Aris Rising: The Court of Vampires: AN INFINITY DIARIES NOVEL
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ALSO BY DEVIN MORGAN:
Aris Returns: A Vampire Love Story
“A surprising twist on the vampire trend…Author Morgan weaves together the thrilling history with a contemporary love story that comes together in an action-filled climax—and an enticing cliffhanger—that will leave readers thirsty for more. Blending sensual fantasy and the supernatural, this vampire saga takes a welcome turn.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“This sophisticated vampire romance with a twist takes readers on a compelling journey deep into. . .the pull of hypnosis. . .the possibility of past lives. . .and the power of dangerous desires.”
– Kindle Nation
“This is a very grownup Vampire story that is just as sensual as it is supernatural. The reader will not be disappointed with the denouement or the inevitable cliffhanger that entices one to look forward to the next book in the series. Devin Morgan will be one to watch in this genre.”
– Amazon
“Eloquent imagery and vivid detail--the author does a wonderful job of harmonizing two different worlds together. She brings you into the story quickly and doesn’t let you go until the end. Unpredictable (in the best and most refreshing of ways) and delightful.”
– Amazon
www.TruLoveStories.com
Where Passionistas Play!
BroadLit
February 2013
Published by
BroadLit ®
14011 Ventura Blvd.
Suite 206 E
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Copyright © 2013 Devin Morgan
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 978-0-9887627-7-0
Produced in the United States of America.
Visit us online at www.TruLOVEstories.com
To the memory of my cherished friend, Bea Greenwood.
A hearty thank you to my publishers and editors, Nancy Cushing-Jones and Barbara Weller, without whom Aris would have been kept in hiding in the Catacombs for all eternity. Their patience, understanding and confidence have enabled me to now call myself “author.” And thank you to their wonderful staff: Michelle Clark, Jeff Kongs and Rod Keller, who take such wonderful care of all the details that are so important in the day-to-day marketing of a novel.
by Devin Morgan
AN
INFINITY DIARIES
NOVEL
A BROADLIT BOOK
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
Prologue
Night after night Aris climbed through the window of Sarah Hagan’s high-rise apartment in Chicago. The soft amber night light on her bedside table cast odd shadows on her sleeping silhouette. Standing at the foot of her bed watching her sleep, his heart ached to hold her. In her slumbering presence he was transported back in time to the court of Henry VIII and his beloved Elizabeth whose death brought him such anguish.
His wretchedness was the same though the centuries were different. The same separation he felt so long ago from Elizabeth, he now felt from Sarah, despising he was not human. His only desire was to wake her, to hold her, to make love to her, knowing the only way he could express his love was if she were to change, to become one of the undead. Could he ask her such a thing? Long ago he questioned her as he spoke of his friend Sebastian and his human love, Emily. Emily gave her life to become one of the Immortals before their mating. Aris questioned Sarah if she would do such a thing for love. She had no answer for him then. Would she now? He survived in torment.
Each night when he came to watch her he felt as if he were a thief, stealing unrealized moments alone with her. He loathed himself for it yet could not control his need to simply be near her. How long could this continue without her knowledge and would she be repelled when she knew?
CHAPTER 1
“I miss having Gorgeous come in here every week. He hasn’t been around in a while. I guess since he’s off parole, he’s decided not to keep up his therapy sessions.” Sarah’s assistant, Maggie Fisher, stood in the door of Sarah’s office, an expectant look on her face. “Seeing that hunk last thing on Friday always set me up for a great weekend.” Maggie laughed as she handed her boss a huge paper cup filled with hot coffee.
“Well, I’m pretty sure he’ll stop in once in a while. We couldn’t let him deprive you of your fix.” Sarah laughed but her heart was in turmoil. Carlos Havarro, the beautiful young man Maggie spoke of was dead, shot in a drive-by shooting, yet everyone thought he was alive and well. In his place and in his body lived Aris, a vampire that had been in existence for thousands of years. The death of her client and friend broke her heart but she couldn’t show it. No one would believe her if she told them that an Immortal had taken over his body just as he breathed his last breath. And if she did tell anyone, they would decide she was insane. There were moments she wondered if that were true herself.
As his therapist, during her hypnotherapy regression sessions with Carlos, Aris had made himself known. She had grown accustomed to their conversations and looked forward to them. He gave her glimpses into times long past and had actually known historical figures she had only read about. Now that he possessed a human body and was able to walk the earth again, not just occupy Carlos’ mind, he had almost disappeared from her life. Her logical mind told her to be glad the vampire had abandoned her, had once again become a mythological creature. The whole situation was more than any human could
understand yet she missed him, their intimate conversations, his passionate convictions. They shared a strange kinship she felt with no one else, a closeness of spirit.
And she missed her human friend, Carlos, terribly, his easy banter, his warmth and affection. She felt more alive since knowing him than ever before. When he was taken away just as he was beginning to find himself outside of his gang-banger life, inexplicably, she felt a piece of her heart die with him.
Her grief for him was solitary. No one except her knew that he was gone forever. His soul, his personality vanished into some nameless oblivion. She missed him very much. His death was a secret she shared only with Aris and now he, too, had deserted her in her mourning.
“Hey boss, are you okay? You’ve been really quiet the last few weeks.” Deep concern for her friend filled Maggie’s voice as she broke the silence.
“I’m fine, Maggie. It’s just been such a confusing time.” She paused a moment. “At least Carlos is still alive.” She knew she was telling Maggie a lie but there was no way around it. “There’s always a chance he’ll come back to his sessions. He’s been through a lot and I’m sure it’s a big adjustment, even losing that gang-leader scum, Manu. I know that creep had Carlos shot, but Carlos felt they were like brothers for a long, long time. His whole life revolved around that gang and now the sun of his previous solar system doesn’t exist anymore. His whole orbit is misfiring. It’s like he’s lost the only family where he felt he belonged.” It wasn’t just the gang members who disappeared into some dimension of Infinity.
“I don’t get it. Why did Manu try to have him killed anyway if they were so close?”
“Manu was just using him all the time. Once Carlos found out Manu instigated a drive-by shooting where a rival gang member was killed, he became dangerous. They were safe while he was still a part of the gang but once he went straight, they were all afraid of him turning them in. He was the only one who had ever left the gang and I guess because he was no longer of use to them, they figured he was better off dead.”
Maggie sat comfortably in the chair opposite Sarah. “Boy, the tables really turned on them in the end. Did the police ever get any leads on who took out Manu and the other two leaders?”
“No, they just closed the case as a gang vendetta. I think everyone is glad to just let the whole thing cool off.”
“Has Colleen heard from him? After all she was his parole officer?”
“Every once in a while he’ll check in. She said he has his own place to live now; he’s not at the half-way house any more. His father disowned him once and for all, and his mother is too weak and frightened to see him. They sent his brother to live with his grandmother in Mexico to make sure he doesn’t get involved with the wrong people like Carlos did. He really is on his own.”
No one except Sarah knew just how on his own he was, a being out of his time, his element, separated from his own kind, living a lie. A noble vampire in a not-so-noble human world.
#
She sat in her car outside the market watching the rain come down in torrents. The gray, empty parking lot matched the heavy feeling in Sarah’s heart. There were times when she was able to bear the grief of losing Carlos with quiet resolve. This simply was not one of them. She sobbed uncontrollably, trembling with sorrow. She missed him so dearly. Thoughts of his determination to be a better person, his great sacrifice to keep his family and her safe from harm ripped her apart. How long could she grieve in silence? How long must she continue the charade that he was alive, just out of reach? She knew the answer. For always. Her thoughts brought a new onslaught of tears.
CHAPTER 2
A heavy autumn rain splashed showers of water on the floor of her balcony. It bounced with a “ping” onto the sliding glass door. Black ominous clouds coiled around one another in the sky. A gust of wind rattled the glass as Sarah sat on the sofa bundled under a cream colored afghan staring into space. The cover of the book propped on her knees held the likeness of Henry VIII, the wine in the glass resting on the coffee table was a soft merlot.
A sudden ring of her telephone shocked her from her sixteenth-century reverie, reminding her she was sitting in her condo in Chicago. Glancing at the caller I.D., she saw it was Colleen Stevens-Drake. Had it been anyone except her best friend, she would have ignored the call.
“Hi C.” Sarah could hear the sound of traffic and windshield wipers. “What in the world are you doing out in weather like this?”
Colleen laughed. “I like it. There’s hardly anybody on the road. Besides, I’m on my way to the police station. One of my parolees has screwed up and I’m trying to save his butt.” “Sounds familiar.” Sarah took a sip of her wine, placing the glass back on the coaster.
“I know what you mean but, trust me, this guy isn’t like Carlos. I’ve never been assigned a con who is as good a guy as Carlos. He’s really turned his life around.” She laid on her horn. “I wanted to tell you, he called.”
“Carlos?”
“Yeah.
“When?”
“This morning. He sounded strange but genuinely glad to talk to me.”
“Yeah?” Sarah wanted to ask her friend for more information but she controlled her desire.
“He asked if I thought you would see him. I thought that was pretty weird; he knows how you feel about him. Anyway, I told him I knew you’d be glad to see him and I think he’s going to call you. I just wanted to give you a head’s up so you won’t be surprised.”
“I’ll be waiting for his call.” Her heart raced as she said goodbye to her friend and hung up the phone. Now her greatest wish and her biggest nightmare was about to happen. She was going to see Aris again.
CHAPTER 3
Sarah had barely stepped into the elevated car when the doors snapped closed behind her. The seats and aisles were filled with commuters just beginning their workday. Some of them sipped coffee, some read newspapers and some just slept with their eyes wide open focused on some netherworld just outside the smudged, fogged window. A chilly wind had blown across the platform as she waited for the train, making her grateful for all the heat from the bodies jammed into the narrow compartment.
Just as she settled in, holding tightly to a strap to keep from being tipped over, she noticed a tall, dark man. He was amazing looking and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Almost a full head taller than anyone else standing in the car, his dark eyes and golden complexion reminded her somehow of Carlos. His features were more mature, refined, chiseled, and his coal black hair lay in soft waves on his turned up coat collar. She thought she saw a tinge of gray in the perfectly trimmed hair at temples.
As he turned fully to face her, his eyes locked onto hers and held them. Unable to tear away, she had no idea how long they stood fixated in the middle of a crowd, seeing only each other.
Suddenly the train stopped. Sarah heard the name of her station over the P.A. A strange confusion overtook her as she turned to hurry out the door. Embarrassed by the feelings she was having at the thought of the stranger, she felt the color rise high to her cheeks as she made her way up the stairs and into the morning light.
#
Sarah knew that in most cases it was almost impossible for a client to have social interaction with their therapist. She was glad that it was different with Bonnie Petrillo and her. They began their relationship as colleagues sharing an office together. When Sarah went through her divorce, it was only natural that Bonnie was the one to assist her. As they learned more about one another, they began developing a closer kinship. Then when Sarah decided she needed to start going to the gym to lose her fifteen marriage pounds as she called them, Bonnie joined her. Before long they became great friends.
The two women had just finished their dinner and the waitress cleared their table as they sipped their wine. “Why do you want to come back now? I’m not talking you out of it mind you, Sarah, you just always felt you didn’t need to do any further past life regression sessions.”
“I know, but things h
ave changed. I don’t want to do it for therapeutic reasons. I’ve really gotten hooked on sixteenth century history lately and I’d like to see if there’s any connection to a past life during that period hidden somewhere in my subconscious.” Bonnie would never understand if she shared the truth. Sarah was actually beginning to believe the story Aris told her; she might have lived a different life during the time of Henry VIII. She might have known and loved Aris in a time long past. “I’d just like to explore the possibility. And besides, past life regression sessions are a lot more fun than reading a book. Okay?”
“Of course, I don’t have my schedule with me, but I’ll call you tomorrow when I get to the office and we’ll set things up.” Bonnie signaled for the waitress to bring two more merlots to the table as the friends settled in for a long over-due girl’s night.
#
Sarah’s palms began to perspire every time she thought of seeing Aris at one o’clock that afternoon. She could almost see her breath in the air as she stepped on the elevated platform hoping their unseasonably cold autumn didn’t herald a freezing cold winter. Snow and slush were one thing, but sub-zero weather chilled her to her very bones.
She was traveling to her office a half hour early to catch up on some work before Maggie arrived. She couldn’t sleep anyway. Her heart had been out of sync ever since Maggie told her he had called to make an appointment for a session.
She realized in the middle of her sleepless night, whenever she thought of Carlos she thought of him as he was before, a man and a messenger for an other-worldly being. He was no longer that man. He was the other-worldly being, the embodiment of something older than she could conceive. It frightened and excited her at the same time. Their time together since the transformation had been brief and they hadn’t been alone. How would she feel sitting across from a vampire? Something deep inside her knew she was physically safe with him. But what of her emotions? Where would they take her? She felt her knees go weak at the thought of his great power and wisdom. With Carlos, she had been the teacher and now their roles would be reversed. If there were roles. Would they continue to see each other? What did she want? That was the question that kept her awake at night. What did she want?