All Souls' Night - Renee Rose Page 0,30

in this world, including humans; to be the sheepdogs. There is no doubt in my mind that humans are the weaker species, perhaps even the weakest of all the species. They allow too much to color their survival, too many emotions to get in the way of even the basic of all self-preservations. It was emotion that caused the war that put us on the battlefield, emotion that had us fighting against each other, and that was how we ended up turned, together, in that God forsaken cage.

I shake my head. I won’t go there. Not tonight. Those millennium-old memories flash back as if they occurred yesterday, the nightmares fresh. I am haunted by the torture. Someday, we will both get justice for what he did to us. But not today. Not tomorrow or this week. This week is about Keri and me. Not about age-old wounds that continue to fester. I am glad that my brother will be present to share this happy memory with me.

Erik and I are two of the older vampires, just shy of a thousand years old. We have both been gifted with the ability to read minds, and our mind-bending powers are strong. Our similarities are many, we were sired by the same vampire, only seconds apart. Our differences are also vast. He is and will always be my brother, forged by a common enemy, and a battle bond.

I choose not to use my mind-bending powers on Keri. I want her to come to me willingly, giving me her submission from her free will and not forced. Forced submission is not submission at all. I had hundreds of years’ worth of one night stands before the loneliness hit. A deep loneliness.

My gut twists with anxiety and fear. She could reject me after I reveal myself to her. I don’t like the feeling of these emotions. Fear is an emotion I was glad to have mostly left behind with my mortality. It is not an emotion that plagues me often. Yet, here I am. Afraid of a wisp of a girl who might twist a knife in my heart and leave me aching for an eternity.

Every time I thought I was ready to tell Keri, I saw her face. Ann. My last love. The girl who thought I was a monster. Ann, the one who broke my heart with her pettiness and caused a considerable amount of trouble. The number of people’s minds I had to wipe after her… well, she was my hard-learned lesson on being cautious. That was why I had chosen one night stands, short term, no emotional connection experiences from then on out. I paid a pretty penny for my ethically sourced blood deliveries; Lucius had kindly shared his contact.

Instead of relationships, I chose to scene with regulars at the clubs I visited around the world. I had my favorite submissives at each one, but they knew my expectations. Nina at Club Toxic was my plaything for years. Out of all of my playmates, she was the only one who seemed to hang on to me, even though I’ve been more than clear with her. Not anymore. I am bringing my own submissive with me this time.

If everything goes well, Keri will be more than my submissive at the end of the week. I will have to check on the custom piece being designed for her—and several others—by my personal jeweler.

The plane touches down and a car is waiting for us. Keri doesn’t say anything, she doesn’t have to. I read her thoughts. Confusion fills her. She knows I am wealthy, but not how wealthy. She has never asked, and I’ve never volunteered my worth. Too many women throw themselves at my feet due to my net worth. Clueless humans, money doesn’t buy happiness or love. No matter how much they try to convince themselves otherwise.

It is time to take her home. I will finally tell Keri what I am and hopefully, if all goes well, this will be her Arizona home, too.

Chapter 2

The man has literally swept me off my feet. I can’t believe he has chartered a private plane to fly us to Arizona. I know he is wealthy but man, this is crazy. The black ominous vehicle we are now riding in is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.

“I had it modeled after the Roadrunner,” he says.

“The Roadrunner? Like the bird?”

“No, Butterfly. Like the President’s mobile command and control vehicle. It’s just a heavily modified Chevy Suburban.”

“Wait, like