The Dark-Hunters (880 page)

This isn’t a deleted Dark-Hunter scene, but it is the original synopsis for
Fantasy Lover,
originally titled
Saving Grace.
In this synopsis, Julian was going to be a jewelry maker(!). Needless to say, the story that became
Fantasy Lover
radically changed. So enjoy in good fun!

(Caveat! Sherri is the first to admit she stinks at writing synopses. It’s why she will never teach a class on it.)

Sex therapist Grace Alexander is a devout loner who has long ago given up on the dream of any man ever appealing to her. And most especially given up the dream of some mythic hero coming in out of nowhere and sweeping her off her feet. That is until her best friend, a tarot card-reading pseudo-gypsy, conjures a Greek general out of the past to save Grace from her boring isolation.

In 325
B.C.
, Julian of Macedon was one of the greatest, most feared generals who served Alexander the Great. His skill in battle was legendary, but even more impressive was the rumor of his skill in bed. It was this rumor that led a consecrated virgin to seek him out. Terrified of being brutally sacrificed, she begged Julian to take her virginity. For the first and only time in his life, Julian fell to his pity and did as she asked.

When the High Priest learned of their actions, he condemned Julian to an eternity of slavery. From full moon to full moon, he must make love to his summoner, but never can
he
be satisfied by a woman’s body.

It is a hell he would gladly give up, but long ago he learned that for him there would never be a reprieve. Besides, his mortal past is filled with crimes that have made this an apt punishment.

Yet from the moment Grace releases him, he senses something different. Something unusual about this incarnation.

To begin with, Grace isn’t an easy conquest. For the first time in his life, he must actually struggle to get her into bed—and then she insists on both of them wearing clothes and on going to sleep!

Grace doesn’t know what to do. Once unleashed, Julian is hard to control. Always a man of action, he is used to taking what he wants and in this case what he wants is Grace, who isn’t sure what to make of this man who loves pizza and keeps begging to make love to her. After all, Grace is a far cry from beautiful and the shy therapist hasn’t had much experience with a man chasing after her.

All she knows is that she wants to kill Selena for getting her into this predicament! Not that she’s completely ungrateful. Grace is tired of living alone and having no one to share her life with, but a horny Greek love slave isn’t the answer to that dilemma.

Still, she can’t resist him. The torment in his eyes, the fire in his touch. He is strong when she needs strength and tender when she needs compassion. But for all that, he is also stubborn and chauvinistic. Demanding and unyielding.

In a nutshell, he is everything she has ever wanted and everything she despises!

And worst of all, he will vanish in a few weeks.

Julian wants nothing more than to stay with the woman who makes him laugh and who touches a heart he thought was long ago frozen in ice. But that is impossible. Worse, he knows that this may be the last time he will be summoned. Computers are steadily taking over the world and his little book may be lost forever, damning him to an eternity of being alert and alone. Lost in a lightless void. Unless Grace and Selena can come up with a way to save him.

The three of them put their heads together and review not only the curse, but the history that surrounds Julian. What they find is that the curse wasn’t just for him—the virgin, Alexandria, was also condemned, as well as any woman who summons Julian. What the High Priest didn’t tell him was that after he leaves, the woman goes slowly insane while she pines for him.

It is truly the curse from hell.

Now Julian knows he can’t go back into the book. He can’t condemn Grace to such a fate. But fighting the curse is a terrible thing. The only way he can save her is to not have sex with her until the last night of his cycle.

Talk about a problem! All he can think about is her. And all Grace wants is him. What good is it to break the curse if they’re both going to be insane from deprivation?

Still, Grace believes that where there’s a will, there’s always a way and she refuses to lose Julian so easily. After all, she is his only hope—as the curse began so shall it end. It started with Alexandria and it can only end with a woman who shares her name—Grace Alexander—a woman who is more to Julian than just a piece of ready meat. Grace truly is his last hope.

But the curse is strong, and so is their attraction. So strong that the last few days of the curse, she is forced to tie him down to keep him away from her. And she nearly goes broke from the water bill from trying to keep her own hormones neutralized.

On his last night, she unties him and they consecrate their love—but there’s still one more catch. If he leaves her body before morning, then he will return to the book. They must make love all night long. No easy task, but hey, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

In the morning, Julian is free. With his freedom comes more terrifying complications. One, Julian can now pursue any woman he wants and Grace isn’t really so sure he won’t do that. And two, Julian doesn’t really belong in this world. Of course, he does offer to be a sex surrogate for Grace’s clients—a proposal she doesn’t find particularly funny.

In the end, Julian convinces Grace that she is the only woman in the world, in any time period, that he will ever love. And he reveals to her a talent for metalwork, which he uses to make jewelry for tourists—replicas of Greek jewelry that quickly become very sought after.

Julian is no longer haunted by his past actions and Grace is no longer terrified by her fears. She has learned to depend on someone again, to trust that not everyone leaves. And together, they make a perfect whole.

Deleted Scene #1 from
Night Embrace

This is one of the fight scenes that was removed from
Night Embrace.

Vane sat off to the side of camp in human form while he listened to the idle conversations around him. Half the pack was in human form while the others were wolves.

Many of the men were restless. There was a disturbing scent in the air. One that denoted trouble, but no one could get a handle on it. Not even he was sure what was causing it.

But he was just as edgy as the rest of them. One wrong word or action and he was just as likely to take a life as a Daimon. More so, in fact.

Fang walked up to him and offered him a cold beer. “You want to go patrolling and see if we can find out what’s going on?”

Vane popped the lid and tilted his head so that he could see around Fang’s body where Stefan and the others were gathering. He shook his head.

If he went out with Stefan in the mood he was in, one of them would end up dead. “Whatever it is, it’s coming this way. I think we should hang close to the women.”

Fang laughed at that. “I love the way you think,
adelphos.
Hanging close to women is what I do best.”

He laughed at Fang’s words.

“Vane!”

Vane choked on the beer as he heard his sister’s frantic, scared voice in his head.

“What?”
he sent back silently.

“The pups are coming. I need you.”

His beer forgotten, Vane shot to his feet and ran for her. He found her to the side of the camp, near a small outlet of water.

“I’ve got you, babe,” he said gently as he knelt down by her side to help her.

She licked his chin, then whined as more labor pain hit her.

Fang joined them a few minutes later with blankets. “You want me to get Dad?”

“No,” Vane said. “We can handle it.”

As he reached to pet Anya, his cell phone rang. Pissed at the timing, he answered it to find Acheron on the other end.

“I’m busy, Dark-Hunter. This isn’t a good—”

“I know, but there’s a massive number of Daimons converging around Miller’s Well. They’re coming for your pack, Vane.”

Vane went cold at the news. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. Looks like they want a supercharge before tomorrow night’s festivities, so you guys have got to get out of there.”

How he wished it were that simple. “Anya is in labor. We can’t move her. But I’ll make sure the others get out.”

“All right,” Ash said. “Sit tight and I’ll have some reinforcements to you ASAP.”

The implication tore through Vane and insulted every animal part of him. “I don’t need your help, Dark-Hunter. We can take care of our own.”

“Yeah, just the same, we’ll be there shortly.”

The phone went dead.

Snarling, Vane returned the phone to his pocket and told Fang what was going on. “Get the others mobilized.”

Fang nodded, then ran off to spread the word.

*   *   *

Ash cursed as he hung up the phone and walked quickly down Bourbon Street toward Canal. Where the hell was Talon?

The Celt was supposed to be in his swamp and instead there was no sign of him.

Closing his eyes, Ash sensed the Celt was fine. But he didn’t have time to fetch him away from Sunshine. The Daimons were moving fast and he didn’t have long before they’d reach Vane and his family.

He flipped his phone open and called Valerius, who was still at home. “Valerius, I’m on Bourbon—”

“I will not venture down that street of crass iniquities and plebeian horror, Acheron. Don’t even ask it.”

Ash rolled his eyes at the Roman’s haughty tone. “I need you in the swamp.”

Silence answered him.

“We have a situation, Valerius,” he said sternly. “A group of Daimons are after a Katagaria pack and they have a woman in labor—”

“Where do you need me?”

Ash smiled. The Roman had his moments. Good and bad. Luckily, this was a good one.

“I’ll be right there.” Ash hung up the phone. He dashed into a nearby doorway where no one could see him and flashed to Val’s side.

Valerius did a double take at seeing Ash in his living room before the Roman could even return his cordless phone to its pedestal.

The only hint of shock Valerius showed was a slight arching of his right brow.

“We don’t have time for conventional means of transportation,” Ash explained.

Before Val could ask him what he meant, Acheron grabbed him and they materialized close to the Katagaria den.

Val scowled at him. “How did you do that? Are you some odd Were-Hunter hybrid like Ravyn?”

Ash gave a dark half-laugh. “Long story. The pertinent part is that I can’t use my powers around the Katagaria without forcing them to change shapes. If the pregnant wolf is forced into human form by my powers, it’ll kill her and her babies instantly. So, I’m fighting strictly hands-on as a human. Your powers aren’t ionically charged, so you should be safe to fight as always.”

Val nodded in understanding.

Acheron manifested his warrior’s staff, then led Val toward the den.

The camp was in total chaos as the men, most in human form, tried to gather up the pups, and move them without using their magic.

Vane and Fang stood over a pregnant wolf in labor while another male who bore a striking resemblance to Vane knelt by her side and held her. The man was quite a bit older than the brothers.

Ash remembered him well. The ruthless Katagari ruler hated everyone outside the pack.

Then again, he amended as he looked at Vane and Fang, their father hated many who were in the pack as well.

“I hate to leave you, little one,” their father said. “But know I will raise your pups in love.”

The she-wolf whined.

Their father stood up and raked a sneer over Vane and Fang. “This is your fault. I curse the day I ever had werewolf sons.”

Vane growled at the insult and started for his father, but Fang caught him.

His father curled his lips. “You better protect her young. God help you both if something happens to them.” He stalked off toward the others.

Acheron and Val headed to the brothers.

“What are you doing here?” Vane demanded as soon as he saw them. “I told you we can handle this.”

Acheron planted the end of his staff in the ground and eyed him with impatience. “Don’t play hero, Vane. The last thing you need is to fight Daimons off your back while Anya labors.”

Vane narrowed his eyes at them. “Do you know anything about delivering a baby?”

“I do,” Ash said. “I’ve helped deliver more than my fair share of them over the last eleven thousand years.”

In spite of his earlier words, Vane appeared relieved by Ash’s answer.

Vane looked at Val. “What about you?”

Val’s answer was as out of character for him as his presence here. “I don’t know nothing about birthing puppies, Miss Scarlett, but I can cleave the head off a Daimon without breaking a sweat.”

“All right, you can both stay.” Vane crouched down beside his sister and nuzzled her snout with his face while the she-wolf panted and whined. “Hang in there, Anya. I’m not going to leave you.”

Ash sat down by her side and held his hand out for her to sniff him. “I’m a friend, Anya,” he said gently. “I know you’re in pain, but we’re going to stay with you and help you.”

She looked up at Vane who made wolf noises back to her.

A loud curse sounded. “Vane!” Fang shouted. “We got gators moving in all over the place.”

“It’s okay,” Ash said. “They’re with me. They won’t attack you unless you hit them.”

“You sure?” Fang asked skeptically.

“Positive.”

The last of the Katagaria pack moved out, leaving Val, Anya, the brothers, and Ash alone with the gators. The quiet stillness of the swamp was broken only by Anya’s pants and whines.

As they waited, Ash felt for the grief in Vane’s eyes.

“She’ll be fine,” Val assured him as he noticed it as well. “We’ll get her through this.”

“No,” Vane said, shaking his head. “All we can hope for is to save her puppies. As soon as the last one leaves her body, she’ll die.”