The thing about me in a bad mood is that it makes me edgy and when I am edgy there is only one thing I want to do-spill blood everywhere.

"Welcome back home, Mr. Darkos." A driver from Harvest 57 opens the limo door for me." I practically fall out, my body buzzing and drunk with the surge of overindulgence that is running through my veins.

"I think she had a rough ride." I snicker as I cast a glance at the heartless human in the limo. She is one of the many that had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting me this evening.

"I would say so, sir." The driver in all black with his H57 cap smirks as I sway, all of my cells tingling in the most pleasurable of ways in their overflow of nourishment.

I could have called Shadow Enterprise to pick me up, but they wouldn't bring a snack for me like Harvest did and I so needed human heart. It is the perfect way to end an evening after the day I have had. Though I should say morning as it's four in the morning now.

"Thanks for the lift home." I wave the driver off, forgoing the front door as I head to the backyard, stripping as I go.

It is imperative I get the blood off me before I enter. I don't want to have to deal with Kinley and her questions because then I will have to tell her I have eight souls covering me. Well, nine if you count the one I ordered from Harvest.

A twisted grin forms as I dive into the pool to cleanse myself of the evening of fun I have had. It started out at a local bar where I was assessing what flavor I was in the mood for, besides the killing kind. That's when a bachelorette party of seven came in. They'd been bar hopping. Started their day out with brunch and mimosas, then manicures and pedicures where they were plied with cheap wine, then after a day by the hotel pool and more alcohol they came to the bar I was at for happy hour.

It was like a sign from below. My happy hour had just arrived, all seven of them.

I sink to the bottom of the pool, drowning in the memories that come after. The drinks I sent to them. The one mentioning how they wished they could get into Deviant House Seven. It's all a blur when I took the bachelorette party back to the Scarlet Lounge. I know that demon was there, Wroth. He partied hard with us until he had to go. Something about his vessel and bedtime.

The thought of "bedtime" causes me to surface and get out of the pool at blinding speeds. There is a cluster of heat that is sitting too low in me, a heat that has been there since the demon mentioned bedtime. All I could think about after Wroth mentioned it is how Kinley is probably in my bed waiting for me to return home. And now, it's all I can think about again. My sweet, delicious cinnamon spiced human sleeping in my bed in those silky pajamas that can't hide the effects my cold body causes whenever I get close to her.

Serena, Dorian, and Thron's heads snap in my direction when I enter the house through the back door with nothing but a towel around my waist and water trickling down my body as it drips onto the stone floor.

My gaze immediately moves past them to the muted television. Booming laughter ripples out of me as I see a news segment airing about a recent car accident. It's the headline that gets me-Bachelorette Nightmare. I compelled the driver the humans had hired to drive them around town all day to crash his car into the concrete median at 150 miles per hour.

See, now no one knows they were all on the brink of death to begin with because there won't be anything left of them. I smile seeing the flames ravaging the crumbled heap of metal that used to be a car.

It's so easy to get rid of humans. It's like killing ants. All you got to do is squash them and, if you are feeling really naughty, you set them on fire.

Yep, Kinley, I am officially wearing nine souls tonight, but it's okay because I washed them off in the pool so you don't have to know.

"Don't all of you look like the epitome of a good time?"

In a half second, my father is before me, his gaze narrowed in such a serious manner all I can do is laugh.

"Aw, come on. Lighten up, I covered up my tracks." I tilt my head in the direction of the news segment that is muted.

Thron's mouth pulls downward. "Are you high on blood?"

"Why, yes." I tap him on the nose. "Yes, I am." A lazy grin lines my face as I am drunk on the nourishment that is being filtered through me.

There is nothing better than a blood high. Well, except Kinley's blood. I'm pretty sure if I tasted her blood now, I'd explode from all the euphoria that is already swimming in my veins.

Thron grabs me by the arm before I can continue on my way to my room where I have something extra special planned for my human. She is the reason I came home after all.

"Why don't you go see the princess? She has lost her father, the least you could do is pay her your condolences." He releases my arm as he can see I am looking down at the hand of his that has ahold of me like I am entertaining the idea of ripping his hand from his arm.

That would be because I am. He's threatening to ruin my mood. I can't let that happen. I mean, how wasteful to let those humans lives all be for nothing.

"Fine, I will go give the princess my condolences. I'll make sure to be extra gentle."

"Tristan," Thron warns, his tone not so subtlety telling me I best behave myself or else.

I pull my arm away before Thron can grab it again. I'm already at the entrance to the hallway to the side of the house Kalista's room is on.

"What? I said I would be extra gentle. You have my word, daddy dearest. If I break it, I guess you can just rip my heart out again as you seemed to enjoy it." I disappear before he can lecture me about my disapproving behavior.

He doesn't get to waltz in here and start telling me what to do. I don't care that he is the man who helped make me.

"Out," I order Sabrina who is sitting on Kalista's bed holding her hand as crimson stained tissues are crumbled all around them.

Sabrina bows her head and exits the room swiftly.

"You came back?" the princess's voice comes out in a way that lets me know some of those tears on those tissues are minutes fresh.

"Of course I came back." I crawl onto the bed.

Kalista's stops breathing when I don't stop there. I crawl over her as well. "What are you-"

"Isn't this what you want?" I lower my voice into seductive tones while I sink my body weight onto her in a suggestive manner. "Isn't this why you tried to keep my father from ripping out my heart because you love me?"

Kalista shrieks as I flip us to where she is now on top.

"Then why don't you show me just how much you love me?" I kiss her collarbone that is exposed to me while I slip the straps of her purple nightgown off her shoulders.

"Does this mean you've changed your mind? That you wish to become my mate?" Kalista asks, her eyes becoming hooded with her want for me as I continue to lavish sensual kisses on her neck. "Thron said-"

"Shhh, no talking." I stop kissing her neck and lift my gaze to hers.

"But I don't understand. What made you change your mind?" Kalista's head rolls with my hand as I caress her face before slipping my hand to her neck while the other grabs onto the base of her skull.

"I haven't changed my mind, but I promised my father I would be gentle." I lean in close, letting my lips brush against Kalista's.

"Gentle about what?" Kalista asks, completely giving herself over to the intimacy of my touch.

"This." I break her neck and control her fall to the mattress.

"Nighty night, Princess." I lay her head on the pillow and pull the covers up over her. "There will never be a day where I agree to be paired with the likes of you, "I whisper to her unconscious form. "This black heart of mine belongs to an immortal human. An immortal human I am fixing to make mine."

"That was quick," Sabrina says, getting up from the arm of the couch when she sees me.

"Kalista was exhausted after such an emotionally draining day. Where is Thron?" I ask when I see he isn't in the living room with the others.

"He said he had to go take care of something. He took Dorian with him," Serena answers.

Today really is my lucky day.

Sabrina zips in front of me, cutting me off before I enter the hallway that leads to my room where Kinley is undoubtedly sleeping at this hour.

"He said to let the immortal human rest. Apparently, stress makes the curse consume her faster and he wants her as she is when he reunites her with the Dark Prince."

I duck under my sister's arm. "Don't worry. The Prince's precious massarra will be safe under my watch. It is the duty of our bloodline to do the bidding of the Dark Prince, is it not?"

I'm in my room and locking the door before either of my sisters can think about delaying me further.

I don't remember the how or why I fell for this human, but I do know I plan on having her in spite of my father's words. I have already tasted one of the Prince of Darkness's massarra's blood, so I might as well taste her flesh too because it's possible when he finds out, that will be the end of me.

My body feels like it is both on fire and frostbitten with ice. It's an intoxicating combination I only plan on amplifying. When I turn and face my bed, I see that it is empty.

My gaze cuts through the darkness to the light glowing underneath the bathroom door. I tune in my hearing until I can make out the sound of an empty glass cup being set on the bathroom sink.

An odd mixture of a shrill shriek and gasp of surprise leaves Kinley when she opens the door and I am right there.

"You scared me." Kinley subconsciously wraps her hand around her neck. She tends to grab her neck instead of her heart when frighten by one of my kind.

Her gaze flicks down my body when her brain registers my lack of clothing once her fright wears off.

I traded the towel for a pair of black sweatpants that sit sinfully low on my hips giving her an excellent view of the v-line that is carved into my chiseled body. The towel would have been ideal, but it would have put her on edge. She would have been too worried about me letting it drop to relax. I need Kinley relaxed so that she will let her guard down.

"I'm sorry," I say, though there is no indication in my tone that I am actually sorry. What there is an indication of is the desire that is tangling around my loins.

"Where did you go?" Kinley ignores my tone and squeezes past me as I refuse to move out of her way.

She yelps and her soul jumps out of her from a moment when I appear in front of her before she can make it over to the hoodie of hers that is draped across the back of the chaise lounge. She basically sleeps with it on every night.

"Out," I answer, closing the gap between us so that our bodies are almost touching. "Why are you awake? I thought you'd be sleeping."

"I tried, but I couldn't sleep. It's a lot to take in. I'm an immortal blood slave who dies and gets reborn." Kinley steps back, wrapping her arms around herself seeking to soothe her weary soul.

If she only knew she was also responsible for a war. Thron switched tongue when he told me the truth about Kinley being what was stolen from the Prince. She wouldn't have understood. I'm surprised I did considering it is a language of our kind that dates back to the beginning. I guess the resurgence of the beast still lingered enough for me to understand the ancient tongue.

"I have thought about it so much, yet the truth wasn't one I was prepared for. I'm nothing more than a glorified blood bag whose sole purpose is to be fed upon by a creature of the devil for all time."

How tragic it must be for a human to find out they were turned into an immortal simply so a vampire could drink from them at his leisure.

"Don't cry, human." I close the distance Kinley put between us and pull her into a hug.

From what I have observed of humans, they find them very comforting. If I can comfort Kinley, it means her guard will come down and the energy output I am revving up around me will infiltrate her system. Couple that with the pheromones that are naturally being produced in large quantities in my excitement to have what has been forbidden from me and you have a bomb that is silently building in Kinley without her knowing it.

"What are you doing?" Kinley says between her sniffles, her warm tears trickling down my torso as she squashed her face against my chest when they came despite my attempt to keep them from doing so.

"I'm consoling you as you seem so upset."

Kinley straightens up, no longer using my chest to catch her tears though I still have my arms wrapped around her.

"No. You're warm. You're usually cold but you are warm."

I gently cup her face with one hand while the other stays snaked around her waist as I bring our foreheads together. "How strange."

It is an awkward as hell position considering I am so much taller than her, yet I am rewarded with a sharp intake of air from Kinley as my cool breath dances across her lips.

This causes me a momentary lapse in control of the tingling heat I'm wrapping us both in. It's an energy surge that shocks Kinley so fast and hot her knees give ever so slightly as it crumbles the last of the guard she always has up.

"You okay?" I ask, fully aware this is my doing. I am merely a few seconds away from flipping that switch Dorian flipped in Maya.

"Did you feel that? What was that?" Kinley clings to me because she doesn't have a choice only her focus is glued to my mouth that is positioned dangerously close to hers.

"I think you must still be weak from your episode earlier."

"Episode..." Kinley's voice fades out as she can't look away from my full lips. "Weak...yes, weak. That's it."

I can see the confliction arising in her. She is thinking about kissing me and that troubles her because I am a blood-sucking vampire who kills her kind.

"I think I must be sick. I feel like I have a fever."

"Um-hum, that sounds terrible." I press forward, forcing her to walk backward as I advance us toward my bed. "I can get rid of the fever, if you like?"

"You can?" Kinley sits down on the bed because that's the only option as the back of her legs are against it. "Do I have to drink your blood? Your dad, he...he tried to get me to drink his blood when you left. He said it helps me recover from the episodes faster. I couldn't do it. The thought of drinking blood is...It makes me..."

"Nauseous?" I continue forward, climbing onto the bed with Kinley. She matches my movement by scooting herself back so that I can't crawl all the way on top of her.

When her back hits the headboard, a measure of panic enters her eyes. It isn't the she fears me panic. It's the she fears the feelings I am stirring in her kind of panic.

"I really don't want to drink your blood if that's what this is about. I'm sure the fever will pass." She pulls her legs to her chest and hugs them to her for safety. She isn't comfortable with me being over them, least of all between them.

I better work on changing that last part.

"Human?"

Kinley's head hits the headboard as I break into the personal space she is desperately trying to maintain. Her knees dig into my chest as I lean in, ignoring her obvious attempt to keep me from being able to get closer to her.

"Vampire?" she squeaks as her body begins to tremble from the undeniable lust that seeped into my voice.

Her response would generally make me laugh, but all of me is too fixated on the fact I am about to have something I've wanted for thousands of years.

I can feel every fiber of me is ready for this, ready to take what is mine because Kinley Shea Rylan is mine. She belongs to me, not the Prince. The beast in me is crystal clear on that part.

"The last time you kissed me, it didn't end-" My lips land as softly as I can make them on Kinley's, squashing her last word before it leaves her mouth. She pulls back immediately, parting our lips as she sucks in a nervous gulp of air.

"Stop." The word rides out on a wobbly breath that is also filled with confliction and desire.

I tug her toward me by her ankles, pulling her away from the headboard in one swift movement that ends with her on her back and me on top of her.

"Stop what?" I tenderly place a kiss on her lips. "Stop this?" I rock my hips against her like there aren't any clothes between us.

Kinley moans into my mouth, the torturous longing I have implanted deep in her womb barreling to the surface in a blissful way she has never before experienced.

I swallow her moan greedily as I claim her mouth in a more feverish manner. When my tongue enters Kinley's mouth, she gasps and pushes at my chest, tearing her face away from me.

"This. Stop this. You're doing something to me like Dorian did to Maya. I would never willingly give myself over to a black-hearted demon that feeds on the blood of the innocent."

Even though Kinley's body is drunk with the hormones I am coaxing out of her by tapping into the chemistry within me that can speak directly to the primal urges that make up her sex-drive, her hate for the vampire race is unmistakable. It is a hate that very much extends to me. It does something to me.

Next thing I know, my fangs are embedded in her neck and I am drinking from her like I may die from starvation if I don't harvest every ounce of blood her petite body has to offer.

The frenzy only last five seconds before I am ripping myself away from her and plastering myself to the wall clear across the other side of the room.

Kinley latches onto her neck in utter horror. My strike so fast she didn't have a chance to scream or yelp in pain.

Power, raw, unfiltered power shoots to my surface and I know what is happening. The Beast of the Damned said he would rise in her blood. In those five seconds my fangs where lodged into Kinley's delicate flesh, he probably drained two liters of her blood based on the whitened complexion of her face.

This whole thing was his doing. The blood binge was to get him strong enough to recoup from the heart Thron tore from me and this was just a ruse to get me close to Kinley so he could get to her blood.

I crash to my knees when an explosion goes off in me, liquid fire igniting every cell as unimaginable pain sears through me. The death of Tristan Darkos, or who I thought I was, is happening. When all this ends, I will rise as my true self.

Thron said if I unleash the power that resides in me as the Beast of the Damned, I would bring about another war. But war was already brewing among the bloodlines.

After thousands of years of slumber, the Dark Prince has been woken. I don't know what this means for the future of our kind. All I know is that I can't hold the Beast back. He is refusing to be trapped within me any longer. He doesn't care that the human he is in love with doesn't love him back. He is willing to tear apart this world if he must because he knows he is the only being on this living rock that can protect Kinley from an even greater evil than himself. An evil I shall soon meet.