His Captive Mortal by Renee Rose Page A

asked, staring up at the ceiling.
    “I hate when you disappear every time you feel emotionally challenged,” she said, snuggling against him, throwing one leg over his.
    He snaked an arm behind her and held her against his side. “I do not.”
    “Yes, you do. Anytime things get too difficult to handle, you’re gone. It’s your way of not dealing with the present situation.”
    “Who are you, Dr. Phil?”
    She snorted.
    “Where do you go, anyway?” she asked, running her hand across his chest.
    “Downtown, usually. Where I first met you. I like to prowl the streets or hang out at The Black Cat.”
    She rose up to her elbow. “The Black Cat? You have to be kidding me.”
    “What?”
    “I always knew there was something different about that place.”
    He laughed. “Because you’re magic.”
    “Can you go anywhere in the world?”
    “Anywhere I have already been.”
    “Do you ever go back to England?”
    He smiled. “How do you know I’ve been to England?”
    “I hear your accent at times. What about France?”
    “What about it?”
    “Have you been there?”
    “Yes,” he said, finding his unbeating heart inexplicably tightening. It was as if she was drawn to his secret, knowing all the right questions to ask. But perhaps it was important for her to know the details in order to reverse it. He drew a breath. “I lived in Paris a long, long time ago. I had a lover there, named Anka.”
    Sasha stilled.
    “Anka was a witch, magic like you, only a different, darker energy. She was my lover in the true sense of the word—I worshipped her. She had me wrapped around her finger and I did anything and everything she asked of me.”
    “You did evil things for her,” Sasha murmured.
    He glanced at her face, startled. She stared into space without focus, viewing the invisible.
    “Yes,” he whispered. Clearing his throat, he spoke in a normal voice. “I did anything and everything she asked of me. I killed her enemies, I changed people’s minds, I set the stage for her success. She used her gift of sight, and she had a powerful understanding of manipulating energy, like you. Anyone she cursed ended in ruin. She became the wealthiest and most famous madame in all of Paris. And it turned out, I was just a tool she used for her ambition. She lied to make me believe she loved me, that I was her only lover. But I had doubts. When I found out for certain—” he broke off.
    “What did you do?” Sasha prompted.
    “I took up residence with another madame. Just to hurt Anka, I suppose. To inflict the same sense of betrayal I experienced. When Anka found out, she threw the curse.”
    “There’s a lot of darkness in that tale,” Sasha said after he fell silent.
    “Yeah. I never believed in the good witch vs. evil witch thing. To me, a witch is someone who harnesses nature’s power for her own intent, be it to heal or to curse. But now that I’ve met someone like you, whose magic is so different, I think perhaps she was just evil.”
    “What about vampires?”
    He smiled bitterly. “We’re all evil, love.”
    “No,” Sasha said softly. “Not you. You might have loose morals, but you are not evil.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I just know,” she said, thrusting her chin forward stubbornly. “No, I think you were right the first time. No one is either good or evil. We are all capable of both.”
    He kissed the top of her head, hardly believing how much things had changed between them. “I’m sorry I almost killed your friend today,” he offered in an attempt to get back toward the good side.
    She giggled. “I’m sorry he showed up. That was embarrassing.”
    “I can assure you he will remember nothing about seeing you like that.”
    “Oh I know. I meant I was embarrassed about you seeing the kind of loser I used to date.” She peered up at him from under her lashes. “Were you, um, jealous?”
    He rolled her to her back, covering her body with his own. “Of course I was. Why do you think I wanted