
# Blood Claim

HALF-BLOOD PRINCESS

By

Magen McMinimy

Half-Blood Princess Book 1

©2011 by Magen McMinimy

––––––––

# Copyright

© 2012 by Magen McMinimy

Smashwords edition

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

# Table of Contents

Blood Claim

Copyright

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Epilogue

Resurrection Stone

Chapter One

# Chapter One

––––––––

I waited outside the colonial mansion hidden in the cover of the cherry trees. The massive home was brick-faced and trimmed in white, with eight three-story columns and two upper balconies. The beautiful house's façade was completed with large, arched windows and a massive, ten-foot, French style, front door.

The Mayor's home was tastefully placed just outside of downtown Maldera Springs. Large, centuries old, cherry trees in full bloom lined the quarter-mile driveway. It was beautiful in Georgia this time of year. Pink and white blossoms littered the town as the cherry harvest neared.

Sarah Maldera was inside waiting for her best friend, Rachel Lawson, her boyfriend, Tavian Baikov, and his older brother, Dante.

The Maldera's only daughter was a beautiful, petite girl with dark, thick brown hair and green eyes. She was like royalty to the Civil War era town of Maldera Springs.

I knew quite a bit about the Baikov brothers, much to my brother, Irad's, disgust. He'd never liked them. However, I found them intriguing and was rather surprised to find them here with Sarah.

I had been searching for her for months, tracing her lineage without Irad's knowledge. She was in danger, though perhaps not as much as I had originally thought. Having the Baikov brothers with her helped her chances dramatically, but even the infamous Baikov brothers wouldn't be strong enough to save her.

Irad's a harsh, cruel, and sadistic son of a bitch.  I had learned that many years ago. A month after my thirteenth birthday my mother passed away. My brothers, Enoch and Irad, came and took me at my father's request – a man I had never met. I hadn't known Irad and Enoch either. They took me the night she died and Irad refused to let me attend her memorial.

When I turned eighteen, Enoch convinced Irad to let me move out and helped arrange it.

Enoch is one of the good ones but he remains with Irad; I'm fairly certain it's so he can keep an eye on him.

Sarah may be like royalty here as the Mayor's daughter, but I am royalty to my father's people – the ones who know of me – that's  what happens when you're the only born daughter of the original vampire.

Yep, the only one. My mother was the only woman who ever carried a half-vampire baby to term. So here I stand...or rather, crouch that is, twenty-five years later, as Sophia Daletsky.

Twenty minutes later, Sarah ran out the front door, stopping only briefly to lock it. Once down the few steps that created the entrance to the front porch of her home, she greeted Tavian by flinging her arms around him to hold him in a short, tight embrace. She then greeted Rachel and Dante as she jumped in the black Escalade.

From the pieces I caught of Sarah's conversation, they were all headed to Curley's, which was the local hang out for all the high school kids.

The Baikov brothers hardly qualified as kids, being around two hundred and seventy years old in vampire years. Tavian looked to be about eighteen when he was changed and Dante about twenty-six. The brothers are both extraordinarily handsome, and their relation is blatantly obvious. They are both tall; although Dante has an inch or two on his younger brother, they both have light brown hair, and stunning, sapphire eyes.

Curley's is a bar and bistro with pool tables, live music on weekends, and an awesome bartender named Janie.

I waited until the taillights of Dante's Escalade were faint red pinpoints to even my heightened eyes; I have all the senses of a vampire. I got those gifts from my father and a few more interesting ones that not even he knows about. I began to sprint after them with a quick check around me. I jumped into the air and took on the form of a sleek, white cat with black-tipped ears; it's a far cry from my five-foot-six, black haired, curvy human form, though as a cat I still have my ice blue-grey eyes.

I raced through the fields and cherry orchards on the outskirts of town. I could have ran in my human form, but if anyone saw a girl running faster than humanly possible...that might raise some red flags, and the questions that would follow would likely tip Irad  off as to my whereabouts.

I reached Curley's as the foursome was exiting Dante's vehicle. I slipped into the back alley and shifted back into Sophia – the new to town human.

I was wearing my favorite low-rise jeans, and a pink and white printed halter. Tonight was the night I would make my move to befriend the vamps and Sarah. I was hoping the brothers wouldn't sense my differences. The brothers and I have never met and they wouldn't have ever seen a picture of me, well not that I was aware of anyway. They likely didn't even believe in my existence. So there was really nothing to give away my true identity. I could glamour – one of the tricks no other vamp has, and one my brother's didn't know about – to change my appearance, but it takes a lot of power. The brother's may be able to sense that kind of power when it's in use. So I crossed my fingers and entered the bar as just me.

I headed to the bar with a smile on my face; Dante was there ordering a drink. From what I learned, Dante plays the role of the older brother whose little brother came to stay with him for his senior year of high school since their parents travel a lot – made sense he'd be getting a drink.

Apparently, Dante frequents Curley's quite often. I had met Janie the bartender and a friend of Dante's a few weeks ago. She'd become a friend to me too, which made it hard for me when I had to compel her to mention me to Dante. She was supposed to introduce me to him the next time I came in and he was here. I really hate compelling people but I needed that introduction. Time was wasting and if I was able to find Sarah, by accident, Irad's men would too...and soon probably.

"Hey Janie!" I yelled as I slid in next to Dante at the bar.

"Sophia!" Janie was excited to see me. She leaned across the bar to give me a quick hug. "How's it goin'? Did you find a place yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm still looking."

"Well, let me guess: whiskey and diet Pepsi?"

"You got it! But he was here before me." I inclined my head toward Dante.

"Oh sorry Dante, scotch?" She smiled sheepishly at him as he nodded. "But hey, this is perfect. Dante, this is Sophia, the girl I was telling you about."

I cocked my head at her as if surprised she had mentioned me. Dante turned towards me; he was even more gorgeous up close, with striking, chiseled features, beautiful, cream satin skin, and an easy, confident smile that lit his sapphire eyes. He is far better looking than Kara had ever let on.

Kara was the vampire who had sired both Dante and Tavian. Dante was in love with her and probably still is, but she left him over a hundred years ago and was a frequent visitor to my home. Irad and Enoch had essentially raised me; my father only came around once a year or so to check in. Enoch was my father's biological son and he had turned him later in Enoch's life. Irad on the other hand, was father's first childe. He sired him a few years after Enoch.

Irad had hoped that Kara could teach me to be a vampire siren, beautiful, ruthless, and deadly. Irad had wanted to fully change me many times, but Father and Enoch wouldn't allow it. So Irad chooses to ignore the fact that I am still half human. The only thing I ever learned from Kara was what I never wanted to be. She's cruel, manipulative, and quite proud of it. Still, she had told me of the Baikov boys; they're her proudest moment. She'd said the Baikov's are a wonderful example of the power a beautiful woman can hold over a man and how easily men can be manipulated by a pretty face.

She had gone to Saint Petersburg in 1741 and became smitten with the handsome Dante immediately and he with her. One night she revealed what she was. When Dante learned the truth about vampires: that they don't have to kill to live, they can walk in the sun, they don't require an invitation to enter someone's home, their only weakness is silver to the heart or decapitation, and that crosses and running water do nothing to hinder them, he begged her to save his brother from the invading Swedish army by turning Tavian.

She agreed to protect Tavian but only if Dante joined them. He did and she took Dante as her lover. She never would tell me why she left; boredom is my guess. She had spent a hundred and seventy years with him and I doubt she really ever loved him. He and Tavian were just toys to her.

I took Dante's extended hand. "Janie told me there was a woman in here cleaning out all the men who dared to challenge her at pool. She says you could probably give me a run for my money." His voice was deep and beautiful with the slightest bit of Russian accenting it.

I smiled at him. "Um, well I'm pretty good, but that was just a really exceptional night."

He smiled back with a ten-thousand watt smile. "Care to see if you might have another exceptional night in you?"

Did I ever.

He took the bait and the look he gave me said he really hoped I would too. "Love to. Loser buys the next round of drinks?" Janie gave us our drinks and a wide smile as we started to walk off. She also gave a suggestive eyebrow wiggle when Dante wasn't looking.

We took up the table next to Tavian, Sarah, and Rachel. After brief introductions Dante let me break...silly move. I cleared the table before he even got one shot in; round of drinks on Dante.

"Well, well, well, looks like someone was being a little modest." He smirked.

"Maybe a little." I mimed about an eighth of an inch with my thumb and index finger. "But I didn't want to scare you off."

"I don't scare very easily," he said with a wicked little grin. As he broke, he then continued to shoot, clearing the table. He was good. We were collecting an audience as the night went on. The games and the drinks were going by fast. Thankfully, I have a really high tolerance.  By the sixth game we were tied and it was time to call it quits, I was hoping to leave him wanting more.

"Well, I think I've had enough. It seems we're pretty evenly matched," I smiled at Dante, "until next time."

"And when will next time be?" he asked in a deep voice. I stared at him for a second, caught off guard by the depth of his voice and the scent of attraction coming off him. I caught the look Tavian was giving him out of the corner of my eye...of course he could smell it too.

"I'll be around. I like this bar," I responded coyly and turned to leave, waving and calling out "nice to meet you" to Sarah, Tavian, and Rachel.

# Chapter Two

––––––––

I spent the next week keeping an eye on Sarah. She spent most of her time at the Baikov's home; it was a traditional two-story stucco and stone plantation home. The front was dominated by an entry porch supported by four simple columns with vines wrapping up them. Unfortunately, with her spending so much time with the vampires, my normal stealthiness just wasn't enough. I couldn't risk them seeing me. So when she was visiting the boys I took on my cat form, which made it easy to get really close.

"Hey, where'd that cat come from? I've seen her here the last couple of times I've come over. Did you and Dante get a pet?" Sarah asked Tavian.

"No, we didn't get a pet. She's just a stray...shoo." I scoffed; he just shooed me and called me a stray? Really? Well I was one pretty stray if I do say so myself . . . and I do.

"Tavian!  Don't. If she's a stray, she probably needs food. You guys should take care of her. It's a true indicator of one's character to see how they treat those smaller and weaker then themselves."

Tavian smiled at her and nodded in compliance. "You're right, luv, let me see if I can find something for her."

It was easy to see how much he loves her. I had learned over the last few days that Sarah was in fact aware that Tavian and Dante were vampires, but she loves Tavian nonetheless. They were both lucky to have someone to love so unconditionally. A relationship between a human and a vampire would never be simple, but for these two I truly believe love will see them through those hardships. And for all I know she intends to become a vampire to be with him for as long as eternity will allow.

Fiction has set the tone for vampires to be evil, bloodlust driven, soulless murderers, but that's just not the case. There are good vampires out there and most of them don't kill to eat. That's not to say there aren't those out there who enjoy the hunt and do kill their victims. Much like the human race itself; there are always bad ones in the group, no species is perfect.

"What are you guys doing?" Dante asked as he bounded onto the porch.

"I'm going to feed this stray that's been hanging around."

"Are you planning to keep her, little brother?"

"You guys should! A pet would be good for you."

Dante walked over to me, looking at me with consideration. "She is pretty."

He reached out and stroked under my chin. I felt my head rise and a low purr escape me before I even realized what I was doing. When I came back to my senses, I jumped down from the porch rail where I had been sitting. It was time to get out of here. I purred, rubbed against Dante's leg, and turned to run off, but before I could, he swooped down and picked me up.

"Maybe we should keep her. I think she likes me."

I purred again as he petted my sleek coat...yes I did like him. Dante carried me in the house with Sarah and Tavian following.

"Come on, pretty thing, let's get you some food."

We stopped in the kitchen where Tavian pulled a beautiful china saucer, decorated with purple flowers, from a hutch in the corner, and filled it with some milk.  He set it in front of me, once Dante had put me down. I cocked my little kitty head at him...was he serious ? There was no way I was going to drink that. I meowed in thanks and walked away from it.

"I guess she wasn't hungry, luv," he told Sarah as he looked at the untouched dish. "But I'll pick up some food for her."

It would be foolish not to take advantage of the free pass into the Baikov home. So I put myself to work doing a little recon. I went up the stairs and down the hall. I stopped by the door at the end of the hall where Dante's scent was the strongest. Curiosity took me over and I couldn't help but enter the room.

His bedroom was large with a tall, beautiful mahogany bed as its center piece; it was made up with red silk sheets and a black satin bedspread. There was a long dresser against one wall with a beautiful matching mirror. A set of floor to ten-foot ceiling bookshelves covered one whole wall filled with books and antique trinkets. Two antique armchairs sat in front of a large picture window that looked out onto the back yard and the surrounding forest.

Dante, Tavian, and Sarah came in only a few short moments later to find me in the windowsill, staring out at the beautiful scenery.

"Okay, we should think of a name for her."

"She seems to want to be outside. Perhaps she's more of a free spirit than a stray," Dante commented.

Dante sat down on the chair closest to me and patted his lap for me to come to him. I jumped in his lap and he scratched under my chin again. Again I was purring and being lolled to sleep.

I woke when Dante got up and set me on the bed. I shook my head, realizing I'd made a stupid mistake, being so drawn to him and relaxed by his gentle strokes. I could have shifted back...damn it! What was I thinking?  I jumped off the tall bed and shot past Dante, going down the stairs. Tavian and Sarah were in the living room. I went to the front door and yowled as loud as I could.

"Umm...I think she wants out," remarked Tavian.

Sarah warned them. "If you let her out, she may not come back."

"Let her out; I think she'll come back." Dante had followed me to the door and opened it.

I bolted from the house, disappearing into the cover of the forest. I could faintly hear Sarah comment that she still planned to come up with a name for me, I laughed to myself and wondered what that name might be.

Later that night I made my appearance at Curley's dressed to impress in a black, corset-style dress and black stiletto boots. I went straight to the bar, where Janie was working.

"Wow, girl, you look gorgeous!"

"Thanks, how have you been?"

"Super busy actually, I haven't seen you in few days. What's up with that?"

"Yeah, I know. I've been super busy too."

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you came in tonight. Who are you all dressed up for? Could it be a handsome, brown-haired stranger?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Why? Do you think he'll like the dress?"

She laughed. "Most definitely. So do you want a J.D. and D.P.?" Her code for my whiskey and soda.

I laughed and nodded. "Yeah, sounds good. Thanks."

I had noticed that Sarah and Tavian were here, but that no one else was with them. It must be date night. I smiled and waved but Sarah gestured for me to come over. I said thanks again and paid Janie.

"Hi guys, what's going on?"

"Not too much; we were just wondering if we would see you here tonight. You look amazing – are you on a date? Dante would be very disappointed if you were here with someone." She had a smirk and shot a glace to Tavian, who just gave me a smooth knowing smile, ok...well...

"Umm..." I found myself shifting self-consciously and slightly flushing. "While I'm not here on a date, if I was, I wouldn't worry too much about Dante. I'm sure he has plenty of beautiful women lining up for him."

"He's come back here almost every night hoping you'll be here." Sarah raised her eyebrows and smiled, much like the Cheshire cat as she shared that little bit of information. Tavian just shook his head at her.

I raised my shoulders and bit my lip for some reason. What was wrong with me? "I've been working a lot lately."

"Where do you work?"

How to answer that...Oh I do research, on you in fact, you'd be amazed at what you don't know about yourself. I settled on a partly true, simple answer. "I research people's lineage, to help them learn and find out who they are, and where they come from."

Tavian gave me a surprised look. "That's interesting; how'd you get into that?"

Ahh yes, how indeed?

"I learned some very interesting things about my own life when I was around thirteen. I've been researching genealogy ever since." They both looked like they wanted to ask more question but realized it wasn't appropriate to ask.

"Well, I watched you play some pretty good games against my brother, care to play a game against me?" Tavian asked as he handed me a pool stick.

"Sure thing...but Tavian, I'm not buying you guys drinks if I lose," I said with a small finger wag and a smile. They both laughed.

Tavian was as good as his brother but I still beat him. We played five games; him beating me two out of the five.  I was headed back to the bar when a tall, handsome form caught my eye. Dante had joined Sarah and Tavian at the table. I ordered my drink and a scotch for Dante. Janie caught me staring at him when she brought me my drinks. She didn't say a word, but she didn't need to. Her smile said I was busted.

"Do I need to wipe my chin?" I asked sheepishly.

"He is gorgeous, isn't he? You look great; go get him girl." She winked as I picked up the drinks.

I walked back to the table, with the two drinks in hand. Dante raised one brow at me after giving me a long, lingering once over.

"You're not supplying minors with alcohol, are you?"

I smiled and handed him the scotch. "Not unless you're hiding something." He smiled with a wicked little wink as his eyes darkened right before me. I pretended not to notice as his liquid sapphire eyes became so dark they looked navy. Vampires' eyes darken with strong emotions or hunger. Tavian noticed it too. He was watching his brother closely.

"I'm plenty old enough."

I sat down next to him while crossing my legs and turning into him. With a seductive edge, I responded, "Well that wicked little wink makes me think you might be hiding something, but I like challenges, Dante, and I've got all kinds of time to find out what it might be."

He smiled. "You look beautiful."

I flushed a little. I'd been complimented twice already tonight and had been stared at most of it, but Dante's voice was like warm caramel caressing my skin. "Nice subject change, flattery will get you everywhere, Dante." His name rolled of my tongue with sultry satisfaction.

"There are so many flattering things to say, I wonder where they might get me."

"Oh, Dante, you are smooth, aren't you?"

"Only with you, gorgeous. I find you quite alluring. I wonder what kind of spell you've put me under?"

"There's no Voodoo in my bag of tricks."

"Mmm, I do hope I get the opportunity to learn the tricks you do have."

Tavian and Sarah had apparently had enough of our outright flirting and left to go play pool...far away from our semi-private, corner table.

Dante and I spent the next few hours talking, flirting, and drinking. It was closing time and I could hardly believe we hadn't moved from our seats. Janie was all over keeping us with a steady supply of alcohol, and I was once again thankful it took a whole lot of it to get me drunk. If I were human, I would have been falling down drunk. We exited the bar together as Tavian pulled the Escalade around.

Sarah rolled down the passenger window "Sophia, let us give you a ride. You shouldn't drive."

I waved her off. "You're right and I have no intentions of driving. I'll walk, the hotels not far from here, and the fresh air will do me some good. But thanks for the offer. I'll see you guys later."

"Just let us give you a ride. It's late; you shouldn't walk alone at night." Dante insisted.

I placed my hand on his stunning face, the moonlight made his perfect, pale skin even more flawless. "That's sweet, but I'll be fine. I'm tougher then I look and I've been in much scarier place than Maldera Springs," I assured him.

He squeezed my hand and I watched as his liquid eyes swirled and darken. Ah crap...he was going to compel me, but as a half vampire it wasn't going to work...

# Chapter Three

––––––––

"Hey, bitch, you remember me?" I looked away from Dante just before he could try his compulsion on me, to the inebriated man coming towards us.

Yep, I remembered him.

"Sure, you're the guy I cleaned out the other night. Sorry buddy, the bars closed. If you want a rematch, we'll have to do it another night."

"How about I get rid of him," he nodded towards Dante, "and take it out in trade. You are a good lookin' little thang."

"Wow, you sure are a sweet talker but this guy," I thrust my thumb towards Dante, "has nothing to do with your injured pride. You want to take on this good lookin' little thang," I mocked his drunken twang, "then bring it. I'll kick your ass up one side of this parking lot and back down the other."

That got me a raised eyebrow from Dante and Tavian telling Sarah to roll up the window, and lock the door, as he got out of the car.

The guy laughed, a deep, mocking snicker. "Oh, you're going to pay, sweet thang." He pulled a knife from his pocket and came towards us.

Was this guy serious? Well, the knife certainly lent credence to his intentions.

I laughed as both Tavian and Dante growled. Yes, vampires' growl, weird I know! I remember the first time I heard a vampire growl; it scared the living shit out of me. In this case, it was actually sweet... They intended to defend me, but here's the thing, I really am much tougher than I look. I am in no way some poor damsel in distress.  I intended to show this guy that he would regret causing problems in this peaceful little town. I walked toward the drunken jerk as Dante attempted to grab my arm. My speed nearly matching his caught him of guard and allowed me to escape his grasping hand and move past him.

"Look, I'm sorry if I damaged your ego the other night, but this is not the way to deal with it. Are you sure you don't want to just walk away and go sober up?" I asked the still-mocking drunk.

"I don't think so. Someone needs to teach you to have a little respect."

I smiled. "I so hoped you'd say that," I crooned as I kicked the knife from his hand.

The sole of my boot hit his hand so hard I heard bones crack. He reeled back, stumbling from the force and clutching his hand to his chest. I didn't stop there. I'd warned him and given him the chance to walk way. Now, he was going to have to deal with another blow to his ego. I walked right up to him and grabbed his good arm with a firm twist. I yanked it behind him and he was down on the ground. Tavian and Dante had stopped growling and were standing in stunned silence. I knelt down next to the man, still holding him incapacitated.

"Don't be a sore loser, and if you try to move I will break your arm, do you understand?" He nodded. "Good. Now that I've got your attention, I have some questions for you. Do you live in this town?"

"No," he grunted.

"Good, because you're not welcome here, your visit is over. Go back to wherever you're staying, sober up, and then get the hell out of town, do you understand me?" He spat out a yes and a few nasty names for me.

I leaned close to him and whispered in his ear, "Be thankful I stopped them from coming after you; they would have killed you. Make no mistake about that." I let him go with one final stiletto to the back. He scrambled and got in his truck, leaving me with one last threat yelled as he drove off.

"I'll see you back at the hotel. Where do you think I'm staying, bitch."

Oh...well I hadn't really thought about it, but it didn't really matter anyway.

"Get in the car, the sheriff is on his way," Tavian growled as Dante grabbed my arm and ushered me into the SUV.

"Hey," I slapped at Dante's hand. "Just leave me here. I'll deal with the sheriff. You guys didn't do anything."

"We didn't get a chance to. What the hell was that about?" Dante asked as Tavian drove off.

"Jesus, Sophia, are you okay?" Sarah gasped as she turned in her seat to look at me.

"I'm fine...really." I looked to Tavian. "I'm guessing you know where the only hotel in this town is? Because that's where I'm staying."

Sarah laughed sarcastically, "Yeah, we know where it is, but we're not taking you there. You heard what that guy said!"

"Yeah, I heard him, so? What's he going to do?"

"Oh I don't know, wait to ambush you when you get there, you totally embarrassed and pissed him off. Their house," she gestured to Dante and Tavian, "is huge. I'm sure you can use one of the guest rooms, right guys?" They both nodded in agreement.

We were all silent for a minute, but Sarah brought all of our attention to her when she started to laugh.  "That was awesome! You're going to have to teach me how to do that."

I smiled and giggled a little too. It was pretty awesome, and it felt good. I sat back in my seat next to Dante, resigned to my fate of staying the night at the Baikov mansion.

What torture.

# Chapter Four

––––––––

I was given one of the upstairs guest rooms. I went straight to the bathroom and cleaned up a little. When I came back down, Tavian and Sarah had already gone to bed, but Dante was in the study getting a drink. I stood in the doorway.

"Sorry for the trouble I caused."

He chuckled. "You want a drink?"

I walked over to him at the mini bar, smiled, and nodded, looking up at him through long lashes.

"What was that about? I would say it's dangerous to bait a drunken zhopa like that, but clearly you're an experienced fighter."

"Zhopa?" I looked at him questioningly. I actually know a little Russian and that was slang for ass...if my translation was correct anyway.

"He was an ass. Now where did you learn to fight like that?"

I took my drink and sat down on a red velvet loveseat.

"I learned at a young age that it's important to be able to defend yourself. When I was thirteen, I went to live with my older brothers. Four days a week, I was forced to spar with my middle brother. He said it was important to know how to fight. He would not tolerate me being weak.  That the tainted blood of my mother was no excuse, and I was lucky enough to have our father's blood running through my veins as well; it meant I had the potential to be strong.  So he beat the crap out of me. In his words, it was to beat the weak out of me. Every time we sparred, he ended it with me bleeding on the floor. He made sure I always remembered he was stronger."

Dante stared at me. "I'm so sorry, Sophia. What happened to your parents?"

"My mother passed away, and my father rarely came around. My brother may be a real jerk, but I can take care of myself now. And I will never let anyone else ever treat me like that. When I was eighteen, I moved from their home with help from my oldest brother E and a friend."

He came over and sat next to me. "Do you have contact with your other brother anymore?"

A sardonic little chuckle escaped me. "He doesn't know where I am, right now, but I'm sure he's looking for me. I left in the middle of the night from my friends' home. No matter where I go, I'll never be completely free of him. My family is old school, and they believe they should decide how my life is lived. Until my father steps up, my brother will always have control over the things I do. I just thank god for E. He's a good brother." Dante raised a brow at that. "I'm sure it sounds weird, but he is a good man. He's just old fashioned. But that's enough of that."

"Alright, I won't argue with you about your brother. We don't have to talk about it anymore.  I do, however, wonder why you told that guy we would have killed him?"

I smirked. "Wow, Dante, you have really good hearing." I thought I had whispered low enough, but Vamp ears and all that. "You and Tavian sounded like you were growling, you know?  And I was trying to scare the crap out of him; it seemed like a good way to do it."

He smiled. "I do have exceptional hearing and I would not have let him hurt you, that's for sure." He reached over and caressed my cheek with his hand.

"Yeah, I got that feeling." I smiled at him through hooded eyes and put my hand over his.

He leaned in closer and whispered, "Sophia, I would really like to kiss you now."

I didn't say a thing; I just leaned in and kissed him, brushing his lips with my tongue. Moaning ever so softly as they separated and I felt his tongue twist with mine, caressing every inch of my mouth. I could have kissed him, and more, all night, but I don't do the casual thing and I was making out with Kara's former lover. That thought dampened the mood, but only slightly. She would be pissed; even though she had left him over a hundred years ago. I placed a hand on his chest and turned my face.

"I should really get some sleep," I said as I stood up. "I'll see you in the morning."

His eyes were swirling and I could smell rich, red wine and warm, dark chocolate; the scents of desire wafting off him.

"As should I. Sleep well, my sweet Sophia."

"You too."

I walked away, knowing my own scent was giving away the burning ache and desire I felt for him. Not to mention all the wild things I yearned for. My body ached for a lover; it had been too long, and nobody makes a better lover than a vampire.

I woke as the sun draped my room in a warm, golden glow. I had slept better last night than I had even dared to hope for on the hard hotel mattress. My dreams had been flooded with Dante's handsome face and beautiful, swirling blue irises. Sarah had left me some clean clothes. She was tiny and petite, maybe five-foot-three. The cute summer dress she left for me was a bit snug and a little short, but the sandals fit perfect. The house was quiet as I made my way to the kitchen. Sarah was sitting at a small, antique breakfast table, reading a book and enjoying a cup of what smelled to be some really good coffee.

"It smells good in here," I commented as I walked into the kitchen.

"Oh hey." She looked up from her book. "Good morning. Yeah, the coffee does smell good. It tastes pretty good too, want some?" She must have been on at least her second or third cup, she was awfully chipper.

"I'd love some."

She got up and poured me a giant cup of the steaming, caffeine-filled goodness.

"How'd you sleep? Were you comfy?"

"Yeah, that bed was amazing, much better than the hotel." I smiled and took a long gulp of my coffee.

"Good, we should go get your stuff and you should just stay here till you find a place."

"Uh, no, I don't think so. I don't intend to inconvenience the guys that way."

She smirked. "I don't think you could ever be an inconvenience to Dante, he really likes you. You know that, right?"

I smiled; I did get that feeling. "I think he's just honorable and didn't want anything to happen to me."

She shook her head. "No, it's more than that. I've known Dante long enough to know the difference, but you're right, he is honorable. So is Tavian and they would have never let that scum touch anybody. But Tavian and I both see the way Dante looks at you and I have a feeling they will both insist you stay here."

"Maybe," I conceded. Who was I to argue about Dante with her? "Where are they anyway?"

"Oh...uh...they went to get some food. They eat out a lot so there really is no food here. They should be home shortly."

They eat out a lot.

"Oh, right on, so what are you reading?" I almost choked as she lifted the book so I could read the title, In Search of Dracula. "That's interesting. You like vampire stories?"

"They say Vlad Tepes is the original vampire." She chuckled.

"Some do say that," I agreed "But Vampirism dates much further back in history."

"Wait! Are you telling me you believe in vampires?"

I smiled and shrugged. "I believe in many things, but the important thing to remember is that it's a sad day in our evolution when we refuse to believe in something simply because we've never seen it or it's something that shouldn't exist."

"So who is the original vampire according to history?"

"Cain."

"What? You mean like Cain...Cain as in Cain and Abel? That Cain?"

"Yep, that Cain. He became the first vampire after spilling his brother's blood. He was cursed to walk the world for eternity, craving blood as punishment for committing man's first murder."

Tavian and Dante returned then, groceries in hand... What a sight, vampires with grocery bags, not blood bags, or humans to snack on.

Though Dante and Tavian don't feed from live donors, they really do drink from blood bags. I hoped to find out someday how they got them. Most vampire households have people who work for them as well as donate their blood to feed their employer. However, some still enjoy the hunt and the draining of their victims. They came through the door just in time to hear me confirm which Cain I was referring to.

"What are you ladies talking about?" Tavian asked.

"History, I was just asking Sarah about her reading material." I noticed then that Tavian had a bag of cat food.  I held back a bark of laughter and had to ask, "So you guys have a cat?"

"Well kind of, this beautiful kitten has been hanging around; Tavian thinks she's a stray. Dante wants to keep her if she comes back."

Kitten? Was I that small as a cat?

"Awe, that's nice of you to try to take of her. I've always loved cats"

"Me too," Sarah cooed. "Dante's already named her."

"Really? What's her name?" I asked, smiling at him.

"Krasivaya."

Sarah began to tell me, "It means..."

"Beautiful." I murmured.

Tavian and Dante stopped what they were doing to look at me.

"You speak Russian?" Dante asked in a surprised tone, his own Russian accent lacing his words.

"A little, like I was pretty sure what zhopa meant last night."

"Seems you're full of surprises."

I winked, grabbed my coffee, and went out to the sun porch. Once out there, I found myself watching Tavian and Sarah through the glass doors as she helped him and Dante put away the groceries. They're very affectionate towards each other. He truly loves her without any question, all the little things he did proved it every second he was with her. The way his face lights up when she was near, the gentle way he strokes her face, and how he steals little kisses whenever he gets a chance.  She's the same with him.

Young and true love.

# Chapter Five

––––––––

"Should I be jealous of the way you're watching my brother?" Dante had joined me on the porch with a smirk on his face.

I smiled "No. Not at all. I'm just watching the joys of young love. They seem really good together."

The statement made me a little sad thinking of how Irad intended to find her and in a sense was seeking to destroy what they have... I knew with even more conviction that I had to keep it from happening. Sarah shouldn't have to pay for what wrongs my brother feels her ancestors had bestowed on our family.

"That they are. But you seem sad, Sophia. Why is that?"

I shrugged. "No not sad, just thinking about what it was like when I was their age. It feels like a lifetime ago, but I guess it hasn't really been that long."

"I'm sensing the lingering pain of a broken heart."

I smiled. "You have pretty good senses, but the pain is gone; just shadows of the memory remain. There are only a few lucky people out there who haven't had their heart broken at some point."

He just gazed at me, seemingly lost in his own memories. I wondered if he was thinking about Kara right then. That thought made my stomach clench.

I cleared my throat. "Well anyway, I really should be going. Thank you for everything."

I walked back into the kitchen. Dante didn't follow; I guess Sarah was wrong. I went upstairs and got my purse. As I came back down I heard a car pull up, and a...scanner. Oh...the sheriff. Crap. Dante was opening the door as I reached the last step.

"Good morning, Bill, what can I do for you?"

"Good morning, Dante. I'm here looking for a young woman, who was involved in an altercation with a man in Curley's parking lot last night. Witnesses say she was last seen with you."

The sheriff was a tall, slender, but well built man with a young Wyatt Earp essence about him. Hello Cowboy. He wore a tan uniform, a brown cowboy hat, and matching cowboy boots. I stepped into the doorway next to Dante.

"That would be me you're looking for, Sheriff."

The sheriff gave me an appraising once over. "Well, you fit the description. What's your name?"

"Sophia Daletsky," I said in my most demure voice.

"Can you tell me what happened last night, Ms. Daletsky?"

"Sure, a drunk guy came at us when we were leaving the bar; he was upset because I had beaten him at pool a few nights ago. He got aggressive, threatened me, and pulled a knife. I relieved him of his knife and we all went our separate ways."

"How did he threaten you, Ms. Daletsky?"

"Ah let's see, I believe his exact words were, 'How about I get rid of him,' meaning Dante, 'and take it out in trade, you are a good looking' little thang.' You see, he lost some money to me, and then he said he'd see me back at the hotel. That's why I stayed here last night."

"Okay, and how did you relieve him of the knife, Ms. Daletsky?"

"I kicked it out of his hand."

The sheriff sighed. "Did you realize you broke his hand? In five places. He said you also told him to get out of town and that Dante and Tavian would have killed him, if they had gotten a hold of him, and he was lucky it was you who got to him first."

Dante sighed next to me. I gave him an apologetic smile. "Look, Sheriff, I'm sorry. I was not trying to cause any problems. He was drunk. I told him twice to go sleep it off but when he pulled the knife, I reacted."

"Is that how it went down, Dante?"

"Yep, she left out the filthy names he called her, but that's what happened."

"Okay," the sheriff scrubbed his face and then looked back at me, "Ms. Daletsky, we're not going to file any charges against you or him. If I file charges against him, he has more to come back on you with, than you have on him. Also, be aware that Mr. Russell does not intend to leave at this time and will continue to stay at Maldera Springs Inn. I suggest you find alternate accommodations."

"Yes sir," I replied politely.

"Oh, and Ms. Daletsky, do try to call me next time you have a problem instead of breaking people's body parts." He tipped his hat at me and walked back to his car.

When I turned around, Sarah and Tavian were in the hall watching us.

"Looks like you guys have a new house guest," Sarah remarked with a smirk.

"No they don't. The sheriff only suggested I find a new place to stay and I do not intend to intrude on you guys. Plus, I won't be staying there that long. I'm going to look at a few houses today and I'm hoping for a quick escrow. Now I need to go back to the hotel, get my car, and meet my realtor."

Dante grabbed his keys and turned so fast, staring me in the eyes, his swirling and deepening. "Come on, I'll give you a ride to the hotel so you can get your stuff and your car. Then, you'll come back and stay here after you meet with your realtor."

I didn't have time to move and break the stare before he started to compel me. I was in a sticky situation; argue and have him realize there was something different about me, or play along as if he had actually compelled me. I went along.

"Okay, sounds good."

"Okay, I'll be out in a second."

I walked out the door, slightly pissed that he seemed okay with compelling me, but hey, good intentions and all that. I heard Tavian and Sarah both give him an ear full for it though.

"Dante, you should not have done that!  You didn't even try to reason with her, and it's not like it's the first time, you were going to compel her last night too. That's not like you."

"I know that...for some reason the lines of right and wrong are blurring when it comes to her safety. Tavian, you of all people know how I feel about compelling people to do what they don't wish to do, but I'm not going to sit here and let her go back to that hotel. You could sense what Mr. Russell," he said the name with such venom it made me recoil and move faster towards the car, "intended to do to her. Men like that don't wake up the next day regretting the way they have acted."

I waited in the car for Dante. He didn't say a word at first when he got in the car, he only stared at his hands on the steering wheel.

After a long sigh, he turned to look at me. "I am sorry, Sophia."

Well, that was unexpected. "What are you sorry for?"

"It does not matter; just know that I am sorry."

I knew what he was sorry for and I couldn't be mad at him. He truly looked upset with what he had done. "I don't think you need to be sorry, unless you're apologizing because you're making me late to meet the realtor." I teased. "And Dante, whatever it is you're sorry for; I have a feeling you wouldn't have done it unless you had a good reason so don't worry...but we do need to go."

He smiled and started up the SUV. I got my things with Dante escorting me to my room and to my car. I said goodbye and told him I would see him at the house after my appointment. He offered to come with me, but I said no. There had to be better things for him to do.

# Chapter Six

––––––––

My realtor, Liz, and I looked at several different houses. Unfortunately, my new home was not among them. Feeling slightly defeated, I went back to the Baikov's. I was greeted by a whole gang of people. Sarah and Tavian had a few of their friends from school over. A cute, blonde-haired boy named Brandon, a football player, I gathered that from the letterman jacket he wore. There was also a pretty, crimson-haired girl attached to his arm named Jordan. And of course Sarah's pretty, auburn-haired sidekick, Rachel.

"Hey Sophia, how'd it go?" Sarah asked cheerfully.

"Well I didn't find my dream home, but she has more to show me, so fingers crossed. Anyway, what are you guys up to?"

"We're going to do a movie night, order pizza, and hang out. You want to join us?"

"Yeah, but in a little bit. I'm going to go for a run; I haven't worked out in a while." I smiled and started up the stairs. "Oh hey, where's Dante?"

"Funny you should ask, him and Tavian are in the gym."

The gym? "They have a gym?"

"Yeah, you want me to show you?"

"Absolutely! Let me change real quick." I ran up to my room, put on some yoga pants and a tank top, and ran back down the stairs. Sarah led all her friends and me through the house to a large room with French doors. She opened them to reveal a room full of exercise equipment: weight bench, treadmill, stair climber, punching bags and a large sparring mat, where Dante and Tavian were fighting. They were incredible to watch. Each landing and dodging blows, they were fighting in a mixed martial arts form where pretty much anything goes. When they finished we all clapped. Tavian came over to Sarah, planting a kiss on her.

"Impressive," I told Dante as he walked over to me.

"Then I shall thank Sarah for bringing you in here. I'll take any opportunity to impress a beautiful woman."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Dante, you're doing that smooth talker thing again."

"You did tell me last night that flattery will get me everywhere, did you not?"

I laughed. "I did say that. So, you got another sparring session left in you?"

"Wait Sophia, you want to spar with Dante?" Sarah said nervously. "You saw them! He might hurt you."

Dante tilted his head at her, offended that she would even think that, let alone say it out loud.

"I mean, I know you wouldn't do it on purpose, Dante, but you're, you know...really strong."

Sarah was legitimately concerned. She's a truly unique individual; compassionate, caring, loving, and obviously understanding, to be dating a vampire and spending so much time alone with two of them.

"It's okay, Sarah, I'm sure he won't actually hurt me, and if he does, I heal fast. I've sparred with some really cruel people; I think I'll be okay." I turned to Dante, "So, what'd you say? You up for it?"

"After you, beautiful."

We walked out to the middle of the padded area, bowing and then taking fighting stances. I struck out, kicking my right foot in a horizontal arc, impacting Dante on his side. He caught my foot and arched an eyebrow at me. I simply smiled as he let go of my leg and came forward with what I knew were nowhere near as powerful of blows as he had in him. I blocked the first couple of punches but he got a few hits in. When we separated, he came back at me with a roundhouse kick. We were pretty evenly matched, neither of us using our full strength.  We sparred for a while, both landing and taking hits and kicks.

"You ready to throw the rules out the window?" I asked through panting breaths.

"You want a street fight?"

"Yep, no rules. I think I can pin you."

He laughed, but didn't say a word as he strode towards me.

What the hell? So. Not. Fair.

He was stripping off his shirt, leaving only his pants to hug low on his hips, revealing the radiance of his perfectly sculpted abdomen. My god, he's gorgeous. I was temporarily sidetracked by his perfectly sculpted body of cream-colored marble. Damn it, Sophia, focus. But I didn't scold myself in time. He was in front of me by the time I focused back on the fact that he intended on taking me down. I didn't react fast enough to keep him from sweeping my legs out from under me and landing me on my butt. I heard Sarah giggle and someone else gasp.

"Were you not ready, luv?" His smile had a cocky twist to it.

I smirked. "I was temporarily distracted." I flipped back to my feet and punched at him, only he blocked it. I kept striking, but he kept blocking. He finally grabbed my arm and pulled me against him. I dropped down low and spun around, kicking him from behind. He turned and came after me.

I ran and he followed. Perfect.

I hit the wall, taking four steps up it and flipping behind him with a back kick to momentarily stun him. I ran to the other side of the mat, ignoring the gasps and 'holy craps, how'd she do that's'. I stopped at the opposite end of the mat and waited. When Dante started to turn, I ran at him as fast as would be humanly possible, though not nearly as fast as I could have. He faced me just in time to catch the full force of my body slamming into him. I took him to the ground, with me straddling him just above his navel, and pinned his arms. He raised his eyebrow and chuckled.

"Well done, but Sophia, you didn't have to go through all this trouble just to get on top of me."

"Oh Dante, it was no trouble at all; it was my pleasure in fact." I rolled off him while we both laughed and I tried to catch my breath.

Movie night was fun with a 1940's theme. Sarah and Rachel had chosen Casablanca and Notorious as our films for the evening. Ah, the classics. I was unfortunately exhausted and after finishing Casablanca, I feel asleep halfway through Notorious, curled up on a plush loveseat with Dante.  I woke the next morning still on the loveseat with Dante's arms wrapped around me. The sunlight peeking through the thick drapes told me we had slept a good portion of the morning away. I wiggled a little, stretching my back. I felt his lips sweep across my ear

"Good morning."

"Is it still morning?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

He chuckled. "Yes, late morning."

"Well, good morning then. Have you been awake long?" I asked as I attempted to sit up, but his arms tightened around me.  "Not really." He smiled.

"It's quiet, are Tavian and Sarah gone?"

"Yep, we're all alone." He wiggled his brows at me as I rolled over to face him. "Tavian and Sarah left about an hour ago. They peeked in to say bye but you were still sound asleep."

"So you have been awake for a while," I teased. "Do you have plans today?"

"I told Tavian and Sarah I would meet them and their friends down at the town's Cherry Festival. But I'm afraid we missed the parade."

"You should have woken me," I protested. "I told you I didn't want to be an inconvenience."

"You're not; this is far more enjoyable than any parade could ever be." I stared at him for a moment, studying his expression before burying my face in the crook of his neck.

"I'm going to have to keep an eye on you, aren't I? You really are smooth, you know that?"

"No my sweet Sophia, I'm just being honest," was his response, as he held me a little tighter in his embrace.

His honesty was certainly getting to me after only a few days spent together and I was falling for this guy. After lying together a little longer, we finally got up and went to the hot-springs for the carnival and street dance.

# Chapter Seven

––––––––

We met up with Sarah, Tavian, Brandon, Jordan, and Rachel.  When we got there, I was surprised. There was a carnival with rides and games, a flower expo, and a street dance with Lady Antebellum providing the music. The town put on one heck of a festival.

We all walked through the flower expo; it was beautiful with the 'Wizard of Oz' as the theme. They had set up the flower expo in a huge tent. When we entered, we were greeted by some kids from the elementary school playing the munchkins. They had laid a yellow brick road for us to follow as we enjoyed different scenes that had been created from flowers. I was so caught up in the sights, I hadn't realized Sarah was talking to me.

"Sophia?"

"Hmm. Oh God Sarah, sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if you were enjoying the expo. I'm guessing you are."

"Yes, very much in fact. The 'Wizard of Oz' was my mother's favorite movie. She would have loved this." I sighed wistfully as we continued down the yellow path.

"But it's making you a little sad, isn't it? My mom passed away years ago, being surrounded by things she loved is always bittersweet for me. Much like your mom loved the Wizard of Oz, mine loved the flower expo. She used to be in charge of all of this. It was hard for me the first couple of years, but now I love coming here, it reminds me to remember her."

I smiled. "You're a smart girl, Sarah."

There was an old time photo booth at the carnival Sarah, Rachel, and I decided to get a photo taken. We all wore southern belle dresses, with the large hoop skirts, and lovely matching hats. The skirts on Sarah and Rachel's dresses were tiered in white satin and trimmed with green lace on Sarah's' and burgundy lace on Rachel's'. Mine had a three-tone blue satin and lace pick up skirt. Dante and Tavian were watching us as we posed for our pictures. Dante had a distant look in his eyes.

I heard him whisper to Tavian, "Reminds me of Kara."

I hadn't really thought about the similarities between Kara and myself, but there were a lot; we have the same build, same hair color, and while our blue eyes are very different shades, they're both still blue. I felt my smile falter; I just wanted out of this costume now. When we finished the pictures, Rachel wanted to go see a psychic. What the hell...why not.

The woman who was going to read me was the typical, carnival gypsy. She wore a lot of jewelry and a red dress. Her name was Nadya; she was thin and in her late forties.

"What's your name, child?"

"Sophia," I told her as I took a seat across from her at the small round table she sat behind.

"Sophia, you are an interesting individual, aren't you?" I tilted my head, but said nothing. "You have a tough family; you've been running from someone close to you. Perhaps a few someone's. You feel comfortable and happy where you are, but you're still anxious. You fear your secrets coming to light. There's something you feel you need to handle first."

"Yes," I confirmed, her reading accurate thus far.

"You're strong, Sophia, but he who you run from is much stronger and you will have to fight for yourself and a few you hold dear. I can't say for sure, many things still need to fall into place, but if the path you are on continues thing will soon play out."

Interesting.

"How was your psychic reading?" Dante inquired as Rachel and I caught up with the group.

"It was interesting." He raised a brow at me. "Nevermind, will you go on the Ferris wheel with me?"

When we hit the top of the ride, I couldn't help myself; I was still a little uncomfortable thinking of his comment, about me reminding him of Kara. And I couldn't keep myself from asking him about it.

"Who's Kara?" I asked as our car softly rocked and we looked out upon the town. Dusk was falling and the whole town was lit up, it was an amazingly beautiful view.

"What?" He looked shocked by my mentioning her.

"I heard you tell Tavian that I reminded you of her, who is she?" I knew who she was of course, but I wanted to see what he would tell me.

"How'd you hear that?"

"I guess I have good hearing too. So who is she?"

He narrowed his striking eyes at me. "So it seems; she was an ex of mine...a long time ago."

"Have I always reminded you of her? Is that why you're attracted to me?"

"Of course not! I'm attracted to you because of you and you alone. You may have a few physical similarities to Kara but you are nothing like her, I haven't thought of Kara in a very long time, and I'd rather not think of her now. There's a good reason why we're not together anymore."

"Fair enough, if you don't want to talk about her, then I don't want to hear about her. I'd much rather focus on the here and now."

"Me too." He put his arm around me, pulling me snug against his side.

After we had properly enjoyed the carnival, rides, games, and food for Sarah, her friends, and me, we went to the street dance. Lady Antebellum was getting ready to perform after a few local bands had opened for them. Dante and I made our way close to the stage. I couldn't hide the smile that beamed from my face as they came on stage, and started their set with Just a Kiss.

"You're excited," Dante commented.

"I am!" I said brightly. "I love this song. Now, are you going to dance with me, Dante? Or do I need to find someone else?"

He grabbed my hand and twirled me. "Nope, you're stuck with me," he murmured when he pulled me against his chest.

I giggled and whispered back, "A situation I'm happy to be stuck in."

We danced the whole time with him holding me close, even on songs that weren't really meant to be danced to in such close proximity. But it didn't matter. Dancing under the stars in Dante's arms was like being in my own personal fairytale. I was Cinderella for a night.

# Chapter Eight

––––––––

Dante and I had been dating for a little over a month and we had fallen into a comfortable, but exciting, routine. Although living with him made some parts of our relationship hard, I had made a promise to myself that I would not give into my desire for him until I had figured out a way to be honest about who I was and why I was in Maldera Springs. But leaving him at night to go to my own room, when all I wanted to do was stay in his arms, was incredibly hard. Thankfully, I had finally found a house and was three weeks away from closing on it and getting my keys.

It was early June, and school was finally out. Sarah and Tavian were both very excited to have their senior year finally come to an end. I wondered how many times Tavian had graduated High School. Their graduation was on a Friday afternoon. I attended of course, on Dante's arm, and we took seats next to Sarah's father.

"Mayor, it's nice to see you," Dante said as he shook Sarah's fathers' hand.

"It's nice to see you too, Dante." He let go of Dante's hand and extended it to me. "You must be the famous Sophia"

I took his hand. "I don't know about famous," I smiled, "but I'm Sophia. It's nice to meet you, Mayor."

"Call me Phil. Sarah has told me a lot about you; I must say I am surprised I'm only meeting you now."

"I hope all she's shared with you has been good. You have a wonderful daughter and I have enjoyed getting to know her."

"She thinks quite highly of you as well, and I assure you it has all been good. She tells me you and Dante will be accompanying her and her friends on their trip to Orlando." I nodded. "I'm glad they'll have a little supervision."

The graduation ceremony was typical and very nice; they held it outside on the football field. They kindly provided little paper fans with 'Class of 2011' printed on them; the heat was stifling at five-thirty in the evening.

Sarah and her friends had planned a camp out for graduation night with about thirty of their friends attending. Someone had gotten a keg for the party, but no one was worried about getting caught. They were going to be on private property, belonging to Brandon's family. Sarah had begged Dante and me to come and camp out with them, not wanting to disappoint her, we agreed. Dante and I had gone to the campsite prior to the graduation ceremony and set up tents and, as a special little gift to them, we hired a DJ to come provide music for the night.

We made it back to the campsite about an hour before anybody else was set to arrive. I went in the tent and changed out of my summer dress in favor of a white bikini and a little ruffled miniskirt.

"If it doesn't cool down in that tent, I don't know how we're going to sleep in it." I realized after saying it that the statement was silly; Dante wasn't bothered by temperature. But he didn't know I knew that. "Anyway, I opened the windows so some air can flow through it."

He had been staring out at the water, a small breeze ruffling his sandy brown hair, it had gotten a little long, but it looked good on him. He finally turned and looked at me with an expression on his face that I couldn't place.

"What's wrong?" I asked, but he just continued to stare at me. "Dante! Snap out of it; what's the matter with you?"

He chuckled. "I'm fine, my sweet Sophia, you just render me speechless," he answered as he pulled me to him and kissed my forehead.

I shook my head and walked towards the water calling, "whatever," over my shoulder.

"You're beautiful!" he hollered after me.

I waved his comment off and dove in the water. It was perfect; not quite bath water warm but certainly not cold. When I came back up, Dante was at the edge of the swimming hole. He was quick, in the thirty seconds he was out of my sight he had changed and was in a pair of dark blue swim trunks with a white tribal pattern up the sides.

The swimming hole was filled from the river, by way of a beautiful waterfall, just across the water from the camp area and that's where I was headed with Dante following me.

The romantic setting called for nothing less than for me to wrap my arms around him and fall prey to a little of the mounting passion I had been holding back. He held me tight, pressing his lips hungrily against mine. My lips parted to accept his searching tongue as he deepened the kiss further and further. I held back a small moan as his hands slid down my back and stopped at my hips, pulling me closer to him. My lips left his and wandered to his neck as he tilted his head back, lost in the sensation of my teeth grazing his skin.

Desire poured off him as I explored more of his perfect skin and twisted my fingers in his hair, pressing my body closer and harder against him. Dante's hands grabbed at my waist as he lifted me out of the water above him, my wet, black hair fell forward, framing his gorgeous face as he brought our lips back together for a long, seeking kiss. He only broke it to slowly slide me down his chest, and stop at my neck. I didn't worry about him being at the most vulnerable part of my body. He wouldn't bite me, and I knew that. If he had wanted to, he'd had plenty of opportunities. I wrapped my legs around his waist and couldn't hold back the gasps of pure ecstasy that escaped me. Dante stopped kissing me, cupping my face and staring at me with eyes that were such a dark shade of navy they almost looked black.

"If you make noises like that, my sweet Sophia, it will be hard for me to control myself."

"I know," I said breathlessly, "but...I'm sorry, Dante, I'm just not ready."

"You never need to be sorry for that, Sophia. I will wait until you are." He gave me one last sweet kiss. "We should go back; the others will be here soon."

He was right of course, halfway across the swimming hole I heard footsteps and more cars pulling up. The DJ was the first to arrive; Dante greeted him as I went to grab my towel.

Tavian, Sarah, Rachel, Brandon, and Jordan arrived a few minutes later. I was drying my hair with my towel as they came into sight. Sarah had a huge, happy smile on her face; Tavian and Rachel were excited and surprised by the DJ. Jordan on the other hand looked pissed, apparently not happy with the way Brandon was drooling as he stared at me. Dante, however, was amused.

"She's taken and way out of your league, my man." He patted Brandon on the back and walked over to me, sweeping a brief kiss on my cheek, then going off to visit with his brother. Jordan's eyes shot daggers at both me and Dante.

By nine o'clock everyone had arrived, the DJ was in full swing, and the keg was tapped. I laughed as sweet Sarah did a keg stand and was rooted on by all her friends. Needless to say, they were all pretty wasted. While neither Dante nor I are affected by alcohol like humans are, we had decided not to drink tonight. With all these kids drinking and there being water so readily available for them to drown in, we figured better safe than sorry. The night was muggy but we still had a massive bonfire.

It came to my attention that it wasn't only beer the kids were drinking; someone had gotten some bottles of the hard stuff. I met a lot more of Tavian and Sarah's friends, all of them fairly inebriated. However, I spent most of my time watching Jordan; I just couldn't understand such a beautiful girl with such low self-esteem. Jordan was drinking like a fish and getting rowdy. She watched Brandon like a hawk and got mouthy whenever he talked to any other girls. I kept my distance, but still kept an eye on her. She was dangerously close to making some bad alcohol-driven decisions. Brandon was talking with one of his teammates, Jackson, when Jordan came over and tried to drag him off to the water. He told her no, that there was no way she was going in the water, she pushed him off and went by herself towards the swimming hole.

I called out to her, "Hey, Jordan?"

"What?" she snapped back when she turned to look at me; her hands firmly placed on her hips.

"Hey, look, I just don't think you should go in the water. Everyone's been drinking. Let's just be safe and smart about it and stay out of the water, please."

"And who the hell are you to tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing?" she slurred.

"Right now, I'm the sober adult who doesn't want to see you get hurt. Now, please, just stay out of the water."

"Whatever! Why don't you go be the adult to someone else, while I go swimming?"

Jordan's eyes narrowed and shot daggers again as Brandon stood next to me and pleaded with her.  "Babe come on, just stay out of the water."

"Why don't you just come with me, Brandon?"

"Because I've been drinking too, and I don't feel like swimming. A lot of our friends are leaving soon. I want to hang out with them, just like you should want to."

"Or do you just want to hang out with her?" She gestured towards me.

"Oh please," I scoffed. "He hasn't said a single word to me or even been near me till you started acting this way, and trust me," I looked to Brandon, "No offense," then looked back to Jordan, "but I'm not interested in your man, Jordan. I have my own."

"Oh right. Well, here he comes; maybe Dante would like to go for a swim with me," she said with a seductive smile aimed at Dante.

I rolled my eyes. "You know what, Jordan? I'm not worried about losing Dante to you, and if you are so dead set on going swimming, I hope he will go with you. At least then there will be someone there to pull your drowning body out of the water should something happen."

I turned and walked towards Dante. "Your turn to deal with drunk, jealous teenagers; I'm going to find your brother and Sarah." I planted a kiss on his lips then sauntered off.

I found Sarah, Tavian, and Rachel seated at a picnic table playing cards with two other kids. There was a large cup in the middle of the table and the cards were spread face down around it.

I smiled as I approached. "Kings' cup?"

"Yeah, have you played before?" Rachel asked as I sat down next to her.

"Oh yeah, when I was eighteen I moved in with my ex. He was a big time partier, but I wasn't old enough to go to the bars so we had parties at his house all the time. He used to love to watch me out drink all of our friends."

"You want to play?" she asked excitedly.

I hesitated for a minute, "Sure, what are we drinking?" One game wouldn't hurt.

"Anything you want, gorgeous," one of the other boys cooed.

"Be careful, Alex, that's Dante's girl," Rachel warned him teasingly.

I smiled; I liked being called Dante's girl. I got a drink and played with them. Sarah ended up with the last king and drank the concoction that had been mixed in the cup. By the time the second game started, Dante had joined us.

"I thought we weren't drinking tonight," he teased.

"Yeah, well I needed one. So what happened with Jordan?" I asked as he sat next to me.

"She's in bed. All the drinking finally got to her."

I had a feeling maybe a little compulsion might have gotten to her too.

"That's probably a good place for her; she was getting a little out of hand."

"Yes, well, she's insecure around you."

"That's ridiculous; she has no reason to be insecure around me or anyone else for that matter. She's a beautiful girl."

"Brandon has a bit of a wandering eye when you're around."

Sarah scoffed, "Everyone has a wondering eye when she's around." We all looked at her. "What? I'm not blind. We all know you're gorgeous."

I looked at Dante as he chuckled. "She's had a lot to drink."

"Hey," Sarah shouted as if offended by my remark.

"Drunk or not, she's right." Dante said to me in all seriousness.

# Chapter Nine

––––––––

Our trip to Orlando had finally arrived. I wasn't sure how it would go. I had seen Jordan a few times since the campout, but she hadn't gotten over what had happened. I refused to be rude and ignore Brandon when he would talk to me just because she was insecure, but that just made it worse.

We all piled into Dante's Escalade, with me, Dante, and Tavian sharing the driving duty. We made it to Orlando around three o'clock on a Friday, where we checked into our amazing hotel.

Sarah's dad had rented a penthouse suite for us that had four rooms: a kitchen, five bedrooms, and a living area. The rooms were sleek, decorated in shades of gray, black and white. It also featured a large balcony with a table for eight and a hot tub, along with a spectacular view of Disney World. We planned a simple dinner for the first night, but that just wasn't going to suffice, so we hit an eighteen and older nightclub.

Dante and I left the underage members of our party and hit the bar for some drinks. We met back up with Tavian, Sarah, and their friends after downing our drinks. We enjoyed the nightclub for a few hours then retreated to the room for some time in the hot tub.

Dante got a call early the next day. He had a friend who lived not far from our hotel and made plans to meet up with him later that evening. Not surprising was the fact that we were meeting him at a nightclub.

Sarah, Rachel, Jordan, and I went shopping for some new clothes for the club while the guys went off to do god only knows what. We went to a cute little boutique and the girls went wild trying on clothes.

"Sophia, this dress was made for you," Rachel told me, while holding up a very adorable, but very short, matte gray, draped-style, one-shoulder dress with ruched sides. I gave the dress one more once over as Rachel handed it to me and then headed for the fitting room.

"I don't know about this one," I told the girls as I looked over my reflection in the full-length mirror. The dress was hot and it looked good on me, but I still wasn't sure about it. Sexy was something I was comfortable with, my ex and his brother had helped me with that, but this felt a little too sexy considering the point Dante and I were in in our relationship...desperately trying to control ourselves.

"Well show us," Sarah said excitedly from the other side of my fitting room door. I stepped out, both Sarah and Rachel smiled wide. Jordan wasn't excited about helping me find a dress and she was nowhere to be seen.

"Dante is going to lose it when he sees you in this; here try these on with it." Sarah handed me a pair of matching suede platforms, with black glitter heels and a peep toe. I put them on and they really did pull the outfit together. "You have to buy this outfit," Sarah squealed in excitement.

"Alright...but I need a pedicure."

We all got new outfits for our night out. Sarah went with a red sleeveless dress that had a wide, black glitter belt that fastened at an empire waist; she paired it with a pair of black glitter wedges. Rachel went with a simple, moss green halter dress with brown suede, thigh-high boots. It complemented her auburn hair beautifully. Jordan on the other hand went all out sexy, with a pair of low rise, hip hugging, black leather, short shorts and a backless silver, shimmering top that buckled at the neck and waist, and a pair of black leather, knee-high boots.

"Brandon won't be able to take his eyes off me in this little number," she cooed as she stared at me.

The girls and I went, got our nails and toes done, and had a late lunch. When we got back to the hotel Tavian and Brandon were playing a video game on the PS3, and Dante was...

"Where's Dante?" I asked.

Tavian answered as a giant spider attacked him on screen.  "Ah, he's in your room."

I went to the room I was sharing with him. He wasn't in there, but I heard the shower running in our bathroom. I knocked on the door and opened it a crack.

"Hey, I need to plug in my curling iron. Are you decent?"

"Why don't you come on in and find out?"

Dante was in the shower and there was enough steam to fog up the shower's glass walls. He slid the door back and peeked around it. With a suggestive brow wag and a seductive tone to his deep voice, he asked me, "You want to join me?"

I looked at him with all the fake seriousness I could muster. "No, I don't."

"You are lying!" he shot back to me.

With a small chuckle, "You're right, of course I want to join you, but I'm not going to."

"I'll be good...I promise."

"I know you'll be good, but I don't think I can behave myself." I winked at him and left the bathroom.

Dante and I had ended up with the largest room and bathroom so the girls and I got ready in my room, while the guys hung out and waited for us. When I came out, the boys were all at the mini bar, having a drink...and Dante had once asked me if I was corrupting minors.

They didn't notice me right away, which gave me a chance to give the guys a once over; they all looked great, but Dante...oh Dante. He looked amazing in a pair of dark, fitted, indigo jeans with a slight bootcut flare, and a snap front, black woven shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his forearm; oh god he looked good. He finally looked up from his drink and at me. Without missing a beat, he strode towards me, taking me in his arms. With a fierce passion rivaling my own, he kissed me. After a moment, he moved his lips only a breath away from mine while maintaining eye contact.

"You look amazing. You are always beautiful, but I must admit I like this outfit."

I blushed, a trait I could never shake. "Well Sarah did say you'd lose it when you saw the dress."

"She was right. I'd like to just keep you here, all to myself, but you look too good for me not to take you out and show you off."

"I'd say the same about you, but you haven't seen your friend in a long time and he's waiting for you. So we'd better go."

We had gotten a limo for the night. The club was packed, but we were able to get a booth large enough for all of us, including Dante's friend, Mason. He was supposed to be meeting us there around nine. Tavian, Sarah, and their friends went dancing while we waited for Mason.

"There you are, late as always, Mason." Dante and I both stood to greet his friend.

"It's not my fault this time, Dante. I received a surprise guest this evening."

Dante raised a brow and then turned to me "Mason, this is Sophia. Sophia, Mason."

I extended my hand to him. He took it, kissing it rather than shaking it. "It's nice to meet you, Sophia."

I drew my hand back, smiling. "It's nice to meet you too."

"So who's the mystery guest?" Dante inquired of Mason.

"Here he comes. I'm sure you remember Sage."

Sage?...What were the odds? There had to be more than one Sage in the vampire world...right? My head turned in what felt like slow motion, to where Mason had gestured. I watched as the tall, athletically built figure came towards us.

Oh. Crap.

I would know that gorgeous Italian face anywhere, with its penetrating brown eyes and easygoing smile. I caught Sage's gaze and silently begged him not to rat me out. As I felt the blood drain from my face, he didn't miss a beat as he approached us.

"Sage, how are you?" Dante asked.

"I can't complain, Dante. It's been too long. How've you been?"

"I've been great," Dante said smiling and taking Sage's hand in a firm handshake.

"I can imagine; especially if this beautiful woman has something to do with it."  Sage smiled and held out his hand. I took with a grateful smile. "I'm Sage, sweetheart, what's your name?"

I finally let out the breath I'd been holding in. "I'm Sophia; it's nice to meet you, Sage."

We all sat down, with me sitting between Dante and Sage. I could feel dark brown eyes burrowing into the side of head. Dante and Mason decided to go get us some drinks since our waitress hadn't been by in a while.

"Can I trust leaving Sophia with you, Sage?" Dante asked teasingly.

"Absolutely, though I am looking forward to chatting with her." He smiled at Dante then turned that smile on me. It said more than just friendly chitchat was in store for me.

# Chapter Ten

––––––––

"What the hell is going on? What are you doing with Dante Baikov?" That easygoing smile had vanished.

"Wait, aren't you friends? It sure seems like it," I responded, trying to avoid what he really meant by the question.

"I'm serious; what is going on?" He relaxed, taking a breath he really didn't need.  "Okay wait, I'm sorry, first of all I should probably say it is so good to see you. I've missed you, kid." He leaned over and gave me an unmistakable Sage bear hug.

"I've missed you too, Sage, more than you can possibly know."

He smiled. "We don't have a lot of time, so explain what's going on? Why did I have to pretend not to know you? Finally, why'd you leave? He misses you."

I knew the he Sage was referring to was Ash, his younger brother.  "I couldn't do it anymore. I'm not the kind of woman he really wants or needs."

"Oh no, you're wrong; you are most definitely what he wants, Ash loves you, he's been looking for you, and he's not the only one, Sophia."

"I know leaving hurt him, and that's the last thing I ever wanted to do. You know I loved him. But love grows, and love changes, and sometimes it fades. My love for him never faltered. He was everything to me, but it did change, and I think now he's in love with the thought of me. It's just not the right kind of love anymore. Most importantly, I'm not a vampire and I can't pretend and live as if I am. I needed a new life. Though I am sorry I ever caused him any pain and, for what it's worth, I do miss him and I'll always be grateful for the time we had together."

"I know you loved him. That's something I have never questioned, but where does Dante fit in this new life of yours?"

"I don't know. But he's not like most vampires and he doesn't know who I am yet."

"Sophia, I don't blame you for needing to figure out your own life, but leaving like you did, it's caused  an uproar with Irad. He's got a lot of bodies out there looking for you."

"I figured, but I've been looking for someone while I've been running..." I hesitated, not knowing how much I should tell Sage, but aside from Enoch, I trusted him the most of anybody, "and I found her."

"Her? Jesus Sophia, you found the ancestor?" His eyebrows went up with shock.

I nodded. "Her name is Sarah. She's Tavian's girlfriend."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to protect her. I won't let Irad get to her. Sage, promise me you won't tell anyone you saw me."

"Oh Sophia," he looked at me, warring with himself over the right thing to do. Hiding the fact that he found me from both his brother and mine was a lot to ask of him.

"Ash is your brother and I know it's been hard on him, but please Sage, you're one of my best friends. You and E have always been there for me and I hate to ask but I need this from you."

"What about Enoch? He is actually encouraging Irad to find you. He's worried about you."

"I'll call him, I promise. Just don't say anything until I do."

"Okay kid, whatever you need. Since I've seen you, do you think you could find the time to call me every once in a while?" His smile was back.

"You bet! It's been torture not hearing your voice." I smiled and batted my lashes at him.

"Yeah, yeah, you know I can't resist you when you start flirting with me. But it is not going to make you disappearing for eight months okay. I've missed my daily dose of Sophia charm."

I laughed. Sage and I had always had a flirtatious friendship. It had always pissed his brother off to no end, but it was just us, just best friends.

"You too seem to be getting along," Mason noted as he and Dante returned. I smiled up at Dante as he handed me a drink.

"That we are; you've got yourself quite a lovely young lady, Dante."

"Yes I do, Sage, so keep your paws off."

"I wouldn't dream of putting my paws anywhere she did not invite me to put them," Sage playfully shot back.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, no one's putting their paws anywhere right now. I'm going to go dance while you catch up with your friends." I kissed Dante's cheek and sauntered off to the dance floor.

Seeing Sage had been one of those bittersweet moments for me. I missed him so much these past months and he reminded me of both Ash and of my own brother, Enoch. I did miss Ash, but not in the way he missed me. I didn't love him like that anymore. I started dating Ash when I was sixteen. He was my first everything; first love, first kiss, the first man I had ever made love to, and truth be told, he took really good care of me. However, he taught me to be confident and to trust myself. And that's what happened to our relationship. When I was eighteen, the only reason Irad had agreed to let me move out was because I was moving in with Ash. I put up with Ash's bad habits for six years, until I'd had enough. He had a habit of bringing home woman to entertain and feed him. They were none the wiser as to what had happened to them when they left the next day, but I couldn't help the jealousy it caused in me. After years of hearing I was beautiful, smart, sexy, and powerful, it finally sunk in and I decided I didn't have to put up with it anymore. I told him that enough was enough and to decide, it was either his crude habit or me. He reminded me that vampires are sexual creatures and to remember that he wasn't actually sleeping with them. That hadn't made me feel any better. Also, they were his food. This was how he chose to feed, rather than employ his food.

I left a week later, while he was busy with the latest stripper he'd brought home. That had been eight months ago and I haven't once thought about going back.

# Chapter Eleven

––––––––

We had been back from Orlando for a week now. I had talked to Sage twice and had promised him I would call Enoch today. I was still at the Baikov home – my house would be ready to move into in a couple of days.

I waited for the house to be empty. Dante and Tavian had gone out to run some errands and Sarah was spending the day with her dad. I sat in my room and dialed my cell, it rang once...twice...three times, then Enoch's strong, certain voice answered.

"Hello?"

I took a deep breath. "Hi E, it's me."

He was silent for a moment "Little Sophia." I could hear the relief in his voice.

I smiled. God, I had missed him. "Yeah, E, it's me. How are you?"

"I am much better now; I've been worried about you."

"I know, E, I'm so sorry. I never should have waited so long to let you know I was okay, but I was scared Irad would find out I contacted you."

I fought back tears as we talked. I assured him I was okay and that I was happy. I didn't tell him about the Baikov's or Sarah. I trusted Enoch, but I figured the less he knew, the better.

"Sophia, you need to know that Irad's narrowed down your whereabouts to four states; California, Idaho, Georgia, and Florida."

"Crap really? He's closer than I thought he'd be.  What about Father? Where does he stand on all of this?"

"He won't say anything yet. He'll only step in if Irad goes too far, you know that, but he's more curious than anything. Father came to visit last month. He's wondering what you're doing and why you left Ash."

"It just didn't work out and I've moved on. I got word that Irad is furious. I'm sorry to leave you to deal with him, E."

"Oh, little Sophia, don't you worry about it, I'm used to Irad's tantrums. I've had many millennia to learn to deal with him."

I laughed. It was true my brothers were very old.

"Sophia, will you be coming home?"

"No E, I'm sorry. I have a few things left to figure out and to take care of, but I promise I will call you as often as I can."

"Alright. I miss you, little Sophia."

"I miss you too, E." A tear streaked down my cheek. "I gotta go. I love you, E."

"I love you too, little Sophia."

I hung up my phone and grabbed a pillow to bury my face in as I cried a few tears into it. I took a couple deep breaths and swallowed back the rest of my tears. I decided to head into town. I needed some retail therapy.

I hit a few of the local boutiques and then went into Jitter Beans, where Rachel worked as a barista.

"Hi Sophia! What can I get for you?" Rachel had the perfect bubbly personality, and bright smile, for this kind of job

"Umm, a blended, low fat mocha."

"Whip cream?"

"No, thank you," I said, pulling my sunglasses off.

Rachel gave me a concerned look "You okay, Sophia?"

Crap, my eyes must be puffy. I put my glasses back on and smiled. "Oh yeah, just a hard day is all. I'm fine, but thanks for asking."

I took my drink and sat at one of the tables. I kept my puffy eyes hidden behind my big, dark sunglasses. I heard Rachel in the back; she was on the phone with...Sarah. She was worried about me. I heard her tell Sarah I looked like I'd been crying. When she came back from her break, I thanked her for the coffee and said goodbye.

I didn't want to answer any questions right now so I didn't want to go back to the house. I wanted a little time to myself. I went to the Maldera Springs Inn; they had vacancies so I got a room. I climbed on the hard bed, pulling my knees to my chest, and lowering my head. I had many things to figure out, just like I had told Enoch. I don't know how long I sat like that. I was snapped out of my daze when my phone rang; it was Dante.

I answered. "Hey Dante, what's up?"

"Not much, I was just worried about you. Sarah went to find you at Jitter Beans, after Rachel called her and said you looked like you were upset. She called me when you weren't there and she couldn't find you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry everyone's worried but I'm okay."

"Well, where are you?"

"I got a room for the night."

He was silent for a second. "Why?"

"Don't worry; it's not a big deal. I had a hard day and I didn't want to bring anyone down with my poor mood."

"Sophia, what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it. But everything's fine."

"Okay, we don't have to talk about it, but I'm here for you if you need me."

"I know." Talking to him was making me feel better and I really wanted to see him. "Give me an hour or so, and then I'll meet you at your house."

"Okay, I'll be waiting for you."

I smiled. "Thanks, Dante."

I hung up, took a shower, put on some of the new clothes I'd bought, and left for the Baikov home.

Dante was the only one home when I got there. He wrapped me up in a tight embrace and placed a kiss on the top of my head as I rested my face on his chest.

"You okay?"

"I'm good now," I whispered while squeezing him back.

We went to the study where he poured me a drink and we sat together on the loveseat.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shrugged. "I talked to E today. It was hard. I miss him and he's stuck dealing with Irad's fury over me leaving. It's a hard, weird family dynamic. And my fears were substantiated and Irad's close to finding me. I have things to take care of."

"Sophia, are you afraid of him? Tavian and I won't let him hurt you."

"It's so hard to explain. I'm not afraid of him hurting me...well no worse than he has before. I'm worried about the trouble he'll cause and I know he's going to try to make me go back. Dante," I took his hand, "there's a lot I haven't told you about and a few things I haven't been completely honest about. I want to tell you everything in detail, but I'm not ready to share all the skeletons in my closet. What I will say is this – Irad is embarrassed by my leaving. When I moved from my home, it wasn't just a friend I moved in with; it was my fiancé from an arranged marriage. I told you my family was old school. At sixteen I was introduced to the man I would eventually marry. I fell in love with him. He wasn't a bad man and he took really good care of me, but he had habits that I couldn't live with. As time went on that love faded and changed. We planned to marry when I turned twenty-five. I left three months before my twenty-fifth birthday."

"You were engaged." He couldn't hide the shock that news caused. "I understand now, your hesitation with our relationship. It's because of him. He's the cause of the broken heart you spoke of. You still love him."

"Yes." I was going to be as honest with him as I could. "But not in the way you're thinking. He was an important part of my life and he's a big part of the person I've become, but I'm not in love with him. Please understand he has nothing to do with our relationship. I want to take things slow, and I want us to know each other. Also, I have to deal with my brother and the fallout from leaving. I feel like I put everyone around me in danger and I couldn't live myself if anyone got hurt because of me, especially you."

"I'm not afraid of your brother, and there's no way I'll let him take you back to that life, if that's not what you want. Don't worry, Sophia, no one's going to get hurt, we're all safe." He was holding me again, but his words were not comforting me. He needed to be afraid; they all should be. But I had been thinking a lot about what to do since I talked to Enoch. I had an idea of a way to keep everyone safe, but I needed to go see a Voodoo friend of mine.

"I know you're not afraid, but Irad requires caution. I think I've come up with a way to settle this on my own, without involving anyone. But I need to take a little road trip to see a friend in Louisiana. I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning, but I'll be back tomorrow night."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"Absolutely...but I need to do this on my own."

# Chapter Twelve

––––––––

I'd been on the road for five long hours on my drive to the Voodoo capitol of the United States: New Orleans. I pulled up in front of a little shop in the heart of the French Quarter on Bourbon Street. Marie Laveau's home of Voodoo was busy as the tourist moved in and out of the shop. I laughed to myself – if only they knew the true power of the "souvenirs" they bought.

I followed a group of teenagers into the shop, but passed them as they stopped to look at some Voodoo dolls. There was a young man I didn't recognize at the counter. He smiled as I approached.

"Can I help you?" His Creole-accented voice was smooth.

"I hope so." I smiled. "I'm looking for Adelaide, is she here?"

"Yes, she's in the back. Let me go get her."

"That's alright, I know my way back there. Thanks." I waved and headed back through the beaded curtain.

Adelaide was sitting at a round table mixing some herbs.

"Black Sampson. You're making a lust spell?"

Adelaide's head slowly lifted from her herbs, her beautiful mocha face and hazel eyes lit by the flickering flames of candle light.

"I don't believe it."

"Hi Adelaide," I smiled wide. I had missed her. I'd been missing a lot of people lately.

Adelaide was in her early thirties, and had learned the craft from her mother, who's a descendent of the famous Marie Lauvaeu, hence the shop's name. I'd met Adelaide when I was nineteen and Ash and I had taken a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I had been fascinated by the religion and Adelaide had taken the time to teach me a little bit about it.

"Come on, Ash, please? I just want to look."

"It's a Voodoo shop, which means one of two things, my bella-amore, either they're all frauds, which means it's a waste of time, or they really do practice Voodoo, and most witches and Voodoo practitioner's don't like vampires."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you. I won't let any crazy Voodoo queen hurt my man."

His laughter was light-hearted and sweet. "Alright, how can I ever say no to you? Besides you know I love it when you call me your man."

I kissed him softly. "You are my man. Always."

"And you'll always be my girl."

The store was in an old building with a red stucco façade and brown shutters. The shop was busy with tourist much like myself; drawn by curiosity to the unique little shop. I was looking through a large shelving unit filled with herbs, one of which was called grains of paradise. It looked a lot like pepper seeds and smelled a little like black pepper with a floral undertone.

"Grains of Paradise?" asked the sultry, Creole voice.

I looked up at the tall, slender, mocha-skinned woman – she was beautiful, with striking hooded, hazel eyes and a full-lipped smile.

"Ah, yeah it reminds me of a flowery black pepper."

She laughed. "That is precisely what it smells like. It comes from a leafy plant out of West Africa.  It's quite a sexy herb used in the magics of passion and lust. But I saw you enter with that young man over there and somehow I doubt you need any spells for passion or lust."

"No," I flushed. "I don't suppose we do. We're pretty well covered in that area."

"Then what do you seek in my shop?"

"Knowledge, I find this all very interesting, I'd like to learn more." I stuck my hand out to her. "I'm Sophia Daletsky."

"I'm Adelaide Lauveau. It's nice to meet you, Sophia."

"Well Miss Sophia," her accent was thick like molasses and beautiful. "I've not seen you in a very long time, though I did get a surprise visit from Ash a few months ago."

I felt my eyes widen. "What did he want?"

She laughed. "You know what he wanted, help finding his bella-amore. Child, don't you fret none; I didn't give him no spells or charms to help find you. If you ran, you had good cause. I know that. You two oozed passion and heat, but I always knew that at some point that wouldn't be enough for you. So what brings you here now? I know you've gotten into some trouble with that brother of yours, are you here seeking my help?"

"Yes ma'am, I do need your help. I need to know how to perform a blood claim."

She raised her brows at me "What kind of blood claim? Over a person or property?"

"Over a town."

"Oh child," she shook her head at me. "No one has claimed a whole town in centuries."

"But it can be done?"

"Well yes, of course it can.  Anything can be done with the right Voodoo priestess, and the right amount of power. What are you trying to protect?"

"Power like yours?" I asked, arching a brow.

"Yes Sophia, I have enough power to perform the ceremony, but again, what are you trying to protect?"

"People I care about. Adelaide...I found the ancestor. I want to protect her, but I don't want her to know. She doesn't need the anguish the truth will bring her. She doesn't need to know the truth about why her mother died."

"Child, you must protect her, this feud has gone on far too long, but do you understand what a blood claim means?"

"Yes, and now I need to know how to do it."

"You'll need an old vampire of blood relation, as yours is not pure."

"So I need Enoch," I stated.

"Yes, also you'll need a Voodoo priestess to perform the ceremony," she smiled.

"Are you willing to perform the ceremony?"

"Of course, but most importantly, your father will need to consecrate the claim after the ceremony is complete."

Adelaide explained how the ceremony would be performed. She loaded me up with calamus, master wort, dragon's tears, and few other roots and herbs to complete the ceremony. She was going to meet me at my home in one week, giving me enough time to contact Enoch and get him and my father on board.

# Chapter Thirteen

––––––––

When I got back to the Baikov's, the house was empty and there was a note written in Dante's elegant handwriting on the kitchen counter with a lovely red rose laying across it.

Sophia,

Went with Tavian and Sarah to Curley's. Hope you achieved what you had set out to accomplish for from this trip. Please come down and meet us if you're up for it or call me and I'll come home.

I missed you today.

Love, Dante

I smiled as I smelled the stunning flower. I'd missed him too. I didn't really want to go out and being alone with him sounded really good to me. So, I called him.

"Hi, I just got back. I think I'm just going to stay in though."

"I'll come home then."

"You don't have to, but I missed you too and would really like to see you."

"I'm running out the door right now. I'm on my way."

I laughed softly. "You don't have to rush. I'm going to take a shower. I need to clean up after ten hours in the car."

"Mmm, a shower does sound good, how about I come home and join you?" he said seductively.

I couldn't control the longing that gripped my body at his words. My God, I want him.

"You're a constant temptation, you know that?"

"As are you my sweet, regardless, I'm on my way."

"I'll see you soon then, bye."

I really needed a shower now...a cold one.

Dante was fast, I heard him pull up as I was getting out of the shower. I put on a robe and walked into the hall. He was coming up the stairs and didn't stop to say a single word. He just wrapped me up in his arms and kissed me eagerly. The kiss reignited that burning ache in my body. I could smell the desire wafting from him and I knew I was giving off much of the same scent.

"I really did miss you." He pressed his face against my skin and took a deep breath. "Mmm...you smell so good," he murmured against shivering, exposed skin.

I just couldn't hold back anymore. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and pressed hard against him, kissing him with drowning passion. His hands moved all over my body, only the thin, silky material of my robe separating them from my skin. I ran my hands down to his chest and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. I only broke the kiss to move my lips down to his neck. He moaned and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pressed me against the wall, seeking out my neck. My head fell back and my pulse pounded as he kissed right over it. He slowly traced my neck with soft kisses as he moved down to my collarbone. I gasped as he lightly nibbled on my sensitive skin. I felt his body respond and harden with every touch, taste, and moan that escaped me.

"Sophia, either you say yes or we have to stop this now." His voice was husky and slightly muffled as he spoke while still nibbling on my skin.

I hadn't told him everything I had wanted to before this moment, but I couldn't deny my body and my heart what it had patiently waited for.

My response was soft but in no way hesitant, "Yes, Dante."

I was barely through saying his name before we were in his room, a little of his inhuman speed seeping through his carefully placed façade. While holding me with one arm, he slid his free hand down my stomach and untied my robe. I let go of his neck long enough to allow it to drop to the floor. He continued moving his hand down, lingering briefly to stroke my inner thigh; a small whimper escaped me when he stopped to unbutton his jeans. He walked over to the bed, laying me down gently and simply staring at me. I placed my hand on his beautiful face, stroking his cheek.

"My God, you're gorgeous," I whispered.

"And you are the most breathtaking woman I've ever laid eyes on."

It was ridiculous, but I blushed.

He took my hand from his face and kissed it, working his way up my forearm and shoulder, eventually stopping at my neck.  My fingers twisted in his hair as my other hand greedily pulled him closer. Once on top of me, he moved from my neck to my collarbone and slowly drew his lips down further, stopping at my breast to softly suckle and caress them with his tongue. My back arched in pure delight. He continued on a path lower and lower down my stomach, kissing and nibbling the skin as he went. He stopped between my legs, lightly sweeping me with kisses on my inner thigh; he drew a line with butterfly kisses to center himself between my legs.

He tenderly licked, separating my tender lips. My arms flew back behind me, grasping the headboard with such force I think I may have heard it crack, but I couldn't tell. Dante's tongue created such pure ecstasy in me; I could barely hear anything above the humming in my ears. It was useless to try to focus on anything but the wet, pulsating feeling his tongue created as he stroked my soft flesh and drew small circles, teasing my clit.

"Yes...ohh...Dante...yes," my words came out in low, panting breaths.

When I thought I wouldn't be able to take anymore, he moved back up my stomach, stopping when our hips met. He rubbed between my legs slowly, but not penetrating me. Screams were ripped from me with each meticulous stroke of his hard flesh. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight to him. I latched on to his shoulder, biting him to muffle the screams.

"I've been dreaming of this moment since I first laid eyes on you. You are so beautiful." His voice was low and husky, drenched in pure pleasure.

I had no words; the only noises that escaped me were whimpers and moans. He flipped us over where I was straddling him. We moved together as he finally breached my depths. I cried out as he went deeper into me.

"Harder...Dante...Harder!"

He moved deeper and harder in me. Savoring every thrust as he held me tight, kissing my neck between moans of pure rapture. With my back arched, head thrown back, and nails dug in his back, I rocked in rhythm with his body till I was taken over with an orgasm that rocked me from my very core, causing warm, wet bliss to escape me.

I woke the next morning, to Dante gently getting out of bed.

"I'll be back, luv, I'm famished. Try to sleep a little longer, it's quite early." He tenderly kissed me and then left. I curled up, enveloped in silk sheets laced with Dante's scent. 

# Chapter Fourteen

––––––––

I got the keys to my new house the next day. It felt a little weird leaving the Baikov home, especially after the night Dante and I had just spent together. As exciting as having my own home was, I didn't want to leave him.

My new house was only about a quarter mile from the Baikov home. It was built in 1880, in a romantic Victorian style, and sat on fifteen acres. The home was white-washed brick with three large arches that covered the front porch, and an intricately paneled front door. They also created the base for the master bedroom's balcony. A complex roofline and large picture and bay windows completed the five-thousand square foot house.

It's beautiful and it's all mine.

No brothers and no ex's. Having left everything I owned, aside from a few clothes and a photo album, made moving day very easy.

Sarah, Rachel, and I set out on a major shopping spree, while Dante and Tavian offered to paint inside for me. I told them they didn't have to do anything, but they insisted on helping. So I let them. I'm not much for painting anyway. After spending a lot of money, and nearly the whole day, picking out four different bedroom sets – one for the master and three for the guest rooms – couches, coffee tables, a dining room set, pots and pans, dishes, and everything else my new house didn't come with, I dropped Sarah and Rachel off at Sarah's house. They were going to have dinner with her dad and then Sarah was going back to Dante and Tavian's. I grabbed some pajamas at my new place and headed back to the Baikov's. I would be staying there one more night since my furniture wouldn't be delivered until tomorrow.

Since our homes were so close, I decided to walk. When I reached their long driveway, I was hit with an odd sensation that something just wasn't right. I felt a brush of uneasiness tickle the back of my neck. I sprinted to the back of the house only to come face to face with one of Irad's men.

"How odd," he began, "to not only find your scent here, princess, in the middle of nowhere Georgia, but as I followed it the scent of the Baikov brothers gets stronger as well. I wonder what your brother will say when he hears the news."

"Why are you here, Hunter?" I demanded.

"Why, Sophia, I am hunting...for you, of course. Irad's not happy with you. But the scents," he drew in a long whiff of the air his nostrils flaring, "mingling in this little rat hole of a town are quite curious. Not only the Baikov's but the ancestor as well. Have you found her?"

"No, and I wouldn't tell you if I had. This has to stop."

"Oh Sophia, Sophia, you are lying to me, little princess."

Crap.

He was right. I was lying about finding her. Hunter moved as fast as lightning; within a fraction of a second he had me in an iron grip, fangs slowing extending, his green eyes swirling and darkening.

"You can't compel me, Hunter. I won't help him get her!" I hollered at him but didn't waste my energy to struggle against his grip.

He smiled a mouthful of teeth and fangs. "I know, but I will get the information from you," he hissed as he backhanded me so hard I could taste blood.

He was back on me with a fist full of my thick, black hair before I could recover. Hunter was an old vampire and he was strong. I knew Irad wanted to find me, bring me home, but he has an 'any means necessary' policy when it comes to finding Sarah, and Irad wouldn't blink at the news that Hunter had beat it out of me. He could kill me and Irad wouldn't care...as long as he brought me back as a vampire.

He started to drag me into the surrounding forest. I knew I had to get away, or this wouldn't end well for anybody. He pulled me back against him, fangs grazing my neck as he moved to my ear and whispered, "I am going to enjoy this."

"Not as much as me," I hissed as I pulled my head forward and then slammed it back as hard as I could. He shoved me with one hand as he re-cracked his already healing, broken nose to straighten it. He smiled with a smug, enamored grin.

"Now you're just turning me on, little princess. I like it rough; you'll cry out for me and be begging me to stop at the same time. I always wondered what you'd taste like." He licked his lips as the scent of lust and anger rolled off him.

"You'll never get to know. You forget I was trained to fight sick, sadistic, sons of bitches just like you," I spat back as I strode towards him. I dodged a devastating blow while throwing all my weight at him, taking him down to the ground and landing on top of him with my legs straddling his chest and pinning his arms.  I pulled a silver knife from my pocket; my mother had given it to me when I was very young. It's the one thing I never leave home without.

"Who else is here?" I demanded, the knife pressed against his chest over his heart.

"No one...yet," his Romanian accent was thick now.

"Who knows you found me?"

"Kara, I called her when I picked up your scent. She'll be here Wednesday. I don't believe she will be very happy with you."

Crap...okay calm down, Sophia, I reasoned with myself.  It's only Friday, I still have a little time. Hunter was right that Kara would be pissed I was spending time with Dante and Tavian, and well, more than just spending time with Dante.

"Oh, and did I mention that she was going to contact Ash? I wonder what he will think."

My grip faltered, Ash was coming too? Hunter took advantage of my shaking grip at the mention of Ash's name. He grabbed my hand and with quickness I couldn't match, he turned the knife on me. I was only able to roll back, lessening the depth in which the knife buried in my stomach. However, Hunter made a costly mistake right then, he threw the knife down and leaned over me.

"I think I will have that taste now," he said arrogantly as he leaned in to brush a kiss on my lips.

"I don't think so," I said in a strained voice as I palmed the knife and struck out, burying it up to its hilt in his chest. His eyes widened in shock and then went blank. I pushed him off me and stumbled back towards the house. I had very little power left and blood was steadily flowing out of my wound. I would heal, he hadn't caused any fatal wounds, but I would likely pass out. I couldn't risk anyone finding me like this...so I shifted. I made my way back to the house, running into Sarah and Tavian in cat form. 

# Chapter Fifteen

––––––––

"Tavian! Get a towel; she's bleeding!"

"Be careful, luv," Tavian told Sarah as he disappeared into the house.

"It's going to be okay. We'll fix you up," Sarah whispered softly, while making little cooing noises to calm me.

Tavian came back with a towel and wrapped me up. He was cradling me in his arms as he carried me in the house. He went into the bathroom and uncovered my wound to get a better look.

"What do you think happened?"

"I don't know, Sarah, but something isn't right." Tavian sniffed at the towel with my blood on it.

Shit, shit, shit. He knew something was wrong with my blood. I got up and jumped from the counter. Unfortunately, this kitty didn't land on her feet. I crumpled as I tried to move my own weight. My power wavered and I felt the pull of my body starting to shift. Sarah was kneeling next to me when my body began to shiver and convulse. She screamed and Tavian pulled her back away from me as I became human again. I panted and groaned. It had never hurt to shift before, but this time it was excruciating.

"Is that...Sophia?" I heard Sarah ask from behind Tavian.

"It can't be. It's not possible. Sarah, what are you doing?" he yelled at her as she approached me.

"Tavian, be quiet. She's hurt." She pushed the hair off my face and looked me in the eyes. "Sophia?"

Her face blurred as tears filled my eyes. I murmured the only words I could get out before everything went black.

"I'm sorry, don't tell Dante."

****

"I think she's waking up," I heard Sarah say softly.

"Sarah, can you please keep a little distance from her until we find out what's going on?"

I opened my eyes, revealing that I was back in the guest room. "I'm not going to hurt her, Tavian. I promise."

He came closer and looked down at me. "I want to believe that, but what I just saw shouldn't be possible."

I chuckled as I sat up in the bed, rubbing my stomach. "You mean like vampires?"

Tavian's mouth opened, but he stopped, biting off whatever he was going to say.

"Yeah," I smiled softly. "I know what you and Dante are. I've known about the two of you long before we ever met."

"What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"Now you're asking the right question and I'm going to answer all of them, I promise. There's a lot I need to explain to you. But first, where is Dante?"

"You asked me not to tell him," Sarah broke in. "So I asked him to go help Rachel with her car trouble." She mimed quotations when she said car trouble and winked at me. "So you have about an hour to tell us what's going on and what you are."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, well thanks for that. You know who I am. The question is what I am."

"Uh, and how you know about vampires," Tavian added.

"Right, okay, you guys might want to sit down."

Sarah sat down on the bed but Tavian remained standing.

"I know about vampires because my father is a vampire. He became taken by my mother, they slept together, she got pregnant and had me, ergo, I'm half vampire."

"That's not possible," he said simply, "vampires can't have children."

"My father is no ordinary vampire, Tavian." I looked to him and saw a little glimmer of hope in his eyes. "How much do you know of Cain and Abel or vampire history?"

He shrugged. "Perhaps not as much as I need to."

"Perhaps not, so let me tell you a story..."

"Cain is mentioned as Adam and Eve's first child, and was the first human ever born. He was a crop farmer and his younger brother Abel was a shepherd. Cain was always portrayed as sinful, committing the first murder by killing his own brother, after God rejected his offerings of produce but accepted the animal sacrifices brought by Abel. Thus, Abel was the first human ever to die. The oldest known copy of the Biblical narration of the story of Cain and Able is from the 1st century Dead Sea Scrolls. Cain and Abel also appear in a number of other texts and the story is the subject of various interpretations. Abel, the first murder victim, is sometimes seen as the first martyr; while Cain, the first murderer, is sometimes seen as an ancestor of evil. What most people don't know or don't believe is how Cain was truly punished."

Sarah gasped as our conversation from the other day came back to her. "He became the first vampire after spilling his brothers' blood; cursed to walk the world for eternity, craving blood as punishment for committing the first murder."

I nodded. "That's right. Cain had a son before he was turned – Enoch. He turned Enoch, and then Irad, because Enoch wanted a brother. Enoch and Irad are my brothers."

"Wait, you're saying Cain slept with your mother and he's your father?" Tavian asked skeptically.

"Yes, have you heard the rumors of the half-blood princess?" He nodded slowly at me. "So what is she said to look like?"

"Holy Shit!" Tavian shook his head ". . . hair the color of night, skin of silky, golden sand, eyes the color of a stormy ocean and lips the color of Eve's forbidden apple." I smiled and raised my brows at him. "You're the princess; I thought it was just a myth. I know our history and I know of Enoch and Irad, but only a few have ever claimed to have seen...you."

"Yep, I'm sorry I wasn't honest with all of you, but there is more."

"Okay." Tavian was pretty excited and well worked up now. "I want to know the rest but where does the whole cat thing come in? Vampires don't shape shift."

I smiled. "On the contrary, one vampire does...Cain."

"What does he become?"

"I only know of two different animals he can shift into: a black panther and a...bat."

"A Bat, ah that's just to classic," Sarah snickered.

"Okay focus, because the rest is important. Irad is looking for me. I ran away from my life with my ex that Irad had arranged for me to marry. Today one of his men found me." I pointed to my stomach. "That's where the knife wound came from. I killed him, but not before he called in reinforcements."

"We need to tell Dante. He can help. He's not going to let anything happen to you," Tavian said firmly.

"It's not that simple. His reinforcement is Kara."

Tavian's face went hard and his eyes darkened. "Kara's coming here? How do you know who Kara is?"

"She told me about you and Dante. I've known Kara since I was fifteen. Irad thought she would be a good role model for me. I know how cruel and evil she is and I don't want you guys to have to deal with her. It gets a little more complicated, Ash – my ex – is coming here too. There's going to be an influx of very old, very powerful vampires. I need you all to get out of town."

"No way, we're not leaving you alone to deal with them." Tavian was in stoic, hero mode.

"Look, that's sweet and I respect your need to help, but it would be best, Tavian." I tilted my head towards the window. "Crap, Dante's back and there's more Tavian and I need to discuss. Any chance you can get Dante to take you to the store or something, Sarah?"

"No problem. I'm on it." She kissed Tavian and ran down the stairs, meeting Dante in the driveway. I heard them head back out.

"What was that about? What don't you want Sarah to know?"

"The rest of the complicated story and why I need you to get her out of here."

# Chapter Sixteen

––––––––

Tavian and Sarah kept my secret as they said they would. I was fully settled in my new home and anxiously awaiting Enoch and Adelaide's arrival. It was already Monday and Kara would be here soon.

Adelaide was the first to arrive.

"Adelaide, you don't know how good it is to see you."

"I can sense it, child." She reached out and gave me a reassuring hug. "We need to get down to business."

"Yes ma'am."

"When will Enoch be arriving?"

"Anytime now. I've told him what I intend to do. He's behind me all the way. He has also contacted my father. He'll be here tonight."

"And your father has agreed?" she asked suspiciously.

"He doesn't know what I'm doing. He's coming under the pretense that I need his assistance."

"Then let's get down to some potion making."

We mixed all the herbs and powders Adelaide had sent home with me. I also had to drink some form of tea she had mixed up; it would mix with my un-pure blood and help strengthen the spell.

"Now we must wait for Enoch to complete the potion."

"He's here." I sensed him and went running to the door. I flung it open and threw myself in the waiting embrace of my big brother.

He was as solid and stoic as ever in his six-foot frame. He looked back at me with eyes unmistakably the same as my own, and his devilishly dark brown hair was shoulder-length and tied at his neck. He wore an impeccable grey sport coat over a white button down shirt and a pair of black suit pants.

"My little Sophia, I'm so very glad to see you." He peeled me off him and held me at arm's length. "You look good; being on your own has made you happy."

"It has," I agreed, "but I have missed you, E."

"And I've missed you, so tell me what you need from me."

"She needs your blood."

We both looked to Adelaide.

"What do you mean? Like he needs to add a few drops to the potion?"

"Not exactly. I'm afraid the potion calls for the blood of the vampire making the claim. That tea you drank will allow you to absorb Enoch's blood and make your own pure enough for the spell."

I looked up at Enoch questioningly.

"If this is what you want, Sophia, I will gladly give you my blood. Are you ready now?"

I nodded and he pulled a silver knife from his jacket pocket and slid it down his wrist. He left the knife piercing the skin so it wouldn't just close up and heal. He drained nearly a pint of blood into a jug for me. I looked at the jug and made an unpleasant face, wrinkling my nose. Now the truth is, I've drank vampire blood and it's like a well-aged whisky, smooth and heady. But it had been Ash's blood and it had been under very, very different circumstances.

"Drink up, child," Adelaide directed as she took the knife from Enoch and slit her own wrist, holding it out to him. Enoch eyed her questioningly.

She smiled. "You just drained a lot of blood for her. I'll help replenish you."

He nodded and thanked her as he took her wrist. I drank the pint of blood and then drained about that amount back into the potion. The healing properties in Enoch's blood kept me from getting dizzy and passing out.

"What's next?" I asked Adelaide.

"I need the map of the town and we need to separate the potion."

I handed her the map as Enoch started separating the potion into the five silver vials Adelaide had provided. She laid the map out on my new dining room table, studying it for a few minutes, and then she made five dots on the outer limits of town.

Five vials, five dots.

"Are those where we need to pour the potion?" I asked, pointing to the five dots on the map. She nodded. "And that's it? It's done?"

"Not quite, but it's the first step. Do you see the symbol?" she asked.

I studied the placement of the dots. "It's a pentagram."

"Yes child, I'll pour the potion while saying the spell at each point. We'll complete the ceremony at the southern-most point, where you will have to seal it once again with your blood. Then your father will need to consecrate the spell with his own blood."

I looked to Enoch. "When will father arrive?"

"Tonight, I'll meet him and explain while you guys perform the spell-"

Enoch was cut off by a furious pounding on my front door.

"Sophia! I know you're in there!" Sarah shouted.

"Luv, calm down please," Tavian told her.

I opened the door, eyes wide. "What in the world is going on?"

"Funny! That's what I was going to ask you. What the hell is the matter with you?" Sarah answered as she blew past me.

I turned to Tavian. "What's going on?"

"She's mad at you," he answered dryly.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I gathered that, but why?"

"Why? Why? Why do you think? You can't just send us away. You need our help, and if not mine, you at least need Tavian and Dante's."

"Ancestor." I didn't know the language Enoch spoke, but I knew the word. I'd heard it too many times not to know what it meant.  It was whispered with reverence from the dining room where he and Adelaide stood in the archway that led to the foyer.

Sarah stopped her ranting as Enoch approached her. "The Ancestor," he repeated in English this time. Tavian started towards him, obviously uncomfortable with Enoch's proximity to Sarah.

I grabbed his arm. "It's okay," I whispered. "He won't hurt her."

"Sophia? What's he talking about?" Sarah asked uneasily.

"Uhhh...let's all sit down." Enoch never took his eyes off Sarah as we moved into the living room.

"E, that's enough. You're going to freak her out, even more than she already is."

"Of course, I'm – I'm sorry. Its Sarah, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she hesitated, "what did you mean by the ancestor?"

Enoch turned to me. "She doesn't know." It was a statement, not a question. He was staring at her again. "She looks like him; it's all there, the eyes, the hair, the nose, and lips," he said as he sat there shaking his head. "Is this why, Sophia? You wish to protect her?"

I nodded. "Yes, E. It has to stop."

He bowed his head in agreement, and though Enoch had never done anything to Sarah or her ancestors, I could see the shame and guilt he felt for never putting a stop to Irad's obsession.

"Sophia, who is this? And what is he talking about?"

"Sarah, this is my brother Enoch." Sarah's eyes widened, but she was speechless now. "And he's talking about your lineage. When I came to Maldera Springs, I was just passing through. I saw you at Jitter Beans and caught your scent." I looked at Tavian. "You smell it too, there's something about her scent that's different...sweeter, like ambrosia. Only a few in the vampire community know what that scent means. It's the scent of the ancestors of Abel."

"Abel? What do you mean?" she demanded.

"Your mother, and her mother, and her mother's mother, and so on, are the descendants of Abel. After your mother passed away, to our knowledge," I gestured between Enoch and myself, "you became the last living descendant of Abel."

"It's not possible, I – I can't be."

"I know it's hard to believe. I understand how you feel. I've been there. When I was told I was Cain's daughter, I responded in much the same way. But it is true and Irad's been searching for you for years now."

"Why?" she whispered.

"Not for good reasons, Sarah."

"What about my mother?"

Understanding dawned on her. This was the pain I never wanted to inflict on her.

"Did he have my mother killed? Were vampires responsible for her death?"

"You can't blame the whole race. What Irad and his men do is no reflection on the good ones like Tavian, Dante, Enoch, and many others."

"Sarah," Enoch began, "up until six years ago we believed that Abel's line was extinct. Until one of Irad's soldiers came to us with a story of a woman he had killed that carried the scent of Abel. He was unable to give any information about the woman and so we brushed it off as the rantings of a fool. About four years later he mentioned that the woman had a picture in her car of a young girl that he was certain was her daughter. That is when Irad started to listen and began a full out search for you. I am sorry that you are the last of my uncle's line and that I did not intercede sooner, but Sophia wishes to save you and all of Maldera Springs. You should do as she asks."

"That's why I wanted, and still do want, you, Tavian, and Dante to get out of here."

"No, I won't leave and take Tavian and Dante from you. You need them," she said calmly, digesting everything with great composure and grace.

"I have a Second Generation super vampire and a Voodoo priestess on my side, not to mention my father will be here tonight. I need you guys to go. I don't want any of you to get hurt." I turned to Tavian. "Please understand that this is the best option."

Tavian stared at me for a minute and then nodded. "Okay, if that's what you want."

"Tavian, you cannot be serious!" Sarah exclaimed.

"I am serious, luv. If Sophia thinks this is the best way, then we will respect that. I'll figure out a way to get Dante out of here. When do you want us gone?"

"Tonight. We'll be performing the ceremony at dusk. My father will be here soon."

"Fine," Sarah said in a resigned voice. "But what are you going to do?"

"She plans to claim the town," Enoch answered for me.

"What does that mean?"

"It means the supernatural rules of Maldera Spring will be forever altered. Your town will belong to Sophia, and its people will be marked as her property. Most importantly, no vampire will be able to enter a private dwelling without invitation," Enoch informed them. "Sophia will be forever –"

"E, that's enough," I cut him off. "They don't need to know the details of the ceremony."

Tavian eyes studied me suspiciously but he didn't ask anything else.

# Chapter Seventeen

––––––––

Dusk had fallen and Adelaide and I were at the fourth point on the map. Enoch had gone to meet father and Tavian had headed out of town with Sarah and Dante. Adelaide was busy saying the spell in a tongue I didn't understand as I poured the potion. We moved to the fifth point and she completed the spell. Now all we needed was Enoch and father. That's when I felt a tingle down my spine and the hair on the back of my neck prickled. I recognized the power that animated the air around us.

"It's Irad. Go Adelaide. Get Enoch," I hollered. I spun to face him as he came gracefully out of the tree line.

Adelaide didn't waste time arguing. She knew the only way she could help was to go get backup for me.

"Sophia." He said my name with menace and a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Irad, what are you doing here?"

"Hunter called me a few days ago, said he picked up your scent. I never heard from him again, so I came to check things out for myself. It seems things are very strange in this little town. So tell me, Sophia, where is Hunter?" he growled.

"I killed him after he attacked me."

"Yes, I figured that. Seems I must kill someone important to you to make us even. He was one of my best soldiers." He sniffed the air. "Dante Baikov, you reek of him. He's headed this way now."

My heart sank a little. "What are you talking about?"

"Mr. Baikov received a message that you needed to see him, not far from here. In fact, I imagine he's waiting for you." Irad's fangs lengthened past his lower lip as he gave me a depraved smile.

"Don't do this, Irad!"

"I'll do as I must."

My cell phone rang just as Irad turned and ran off. It was Tavian.

"Tavian, tell me that Dante's with you."

"No, he got your message and said he needed to meet you at the springs. What's going on?"

My heart truly dropped then. Everything was falling apart.

"It wasn't me, it was Irad. Where are you?"

"I'm with Sarah."

"You need to hide her, but don't take her home...take her to Rachel's, then meet me at the springs." I was telling him all of this as I raced after Irad.

When I broke through the tree line, I screamed. Irad had his fangs buried deeply in Dante's neck. Dante's eyes flickered to me with only a little life running through them.

"No," he rasped.

Irad pulled away from Dante's neck to give me a self-satisfied smile and then savagely bit him again.

I picked up more speed as I felt my body begin to shift. I leapt in the air as I reached Irad. He threw Dante's lifeless body aside just in time to see me change. Only this time I wasn't a harmless house cat. Shock briefly took me over as I felt the sinewy muscle under my dark black pelt. I had become a massive black panther.

"For the love of Cain, how?" he howled.

Like father, like daughter, I thought darkly.

I went straight for him, warring with my deep desire to run to Dante's side. My canines sank deep in Irad's neck. I felt his blood rush freely from the wound. My claws raked against his flesh, leaving five long, deep cuts across his chest. I thrashed my head left and right, only releasing my hold on his neck when I felt his flesh tear in my mouth. It wouldn't kill him but he wouldn't heal instantly, not with the amount of damage I had caused him.

"It's not over, Sophia!" he hissed as he backed away from me, holding his neck.

I bared my teeth and growled at him. He turned and ran off, with a guttural roar from me to encourage him to keep running. I shifted back and ran to Dante's side. He hadn't moved since Irad had tossed him aside, and vampires could die if they were drained completely.

Please...Please let him be okay.

I pulled the knife from my jean's pocket and sliced a long, deep cut across my wrist. I cradled Dante's head in my lap and pressed the wound to his lips.

"Drink. Damn it, Dante, come on drink," I yelled at him through the tears streaming down my face.

Nothing, nothing was happening.

I pressed my wrist harder against his lips and bent my forehead down to his as the tears streamed down my cheeks. My shoulders heaved as I sobbed over him.

# Chapter Eighteen

––––––––

A twitch of Dante lips brought reality back to me. I felt a pull as he sucked deeper on the wound at my wrist.

"Oh thank god, drink...it's going to be okay, Dante. I'm so sorry." I brushed his hair back from his face and kissed his forehead softly.

"Sophia!"

My attention was jerked away from Dante and to Tavian and...Sarah, as they ran towards me, Sarah falling behind slightly as Tavian darted at the sight of his brother.

"What is she doing here?" I demanded frantically.

"She's stubborn, you know that. She wouldn't let me drop her off. What happened?"

"Irad already had him by the time I got here." I swallowed back the tears. "But he's going to be fine. I'm so sorry, Tavian. I never should have come here. I led them right to you guys."

"Stop it! This is not your fault. Are you hurt? You're covered in blood... Where's Irad?"

"He ran, after I attacked him."

"He ran? He's a Second Generation vampire. I don't care how good you are, you shouldn't still be alive. Is that all his blood?"

"Yeah," with a wry laugh and a sniffle I continued, "apparently, I can shift into something a bit more dangerous than a house cat."

Sarah reached us and gasped. "Jesus, is he okay?" she asked as she dropped to her knees next to us.

"He'll be fine. I need you guys to take him home. He probably needs more blood and I need to finish the ritual."

Sarah took my spot supporting Dante's head. I staggered slightly as I stood.

"How much blood did you drain into him?" Tavian asked as he steadied me.

I blinked through my blackening vision. "Uh...about a pint."

"You need blood, Sophia." His fangs extended and he bit his wrist and held it out to me. "Take it; you need your strength if you intend to end this."

Sharing blood could be a very intimate experience when taken directly from its host. I felt a little weird, but he was right. I needed it. I took Tavian's arm and drank deeply for a few good gulps.

"Thanks. Now go home. I'll call you in a little while and don't let him leave the house."

I made it back to the southern-most point of our ceremonial pentagram. But there was no one around. I pulled out my cell and called Enoch.

"E, is Adelaide with you?"

"Yes, she's safe. I have father too. We should arrive in a few minutes."

"Okay good –" I twirled towards the draw of power to my right... I had company. "Irad's here with Neko, Jerome, and Kara. Hurry please," I pleaded.

"Sophia, do not engage them," Enoch ordered.

"It's too late...Irad's going to kill me. E, I gotta go."

"Sophia! Sophia!" I heard Enoch yell my name faintly as my cell phone fell from my hand.

"You're right. I'm done with you, child, you've embarrassed me enough. But first, I think Kara might want a piece of you."

The beautiful vampires' perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose.  "And why is that, Irad?" she asked smoothly.

"Do you not smell him on her? She's been consorting with Dante Baikov. Haven't you, Sophia?"

Kara's features hardened as her eyes darkened. "Have you been with my Dante?  Mmm...you do smell of that rich, intoxicating man. You must remember that he's mine," she snarled.

"He doesn't want you anymore! It's been a century, Kara, can't you find a new man?" I snapped back at her.

"Oh, you are a stupid child, aren't you? He'll always want me, always. And you will pay for playing with what is mine."

She dashed in front of me, inhaling deeply. "But it's not just Dante," She laughed low and throatily. "You reek of Tavian too. Both brothers... my, my, Sophia, look at you. You've turned into a little vixen, but you smell of something else as well...the Ancestor?"

I dared a glance at Irad; his eyes had darkened. He hadn't realized Sarah was here. Hunter hadn't told him. I had showered after her and Tavian had left my home and Irad had come straight after me. He didn't know about Sarah.

"Where is she, Sophia?" he asked in a deep, venomous tone.

"Safe, away from you, let it go. You're not proving anything by eliminating Abel's line, don't you see that?"

"Don't you get it? I intend to send her to Abel after I turn her and then kill her. It will be the last and final act against his family, to free ours. Did you know that they used to hunt us? Millennia ago, they were the first slayers. They stopped after many of them perished in their pursuit to destroy our kind. Three generations back they went into hiding when they were down to only two. Have you ever wondered why Abel's line has been carried by women?" He sneered, "Because of our species one weakness; lust and desire. We're sexual creatures, Sophia; you know that. It's something Ash tried to make you understand. There's nothing more desirable than a beautiful woman. Abel's line carries a lush scent; one that has sent many of our kind to their permanent graves."

"Slayers aren't real," I said in disbelief.

He laughed. "OF COURSE THEY ARE! And they threaten our species. They need to be eliminated."

"But she's not...she's compassionate, caring, and she accepts vampires. She's not a threat and she's not a fighter."

"She may not have trained, but she's stronger and faster than a normal human. It's bred in her."

I thought back to the past months I'd been watching and spending time with her. I had noticed she was fast and she was strong for her petite stature, but I had never thought anything of it.

"If it's true, Irad, she has no desire to come after us."

"I DON'T CARE!" he roared "WHERE IS SHE?"

"I won't tell you."

"Then Kara shall beat it out of you," Irad snarled.

"With pleasure," she purred.

I squared myself to her, ready for an all-out brawl. Kara lunged for me, but I sidestepped her attack and spun behind her. With a roundhouse kick, I sent her flying forward. Kara spun around and leapt at me again, except this time she went for my legs, sweeping them out from underneath me. Instead of scrambling to keep upright, I let myself fall to my back. When Kara jumped to land on me, I kicked out, using her momentum and the force of my legs to send her tumbling behind me. I kip flipped to my feet and went after her.

"You've been keeping up on your training, impressive, but it's not going to be enough."

She came at me again. This time she landed a destructive blow to my cheekbone. I heard it crack. The side of my face, and probably my eye too, would be bruised. She didn't waste time gloating over the punch. She swung with her right hand again and I feinted to my right at the same time; she missed me and caught herself after spinning in a half circle. I snaked in my pocket and grabbed my knife, plunging it in her back.

Shit, I missed her heart, although it would be a miracle if Kara actually had one.

She scrambled to remove the knife as I kicked her in the midsection as hard as I possibly could. She flew back twenty feet or so, landing on her perfect bubbly ass. Irad decided to join the fight then, grabbing my arms and jerking them behind my back. I didn't have time to act before he slammed his fangs into my neck, drawing in my blood with arrogant fulfillment.

"ENOUGH, let her go Irad!" Enoch's voice was like a warm blanket on a very, very, cold day. I felt relief as my body sagged from the blood loss.

The things that happened next all happened with me merely registering what was going on. Irad's body flew about a hundred yards as mine fell into Enoch's arms. His wrist was at my mouth pouring blood into me only seconds later. Real awareness began to return as Irad's harsh voice rang out against Enoch.

"You dare raise a hand to me, brother, over her?"

"You have been warned many times that you are not to hurt her. I should have put a stop to your actions against her a long time ago, but I had always hoped you'd come to your senses and learn to accept her. I never wanted to choose between my brother and my sister, but enough is enough. Sophia has claimed this town and therefore the people in it, including the ancestor. Father has come to sanctify it."

"She can't claim this town; she's not a vampire."

"No, she is better than any vampire and she carries the pure blood of Cain. I gave her my blood as well. And once this blood claim is completed, she will be stronger and, as always, wiser than all of us."

# Chapter Nineteen

––––––––

The howling growl that came from Irad was one of the most terrifying noises I'd ever heard. Though as Enoch let go of me to combat Irad's attack, none of the other vampires with him moved. No one was foolish enough to disobey Enoch, no matter how mad it made Irad.

"Stop this, my sons," My father's voice echoed and thickened the air around us. "I will not have one of you carrying the burden of the others death for the rest of time."

Irad stopped and he, Enoch, and the other vampires bowed at my father's approach. I, however, was still lying on the ground, so no bowing from me.

"My daughter," my father said as he came to my side. "Enoch got here just in time; his blood has healed your wounds, though not all of them. Do you require further healing?"

I absentmindedly felt my neck; there was a slow trickle of slick, wet blood. I reached up and felt my cheek...yep, still broken.

"No Father, I will heal the rest of the way on my own. Thank you for coming."

"I fear I should have interfered sooner. I had hoped my children would come to appreciate each other's differences, and therefore learn to understand one another. Enoch has informed me of your desire to save Sarah and to place a blood claim on this town."

"Yes sir."

"Sophia, you understand that with this claim comes a great deal of responsibility; you must stay here as long as you wish to claim this town and for no less than a decade. You will acquire a sixth sense when it comes to this town and its people. You will feel when one of its citizens is harmed supernaturally. Any vampire seeking to take blood from an unwilling donor will taste your blood and know instantly that you have claim over these people. No vampire will be able to enter the home of a human without invitation. The rules will not ever change as long as you maintain residence here, but your powers over the town will grow with time. Some will be wonderful gifts and others will be painful lessons, either way you will be irrevocably changed. Are you sure this is what you desire, my child?"

"I see no other way, Father, and I wish to stay here. I have friends here and I want them kept safe."

"Then it shall be done. Adelaide, please join us."

Adelaide came to stand by me. She chanted a few more words as she slit my palm. She called Enoch over and slit his palm as well. We pressed out palms together as our blood mixed and dropped onto the ground. The earth around us began to glow.

My father took the knife and sliced his hand. "By my blood, the blood of Cain, I consecrate this blood claim."

His blood hit the ground over the mixture of Enoch's and mine. Lightning shot up and arched overhead; looking up at the night sky there was a perfect pentagram over the town.

"Wow," I breathed. "I wonder what the enquirer would say about that," I said low to Enoch.

"Only the supernatural can see it," he smiled as he whispered back.

"It is done, Daughter."

I gave one short nod. "Thank you, Father."

"Now, as for the rest of you," he turned his attention to Irad and his followers, "you will take your leave of this town. Irad, you are banished from Maldera Spring until Sophia and I see fit to let you come back. The rest of you may return, but I suggest you give it some time."

"Master?" Kara spoke in a most reverent voice.

"Yes Kara, what is it you want?"

"As the Baikov's sire, I wish to see them before I leave. I would like spend a few days catching up; it has been a long time and as their sire, it is my right to see them, is it not?" She looked at me with malice as she spoke.

"Yes, it is. We respect the line of siring, so you may see the Baikov's but understand this...if you cause any problems, I will look poorly upon it."

"I understand, master, I only wish to reconnect with my Dante and check in on Tavian." Her cruel smile told me that while she was not allowed to attack me, she would destroy me another way. A broken heart is hard to deal with when you were stuck living near the one you loved, if that person chose to love you no longer, in favor of someone else.

"I plan to stay for a short while as well, Father, to make sure everything is handled per your specifications," Enoch announced, looking at Kara rather than father as he spoke.

"Very well, Enoch. I will take my leave of you now."

He came forward and embraced Enoch with a pat on the back. He came to me next, placing his hands on my shoulders "I am incredibly proud of you, my daughter. I know you will do well with this town. You are the best among us all." Then he did something he had never done...he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me.

# Epilogue

––––––––

I had heard some of what Irad had said to Dante. All the things I meant to tell him thrown in his face by my heartless brother. Enoch walked quietly beside me, along with Adelaide, as we made our way back to my home. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Tavian. He didn't answer so I tried Sarah.

"Sophia! Thank God! Dante's freaking out and we've been so worried."

"I'm sorry, but the good news is that Irad's been banished from Maldera Springs, you're safe, and the ceremony was a success."

"I know. Dante and Tavian could see a pentagram in the sky and they said they could feel the shift in the air."

"Can I talk to Tavian?"

"He's a bit busy right now. He's trying to calm Dante down."

"It's important. Sarah, you need to let him know that Kara is still in town and she's coming to see them. You guys need to get out of there, or at least you do."

"Is that her?" Dante asked in the background.

Sarah must have nodded. I heard the phone get yanked from Sarah's hand with a "hey!" from her. She didn't seem pleased with the aggression he used taking it from her.

"Sophia! I know you're there. I can hear you breathing."

My heart was breaking at the anger in his voice, but what did I expect? I'd lied to him and betrayed him. I betrayed the man I loved.

"Fine, you don't want to answer me. Then you can just listen... You should have told me. You lied and hid things from me that I should have known about. How could you? Stop crying, Sophia."

The tears were running down my cheeks. He hated me and would likely never forgive me. There was only one thing I wanted to say and then there was one thing I had to say.

"I'm sorry, Dante," I whispered as more tears filled my eyes.

"You're sorry? That's rich."

"Yes, I am. I know you don't trust me and you probably won't ever forgive me, but I want you to know... I love you. And I need to warn you that Kara's on her way."

I was met with silence and then a thrashing noise, followed by a smooth, sultry voice. "Hello, my boys. Tavian, that's no way to greet your sire."

Then, there was real silence, as the line went dead...

# Also By the Author

I hope you enjoyed this book! If so please conceder posting a review on Amazon.com or Goodreads, it's a great way to help others find a good book to enjoy!

PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES

Half-Blood Princess

Blood Claim: Book 1

Resurrection Stone: Book2

Shadowed Memories: Book3

Dark Soul: Book 4

Echo's of Silence—Abel's Slayers: Half-Blood Princess Book 5

A Witch's Mark—The Guardians: Half-Blood Princess Book 6

Bound By Destiny—the Guardians Part 2: Half-Blood Princess Book 7

Last Surrender: Book 8

Immortal Heart

Immortal Blood: Book 1

Keep an eye out for the rest of the Brothers stories!

#

# About the Author

––––––––

I kind of like to think of myself as a normal lady living a semi normal life. I'm not sure that's all that accurate; I have a sweet husband and two dogs-my girls- that I think of as my children. I grew up in Sonoma County, California and I never pictured myself moving. Funny because now I live in North Idaho and I love it here, I love the summers; camping, bar-b-ques with friends, and the farmers markets. I find the winters magical and I love the snow. I left a lot of amazing friends and an amazing extended family. I met my now husband a few months after the move and was married to him in June of 2006. In 2008 I finished college and became a wedding planner. I love a good party and I live to decorate and make things beautiful and amazing for those around me. In 2010, I suffered a few medical setbacks and I am now considered legally blind and I work each day with a small amount of remaining vision in my left eye.

I started writing as a hobby. I've been one of those people who are obsessed with the world of the paranormal for as long as I can remember. I self published my first book in August of 2011 at my husbands' urging.

Life is a constant balance of what we want and what we need. It's also a lot like a Battle. A battle that we all have to fight in our own way. I chose to try and love and cherish every minute that I get to chase my crazy dreams and create a world and characters to get lost in.

WEBSITE: <http://MagenMcMinimy.weebly.com>

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorMagenMcMinimy

# Resurrection Stone

# Chapter One

Dante

" . . . I love you. And I need to warn you that Kara's on her way."

It hurt my heart to hear the words. I love her too. But how could she love me and not have told me any of this. She knew what I was from the very first time we met. And the shape shifting? . . . how was it even possible? What could I say to her right now the anger was seething in me. She could have died, I would have helped her, I could have protected her and still now I needed to know what happened and all she would say was that she loves me. And the bit about Kara, why would Kara come back now?

Tavian let out a low, furious growl, then came sliding across the polished plank floor of our study.

"Hello, my boys. Tavian, that's no way to greet your sire." That smooth voice announced her presence as she glided her way into the study.

I dropped the phone and heard the back and the battery go scattering across the floor.

"What are you doing here?"

"I missed you, Dante, aren't you happy to me?" Kara cooed.

She pouted her lips, and came towards me.

"I haven't given you a second thought in over a century. So I'll ask again, what do you want here?"

"I came on business for my boss, he was looking for Sophia." She spoke her beautiful name with venom. "She carries your scent, so I had to come find you, I must say she has turned out much like I had hoped, bedding one brother and feeding from the other. Quite the little vixen isn't she?"

I looked to Tavian as he was protectively pushing Sarah behind him. He wouldn't have.

Kara let out a sultry laugh that cooled the air around us.

"He didn't tell you. Well I assure you his scent lingers in her."

"Enough, I had no choice she drained well over a pint in you. To save your life Dante and she intended to take on her brother again she was asking to die if I didn't help heal her."

"Mmm I can smell it Dante. . . You feel betrayed by that little half blood. She's not woman enough for you."

"Perhaps not—"

A gasp of pain drew my attention to the entry of the study. Sophia stood there with a large, dark haired vampire at her side. There was pain written all over her face, her big beautiful blue eyes saddened by what she'd heard. She had been beaten and bitten I could see smeared blood drying on that luscious neck of hers.

"Sophia—"

––––––––

Sophia

I drove as fast as I could to get to the Baikov house. I swore that if Kara hurt any of them I would kill her. Enoch and I rushed thru the front door; being a vampire home he needed no invitation. He also knew I had very little fight left in me; it had been a hard night. We slowed as we came to the entrance to the study. I heard Kara talking then Tavian trying to reason with his brother, followed by the words that tore my heart in two.

"Perhaps not—"

The pain ripped thru my heart and a small gasp of pain escaped me, suddenly all eyes were on me and Enoch. My face must have registered the pain and the events of the evening; my cheek was still broken and I still had puncture wounds in my neck

"Sophia—"

"Don't bother Dante," I could barely look at him as I spoke.  "I'm here because of her."

"Me?" Kara asked with false innocence and was clearly enjoying the moment, I'd walked in at the perfect time for her; she got to see my face as Dante confirmed what I had already deep down known. He didn't love me and there was no way for us to move forward together.

"Yes Kara, you were warned not to cause any problem's here."

"I'm not, I simply came to the Baikov's as I told Cain, we were just having a friendly chat, are you so envious and insecure that you would throw me out because of the pain you brought on yourself?"

"No I'm neither of those things, if the Baikov's wish to have dealings with you then that's their choice, but she" I gestured to Sarah. "Is off limits, I'm here to make sure you remember that."

She smiled "I'm not here for her; I'm here to see Dante."

I had to look away; I locked eyes with Tavian then with Sarah. "Sarah I think you should come with Me." She nodded as Tavian walked her over to Enoch and me.

I then turned to my brother "I'm getting her out of here. Will you make sure everything stays civil? Please."

He nodded and leaned low to quietly say. "I will do as you ask, will you be ok little Sophia?"

"Yeah E." I turned and walked away with Sarah tight at my side.

"It's going to be okay, she won't harm them and you'll be safe with me while we wait to see what she does."

"I'm not worried about me or them, I'm worried about you, no offense but you look like hell and well. . . A little heartbroken."

I laughed a low self deprecating laugh "Try totally heartbroken."

She wrapped an arm around me as we got in my car and drove to my home.

My home, in Maldera Springs, where I would have to try to avoid the man I love for the next decade at least.

"Adelaide and Enoch have the first floor guestrooms; I hope the upstairs guestroom will be ok."

"Its fine Sophia, it doesn't matter where I sleep."

"There's food in the fridge, if you're hungry, I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning Enoch should be home soon."

She may have responded to me but I didn't hear anything. The sound of my heart breaking was all I heard as I replayed the conversation I'd walked in on.

"He didn't tell you; well I assure you his scent lingers in her."

"Enough, I had no choice she drained well over a pint in you. To save your life Dante and she intended to take on her brother again she was asking to die if I didn't help heal her.

"Mmm I can smell it Dante. . . You feel betrayed by that little half blood. She's not woman enough for you."

"Perhaps not—"
