The blood flowed like honey, thick and sweet, as it slid down Dominic’s throat. When he had first been changed, he had loathed the idea of taking blood from someone. Now it was second nature, an essential need, one that he enjoyed. Withdrawing his fangs from the woman’s neck, he licked her wounds, closing them. She was a pretty morsel, dark haired and brown eyed. He couldn’t recall her name, only that she had been all too willing to follow him. Had she known that he had something other than a night of passionate, sweaty sex in mind, she would have run the other way. Thankfully, vampires were still just a thing of fables, nightmares and horror movies.

As Dominic sent the woman on her way, with the thought that she hadn’t left the bar with him, had simply gone for a walk by herself, he turned and headed down the street. It was almost Halloween. The shops were filled with costumes, candy, and decorations. If only the thick-minded humans realized that a good portion of what they pretended to be one night out of the year truly existed, things would certainly change.

No longer would people revere werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and demons. No, instead they would run from them, just as his victim’s would run if he didn’t have the power to plant suggestions in their sponge like minds.

Thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, he wondered down the streets, shrouded in fog and darkness. His reddish brown hair shone brightly under the street lamps, his pale features like a beacon in the night. His green eyes scanned the shadows. Having fed, he needn’t search for prey any longer, but he did need to be certain he didn’t become prey.

While the humans typically let vampires remain in the world of make believe, there were a select few who knew of their existence… the hunters. Dominic hadn’t seen a hunter in over a decade, but he knew they were still out there, still hunting, trying to rid the earth of monsters like him; except he didn’t feel like a monster. Yet, he didn’t exactly feel like a man anymore either. He wasn’t quite certain what category he fit into these days. Dominic has been turned when he was thirty years old.

Seemed liked an eternity ago. Lost deep within his thoughts, Dominic almost didn’t see the young woman walking toward him. At the last minute, he was able to avoid a head-on collision.

She seemed to be as lost in her own thoughts as he had been in his. He breathed in her scent and his eyes widened in shock and recognition. She was what he had been looking for. His salvation. His perfect match.


Every vampire had a predestined mate, a woman or man who was selected to be with them for the centuries to come. This woman, this appetizing morsel, was his. After being a vampire for over one hundred years, he had stopped looking for his mate. To say he was stunned to literally run into her now of all times would be an understatement. Startled, she looked up.