Ink & Bourbon
Tilting at windmills. Because those windmills think they're better than us.

Muse's Lament

by Patrick LeClerc

I was stunned when he cast me aside. Shocked at how cavalierly I was replaced.

I thought I’d meant so much to him. He certainly acted like it. When we were alone he’d hold me close and whisper how much he needed me, how he couldn’t let me go.

I know I gave him all I could. I was his inspiration, his confidant, the one he opened up to, the one he could cry in front of.

But looking back, I can see how it was all one sided. How he put me on a shelf when he didn’t need me, only to reach for me again. How he drained everything I had and left me hollow, empty. How I never got credit for the inspiration I gave him, only blame for his bad behavior.

I had just enough left to feel sorry for my replacement. Younger, unspoiled. To see the sparkle in his eye when he looked on so much he could take and savor, how much I had once had, before he took it. I knew how tender his fingers would caress those curves, how he would gently remove that top...

I’m only happy that I can’t see it.

Down among the other empties in the recycling I’ll never see him tip the new bottle into our favorite glass, the one he bought specially for me, because it made me look so good, he’d said, or see the pain vanish from his face when he sipped at the amber fluid, leaving it emptier each time, never giving back or giving credit.

It will all be over soon, I tell myself. On Wednesday the trashman comes.


Books by Patrick LeClerc


Immortal Vagabond Healer Series

Book 1

Out of Nowhere by Patrick LeClerc

Sean Danet is immortal—a fact he has cloaked for centuries, behind enemy lines and now a paramedic’s uniform. Having forgotten most of his distant past, he has finally found peace. But there are some things you cannot escape, however much distance you put behind you.

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Book 2

Spitting Image by Patrick LeClerc

Immortal Sean Danet can heal others with a touch. Finally, after too long as a rootless vagabond, he has found a place he feels he belongs, with friends he can trust and the love of an intelligent, beautiful woman. The life he dreamed of but never expected to attain.

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Short Historical Adventures

Advancing on Paris by Patrick LeClerc

One of the problems with being immortal is you get to live through all of history's most famous blunders. Like Napoleon's inspired idea for a land war in Asia. If you love historical military fiction, action and adventure, or just one of the sexiest urban fantasy heroes of all, Advancing on Paris is a must.

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More Great Fiction from Patrick LeClerc


in Every Clime and Place by Patric LeClerc

Semper Fidelis. The motto of the United States Marine Corps. On the ragged edges of civilization, Corporal Michael Collins has lived those words, taking on riots and evacuations, rebels and terrorists. Asteroid belt patrol is just another deployment. Ninety nine percent boredom, one percent terror.

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Broken Crossroads by Patrick LeClerc

The city of Laimrig, once a mighty hub of commerce and a seat of power sinks into corruption and decay. Slavers, crime lords and corrupt officials hold sway while the ruling nobility wallow in decadence. War rages beyond the borders, while within rebellion simmers and sinister plots unfold.

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Robbing Death by Patrick LeClerc

Trilisean is an acrobat turned burglar. Conn is a jaded former mercenary. Against the background of deadly blades, subtle schemes, glittering treasures, and dark sorceries, fate has thrown them together.

And fate has a sense of humor.

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