True Love
Whoareyou?

How much should someone lose? Jamie Walsh asked.

A bunch.

There's been a lot of missing before. Her parents. And now, his Magick powers.

He felt numb. Die slowly start inside.Grey, the light is gone. His world. Missing.

Jamie leaned against the broken street lights to take a breather. A cold wind penetrated the bone, piercing through the thin T-shirt that read Texually Active. The journey to the food store has never been so exhausting. He lowered his plastic bag, then rubbed his hands against the side of his faded jeans. Heavy load felt on his feet. There was no one for him to lean on. No one's helping. He's alone.

Her stomach churned. Being alone is good. He can get through all of these oddities alone. He doesn't need anyone.

A very familiar scent, tempting his sense of smell. The freshness of the lake water and the sensual warmth of the spices. His enemy. Damians.

Adrenaline pumps energy into his tired body. Jamie's gaze wandered around him. But only the tourists who seemed to be passing by he walked on this sunny and scorching afternoon.Fearing to be recognized, he decided to go home.

The exterior of the French Quarter-style house with its sister's greenish walls near Jackson Square is not particularly striking. Jamie opened the fence, walked into the house and breathed a sigh of relief. He threw his groceries on the iron desk, then sat on the chair.

Thousands of years old walls surround it, a safe display of brick fortifications. It's less likely that someone can break through his shelter, except maybe Damian. Cold air ran through the bones lately. Draicon is cruel. What would Damian do if he found me? Will he punish me? Think Jamie.

You were trying to kill him.

What does that man want?

An answer appeared in his mind. Make love. It all goes back to love and marriage.

The lunging passion trickled down his fear as he thought of Damian, the man's body was large and muscular. Having taken away her chastity, she now wants Jamie as her partner. He will continue to hunt Jamie down and will stop at nothing until he gets it, takes him to his bed, puts his hard, heavy body on Jamie, and puts it on him, jerking his hips at the base of his thighs and asserting his rights once again in a barbaric manner.

The space at the base of his thighs felt damp, wet and ready.

His common sense overrides his lust and he focuses his attention on self-defense.

Today, like a fortress with weak defenses, it is vulnerable to Damian attacks. The man, desiring his body, will break his spirit, and after becoming his partner, he will drag Jamie back into his dangerous and cruel herd of wolves. Jamie has no weapon but his ingenuity. It was just a plastic sword when compared to the sharp iron deadly assault troops.

After struggling to climb the stairs, and then putting the groceries, he approached an old table full of wires, software, components, and mobile phones. Jamie takes his new laptop and an Aircard, then puts it in a backpack. He walked towards the Voodoo Petite Maison Shop. There is Mama Renee who knows the secrets of the other world belongs to the magical creatures like Draicon, as Mark knows.

A small brass bell tinkled over the door as Jamie passed by. The altar dedicated to Marie Laveau is on her side. The candles were still lit in honor of the long-dead Voodoo priest. Jamie stepped into the back of the shop, then knocked on the closed door.

Mama Renee opened it." Chere!" she shouts while wrapping her arms around Jamie's body. He also returned his embrace.

"I brought you a gift. I bought you a wireless PC cracker board and enrolled you in my mobile service so you could send an e-mail to your granddaughter. It's time you joined the information age way. You're two decades behind."

The old joke invites a smile, n

even as Renee shuddered in horror at the laptop and the thin cracker board that Jamie had proffered. Renee puts the two together very carefully as if facing a spider, then takes Jamie to the kitchen where he meets her with homemade herbal tea. A big black cat was circling his feet. While stroking the bundle of fine feathers, Jamie smiled at Archimedes snoring.

"He looks healthy and fat now" he observes, sounding a little sad as he and Mark find him, only a bone wrapped in skin, living on the porch of a house damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The woman's view was sharpened. " You and your brother are working hard to save the animals and find a decent home. If it wasn't for you, they would have been dead. Your brother is an amazing man, loving and kind-hearted, just like you. The world felt lost when he died."

Desperate and lonely. Mark saved her from a cruel childhood. Mark is all he has. And you killed him, Damian. You killed my brother.

A lump of emotion stuck in his throat. His own heart is not good, even pitch black. What kind of woman would try to kill her own lover?

Renee looked at his face. " Something has happened.I see the darkness in both your eyes. But it's still a bright speck there, struggling to break free."

Jamie explained everything. He held Renee's hand. " Do you have something, potion, gris-gris, that can break Daiman's binding spell?"

Gently Renee flipped Jamie's palm and watched him. His forehead wrinkled as his eyes widened, then shook his head.

"Honey, no magick can neutralize it. You need the source. The magick is stronger than my strength.

" I have to get my Magick back. Gotta,"

It doesn't mean to sound hysterical. Jamie took a cracked bowl of sugar. He poured a few teaspoons of sugar into a cup and drank it.

Jamie, how many times have I warned you to stay away from Magick? It's dangerous, and not as you like, Chere. Look what black Magick did to you."

" But it's the only Magick I've got. And now, that Magick has vanished." " Aki felt very lost and lonely. It was as if I was trying to find myself, even though I hated the way I got it. Whenever I feel guilty, I use my powers and remind myself of the benefits I get. I don't have to rely on anyone else because I have Magick,"

Sadness seeped into him. " Now I can't know myself. I just want to find my way again. I'm not fit to live with anyone."

"And the Morphs make you feel part of them, is that what you want?"

" Jamie shuddered, remembering the rottenness of the evil that possessed her soul. "I realized they were using me and I hated what they were doing. But the power, oh Renee, you can't imagine it! For the first time, I felt normal. In fact, if revenge and crime are the only way. And now I feel like I'm losing my way again."

The woman sighed."Revenge only brings darkness. Why do you want revenge on Damian? Why are you trying to kill him?"

Jamie nibbled his lips. Mama Renee is the only woman she trusts. Maybe it's time he entrusted his secret to someone.

"I want you to swear on your life that you won't repeat my words. No one should know."

The old woman looked surprised, but she nodded.

"I saw him kill my brother."

Renee's two eyes exuded her shock.

"No, honey, according to the newspapers the robbers attacked Mark. The police identified him because...."

"They found his wallet which contained an identifier in it. T-his body burned to ashes." Jamie took a deep breath. "Six months ago, I was waiting for Mark at a new home in Bourbon, when I met Damian. She's so. The interest between us was strange. He told her she was a Draicon, a werewolf, and then Mark came. He was angry when he saw Damian. I can make them dislike each other. Mark told me to go home, but Damian slipped a piece of paper with his room number in my bag."

Masama's smile adorned Renee's lips. "Let me guess. You were young, fascinated, and you came to him.

Jamie nodded. A reddish hue underwent his face, recalling his first moment, his embarrassment and the insistence of the man's sensuality. His strong body was pressing down on him. Unstoppable wild reaction. The odd feeling that says it's more than just making love.

Draicon is an evil werewolf and Mark intends to make Damian pay for his actions."

He had never seen his brother so angry. For the first time, Mark cared so much about it. But Daiman ruthlessly killed him.

" Where did Mark know about Draicon?" Renee asked.

Jamie turned his shoulders, staring at the shelf of herbs lined up along the wall. "Mark knows the secrets of Magick's world.

He's my only family and I trust him.

"That night, Mark needed help to get the stray dog out of the building he had just bought. He said he'd meet me there. He asked me to put on a new shirt that had been sprayed with chemicals to hide my body odor so Damian could not find me. I was in the building looking for the dog when I heard a motorbike in the alley. I peeked out and looked... Mark's. He was confronted by Damian and five other riders, all of them tall and wearing leather jackets....."

Emotions stuck in his throat."I heard Damian's voice say, "That's it, Mark Walsh. Kill him," P-The Riders undressed them and turned into wolves. I saw Damian turn into a big wolf and.... Mark screaming.....Damian, he. he..." Jamie closed his eyes, recalling the growling of the burly wolves, as well as the horrible screams of his brother before he died.

" I passed out.After waking up, I went to the alley. There is only ashes." Jamie took a breath. "I reported Mark's disappearance and police said a witness saw Mark killed by robbers. Then I ran, because I didn't know what to do."

"Oh, Jamie," said the woman softly. He stretched out both hands huh, inviting Jamie to come closer.

Oh, how he wants it! Jamie wants to let the old woman give him the comfort he needs since Mark left. But Jamie does not dare to let go of the steel shield he created to protect him from this cruel world.

He shook his head. "Then I hid in the hotel. I was scared to go home because I didn't want Damian to find me. A few days later I met his theme, Nicolas, which was supposed to be until Damian came along. I told Nicolas I'd go with him if he wanted to teach me Magick."

A gloomy smile replaced his sadness."Yeah, he taught me. And I used it to find the Morph, take their Magick and try to kill Damian. They used my blood to make a deadly potion and I transmitted it through kissing."

Pain coloring Rene expression. " You've suffered a terrible loss. But why did Damian order to kill your brother? Maybe you don't know the full story."

Jamie stand. " He may have realized Mark was going to beat Damian up for daring to seduce me. I saw my own leg torn to shreds. Draicon is an unforgiving killer."

Mark's screams were still echoing in his mind. Shouts of pain and the sound of shaking....

Slowly Renee grabbed her palm. "Jamie, you had a hard life at such a young age. You are special and unique, but you suffer because of it. It's time you let go. Understand, not everyone is your enemy. Sometimes the people you think you can't trust are the ones you should trust. They are your real family."

As her body slumped in the chair, Jamie felt an old scar on the bottom of her back. As if he was listening to his cousin's sneer, feeling a burning pain in his flesh....

Shame is burning in him. Brethren are overvalued, "you've considered family more than anyone."The only one I have.

"So, don't you have anything, whatever it is, that can restore a little of my Magick power?"

"Nothing."Renee's dark gaze exuded wisdom. "What binds you is the ancient Magick Draicon. If Damian did it, it would be to protect you.."

"I need an ancient Draicob spell to remove it. Magick Book."

Renee looks troubled."Such a book should be left and should not be disturbed because it is too dangerous, even in the hands of wise and proficient witches."

Jamie is neither a wise nor a skilled wizard.

Just desperate.

"Please promise me that if you find it, you'll return the book to the Daricon people" Renee asked."You've been a victim of terrible power. That book could ruin you forever."

"I am not a victim, but a party involved in my own desires."

The woman touched her wrist gently. " You're a victim, baby. The Morphs know how vulnerable you are. No matter how you defend your opinion, they're the ones who exploit my weakness."

Jamie's tensing."I'm not weak. " Never. Thank you, Mama Renee, but I can take care of my own life."

A veiled expression perched on the woman's face."Jamie, remember. Even good can come from darkness. The Draicon leader is looking for you and his people need your healing powers."

His words make no sense. Jamie is not healing, but destroying. Nothing else makes sense.

The old woman had a sad smile."And not all Draicon is evil."

Jamie's chest tightened with emotion as she walked with Mama Renee towards the main front of the store. The small brass bell rang boisterously behind him, accompanying his departure.

Without purpose he stepped into an area devoted to foot travel. It's just another typical day in the Quarrter...

Jamie stepped back, his heart throbbing twice as fast as he looked at the figure rushing up to him. Not Damian, not a tyrannical face like a carving that he was very familiar with, but another figure, with a cruel face, dreadlocks, and heartless black eyes.

The morph was walking slowly. With his stooped body as well as a pale face full of wrinkles, he looked like an undead. Hasn't anyone noticed? Run, fool!

Jamie jerking. It was not the Morph he saw, but rather the middle-aged obedient man wearing Khaki shorts, a slightly protruding belly covered in a flower-patterned shirt.

I've lost my mind.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. No Morphs roamed the streets. There's just a bunch of people out looking for fun. And the lonely wolf..... Damians.

Jamie froze in fear.

The wind waving his short dark hair. Handsome and elegant face makes Damian look striking in the crowd, like a luxurious Sports car among ordinary sedans. He walked leisurely toward Jamie, his muscular body moving like a well-maintained machine. The man ignored the crowd around him, the artists, everything.

All except the woman. His green eyes were fixed on the woman like laser beams. Jamie's heart is pounding.

His instinct told him to run. Jamie turned around, broke through the crowd. Fast, faster, racing under the balconies of the Fontalba Apartment. Suddenly he felt the man's sigh in his skin, like a warm caress of air.

A hand gripped his upper arm, forcing him to stop. Jamie gulped, panic ran through his veins, Damian's sturdy chest pressed down on him as the man pulled him out of the crowd, towards the brick building. Damian pushed her to the rickety door. Intensity radiated from his gaze.

"Jamie, ah, I've finally found you" said Damian gently, his name slipping from his lips with a gentle accent.

"Take me off, Draicon. Let go of me, right now."

Jamie struggles to escape Damian's steel grip. Hysterical stuffing came out of his throat. Damian will punish Jamie for trying to kill him. Damian pressed his body to the door, the two men's legs holding him back. Jamie's trapped.

He opened his mouth to scream for help. Damian pulled her into his hard body.

Damian's lips land on Jamie's lips, stopping his screams with a kiss.