Out of the Darkness.pdf

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Out of the Darkness

ISBN # 1-4199-0380-2

Edited by Briana St. James

Cover art by Syneca

Electronic book Publication: October 2005

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written

permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-

3502.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales

is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

Warning:

The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. Out of the Darkness has

been rated E–rotic by a minimum of three independent reviewers.

Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-

rotic), and X (X-treme).

S- ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

E- rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall

word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find

objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated

titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as

“fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.

X- treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles,

stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

O UT OF THE D ARKNESS

Jaci & CJ Burton

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the

following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Glock: Glock Inc.

Dedications

From Jaci:

To the folks in Paradise—Thank you for always being there for me and for giving

me a place to come to for coffee in the morning. I hope you find this one worth the wait.

Thank you for your friendship and dedication. You are the best.

To the Breakfast Bitches…this wouldn’t be any fun without the bitching. Love you

babes and thank you for the sanity lifeline.

And to Charlie (the oh-so-talented CJ Burton)…for agreeing to do this again with

me, for making it a crazy, sometimes hellish but always fun experience, just like our

lives together. Hehehe. I love you, babe.

From CJ:

To my wife Jaci, who loves me with all her heart. I know this because we co-wrote

this book, our second, and I’m still alive. Somehow despite juggling several projects,

working a second job and attempting to potty train two new puppies, she managed to

maintain a sense of humor and get the book done. You really have to love a woman like

that…and I really do.

Out of the Darkness

Prologue

Stefan gasped for breath, the pain drawing him inside himself. It was too much to

bear. He didn’t have much time left. Blood poured from the wound in his heart, sizzling

as it hit the carpet. It burned within him, the silver-dipped knife rapidly draining his

life force.

What a fool he’d been. He should have known, should have suspected that his

murderer would want him out of the way.

He crawled to his nightstand, wincing as his heart began to pound erratically

against his rib cage. He fought to breathe, aware of the meaning of the soft gurgling

bubbling up in his throat. Not much time left. Hurry!

He pushed the speed dial button on his cell phone, praying that Duncan would pick

up. The sound of a Scottish brogue filled him with relief.

“Duncan,” he gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Duncan’s worried voice sliced across the line.

His hands had gone numb. Using his last remaining strength, he gasped, “No time.

Find Harlee…my daughter. She has to know. Go to Robert, he…he knows where.”

“Harlee? Who the hell is Harlee? Stefan? Are you all right? Answer me!”

Collapsing, he was unable to summon the strength to hold the phone long enough

to say any more, though he wished he could have revealed his killer. Damn. He prayed

Duncan understood what he wanted, that Duncan would do what was necessary to find

and protect Harlee. Numbness settled over his body, white light blinded him and the

wrenching pain evaporated. A lifetime’s remorse at having missed out on the pleasure

of knowing his daughter washed over him.

You kept her safe, and that’s all that mattered.

A soft voice called to him, despite the number of years since he’d last heard the

sweet tones. Amelia appeared in front of him, a beautiful specter he’d waited a lifetime

to see again. Her soft hair blew around her, teased by an unfelt breeze. She was still as

breathtaking as the day he’d lost her twenty-five years ago.

Come to me, Stefan. I’ve missed you.

So many regrets, no time to atone for his mistakes. If only he could do things over

again, this might have turned out differently. Then Amelia might not have died and

Harlee would have grown up with them.

I love you, Amelia,” he whispered as light filled his body. Suddenly all those regrets

meant nothing and the past slipped away. He knew only euphoria now and an

eagerness to be with his love. Our daughter will be queen and you and I will be reunited.

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