To our relief, Tatyana gave us no difficulty in escorting her back to our room. She sat at the edge of the bed, calmly watching, and waiting. Bruce was awestruck by her pale skin and green eyes. They were a beautiful combination that were only accentuated by the burnt red hair that framed her face and cascaded down her back. He blushed when he caught himself staring.“I sense vampire around you, but you are not vampires,” Tatyana said as she closed her eyes and cocked her head to the side. “You do not work for Wadim...” She opened her eyes and looked directly at Bruce. “Who are you?”Bruce felt a wave of energy push from Tatyana and shove him in his chest.“I... I’m Bruce,” he stammered.I pulled a chair up close to her and sat down. After a brief moment of silent staring on both our parts, I questioned her softly.“You seemed frightened when you looked at that man in the restaurant,&rdquo

It was almost dusk before the valet pulled our SUV out of the parking garage and we piled in. Shen and I climbed in the back seat, leaving Tatyana to sit up front with Bruce. Even if Tatyana seemed oblivious, it was clear that Bruce was more than just a little smitten with her. It was a long time since I saw my cousin so taken by a female. It saddened me that they met under such dire circumstances, but then no one really knows when or if the right person will come along. So, dire circumstances or not, we fully intended to give my cousin the space he needed to get to know Tatyana a little better. This was another reason why I had decided to pair up with Shen.Tatyana felt a sense of security and comfort while in Bruce’s presence. She hadn’t felt such peace since before her father died, but it was more than that. She felt something else as well. There was a sort of tugging deep inside her abdomen whenever he’d come close and lightly brush against her. She wasn

Fane paced the floor of his father’s study. Everything was such a mess. He’d gone off to find a new location for their den and returned very pleased with himself. He’d located a perfect spot in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. His father would have been proud of him.Returning only hours after the slaughter of his father, siblings, and many prominent vampires, Fane retreated to the recesses of the den to recover from the shock and to think of what to do next. With his father gone, it was up to him to pull things together and squelch the panic running rampant amongst the few fortunate vampires who happen to have either not been invited or not been able to attend his father’s ball.Since he and everyone around him considered themselves invincible, the revelation that there was someone who had the power to kill them was traumatizing. He was sure more than ever that they needed to relocate as quickly as possible. Before they did so, he needed t

“... And may the good Lord be waiting as the gates of Heaven open wide to accept our dear sister. Amen.”The spindly priest’s voice blended with the gusts of wind and pelting rain. Water drizzled off the oversized canopy that was provided in anticipation of the storm to offer protection for the attendees. It was a futile effort at best. A small group of mourners gathered around the open grave. They bowed their heads in silence as Father Robert indicated he’d completed what he came to do by closing his bible and stepping back. His eyes bore into the crowd as if he was searching for something, but what?Although he’d never known Mei-Lien, he was a longtime friend of her uncle who entered his church asking for help after immigrating from China twenty years earlier. He knew there was a small population of Catholics in China, but he never dreamed one of them would find his way into his small congregation. Curious to learn more about the conditi