Sybrina (15 page)

“
You have been my biggest mistake. I should have left you on the battlefield, broken in half!”  I send an uppercut straight into his jaw with the heel of my hand, sending Vadim flying backward, landing against the trunk of the main mast.  I stomp toward him, when suddenly, flying through the air and landing with a thud is Mouse, a small crude knife in his fist.  In a swift lunge Mouse stabs the knife through a fallen Vadim’s heart.  I am stunned that the small archaic tool can pierce the impenetrable skin of a vampire.  Vadim’s body contorts and shrivels, bucking and thrashing, in a peculiar scene taken from vampire lore.  Mouse and I watch in bewilderment as Vadim’s body becomes a pile of ash.

“
The Revenant?” I ask Mouse.

He holds the knife up for me to see it better. 
“I used this,” he says.  Mouse points to the ashes that are beginning to blow away in the smoke-filled wind.  Mouse and I know that this is a game changer.  Sybrina created a weapon to destroy my kind.  I did not want this but it was needed.  Vadim received exactly what he feared, even those long years ago on the battlefield… death.  I have a new confidant in this life—Mouse.  The new destroyed the old by the science of another.  I glance up and running toward me is Sybrina. I swallow her in my arms, elated that she is unharmed. 
My Sybrina!

Sybrina:

No more funerals or deaths.  Everyone came out of the blaze and attack unscathed.  The only injuries were mendable except the ones on our memories.  I file out of the charred hull with the other passengers carrying mixed feelings. It’s the kind of confusion that accompanies any time you have spent with experiences that have happened rapidly and succinctly, elevating your sense of acuity.  Revenge that sat bubbling in the bottom of my heart has lifted.  Maybe it wasn’t revenge, but justice I sought.

Brig
ht sunlight hits my face and it’s liberating, not in the sense of happiness per se, but of closing a chapter in life. I’m not the same person I was when I left school—in a despair- and sorrow-induced haze mourning the loss of my family. The ache is still burning in my chest, and it will never go away; but as I look up and the sun coats me with warmth, I see them. New to my life, but no less dear:
Elijah and Mouse.

They are waiting for me as I have come full circle
, using the sea as a catalyst and guide. Mouse is smiling at me and slung over his forearm is a basket, and inside are mewing kittens. I cannot hide my own smile to see this man, who is so much changed, not skirting his duty or loyalty to his fur-clad charges, honorable. I look down at his feet and there sits the mother, Jolly, licking her paw in tedium waiting for me.

The rays of the sun capture the dark strands of Elijah
’s hair, giving them a bluish quality. I understand now how one may attribute his pallor to ailment. I see it in Mouse too. Knowing better than anyone else that standing before me are not men but vampires.

A plank is raised as a bridge from the little world on water to the land. Captain Stokes stands proudly by
, watching and supervising the disembarking passengers. Mr. Tinker winks at me and gives Mouse a hearty handshake.  A hand cups my shoulder; it’s Michael.

“
Good-bye, Miss Sybrina,” he utters.

“
Fare thee well, Michael.”  I smile but catch a glimpse of a frown marring the radiant face of Elijah.  I snicker at his unwarranted jealousy; with such passion comes other strong emotions. I cannot imagine my life without him now, I want him always.

Elijah takes my small bag from me then rests my hand in the crook of his arm.  Together we walk across the threshold to England.
Mouse and his family of kittens follow behind and I realize my journey and studies don’t end here but rather begin on a new path, one not sullied with revenge.

Dear Reader,

Sybrina and Elijah
’s story was born at a very interesting place, Disney World.  While on vacation and tidying up
Mobster’s Vendetta
, book 3 in the Mobster’s Series, Sybrina popped into my head.  I envision her as savvy, strong-willed, and smart—a contemporary for the era.  Elijah encompasses the contemplative immortal, struggling to let go of his past and find his way in a world he cannot leave.  The culminating question the book poses is
without change and the stages of life, would existence be bland and not worth living?

I hope that you enjoyed
Sybrina
.  Paranormal romance is my favorite genre for my own personal reading and being able to pen one of my own is near and dear to my heart.  I did a great deal of research on vampiric lore and other novels written about vampires in the nineteenth century.  I came across superstitions I had never even heard of, like the eating of grave dirt and burying the dead upside down to keep a corpse from coming back to life.  The research fueled my imagination and page by page the story made me ask myself more questions.

If you are interested in a sequel to
Sybrina
, please contact me at
[email protected]
or visit me at
http://www.amyrachiele.com
.
  A second book is contingent on reader demand.

If you are inclined
to do so, I would love for you to review
Sybrina
.  Your feedback and input are invaluable to a novelist.

Thank you for spending time in Sybrina
’s world.

In gratitude,

Amy Rachiele

Mobster
’s Girl (1)

Awakening the Mobster (2)

Mobster’s Vendetta (3)

Mobster
’s Angel

Frosted Over

Silencing Joy

Hellwalkers: Book 1 A Walk in Hell

(Paranormal R
omance)

Shrapnel
’s Kiss

(Military Romance)

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6150565

https://www.facebook.com/messages/626361887#!/amyrachielebooks

https://www.facebook.com/messages/626361887#!/pages/Mobster-Series/245610882223918

Dickens, Charles. 
Stave 1
. 
A Christmas Carol
. S.P.C.K.: London, 1872. N. pag. Print.
English, E. Schuyler. 
Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, Authorized King James Version; with Notes Especially Adapted for Young Christians
. New York: Oxford U, 1948. N. pag. Print.
Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. 
Moby Dick: Herman Melville
. Jacksonville, IL: Perma-Bound, 1986. N. pag. Print.