Blood And Beauty

"Evil. It's what I do, who I am." She paused. The words were scrawled across the otherwise vacant page, yet they proved unsatisfactory, even if they would not be read for some time. A moment passed before she resumed. The letter flowed effortlessly this time.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way. Life, I mean. We were supposed to be together, were meant to have years filled with love and joy and bliss. But you were taken from me, my love, sentenced to a life of servitude to my master. Perhaps you think that's why I did it, why I ended the world. But that would be too kind. Evil, my dear, it's what I do, who I am.



It was power that I wanted. Lust for it pulled me to her, to Byzantia, an ancient demon that promised immortality in exchange for freedom. 'And why not?' I said. For what good is power when life is fleeting? So we found it, my sister and I, the key to her prison. But my sister betrayed me and locked me in a tomb, where I rotted for over a thousand years until fate discovered mercy. And then I was graced with you. But actions have their consequences, my dear, and Byzantia is not so easily abandoned. Her minions ripped you from my arms, your life the price lest I fulfil my promise. So I did it. I found the key, I freed Byzantia, and she consumed the world.

Do not naively believe I did it all for you. I didn't. I wanted you, power, wealth, love, sex, retribution, and I was going to have it all, even if humanity suffered extermination. Evil, my love, it's who I am. And it runs through your veins too. So embrace it. Persevere. Live."

Cassandra dropped the pen, finally satisfied. Emotion drained from her face until all that remained was a sea of ice. It was time to get to work, this world wasn't about to end itself.

"Blood & Beauty," a dark urban fantasy, relates an epic power struggle between Cassandra and her insane sister, the sorceress Selene as they both emerge from another time onto the streets of Toronto, Canada in the 21st century. Cassandra proceeds to wreak havoc as she goes about the business of enslaving any man who crosses her path, and using them in her quest to locate an ancient amulet of power that she believe is somewhere hidden in this city.