The Witch's Dream - A Love Letter to Paranormal Romance (Black Swan 2) (43 page)

Ram pulled the strap over his shoulder, sat on the ottoman in front of Elora, tuned quickly and began to play the acoustic guitar he kept at the cottage. She didn't recognize the song, but he might have rearranged it. The instrumental intro didn't give up a clue. She didn't recognize it until he began to sing the lyrics of "Never Gonna Give You Up", unplugged. She decided to add musical genius to his already long list of remarkable attributes. His voice that somehow managed to be sexy and angelic at the same time, along with the gift of the song, created an intimate moment she would never forget. It made her heart swell and feel too big to be confined by her chest. And each time she thought she could not love him more, her capacity expanded.

Helm responded to his father's voice by wiggling happily as if he was dancing a jig. It made Elora laugh out loud.

And there it is. Given the world they lived in, Elora knew the importance of savoring quiet, precious moments. And, at that very minute, The Lady Laiken, knight of The Order of the Black Swan, was certain she was the happiest elf alive in that dimension or any other. She begged for two encores, which secretly delighted the musician.

When Rammel finished for the third time, he carefully set his guitar aside. The light in her eyes and her pleas for more were all the thanks he needed. Nevertheless, only a fool passes up a bird nest on the ground. So he turned to her with a gleam in his eye.

"Now about that blowin' you spoke of..."

***

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Click here to watch the Book Trailer
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The Witch's Dream
and hear our real life Rammel (Derik Nelson) sing his version of
Never Gonna Give You Up
.

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BONUS

A Conversation (Intervention) with Rammel Hawking

me:
Sir Hawking, it's such a pleasure to get to interview you in person.

Ram:
(third finger)

me:
(sigh)
Okay. What is this about?

Ram:
Well, forgive me if I do no' sound polite, but I can no' say 'tis a pleasure bein' interviewed by you.

me:
Why not?

Ram:
Why no' indeed. I only agreed because of the chance to say fuck you in person.

me:
Okay. What exactly is the problem? You did end up with everything you
ever
wanted, didn't you?

Ram:
Aye. No' denyin' that. My problem is not with endin's. 'Tis with the bloody well fucked up middles.

me:
I see.

Ram:
No. You do no' see. You sit there in your tidy, little, safe, air conditioned version of reality without a single bloody care for what you are puttin' me through. Have
you
ever had a broken rib? It hurts! Do you know that?

me:
Well, I...

Ram:
You write like 'tis nothin'. And 'tis nothin' compared to a concussion and a hundred and forty-three stitches. How would you like to have to face
your
mother lookin' like that?

me:
Um, that doesn't happen until
Book Two, The Witch's Dream,
hasn't released yet.

Ram:
So just because they have no' read about it yet means it did no' happen?
(chuffs)
My mother cried for hours when she saw me lookin' like this. That was a bloody fun time I can tell you.

me:
I'm, uh, sorry. I didn't realize she would take it so hard...

Ram:
Come to think of it, I should have brought her with me.
(evil smile)

And what about that bit between me and my da - when he asks how the other fella looks? And you make me say the other fella got away with no' so much as a scratch? To add insult to injury you made me smile while I said it! So then he asks me to explain how it happened and I have to tell the fuck all, king da' of Elfdom that I got a hundred and forty-three stitches in a knife fight in a bar!

me:
(sigh)
I admit that was an understatement but technically, it was true. You
did
sustain your injuries in a knife fight in a bar.

Ram:
(gaping)
You are cold as Paddy's feet on a February morn.

me:
Now wait a minute...

Ram:
Just gettin' started.

me:
Oh here we go.
(Muttering to myself at this point.)

Ram:
Can you even begin to imagine that three months feels like an eternity when you're an elf waitin' on his mate to make up her mind?

me:
Well, I have a pretty good imagination...

Ram:
Oh?
You
can imagine how it
feels
to have a ragin' cockstand for weeks on end that does no' even wane when you sleep? Balls achin' like they're bein' squeezed. Just how is it exactly that
you
can imagine that,
Mistress
? How about this one? Can you imagine how it feels to wake and find your love lookin' back at you with vampire blues? Let me tell you how it feels. Your insides go completely cold. When that chemical hits the bloodstream it truly does feel like ice in your veins.

me:
I'm sure that was a very unpleasant experience...

Ram:
Unpleasant? You really are a stonehearted bitch. I feel like kickin' the legs out from under your chair.

me:
(Trying not to laugh.)
I was feeling really bad for you, and a little guilty, right up until you just threatened to dump me on my can. Which was very un-knight-like behavior. I never would have written you that way.

Ram
: Oh no? Well, I have a surprise or two and here's the first. You're fired.

me:
You can't fire me, Ram. I'm the Creator.

Ram:
You know, you sounded just like her when you said that. 'Tis very disconcertin'.

me:
Well, you know there's probably something of me in every one of the characters.

Ram:
Characters, is it? "Tis all we are to you?
(Looks like his feelings are hurt then curses in Irish under his breath.)
Right. Well, that explains a lot. You want to know who's the real villain in your stupid stories?

me:
I see where you're going with this, but, Rammel, writing villains is not the same thing as being a villain. My stories are just a reflection of life.

Ram:
(sneers)
Aye. A House of Mirrors reflection.

me:
Well, yes. Otherwise, it's called the daily news. How about this? I'll give you a reprieve and visit the less pleasant stuff on somebody else for awhile.

Ram:
You do no' seem to be gettin' it. 'Tis no' up to you anymore. Consider this an intervention. You're hurtin' people. 'Tis goin' to stop.

me:
Okay, look, everything you say is true, but you've left out the other side. And I really do love you. Probably more than any other of you, uh...

Ram:
(narrows his eyes)
...characters. I might be willin' to let bygones go, but it works both ways.

me:
What does?

Ram:
I know what you're thinkin'. I heard your twisted mind riflin' through possibles and sortin' out what you're plannin' to do to us in
Book Three.

me:
You did?
(I swallow.)

Ram:
Aye. And some of it 'tis nothin' less than sick. We're
all
thinkin' perhaps 'tis time for you to see someone.

(My husband walked in just as I was concluding this interview. He asked what I was doing and, without really thinking it through, I made the mistake of telling him the truth after which he replied that he had always wondered how I can be content to be alone for extended periods of time only to find out that I only appeared to be by myself.)

Black Swan Book 3: The Summoner's Tale
.
VictoriaDanann.com

The Summoner's Tale
(Chapter 1 excerpt)

BLACK SWAN FIELD TRAINING MANUAL
Section I: Chapter 1, #1

The plural of vampire is vampire.

When the rush of activity subsided, he found himself alone with his own thoughts; a condition that was more than familiar since he had spent hundreds of years that way. Without the distraction of his friends' banter, since his proposed staff had left Edinburgh, he had begun to see his task not just as a job, but as a mission, one immersed in the duality of joy and gravity.

He had never considered himself to be impatient. Quite the contrary. Everything he had ever pursued in earnest, from painting to music to writing, had depended upon patience. But his awareness of the enormity of the burden he had accepted had grown over the past months and he had turned to brooding about the time that was passing.