1. Prologue

1600s

The screams from the Grandie family play like a symphony as my coven slaughters them. With every person who tries to run, another dies with blood gurgling in their throat and a vampire’s fangs embedded in their neck. My coven is infected with bloodlust. It either occurs when we are starved or a member of a coven drinks from someone who has something special in their blood. We don’t know what it is, but it makes vampires become feral. When we get a taste of blood like that, vampires share so others can enjoy it as well.

I am the only one who did not partake in the feeding and now, the coven is addicted to the Grandie’s blood, draining each and every one of them dry.

I’m not the only one who isn’t crazed and out of their mind.

Even as the red pools at my feet, tempting my fangs and my hunger, I will not give in.

I use my enhanced speed, blurring until I’m at the house where all twenty members of the Grandie’s lived.

More screams come from my right and two humans, one woman, and one man are huddled in the corner. The man steps in front of her to shield her from me.

“You will have to kill me before getting to her. I won’t allow it.” He’s brave. He tilts his chin up, daring me to come closer. Blood stains his clothes, no doubt from trying to save his family from bleeding out.

How these two even got away from the destruction happening outside is beyond me. With every snarl and scream of agony, the woman behind him cries.

“I am not here to harm you. I am not like my coven. I do not kill. I am here to help you,” I say gently, taking a step forward.

My right foot lands on a puddle of blood, the red splashing up and around my boots.

God. It smells so fucking good.

“You need to come with me. I can get you out of here. Away from death. You’ll be safe, but we have to go now.” I hold out my hand, trying to be as calm and friendly as possible. My talons are elongated, my eyes are red, and my fangs tickle my bottom lip. I can’t control my features when so much blood surrounds me, but I am in control of my monstrous ways.

“I don’t believe you.”

I blur until I’m standing in front of him. “I don’t care what you believe. I am your only chance to live. My coven will come back to this house. They will comb every inch of this farm to make sure no one is left alive. You will die here if you do not come with me.” I try not to hiss in my frustration.

He shakes his head, denying me once more.

I wrap a hand around his throat, moving him out of the way so I can get to the girl. I grab the back of her neck, pulling a whimper from her lips. I look at both of them, entrancing them until they are lax in my hold, staring at me as if I hung the moon and stars in the sky myself.

I don’t like mystifying humans unless it is necessary. I believe altering the mind like that is dangerous and we never know the consequences of such actions.

“You are safe with me, aren’t you?” I whisper softly, having them smile at me with complete trust. Ignoring the blood pumping through their bodies is difficult. They smell better than any human I’ve ever met, but I must refrain.

I will not become a killer.

“We are,” they answer in unison.

“You are,” I reassure. “We are going away. You are going to start over. You won’t remember any of this. You won’t remember your family. You wanted to travel somewhere new. Isn’t that right?”

The man nods, his brown hair falling into his face while his brown eyes shine with trust. He is a handsome man. Only a fool would disagree. Something about him almost pulls me to him. It’s probably due to his strong jawline and wideset cheekbones that arch high. It would be devastating to the world to lose such a beautiful man.

I tilt my head, listening to the chaos outside.

“Head to the house. Find any humans who managed to escape and bring them to me.”

I snarl when I hear my master, the leader of this coven. They will be able to smell these humans, no matter how far I take them away from here. I bite my wrists, allowing blood to drip freely, smearing it over the humans’ chest and arms, even their face to try and cover up the delicious scent coming from them.

“We need to go.” Wrapping my arms around them both, I blur out of the house until we are so far away, I can’t smell blood or hear my coven. Branches whip against my arms as I push through the brush of the woods.

I stop just outside of a cabin. A few goats linger in the yard and a cow bellows when it sees us. I force the humans to look at me again, needing them to be completely under my influence.

“You are to never return to your home. You are to go to this cabin here and ask for their help. You don’t remember what happened to you, only that you survived. Do I make myself clear?”

They both nod with their hooded eyes as they fall deeper into my trance.

“I am sorry,” I whisper.

“It is okay,” the girl says with a smile. “We are fine.”

“Everything is great, friend. Thank you.”

I stare into the man’s eyes, something so familiar about them pulls at me again, but I ignore the sensation.

“Have a great life.” I lean in close. “You will not remember me. You do not know vampires exist. You will be happy and carefree.” I brush my thumb over the man’s cheek, wanting to understand why I feel so sad to see him go. He isn’t my beloved, but there is something I can’t put my finger on.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I give them a small nod and hurry back to the farm where my coven is, so no one notices my absence. I stop at the edge of the farm, watching the horses run across the pasture away from the violence and predators. Their hooves are thundering, shaking the ground with heavy thrums.

I wish I could truly appreciate their beauty, but so much ugliness awaits.

The stars are out by the millions and the moon is high. A wolf howls in the distance, no doubt smelling the scent of iron in the air. When I get to the edge of the property line, I peek through the trees, my coven is congregating on the front lawn.

I step over a body, bending down to run my fingers through the blood, then wipe it on my face. I’m unable to stop myself from sucking my fingers into my mouth, the delicious nectar rolling over my tongue. My eyes roll back, the urge to hunt the two humans I freed pushing inside me, but I refrain.

I might be a monster, but I refuse to be a murderer. I want to live my vampire life differently than my coven. We don’t need to kill to feed but my master doesn’t see it that way.

“Ambrose.” He smiles at me. His teeth are red and his fangs drip with the lives he has taken. “Have you had your fill?” My master’s eyes shine a deep crimson, hunger and addiction still heavy in his gaze.

There are rare occasions where bloodlust can be cured, but typically, once a vampire has it, they are diseased forever.

“I have, Master,” I lie, hoping he doesn’t sense the humans I have saved.

Lightning cracks across the sky, stronger than I have ever seen it. The wind picks up, gusts blowing the blood from the ground. Droplets of red land on my lips and I can’t stop myself, I flick my tongue out to wipe my mouth clean.

“The Ellis Coven,” a voice that seems to come from all around us booms through the wickedness of thunder.

A woman appears from the tree line, purple hues swirling at her fingertips with magic.

“Witch,” Master hisses. “Kill her.”

A smug grin comes from my coven brother as he listens to the order. The witch lifts her hand then tightens her fist, stopping him in his tracks. For the first time in years, fear shakes through every vampire in the coven. I feel it through our connection.

“With every drop of innocent blood you have consumed,” she begins to say, the wind causing the tips of her hair to swirl around her shoulders. “May it leave your body and nourish the ground.” She twists her hand again, lifting the vampire into the air.

Blood begins to drip from his skin, eyes, mouth, ears, and nose. I watch in horror as red runs off him in rivers, vanishing into the earth.

My coven brother is drained and all that’s left is a withered husk of his skeleton. Another gust of wind blows, the forces causing his body to turn to ash, and he just… drifts away.

“My name is Sarah Wildes, the coven witch to the Monreaux Coven.”

I look at my master in time to see his eyes widen. Not many covens have their own coven witch anymore due to them being hunted and burned at the stake, but the Monreaux’s are different. They are the most powerful coven in existence, not only because they have a witch, but they have a Wildes witch.

The strongest witch known in the paranormal world.

“I was called here by the souls you have taken.” She lifts her other hand, purple sweeping from her fingertips. The tendrils begin to wrap around the legs of all the vampires.

All but mine.

“And I am here to end the bloodlust and needless deaths of innocent lives.”

All of my coven gasps for breath. My heart pounds in my chest as true fear freezes me in place. Why isn’t her magic working on me? Is she saving me for something else?

Rain begins to pour as the wind howls, carrying the water in harsh force until it feels as if needles are prickling my skin.

“With the elements of this world, I condemn thee,” she yells over the bolt of lightning striking beside her. Another being appearing to her right. The new presence glows with a giant presence surrounding her silhouette, then grips the witch’s arm, fueling her veins with glowing electricity to surge her power. “With every drop of blood you have stolen today, with every innocent life you have taken, water shall replace what flows through your veins. I condemn thee to purgatory.” The witch steps forward, twisting her hand, a menacing tone to the spell she’s casting. “With the power of the moon, you shall be forever cast in the night, and may you crave the blood of the family you have slaughtered here today. By the power of the sun, I burn you from the inside and damn your soul to darkest of places.”

The members of my coven scream as they die a painful death, their bodies turning to ash as the witch seeks her justice.

“And may the wind carry your ashes to unknown places, so you are forgotten.” The witch ends her spell just as the gusts from the storm become stronger. Leaves swirl around me, the long fingers of the tree’s reach for me, swaying back and forth.

Their bodies begin to turn to dust, drifting into the air just like she said they would. Screams unlike anything I’ve ever heard before have me covering my ears. The souls sound tortured and trapped.

I witness five shadow-like horses appear and vanish every other second. They are so fast that with every blink, I can’t help but wonder if I imagined them.

Their riders are creatures I have never seen before. One turns to me, grey stitched skin all over his body and large wings spread from his back. A smug grin appears, showing fangs, the horses they are riding neigh louder as each member dissipates. Faces appear behind the slender ribcages and their mouths open as they push against the insides of the horses to try to get free. The movement in the skeletal creature reminds me of souls trying to escape.

“May your souls be trapped in bone and flame. I, Sarah Wildes, sister of the earth, damn thee for your gluttonous ways,” she yells over the booming of thunder, the magic pulsating from her palms slowly receding back into her veins.

The neighs morph to screeches, blood-curling one minute then gone the next, leaving me in complete silence. The only sound around me is the sound of rain bulleting against the ground. The blood seeps into the grass just like the witch promised it would, feeding the soil.

Her red hair reminds me of fire as it swirls around her. The being next to the witch releases her arm, taking the electricity with her. The beast inside this creature engulfs her as if it is a shield.

“You did not die with your coven,” the witch notices, slowly walking in my direction. Her long black dress sweeps across the wet ground, the hem becoming muddy. The sleeves hang from her wrists, the fabric swaying from the power still moving around us.

The breeze holds a warning, a promise, or a threat.

By how it moves over my skin, trying to grip the monster inside me, I can’t tell what the chilling air is saying.

“You didn’t feast amongst this family.” She stops in front of me, tilting her head to the side as if she can’t quite figure me out.

“I did not,” I reply, kneeling with respect and in hopes my submission will save my life. “I wanted to save them. I managed to get two away from the disaster.”

She inhales, gripping my chin. “You wanted to. I can smell the hunger in your veins, but it is different than the others.”

I lick my lips, trying to figure out the words that will spare my life.

Her hands grip the sides of my head. “You are the last vampire of this coven, and you will reap the consequences of their actions.”

“What? No, no, please. I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t feed. I do not have bloodlust,” I shout, but her magical grip silences me.

Drifting her hand to my chest, I gasp when her fingers slip into my skin.

“I, Sister of this earth, curse this body with the life of the stars. No longer will you live like your fellow vampires, but you will live until the last star dies and burns. Only then will you be at rest.” Her veins glow as she takes my life, replacing it with immortality. “No longer will you live for two hundred years, or a thousand even if you chose a mate to share your fears.”

Living forever? That doesn’t seem too bad. Only vampires who meet their beloved get to live forever.

“For the rest of your days, you will only crave the blood of a Grandie descendant. Their blood will be the only blood you can stomach. Their blood will be the only one that can feed your veins and pump your heart. Without this blood, you will be in pain—” she wraps a hand around my throat, her magic burning my neck. “—But with my magic, I will keep you on the brink of death so you cannot die. Gluttony has consequences vampire.”

“No, no, no, please! There are only two members of the family left— I cannot live like that.”

“You are trapped and not even the blood you seek will set you free.”

With a snap of a finger, the witch and her accomplice are gone, and I’m left with a thirst in my mouth only a Grandie can quench. I turn my head to where I saved the last two members of the family.

And I run.