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Chapter One
After four hundred and ninety-nine years of existence, Connor Buchanan arrived at an inescapable conclusion regarding himself He was a coldhearted old bastard
He slowed to a walk after checking the extensive grounds at Roh the trees at va at his face and filling his nostrils with the heady scent of newly budded leaves and flowers But then hed realized why he welco Not for the warmer temperatures Not for the promise of rebirth and renewal, since he would remain the same as hed been for centuries No, to be brutally honest with hi forward to That er days and hts No memories No remorse
Theat Romatech Industries came into view, and he slowed his pace even more, struck by a sudden reluctance to reenter the facility More and more these days, he preferred to be alone
Why bother with companions? Was there any conversation he hadnt already experienced a dozen or more times? And if he even hinted at the black despair that threatened to engulf hi looks fronosis He was nearing his five hundredth birthday, and apparently, hitting that e the most stalwart of Vamps into a mid-life crisis
Bull crap Rous were both older than him, and they were content with their lives Theyre happily ht aside He wouldnt fall prey to that forot
No, he was fine with being a coldhearted old bastard He was good at it Hed been perfecting the condition for years He strode through a flower bed, tra the new blossoms underfoot
At the side entrance, he slid his ID card through the security console and pressed his pal detected the faint click of the lock releasing, he pushed open the side door and trudged down the hall to the MacKay security office
His footsteps echoed in the eht except those who attended Mass on the far side of the facility
He let himself into the security office and scanned the wall of surveillancelot clear Corridors empty Cafeteria eht and focused on the screen showing the chapel
Out of habit, he searched the sation to ht Connor had been officially watching over Roman for more than sixty years now as a MacKay S&I employee, first as head of security at Rouard Since Roanesti was the inventor of synthetic blood and the owner of Roet for the Malcontents who considered synthetic blood an insult and threat to their murderous way of life
But the hatred went deeper than that Casimir had been the one to transforht it would be an a slap at the face of God to turn a humble monk into a bloodthirsty, homicidal varoup of good Vaht the Malcontents and protect humanity
Connor was dying on a battlefield when Roed hi Roh to alet what a coldhearted old bastard he truly was
He watched on the regation moved from the chapel into the hallway Connors heart squeezed at the sight of Romans children, Constantine and Sofia They were as close as hed ever get to having children Tino had celebrated his fifth birthday lastthree in May He touched the screen that showed the Massfree He smiled as they skipped into the nearby fellowship hall, no doubt eager for punch and cookies Their , then chased after the children
Connors s from the chapel, nearly all of them with a wife at his side Most of the men had succumbed to the silken trap of love Poor role for centuries, then out of the blue, one after another, plummet off the cliff like a dazed herd of sheep? Not only had they made themselves personally vulnerable to the heartache and despair that caered the entire vampire world as more and more mortal women learned of their existence
The norance was bliss, Connor supposed They didnt see the risk They didnt feel the cold shadow of dooe They had no idea how love could drive ahis own soul along the way