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First however, she would have to survive the withering looks she was getting from the old biddies sitting across from her.
~Two~
EVERY NOW AND then a man walks into a room and draws all eyes his way without trying. He is a man who inspires admiration without seeking it, tickles a touch of fear without instigating it, halts conversation while he is studied and is certainly a man who stands out above all others.
Lord Hunter MacTorry was just such a man.
Perhaps it was the mystique that hung about him and had been his for many years, in spite of the fact, that he was just thirty. It could be the wisdom with which he used his various experiences, maybe it was something else.
Although he had presence, knew his own worth and who he was, he couldn’t have been described as arrogant or conceited.
He was taller than most, athletically built and quite magnetically handsome. He chose to wear his black gleaming locks long layered to his neckline. Thick waves fell across his forehead and framed his face.
A charm that was considered devastating when he chose to smile had the ladies forever at his feet. Roguish mischief lit in his Scottish blue eyes. He was virile and an enigma to his peers. It was quite the lethal combination.
Given all of this, the haut ton could not truly understand why he had gone astray. He knew the whispers. Indeed, he had often heard them with a smile. It was just what he wanted. He didn’t need anyone getting too close or too curious.
They talked in hushed tones whenever he entered a room, but that was what he needed. He wanted them to wonder, he needed them to whisper. It was all a part of his façade and the game he played.
Two years ago he had arrived in London, bent on his new purpose. He had been roaming dimensions and various centuries for two hundred years. Since he hadn’t been traveling for fun, he never stayed long anywhere he went.
He was sure that in the end no good could come of his intentions, and yet he could not stop himself from going forward with his plans.
He was aware that the rules were in place for a reason.
When he was very young, he had been cautioned by his father never to play with time and past events. He had
been conquered by this obsession, sure that his cause was worthy and therefore would have to succeed.
In order to achieve his goals, he had been forced to play the part of just another wealthy rogue with too much time on his hands. He had soon tired of society and had become heartily sick of the beau monde and its many hedonistic rituals. He needed to implement his plans and find a way to make it work this time.
Hunter MacTorry was ready to exact his revenge.
He allowed everyone to think he was driven by boredom and the devil. He purposely gambled and drank too much He also let it be seen that he became easily bored. He was waiting for the moment when he could face the Dark Wizard and destroy him and to do that, he would have to take him by surprise. He would have to make certain the Dark Wizard Baudali did not know he was in the past waiting to strike!
The Wizard Baudali had taken so much from him… he had to pay. He had chased him through the Universe, but the bastard had eluded him. Then quite by accident, he had seen him in London taking on the part of an aristocrat and enjoying his status with the beau monde. But no sooner had he found him, and he was gone.
Ye devil, Baudali, thought Hunter I shall find ye and cut ye down because I know what ye mean to do it. I know because I lived through it.
He had not been able to save his parents.
Baudali had won that round. Now he would have to save his brother, then he would cut off Baudali’s immortal head and feed it to the vultures!
Waiting was difficult, but he had found something to amuse himself with while he waited.
Although he didn’t look much more that twenty-five, Hunter had reached his magical majority of thirty, years ago. He looked human, but he wasn’t. He was an immortal white wizard, like his father before him.
His father had left his home in the Wizard Realm because of political conflict. In the sixteenth century, he found the Human Realm. There he had fallen in love with a human; he remained among them for her. He not only made a home for her but he found an elixir of immortality for her.
His father had talked his mother into taking the elixir. A rare blend of herbs from his mother-land and the most forbidden of magic.
It wasn’t until late into the century that Hunter was born. A few years later his brother, Ferrell came along. However, being immortal did not mean one could not be killed.
Baudali entered their world two years ago in 1813, pretending to be a friend, because he had seen and been captivated by Hunter’s mother. Everything changed then.
Hence a battle of magic began that ended in both his parent’s deaths. He and his brother vowed to avenge them, but when Ferrell met Baudali he was alone. He was in the middle of Waterloo fighting Napoleon’s army. He was not skilled enough to take on the accomplished wizard; he also had been cut down by the evil sorcerer.
Hunter shrugged away the images. He hadn’t been there to save his brother. No matter, this time, he would be.
