Thick, warm burgundy covers every inch of my skin and what is left of my clothes. The blood clings to me in layers. Fresh crimson trickles down the labyrinth of crusted red that is caked onto me. Some of the blood is days old, some seconds fresh. I'm a walking canvas splatted with different shades of ruby.

A sea of corpses surrounds me: vampire, human, angel, and demon. There are thousands heaped in piles as pyres burn hot while dead, rotten flesh floats into the sky becoming ash.

I continue to press forward, ignoring the petrified screams and the clashes of swords and weapons I have never before seen. My eyes are narrowed, focused on the figure I can barely make out through the haze of war.

It doesn't matter that fire stands in my way. I walk through it, possessed by the rage and darkness that flows within me like a hellfire sent from Hades.

I'm almost to the figure that is trying to conceal their identity with a brown cloak that matches the charred and burned lands.

The figure whirls around when I emerge from the smoke and fire, every bit the demon I am, for vampires are just demons on another scale. The light of her skin burns my eyes, too bright for me to make out the angel's features, but I can make out the bundled blanket she has pressed tightly to her chest.

The angel's fierce stance signals she is willing to put her life on the line to protect what is in her arms. The thing is it's not hers to protect—it's mine.

Before I can get any closer, the black sky opens up and a ray of light roars down from the heavens with a deafening blast as it makes impact with the land my kind have seeped in the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.

The ground shakes from the power of pure magic invading the dark that has consumed these lands for fifteen years. After the blindness washes from my eyes, I find the angel is gone. The cloak she had on flutters to the ground as she takes to the sky taking what I'm after with her.

I gather my energy, stealing from the lives I stripped to power me until I am a black raging force unlike anything this earth has ever seen. Before I can reach the apex of my power, I see a hand sticking out of my chest. Blood rises in my mouth as I turn and stare at a face I was least expecting to see.

"The time is not now."

Darkness, unrelenting darkness sends me into the realm of what feels like eternal slumber.

I wake, my cheek pressed against the cold stone of the bathroom floor as glass shards are littered around me. I grab onto my head. It's still fogged over from the dream.

Pushing to my feet, I see bits of the mirror piled into the sink like a pool of shimmering water.

Is it possible we are heading toward another fifteen-year war like my ancestors fought? Is this dream a warning of what is to come if I don't stop the war brewing amongst my kind?

So much blood and death, and not of just the humans. My kind were killed by the droves as well.

I must have been seeing the Great War through the warrior's eyes, or maybe the Beast of the Damned himself. Whatever the case, this dream was an ingrained memory passed down from within my bloodline.

What I need to figure out is why it surfaced now.

Kinley is sound asleep when I walk into my room, sunlight streaming in through the drapes. I was out for the whole night.

Popping my neck to loosen the stiffness sleeping on the hard floor of the bathroom has caused, I walk over to the mirror attached to the dresser in my room. Relief washes over me when I find no black veins covering me and that my eyes have returned to normal.

The lump under the covers stirs, pulling my attention from my reflection to Kinley's as she rolls over in her sleep.

"Apud eam in sanguine Ego resurgemus." The phrase slips from me, a fading memory I am struggling to cling to.

What did the beast mean when he said I rise in her blood?

Whose blood?

Kinley's?

My cell phone rings. I answer it, not wanting Kinley to wake. I need to gather my thoughts before I have to deal with her as well.

"Mr. Darkos, we are at the gate. We have secured all the things you asked for," the driver from Shadow Enterprise says.

Maya.

"One moment, and I will let you in." I hang up, pressing the code on my phone to unlock the gate.

By the time I am opening the front door, Maya is stepping out of the black car holding a small suitcase in her hand as the driver gets three more large suitcases out of the trunk.

"Wow, this is a super nice house and so big. It must cost a small fortune to own a place like this." Maya steps inside, the driver placing the bags inside the door for me.

I tip the driver and he leaves, a sly grin accompanying his nod of gratitude. I have no doubt Kinley's friend talked his ear off on the way over here.

"I can't believe I get to live here with Kinley." Maya's jaw drops open as she takes in the ornate craftsmanship that encompasses this grand old home.

"This way." I usher Maya along to my chambers, not wanting the others to see her before Kinley has a chance. The last thing I need is Kinley waking up and finding Dorian taking advantage of the newest addition to our household.

The moment I open the door to my room and Maya sees Kinley in my bed, she squeals and takes off. She jumps high, plopping right on the bed next to Kinley's sleeping form.

"Wakey-wakey. The fun has just arrived."

Kinley blinks through the sleep trying to clear from her mind. "Maya?"

"Um, yeah. I'm the only fun person you know so who else would I be?"

"Maya!" Kinley throws her arms around her friend, pulling Maya into a tight embrace before quickly shoving her away when our gazes meet. "Oh my gosh. Are you hurt? Did he bite you? Are you bleeding?" Kinley rapid fires questions while taking inventory of Maya's exposed skin to make sure all of it is still intact and been unharmed.

"I'm fine, you weirdo. I'm so happy to finally be here. I can't believe we will be living together again! Oh, and that I get to be a house meirru!" Maya exclaims excitedly.

"What exactly is a house meirru, Maya? Did Tristan tell you?" Kinley watches me as I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the wall.

This should be interesting.

"A claimed blood slave. How cool is that? I get to be a totally, insanely hot vampire's blood slave."

Kinley's expression shatters just like the mirror last night. "A blood slave!" Kinley is no longer in bed. She's standing, her fuming anger and building horror directed solely at me.

"You made her your blood slave! No. No. No. No. And no. That is not happening. Maya isn't going to be the house blood slave, Tristan. You release her from whatever hex you put on her that is making her think this is some type of honor. The real Maya would be horrified. She wouldn't be bouncing around and all giddy about being a walking happy meal for demons."

"Even if I cared about your obvious aversion to this plan, I still wouldn't de-compel Maya. I can't have a human with your potent blood in this house without offering up something in return to the others. It wouldn't be fair to them," I reply.

"You will, Tristan. You will undo it or I will kill us both because my friend is not becoming a blood slave to fill the bellies of demons."

Kinley's strong declaration pulls me from the wall. I stalk over to her, where she is determinedly keeping herself in front of Maya, who is sitting on the bed perplexed by Kinley's outrage.

"Go ahead, human, try to kill the both of you because when you wake to find your friend lying in a puddle of crimson and you're still here, you will wish for death even more so for you will have been the one who killed a precious loved one this time instead of a monster. You can try all you want to end your life, but I will bring you back from the brink of death every time so you can either accept Maya's role in the house, or you can live without her with her death on your hands. The choice is yours."

The backs of Kinley's legs press into the mattress behind her. The darkness in my tone tearing away her valor while the ugly truth behind my words practically rips what little of her heart remains from her chest. Her eyes shimmer as water gathers. She forces her gaze to stay locked on mine.

"Please, Tristan. Please don't do this. Just let her go...Let Maya go." A single tear slips down her cheek.

"Maya stays. I will not have this conversation again. Now, get dressed and I will see you two out in the hallway." I turn to leave only to be stopped by a pair of hands grabbing onto my shirt.

"I'll do anything you want...anything." Kinley's hot tears spill onto my back as she clings to me from behind.

The mixture of those words coming from her lips, the warmth of her flesh up against my cold skin as it soaks through my shirt, and her sweet, spiced scent causes a heat to generate in my core.

I rip myself away from Kinley's grasp. I will not let her blood cloud my mind with lust for her flesh any further. It is a sickness I need to cure by any means necessary.

"The only thing I want from you, human, is answers, and you can't give those to me." I leave, slamming the door shut behind me so hard it nearly rattles off the hinges.

"What do you want?" I narrow my eyes at Dorian. He has no business being on this side of the house.

"Someone must have had a rough night." He nudges me in the ribs with his elbow to provoke me further.

I don't take the bait.

"I am in no mood for your morning banter," I growl, increasingly more agitated by the sight of his face the longer I have to stare at it.

"I bet I do know what you are in the mood for." Dorian flashes me his fangs.

"You have a second to tell me what you came here for before I remove your head from your shoulders."

"As I am pretty fond of my head staying on my shoulders, I will stop messing with you." Dorian chuckles. "I came here because Kalista refused to eat last night and has refused to eat again this morning. Your sisters have been trying to get her out of bed all morning, yet she won't budge. We were hoping you could persuade her."

My reply to Dorian is a view of my back while I briskly walk to the other side of the house to where the princess's quarters are during her stay with us. Dorian is on my heels as he knows I will turn right back around to retrieve him if he doesn't follow. There is no way I would leave him with only a door separating him from Kinley and Maya.

"That was quick..." Sabrina's voice tapers as I blow past her and enter Kalista's room where Serena is sitting on the bed. It takes only a second for me to rip the covers from Kalista and throw her over my shoulder.

I walk out of her room, the same way I entered—each step filled with purpose. I deposit Kalista at the dining room chair, grab the heart Sabrina prepared last night from the fridge, and set it down in front of Kalista.

"You will not move from this chair until this plate is clean enough to be put back up in the cupboard. Do you understand me?" I place both my palms flat on the table and stare Kalista dead in the eye.

"Bu-but it's cold," she stutters.

"It wouldn't have been cold if you ate it last night after Sabrina prepared it for you. Do not test me, fledgling. You may be a princess but, if you push me, you will spend the remainder of your stay chained to your bed with an IV blood drip to keep you from withering away."

"Is that...is that a heart?"

My gaze lifts immediately upon hearing Kinley's voice.

"Oh, ew, gross." Maya's nose wrinkles.

Kinley's already got one foot positioned behind the other, ready to grab Maya and make a run for it if she needs to.

Serena's gleeful laughter fills the kitchen. "Tristan, the look on your pet's face is beyond entertaining. She appears wounded, like you just served Kalista her heart on a platter, even though it's obviously still beating in that little human chest of hers."

"Well, hello there." Dorian walks into the kitchen, his gaze greedily taking in both Kinley and Maya, though I know what he's actually doing. He's taking in their scents. Kinley's because he can't help it and Maya's because she is fresh blood.

Kinley yanks Maya behind her regardless of the fact the two of them are almost the same height and size. Kinley stares Dorian down, maneuvering her body so that his attempt to circle them is met with just a clear view of her and not Maya.

"Everyone, this is our house meirru, Maya Maiko. She is a friend of Kinley's. She isn't to be harmed outside of the usual duties a house meirru sustains during their active service."

Dorian steps closer to examine the meirru that is here to sate his thirst.

"Maya Maiko, the house meirru...M. M. M. Mmm seems fitting," Dorian purrs. "For both of them." He winks at Kinley.

Maya's blood may not be as potent as Kinley's, but it is pure, meaning it is an automatic magnet for vampires. We aren't supposed to kill virgin humans, feed and compel them to forget or turn them over to become a part of the Blood Sacrifice are the ideal protocols to follow when running into one.

Kinley's friend laughs, her face flushing due to the flirtatious charm Dorian is exuding in her direction.

"Maya, come," I order. It doesn't take much for a vampire to control a human when we have previously invaded their mind before.

It is time for me to finish bonding Maya to me before Dorian does it himself. A meirru can only have one true master. I need that master to be me if I am to keep Kinley in line.

"Duty calls." Maya winks at Kinley, slipping from her grasp before Kinley can truly understand the power of my hold over Maya.

While Maya is making her way over to me, I retrieve a glass from the cabinets. The chipper mood she was in fades slightly when she is standing before me. My rough morning is darkening my aura so much it is overriding the cheer I commanded Maya to have over her position in this house.

Because I am in a rotten mood, I don't feel inclined to sugar coat this demonstration for Kinley of what it means to be under the power of compulsion and exactly what life will be like living here for her and her friend.

Setting the cup on the counter, I pin Maya with a stare she can't look away from. "Fill up the glass. Dorian appears thirsty this morning."

Maya's brown eyes enlarge at the sight of the knife I am extending to her. "Wha—"

"I said to fill up the cup." I drop my voice into a low, domineering tone I know will bypass the doubt creeping in. Once this act is complete, our bond will be solidified. Maya will never again resist any order I ask of her.

"Don't do it," Kinley urges, unsure if she should risk coming over here with me standing so close to her friend.

With a shaky hand, Maya grabs the metal handle of the knife.

"Maya, put the knife down. Don't listen. Cover your ears. Look away. Just look away." Kinley takes a few steps toward her friend. She stops when my gaze flicks to hers for the briefest of moments before returning to Maya who I have locked into me so tight she can't breathe unless I remind her lungs to continue functioning.

I know Maya can feel me inside her mind, stripping away her free will and systematically taking over everything. I will have control of her mind and her body. The only thing I can't touch is her soul.

"Don't!" Kinley shouts, as her friend positions the knife along the inside of her forearm, helpless to fight back as I possess complete power over her.

Maya's pupils dilate, her nostrils flaring as she cuts her arm. I relinquish a small amount of the compulsion she is under. I want her to know and feel just how much I can control. I can take the pain away, or I can let it stay.

Blood spills from Maya's arm into the glass, onto the counter, and even drips onto the floor. Kinley doesn't stick around. She turns her back and heads straight back to the hall that leads to my room.

"Finish this," I say to Dorian, leaving him to heal Maya before she bleeds out more than needed.

"Certainly," he all too happily agrees.

When I get to my room the first thing that transpires is the closest object to Kinley, the titanium flask from last night, gets hurled at me. Her aim is much improved this time but still not good enough to matter.

"You had no right to do that. You have no right to Maya," she fumes, so many emotions going through her I think the only one she understands is her anger.

"I have every right to Maya, just as I have every right to any human that walks this earth," I say. This human needs to accept this. This is her new life, her and her friend's.

"Evil has no rights. Evil takes and that, Tristan Darkos, is what you are. Pure evil." Kinley spits at me, her face flushed red with intense hatred and damn it if I don't laugh. It's comical seeing her so angry and, admittedly, I rather enjoy it.

"Laugh it up demon, your immortality and power may make you feel superior, but you are no better than what you have made Maya. You are a slave to the blood you crave. When I die, I will know peace. Do you know what you will have? An endless life of being paired to a princess you clearly despise."

Kinley's rant ends as abruptly as my laughter. She plops down on the floor, sitting on her calves as she keeps her head hung down when she sees the way my jaw is tensed and the cords in my neck are jutting out.

"I'm sorry. I'm behaving badly. I'll stop." A measure of fear causes her voice to quiver, but it isn't fear for her well-being. It's fear of what I may do to Maya for her outburst.

After several tension-filled minutes lapse between us, Kinley lifts her head, no longer able to stand not knowing where I am or what I am doing in the eerie silence that clings to the air like a frigid frost of a winter morning.

Her head jerks backward when she sees I'm crouched on the balls of my feet inches away from her. She flinches when I grab one of her ringlets. I twist it around my finger before letting the ringlet drop right next to her ticking pulse.

"That is your once, human. The next time you speak to me in such a manner, I will command Maya to cut out her eye and eat it. Before you think this is me threatening something that will never happen, let me tell you I have compelled a human to cut out their own tongue and then swallow it before."

I lean in closer to Kinley. "You think me a monster, but I promise you can't even begin to grasp the things that I have done over my lifetime."

"These hands"—I grab Kinley's throat delicately and tilt her face toward mine—"and this mouth have claimed tens of thousands of lives." I let my lips brush against Kinley's quivering ones as I speak. "The only difference is now you will bear witness to the many more they will claim if I so choose it. Don't make me show you things that will break your already fractured mind further."

Kinley inhales the breath my abrasive words snatched from her lungs when I release her and stand. She looks at the hand I'm extending to her, probably envisioning all the brutal ways they have made the lights permanently go out of the poor souls that were unlucky enough to cross paths with me.

She swallows hard, reluctant to place her smaller hand on my larger one that is open and waiting to receive hers. She finally does, sealing her unspoken understanding of what her life here will be like from here on out.

What she wasn't expecting is to seal her deal with one of the devil's spawns with a "kiss".