Chapter 1

"I'm coming. I'm coming!" I yelled again, settling my skirt down over my hips. Can't a girl pee anymore? I looked at myself in the mirror making sure my makeup wasn't smeared. I had a black witch's hat pinned to a long white wig, covering my brown hair. Dark eye shadow caked my lids. The makeup on my teeth tasted horrible like old dirt, but it blackened out my pearly whites to make me look like the hag I portrayed. Okay, I was cheap. Last minute I had turned to the local drugstore and bought a ready-made costume and enough candy to feed a small zombie and fairy princess army. Halloween had snuck up on me and then Brenda had invited me to her costume party. Thank God it was Friday night and I had the weekend to recover and get caught up on the work I had to do. Editing manuscripts and technical crap was not my cup of tea, but it paid the rent. Brenda was my closest friend in the office and I had only been there for a couple of months. This was my second job in three years. I had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, but at twenty-seven, it certainly was not editing boring textbooks everyday. I felt like I was back in high school. Hello, people, history from three hundred years ago was not going to change. It was history for God's sake.

The doorbell rang again. I clenched my teeth and flushed. I counted to ten, telling myself the little monsters dressed as nightmares would be gone in another hour or so and then I could get wasted. I only hoped Brenda had invited a few cute guys. I seriously needed to get laid. I wasn't a one-night stand kinda girl, but being dry for over a year was not my way either. I shook my head at the memory of how Daniel and I had broken up. He wanted to stay in the same dead-end job, crappy apartment, making no money, way of life forever and I wanted to move on. So I moved on. He never even bothered to call and see if we wanted to get back together. Madison, my sister, was right. I was too good for him. I always hated when she was right.

I got to the door and grabbed the stainless steel bowl heaped with candy. Opening the door, I smiled as fake as my wig and looked down at the little monsters. A bumblebee in a stroller and a ninja turtle. Oh brother. It wasn't like the baby was going to eat the candy. It was a conspiracy. The parents just wanted the candy more than the kids.

"Trick or Treat!" the ninja turtle yelled at the top of his lungs. I saw the proud parent wince at the volume and a look of apology flashed across his face. Dad wanted to cringe and walk away saying, 'This is not my child. I don't know where he came from. Please take him away.'

"Wow! Look at you. Scary! Let me guess, you're a serial killer."

The turtle held out his bag. "Trick or Treat!"

I glanced at the parent. Dad was getting impatient and wanted to get back home so he could have sex with his wife, tell her what a horde the little boy got, all the while the vision of chocolate bars and bubble gum danced in his head because his son was allergic to both.

I fished into the bowl and dropped in a handful of assorted goodies. The dad's face lit up as if he had won the jackpot at the local casino. I stood in the doorway and looked down the apartment complex driveway noticing there were no more little brats. Breathing a sigh of relief, I closed the door and shut the light off. I would bring the leftovers in to work on Monday and let the other heathens, my co-workers, fight over it since most of them loved Halloween. I shunned it unless I had to, like being invited to a party. I wanted to be back by midnight so I wouldn't turn into a pumpkin. For me to acknowledge the holiday was for me to embrace the heritage I had rejected. I shivered as I thought about it. Even as I did, there was a tickle inside my stomach waiting for me to grab a hold of it. If I did, it would make me the most powerful real life witch my family had seen in generations.

Madison, my sister, was the only one who knew why I had left the family. I had moved as far away as I could, assumed a new name, and went underground. No one really believed in witches anymore, just like vampires. The world of the supernatural was an unfathomable thing. So I lived my life as a human being, shirking the power I had inherited in another life.

I looked at myself in the mirror one more time. Even though I had turned my back on my family and friends, the power lived deep inside of me. Tonight of all nights, when the veils were thin between the worlds, it crackled around me like a violet storm. If I wanted to, I could call on it with a flick of my fingers. My body ached to, but if I used one ounce of my power, anything magickal in the vicinity would know a witch was in the area. If they followed the power, they would know my family wanted me. I shook my head and got off the train of thought I was on. The doorbell rang again. As it did, I squelched the desire in me feeling the magick return to my inner core.

"What the fuck?" I muttered. My light is out. I'm not a candy factory.

Pulling open the door, I saw Brenda dressed in a wench's costume. Her red hair was up in a knot with a couple of curls hanging down on her shoulders. A black waist cincher snuggled her body and she had on a red dress to match her hair. A large gold hoop dangled from her left ear. I smiled at the beauty mark on her left cheek.

"Celeste, you look great. I love the wig." The sarcasm in her voice was apparent.

"Bitch."

"Don't start with me. I'm the one dragging your ass to my party. I don't understand why you don't celebrate Halloween. It's the best time of the year. You think with me bugging you for the millionth time, you would have given me another lame excuse."

I crossed my arms over my low-cut top. My breasts were visible. Granted they were not large and protruding like hers were, but they were a good handful. "Are you ready?"

She moved out of the way as I locked the door. I had to bite my lip to keep from saying anything. Brenda was being a doll to come and bring me to her party. She only lived a block away, but I was not going to walk it. The one thing I had learned about moving to Charlotte was never walk alone at night. I didn't care what neighborhood I was in. It was not safe since the crime rate was horrible. My car had been broken into twice already and someone had tried to get into the house. Luckily, they were not successful. It wasn't a magickal solution that kept them out but a nosey neighbor who had called the cops.

At Brenda's house, the party was getting into full swing. Recorded screams and moans were pumping full blast out of the windows. Death hung from the tree outside welcoming intruders into the house. Fake demons and angels wandered through the front door as a stapled cemetery backdrop was on the wall and plastic bats flew from the ceiling. The aroma of alcohol and corn chips permeated the kitchen and someone had a grill outside since it was an uncanny balmy night.

"Hi, Celeste!" Darth Vader walked by me and waved. Under the mask and raspy voice, I recognized the inflection as my boss. He was a Star Wars nut. The house was stuffy and the fake fog was making everything damp. All the windows were open and the music was blaring as Monster Mash started on another stereo. The smell of hotdogs was making my stomach do backflips. The shoulder to shoulder people started to grate on my hard earned concentration. Their auras rubbed against my skin like sandpaper and their minds pressed against my steel mental shields. I had to fight to keep my composure. The tickle in my stomach was getting harder to ignore. The whisper of power wanted me to embrace it and worship the moon above. Part of me missed the circles and the power from being around the other witches. Those who called themselves Wiccans knew nothing about the true power of the Goddess. One of the things I truly missed about my heritage was doing circles. Even though I had turned my back on everything magickal inside me, my soul cried out in loneliness to be under the moon's light and touched by the silvery presence of the Goddess as I would dance in the circle with my family and friends.

All the people around me pressing on my shields was becoming painful. It wasn't so bad at the office because they were all at least a few feet away from me and I could ignore the hum, but with the intensity of tonight, I had to get out of here. It had been wrong for me to pick up the witch's costume at the drugstore. In the magickal community, if a person dressed up as something for Halloween, then they personified the attributes they wanted to have for the following year. Not that I wanted to turn into an old crone, but the crone represented a wise woman, one of knowledge and power, or magick who was revered in her community until the church turned it all around and suddenly my ancestors were beings who flirted with the Devil. Devil. Please. There is no such thing. Was there evil in the world? Hell yeah, but there was no Devil, a few demons, but no fallen angels.

I made my way through the werewolf, pirate, and vampire infested hallway and went outside to get some air. As I did, the music got louder and the noise from the passing traffic made my head ache even more. I gazed up at the stars remembering the stories my mother used to tell me about the different constellations and the days each one was best to use in a spell. My mother had so much knowledge and I had absorbed it like a sponge. It made me think of my past, of my ancestors who had come from Avalon before it was swallowed completely by the mists. Now the way was lost, even to the bloodline of priestesses who had worshipped there for centuries. It was hard for me to think of myself as one of them. Here I was playing mild-mannered editor, when I was descended from the greatest sorceress of them all Morrigain Le Fey. Who was I kidding? She was only a whisper now. My family still had items from the great line we used in great circles, and there were a few pieces of jewelry passed onto the first initiated daughter of a witch. When I fled the family, I had taken them with me. Now they lay hidden away so the lure of their power would not tempt me.

I shivered as I stared out from the balcony. As I did, my gaze took in the graveyard across the road. Shimmering forms of ghosts wavered next to markers. I did not have to be magickal to notice them tonight. Anyone with a trained eye could have watched their forms undulate under the moonlight. As my eyes swept over the cemetery, my instincts kicked in. Tonight of all nights I yearned to be among my own kind. Burial grounds were not the only place for spirits. Tonight fairies, elves, and other magickal creatures would be dancing and celebrating. It had been so long and even if I didn't use any magick, they would accept me. I would pretend not to notice them and watch as their fires twisted and twitched in the breeze. I hadn't joined them since I was a girl. Fey blood was still strong in my veins because my family intermingled with them to keep the power in us pure.

I shivered as I thought of my family. I had left because they demanded I marry our greatest enemy to cement an alliance. They believed our children would be the most powerful the witch families had seen in years and would end up ruling over the council. Sebastian, the man I was betrothed to, had a black heart and only saw my power. He saw nothing of me. It might have been different if he loved me. Love would have meant all the world and itself sparked a magick which was greater then all the conjurations I knew. He didn't see it that way. Sebastian would have kept me as a trophy wife and used my powers for his own gain. I defied my family and went underground with the help of some very faithful and good friends. Now there was a price on my head. To change my appearance, I dyed my hair brown from its original red, and used contacts to hide my gold and silver flecked eyes. If anyone turned me in, they would be rewarded by my father. If they did, I would be bound in a loveless marriage until the end of my days and I was not going to let that happen.

Slipping away from Brenda's party was easy. I just walked out of the driveway and down the street. The breeze cooled the night a little so my makeup wasn't running but it was blowing my hat. I undid the wig and hung both it and the hat on the wrought iron gate of the graveyard. If anyone wanted them, they could have them. I didn't need a costume to know I was a true witch. As I wandered among the graves, the beauty of the markers never ceased to amaze me. This cemetery was one of the oldest in the city. It sprawled on forever it seemed with roads that wound around the entire place creating a mini labyrinth. During the day, it was a Mecca for runners, dog walkers, and anyone who wanted a little peace and quiet in the hustle of the big city. However, tonight among the crypts and mausoleums, I felt completely at home.

The magick inside of me wished to uncoil and join with the forces of nature. The need was like an addiction, and my body craved the magickal drug. The push of it against my internal shields was like hovering on the verge of orgasm. I wanted to cry out into the lustful night. My blood yearned for peace of mind. It was festival nights like this, when the veil was so thin, I locked myself in my apartment and got as wasted as I could so I didn't have to feel the lure of the magick. It would be like that until the end of my days.

Madison had suggested I bind my powers before I left home. Let myself become completely human, but how could I give up the birthright of my past and the heritage I had running in my blood? I couldn't live as a mortal knowing there were other things out there which walked in the shadows or lived inside of trees.

My feet walked the path of the cemetery and I was amazed to find shades clinging to their gravestones like lost lovers. There were no fairies, but I was sure I would stumble upon them in this monolith of a place. As I strolled, I heard a creaking sound.

If I was alone and afraid, I might have thought it was some punk kids trying to scare the hell out of me, but I didn't get that sense. There was something different in the air. I turned around seeing the shimmer of spirits and, at one of the crypts, I saw a hand wrap around a heavy iron door and push it open. My mind flashed back to a bad vampire flick I had seen as a child where the creature of the night was rising from his day slumber and as he tried to get out of his tomb, he found it blocked and had to spend the rest of the night struggling to get out. It was a really bad horror movie and very campy. My curiosity was piqued so I went down the small stone steps leading to it and leaned against a tree. My instincts told me this creature was not human. I should have been frightened because it might have been a bounty hunter looking for me, but my sense of self-preservation was low key. I wanted to see what or who was emerging from a dusty and dank vault in the middle of the Bible belt.

I peered out from behind the tree. I was amazed to see dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, black jeans, black shirt untucked and black Doc Martins. I licked my lips. This was a wonderful specimen of the male gender. What is he doing in a sepulcher? This boy has gotta join the living. Come here and let me warm you up. He was so my kind. I think my heart skipped a beat and I came just at the sight of him. He was an angel personified, everything I loved in a man. Tall, dark and scary, which had attracted me to Daniel. It led me to hook up with a complete nerd. Madison would have killed me if she knew the kind of mortal Daniel was. I still kicked myself for thinking I saw something in him. But hey, I wanted human and my ex had been as mortal and boring as they came. Not to mention he was hardly any good in bed. Why I spent so much time with him I will never know.

Tall, dark and gorgeous was dusting himself off and looking around to see if anyone had seen him emerge from the mausoleum. I swallowed. My heart went into my throat. My power washed over me in a violet swoosh and I had to press my fake nails into the meat of my palms to fight the temptation of using it. God I wanted to. I yearned to reach out with my will and make him come to me so I could have my way with him on one of the coffins in the tomb. He stopped. As he did, I saw his eyes shine in the darkness. He raised his head slightly like he caught a scent on the breeze and when he did his eyes met mine. I swallowed my heart back into my chest and my power went cold in my stomach. I froze like a deer in headlights as he walked over to me. His stride was smooth, soundless like a cat hunting his prey. My eyes followed his every movement as he swayed confidently toward me. I did not fear him as he lifted my curled up hand in his, unfurled my fingers, and brought my wounded flesh to his lips.

He didn't blink as his tongue ran the line of my wound slowly savoring the blood. He continued his trail to the top of my index finger and then released my hand. I breathed in slowly and studied him. Magickal or not, he was powerful. If I was purely human, I would have known that. His aura pushed against my thoughts as his consciousness flowed through the connection of my blood like liquid silver making me gasp as he found the pleasure center of my mind and stroked it. I closed my eyes, letting my head fall back against the heavy bark, and swallowed. It felt like his fingers were fondling all the buried places inside of me. My back arched without my command and I let out a gasp as I tried to hold on. My power wanted to rise up and take hold of him too, but I fought the urge.

"Please stop," I whispered.

He leaned in close to my mouth until our lips were almost touching. His other hand rested near my head keeping me boxed in so I couldn't escape. "Why would I want to do that when you taste so good?" he asked with a voice as smooth and rich as melted dark chocolate. I could almost taste him on my tongue.

"Because I asked nicely."

"I'm not a nice guy."

I saw the flash of fangs in the moonlight. Oh shit. My mother had told me stories about vampires. I never thought they were real. Something tugged at my brain about what she had told me. I just couldn't remember what it was. I placed my hand flat on his chest. He smelled my fear and it was exciting him from the bulge pressing against my thigh. Once I touched his shirt, I knew I had made a huge mistake coming to the graveyard. I should have stayed home and fed the army of zombie fairy princesses the rest of my candy. My power went supernova. After being squelched for so long, being so pressed down, it rose out of me and pushed me into him until my lips met his and he was under my spell. It surrounded us like a violet tornado and blacked us out to anything looking so if there was a human around, we were an ink spot in the night.

The vampire's lips were soft and I wanted to caress all of him. His hands found my ass and he gripped it hard as the pinpoints of his nails tore the material of it and my panties. At that distinct moment, I felt the molten silver power of the Goddess consume me and I expanded. I was one with the earth, the air, the ghosts around me, and with him. However there was something within him I wasn't expecting. The same flare of power extended in him which was in me.

Impossible. Vampires are not witches.

I tried to pull back the tidal wave, but I was not myself. He tore at my dress exposing my breasts as the energy infusing us spurred us on. Me empowered by the Goddess and him by the God. I stared into his eyes as my hands wrapped around his neck and he was frantically feeling my body. His lips worked the expanse of my neck licking and tasting me, but he didn't bite down. I could tell he wanted to, but his blood lust was overridden by his hunger for me. My own fingers had a mind of their own as they traveled down to his jeans and unzipped them. He wore nothing underneath so his hard and hot member came alive in my hands. He let out a primal groan as I ran my hand along his cock and his mouth closed on one of my nipples. I pressed myself into him and let my hand run and up and down his length slow and then fast. God I wanted him buried inside of me.

Finally, he pulled away and let me catch my breath. As I did, I saw his eyes were tinged blue. The energy between us was sparking silver and gold. "What's your name?" he asked me while stroking my hair.

"Celeste."

"Tristan."

His lips pushed frantically against mine as his hands wrapped under my legs lifting me up and holding me with my back against the tree. My gaze fell up to the moon. "Goddess, bless our union," I muttered, letting the rhythm of power form my words.

He impaled me at the moment a spike of celestial power drove through the top of my head. I screamed at the ecstasy of both. I'd never had an experience like this. Whatever energy he had was as intense as mine.

"God, witness our joining," Tristan moaned against my neck. His breath was hot as he pushed himself deeper into my well. Once the words left his mouth, I saw a spear of power flood him. Our mutual energies merged inside of us as our lips touched and he pumped inside of me as I rode him frantically feeling my skin ripping against the rough bark of the tree.

I clenched my legs around him tighter and he moved faster. Holding me up seemed nothing to him. My head spun from the force flowing between us. The very atmosphere seemed to be shimmering. I locked my gaze with his as he reached the secret part of me no one ever had. My hands gripped his shoulders and in a swift movement he sank his fangs into my neck. I followed suit and bit him back. Blood flooded my throat, but I didn't care as I swallowed it down and it tasted good.

My muscles were tightening. The wave of power felt like lightning striking me from the top and inside my womb as Tristan fucked me. His thrusts came in short bursts as he lost control and we drank from each other. Our power was blossoming into something as the union of God and Goddess was personified in us like in olden days. My blood hummed with my birthright. This was what my power was made for. This was what I was supposed to do, not be tied into a loveless marriage. With his final thrust, the last push of the power, we both licked each other's wounds and met the other's eyes and came. With the release, I thought I would pass out. Blackness had settled on the edge of my vision as the energy from above receded from both of us like a tidal wave. The vampire lifted me off of him and let me settle back against the tree as the bark dug into my wounded back. I'd had rug burn before, but never tree bark burn and man, it hurt, but whatever we had done together, the joining of our two powers in the Great Marriage, the union of Goddess and God, was something I would never forget. I only hoped it had not sparked any repercussions and no one would come looking for me.

Tristan rearranged his clothing and zipped himself back up. When I tried to move, the stickiness of blood slid down my flesh. He noticed my discomfort and my tattered state of undress as my tits were hanging out and so was my butt. Now there was a slight chill in the air and the power which had filled me earlier was no longer keeping me warm. However, I felt completely satisfied. More so then I had in a long time and I didn't even know anything about the vampire in front of me. What intrigued me the most about him was not that he was a vampire, but that he had about as much power as I had. Shit, what was it my mother told me about vampires?

I slipped the jacket on he had given me. "So what brings you crawling out of a crypt in the middle of the Bible belt?" I asked. The tension between us was so strong I could have beheaded him and his head would not have moved.

Tristan burst into laughter. I liked his laugh. It was loud and full of joy. "That is all you can ask me after what happened?"

I shrugged. "It was a valid question. I don't see many vampires coming out of mausoleums and I'm not sure why you're here. And as to what happened, that was amazing."

He sat on the gravestone crossing his arms over his chest. "It was amazing. I've never experienced a Great Marriage such as that. You were going to be dinner until I felt your power. Why do you hide it, Celeste? Why not embrace it and rule over all the other witch families?"

I was shocked he knew about the Great Marriage. Vampires should not know that. What is with this guy? "How do you know so much about the Sacred Marriage? About the other witch families?" A shiver of fear raced through me as I wondered if he was a bounty hunter come to bring me back to my family. I started to edge around the tree when his arms enclosed me. I tried to bolt then, but his embrace would not allow it. I tried to slap him, but he caught my wrist and locked his lips to mine. Once that happened, I melted into his arms. Damn hormones! We felt so right together, like we were made for one another and that was scary. As he kissed me, I heard the distinct thunder of horse hooves on pavement. I looked over his shoulder and saw a cloaked dark figure riding a black horse snorting fire and with burning coals for eyes. I swallowed.

Tristan's power wrapped around me like a cold blanket and we blended in with the shadows. The rider should have been able to see us though since his gaze could penetrate all dark things. I tried not to quake in the vampire's arms, but I was not able to control myself. He hugged me harder. I buried my head in his shoulder. It was a death omen to see the dark rider. I saw the horse look in my direction, rear, and then gallop off into the night leaving burning hoofprints in the cement. Tristan let me go.

"What did he want?" I asked.

"He wants me. Every Halloween with a full moon he comes looking for me. You asked why I was hiding. I was hoping to hightail it to a church before he could find me. I think you saved me. Or something saved me."

"Why does he want you?"

"He wants me to join him. He is my maker."

"He's a vampire?"

"Celeste, it does not concern you. I don't want you to get involved with it. Come on. I'll take you home. I have to get out of the city. He still has a couple more nights to hunt me down."

He wrapped me in his arms and I felt myself sealed in a vacuum. When I opened my eyes, I was back in my apartment. Tristan flipped on the lights and plucked a piece of chocolate from the bowl. He unwrapped it and broke a piece off. I watched in amusement as he ate it slowly.

"I didn't know vampires could eat real food."

"We can. Only in little bits. Well it was wonderful meeting you, but I do have to be going." He crossed the room and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

I could sense he wanted to stay longer, say something, but fear drove him onward. I grabbed his hand. A jolt of power moved between us. That should not be happening. It only happened when my kind met their mates. How could my mate be a vampire? Tristan looked at me too and let his fingers entwine with mine.

"Why do I feel like I've known you for centuries?" I whispered.

He didn't say anything, just kissed me again. "Celeste."

He pulled away and rolled up his sleeves. On his arms were blue tattoos of serpents, but they weren't just any serpents. They were the blue dragons of Avalon and woven into the design was the symbol for the Goddess, the upturned crescent moon. I swallowed. It couldn't be. The designs in the scales were runes and symbols only the highest Druids had, but it made sense considering the power I had sensed in him. Some of the symbols were so old I didn't know them. I sensed the meaning of them, but the words had been lost in the mists along with Avalon.

I swallowed as I stared at the dragons. They mirrored the ones on my back. The symbols etched into them were not the same, as my dragons met at the tail and arched upward holding the upturned crescent with their heads. The crescent was a tattoo everyone got in our family, but only those initiated into the highest teachings bore the dragons like him, like my family. Not even Madison had the dragons, even though she had an owl holding up the moon because it was her totem. All descendents of Fey had animals tattooed on them as well. It was our custom.

"What are you? Who are you?"

"You know who I am, daughter of Avalon, descendant of Morrigain Le Fey. I tasted the lineage in your blood. I thought all of her line had perished with the Inquisition, but here you are. If it is true, then there is hope for me."

Now I was even more confused. "Who are you?"

He caressed my face and I saw something flash in his eyes. "Who I truly am is not important. Just that once in my existence I have found a daughter of Avalon and my life is not such a burden anymore. I have to go. Tonight was wonderful to find the Old Ways are still alive in you. Don't give up your power because you fear the consequences. The heritage you come from is worth more than a loveless marriage. Think about that."

I opened my mouth to say something when he faded away like a ghost. My kitchen was empty and I was left in his jacket, which smelled vaguely like apples. For some reason I found myself slipping to the floor and crying as if I had lost part of myself.