an order.
He unsheathed his cutlass, his hazel eyes trained upon the enemy.
Dolphin’s gunners were surprisingly synchronized. Men rammed cartridges down the cannon, packing the charge tight into the chamber. Other crewmen rolled the cannonball down the muzzle. Hemp rope was stuffed in to keep the cannonball from rolling out. After priming the cannons, the men waited for a rolling wave and John’s order.