CLAIMER:
Okay, this feels so different writing such a thing. *hehe* This is just to let you know that Angelica, Marius, and Paz belong to me.
A/N: Okay, just to clear up some things: I get the feeling that some people reading this story think that -my- Marius is the Marius dreamed up by the WONDERFUL Anne Rice. This is NOT the case! I only liked the name, and when I tried it out it fit all too well. I will bow to Mrs. Rice's plea and not write anything associated with ANY of her stories/characters. I am nowhere NEAR good enough to write anything based on her beautiful characters...I've tried. Didn't work.
In short: Marius is mine, not Mrs. Rice's. Promise!
Paz walked on with Marius, remaining silent as he thought about Angelica. She was certain that Marius was trying to keep himself calm around her, and once she was gone, he would let out his frustrations, possibly killing a few people to do so. That was the only thing she hated about Marius. His lust for violence; the short fuse he had that made him so evil.
Wait. Was it evil? Paz wasn’t for sure, but the one thing she did know, was that Marius was the love of her life. She remembered the first time they’d met...
...
Paz had been walking along the sidewalk, coming home from the market when she’d literally run right into him. Paz bounced off the man’s chest and was right on her way to greet the pavement when a pair of strong, cold arms pulled her back up.
"Are you all right, Miss?"
Paz nodded, still in shock of the man before her. "I-I think so. I’m so sorry; I wasn’t watching where I was..," It was then that Paz looked up into his face, and fell deeply in love.
His face was gaunt, but not so thin that he looked unhealthy. His cheekbones were beautifully structured and her own blue eyes seemed drawn to his icy blue ones. His eyes were beautiful, yet they haunted her. It was as if they could see right through her and into her soul, and in those eyes she saw exhaustion, horror, and a death wish, amongst other emotions. He may have looked only twenty some-odd years old, but his eyes told her otherwise. He was ancient.
He smiled, not some forced smile by any means, but a true smile. It lit up his eyes, and made him seem somehow angelic.
"Gods..." She whispered, and if it was possible, he smiled even wider.
"Quite far from it, my dear. I am Marius. Marius Le Roux," he spoke gently, still holding both of her hands in his.
"Uh...I'm Paz Johnson," she breathed while trying to remain in control of her shaking knees.
"So nice to meet you," he spoke with a tinge of accent so foreign, yet so familiar that Paz had come up with a smile to rival Marius'. He winked and raised her hand to his lips, placing a feather soft kiss on the back of her hand.
"You're...rather old-fashioned, aren't you?" Paz was amused. She had NEVER in her life met a man that had acted like this beautiful stranger was behaving at the moment. She felt her heart flutter when Marius laughed.
"I have been accused of that from time to time."
"Really?"
"Quite often, in fact."
Paz looked her stranger up and down and decided that he was a man she would like to get to know, and get to know him she did. The two of them spent that evening, and many evenings that followed, together. That path had led them to the day when Marius had revealed his great secret to Paz...
She had laughed at first, but upon seeing his face her laughter had ceased.
"You're...not...joking, are you?"
Marius shook his head.
"No, my love. I am not joking. I am a vampyr."
Paz gave Marius a blank look. "Vampire. As in, the mythical creature who preys on hapless humans? Marius! What kind of fool do you think I am?"
"I do not think you a fool, Paz. Quite far from it. You are the most intelligent," he paused, looking at her as if pondering whether or not he would receive a response from her stony, disbelieving features. When his remark elicited no response, he went on. "You are the most passionate..."
Again, no response, and Marius continued. "Articulate, imaginative, beautiful woman I have ever met in my sixty centuries..."
To that, he gained a response. Paz raised an eyebrow. "Really, Marius. Beautiful? That's kind of stretching things, don't you think?"
Marius shook his head and grinned. "Not at all. You are beauty depicted, my love. Nothing more, and nothing less."
...
Paz thought about that night. She had already fallen for the vampire beside her; the one aching to rip beings to shreds with his bare hands, but not doing so...for her. He had restrained himself from the violence that was granted to those of his nature, because he loved her. Paz glanced at the vampire she knew she loved but would not allow her mind to fall for. Would it be so bad to have him love her? It's not like she hadn't trusted her heart to mortals and had gotten it broken before. Perhaps it was just the wall she had built around her heart and soul keeping her from baring all to Marius. After all, those 'mortals' had probably done worse than Marius would ever do to her. After that one swift thought, Paz had made up her mind: It was time to stop listening to her mind, and think with her heart.
Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
