Chapter 1

A candle flickered in the small cabin's window. Soft thunder could be heard in the distance and trees began to sway with a gust of wind. A man's face appeared, looking out the window. As lightening flashed, he took off a pair of glasses and squinted, as if trying to see out into the darkness of the night.

Inside, the man tried to relax. This location was completely secret. Morrison himself had assured that none would find him, especially as very few knew of the cabin's existence. It was in the middle of nowhere, taking him days by horse just to reach the hills where it was hidden.

He returned his focus to the open book of lab notes in front of him. They were so close to discovering what they needed. Soon, the world would have proof of what for so long had only been myth. As a scientist, this gave him great excitement. Their latest human lab experiment held great promise. She was the real thing; the strongest psychic they'd ever been able to capture. Her abilities to actually move objects had not only astounded him and his fellow researchers, it had led to the capture of two actual vampires. They discovered her physical pain appeared to call out to these evil creatures. And yet, they certainly had no intention of truly protecting her. No, it was clear their only desire was to destroy anything or anyone in their path for the purpose of mating. Did vampires mate only with these women who had such mental powers? What was the connection?

He smiled. With two vampires, the number of experiments they'd been able to perform had propelled them forward with far more data than they'd ever even thought possible. And now, on this last journey, he had finally obtained the strange minerals needed to control these dark demons. Once he returned to the lab, he was going to carry out the most critical experiment yet.

Flashes of lightening were getting closer and a clap of thunder shook the ground as it began to rain. He shifted uneasily in his chair. He had good reason to be paranoid. Someone or something had been tracking and murdering anyone connected to Morrison. Some of his closest colleagues had been found dead, the cause always strangely suspicious. One scientist had been found electrocuted supposedly by his own experiment, which made absolutely no sense considering his expertise when it came to electricity. Another was found dead of poisoning, ironic when he'd just completed a successful experiment on a different psychic woman. Although she wasn't like the current female they had, the injections he'd given her increased some of her abilities. Even when she died, the autopsy of her brain was of incredible value.

The scientist flipped through his notes. He was determined to carry out his experiment with this latest female and he was going to take every precaution possible so he didn't end up like one of his colleagues. Now that they had the minerals, they could control the vampires. Right now, those evil creatures were only held by means of sunlight and pain. Years ago, there had been minerals used with another vampire they'd captured. But the workers in that lab had been careless and allowed him to not only escape, but destroy the only minerals they had. It had taken them years to track down more of this strange substance. And it was only through the assistance of a mysterious man, an albino, who provided them with the location where the minerals could be found.

The rain grew louder and another crash of thunder shook the cabin. He grimaced as he closed up his notebook. He was too tired to work and yet this storm was going to keep him awake. He got up from the desk and wandered over to the small living room where he kept a radio. Flipping it on, he tuned in to some quiet, classical music. He poured himself a glass of scotch and sat down in a recliner. Putting his feet up, he took a few drinks and then placed the glass on the table. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, hoping the liquor would help him doze off.

And then it became silent.

The man opened his eyes. Suddenly there was no thunder, no rain…no music. What the hell?

Sitting up, he gripped the arms of the chair as the silence was downright eerie. The candle began to flicker even more and then a gust of wind blew it out all together. The man bolted up, moving quickly over to his bag where he grabbed his flashlight. But the damn thing wasn't turning on.

The dark clouds parted and the light from the moon brightly cascaded in through the window. And then a strange mist streamed from underneath the front door. The room dropped in temperature and the man saw his own breath from the coldness. He backed away as the mist swirled and transcended into a dark male figure. The scientist swallowed hard as he looked up at what had to be a vampire. The thing was over six feet tall and dressed completely in black.

The dark figure of a man tilted his head down at the scientist. "I believe you have something which belongs to me."

"If you are talking about the female, she's not here."

His eyes seemed to blaze. "A female…"

Damn. Maybe this vampire hadn't even known? But that's what the others wanted. She wasn't here, but he figured the damn creature had sensed her blood in the test tube he'd been carrying with him.

"What do you want? Look, don't hurt me…"

The vampire laughed softly. "Give me what I want and you will have a painless death. Play with me, and you will discover the true meaning of the word pain."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The evil thing shook its head in disappointment. "Then let the play time begin."

The scientist gasped as the vampire grabbed his neck and lifted him off his feet. Struggling to breathe, he desperately tried to loosen its grip, but nothing worked. He was losing air, unable to breathe. Then he was abruptly dropped to the floor, landing painfully on his back. The vampire reached for him again, and then the scientist was thrown right through the cabin wall. The man screamed as pain shot through his head and spine.

Two glowing, red eyes were looking down at him. The damn creature's fangs elongated, and the scientist was once more being lifted, this time by his shirt so he was forced to meet those demonic eyes. "The minerals. Where are they?" the creature asked in a low growl.

"The…minerals? But why? Do you mean to control other vampires to do your bidding?"

"I will not ask you again."

"No…you're too late," gasped the man.

The vampire bared his fangs in response. "Tell me!"

"You'll never find them." Those red eyes felt like they were burning right into his mind. The scientist prayed the barrier Morrison gave him would work. And when the vampire hissed, he actually smiled. "What's wrong? No power to read my mind?"

The evil creature smiled right back at him. "Then its time for me to feed."

"No!" the man screamed. But it was too late. The vampire struck his neck hard, and then he felt the blood being drained from his body. His legs dangling in the air, the scientist struggled, but he was completely helpless and began to lose consciousness.


Tyrell Pankov felt his darkness rising, the demon within him savoring the taste of blood from the scientist as it poured into him.

Drain him dry, a dark voice said.

Tyrell closed his eyes. Why shouldn't he? Why did it matter if he killed while feeding? This pathetic human was only a meal and nothing more. Who cared if he died? For some reason, he was supposed to try and keep the man alive.

But he couldn't remember why.

The man's heart was slowing, his body going limp. Tyrell adjusted his grip on his prey, continuing to feed with every intention of taking the man's last drop of blood.

A female's voice entered his mind. Tyrell!

He jerked at the sound of Carissa's voice. He realized what he was doing and dropped the human. The man fell to the floor, barely alive. Cursing, Tyrell kneeled down and spoke in a soft voice. "It is my right to serve you justice for the crimes you committed for Morrison." In one swift movement, he broke the man's neck.

Rising, he glided back inside the cabin, his eyes searching for any sign of the minerals. He was disgusted at himself for taking the human's life so quickly when he could have tried to get more information. Like others he'd found, something was blocking their thoughts. Somehow, they'd found a way to block out anyone trying to read their mind. The man had mentioned a female, thinking he was searching for her. But the chances of Tyrell finding any human female alive in any of their labs was not likely. He'd found countless labs over the years and destroyed them. But rarely did he find any of their victims alive.

He slowly bent down to examine the man's bag. He was running out of time. It had been almost five years since he swore a vow to hunt down only humans guilty of crimes and never to harm the innocent. Tyrell almost laughed at this thought, as he still didn't exactly protect the innocent. As long as they didn't get in his way. He still didn't care for humans, no matter how innocent they were. Why did he even bother to keep any of them alive?

Tyrell.

He closed his eyes for a moment. Carissa was so far away, but could always tell when he was on the brink of losing himself to the darkness. She was his only anchor to sanity at this point. Over the years, he still visited her on a rare occasion as she gave him a sense of purpose. But his time had now come. Nothing could change what was now happening to him.

His emotions, caused by those strange minerals, were now in chaos. Tyrell found at times he could barely feel anything. While at other times, such as killing this scientist, he felt exhilarated…

And lost.

Who was he? What was he?

There had been no doubt as an ancient, he betrayed his people and turned vampire. The crimes he committed made him finally feel something, even if it wasn't real. It was like an addiction. All he could think about was finding a way to find that powerful emotion which came from the darkness within him.

Then everything changed.

He had become so arrogant, like most master vampires, Tyrell could not even comprehend how weak mortals could have captured him. But those minerals, whatever they were, crushed any free will he had. So powerful were the emotions they'd force upon him, he found himself desperate to do anything they wanted.

When Carissa had been shackled in his cell, Tyrell found himself beguiled by her. She wasn't his lifemate. But something about her brought forth a feeling deep from within that was not forced. It was a flicker of his own soul.

For whatever reason, he broke free of the darkness because of her. And when he rescued her from the hands of those evil mortals, she saved him in return by destroying the minerals. Despite the release of those fake emotions, something continued to linger within him. He felt extremely protective of Carissa, even finally accepting her two male lifemates, the Falkland twins. Tyrell had no loyalty to anyone else, not even the Prince of Carpathians. His sole purpose was to take revenge on Morrison for what they did to him and her.

But now, it was nearly over. The Dark One, Gregori, had given him five years. Soon that time would be up, and Tyrell knew it was time to return to the Carpathian Mountains. He didn't understand why. Tyrell's powers were extremely strong and he was confident he could evade the Dark One's justice for at least several years. Most likely his arrogance once again would be his downfall. Even Tyrell had to admit Gregori would still eventually hunt him down. But for whatever reason, he did not have the urge to run. No, the only comfort he could think of was…rest.

It was his time to seek another life.

Tyrell would complete this last trail. For so long, he had followed and tracked Morrison. While there was still a great deal of work to be done, he was successful in destroying as many of their scientists as he could find. And now he had picked up rumors once more of these minerals. Concerned they would once again use these against Carpathians or vampires, Tyrell tirelessly tracked every lead until it led him to this man.

But the minerals were no where to be found.

A scent of blood caught his attention and Tyrell refocused on the inside of the man's bag. Hidden in a deep pocket, he removed a small test tube of blood. Tyrell's hunger increased at the site of it. This was the blood of the female the man had revealed. As with others he'd found murdered, this one was special, and he was extremely tempted to taste such rich blood.

But fearing he would once again be tempted beyond his control, Tyrell refrained. He knew without a doubt that he'd still find the lab. Whether she was alive or not did not matter. The main purpose was to do one final search for the minerals before murdering any remaining scientists. Then he would visit Carissa one last time, before facing the Dark One.