Prologue

Maximus’ Point of View

England, 1863

I slammed the front door open, laughing like a fool with my wench of the day. She clung onto my arm tightly, giggling hysterically in anticipation of what we were about to do. Her cheap looking Victorian dress made her large bosom bigger and that was more than enough to raise my libido seeing it was the only thing I was looking for when I met her at the local tavern. As we staggered our way inside my mansion, we headed for the stairs but unfortunately, we were stopped by a voice who was undeniably unhappy with the current situation.

“Maximus.”

Twirling my body to that voice, I was not surprised to see my perpetually angelic brother, Nathaniel. He was standing near the large oak double doors that lead to the mansion’s library with his arms crossed over his chest. He did not bother to hide that scowl to show his disapproval of my lifestyle.

"Another one brother?” Nathaniel asked, disdain clearly shown in his voice.”When will you cease with this kind of distasteful act?"

Sighing, I walked haphazardly towards him with my wench still clinging onto my arm and stopped a few paces away. "Oh, Nathaniel. It is not that bad." I replied with a slur in my voice. The woman giggled and kissed my neck which had me groan softly in pleasure.

Nathaniel glared. " I am not pleased with this anymore brother. What if Florence finds out?"

He had to mention my lover’s name, didn’t he? It was always like that whenever I was bringing a wench home. He goes off like a priest, preaching on how disrespectful I was and all other self-righteous things he could think of.

I felt the woman trailed kisses on my neck all the way to my ear then grazed my earlobe with her teeth. "Who is Florence?” the woman asked huskily into my ear. “Is she your mother?"

I shot her a fake horrified look. "That is preposterous. She is my--"but I wasn't able to finish as Nathaniel butted in.

"No,” he interjected curtly and I threw him a glare, warning him to back down. “Florence is his lover. Did he not tell you that he has already been spoken for?" he asked while raising an eyebrow.

I groaned. Here he goes again. "Nathaniel, you sound just like our father."

The woman giggled and pressed her plump bosom on my chest while stroking my arm with her hands. "I think your lover was not woman enough to please you that is why you came to me."

Nathaniel unfolded his arms and strode over to us with his face full of fury. Of course he had to be mad. Florence was his best friend and he had to defend her honor. "How dare you speak ill about my friend, whore,” he growled at the woman with pure anger. “Look in the mirror and see if you are worthy enough to be called a woman." he spat while looking up and down at her in distaste.

She looked frightened at the flurry my brother displayed. To be honest, this was my first encounter with such strong emotion since he was a meek soul. It was uncomfortable to look at him all flustered and I did not know he was capable of such rage.

I put a hand on Nathaniel's chest. "Brother, that is enough," I looked down at the woman, smiling at her sweetly, "let us go to my chamber. Does that sound appealing to you?" I asked in a seductive tone while I caressed the small of her back.

She stared back at me nodding her head, the fright forgotten instantly. I had to say my touch was a wondrous thing. "Very much so," she said then giggled in a high pitched tone. Well, that was very easy.

Smirking, I led her to the stairs but my brother spoke again. "Just be cautious, Maximus. I think Florence may have suspicions about your infidelity. Like the good brother that I am, I denied every speculation she asked."

I glanced over my shoulder and replied smugly. "It is not that I have not done this before brother. She won’t find out, just like the rest of my gullible lovers."

With that I turned my head back and left him standing there shaking his head.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Euphoria was taking over my body as I pushed myself into the woman's core. She moaned my name countless times and the sound had me in a frenzy. She reached my back digging her fingernails on my sweaty skin. "Oh Maximus!" she moaned my name loudly.

I bent down to her neck still pushing myself into her then sucked feverishly on the flesh of her neck and that made her moan even more.

My senses were so incoherent. I was not aware of my bedroom door slammed open with such force. My concentration was solely on the woman beneath me but what had me stop was the voice that I would not have expected to hear.

"You bloody bastard."

The sound of it had me stiffened like a statue. I was frozen, not able to move with every fiber of my body. Not even a single twitch as I willed my entire body to move and at the same time, processing what had just happened. In my years of indiscretion, this was the first encounter of being caught. Maybe this was karma that came back to hound me. I felt this uncomfortable knot in my stomach which was all to foreign for me to take in. 

I didn’t like it.

So this was what it felt like to be caught red handed.

After what felt like an eternity, I snap myself back to reality and got off the bed leaving the whore in her shocked state. I grabbed my clothes on the floor and wore it hastily as I approached my lover, Florence with extreme delicacy.

She was standing there, her face contorted with such fury. Her sparkling green eyes no longer held the adoration she used to look at me and was replaced with dark menacing glare. I had no inkling on how to approach the situation but I guess I should try the innocent way.

I smiled nervously. "Greetings, Florence,” I said as calmly as possible. “ I did not expect to see you here." On the side note, she looked like a troll at this very moment with her fiery red hair and red tinged face which overlapped her normal creamy complexion. If the situation were any different, I would have laughed at her face but no. It would be highly inappropriate.

"So it was true." she said in a low deadly voice.

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play me for a fool, Maximus Cutherford!"

I slowly reached out for her face but she swatted it away. I flinched. "Do not touch me!" she spat at me, looking disgusted, "One of my friends, Gregory, saw you at the tavern. He told me that you left with a cheap looking whore. I did not want to believe it but I had my doubts so I came here and saw it for myself."

"That meddling fool," I grumbled under my breath.

Florence went on. "I was being forewarned by my friends about your reputation but I did not heed to them. I trusted you because I thought you were like your brother, Nathaniel but I was wrong. Behind that charming facade of yours was a cheating scum."

I heard loud footsteps and then appeared on my door was Nathaniel, panting and out of breath. "Florence! I told you not to go--" he stopped mid way as he took in the situation. “Dear god,” he breathed out.

Yes, brother. Dear god. I couldn't agree more.

Florence whirled around. "And you, I thought we are friends,” she said to Nathaniel with pain etched in her face. “Why did you not tell me?"

Nathaniel looked forlorn as he spoke back. "I am regretfully sorry Florence but he is my brother," he said softly.

Shaking her head, Florence spun on her heel back to face me again with a look of pure determination that I could not point my finger on.

However, it was answered as the room became dark, haunting and eerie. I could feel a strange energy floating everywhere and then Florence spoke in an ominous voice that raised the hair on my nape.

"For the consequence of your actions, I shall bestow upon you both with a curse."

Looking at her with mirth, I responded to her absurd declaration. "What are you a witch?"

She smirked. "You are not the only one with secrets, Maximus."

"This is not amusing Florence," Nathaniel said warily.

She ignored my brother as she went on. "This is no ordinary curse and it will take more than your charms to break it."

I rolled my eyes, playing along. "And what will that be?"

"A curse of immortality."

I stared at her blankly. What did she just say? Immortality? She was way over her bloody noodle. Before I could respond, a burning sensation seared on my chest causing me to look down to inspect it.

A breath caught in my throat as I looked upon it.

There, on my left chest, above my heart was a small rose dripping with blood with vines wrapped around it. I lifted my head up to seek my brother and he too was looking at his chest bearing the same mark as I have.

Florence darted her head between my brother and I, a look of satisfaction crossed her face. "As proof of the curse, I gave you a mark which you have already seen. In order for the curse to break, you need to find true love. When that person says I love you, then the curse will be broken."

How hard could it be to make a woman fall in love with me. “That is simple to accomplish.” I said with pure smugness.

She shook her head. "No, it is not that simple. The moment that person loves you then you love them back, you will feel a burning sensation on your mark and it will glow signifying that as true love then the curse will be broken. If it does not, then you will remain immortal until you will find your true love."

"THAT IS LUDICROUS!" I roared at her.

"This will serve as a lesson, to both of you,” she said as she took turns in looking at Nathaniel and I, “ You will be watched. I will make sure that my descendants will watch your progress. Until then, good luck." Then the room went back to normal but the spot where Florence stood was vacant.

She had disappeared, leaving us to deal with the aftermath.

As for the woman I bedded with, she gathered all her clothes and ran out of the room without looking back.

I looked at my brother with a sheepish look. "That was entertaining."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Nathaniel’s Point of View

Paris, France, 1990

Days turned to months, months turned to years and years turned to decades then before you know it, my brother and I had crossed to the next century. Yet regrettably, we hadn't found our match.

After that incident, we thought Florence was playing a joke just to spite us. But we were wrong, so dead wrong. We didn't age. We were stuck in our youthfulness as we watched the ones we know and love grow old and die. Maximus finds it enjoyable being stuck as a twenty one year old man. He wasn't at least affected by the curse and still slept with countless women while I, an 18 year old, had grown tired. Tired of being frozen.

Our parents were shocked beyond comparison. They sought out Florence but she was nowhere to be found. They tried everything possible to break the curse but it was useless,not use at all. The spell she cast upon us was remarkably strong that no sear, Wiccan or Voodoo practitioner could break. Our parents have grown tired and weary so we decided to move out and travel across the land.

It was hard finding true love. Such a feat was exhausting and it took a toll on my emotions. Some of the women I’ve dated were shallow, unfortunately. They were only smitten with my looks and wealth. The worst part was that the ones I like end up falling for my brother or to my utter distaste, in his bed. They thought that once they had slept with him, he would grant them a relationship but no. He dumped them like rubbish and would crawl back to me and apologize.

Do you think tears would sway me to take them back? Not anymore. Why should I swallow back something that I already spit out? I'm no longer the gentle Nathaniel, a meek soul who couldn’t hurt a fly. I've changed as the years passed and I have to thank Maximus for his undying playboy lifestyle.

Currently, I was looking out the window of our rented one storey apartment with my suitcase all packed. It hurt me to leave my brother but I had to. I couldn’t find love when he was around. I want to grow old. I want to have a normal life, not like some nomad traveling from one place to another every five to six years.

As of the moment, I could hear moans and grunts from his room, probably bedding another woman, like any other day. It was a never ending cycle I tell you and I’ve grown irritated knowing he was not giving a damn to our situation. After a while, it was silent. I heard shuffling then the door opened and closed.

Footsteps were heard as I knew who it was so I didn’t bother to turn around. I didn’t take long for him to reach me since the distance between his room and the window I’m standing at was not far. I took a side way glance as he stood right beside me, eyeing my suitcase then I snap my head back to the window, gazing outside again.

"What's with the suitcase?" Maximus asked.

Without missing a beat, I spoke with no emotion in my voice. "I'm leaving."

He was silent for a moment.

I mustered up the courage to at least see his reaction so I slowly tilted my head to look at him. The sight broke my heart to tiny pieces. I didn't expect him to look so heartbroken. His face was encompassed with unmeasurable pain that I almost changed my mind but I stood my ground. I had to do this. For myself, and for him.

He blinked a couple of times, not willing to shed a tear. "Why?” he asked in a panic. “Why are you leaving?"

I had to be harsh so that he would let me go."I'm leaving because of you."

He looked taken aback. "What did I do?"

I glared at him. Of all questions, he had to ask that. Was he that blind to what he was doing to our situation? God he was so selfish.

"You know why, Maximus.” I said in a voice I never knew I possessed. It was unfeeling, cold and icy. “You've taken the women I've dated from me; the ones that I had feelings for. I wanted to age brother. I wanted to actually live a normal life. I've had enough with immortality all because of your stupid lifestyle and it's all your fault.”

"Brother,” Maximus attempted to reason. “ Those women haven't had feelings for you since they came to me. I thought I was doing you a favor. Immortality is not so bad."

I snorted. "That's beside the point. I can't do this anymore. I've had enough. You hear me? Enough!" This time my voice was hard and spiteful which had Maximus flinching from it, “I can’t take this anymore!”

"Okay, I'm sorry. Just stay. I promise to keep out of your way. Just don't leave." he pleaded in earnest as he now gripped my arm fiercely.

I shook my head, determined not to be swayed. "No. I can't be around you anymore." I picked up my suitcase ready to leave but he tightened his hold on my arm, preventing me from leaving..

"Please Nathaniel. Don't do this. I thought we were in this together," he croaked and I bit back my hesitation at the sound of his vulnerable voice. ‘Stand your ground Nathaniel,’ I scolded myself inside.

"I'm sorry brother but I have to go. It's true that we're in this together but they're some things that we can't handle."

Yanking my arm from his grasp, I started for the door to head out of the apartment. My leaving will seal our fate as blood brothers as this would be the last time I would see him. Truth be told, it would hurt knowing he would be left alone but I had to do this. I was not backing out of my word.

I glanced over my shoulder to look at my dear brother one last time,"I hope one day you'll find your true love, Maximus. I want to see you happy and content. Goodbye brother and I love you," then I opened the door and walked out.

I swore I heard a faint whisper that said, "I’m sorry."