Prologue

Shadow stood in the corner of Humanities eye watching all the people pass. There was no way she was going to add herself to the chaotic proceeding of "normal" human beings. No, she was far superior after all she considered herself the next best vampire aspirant. If only the petrifying creatures would give her a second glance. Damn them! She felt them deep within her soul and knew she was fated to be their future empress. Well at least she would if she was ever brought over. In truth she could have passed for one of the "great ones" already. Skin of ivory peeked out from beneath her mop of black curls with eyes of frozen sterling that could cut people to shreds Shadow gave off an impression of viciousness. If her initiation involved torturing of killing people she wouldn't blink an eye, after all no one cared about her. The foster parents had found it amusing to leave her alone for days at a time locked in a dark closet. Shadow couldn't block out the memories quick enough to prevent the shiver of dread that crept up her spine. Learning to live with the darkness had been easier than surviving the beatings. For a woman of 5'1'' her curves hadn't offered any protection against being whipped with leather and kicked with steel boots. But even that had been easier than dealing with being raped anytime her "brother" came home. Shadow had learned to well in the dark pit she called a heart and revel in the evil. The fact that out there she had a twin sister didn't perturb her in the least. They had been separated at birth and Shadow really didn't give a flying fuck if her sister was alive or if she had been treated as cruelly.
If Shadow had known that her sibling was one of the strongest allies against the vampires she would have laughed harshly and spit at her. Just as long as she wasn't begging for money Shadow would be content. Well as content as she could be without being immortal that is.

Chapter 1

Shade sat in her apartment people watching. The vampires may have had centuries to adapt to human ways but all in all you could spot them in a crowd at the drop of a hat with their ethereal attractiveness. Even the thought that all those people down there were possible victims to the utter barbarianism of the vampires made her shiver with trepidation. She had learned long ago how to know if she was being hunted. Growing up with the World's Leading Vampire Hunter's as parents tended to make her a bit wary towards people. It was better to watch their actions and reactions and know where to go from there than to rush headlong into anything that could end up being your demise. Grabbing a knife Shade turned away from the wonder and turmoil that associated itself with humans. Humans! Their silly emotions making them do the stupidest things. Sure Shade had grown up with lots of love only to have it turn on her in the event of her parent's horrifying murders. With a thump she brought her knife down on the unsuspecting carrot. "Gotcha!" she spoke softly to her victim. Slicing it thinly Shade made herself a gourmet salad. Even six years after her parent's gruesome downfall she couldn't stand to taste, smell, or even look at meat. The sound of a knock on her door brought her up short. Who in the hell would knock on the door? The few friends that she actually kept knew to call before arriving unless they wanted to be met at the door with a crossbow. A growl rose up from behind the couch and a massive dog stalked to the door with a practiced quiet. If Ulf was on alert that could only mean one thing, predators. So with a twist of her wrist Shade loaded her sharpened wooden ammo into a sling. This should be interesting.
Throwing the door open Shade took aim and faltered. "Luke? Good God I should just go ahead and shoot you! Do you have any idea how close you just came to being shot?" pale and shaking Shade dropped the weapon. "Well answer you idiot! Ten years just jumped off of my life" Hesitantly she widened the door for him to enter. Surprise was her quickest reaction when he suddenly pitched forward and she caught him. Bile rose up in her throat when Shade saw his back. A steel stake had been imbedded in his heart from behind and a note, bloodstained as it was, could be read legibly. I HOPE YOU LIKE MY PRESENT I SURE ENJOYED YOUR REACTION! YOUR TURN IS COMING BEAUTIFUL-Love your faithful servant/prey-Colt. The letter nearly made her gag. Damn Colt and his stupid infatuation! Ever since she had spared his miserable life he had done nothing but leave her little "gifts" such as this and yearn for her love. He had been the first vampire she was supposed to have slain but being seventeen killing people hadn't really been on the top of her list of priorities. So she had left him shackled in simple steel to wait for the dawn without his special sun protectant, an easy escape for any panicky vampire. His life wasn't really worth being stalked for the rest of hers. Then again it did have its good and bad points. Warding off unwanted dates was easy with the little threat of a vampire, but Colt also killed any man she seemed interested in. Apparently vampires were incredibly possessive of their property. Or what they thought was theirs.
Stopping her reveries she pulled herself back into the reality of the situation, and heaved his body into the apartment. Jesus what was she supposed to do with this? She had never had to deal with a real carcass before, after all vampires burst into flame when they were "killed." Would it be called killing if they were the living dead? Once again Shade came back to the present instead of going off to ponder this. Grabbing a sheet from her bedroom she methodically wrapped his body so that every inch was covered. Now here was a problem, how to get him downstairs? She lived on the top floor and that was quite a few stories above ground level. Sighing in disgust Shade wrapped herself in a jacket and grabbed Ulf's leash. "Come on boy we have a duty to cover up all vampire tracks." Whoever came up with that stupid little law should have been shot!