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Chapter One

May 5, 1843

Rafe gasped and jerked upright

Strong hands grabbed his shoulders, holding him steady A deeper instinct demanded he pull away, run Run fast But before he could do more than tense his muscles for an explosion of action, Marcus’s voice broke through the clutter clogging his brain

The words didn’t entle Reassuring Safe

Everything was safe He was safe

His heart was still haainst his chest, but he drew in a deep breath and rubbed the heel of one palone fros An angry, overwhelh

Lowering his hand, Rafe blinked and his eyes focused on his brother’s worried expression as he stared at him One hand moved from Rafe’s shoulder to cup the side of his face with a surprising gentleness he’d not experienced with Marcus since they were kids Bel, yes His twin, Beltran, was all kindness and sweet concern But not Marcus

“Are you okay?” his brother asked

Before Rafe’s brain could formulate an answer, it was distracted by the red smear at the corner of Marcus’s mouth It looked like…blood

His eyes darted over Marcus’s face It didn’t look like he’d sustained an injury Why was he bleeding? What had happened—

Mes Rafe pulled out of Marcus’s grasp His legs weren’t yet strong enough to hold hiht, so he scooted a few feet across the thick Aubusson rug covering Marcus’s library Marcus tried to reach for him, but Rafe held up a hand to ward him off, and Marcus relented

Vampires

They had all agreed to become vampires To save their mother To protect her

Had it worked? Had he truly died and come back as a vampire? He didn’t feel any different He felt alive Normal Himself, if a little disoriented

“Rafe,” Marcus said, his voice growing fir “Speak to me How do you feel?”