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“I won’t let you commit this mass murder.”

“Oh, Leon, do shut up.” The Matriarch looked at the imposter Tyler. “Tyler, my dear, I

think my grandson has gone over his ‘best by date’, could you take care of that for me?”

Tyler nodded his head. Coldly, he took out his sidearm pointed it at Leon and fired.

Everything went into slow motion. Leon screamed, another man bolted into the room and

released a howl of rage; he pulled out his gun and shot The Matriarch. The Matriarch absorbed

the shot. She hadn’t been hurt one bit.

The imposter Charlotte raised her hand and sent the man that had tried killing the

Matriarch straight off his feet.

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“You must do something now. Get to the hourglass I will take care of the Matriarch and

the rest of the beings from the Void.”
The white haired man spoke to her telepathically.

The white haired man settled his hawk like gaze on Samantha. Recognition dawned. This

wasn’t the same white haired man who had wreaked havoc against Jewel and her crew. “I might

not see you again, if I don’t, tell your mother I fulfilled my promise to her. Her children, her

legacy—is safe.”

Samantha was still stunned.

The real Charlotte squeezed her hand. “You heard him, go for the hourglass, I’ll help

everyone else.”

“I can’t let you go at it alone—” Samantha stammered.

“If you don’t, she’ll change time and it won’t be for the better.”

Summoning her abilities, she watched Charlotte go into fighting mode while the white

haired man fought along beside her.

Samantha took out several Triad soldiers and finally came to stand in front of the

hourglass.

A shot pierced through the air. She erected her psychic shield around her body but it was

too late.

She heard Devlin’s animalistic cry followed by Johanna’s anguished one. Stunned, she

turned around. Tyler looked at her with an ever so pleased expression on his face.

“I finally got you. How proud I am now! We will take over this world, and you can’t do

anything to stop us!”

Devlin was free. He lunged toward her, knocking Tyler off his feet.

The searing pain in her back made her hesitate for one instant. The old hag was coming

toward the Hourglass.

She couldn’t let her get to it. Reaching for her dagger, she brought it out and threw it at

The Matriarch. It plunged into her chest. The Matriarch fell to her knees. Blood trickled out of

her mouth.

Finally the monster behind the nightmare was dead.

Jumping forward, Samantha’s fingers brushed against the hourglass. She knocked it from

the pedestal as she fell.

She’d saved their future.

She’d defeated the bad guys. But damn, she was going to need a long recuperation

period!

Her last thoughts before darkness claimed her were of the future she would share with

Devlin.

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Doctors and nurses rushed through the special cryogenic facility. One of the capsules

was beeping off signifying that the patient inside had healed from their fatal wounds.

“Sir, if we open up the capsule what should we expect?”

The doctor looked over at his nurse. “We expect the unexpected, Nurse Roth. We never

know how someone will come out of the freezing process especially when they’ve been interned

for as long as Mr. Smith has been. Just be caring and considerate as medical professionals that is

our job.”

“Yes, sir, but isn’t there a reason why this process is outlawed on Earth Certified

Planets?”

“That’s only because the medical associations there believe that when you bring back

someone who has been dead for over 24 hours that you bring them back—a bit different.”

The nurse stared fearfully at the capsule as it came out of its stasis-housing pod.

It made a creaking noise as the closing mechanisms automatically went into release

mode.

When the icy mist cleared they looked down at their patient. He looked like death

warmed over.

When his eyes opened the nurse shrieked.

“Jane?” the man rasped. “If that’s you, you’re going to be dead as soon as I get out of this

contraption. Bitch.”

The nurse discreetly moved behind the doctor.

“Mr. Smith, you’ll have to take it easy. Your movements will be limited until you’ve

been through the proper regime of physical therapy.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re on New Switzerland, sir.”

“Ah…that explains a lot. How long was I dead before they retrieved me? I remember

hellfire before I fell into a Void.”

“I think you should just rest easy for at least 24 hours. We’re contacting the person who

brought you to Mount Hope. He’ll tell you exactly what you need to know in order to make your

reappearance into polite society.”

“Tell him I only want one thing.”

“Yes, sir?”

“I want everyone with the surname of Devlin… assassinated.”

“Sir, as I said, you’ll have to wait until Mr. Moriarty returns.”

“He’d better be coming soon, I do not have the patience of some men.”

The Doctor looked behind him at the nurse. “Summon Mr. Moriarty immediately. Tell

him Mr. Smith wishes to talk to him yesterday.”

“Yes, sir.” With that the nurse hurried out of the room.

She shivered as she closed the door. “That man has no soul,” she whispered, turning and

bumping into a man dressed in a designer suit.

“Is that so? Sounds as if he emerged from the process just like he was before he was put

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into it.”

“Who are you?” the nurse said breathlessly.

“The name is Mr. Moriarty and I think my boss, Mr. Smith wants to speak to me.”

“You can go in there alone. I quit. I don’t want to be around that thing one minute more.

I am going back to New San Francisco. That planet is a kinder place.”

“Make sure you don’t end up on the wrong end of a New San Francisco Tiger.”

“I’d rather be in that position than in the same room with that man. Goodbye, Mr.

Moriarty. May God help you!”

“Thank you, Nurse Roth. You take care.”

As the nurse left Moriarty looked at the man next to him. “Take care of her. Make sure

she doesn’t get far enough to reveal what’s happening here. We don’t need Devlin’s spies

knowing that an old enemy has been resurrected.”

“Yes, sir.”

Moriarty steeled himself, opened the door and smiled. “Boss, it’s good to see you alive.”

“Thank you, Moriarty. I want you to debrief me on what I’ve missed.”

“You’ve missed a lot, sir. Gabriel Devlin has moved on, this time to a woman he loves.”

“Well, we’ll have to see what we can do about that won’t we? We can’t have Devlin

living happily ever after. I want the new Lady Devlin dead.”

“That might be harder than you think, sir.”

“Why?”

“The new Lady Devlin isn’t exactly an easy target.”

“Then start by killing someone who is important to her. That will get her attention and

then we can take her out.”

“Yes, sir. I will get right on it.”

“Excellent. Devlin won’t know what hit him until it’s too late.”

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Chapter Forty-One

Samantha Devlin loved her life. The creatures from the Void were back where they

belonged and her mother and Jessica planned on keeping it that way. Charlotte was slowly

regaining her place in the world and Quinn and Rory’s bond had been reestablished.

Everyone was happy, even Johanna and Dylan. Dylan wasn’t his same old self but in

time he’d heal. He’d come to terms with the fact that he’d lost his brother.

Veronica and Ross were happy as clams and they loved working for Devlin. As for the

Red Falcon, Devlin had pulled his ass out of the fire. New Monaco was back under Devlin’s

control and their futures looked bright.

Her eyes roved hungrily over Devlin as he entered the bedroom.

“You look good enough to eat, darling.”

She smiled rolling over onto her belly. The silk sheets rubbed against her bare breasts and

her body thrilled when he came to stand beside the bed. Crawling up on the bed, he leaned

toward her lower back and kissed it gently.

“I can’t wait to get you completely naked. I want to feel your bare skin—I want to feel

only what you can make me feel.”

She shivered when he laid his hands on her back. She felt him caress the spot where she’d

been shot only a few weeks before.

“I could have lost you—”

“You didn’t,” she murmured into the pillow. Before he could touch her again, she rolled

over and flung her arms around his neck.

“Don’t dwell on the past, Devlin. We’ve left our demons there and our future is what we

make of it.”

“At least we’ve shattered the Triad.”

“They got the Justice they deserved, Dev. Please don’t obsess over it. I have my family

safe, you have me—why I think you’re the luckiest man in the known galaxies.”

“I think you’re the luckiest woman in the known galaxies.”

“I wouldn’t disagree with you on that.”

He moved his hands to her black panties. “These have to come off now,” he murmured.

She giggled as he took them off throwing them to the floor. “Devlin—” She hesitated.

“There will be drama in our lives on almost a daily basis—I attract it you know. Like a moth to a

flame.”

“I know—and here I thought the relatively peaceful days we’ve had during your

convalescence would last.”

“Hmm....” she gasped as he kissed her belly button and moved down to her mound.

“You are so lovely,” he murmured. He was a lover like no other—she never wanted

another man for the rest of her life.

She pushed against his chest. “I think in the interest of my sore back, you’ll have to be

the one on the bottom.” His eyes glinted with blue fire. He smiled and did as she’d asked.

Relieving him of the rest of his clothing, she brushed her hands up and down his chest.

She could not live without Devlin—after fighting what they had for so long she only

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wanted to think about the time they had left not about the time they’d lost.

With a groan, he reached for her, helping her to straddle him. She lowered herself over

his magnificent cock. She moved against him finding her own rhythm. The expression on his

face told her he enjoyed it as much as she did. Leaning down, she brushed her lips against his.

As her climax built she trembled as her release rippled through her body. Devlin followed

her seconds later, crying out her name as he came. She collapsed on Devlin’s chest.

A pain started throbbing behind her eyeballs. Gasping for air, she was thrust into an

unwelcome vision. Shattered, she emerged out of it.

“The dead aren’t always dead, Dev.”

“What did you say, sweetheart?”

“An old enemy of yours is back.”

He met and held her gaze.

“Who?”

“Mr. Smith.”

A hardened glint entered his eyes. His jaw flexed. “From now on, you’ll have to be

extremely vigilant, Samantha.”

“Aren’t I always?”

“Samantha, I am serious.”

“I know,” she said, her heartbeat quickening. “Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”

“As long as I have you, Samantha, I can overcome any obstacle.”

She smiled. “I won’t ever leave you, Devlin. Nothing could drag me away.”

“I hope you’re right, Samantha. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“That’s not going to happen, so why don’t we get onto an encore?”

“I love the way you think, Samantha. In fact I love everything about you.”

“Please, you’re going to fatten my head.”

“It’s already fat enough.”

She laughed, and allowed him to hold her close. Her life would never be simple—she

knew that. But she had a full life and now with Devlin she’d have a happy one.

Danger sought them. She could only hope that she’d be able to protect Devlin and she

knew he would protect her. He was her champion—he was her everything.

“Samantha?”

“Yes?”

“You look as if you’re drifting away from me.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Dev. Now let’s have some fun.”

She laughed and he laughed too…life didn’t get any better. She had her twin back, her

family was safe and her husband owned her heart. Whatever force was coming for them—they’d

rue the day they decided to hurt her family.

“I love you, Samantha.”

“I love you, too, Devlin.”

She kissed Devlin long and hard and tried to drone out the sound of a man’s maniacal

laugher traveling to her through time and space. Being a psychic sucked. Closing her eyes, she

pushed the phantom laughter from her mind.

She was Samantha Devlin and she could face any danger—as long as those she loved

were safe.

Devlin wrapped her in his arms, and she sighed contently. “Nothing can ever tear us

apart, Gabriel.”

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“I won’t let them if they try, Samantha.”

Her heart soared. Together she and Devlin were a match made in heaven, and they could