Heart of Darkness by Felicity Heaton - Extended Excerpt

Heart of Darkness

Felicity Heaton

Copyright © 2011 Felicity Heaton

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written

consent of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition

being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

The right of Felicity Heaton to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents

Act 1988.

First printed October 2011

First Edition

Layout and design by Felicity Heaton

All characters in this publication are purely fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cover by Felicity Heaton

Heart of Darkness

A vampire prince on a four hundred year old mission to avenge his murdered sister...

Aleksandr Nemov won’t stop until the last of the vampire hunter’s progeny is wiped from the Earth. Each kill has stolen a piece of his humanity, pushing him towards the black abyss all vampires hold within their hearts. Now he is teetering on the edge, close to devolving into a beast, and time is running out as he tracks the last hunter to Prague. There he finds a beautiful woman who could be his one chance for salvation, but is it already too late for him?

A vampire guard who will do whatever it takes to protect those she loves...

Elise is dedicated to her duty. It’s the only thing she has left. All that changes when she meets Aleksandr in Prague and her master grants him permission to stay at her bloodline’s mansion. She knows all about Aleksandr but none of it prepares her for how she feels when the legendary prince’s hunt becomes one for her heart. Elise battles him with all of her strength but can she stop herself from falling for the handsome hunter? When he reveals the depth of the corruption in his soul, will she have the strength to face the pain in her past and do whatever it takes to save him?

This is a six chapter excerpt, not the complete book

Heart of Darkness – Felicity Heaton

1

Chapter 1

It had been an easy kill.

Aleksandr Nemov stood over the body of the vampire hunter, their blood splattered across his black shirt and saturating the leather and metal vambraces that protected his forearms. It coated his fingers and the curved dagger they gripped, and the sweet scent of it heavily tainted the crisp night air. Strong moonlight caressed his back, throwing his shadow out long in front of him, across the hunter’s corpse.

A female.

She hadn’t been strong enough to fight his kind. Too young and inexperienced to best him. It had been foolish of her to try.

Aleksandr raised his hand and swallowed at the sight of the blood glistening on his fingers. It tempted him to taste it.

He dragged his eyes away and settled them back on the female laying on the grass of the small public space, her blood warming the frozen earth. He hadn’t fought a woman in a long time and hadn’t expected to find a hunter so soon after arriving in Prague.

The fountain nearby bubbled regardless of the frigid temperature, defiant of the frost that caused the grass around it to glitter.

Aleksandr glanced at his bloodied hands again and then closed his eyes against the temptation. He took no thrill in the hunt. Yet he found no calm in its aftermath. There was only the threat of unending darkness that beat within his chest and encroached upon his soul. It bled into his eyes. He could feel the jagged points of black that speared the red. He had too much blood on his hands but he couldn’t give up now, not when he was so close to attaining his vengeance.


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With great effort, Aleksandr sheathed his dagger against his left hip and wiped the blood away.

The smell of it still permeated the air, taunting and filling him with the dark urge to feast on the hunter’s remains. He refused to obey the voice within that commanded him. His kind had fought hard against it and no Nemov had turned to the darkness. They were stronger than that, and he would die before it happened to him.

“You… what are you doing here?” A light female voice shattered the darkness within him.

Aleksandr glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She stood with the fountain at her back, the cascade of water providing wings that completed the vision of beauty. Moonlight bathed her skin, turning her round eyes dark and her hair as black as the uniform she wore.

An angel.

The red bled from his eyes, returning his irises to grey, and he straightened to his full height, desiring to look his best even when he looked his worst.

She brought her right hand up to reveal the blade clutched tightly in her fingers, held backwards with the blunt edge tucked against her forearm, ready to slash at him if he made a wrong move.

“I won’t ask you twice.” Her strength surprised him.

Such a beautiful creature.

Before Aleksandr could find his voice, she was gone. He turned, blocked her attack with the metal covering his left vambrace around his forearm, and attempted to disarm her. She dodged his counter-attack with ease and came around behind him. He spun and blocked her again, and this time managed to get a


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hand on her before she leapt backwards, out of his reach, and bared her fangs.

His heart beat harder.

She attacked again, her cry piercing the silent wintry night, and brought her blade down hard. It was difficult to block it. She was strong and skilled for a female. He strafed left and right to avoid her knife, trying to find an opening that he didn’t really want to take. She was fascinating. Beautiful and deadly. Everything a vampire should be, yet there was something more to her. She turned and brought her leg around in a swift kick. The heel of her black knee-high boot smashed into the side of his head, sending him down.

Aleksandr rolled onto his feet and blocked her again. Why couldn’t he bring himself to fight her? He could barely bring himself to defend.

Her red eyes narrowed on him and she growled, exposing her extended canines again. His cheek throbbed where she’d caught him. He would bear a bruise there before the hour had passed. She lunged at him and he barely avoided her blade. If he survived the fight that was. He ducked when she swung at him and swept his leg around to take hers out. She jumped it and rewarded his effort with another hard kick to the head, sending his brain spinning out of control. The darkness threatened to return, goading him into attacking. He didn’t want to. He would not attack another vampire, especially not a female.

Definitely not her.

She huffed as though disappointed. Was it because he wasn’t fighting or wasn’t falling? Aleksandr kept his arms in front of him, blocking her swift attacks with his vambraces, and staring at her face the whole time. Fascination wasn’t the right word for what she did to him.


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The warmth he felt, the intense attraction, the abject desire to look into her eyes forever, even when they only promised him a slow death. It was more than fascination.

He wanted her.

“I do not wish to fight you.” Aleksandr leapt backwards, away from her, and raised his hands.

Her grip on her blade tightened and she attacked.

He left himself open to see what she would do. Her clothing was formal—a black military-style jacket that only reached her waist and tight black trousers coupled with polished riding boots. She looked like a guard. If she were, she surely wouldn’t kill him.

If she weren’t, he was making a terrible mistake.

The moment she neared him, she sheathed the blade, threw herself forwards so her hands pressed into the dirt, twisted and launched herself at him feet first. Had he wanted to defend himself, it would have been impossible. The speed at which she locked her knees around his neck, sending him falling backwards with her momentum, and slammed him into the icy earth knocked the breath from him.

Aleksandr stared at her where she perched on his chest, straddling it with his arms trapped in the crook of her knees and her blade against his throat.

He laid beneath her, sprawled out, his back aching and freezing.

Utterly in love.

She leaned forwards. A single strand of her dark hair had fallen out of the tight bun at the back of her head and grazed her cheek. Her soft breath against his face carried the enticing scent of her blood. Her eyes went from darkness to a lighter colour that the moon stole from him. Beautiful.


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Aleksandr swallowed, causing the knife to grate his Adam’s apple through his thick beard. He wished that he had cleaned up now before coming to Prague. She wasn’t exactly catching him at his best.

“You will answer for entering my bloodline’s territory.” She pressed the blade harder against his throat. “I’m taking you in.”

“No need to be rough.” Aleksandr smiled slowly. “Unless you like it that way, of course.”

She was off him in an instant, her weapon still held at the ready.

Clearly, she wasn’t into the rough stuff like so many of his kind. With the thrill of hunting denied them, they had to find excitement elsewhere. Dancing with death through sharing blood was the most intoxicating thing a vampire could do without risking their humanity and many of them did it often. He had never been into that sort of thing.

Aleksandr sat up, grazed his fingers over the silvery scars on his wrist, a reminder of why he was tracking and killing vampire hunters, risking his humanity, and then got to his feet.

The female backed off a step, but remained close enough that she could easily attack him if he tried to leave. He didn’t want to, but if he did, she wouldn’t be able to stop him. A woman was no match for him.

First a female hunter and then a female guard. Prague was a modern progressive city, or the world was changing faster than he realised. He had noticed it for a few years now and had been struggling to adjust ever since. He hadn’t expected the change to happen within vampire society too. The males had always been the ones to take care of the females. His gaze settled on her. Now there were females capable of taking care of themselves. It was both disturbing and intriguing.


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Aleksandr went to move but she was in front of him before he could take a step.

“Can I at least gather my belongings?” He motioned towards the coat and bag that waited near the fountain.

She looked at them and her gaze tracked back and settled on the corpse. Her pupils narrowed and then she frowned. Had she only just noticed that he had killed someone? She sniffed and then looked at him, her pale eyes falling to his shirt and then his hands, carefully taking all of him in. He liked the assessing edge to her gaze, and the way it lingered on his body a moment before coming up to meet his. She stared into his eyes, long enough that he felt as though she was renewing the spell she had cast on him, and then nodded.

“I desire an audience with your master.” Aleksandr crossed her path and picked up his long heavy black coat. Her gaze remained on him, intent and focused.

He put his coat on, picked up his black bag and slung it over his shoulder. When he turned to face her, she was looking at the dead hunter again. The way she stared at it, studying it closely, made it clear that she hadn’t seen a fresh kill in a long time.

Or she hadn’t seen anything quite like the butchery that had happened tonight.

Aleksandr clenched his fists and reined in the dark hunger that the memory evoked. He was in control now, not his instincts. The hunt would continue until he had avenged her and had rid the world of her murderer’s progeny.

He would not surrender until then.

For four centuries, he had tracked and killed them, his anger still fresh in his heart, the pain of losing her still raw. He would not surrender until he had killed the last of the hunter’s line and protected his people.


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The woman stepped forwards and his attention was back with her. The second his gaze locked with hers, the darkness inside him receded, washed away by the light in her eyes and her beauty. He had thought of nothing but the hunt for four hundred years, had closed himself off to society and focused on his duty, but the woman before him stole his attention away from it so easily. It drifted to the back of his mind with the darkness, unknown to him in this moment while her eyes held his. She wasn’t afraid of him. She had fought him without fear, and with strength and skill that he had never expected to find in a female. She enthralled him.

Looking into her eyes, Aleksandr realised something dreadful. He was too close to the edge. The feelings she evoked in him were ones he had long forgotten existed. It was strange to feel warmed inside by happiness to have met her, desire to make her belong to him, and hunger for the feel of her bare body against his. He had not felt such positive emotions in decades.

He was losing himself.

“Follow me,” the woman said and he did, using her as a distraction from his dark thoughts.

She was young. He placed her at barely over two hundred years old, her appearance somewhat of a human in their mid-twenties. She was at least six inches shorter than him, and slender. Her strength had surprised him because of those facts alone. Young females were often weak and needed protection. She had strong blood in her veins.

Aleksandr ran a hand over his matted long dark hair and then rubbed the several months’ worth of beard on his face. What did he look like? He felt like a mess now, both inside and out. She had definitely caught him at his worst. If he had looked as he had back in his days at court, he was sure she would be looking at him differently.

He was sure that she would recognise him for who he was.


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She walked swiftly ahead of him, not once looking back to check if he was still there. She had mastered her senses then. He could feel them fixed on him. How strong were they? He had honed his to perfection through years of training and hunting, but he hadn’t sensed her approach. He had been too lost in the darkness.

His gaze slid down to her small backside and the way it moved as she walked mesmerised him.

He hadn’t really wanted to meet her master, but saying that he did seemed like the easiest way of remaining near to her.

Aleksandr lost track of how long they had been walking. He looked up when he sensed the presence of more vampires. Black wrought iron gates punctuated an endless grey stone wall ahead. Beyond them stood the extensive bleak façade of a mansion. Light emanated from many of the rectangular windows marking the three storeys, at least on the left side. On the right, they were mostly dark hollows. Two male guards at the gate saluted the woman and then eyed him with suspicion as he passed through.

Who was his escort? She was strong, spirited, and these men ranked lower. If she weren’t dressed as a guard, Aleksandr would have placed her as a lady of the bloodline. A female guard. He still couldn’t quite comprehend it.

He followed her up the gravel drive to the house, walking on the left side of the wide expanse of frosty grass that stretched into the distance in both directions. It was a habit of his to mask his footfalls. It had saved his life more than once. The long grey stone front of the mansion was imposing and cold even in the moonlight. The size of it told Aleksandr that this bloodline held the power in the city, or they were the only one resident.

They crossed the large parking area in front of the house, passing a fleet of identical black Mercedes-Benz limousines. This bloodline was definitely doing well for itself. Judging by the fact that the woman had been in the city whilst wearing her uniform, it


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had to be masquerading as a military school of some sort. Many bloodlines bought privacy from the local government by donating large sums of money and setting up such a front. The humans never questioned them. It had been the easiest way to keep their species secret for many centuries. At least some things hadn’t changed since he had left society.

The moment she entered the house, Aleksandr’s attention was back with her. She hurriedly smoothed her warm chestnut hair back into the tight knot, fixing her appearance. In his opinion, she didn’t need to fix it at all. The slight wanton edge her messy hair gave her was alluring to say the least. His gaze drifted to her throat and he frowned when he spotted her bloodline’s mark on the back of her neck. It was an elaborate black ink crest with a stag incorporated into the design.

Černý.

They passed another pair of male guards and Aleksandr glanced at the back of their necks. The mark was visible above the collar of their short black jackets. A strong bloodline.

He had forgotten who ruled Prague. Perhaps they would be able to help him after all and his coming to their master would prove beneficial in more than one way.

His grey eyes slid back to the woman. She looked over her shoulder at him, her aquamarine eyes briefly fixing on his before she turned away again.

Aleksandr quickened his pace and fell into step beside her. She glanced at him again and then looked forwards. His gaze remained on her as they walked along the elegant gallery at the front of the house, heading towards the lit area he had seen on the left of the building. She had soft features—youthful and graceful. Her oval face, pale skin, and rosy lips set his heart racing again, quick enough that it almost matched a human heart rate. A flicker of a frown wrinkled her brow and her eyes darted to him and then away. He steadied his heart, aware that she could


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hear the effect she had on him. Her heart was beating at a restful pace, a soothing patter in his mind.

She moved ahead, entering a large red drawing room. The vampires relaxing in it were powerful but none of them were stronger than he was. He carried on without glancing in any of their directions, following his temptress. She turned right in the room, heading towards a guarded set of dark wooden doors. When she reached them, she faced him, her expression stern.

“Wait here,” she said and the guards stationed on either side of the doors opened them for her.

Aleksandr lowered his black holdall from his shoulder. The two dark-haired male guards eyed him. He smiled but it didn’t relieve the tension. It only made it worse. The one on his left cast a glance over him and Aleksandr was thankful that his long coat hid his dagger from view. The female’s voice drifted through the open doors to him and he looked at her. She stood in the middle of a dark green room, the back of a gilt-framed green velvet couch in front of her. A male spoke to her in Czech, his voice a lazy drawl.

Tired of waiting, Aleksandr walked into the room, his knee-high boots heavy on the polished wooden floor. The woman’s blade was at his throat again in the space of a breath. Aleksandr halted and looked at the man her body had shielded from view.

He was young to be leading a bloodline, only in his late twenties in terms of appearance, meaning he was little more than four hundred. He would have been born around the time that Aleksandr had begun his hunt.

The man leaned back into the green couch opposite the one near to Aleksandr and the woman and crossed his long black-clad legs. He smiled without any trace of charm or meaning and preened his short sandy hair back.


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“This man desires an audience with you, Master,” the woman said and Aleksandr glanced down into her clear blue eyes. She looked away, towards the leader of her bloodline.

“Then allow him to introduce himself so I may know with whom I speak,” the master said in English.

Aleksandr was familiar with both English and Czech. He had understood everything the master had said to the woman. He wasn’t interested in guests and wanted him gone. His opinion would change once he knew who Aleksandr was. It always did.

Aleksandr’s gaze met the guard’s again, holding it for long minutes. Whenever he set eyes on her, he was struck by her beauty as though it was the first time he had witnessed it. He willingly accepted her blade against his throat because it meant she was near him. Soon she would be this close to him without a weapon. He was sure of it. He would ask for sanctuary and the master would grant it. It would give him time to clean up his appearance and then he would start a new hunt. One for this woman.

His gaze slid across to the master and locked with his hazel one, silently showing the younger vampire that he wasn’t the most powerful in the room by a long shot.

“I am Aleksandr Nemov,” he said in a calm measured tone.

The female’s shock rippled through the knife at his throat, which was gone an instant later. She stepped back.

“You will not mind me requesting proof of that claim,” the master said.

Aleksandr smiled behind his beard. It was to be expected. He had been absent from society so long that many probably thought him dead.


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With a flourish, he unsheathed and presented his bloodstained dagger. The curved silver blade caught the warm light of the fireplace to the left of the couches. That same light made the gold handle shine brightly. Only a Nemov carried such a weapon, and it had been given to him at birth, inscribed with his name so those who died by it knew who had taken their life. When the man nodded, he sheathed the blade and took hold of his black shirt above his right hip. He pulled it free of his trousers and revealed the mark he bore there on his pale skin.

The mark of royalty.

The woman’s eyes widened, fixed on the crescent moon on the shield of his bloodline.

Aleksandr lowered his shirt and she slowly raised her eyes to his. She blinked, fumbled with her own knife, and then looked away. The shy sparkle in her blue eyes added to her beauty and his desire for her, momentarily stealing his attention away from the other occupant in the room.

“You will stay a while with my bloodline. It would do us great honour.” The master stood and crossed the room to Aleksandr.

The woman stepped to one side, her eyes still downcast.

The master grinned and held his hand out. “I am Ladislav Černý, and I welcome you to my home. I hope you will be able to enjoy our hospitality for a long time.”

Aleksandr shook his hand. Ladislav was young but wise enough to see a way to gain more power when it was standing in front of him. Being favourable to a royal would grant him more leeway with the law and more privileges in court. It was a shame then that Aleksandr had long since surrendered such authority. No matter how many times he reminded society that he was no longer royalty, it still insisted on treating him that way. In this sort of situation, he usually reminded them that he had given up his title, but this time he couldn’t bring himself to mention it. He


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wanted to remain here and pursue the woman, and for that reason alone, he would tolerate Ladislav’s mistake.

“We will hold a ball tonight to celebrate,” Ladislav said, his English thickly accented.

This man was no fool. He would serve Aleksandr well. His gaze slid back to the woman. Her eyes were on him again but darted away when his met them. How well would she serve him?

“Then I will need to freshen up.” Aleksandr removed his hand from Ladislav’s grip.

“Any room in the guest wing you desire, and I will arrange whatever you need.” Ladislav motioned to the woman. Her expression blackened for a moment, as though escorting a guest was beneath her, and then she saluted.

Aleksandr picked up his bag and smiled at the woman. She answered it with a frown and then walked out of the room. His smile widened and his gaze raked over her.

She was going to be an interesting hunt.

But he would be the victor.


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Chapter 2

Elise stood with her back to the tall Grecian column, guarding the north garden exit of the ballroom. Barely two hours had passed since she had escorted their guest to his quarters and the ball was already underway, everyone in the mansion in attendance to honour Aleksandr Nemov. They packed the long room, their excited chatter competing with the small orchestra at the end opposite her near to the entrance. Her gaze slowly scanned the room, searching for any sign of trouble amongst the throng of brightly coloured dancers. Everyone was relaxed but she could sense underlying tension building in the room. They were waiting and they were growing impatient.

Aleksandr Nemov was the only person not in attendance.

Several people had discovered that she had met him, and had questioned her relentlessly until she had reminded them that she was on duty and not at liberty to talk about such matters.

Her gaze did the rounds again, checking everything. The glow of candlelight from the chandeliers warmed the normally cold cream walls and decorative white inset columns. The shutters on the tall sash windows that lined either side of the room were open. Moonlight streamed in through the windows on the courtyard side to her right, but it couldn’t contend with the candles and only threw faint shadows across the hardwood floor.

Elise’s blue eyes drifted over the heads of the dancers to the entrance directly opposite her and her mind wandered to Aleksandr Nemov. She was a fool for believing that such a powerful and noble vampire was little more than a beast. There had been nothing princely about his appearance though, and she had discovered him at a brutal kill. She had never seen anything like it. He had torn the hunter apart.

What sort of man was he?


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Elise knew of him. There wasn’t a vampire in Europe who didn’t know of their rulers, the Nemov bloodline, and Aleksandr. The tales of his hunts were legendary. He was legendary. No other royal had ever renounced their title and disinherited themselves in order to hunt the vampire hunters. She wasn’t too sure of Aleksandr’s reasons but her father had told her that their true prince and heir had vowed to protect his people and had left his family to avoid tainting their name with his actions.

He had become a killer.

Aleksandr Nemov was a fool too.

Since the Nemov line had first discovered the path to achieving humanity, they had led their people. By following their rules, vampires had evolved from beasts into a peaceful society, safe from discovery by the humans and from the darkness that lived within them all. They had found humanity through limiting their kills and not hunting for the thrill of it or to feed their bloodlust. A kill a year was all most had to make for their families so they would have enough blood. At most, three or four kills were required, still within the safe amount set out by their leaders.

Some had gone against the rules.

Aleksandr Nemov was one of them.

There was only one outcome from killing for the sake of it, in cold blood or without need for sustenance from a victim, taking pleasure from the violence and bloodshed.

Corruption.

It led only to darkness and to the threat of becoming a demon again, their humanity destroyed by their blackened soul and the blood that soaked it.

Was Aleksandr walking that path?


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Everyone moved, bowing in a wave that swept back towards Elise and revealed the doorway opposite her.

Elise stared.

Gone was the matted long dark hair, replaced by a neat short style. Gone was the beard, exposing the strong line of his jaw and a sensual mouth. Gone were the tattered clothes, replaced by a smart black military-style jacket and trousers similar to what she wore. Before her stood a handsome man. A man completely different to the one she had left in the guest wing. He no longer looked like a beast. He looked noble and as princely as his blood.

Every female in the room had her eyes on him.

And his were on her.

She had to be imagining it. He had no reason to look at her the way he was, with the focus of a predator. He moved through the crowded room and her eyes remained glued to him, her attention so thoroughly captivated that she didn’t realise that she was the only one who hadn’t bowed until he stood toe-to-toe with her, staring down into her eyes with grey ones that made her insides flutter.

Elise bowed quickly, lowering her head to cover the shame that burned her cheeks. How could she have failed to respond correctly to his entrance? The moment his gaze had met hers across the room, she had forgotten the world existed. She hadn’t failed to notice the ugly black bruise on the left side of his face though. Her shame deepened. She hadn’t only forgotten to bow to royalty; she had fought and injured him too. How was she to have known that he was Aleksandr Nemov?

“My apologies for the events of this evening, your highness.” Elise stared at her feet, too afraid to straighten up and see how everyone in the room was staring at her. How he was staring at


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her. His eyes bore into her. He was waiting for her to emerge. Why?

“I will forgive you if you dance with me.” There was a slight Russian lilt to his English. The sound of his voice so softly spoken sent a shiver through her and she closed her eyes at the strange new feeling.

Elise straightened, her gaze catching on his broad chest and her cheeks flushing again when she remembered sitting on it. She had sat on royalty and held a knife to his throat. That was definitely worthy of punishment. She forced her eyes up to his face.

“My apologies again, your highness, but I am on duty tonight and not here to socialise.”

A flicker of darkness crossed his handsome face and his grey eyes turned stormy. “You disappoint me.”

“It is not my intention.” Elise tugged the hem of her short black uniform jacket. She had disappointed royalty. There was probably a punishment for that too, but she couldn’t do as he asked. “I don’t have leave to dance. Besides, there are many other partners who would dance with you, I’m sure.”

She gestured towards the horde of beautifully dressed women behind him. He didn’t even look. His eyes remained fixed on her face, the disappointment he spoke of showing in their depths.

“All very pretty and simpering, I am also sure, but not the partner I desire, Elise.”

She jumped at the use of her name. She hadn’t given it to him and she couldn’t fathom why he would’ve gone to any length to get it from someone, just as she couldn’t understand why he wanted to dance with her when so many women were crowding for his attention.


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Elise held his gaze and smiled politely. “My apologies again, but it isn’t possible. I must remain here and guard the garden entrance to protect the party and your highness.”

“I have not been a prince in many years.” His low voice held a razor-sharp edge. He stepped closer to her, stared into her eyes for a few seconds with pure darkness in his, and then smiled. It sent another tremor through her that she chose to ignore. “It is not a prince asking you to dance, but a man. Will you not dance with me then?”

He was certainly persistent. When coupled with the seductive tone his voice had taken on and the wicked glint in his eyes, his persistence was nothing short of irritating. She had said no. Under different circumstances, she might have said yes to such a handsome man, or felt some sort of obligation to dance with him as an apology, but she was on duty.

Elise shook her head. “I have no leave to.”

He gave a short growl of frustration and frowned. “I will have your orders changed then.”

Aleksandr turned on his heel and left, the group of women that had gathered parting to let him through and then swallowing him.

“What was that all about?”

Elise looked over at Andrej, her captain, where he stood near the pillar on the other side of the door and shrugged. “I honestly don’t know.”

Andrej stared in the direction that Aleksandr had gone. Her eyes remained on Andrej. He had a noble profile and had grown into a fine figure of a man, especially in his uniform. The only thing that wasn’t neat about him was his fair hair, cropped short at the sides but messy on top, and his long sideburns.


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Some of the women of the guard lingered nearby, their attention dancing between their friends and Andrej. Several of them had admitted to Elise that the slight show of wildness in Andrej’s hair only made him more handsome. Many of the female guards adored him.

Andrej’s gaze remained fixed ahead.

He didn’t acknowledge the women close to him, and hadn’t all night. His focus was on his duty. She and Andrej were alike in that respect, placing duty before affairs of the heart. Or at least that’s what she thought. Sometimes she wondered if she was wrong about him and he did love someone.

He looked at her, his blue eyes darkened by his wide pupils, and smiled the smile he only seemed to give to her.

“I think you are safe now,” he said in Czech, the smile reaching his voice and bringing hers out.

He spoke of Aleksandr as though he was a predator.

Elise looked across the room at the gathering of women that marked the spot where Aleksandr would be. They were all beautiful, wearing fine corseted dresses that scooped low to reveal ample bosom and their throats. They were females bred for this sort of occasion, from families who had a rank or sought to attain one. Her family weren’t of that ilk. She didn’t belong in the group, or amongst the dancers. She belonged here at the door, protecting her bloodline just as her father had done.

The crowd parted again and she spotted Aleksandr. He did look handsome now that he had cleaned up and she could understand why all of the women wanted his attention. He turned and looked at her, stepping aside at the same time. Elise’s eyes widened when she saw the commander of the guard with him, a dark-haired man of six hundred. Aleksandr looked older than him and she tried to remember how old he was. At least eight


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hundred. His appearance was more that of a man in his mid-thirties. Vampires aged slowly compared with humans.

He leaned towards her commander and said something, pointing in her direction. Commander Piotr’s expression was a picture of horror, of amusement, and then warning. Elise frowned. What were they saying about her? Aleksandr smiled and shook his head. Her commander shrugged.

Was he warning Aleksandr to stay away from her?

Why?

To protect her from Aleksandr or Aleksandr from her?

Her frown increased along with her irritation.

Commander Piotr nodded. Aleksandr walked away.

Directly towards her.

He cut across the dancers, interrupting their flow, his pace brisk and gaze fixed on her. She swallowed and glanced at Andrej, searching for a possible means of escaping what she knew was about to happen. He was watching Aleksandr’s approach with a glare.

“You have new orders.” Aleksandr smiled, both charming and victorious. “You are to dance with me.”

“I really—” Refusal seemed redundant when he had already taken her hand and was leading her towards the dance floor.

It loomed ahead.

Elise pulled back and Aleksandr stopped, his hand still tightly holding hers. He had a strong grip, and warm hands, and she wasn’t about to let that affect her. She refused.


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The dancers slowed. Everyone stared. Panic closed her throat. She didn’t want to dance and have everyone watching her. She’d never been good at such things. Aleksandr paused, his expression softening and grip loosening the slightest amount.

“We can dance here, if you would prefer that.” Concern laced those low spoken words.

It was as though he had sensed her feelings. She stared at their joined hands and hoped that he was only guessing. A strong enough connection to another vampire, one that allowed the sensing of emotions, was rare, and often led to a mating or exclusivity pledged between them. She couldn’t sense his feelings, so he must have felt her fear. Vampires could easily detect that in one another.

Elise shook her head and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor. It was better to be lost in a crowd than put on display. No one would see how atrocious her dancing was then.

No one except Aleksandr anyway.

They entered the dancers and Aleksandr turned to face her. The firmness of his hand on her waist made her jump and she swallowed when he drew her close to him, his smile all sin and seduction. What exactly was he after from her? A dance or something more? She couldn’t understand why he wanted either.

The moment the music began, she trod on his foot. His jaw tensed and he removed his boot from under hers, and then led the way in the slow waltz.

Elise stared down at her feet, barely able to see them through the small gap between their bodies. He was so close to her. She lost focus and trod on his foot again, grimaced, and pressed her tongue against the back of her teeth in concentration. His grip on her waist tightened and she bumped into him, her body brushing his. Her hand trembled against his arm. He drew her closer still, until there wasn’t a gap between them and she could no longer


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see her feet. Not good. In fact, it was terrible. Her dancing went from awful to abysmal and she cursed herself for being such a poor partner.

She hadn’t had the luxury of the training ladies received. No one bothered to teach soldiers to dance or etiquette or any of the skills needed to converse politely with royalty. Aleksandr would have been better off with any number of the women present, or possibly all of them.

“I have not met a female guard before.” His voice was a bare whisper, sensual and teasing. This man could talk about the weather and make it sound seductive. It was probably vast experience showing. His reputation said he had plenty of practice at seducing women, at least prior to renouncing his title. After that, only his battles with hunters had made vampire society’s papers.

Elise glanced up into his eyes, stumbled, saw the irritation cross his face, and looked away again. She focused on her feet and mumbled a response, unable to focus on both dancing and speaking.

“Your city is beautiful. I visited here many years ago with my family.”

She liked the Russian edge to his words, how hard but soft they sounded.

“Thank you.” Was that the correct response? Should she have been more formal or denied Prague’s beauty, or perhaps been flattered by his family’s visit that had likely happened before she had been born?

Aleksandr was quiet for a moment, turning with her in endless circles, and she focused hard on her footwork, determined not to tread on his feet again.

“I have not been here in winter.”


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Elise looked up at him, right into his clear grey eyes.

They sparkled at her.

Her foot knocked his. She grimaced and went to lower her head but his hand left her waist and caught her chin.

“You have barely spoken a word.” Disappointment marred his tone and expression again.

“There might have been another reason for my refusal.” She closed her eyes and cursed when she trod on his foot, as if she needed to emphasise her point. Cracking an eye open, she peeked up at him. He didn’t look angry. In fact, there was warmth in his eyes now and a look she couldn’t quite decipher. She didn’t like it. It wasn’t anything she had seen before in them. It looked like hunger but not for blood. It matched his seductive tone.

The music mercifully ended and she was out of his arms in an instant and curtseying. Her heart pounded against her ribs at almost one beat per second, too fast for her liking. She preferred the usual slow patter of one beat per minute.

He didn’t say anything.

She looked up at him. He stared at her, the disappointment etched back on his face, and then walked away.

Elise straightened and watched him go. Perhaps his lack of satisfaction over her dancing and her inability to make conversation would keep him away. She certainly didn’t want his attention.

She looked at the floor and then over to him where he had joined Ladislav’s group.

The music began again and she left the dance floor, returning to her post beside Andrej, who greeted her with the same dark


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expression that he had been wearing since Aleksandr had led her onto the dance floor.

“What was that all about?” he asked again.

Elise still didn’t have the answer to that question. She tried not to look at Aleksandr but her gaze found its way back to him. She didn’t know why he wanted to dance with her, or why she felt so empty inside now that he had. He was attractive but she had heard enough of his exploits over the past few centuries to know that he would be gone soon enough, chasing after the hunters. It would never work and she didn’t want it to. She didn’t want his attention.

His disappointed expression flashed across her mind.

So why was she feeling disappointed herself by the cold way he had left her?


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Chapter 3

Elise cursed the name of Aleksandr Nemov for the hundredth time that night, and it was barely two hours after sundown. It transpired that he had only danced with her at the ball. Now everywhere she went the ladies of the house whispered and glared at her. Even the guards were merciless in their teasing. She had gone to see Andrej to find some comfort but he had been so caustic that she had immediately left.

She hurried across the landscaped garden to the grey two storey square building at the back of the estate that acted as the garrison. It was past time to report in for duty. Hopefully, Commander Piotr would forgive her this small fault in exchange for the fact that she had followed his orders and ruined her life by dancing with Aleksandr Nemov.

Elise strode through the building, her focus so fixed on thinking of a way to gain a solo mission so she could patrol the city in glorious solitude and keeping her head down to avoid the snide taunts of her comrades that she didn’t notice the danger until it was too late.

The moment she saw Aleksandr, she turned and tried to escape her commander’s office.

“Elise,” Commander Piotr said and she froze, cursing Aleksandr again.

“Reporting for duty, Sir.” Elise saluted her commander and then Ladislav where he sat perched on the end of her commander’s oak desk dressed in a long black winter coat and pinstripe suit. She ignored Aleksandr.

“You are to show me the city tonight.”


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Her gaze shot to Aleksandr. He smiled at her, all charm and sweetness.

She didn’t want to show him the city. He already knew it. He had been to Prague before.

Had he asked for her to be his guide tonight? She shrugged that question away. There was no reason for him to ask for her specifically. Then again, he’d had no reason to be so intent on dancing with her either. The look in his grey eyes unsettled her. Whenever he looked at her, he looked like a raptor eyeing its prey. She didn’t like it, and she hadn’t seen him look at anyone else that way.

Elise bit her tongue to hold in the refusal that tried to spring from her lips and saluted her commander again, stiffly this time and with anger burning in her gut.

She turned on the spot, took a deep breath, and led the way out of the garrison. A quick tour of the city wouldn’t kill her. It was an honour to serve their prince and she was sure that she was imagining everything about Aleksandr. He didn’t know any of the guards besides her and the commander, and he had met her in the city. Perhaps he merely thought her a suitable guide, one who would be able to give him information he needed.

Perhaps he was out to seduce her.

Elise would have laughed at that had she not feared it so much.

Aleksandr was quiet as they walked into the heart of the city. His eyes constantly scanned over the old buildings lining the narrow roads. She brought him to the Old Town quarter first, entering the main square from an alley at the bridge end, away from the open square itself.

“It’s a terrible place for hunting,” Elise said to break the silence.


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Aleksandr glanced at her and then looked at their surroundings. He tensed and turned the second the astronomical clock mounted near the base of the tall stone tower in front of them began to chime the hour. With a frown, he walked forwards, towards the beautiful gold and blue dial that the tourists loved, studying it and the gold and painted circular calendar below. Elise went with him, her gaze seeking the model of death chiming a bell. She loved the clock too. Sometimes when she was here scouting for a suitable source of blood she became distracted by the way the models on the clock came alive on the hour.

The cobbled area in front of the clock was empty save for her and Aleksandr. The city was so cold in winter that few tourists came. Those who did rarely ventured out at night to watch the clock.

“It’s a good place for scouting for blood.” She hoped for a response this time. “We often come here and then follow a selected tourist to see if they venture somewhere quiet we can deal with them.”

“It seems like a very inefficient way to hunt.” His eyes didn’t leave the clock. “Why not simply lure them away? Or wait for someone to pass a quiet street and kill them?”

“It is not our way. Taking the occasional tourist is less conspicuous than killing the people of Prague. That way we risk the humans learning of our existence. We do as the Nemov line wishes, to protect our species from discovery.” She paused to reflect on his questions. “Luring someone could be considered taking pleasure from the hunt.”

His broad shoulders shifted in a shrug. “Some could say that.”

Elise wanted to ask him if he lured his victims or took any pleasure from what he did when hunting, but the sight of him caught her off guard. The light from the astronomical clock bathed his skin, warming it and making his steely eyes darker.


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He had a regal profile that matched his classically handsome face. The strong line of his jaw led her gaze down to his throat and the slow steady pulse that ticked there. She dropped it lower, to his waist, hidden behind his long black coat. She had been shocked when he had revealed his bloodline’s mark, and not only because she had discovered that he was royalty. He had shown no reserve about flashing his body and there had been a pleased look in his eyes when he had caught her staring. Just as she was now. She forced her eyes back up to his face. His bowed lips tugged into a smile.

“I like your city.” He turned on the spot, scanning the cluster of buildings at this end of the square, and then stopped and faced her, his smile widening. “It has many beauties.”

Elise’s cheeks heated at the suggestion in his voice. She walked past him towards the square, ignoring his charm. He caught up with her, walking close beside her, and touched her elbow to make her walk in another direction. He had done that several times now, each one feeling like an intimate caress rather than a mere suggestion of an order.

She moved a step away from him and walked past the tower and into the heart of the expansive square, heading for the tall row of coloured buildings opposite. Cafés and restaurants lined the square, spilling out from the arched walkway beneath the buildings in front and to her right. Behind the buildings in front of her, one of Prague’s most impressive sights rose. The twin spiked towers of the church and warmly lit façade captivated tourists even more than the clock. There were a few gathered in the square, their camera flashes puncturing the darkness.

“This is another good place to scout for tourists in summer,” she said and Aleksandr looked towards them. “In winter it is too conspicuous, but in summer there are often a large number of people here. It is easy to blend amongst them.”


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Elise led Aleksandr towards the line of restaurants. The tables set out beneath the large white square umbrellas and heat lamps were mostly unoccupied.

“Another good place to scout?” His gaze scanned the people.

“Sometimes we come here in winter late at night, when the bars are turning out.”

He moved closer to her again and his voice dropped to a whisper. “You are far more talkative when you are not dancing.”

Elise looked away from him, towards the other side of the square and the restaurants there. She was thankful when Aleksandr’s attention left her and returned to the square. She needed space to breathe for a moment. She wasn’t used to so much attention, especially not from men, and she was starting to feel suffocated.

She glanced at Aleksandr. His focus was on the people, studying them closely. He seemed like a different person, colder and calculating, as she had expected him to be from the tales that she had heard and read in their society’s papers.

“The vampire hunters don’t come here.” She looked around the square. “At least not often anyway. They know how we work. They know we won’t kill the humans openly, and that we will follow them away from here. Most hunters gather over the river to wait for us.”

Aleksandr’s gaze returned to her along with his focus. She could feel his eyes on her, burning into the side of her face. She kept her gaze away from his, not wanting to see how he was looking at her now. He touched her elbow again, his fingers lingering longer this time, almost a caress.

“Show me where the hunters are.” His voice was low still, a soothing sound that felt like a physical touch over her body.


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She nodded and led the way, quickening her pace to gain a little distance from him. Alarm bells were ringing loudly in the back of her mind. Aleksandr was too attentive, too charming, and too close to her. All of it made her feel as though he wanted something and she knew what that something was.

It wasn’t going to happen.

To keep him distracted from her, she talked to him about the city. She gave him all the information he might need about how the police operated, her family’s methods of disposing of bodies, how they acted as a military academy to avoid rousing suspicion when they were in the city, and the small number of hunters that passed through each month, heading deeper into Europe from Asia or vice versa. With each piece of information, Aleksandr moved closer, until their hands brushed occasionally, sending shivers dancing up her arm. She tried to distance herself again but whenever she moved away, he moved closer. It felt too intimate.

She passed under the arch beneath the dark stone tower that stood at one end of the Charles Bridge and out the other side, stopping a short way onto it. The tall antique lamps that lined the wide pedestrian bridge glowed softly, lighting the stone statues standing on the walls of it in warm sepia hues. The brightly lit gothic cathedral on the hill across the wide black river, and the buildings that clustered around it, cast twinkling lights on the rippling water. It was beautiful, and she hoped it would keep Aleksandr’s attention off her.

Aleksandr moved away from her at last, going to lean on the wall and peer over the edge at the river. He looked along the bridge in the direction of the other gate tower. A couple were walking towards them.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyes almost black in the low light, and then looked back at the couple. She hoped he wasn’t considering killing them. Her family still had enough blood in storage to last them a week and another murder in the city so


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close to the death of the hunter would rouse too much suspicion amongst the local police.

Aleksandr turned slowly as the couple passed, his eyes tracking them, and relief eased her tension away when they passed her and walked through the gate tower behind her.

He leaned back against the wall at an angle, propping himself up on his elbows. His long black coat fell back to reveal his body and the dagger sheathed at his hip. The black trousers and shirt did nothing to hide the toned planes of his physique. Elise tore her gaze away and looked left, up the dark river towards the fountain and the small park where they had first met. Since then, her entire world had been falling apart. Aleksandr had shaken it to its foundations and she was still spinning, unable to get her head straight.

Aleksandr came over to her, close again, near enough that his breath caressed her face. It felt as though he didn’t want to let her get her head straight, as though he wanted to confuse her and send her mind and heart in circles.

“The hunters favour the other side of the bridge, where the streets are narrow and quieter. It is easier for them to fight us unhindered there. It is also our favoured hunting ground.” Elise cast her gaze down when Aleksandr’s arm grazed hers.

When she eventually looked at him, he was staring at the cathedral but his focus wasn’t there. It was on her. He leaned down, bringing his mouth so close to her ear that his lips brushed it as he spoke.

“Can we see there?” he whispered and she stared wide-eyed at the cathedral across the broad glittering black river. “I would like to take you there.”

Elise sidestepped and cleared her throat, flustered by the connotation in his words. “It’s best we don’t. There have been many hunters entering the city recently.”


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His dark eyebrows rose. “I can handle them.”

The smile he gave her was stunning. She looked away and fought for composure. Anger coiled in her stomach, turning her blood to flame. She had been right. He didn’t want a tour guide, just as he hadn’t merely wanted a dance partner last night. That was why he had looked so disappointed.

“Come, Elise, show me the other side and the narrow dark streets.” He held his hand out to her.

Her eyes jumped to the gate tower at the other end of the bridge near the area he spoke of and then to his, and she tried to look away again but failed. The look in them left her in no doubt of his intentions. He moved closer, his broad frame imposing, and dipped down, lowering his mouth to her ear.

“You will take me there.”

Elise stared at his ear, the tufts of his dark hair behind it, and the tall, sloped flat-topped dark grey roof of the tower beyond. She couldn’t breathe. His proximity, his persistence, his attention, it all smothered her. She couldn’t take it. She didn’t want it.

“You are a poor dancer, but a skilled fighter,” he murmured against her cheek, his breath teasing her skin and her throat. Another shiver cascaded through her, tumbling down her spine and urging her to close her eyes. She refused. He pressed his body against hers, his hands claiming her upper arms. “Your strength, your skill in the fight last night, it was astounding and graceful, almost as enthralling as your beauty.”

Elise broke free of him and backed away. “Leave me alone.”

Aleksandr laughed softly. “No, I cannot do that. Not yet.”

She glared at him, seeing in his eyes that he intended to pursue her. She wanted to tell him again to leave her alone but couldn’t find her voice or the conviction to refuse his advances.


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Elise shook her head and ran away instead, storming through the arch back into the city, intent on returning to the mansion and finding solitude there, away from the madness of Aleksandr.

She didn’t understand why he wanted her.

Or why the thought of becoming nothing more than a conquest to him hurt her.

Elise stared wide-eyed at the pavement. Dismay swept through her.

No.

Her heart said it was true.

She wanted him too.

It wasn’t possible though. He would be gone soon, moved on to another city and likely another woman. If she gave in to her desire, he would take her heart with him. She couldn’t bear the thought of it so she shut her mind and her heart to it. She wouldn’t fall for Aleksandr.

He would grow tired of the chase soon enough.

Elise steeled herself against the hurt that thought caused and cursed the name of Aleksandr Nemov.

She wouldn’t give in to him.

She wouldn’t.

Her heart whispered to her.

She would.

It was only a matter of time.


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Chapter 4

Aleksandr sighed and watched Elise leave, loving the intent strut she had. She was beautiful.

Their dance last night had fallen far short of his expectations. Her refusal had vexed him but then he had seen it as a challenge. He had never been one to back down from a challenge and the one Elise had issued had only sweetened the fight to get her into his arms. The reward for his persistence had been nowhere near satisfactory. While she hadn’t been afraid of him, she had hardly been compliant. She had stared at her feet so much that he had wished he had chosen only to speak with her instead so he could have seen her beautiful face. As he had tonight. The moment he had awoken this evening, he had decided to ask her commander to order her to show him the city. He was more satisfied with the outcome this time but he still wasn’t content.

And something told him it wasn’t her refusal that had left the hollow feeling inside him.

Elise had been polite, blushing at all the right times, her beauty beguiling him and bringing out the full extent of his charm. It was a skill and repertoire long forgotten to him, used centuries ago at court on the women there and not since then.

The way she had looked at him from time to time, the flash of desire that had been in her blue eyes, had increased her beauty and his lust for her.

He had thought she would give in to him, but she had resisted again, escaping his embrace and walking away. He wasn’t a stranger to refusal. Women had occasionally rejected his advances, and he had always moved on with ease, unbothered by it.

Not with Elise though.


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Her refusal only made his hunger for her burn hotter.

She disappeared from view and he followed her. He couldn’t let her out of his sight in the city, not when there were hunters present. She would be in danger.

Aleksandr frowned and studied the foreign feeling that had compelled him to go after Elise.

He had felt this before, centuries ago, for his sister.

He wanted to protect her.

The desire was so strong that it controlled him, ordering him to go to Elise and walk close beside her, not letting her out of arm’s reach in case someone attacked them. He had to see her safely back to the mansion and her kin. It had been wrong of him to bring her out into the city and expose her to danger.

He kept his distance instead and considered his feelings.

There was something about Elise and the way he yearned for her. He’d never wanted a woman like this, enough to chase her so doggedly and definitely never enough to want to protect them from harm. He ran a hand over his dark hair, fingers tangling in the longer lengths on top, and settled it on the nape of his neck. Elise was different. She had awoken something new in him—a fierce desire to protect her, and desperate need to possess her.

Since meeting her, he had thought only of her. She had stolen sleep from him, replacing it with movies of her in his head that relived every moment they had spent together. When sleep had eventually come, she had been in his dreams, beautiful and pliant, satisfying his every whim.

Aleksandr craved her.

She led him through the streets and he was a slave to following her, needing to be near so he knew she was safe. Whenever she


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turned a corner, he quickened his pace so he could see her again, and then dropped back and allowed her to move on ahead.

Aleksandr couldn’t get enough of her.

It was everything about her. It was her stubbornness and how she resisted him, it was the fact she didn’t fear him, and the open way she spoke to him when her guard slipped.

It was how she looked at him with smouldering eyes.

Elise was beautiful, sensual, alluring. He wanted her and he wouldn’t give in until he had won her. The hunt wasn’t over. It was only getting more interesting.

She would be in his arms soon enough.

She passed through the gate of the mansion, storming along the gravel drive towards the house. Aleksandr strode faster, until he was close behind her again, knowing that if she was seen entering the house with him trailing behind her that she would be in trouble for not protecting him.

Protecting him.

He would protect her from anything. She didn’t need to protect him.

Aleksandr entered the house beside her. Ladislav was coming down the broad mahogany staircase in the classical cream entrance hall. The younger vampire paused and smiled. The three women behind him stopped too, twittering and blushing on cue. They caressed Ladislav’s slight shoulders, smoothing the fine material of his black suit jacket. Ladislav wasn’t a large man, nowhere close to Aleksandr’s build. He was wiry and slender, and not handsome by anyone’s standards, but power made a man beautiful and alluring to the females of society hoping to gain a new, higher rank.


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The women looked his way and then to his right, their charming smiles faltering as their eyes fell on Elise.

“Mission complete, Master. I will report to Commander Piotr,” she said and Aleksandr held his frown inside. He didn’t want her to leave. Not yet.

“Aleksandr, will you do me the honour of joining me?” Ladislav said, as though Elise hadn’t even spoken.

Aleksandr gritted his teeth against the desire to put Ladislav in his place for ignoring Elise and nodded. “Of course. The night is still young.”

“Elise, with us.” Ladislav waved his hand to her and continued down the stairs. He didn’t even look at her. He beckoned her as though she was a dog.

Aleksandr glanced at her to see if Ladislav’s treatment had bothered her. She was still dutifully bowing to her master. She was a guard. How often had his family treated their guards no differently? It was only now that he knew one that he saw how wrong it was.

He followed Ladislav down the gallery, gradually reining in his anger and reasoning with himself. It wasn’t his place to interfere. Even if it wasn’t, it left him in a foul mood and with little desire to amuse a male half his age.

When they passed through the red-walled reception room, the vampires there stood and bowed. Aleksandr ignored them and trudged on, weary of the attention when he had grown used to being alone. Perhaps he should have declined Ladislav’s desire to entertain him. Elise’s refusal had left him in a worse mood than he had realised. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She was trailing behind him now, her gaze downcast and expression solemn. Something was troubling her.

It was probably him.


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Her refusal had seemed genuine. Perhaps she didn’t like him. It was another strange thing for him to come to terms with. Whenever he entered society, all of the women clamoured for his attention. Elise shirked it and tried to escape him. At first, he had put it down to shyness, and then to her loyalty to her duty, but now he couldn’t find an adequate reason.

Except she didn’t like him.

And he refused to believe that.

The way she avoided his eyes, the way she blushed, it all said that she enjoyed his attention to some degree.

They entered the dark green reception room and Elise dropped back. Ladislav escorted his three young women and positioned two either side of him on the green couch that stood with its back to the door, and motioned for the remaining female to sit on the one opposite.

“Join us.” Ladislav grinned. “They are most amiable.”

Aleksandr seated himself far from the woman on his couch.

“Andrej, I didn’t realise you would be here too,” Elise said and Aleksandr’s attention was immediately with her.

A fair-haired male guard smiled at her. He shut the double doors and Elise moved closer to him. Aleksandr stared at him, his eyes slowly narrowing with his increasing frown. Elise had been with him last night, guarding the exit to the garden. A fellow officer, or more than that?

The doors opened again and an older man entered, came over to Ladislav and spoke to him in a low voice. Ladislav conversed with him, a scowl on his face the whole time. From the looks of the man, Aleksandr guessed that he was an aide to the master of the house, and had infinitely more sense and breeding than his lord.


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Aleksandr busied himself with assessing his surroundings while he waited. Oil paintings of the bloodline’s previous rulers adorned the green walls. He had seen similar paintings in the red reception room and gallery.

The fire crackled and popped, throwing sparks out onto the marble surround. He stared at it for a moment and then his gaze wandered on to the white sash windows on either side of the fireplace. Two windows with a set of French doors between them lined the wall opposite and revealed the horseshoe-shaped courtyard. He tried to make out the shape formed by the neatly clipped low hedge in its centre but it was impossible to discern from this angle and under the pale light from the lamps at each corner.

With nothing else to entertain his eye and distract him, Aleksandr’s gaze moved back to the one thing guaranteed to bring him pleasure. Elise was deep in conversation with the guard she had called Andrej. What were they talking about in such quiet voices? Aleksandr focused on the pair, intent on blocking out every other sound in the room so he could hear what they were saying to each other. His senses sharpened but dulled again when the door closed, signalling the departure of Ladislav’s aide. Aleksandr reluctantly switched his focus to the young master of the bloodline.

Ladislav’s smile was back in place, as though the interruption had never occurred. How much responsibility did Ladislav place on his aides? Judging by how focused on pleasure Ladislav was, the aides were probably running the bloodline for him.

“Pour us some blood.” Ladislav didn’t even look at Elise. He merely waved his hand again. Beckoned her. Aleksandr frowned, riled by her poor treatment and the fact that Ladislav hadn’t even used her name this time. This man had no breeding. He treated a guard as though she was a servant.

The shock on Elise’s face faded and she humbly walked over to the round table beside the third, empty, couch facing the fire. She


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turned over five of the crystal goblets on the silver tray so they were the right way up, picked up a metal canister of blood, and then carefully poured an amount into each glass.

Ladislav and the females didn’t even acknowledge her when she handed them their blood. The sight of her so degraded sickened Aleksandr, twisting his stomach into knots that tightened with each second that he had to watch her being humiliated by her master. A dark hunger to stand, grasp Ladislav by his scrawny neck and throttle some sense into him threatened to seize control. Aleksandr drew a slow steadying breath and held the urge at bay. Barely.

Elise picked up the last goblet and came to him.

Aleksandr sat forwards and took it from her, slowly brushing her fingers with his as he did so and holding her gaze.

“Thank you, Elise,” he said in a quiet voice destined only for her ears. Her blue eyes brightened, as though his show of appreciation had pleased her and given her task meaning.

“Come, tell us your tales.” Ladislav leaned back into the green velvet couch. He sipped his blood and then handed it to the woman on his right. She placed it down on the round table for him. Ladislav settled his arms around the shoulders of the two brunettes.

Aleksandr wasn’t in the mood. He toyed with his glass of blood, looking at it. He had no interest in stored blood, even if it was fresh. How sweet would Elise taste? She smelled divine, intoxicating, and he would give anything to have a sip of her blood.

“What do you know of me?” he said to the blonde woman beside him. She giggled and blushed, and every simpering action she made increased his desire to leave.

Only Elise had him remaining.


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“I heard you killed five hunters at once... once.” The woman beamed at him.

Aleksandr forced a smile. She couldn’t even speak correctly. Ladislav obviously wasn’t after these women for their intellect. He couldn’t judge the man for that though. Back at the palace, he had pursued women purely for their beauty and their bodies. Things changed though, and sometimes it happened without warning, altering your world and carrying you along a path towards a future you hadn’t anticipated. He had survived such a change and it had transformed him. He wanted more than external beauty now. He wanted a woman who was intelligent, strong, shared interests with him, and was the most beautiful he had ever seen because of it.

He wanted Elise.

His gaze crept to her. She was still talking to that man.

“I did, although it was a difficult battle and nowhere near as easy as they painted it. The fight was long, tiring, and almost cost me my life.” That night had been one of the most frightening of his life. Society’s papers had made it sound as though he had butchered the hunters swiftly and survived without a scratch. Their media was as twisted as the human one was.

“And I heard that you have killed almost six hunters a month since you began your crusade four centuries ago,” Ladislav said with a warm note of amusement that reached his hazel eyes.

Crusade? Aleksandr laughed and waved him away. His mission was a vendetta, not a crusade. “Nowhere near that. Perhaps one or two if I am lucky. I spend most of my time tracking or travelling to find the hunters who are most dangerous to our kind. Maybe in the beginning I killed more, but there are less of them these days. We live in fortunate times.”

“Thanks to you and your family of course. The Nemov line rules us well and gives us this great time of peace.”


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“I am no part of that line or their cause. Any progression they make with bringing our species rest and humanity is all of their own doing. Do not associate my name with theirs. I wish it did not belong to me.” Aleksandr swallowed and dropped his gaze to his lap, studying his knees and struggling with his feelings.

This was why he avoided society. No matter how often he asked, it always called him a prince, and it always called him a Nemov. He had nothing to do with his family now. Couldn’t they see that? He had broken with them to keep their name clean of the blood he spilled. If society insisted on associating him with his family, the blood of his victims would tarnish it and their cause would falter. He couldn’t allow that to happen.

Aleksandr frowned when someone focused on him and raised his head to find Elise looking his way. There was a touch of concern about her expression, her dark eyebrows drawn together, narrowing her beautiful blue eyes.

He managed a brief smile and leaned back into the couch, shoving away the pain that blazed within him whenever he thought of his family and the things he had done.

“You fight only the most dangerous hunters, which means you must be very strong and very brave,” the woman to the right of Ladislav said, her dark eyes wide and innocent.

Aleksandr forced a short laugh. “Or very stupid.”

She giggled. Elise frowned and turned away, back to Andrej.

“It must be grand to travel the world hunting for humans.” The female on the other side of Ladislav smiled at him, fluttering her long dark lashes.

“Elise saw how grand it was when we first met. There is nothing good in what I do.” He wished with all of his heart that they would stop talking about him. Idle conversation he could handle, talk of bloodlines and politics, anything other than this. It dragged the


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past up from the black abyss, renewing the pain in his heart and the chill in his blood that he suffered with each hunt.

“Elise?” the women said, as though they didn’t know the name.

His gaze shifted back to Elise. Her eyes met his and warmth chased the cold away, lightening his insides and relieving the ache there.

He needed her. It went beyond a desire to have her to a deep need for her. He wanted her to come to him, to nestle in his arms with her head against his chest and soothe him.

Her expression changed, revealing fragility that caused a fierce desire to protect her to flash through him. In that moment, Aleksandr realised that if he said the right words or did the right thing, she would find shelter in his embrace just as he desired. But her look also told him that if he did something wrong, he would break her.

Aleksandr didn’t want to break her spirits in his attempts to win her.

She nibbled her lip, glanced away and then back at him. Her eyes darkened with desire, revealing that a passionate woman hid beneath her strong exterior and her uniform. A promise of things to come if he succeeded.

It only strengthened his desire to win.

“There is nothing glorious about hunting.” He held her gaze to see how she would react.

She had seen the body of the hunter. How would she react if she saw him fight and kill, not just stumbled upon the aftermath? Or if he told her the number of hunters he had killed and that he feared he was losing the remains of his humanity? Would she run from him again or would she come to him and soothe him?


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He slid his gaze back to meet Ladislav’s. “Your city is a meeting point. A convergence of hunters will happen here, and one I am looking for may be amongst them. I will have to impose on you a little longer, and perhaps I could be granted larger quarters?”

The young fair-haired vampire smiled and nodded. “Whatever you desire, you will receive.”

Aleksandr would have been a happy man had those words been true. What he desired did not desire him and he was not going to get her without a fight. He needed to think of a way to keep her around him. Given time, he could break down her defences.

“I have not been very talkative this evening. Allow me to apologise and make up for it. You are probably aware that I have not been heard of in some time.”

“It has likely been a year.” Ladislav pulled his two women closer. They fawned over him, stroking the chest of his black suit jacket and sliding their hands beneath to the black shirt. “Where have you been?”

“I have not been in contact with society. I prefer not to involve you all. I was hunting someone across Russia and into Europe, and have strong reason to believe that he will come here.”

“Is this hunter dangerous?”

“We have almost killed each other many times over the past two decades.” Aleksandr preferred not to remember those times too. No other hunter had come so close to killing him so often. The man was strong and skilled. The original hunter in their line, the first he had eradicated, was nothing compared with this one.

Ladislav looked uneasy.

“You and your kin will be safe. I will not allow the hunter to interfere with your bloodline and he is exclusive about his hunt. He will only come for me.” His words didn’t seem to relieve


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Ladislav at all. The shine of fear in his eyes increased, even when he smiled. Aleksandr returned it, hoping to reassure him.

“How do you know he is coming to Prague?” Ladislav moved out from the arms of the women, pushing them away, and leaned forwards.

“Anyone can see it in our newspapers. The deaths of our top guards and hunters, anywhere an incision was made on the throat and blood was taken, all belong to the hunter. It is not another vampire searching for food. It is this man leaving me a trail to follow.” Aleksandr scanned the room for a copy of the paper but found none, not even on the dark desk in the corner. “I have been tracking him, and I am sure I can defeat him this time. I will need quarters away from the others, at the rear of the building if possible.”

“There is a reception room and bedroom in the guest quarters, over the ballroom. They have not been used in some time but they will be your private rooms now, for however long you may need them. If you need anything else, any form of assistance, you may speak with myself or Commander Piotr.”

Aleksandr nodded his appreciation and then looked at Elise. Could he request her presence in his bed each day?

He frowned when she laughed with Andrej. She was terribly familiar with him and Aleksandr didn’t like it. How could she smile and laugh with Andrej but look at himself as though he was filth? What did this man have that he did not?

His social skills were tarnished but he could fix those. As soon as he had caught up with the changes in society, she would see that he was a man worthy of her attention.

Unlike this man. Andrej.

Vast darkness bled into Aleksandr’s soul, tainting it and forcing out any light that remained. The black emptiness consumed him,


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fed by the twisting spears of emotion that stabbed his gut as he watched Elise with Andrej. It awakened a desire to hurt the man, to tear him away and demand to know his intentions towards the woman he had chosen to be his. He wanted to butcher him for even looking at her.

Jealousy was an ugly emotion.

Andrej frowned at Aleksandr as though he had sensed his intent.

A heartbeat later, Elise glanced over her shoulder at him.

Aleksandr averted his eyes, fixing them on the garden, and fought for control over his feelings. They were dangerous, whispering commands that he was close to obeying. The darkness grew inside him, until he felt cold and hungry. It gnawed at his insides, coaxing him into surrendering to his instincts and putting Andrej in his place.

He stood on the edge of the abyss, desperate to take a step back from the endless black beneath his feet. He couldn’t damage relations with the bloodline or Elise by murdering the man. He couldn’t lose control.

How could he have been so blind to the corruption in his soul?

He had denied its existence too long, had allowed the damage to grow to such an extent that he was now in danger of losing himself.

Aleksandr’s eyes sought Elise’s. He needed to look into them. He had been fighting the darkness when he had first met her and it had disappeared faster than usual. At the time, he hadn’t been sure whether it had been her or the danger of her attacking him that had driven it away.

She wouldn’t look at him.

Why?


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If she did, he was certain this dreadful darkness would pass over, allowing the light of humanity back into his soul. He needed her to look at him. He needed her and it was about more than desire now.

An urge to extend his fangs burst through him. Aleksandr stood and walked swiftly towards the doors, struggling for control the whole time.

He felt her gaze on him, the warm touch of it on his profile as he passed her and then on his back. Why couldn’t she have looked at him when he had needed her to?

He couldn’t remain now.

He had to leave.

It was the only safe thing to do.


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Chapter 5

Elise didn’t understand him.

Last night on the Charles Bridge, she’d had him figured out. Aleksandr was an egocentric womaniser. Then, he had become a different person entirely. In Ladislav’s private room, Aleksandr had shown no interest in the women and no pride in his legend.

When they had started talking about his past victories, she had thought he would revel in the attention and the glory of his kills. He had denied it all and had seemed uncomfortable about having to listen to it.

It didn’t make sense.

And then he had left abruptly. Ladislav had been almost as bewildered as she’d felt.

Everything about Aleksandr confused her.

And everywhere she went, people were talking about him. From the second floor where she and the higher ranked soldiers and families lived, right down to the basement where the servants worked. In every room she had entered tonight, his name had been on someone’s lips. It was driving her insane. Everyone was talking about why he had left his family and forsaken the throne, or telling tales of his victories, and each account was different. It seemed the only person who knew the true record of events was the one person who didn’t want to talk about them.

Aleksandr.

Then there were those in the house who were still talking about the ball and her dance with him.

It all combined to irk her. She would rather not hear his name wherever she went.


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Was she the only person not completely diverted by his presence?

Her heart reminded her that she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him either.

Her head reasoned that it was because he kept forcing himself on her life and she couldn’t escape him.

Perhaps she could. Elise smiled as it came to her and went through the ballroom and out of the garden doors. The golden gravel crunched beneath her feet, quick noises that marked her pace. She didn’t head towards the garrison. Instead, she followed the lamp-lit path towards the stone stable block down from the west wing where Ladislav’s private reception room was.

She was off duty tonight and was going to use the time to get her head straight at last and get Aleksandr out of it.

The arched wooden gates to the stable block were open. She passed through, nodding a greeting to the stable-hands. The household kept around thirty horses, most of them owned by the highest ranked vampires of her bloodline. She had a horse though. It belonged to her mother.

The moment she neared its stall midway along the row to her left, the white mare stuck its head out of the open top half of the stable door. It whinnied and she smiled. It had been too long since she’d had time to ride.

Elise ran her hand down the horse’s cheek and patted it softly. It turned towards her, nudging her, and she giggled.

“Eager,” she whispered and stroked its nose, feeling more relaxed already. It looked at her with dark eyes, and she gently cupped its right ear, her mind wandering. “I hate hearing the way they talk about him... some of them adoring him while others fear him and speak vile rumours.”


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The horse nudged her and she almost managed to smile again but the weight in her heart was too heavy now.

“What am I to do?” She kept her voice low so only her horse would hear her. The last thing she needed was stable-hands overhearing her and spreading what she had said to her horse around the mansion. “I’m not sure what to do. He wants me without a doubt, but... do I want him? He’s going to kill a hunter here and then he’ll be gone. What would I do then? I doubt he’s serious about me. It’s just a game, and I don’t want to play it.”

Elise sighed again and rested her cheek against the horse’s nose, holding it. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about Aleksandr. It was impossible.

“I can’t give in to him.”

The horse’s warm breath washed over her, carrying the scent of oats and hay.

If only she could talk to someone properly about her feelings. It felt good to voice her worries but her horse couldn’t offer her the advice she needed. She opened her eyes and drew away from it, idly stroking its nose. She couldn’t give in to Aleksandr. There was no future for them and she wasn’t going to enter into a doomed relationship, especially one where there were probably only feelings developing on one side.

Certainly, Aleksandr was pursuing her, and was doing so with more intent than a man had ever shown towards her, but it didn’t mean that he had feelings for her beyond lust.

She wasn’t interested in lust.

She had been there and done that, and no good had come of it.

And no good would come of this.

“You look as though you could use a ride.”


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Elise’s gaze snapped to her right. Andrej stood there holding the reins of the black stallion he rode as a captain of the guard.

“I think we could both use some time away from the house.” He walked over to her, his horse’s steps echoing around the stable block. “Everyone appears to have gone insane.”

She smiled. She wasn’t the only one to have noticed the fever that had swept through the bloodline then.

Elise nodded. Riding with Andrej cleared her head. He was a good listener. She often spoke to him about her worries and he always found solutions for her. She wasn’t sure if there was a problem with Aleksandr though, or even a solution if the problem did exist. Besides, she had come out here so she didn’t have to think about him.

She led her white mare out of the stall, saddled and mounted it, and then headed out of the gates with Andrej riding at her side, towards the hill at the edge of the estate to the north, where they always rode.

Andrej kept pace beside her. Cold air bathed her skin and eased her tension. It was a beautiful night. Twinkling stars dotted the clear black sky and the moon was just past full, rising slowly from the horizon to light the world in blue hues, bright enough that she could see her surroundings clearly.

They slowed to a walk as they reached the foot of the hill.

“What do you know of Aleksandr?” Elise cursed herself for thinking about him again.

Andrej’s fair eyebrows knitted tight together and he stared at his black horse’s mane.

“I know little more than anyone.” He looked across at her. “You seemed bothered by his attentions.”


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She shrugged easily but was bothered in her heart. Whenever she tried not to think about Aleksandr, she ended up with him on her mind. It was impossible to escape him.

“Last night, he didn’t seem very proud of his achievements. I can’t understand why not. He’s done a lot for our species and sacrificed a great deal. He should be proud.”

“Perhaps he is not that sort of man, Elise.” A hint of a smile tugged the corners of Andrej’s lips. “Some of us do not shout about our glories, while others will tell any who will listen.”

Elise smiled at his thinly veiled reference to himself. Andrej had never made a deal of anything he’d done. He had killed several hunters and always dismissed any praise it gained him.

“Do you think it noble of him to do what he has done?” Andrej’s tone turned serious and Elise looked across at him. He was watching her, his eyes dark in the low light. When he looked at her like that, he reminded her of Aleksandr.

She had always been good friends with Andrej. He was kind to her, almost affectionate, and there had been a time when she’d thought that he might like her as more than a friend, but he had never taken any steps to change their relationship, so she had decided that she had been wrong.

Elise remembered the way that Aleksandr had stared at Andrej last night with a promise of death in his grey eyes. Could she have been right after all and Andrej had feelings for her and Aleksandr had seen it?

Suddenly, being alone with Andrej felt as stifling as being around Aleksandr. She wanted to turn back to the house and go to her room where she could be alone and away from men.

“Well?” Andrej prompted.


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“I do.” Her voice was a bare whisper. “I do think it’s noble of him to protect us and use himself as a weapon for peace. He risks his life for us, for his people. It must have taken a lot for him to give up everything. I couldn’t imagine being apart from my bloodline.”

Andrej’s expression soured. He looked away from her and geed on his horse as they neared the top of the moonlit hill.

Elise turned her attention to the mansion below, trying to distract herself from the cold atmosphere that had fallen between them. It had been wrong of her to talk about Aleksandr like that. If Andrej had feelings for her, it must have hurt him to hear her speak so highly of another man.

She tugged the reins to turn her horse around.

“Where are you going?” The strained edge to Andrej’s voice stopped her.

Elise battled her fear of seeing affection or desire in his eyes and looked back at him. “I just remembered I have some things to do.”

He didn’t say anything in response to her lie. His eyes remained fixed on hers and then he stared past her, towards the stables. Her stomach twisted. She wanted to bolt down the hill and keep riding to escape the madness that had fallen over the house since Aleksandr’s arrival. She hadn’t meant to upset Andrej by wanting to leave. She wished he would speak.

“You will have to wait a moment now.” Andrej pointed. “We have company and it would be rude to leave.”

Elise looked over her shoulder and frowned at the approaching riders. Five of them all on black steeds that blended into the darkness. Three of them were women, judging by their shape.

The other two were Ladislav and Aleksandr.


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The still night air carried the sound of the women’s laughter. They rode closer to Aleksandr as the group approached, their eyes only for him, flattering him with their smiles. Elise clenched the reins and gritted her teeth. She couldn’t have looked more different to them. They wore fine dresses and coats with their hair tumbling down around their shoulders, and had their faces made up. They rode side-saddle, as ladies should, and affected an air of delicacy.

Elise wore a man’s uniform and sat on her horse like one. She had her long brown hair drawn back into a neat ponytail and no trace of make-up touched her face.

She had never cared before, so why now?

Aleksandr smiled and said something to the ladies. They giggled on cue.

Elise didn’t want to consider why the sight of Aleksandr showing attention to the ladies upset her. She had no right to think about Aleksandr and she was certain he didn’t see her as anything but a potential conquest, just as he saw these ladies.

They rode closer.

Elise went to turn her horse away but Andrej grabbed the reins.

“You must wait until they pass,” he said and she had the terrible feeling he was enjoying watching her suffer over Aleksandr. “Show some respect.”

Andrej wanted her to see that Aleksandr had no feelings for her, and that she was nothing to him. It hurt to remain. She had come here for clarity and she had it. A part of her had enjoyed Aleksandr’s attention, had started to seek and welcome it. She crushed that part of her, intent on facing reality. She was a guard, one of the lowest ranks of the bloodline, and had no right to seek a noble vampire’s attention.


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Andrej saluted. Elise followed suit, keeping her eyes on the horizon so she didn’t have to witness the way the ladies flirted with Aleksandr.

The group stopped and the chill atmosphere that had settled between her and Andrej changed. It darkened and the air thickened, just as it had done last night when Aleksandr had been staring at Andrej. It was a dark power that whispered insidious things to her, crawled over her skin and into her heart. She wouldn’t look and see it in Aleksandr’s eyes. She didn’t want to.

“What are you doing out riding, Captain Andrej?” Ladislav’s voice was light in the darkness, full of amusement. He was enjoying Aleksandr’s company.

The two of them had probably already bedded the women that accompanied them.

Her own sense of darkness opened in her heart and she dropped her gaze. She stroked her horse’s mane, seeking comfort.

“It was a beautiful night for a ride, Master, and we are off duty,” Andrej said.

“And do you often ride together?” Aleksandr’s voice was pure malevolence.

Elise said nothing. She pushed her fingers through the long flaxy hair of her horse’s mane, shutting the world out.

“We sometimes do when we are off duty, or walk the grounds. It is a peaceful way to pass the night.” Andrej’s tone had picked up a sharp edge.

“I see.” The ice behind those two words chilled her skin and the tension in the air worsened.


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She could almost feel Andrej and Aleksandr glaring at each other, and she wanted to slink away and hide from both of them.

Without another word, Aleksandr rode on and the group followed him. Elise emerged, finding the courage to look at his back as he rode away, ahead of the others now, no longer a part of the group.

Andrej sighed. “It will be a shame to lose our quiet nights like this.”

Elise immediately faced him. “What?”

Was he leaving or would Aleksandr use his power over Ladislav to stop them somehow?

Andrej stared into the distance after Aleksandr. “I am losing you to that man. You will be a part of his guard for a full month.”

Elise’s jaw dropped.

Aleksandr’s guard?

“I hadn’t heard.” She glared at his retreating back.

“It is not official yet, but he has requested a guard detail and you specifically.”

Elise couldn’t believe his audacity. A desire to ride after him and give him hell speared through her but she bit her tongue instead. She had to follow orders and it was an honour to serve such a highly ranked vampire, but she wasn’t about to let him walk all over her, and she certainly wasn’t going to give in to him.

Her ride tonight had served its purpose. Her head was straight now, and she had found her resolve.

Aleksandr could chase her all he wanted.


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She wouldn’t give in to him, and it wasn’t because she wanted to be more than just a conquest or because she felt unworthy of the attention of someone of his rank.

It was because a man like Aleksandr didn’t know how to love.

And she would only fall for a man who loved her.


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Chapter 6

The night was quiet and overcast, warmer than the past few days but the wind had picked up. It blew against Elise, tousling the fine strands of her dark hair in her ponytail and causing her to squint. She jammed her hands into the pockets of her waist-length uniform jacket and glared at the cobbled road ahead. They had been walking the streets for almost an hour, touring the areas where hunters usually appeared.

Aleksandr’s plan was flawless. Capture a vampire hunter and get information on the rest. The trouble was, so far they hadn’t found one. There wasn’t even a sign of activity tonight.

Elise wished there was. It would take her mind off her latest irritation.

Aleksandr had chosen female guards.

Walking into his private reception room on the first floor to discover five women from the guard there hadn’t shocked or angered her in the least. What had annoyed her was the sight of him reclining on the couch, eyeing them as though he was planning to sleep his way through them.

That and the fact he had chosen the prettiest women.

Well, he could sleep with them for all she cared but he wasn’t getting into her bed and she wasn’t going anywhere near his.

Elise shifted her focus to her surroundings, taking in the narrow alleyways between the old painted buildings. The niggling feeling in the pit of her stomach didn’t go away. Whenever she looked at the two blonde female guards with them, she wanted to grind her teeth and growl.

Aleksandr looked across at her and Elise schooled her features, hiding the jealousy that was riding her and not giving her a


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moment’s rest. She was a danger to Aleksandr when she was so preoccupied and she knew better than to lose her focus when out on the hunt.

It was shameful of her to behave such a way.

That thought alone sharpened her focus and pushed out any jealous thoughts. She was a guard and one of the best, and she wasn’t going to ruin her reputation because of something as petty as envy.

“Remain close.” Aleksandr fell into step beside her, as near as he had been during their tour of Prague.

Elise ignored him and the dark anger that bubbled within her. He had been condescending all evening.

Remain close. It was the tenth time he’d said that and whenever she heard it, she wanted to remind him that she was a soldier and could handle a vampire hunter.

“If there is an attack, stay near to me and I will protect you.” The Russian clip to those words annoyed her tonight, adding to her frustration and her desire to tell him where to go.

She bit her tongue and moved on ahead of him, striding to lead the pack and give herself some space.

She hadn’t needed a man to protect her since joining the guard at seventeen, over two hundred years ago, and she certainly wasn’t about to start needing one now. She could take care of herself.

Aleksandr came up beside her. He evidently couldn’t read subliminal messages and she couldn’t tell him outright to leave her alone. She had been wrong to speak to him in such a disrespectful way the other night. She humoured him, allowing him to feel as though he was protecting her only because he was their prince.


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Elise reminded herself that he wasn’t a prince. It didn’t stick. He might have renounced his title and broken ties with his family to avoid tarnishing their peaceful name, but the blood that flowed in his veins was still Nemov. He could forsake his family to protect them, but he couldn’t surrender his name so easily, and he couldn’t change the hearts and minds of every vampire in Europe. They all thought of him as royalty.

And all would protect him given the chance.

Elise focused on that, clinging to the thought of doing her duty and protecting him, rather than his closeness and the way he spoke to her so intimately. Her life was nothing compared with his. She would gladly give it in order to ensure his survival during an attack. It would be an honourable death.

She walked on ahead, towards an intersection, scanning the area. It was still quiet.

“Wait.” Aleksandr caught her upper arm, drawing her back and close to him. “We are not alone.”

Elise focused harder but couldn’t sense anything. Was Aleksandr able to sense farther afield than her? He was four times her age and from a stronger bloodline, and had spent half of his years hunting. His senses would be more attuned than hers were.

He signalled to the two female guards. They moved closer, forming a tight group with her and Aleksandr.

Elise’s heartbeat quickened. She kept scouring the area but nothing came back. Finally, two human signatures registered on her senses and her instincts whispered of danger.

Hunters.

A very Russian sounding curse rolled off Aleksandr’s tongue and his grip on her arm increased. He pulled her closer to him and she yanked her arm free. It didn’t matter whether two hunters


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were coming their way and she was a little afraid, she wasn’t going to let him coddle her. She had fought vampire hunters before, although she had never killed one. Perhaps tonight she would change that and claim the life of one of the hunters coming towards her. Or both.

She moved to one side, forming a square with the others, and placed her hand over the dagger sheathed at her waist, waiting for the hunters to appear in view.

Aleksandr had said that their numbers were decreasing, but the threat they posed was still very real and recounted daily in society’s newspapers. While the humans were weaker, slower and died more easily, they were skilled and had several advantages. As vampire society’s desire to retain their humanity increased, their ability to fight and defend themselves declined. Many young vampires fell at the hands of hunters. Most of them had never reached maturity, had never killed, or hadn’t completed any sort of training. Hunters targeted those who were weak and vulnerable. They were ruthless and were adapting. Several religions and institutions trained specially selected humans for hunting vampires. They used entire lines of certain families—those which showed the best results and had the best genes in terms of reaction speed, strength and intelligence.

But even those humans needed an advantage over her kind.

Weapons.

Without them, all hunters would easily fall in a fight against a vampire.

Modern weaponry had caused an increase in the number of vampires killed by hunters, and each year the humans found ways to improve their arsenal.

She didn’t fear the hunters. She feared the stakes, the rapid-fire crossbows, and the silver bullets.


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Aleksandr removed his coat and casually tossed it into the dark doorway of the residential building to their right. The metal on his vambraces reflected the low overhead streetlights as he drew his curved dagger and shifted into a fighting stance.

He looked as though he feared nothing.

Elise drew strength from the sight of him so calm and strong, and assumed a fighting stance too, bracing her feet shoulder-width apart. She took a deep breath, sensing the hunters moving closer and quicker now.

Her group had the advantage in one respect. The hunters wouldn’t be able to sense them.

The vampire hunters appeared in view, heading towards them along the road across the intersection. She drew her dagger and took another deep breath.

Before she could release it, Aleksandr was running at the two men. She struggled to react fast enough to keep up with him. The other two female guards were even slower, splintering their group.

Aleksandr reached the two men before her and dodged the crossbow bolt that flew at him. Elise sidestepped it too and sprinted, using her speed to come around behind the man with the bow. The other man blocked her short blade with his sword before she could penetrate the back of the man’s neck, and she growled at him, exposing her fangs. The sight of Aleksandr going to fight the two hunters alone had brought them out and the red had bled into her eyes quicker than usual.

The hunter with the bow drew a short sword and turned on her. Elise blocked his attacks and searched for an opening. The man was young, no older than mid-thirty, around Aleksandr’s age in terms of appearance, but he was strong and skilled with a blade. How many vampires had this man killed? He would kill no more. Tonight he would find death by her blade.


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Aleksandr dragged her to one side when the man struck at her, his short sword a silver streak in the low-lit street. She gasped when she found herself face to face with the other hunter, a man in his early forties. Her blade was before her in an instant, blocking his sword, and she pushed him backwards.

The other two guards reached them and the fight became a mess. Elise did her best to keep to one hunter but the men kept switching on her, not giving her a chance to figure out their abilities or moves. They were clever.

Her breath left her when one of the men kicked her in the stomach and she fell backwards into the wall, grasping it for support and dropping her knife in the process. The younger man attacked again and she dodged his short sword, searching for a chance to get her knife. He didn’t give her one. She ducked and his blade scraped along the wall above her head, showering her with sparks.

Elise dived forwards and rolled onto her feet. The two female guards attacked the young hunter.

She went to assist them but stopped when she saw Aleksandr fighting. She had never seen anything like it. He was vicious, violent, but methodical and efficient in his actions, barely dodging the sword of the man he fought, stepping no further than necessary and gaining ground with each swipe the man made. There was no emotion in his eyes as he stepped around the man, came up behind him, and braced his arm across the man’s chest. The hunter struggled but it was useless.

Aleksandr’s blade moved silently over the man’s throat and blood spilled from the fine line, cascading over Aleksandr’s arm and hand.

As though it wasn’t enough to kill him, Aleksandr turned the blade and stabbed the man through his heart. He withdrew the dagger without any sign of feeling and dropped the body.


64

She sensed nothing from Aleksandr. No fear or excitement. Nothing. He had dispatched the hunter in a way that avoided awakening their inner darkness and risking losing some of his humanity.

Elise struggled to contain her emotions, even when she knew that it was dangerous for her to feel anything during the hunt. She trembled with fear and couldn’t tamp down her underlying excitement and hunger. She wished she were as strong as Aleksandr and in such perfect control.

Her eyes widened when Aleksandr grabbed the hunter’s body by his throat, lifted him, and turned him to face him. He sneered at the man, revealing long sharp canines, and thrust his blade into the man’s chest again. She balked when he dragged it down, gutting the hunter, and then dropped the dagger to the floor. It clattered on the cobbles, sending a shiver tripping over her skin, and she tried to look away but she couldn’t.

Not when she was looking straight into Aleksandr’s eyes.

They were black.

She swallowed. It was her imagination or the low light that made them look that way. His eyes weren’t black. It wasn’t the darkness within him showing through. He had killed the man without feeling. She had seen it herself. It had been a perfect kill. His soul wasn’t corrupted. It couldn’t be.

He snarled and sank his fangs into the man’s throat, his eyes still fixed on hers as he drank deep of the man’s blood.

In that moment, he was everything humanity had described them as in literature and in legend. He was a beast, something without feeling, only an instinct for blood and death driving him. He was dangerous and he frightened her.


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He had been a kind man once, one destined to lead their people and one who had upheld the royal family’s desire to maintain peace and avoid bloodshed.

Aleksandr dropped the body and wiped the back of his hand over his lips, smearing the dark blood across his cheek.

He was no longer the prince her people adored. She could see that now. He was a brutal killer, fiercer than any other vampire, and she both feared him and feared for him.

She was afraid he would tread too close to the darkness within his heart and be lost to it.

Something moved out of the corner of her eye. The remaining hunter had broken free. Her heart galloped and she ran towards Aleksandr when the man raised his crossbow, aiming it at him.

It didn’t matter that Aleksandr was dangerous. She had to protect him.

She threw herself at him, shielding his broad body with her slender one, and screamed when the bolt pierced her left shoulder blade.

Aleksandr caught her around the waist and roared close to her ear.

Elise shuddered, her fingers twitching as the poison entered her system. She groaned and screwed her face up as flames burned her shoulder and a blazing inferno ignited her blood. She was too hot. She pushed Aleksandr back, needing air and to escape his strong grip.

There was a snarl and then he was gone.

The world wavered in her vision but not enough that she didn’t see the horrible sight when she turned to look for Aleksandr. He was attacking the hunter who had shot her, relentless and


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merciless, tearing into the man with his claws. She had to stop him. He needed information and was ruining any chance of getting it by killing the man.

Elise stumbled forwards, sickening heat chasing over her skin and making her tremble. Her knees threatened to give out but she tripped on, reaching for Aleksandr.

He didn’t stop. Her stomach roiled, bile rising. She pressed her hand to her abdomen and swallowed, wincing when her throat burned. The poison. She had to fight it but she didn’t know how. She shook, tears spilling down her cheeks and her breath hitching in her throat. She didn’t want to die.

Aleksandr tore a long gash in the hunter’s side, growling the whole time.

Why was he doing this? Why had he changed? He was brutal, terrifying in his lust for violence, a prince of darkness incarnate.

“Stop,” Elise whispered, fighting the overwhelming urge to surrender to sleep.

The two other guards came over to her but she pushed them away, forced them to part and let her through to Aleksandr. If his reason for turning so vicious was the attack on her then she had to stop him. She couldn’t let him do this, not because of her. She had chosen to take the bolt but she hadn’t realised this would be the consequence for her actions. Aleksandr was too violent, taking too much pleasure from the kill. It was too dangerous for him to do such a thing.

He ripped the man’s chest open, peeling his ribs back and snarling, and she shook her head. He had to stop or whatever darkness she had seen in his eyes would consume him forever.

She didn’t want that to happen because of her.


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“Aleksandr.” She took another laboured step towards him, racked by chills and weakening with each passing second. She couldn’t hold out much longer.

He buried his hands deep in the man’s chest.

Her fingers hovered just short of Aleksandr’s back, fear of disturbing him crawling in her gut along with the poison. Elise took a breath and placed her trembling hand on his shoulder. He turned on her and snarled.

Elise looked into his eyes. He wavered in front of her, darkness blurring the edges of her vision, and she blinked to keep the lure of sleep away. She shook her head in sorrow when he raised his bloodied hands. He licked his fingers, his eyes never leaving hers, black pools of midnight. She feared the darkness in them and the way he had fought. She wouldn’t believe what she had seen. Aleksandr couldn’t be losing himself to the black abyss that lived inside them all.

He stared at her with predator’s eyes as he licked the blood off his fingers and she felt as though it was her blood not the hunter’s that he wanted to taste.

“Aleksandr.”

His expression shifted, a hint of recognition entering his dark eyes. She swallowed again and tried to find the strength to ask him to stop but it failed her and she collapsed as heat blazed through her blood.

When she managed to open her eyes again, Aleksandr was cradling her. His grey eyes shone with so much concern that she almost believed that he felt something for her. She tried to raise her hand but couldn’t move. She shivered, freezing now when only a moment ago she had been on fire.


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“There you are,” she murmured and relief over seeing him normal again carried away the last of her strength. She had no reason to fight the poison now. Aleksandr was safe.

The image of him slipped away, drifting into the distance

She hoped his eyes hadn’t been black.

Her prince shouldn’t have to sacrifice himself for his people.

She didn’t want him to.

Enjoyed the story so far? If you would like to continue reading this story, it is available in ebook and paperback formats.

Ebook available for Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBookstore users, Kobo Books, Sony Reader and other ereader devices.

To find out more about where this book is available, visit the author’s website:

http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk

About the Author:

Felicity Heaton is a romance author writing as both Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. She is passionate about penning paranormal tales full of vampires, witches, werewolves, angels and shape-shifters, and has been interested in all things preternatural and fantastical since she was just a child. Her other passion is science-fiction and she likes nothing more than to immerse herself in a whole new universe and the amazing species therein. She used to while away days at school and college dreaming of vampires, werewolves and witches, or being lost in space, and used to while away evenings watching movies about them or reading gothic horror stories, science-fiction and romances.

Having tried her hand at various romance genres, it was only natural for her to turn her focus back to the paranormal, fantasy and science-fiction worlds she enjoys so much. She loves to write seductive, sexy and strong vampires, werewolves, witches, angels and alien species. The worlds she often dreams up for them are vicious, dark and dangerous, reflecting aspects of the heroines and heroes, but her characters also love deeply, laugh, cry and feel every emotion as keenly as anyone does. She makes no excuses for the darkness surrounding them, especially the paranormal creatures, and says that this is their world. She’s just honoured to write down their adventures.

To see her other novels, visit: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk

If you have enjoyed this story, please take a moment to contact the author at [email protected] or to post a review of the book online

Follow the author on: Her blog – http://www.indieparanormalromancebooks.com Twitter – http://twitter.com/felicityheaton Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/felicityheaton Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/felicityheaton

Other Vampire Romances by Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton:

Love Immortal Rescued from werewolves by the most breathtaking man she's ever seen, Lauren is dragged into the fight of her life and a dark world she never knew existed. There, she discovers that she's the latest reincarnation of a goddess and must drink the blood of her immortal protector, Julian, in order to reawaken and continue her three thousand year old mission to defeat Lycaon, the original werewolf.

With the help of Julian and an organisation of people with supernatural abilities, Lauren fights for her life, their future and the fate of mankind against Lycaon and his deadly army, but can she succeed when Lycaon has killed all of her predecessors?

Can she crack the armour around Julian's heart and seize her happily forever after with him? And can Julian bring himself to trust Lauren with the fragments of his heart after everything he's been through?

Forbidden Blood In a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark.

Exiled from his family and with only his duty to sustain him, Kearn has been on the trail of an elusive Source Blood abuser for three years. When he saves a beautiful human female from the vampire’s grasp, it turns out she’s the lead he’s been waiting for. Amber is a Source Blood and the perfect bait, but for who?

As they race to catch the vampire and survive the cruel games he plays, Amber is pulled deeper into Kearn’s world and discovers the painful secrets he hides behind his handsome but emotionless exterior—hurt that she has the power to heal if she is brave enough.

Forbidden Blood is book one in the Vampire Venators series and a dark, sensual tale of betrayal, revenge and a love that knows no bounds.

Hunter’s Moon The horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when unfamiliar hunters and the scent of blood lead him to a beautiful woman and a hard decision—face his past and help her or risk losing everyone he cares about again.

Bearing a heart filled with grief and with vengeance on her mind, Tatyana is intent on killing the hunters she’s tracking and returning to her vampire bloodline, but her plan didn’t include being shot with poisoned arrows or rescued by a glowering alpha werewolf who stirs forbidden hunger in her.

When the hunters make their move, will Nicolae be able to stop them before it’s too late? Will he be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and embrace his desire for a vampire? And can Tatyana face her fears and risk her life for the sake of forbidden love?

Hunter’s Moon is book nine in the Vampires Realm series.

Heart of Darkness by Felicity Heaton - Extended Excerpt

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