Blood & Honey #1

*Chapter Three*

The heavy thud of the wrought-iron door to the secluded estate I inherited echoes loudly off the stone floors and Venetian plastered walls when I enter. Coated walls and slick floors are a must for any vampire's lair. They are much easier to clean should we wish to enjoy a meal from the privacy of our home.

The double bonus to bringing prey home is that I don't have to worry about proper body disposal. I simply bring the carcass down to the incinerator. Two hours later, the corpse is reduced to ashes I will scatter into the ocean where they become food for the fishes. The circle of life is as delicate as it is brutal.

My feet halt in the entryway before I make it into the living room. "Alekos?" I say, surprise to see the eldest member of the Vondarrie family stationed in front of the hearth as a gas fire crackles on colored glass behind him.

The Vondarrie hail from the royal bloodline that dates back to the beginning of our kind. There are only five bloodlines left that have ties that date as far back as the Vondarrie's. My family is one of them.

My sisters immediately stand, my voice pulling them from the sofa they were perched on before I arrived. I see Sabrina and Serena have received more than just one member of the Vondarrie into our home in my stead. Dorian Vondarrie bows his head in my direction.

"Tristan Darkos," Alekos interrupts my acceptance of his eldest son's silent greeting. "It has been some time. Over two centuries, if I am not mistaken?" Alekos smiles, his grin refine with an elegance that I always fall short of.

Humans may not be able to see it, but there is always a sinister edge to my smile, one I haven't been able to iron out despite my attempts.

I suppose any attempts are futile as not one of my kind would ever refer to me as a vampire that exudes elegance and charm. Sure, I can play the part for a human. However, that doesn't say much. It is not hard to charm a human, just play to their vanity and sense of self-worth. You'll have them right where you want them. To charm another of my kind requires talent, a talent I lack.

"I believe it has been closer to three," I say. "What brings you to North America's west coast? Did things get lonely up in that big castle of yours?" I kiss the ring Alekos wears that bears the crest of the Dark Prince when he offers his hand to me.

The Vondarrie's bloodline is the only one honored with royal distinction, as they are the "true" descendants. We vampires may have a creator, but our Maker only fashioned the first of us—the Prince of Darkness and his mate. Haysha, the God of the Underworld's true name the humans have forgotten, gifted her creations with powers unlike any this earth had ever seen. They were to become gods who would rule this world, and they did for a time.

Along with the gifts and powers Haysha bestowed upon the Dark Prince and his mate, she gave them a court known as the Vampirie to help serve them and establish their reign over the humans that infested the earth. The Vampirie were given remarkable powers, but no Vampirie's strength could ever match that of the Prince.

It's said that my bloodline comes from a night when the Prince of Darkness's mate laid with the Great Warrior who spilled blood in the name of the Dark Prince. She seduced him as a way to make the Prince jealous as the Prince had taken up a lover. That night the head of the Darkos name was conceived—Thron, the Beast of the Damned. At least, that is what the humans called him back when humans worshiped and paid homage to the Prince of Darkness in a time that pre-dates the written history of the humans today.

"Good evening, Tristan, Grandson of the Beast Thron and Son of Therrien and Lessandra Darkos." A silken voice flows in my direction on a breath that is distinctly feminine and lacking in maturity. "I have eagerly looked forward to this moment. Your parents have been so kind to us in our time of need."