Some may think I was crazy, to do that for a woman who’d been my lover for two days, who by my own admission I hadn’t loved, at least, not as I’d loved Anna. Some may think it obscene that I interred them beside one another, and didn’t give them separate graves. But just as Anna’s love had given me the impetus to transform my meaningless existence into a consequential life, Rene’s words and her sacrifice had given me the hope that was now my sole reason for going on. I believed that the future she had seen was true, that I would find love again in time. I also believed that there had to be another reason I had triumphed against such overwhelming odds, some fateful destiny that waited for me like a brilliant gemstone glowing in my future.
I ruled, expecting every day that this might be the day that held my anticipated providence. And the years passed. Little by little, my hope began to fade. It was easy to keep my faith in the beginning, to sit before the fire and remember Rene’s words. But after a century had passed, when the house was no more than a thickly brambled ruin, it was hard to sustain hope. Inch by inch, I let myself slide into melancholy, and for the next sixty years, it kept me in its grasp.
One good thing came of the many years that passed me by: science. With the emergence of genetics and DNA sequencing, much has been discovered about vampire physiology, debunking many of the famous alleged vampire fallacies that were once so prevalent about mirrors, silver, and the like. With the help of a team of geneticists, I discovered how my body is able to sustain itself, which I shared with my fellow Vampire Rulers. They and I kept our findings under wraps, of course. It is not good for enemies to know of our real weaknesses, much less the ins and outs of how a vampire’s body uses blood to stop the aging process, not in this modern age of biological weapons. So you’ll understand, I hope, if I leave it at that.
Now it is the turn of the century, the year two-thousand. So much has changed, yet so much is the same. Hunters come for me, and are killed. Titus works for me, as do werebears. A ranked assassin named Lash also works for me, the top one, and he is my best friend, too, both loyal as Levi was and more dangerous than Uther at his worst. The werebats and I are still on good terms. They flourish yet in the southwest, where Uther’s son Ember led his flock those decades ago. But the werewolves are gone, along with the wolves, Eva long since dust in some unknown forest. There are cities everywhere in this country now, a fact I am sad Quentin did not get to see.
And Danial, my dear brother, has recently moved back to New York State, to run his business, which is growing with the help of his partner and bodyguard, a werecougar called Theo. He also brought a few werefoxes with him as guards, I was glad to see. He is no longer just another vampire, but a State Ruler now, having dispatched Garrett, a vampire a fourth of his age. I admit I let it happen, as I wanted Danial closer to me. The many years have made me value the little family I have left.
Even if I no longer believe in Rene’s words, I do have anticipation of another kind to keep my existence meaningful. It has been sixty years since I took Danial’s last love from him. I have hope that very soon, he will fall in love again.
Coming Soon
Her Secret, Book 6 of the Promise Me Series
Point of No Return, Book 7 of the Promise Me Series
Promise Me Anthology
About the Author
Tara Fox Hall’s writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense, action-adventure, erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.
Website:
www.tarafoxhall.com
Other works by Tara Fox Hall
Return To Me
Surrender to Me
The Origin of Fear in Spellbound 2011 Anthology
Night Music in Midnight Thirsts II Anthology
Partners in Midnight Thirsts II Anthology
Kink in Wicked Christmas Wishes Anthology
The Oath in Wicked Christmas Wishes Anthology
The Promise Me Series
Promise Me, Book 1
Broken Promise, Book 2
Taken in the Night, Book 3
Taken for his Own, Book 4
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He was new to this world of night dancers, a fledgling. He was born at the age of 33, and had much to learn. He watched as a cohort of vampires worked their way through the crowd at Carnival, seducing first this one and then that one. It was fascinating at first, then titillating. But, the titillation only affected his mind; it was the last vestige of humanity to cling to the long, dead, man. He now looked for that same titillation in new places among the living, as well as the dead.
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In the northern Maine woods, a wolf pack unlike any other reigns the landscape. With the ability to shift into human shape, they are the supreme rulers of their territory. Until the real humans threaten their secret realm...
A seasoned fighter who has murdered too many of his fellow wolf-men to bear counting, Grane is long past salvaging, no matter the reason behind his lethal campaign. But then he meets Suma, the white wolf who wields the power to heal his emotional scars.
But Suma is not a wolf-woman who can easily forgive Grane his horrific deeds. She mistrusts him, and seeks every opportunity to remind the wolf-man of the pain he's caused her pack.
Yet it is through this fire that Grane's redemption is forged, and as he heals, Suma witnesses the unfolding of a generous heart, and learns there just might be passion and loyalty to be found in forgiveness—if they can survive long enough to find out.
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by Tori L. Ridgewood
Rayvin Woods, photographer and natural witch. She just wanted to start her life over again after a series of misadventures. She didn't count on rekindling a lost love when she came home to Talbot...or battling a malevolent vampire and his coven for her life.
Grant Michaels, police officer. He thought Rayvin was a murderer. He will do whatever it takes to protect the community he loves from danger...but will he learn to trust his heart, and the word of a witch, before it's too late?
Malcolm de Sade, cunning vampire, imprisoned underground for a year by Charlotte Fanning and Pike Mahonen ("Mist and Midnight", Midnight Thirsts). His accidental release unleashes his hunger and ambition on a small, sleepy town...
Immortal Confessions Page 26
