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First Edition: June 2003

DEDICATION AND SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book is dedicated to those people who believe in things unseen and have walked by faith for so long that it's second nature All of us know the elders who have that unshakable belief that there's a spiritual plane, and without those individuals holding the line, who knohat shape this world would be in? And yet while predators coed our communities on many levels, there still seeht at bay These elders teach, ieneration to take the baton as they pass it

On the surface it may appear that the battle is a hopeless cause, and that there are no young, strong replacements one could easily buy into "the illusion" that all is lost Not so, because there are sowarriors out there whose nauardians still keeping the lantern lit Soend - but I have seen these peoplein mysterious ways Therefore, do not believe in the sht within

In his inauguration speech, Nelson Mandela said it best: "Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond ht, not our dark-

ness, that htens usAs we are liberated from our own fear our presence autohts on!

To ht, I thank you: Mom, Aunt Julia, Aunt Hettie, Aunt Ruby, Aunt Ruth, Grandmom Pete, Grandmom Thornton - y'all were awesome while on the planet! Count theht and who keep me there in my darkest moments Thank you, Father God

Special acknowledgo to: My editor, Monique Patterson -whose creative vision and chutzpah allowed this project to be realized; ency, Inc - the crazyStar writers of Philadelphia: Hilary, Kascary stories that nobody wanted to read To my sister, Liza Peterson, a spoken-word, hip-hop artist/actress extraordinaire! Thanks, sis, for keeping it real Last, but not least, thanks toup with hts, and total immersion in the realms of otherworld-liness while I went into the mind-set and half-turned personae of vaht

Twenty Years Ago

New Orleans

sarah richardsstood in theto console her infant ailing at the top of her tiny lungs Yes, she knehat pain was, and wanted to cry out as ht now Instead, silent tears slid down the sides of her face as she turned her chin up to the ceiling and shut her eyes How, Lord, was a preacher's wife supposed to deal with the fact that her husband was having an affair?

For months she'd denied the obvious But now her husband's lies regarding his whereabouts had been found out He'd even violated the sanctity of their ho this woman to their bed - their e-violator's perfuone an hour on a church errand her husband had contrived for her to do One hour, and now this?

Sarah covered her ht and stench of the filth, taking her baby girl to lay her in her crib With her hands tre infant, whose wails intensified as she turned away froh her How could she call the church elders, or talk to Mother Stone about so like this? How did a preacher's wife, the first lady of the church, force her lips to say that her husband, the Reverend Richards, had lost his natural black mind?

A bleats from the nursery, Sarah became very still as she heard movement in the small clapboard house below her There were two voices One soft, seductive; the other was that of her husband He'd brought this whore back to his hoh? Did he think she was so foolish as to run another church errand to an elderly neighbor, at night, again, so he could be doing God knohat? Couldn't he hear his own child screas out - and wouldn't he know that his as upstairs? Did he have so little respect for her, or was it that this whore's pull was that strong?

Tears of bitter rage and hurt stung Sarah's eyes, the pain of her acknowledge as the ressor, had a hold on her husband that not even the Lord could seem to breakbecause, Father God knew, she'd prayed on it froht a violator back into his house? Her house A honed for a minister, his wife, and children, across the street froin to buckle as she envisioned the faces of loyal parishioners who hung on the good Reverend's every wordjust as she once had This house was not a home, nor was it a place where she or her child could find peace

She resisted her first instinct, which was to barrel downstairs to confront her husband and the heifer that had crossed her threshold But soave her pause The green-eyed ly head She had to knohat this hussy looked likeas this wo that all wos her hus-

band said to this home-wrecker What lies had Armand Richards told?

Silently, like a thief in the night, Sarah Richards crept down the hall, hugging the wall She knew this house by heart and easily avoided the creaky floorboards Stretching her body, she clung to the very paint as she peered around the corner of the landing The baby's cries escalated, her pulse rising along with it She held her breath as she rounded the corner - and froze

A tall, handsoure the color of cafe au lait and dressed in an impeccable black suit, ran a palm across her husband's jaw The caress was sensuality personified The sight stole the screas, as her husband closed his eyes and dropped his head back in a display of sheer fe the handrail to keep fro out She couldn't breathe as she watched in abject horror while this mana mannot a womanembraced her husband like a lover and lowered his head to Armand's exposed throat

When she heard her husband groan, soile within her snapped

Everything became a blur Her feet flen the stairs; her screahter's The words became a chant - "God, no! Not that!" She would crucify this beast, the fouler of her household! There was no rational thought as she hurled herself forward trying to grab hold of his broad shoulders She wanted blood A pound of flesh! But the agile intruder sih he were sweeping away his bride, and deftly slipped through the door with him

Sarah gave chase into the front yard, screaht heard her She spun in a crazed circle, searching the darkness for them Where had this lover taken her husband? And so quickly? Sarah fell to her knees in the gravel driveway The stones cut through her nightgown and pierced her knees Bloodied, she lay outstretched, sobbing a futile prayer A eous, with jet-black, penetrating eyes, a regal carriage, flawless skin, thick, black lashes, onyx curls that would shame any womana manplease noaenough to lift her husband as if Armand was a baby! No!

She heaved and vomited, wiped her ht She stared up at the sky and then at the litof her daughter's room Sarah walked slowly back to the house and reached for the telephone The church hter, Marlene, to look after the baby tonight, she heard her inner voice say Marlene was good with infants She "was a nice young woman

Right now, Sarah Richards had an errand to run One that she'd put off all thesemore than prayer Her husband ith aabout pain like that The old lady who lived on the edge of the swamps had potions and such to correct these kinds of abominations And what Sarah would tell her would stay between her and the old witch

For three days Sarah sat at the living rooil at her hoht them with her when Sarah had hysterically called for a baby-sitter at that odd hour of the night, and had told the girl that her husband was gone What else had she expected? One didn't call at that hour and think the girl wouldn't have to explain things to a mother, ould then call in church rein-

forcements - not when there was a problem at the church head's house

But desperation had kept Sarah froht he'd just run off, fine That had been enough for the old folks to mount a prayer posse - Minister was nowhere to be found, his wife and child had been abandoned Evil was at work That was all Sarah would say on the matter

She slept in the parlor chair while she struggled with her plan, unable to ever go back to her own bed, unable to even lie down on the couch She refused to eat, barely took a sip of water, didn't move, just stared Who knehat other piece of furniture had been violated within her ho she'd hidden in the pantry issued a ent call for her to take matters into her own hands Yet, to do so would be a death of all she'd been brought up to believe in It would be flying directly in the face of the Lord Three days, and three long nights, Sarah pondered the seductive choice

She quietly thanked the praying people that had descended upon her house, never saying so out loud, just in her mind Their eyes remained lowered and she appreciated their discretion, and she said a prayer of thanks that young Marlene Stone was taking such good care of her child while her nerves took leave

Sarah Richards knew that she had checked out of life Her eyes si beyond theBut on this third night, she also knehat she had to do The elders, for all their prayers, didn't knohere her husband's car had disappeared to, or where the good Reverend was, for that matter But the old seer had spoken of a iven her directions and landmarks to follow And she would arht this wrong as soon as the sun set just as the witch had advised

Without a word, Sarah stood and feigned illness, leaving the prayer warriors who had ht she'd seen too much Sarah went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face, then snuck into the pantry to collect her bag that had been secretly readied In her bare feet and robe, she slipped froonna fetch back her husband, or die trying

Sarah stood in the center of a circle of weeping ith tears strea down her cheeks and stared at the expansive estate Elaborate ironwork graced the veranda that rimmed the entire second floor of the mansion Tall white columns created a foro Spanish moss billowed from the trees and nary a cricket sounded Her husband's car was in the driveway, just as the old woman had prophesized Sarah's hand clutched the satchel and her feet never consulted her brain as shethe ly unlocked

The mansion was eerily quiet as she slipped into the darkness within Money, power what riches had been promised her husband by this wealthy perversion of a lover, she wondered? How could a man she'd loved with all her heart and soul do this to her? How could he live such a lie, allow her to bear a child for hiirl?

New tears replenished the salty stream that had dried on Sarah's face She'd loved Armand Richards since they were children, and had never known any other man in the world but him

Her footsteps took her through the house, each roo her walk more quickly as she saw sumptuous wealth - but not her husband She hurried up the winding staircase toward the upper levels of theintently for the sounds of her husband in the throes of passion, but heard nothing Every well-appointed roo Armand was not here But it was clear that her husband had been here at one time Perhaps he and his man-friend were out on the town, or secluded in another love nest? Sarah's mind took a sinister turn; she squeezed her eyes shut as she saw thees of her husband with this seductive man lacerated her spirit No This had to be fixed! This was the only way

The opportunity their absence provided was perfect She would do what she had to do - go into the wine cellar, the base of the house, and cast the spell Sarah covered her heart and said a prayer for her child, and asked for forgiveness She knew her prescription rong as she tiptoed down the long hallway, found the stairs, and descended to the first floor The long walk gave her ti, could not just sit and wait for this to be ht All she asked was that Father God would understand and spare her baby girl - despite what it said in the Good Book about soothsayers and spell-casters or taking matters into one's own hands This was a special case, and He had to understand her desperation

Her bare feet stung with the cuts and abrasions she sustained froh the woods, over braravel for five hed heavily in her hand as she shifted the bulk of it onto her hip, extracted a black candle and a small box of stick matches, lit the candle, then clumsily stoay the matches, and resumed her slow descent down into the damp cavern of the first level of the mansion

Slick stone walls reflected the light fro flame, and the coolness of the roo to her skin Perspiration due to her shattered nerves seeped fro a rivulet of adrenaline-filled sweat between her breasts and down her back Undaunted, she beganthe butcher knife to carve the strange star shape that the old woman had drawn for her on a crumpled piece of paper Sarah's lips moved with purpose as she opened the Mason jar and splashed blood froutted rooster upon each point of the star And as she set each black candle in place, and closed her eyes, constantly an to move

I her in a sulfuric, blackening haze The rack of wine bottles on the wall began to explode, sending shards of glass to cover her Splinters frolass cut into her skin like shrapnel A scream choked by spit, terror, and smoke was torn froainst the wall

He could not believe his good fortune Fallon Nuit contained his anitude couldn't have been conjured by the highest sorcerers of old A fluke A variable A tiny rip in the fabric of supernatural law, all caused by a frightened, but foolish, woreen-eyed erous entity that the poor human creature obviously hadn't anticipatednor had the Vaht They couldn't keep hih Council rules, as they had planned There were things that even vaain, there was this variable called luck

"You have inadvertently been summoned to my lair," Nuit crooned in a seductive tone toward the de cloud of smoke

"I was called, yes That gives ht - "

"No," Nuit replied with a lethal warning between his teeth "You have no rights, but you do have the misfortune to be a demon trapped in a master vampire's lair"

Two formidable adversaries stared at each other for a ed However, when it offered no rebuttal, Nuit pressed on, his hunger for the fresh taste of blood, stoked by the scent of the frail fe to hide herself in the corner of his wine cellar, notwithstanding

"Cohabitation without cooperation is not an option" Nuit studied his hed "Do remember that I am of the more evolved order of the dark realms, and now freed, I could make existence for you here torturous But I am a man of reason"

The de woe is no robbery"

Fallon Nuit threw his head back and laughed "Indeed!"