American Quest by Sienna Skyy Page A

the only word I could make out was ‘Maine.’ I thought she was telling me she was going on vacation. Now I wonder. . . .”
    Bruce sharpened his gaze on her. “I don’t believe any of this.”
    Jamie kept her eyes on the teacup for a moment before lifting them to Bruce. She spoke softly. “Yes you do, Bruce. Yes you do.”
    Bruce felt tears approaching. He shook his head slowly. “Yes I do. How could I possibly believe this?”
    “You believe it because it’s the truth. You can recognize it as the truth because you’ve reached a new level of understanding.”
    A new level of understanding. Unusually committed and passionate. He didn’t ask for this. He just wanted to have a great life with the woman he loved. He didn’t want dark forces watching him. He didn’t want Gloria to be at risk.

    What he wanted was a shot of tequila. He reached for the bottle on the sideboard.
    Jamie stopped him before he could take a drink. “You’re going to need to be sober for this.”

    Jamie’s stomach was pitching flips and somersaults. She removed a bundle of herbs from the teapot and filled the cups with the hot, stained liquid. “This might help.”
    Bruce sipped.
    She began.
    “Somewhere Gloria is being imprisoned by a Macul known as Enervata.”
    “A Macul?” Bruce’s voice sounded dubious.
    Jamie hadn’t expected him to get it all at once. Of course he wouldn’t. “A Macul is a high-ranking Pravus, which is an order of dark beings. Each Macul and his Pravus army is looking to destroy a particular human virtue. For Enervata, it’s love. There’s only a handful of his kind in the world, but they’ve been around for more than a thousand years and each is looking for an opportunity to enslave humanity. Enervata has been waiting for an uncommon kind of love affair since the Dark Ages. One like . . .” she shrugged.
    “Like me and Gloria?”
    Jamie nodded. She breathed in the flowered fragrance of the tea, keeping her gaze fixed on the brew so as not to look upon the wildness and disbelief in Bruce’s eyes. “There have been a handful of occurrences over the centuries where passionate people found uncommon love. If Enervata had been able to divide the lovers and seduce the woman, turning her toward darkness, he would have achieved great power. The other Maculs do similar things, though they’re trying to destroy different virtues. In each case, Enervata or one of the others has tried to harness that power to enslave mankind.”
    “Sounds like they’re not real good at it,” Bruce snorted. “Last time I checked we were pretty much okay.”
    “Well, that’s partly because they’re always sabotaging one another.
Each Macul wants to be in power, so they’re essentially competing and have always found a way to wreck one another’s chances.”
    Jamie chanced a glance at Bruce. He looked overwhelmed.
    “You’re sure Enervata’s the one who’s got Gloria?” he said.
    “He has to be, because he’s the one who wants to destroy love. He’s looking for the rare love, the bond-recherché as they call it, and the other Maculs will try to somehow spoil Enervata’s seduction attempts. If they do, he loses his chance at power.”
    “So that’s a good thing. Humanity’s safe.”
    “Except for the fact that the woman usually winds up dead. And the man for that matter. Or worse.”
    Bruce’s eyes dropped and he shook his head.
    Jamie squeezed his hand. “Enervata has taken Gloria because he believes he can seduce her and turn her to his side. And if Enervata can reverse a love as strong as yours between two people as passionate as you are, he gets it all.”
    “And if he can’t turn her?”
    “I can’t say for sure, Bruce. But likely, he’ll kill her.”
    The color drained from Bruce’s skin. He seemed to be wrestling with disbelief, anger, and sick, sick worry. He spoke, and his voice came out ragged. “How do you know all of this?”
    Jamie looked down at her teacup. “It started when I was in high