Elsa Prescott sat up in bed.  Cocking her head to the side, she listened.  She’d heard a voice.  Was someone in the house? Grabbing the baseball bat that was hidden beneath her bed, she slipped her feet into the slippers she kept positioned for easy access, donned her robe as quickly as she could, and tipped-toed out of her bedroom into the grand hallway of her huge turn of the century Coronado Island home. The floor boards creaked under her weight as she reached the top of the stairs.  She stood as still as she could while she waited to see if whoever was intruding in her house had heard her.All was silent.She moved across the landing to the rooms on the other side and slowly peeked into each doorway. Charles was sleeping peacefully in his crib and the other bedrooms were empty. Time to check downstairs.She held her breath, hoping the thick, imported oriental runner that she’d installed down the cente

Elsa heaved her bulk from the back seat of the cab while the driver pulled her suitcase out of the trunk.  Looking up at the rows of balconies creeping up the side of the white brick building before her, she guessed which one belonged to the condo of her destination. The third one from the top on the left, she thought.  So, let me see... that would make it the one, two, three, four, five, six, seventh floor. Hmm, unlucky.   The sound of her luggage bag being unceremoniously dropped onto the sidewalk beside her as the cab driver grunted ‘good-bye’ ended her little guessing game. She stacked her carry-on on top of her luggage bag and secured the pull handle of her bag into her grip before starting into the building.  It looked to be old enough to have come from the era of stairs.  She fervently hoped an elevator awaited her. She was not only relieved when she came upon the ornately gilded ele

Shen lay across the bed, too weak to move.  He was aware of movement around him, but he had no energy or desire to investigate.  He was once again a captive in a den of cannibalistic vampires.  He was once again being forced to breed women on command. The nightmare that he’d barely escaped from with his life was once again his reality.  How did this happen? His mind reeled for answers; for just one thing that made sense in this nightmare. He remembered the anguished looks of helplessness on my face as I watched him being whisked into the air by Seth.  His stomach was still unsettled from the experience of flying without the protection of a plane or a hot air balloon or... something.The sensation of being at the mercy of his captor as they flew so high into the sky that the trees looked like blades of grass and knowing that at any moment Seth could decide to let go and he could fall to his death was bad enough, but watching his clot

She was barely able to hear the door open and close.  Whoever entered did so with the utmost care to go unnoticed.  Tatyana braced herself as she listened to the newcomer’s footsteps scuff lightly across the thick, ruby colored Persian carpet.  The average human would probably not have been able to hear her visitor’s approach at all. Her naturally acute hearing was fine honed over her years of captivity.  She was certain that hearing the approach of the enemy so that she could have time to hide was often all that saved her from the fate of so many others.Standing as immobile as possible, Tatyana closed her eyes to put her third sight to work.  The hazy image of a tall, slender man waved before her.  He looked young, perhaps in his early thirties. It was difficult to tell if he was a vampire or human.  His image kept flickering.  This was something that rarely happened when she used her visionary abilities.  That fact,

Elsa’s large frame blocked the doorway of the living room. It was impossible to see past her.  To make matters worse, she didn’t seem inclined to move.“You can’t hide it from me,” I growled. “Sooner or later you’ll have to step aside.”Elsa heaved a sigh. I was right, of course. She couldn’t protect me from what occurred, nor should she.  I seemed prone to run with vampires.  Perhaps a reality check was what I needed to straighten me up.I sucked in air to help steady my nerves before I stepped forward when Elsa finally moved aside and motioned for me to pass.  I needed to see, yet I feared seeing. Would her body lay there headless?  It was how Magdalena killed the other vampires.  I squeezed my eyes shut, as if by doing so it would better prepare me for what I was about to see.Magdalena was still kneeling over Jess’s body when I entered the room.  She seemed