Prologue: Damned

Nikolai looked up into the clear night sky. The moon was a full silver globe in the velvety blackness, and the stars sparkled like a million diamonds. The trees around him were beginning to blossom with the first buds of spring, yet the evenings were still chilly. He loved this secluded stone bench in the back of his cousin’s fine English garden near the far end of the park. Few people wandered by, even in daylight, and he came here often to think. He flipped open the small, black velvet box in his hand and smiled. Suzanne would love the ring. A two-carat diamond set in white gold winked up at him from its snug package. He knew she was waiting for him even now. Soon he would go to her and ask her to be the next Countess Korokova. His heart leapt in his throat. He could imagine the twinkle in her beautiful, cat shaped, green eyes, how she would gently stroke a strand of her long, dark brown hair and smile up at him in her shy way before saying yes. He let the box close with a snap and placed it in his jacket pocket. He stood and straightened the ruffles around his wrist and made sure that his long, tight-fitting jacket was smooth over his lean form. He looked up at the moon again, feeling confident. He made his way to the small gate that separated his cousin’s garden from the park, pulled it open, and let it close behind him as he turned down the path that would take him to Suzanne’s family home.

He hadn’t gone far when he felt the presence of someone following him. Nikolai patted the right side of his jacket where he usually carried a small pistol and silently cursed to find it not there. He remembered placing it on his nightstand while he got out the ring and thought he would not have need of it for this night’s errand. He stopped and turned to confront whoever was following him only to see no one there. He took a deep breath and shook himself, dismissing the odd feeling as just nerves. He turned back around only to find a very large gentleman blocking his way. He could not help, but take a few steps back in surprise. He had not heard the man approach.

“Hello Nikolai,” said the intruder; his voice resonated deep and rich. He stood directly in front of Nikolai and moved slightly so that the silver moonlight played across his features. He was a very handsome man with high cheekbones and deep blue eyes. His hair was as dark as the sky and silky as a raven’s wing, long and unbound. He was taller than Nikolai and broader of shoulder. A quiet power emanated from him, intimidating Nikolai where no other had ever done so before.

“Who are you?” asked Nikolai, uncomfortable beneath this man’s gaze. He quickly scanned the area searching for possible help, but wasn’t surprised to find no one about. He stood straight and looked the gentleman in the eye.

“My name is Lucius Palieri. I doubt the name means anything to you. Suzanne is a distant relative to me, and I have determined that she is not for you. My family has long been in the process of joining to people of royalty and keeping the bloodlines clean. You are of foreign blood, and I have already made alliances for her. She will forget you in time.”

Nikolai let the stranger’s words sink in and felt anger well up inside him. “What do you mean? I am in line to be an Earl when my father passes. Just who do you think you are?”

Lucius laughed at the angry questions. “You may be an Earl where you are from, young Korokav, but Suzanne is destined to be a Princess. I am much more powerful than you could ever imagine, and I protect what is mine. I cannot allow this relationship to go any further.”

Nikolai moved to the side to try and go around, but the other man blocked his way. “Just what do you think you can do? I love Suzanne and I plan on asking her to marry me tonight. She is waiting for me even now.” He met Lucius’s intense gaze. A mistake; for he suddenly felt held in place by a power he could not name.

“Suzanne is my niece four generations removed. I am going to keep you from her forever.” He drew back his upper lip in a menacing grin exposing long, sharp canine teeth. His hands clasped Nikolai’s shoulders with an inhuman strength, and he drew the smaller man against him. “I will give you the choice that was given me, however, for you do not deserve to die. I will take your life as it is now, but what I offer is immortality in return. Take it or leave it. It matters not to me,” he whispered in Nikolai’s ear. Then he quickly sank his teeth into his neck and moaned as the blood flowed down his throat.

Nikolai gasped at the sharp pain, but was unable to move. His life flowed into the other man, and he grew weak. Lucius held his body gently, like a baby, as everything began to go black. Nikolai’s last thoughts were of Suzanne.

Lucius drained Nikolai and laid his body on the ground. He really should just let him die, but Suzanne loved him. He cut his wrist with one sharp fingernail and let the blood drip into Nikolai’s mouth. Nikolai began to swallow and grasped the wound to his mouth, drinking deeply of the life Lucius offered. Eventually, Lucius withdrew his arm, no longer amazed at the instant healing of the wound. He watched Nikolai draw up tight, clutching his knees and moaning as his body died. Lucius felt a small pang of sympathy. He would have to teach Nikolai everything and was prepared to deal with his anger when he fully became aware of the events of the evening. Nothing would ever be the same.

A small, black, velvet box fell out of Nikolai’s pocket as he rolled over, groaning against the pain. Lucius picked it up and opened it. It was a beautiful diamond ring. Suzanne would have loved it. It was too bad. She was destined for royalty, and he had now removed the only obstacle. Lucius closed the box and slipped it inside his own jacket pocket.

Nikolai had finally stopped writhing on the ground and just lay there, looking up at the night sky. His vision and hearing were suddenly much clearer, now that the pain was gone. He looked up at Lucius and took the hand that was offered. Then he hit the man with all he had. Lucius’s head jerked to the side and he rubbed his jaw. He let out a bark of laughter. “I suppose I deserved that,” he said.

Nikolai only nodded. He felt a strange, deep hunger inside; a burning that grew in him.

Lucius recognized the signs of the need and put his arm around his new student. “Come, there is much you need to learn,” he said and drew him towards the city and away from Suzanne forever.

At first, what he had to do to survive disgusted Nikolai, but the blood lust drove that sentiment to the background, and he began to relish the kill as it assuaged the pain of losing all that he loved. Lucius explained the role they played in population control, and Nikolai sought out low life characters, cutthroats, and thieves. He went back once to see Suzanne, hiding in the shadows. She was sitting in her rose garden crying softly in the waning moonlight. Her face was red and puffy, and he could almost feel her pain. In spite of her state, she was still so very beautiful to him and he ached to go to her.

Lucius appeared next to him and draped his arm haphazardly around Nikolai’s shoulders.

“She weeps for you, yes. She was told that you were murdered and your body taken back to your country for a private burial.” He turned Nikolai to look at him. “As much as you want to be with her, being near her now would only endanger her life. The blood lust is still new in you and, though your love for her is strong, you would not be able to control yourself. Let her grieve and then move on. It is what is best for her.”

Nikolai watched her for many long, silent moments, and then gently rose into the night sky with the soft sound of the air parting around him in his ears.

Weeks turned into months and those turned quickly into years. Nikolai and Lucius parted ways after he had learned and mastered all the older vampire had to teach him. He read in the journals that Suzanne had married royally as Lucius had intended and she had five lovely children, three beautiful girls and two handsome boys. Nikolai watched from afar, never coming close enough to meet any of them, but vowed himself their guardian angel. Through the decades, he watched them grow and have families of their own. When he wasn’t watching them, he traveled the world, investing his family fortune in private enterprises. Over the years, the blood lust became less potent, and he was able to be with humans again without feeling the absolute need to feed. He even learned how to feed off many without killing any. He could use his powerful hypnotic suggestions to bring his victims to him, and they never remembered anything afterward. The tiny pinpricks from his sharp canines healed rapidly with a quick pass of his tongue.

As time changed, so did everything around him. He met a few others like himself, but it was a lonely existence, watching those he came to care about die. Suzanne lived to eighty-five and passed away with all of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren around her. She was much loved by many. Nikolai stood at her grave that night and wept tears of blood. Afterwards, he went to America to escape the painful memories.

There were wars and many atrocities in the new country, a different people with a different code of living. The New World was a struggle, and he became immersed in its ever-changing culture. He found he could go underground and sleep for years before needing to rise and feed. When he woke, sometimes 20 years had gone by, and he would have to buy all new clothes. His taste for clothing ran very much to the casual. He loved blue jeans and polo shirts, though his favorite item, a denim jacket with metallic buttons and side slit pockets, was adapted with a bit of the ruffle from his two-century old shirt cuff attached to the wrist cuffs of his jacket. It only peeped out, but gave it a unique, stylish appearance and helped to remind him whence he came.

He grew used to riding around in horseless carriages called cars, as the cities grew bigger and brighter and noisier. Feeding among the ever-growing populations was easy, even in full view of others. What used to be private was now commonly accepted on the well-lit street corners.

Nicholas kept track of his investments and was amazed at the amount of money he had amassed over two hundred years. He bought a mansion and had it tastefully decorated. He hired a woman and a man to keep it clean and running smoothly during the long periods he went away.

Chapter I

“Is it straight?” Lauren asked, holding the letter ‘S’ to the end of the word ‘Antique’ on the front window of her new shop. She looked back at her best friend, Amy, who was contemplatively chewing a nail and eyeing the letter critically.

“Just a little to your left, I think,” Amy said. She shook back her shiny blonde hair and tugged at the hemline of her pink tie-dye tee shirt.

Lauren moved the letter as suggested and glanced back. Her friend nodded and came forward, kneeling beside her. Lauren applied the last letter to the window and carefully smoothed out the air bubbles with the window squeegee. She glanced at Amy and stood up. Together, they moved back to admire the sign. “Heritage Antiques” was arranged in a small arc in brass antique lettering halfway up the glass front to the right of the door. Lauren stood, looking at her new shop with her arms crossed in front of her chest. “I think it looks good.”

“It would have been a lot less trouble if you had just hired someone to do it for you,” Amy said dramatically.

“It really wasn’t so bad. Besides, I’ve done everything else myself.”

“I don’t see where you will put anything else. The floor is so packed with stuff that you can hardly walk in there.”

“I still have most of the stuff on the second floor in crates that need to be unpacked. At least I have a good inventory for my opening tomorrow,” Lauren said and opened the door of her shop. Amy entered ahead of her, and she locked the door behind. Two small crates on the sales counter and two mid sized crates on the floor against the wall waited to be opened. Lauren felt that each one was a precious, mysterious gift to be opened and explored. She reached back and twisted her long, thick, brown hair and looped it around into a quick knot.

“Did you put an ad in the newspaper yet?” Amy asked, resting her back against the sales counter. She began chewing on her nail again as Lauren moved around her to the back.

“No, but I did get flyers printed up and paid some of the local kids to distribute them downtown.”

“Lauren….”

“I know, I know,” Lauren said, bending down to place one of the small crates on the floor. “I just haven’t had time to write it up yet, but the flyers should be all over the place by now.” She stood up and met Amy’s cool brown gaze with her cat-shaped green eyes.

“You would draw a bigger crowd with a newspaper ad. Besides, antiques aren’t for everyone. You need to reach a larger area to bring in the right customers.”

“I took the same marketing class as you. But honestly, I haven’t had time. It’s been a busy month just trying to get what I have done out on the floor.” Lauren propped her elbows on the counter and set her chin in the fold of her hands.

“You could have hired someone. I would have been happy to help too, you know,” Amy said and brushed Lauren’s bangs out of her eyes.

“I need to save every penny I have until I know how this business is going to go. It could swing either way, and I have to have enough money to cushion myself with.”

“Your great aunt left you a lot of money. Enough to hire some help for a little while. Not to mention the trust fund your parents have set up for you.”

“I am not touching that money unless I am about to be turned out on the streets. You know how I feel about them,” Lauren said with a huff.

“Just because your super-smart, doctor parents are miffed because you chose to do this instead of follow in their footsteps doesn’t mean they don’t want you to have that money.”

“Mom is a research doctor and my father is a brilliant neurosurgeon. I have a Bachelor of Arts and a love for antiques. Right now, we aren’t even speaking. When Lucille left me her estate, Mom wasn’t exactly thrilled.”

“There is nothing wrong in doing what you love to do. You slaved in back of Mr. Wagner’s store for three years restoring antiques and paintings for him for barely minimum wage. Now you have your dream, your own business. I think if you told your parents what you are doing, they would be proud of you.” Amy watched Lauren run her fingers over the smooth wood of a refinished armoire. The look on her friend’s face confirmed her love.

“I am finally living my dream. It may not be what my parents had in mind for me, and one of these days we will make things right again, but right now I just want to live my life.” Lauren looked at her friend.

Amy nodded. Her pretty face lit up with an idea. Lauren knew that look and groaned.

“Don’t groan at me. Look, you have been working so hard these past weeks, why don’t you come home with me. Jeremy should be home in an hour with the boys. We could watch a movie and have pizza to celebrate. What do you say?” Amy pulled on Lauren’s arm. “Please?” She insisted.

Lauren gave her friend a big smile and let her tug her towards the door. “Okay. That sounds good. I haven’t seen my godchildren in three weeks, and pizza is my favorite food.”

“That’s my gal,” Amy said as they locked up the shop.

Lauren climbed into the passenger side of Amy’s blue Toyota pickup and fastened her seatbelt. She looked at the sign on her shop window and felt a comfortable pool of warmth in her heart. The truck pulled out of its spot on the street and moved down the road away from the small, three-block area of shops, toward the downtown area of Marlow, North Carolina.