CHAPTER 0NE

High in the foot hills of old Romania lay a village named Lemne Verde. It used to be pretty, the cobblestone road held a market every Wednesday and the children used to play on the fields. It's empty now and the villagers have long given the place up as cursed. Of course that might have something to do with the castle that sat on the side of the high mountain overlooking the village. Legend has it, that it was once a holiday home for a very famous lady.

Just outside Lemne Verde was a rather large cemetery, it was definitely too big for just the village. But then, the people in the castle had a lot of deaths and they needed to do something with the bodies. In the middle of the cemetery was a large crypt, four angels stood on each corner and the name Báthory de Ecsed carved on a plaque above the door. Perched on top of the roof was a man who would never look his age. Edgar was 129 years old, he was fond telling anyone that would listen that he was in fact Jack the Ripper, despite the fact that he wasn't born until the year after the killings.

Edgar wasn't tall and he wasn't broad but he had Presence and he knew how to use it. He had started in The Blackwing Court and even learnt how to control his Precognition under the guidance of Riordan himself. But Edgar had never been very good at taking orders. When the last Liderul of The Blackwing Court had been staked and Riordan had stepped up to take over, Edgar had gone to him to claim what he considered to be rightly his. But Riordan had refused to give up his sister and so Edgar had left and started The Whiteweb Court.

Edgar wore his usual outfit in a crass attempt to look more like Dracula. Black shoes and trousers, a white puff sleeve shirt with a gold waistcoat over the top, a red cravat and a black cape that he was fond of swirling when he walked. Bright green eyes peered out from a face as black as ebony and short brown hair lay across his forehead in waves. He watched as the lead members of his Court continued to dig, this particular crypt had been magically locked and so they had to go under to get in. Edgar stood and dropped to the ground beside the crypt, taking a deep breath he didn't need.

Midnight was so beautiful, she always had been. She'd been there the night he had been turned and he knew she was the one for him, he deserved her. She was a beautiful thing and when the war was over, to the winner the spoils and Midnight was one Hell of a spoil. But Riordan would never part with his beloved sister. Edgar smiled, his eyes flashing. Riordan was dust and no longer had an opinion to give.

A cry floated up from the hole infront of the crypt and Edgar hurried over, peering into the darkness below. A vampire looked upwards, black hair hung over his right eye and the black irises contracted against the light. Drake was smothered in mud from his blue jeans to his black t shirt but he continued to grin like a hyena.

"We're in" he hissed. Drake, like Edgar, had been a part of The Blackwing Court but he had not found the lifestyle to his liking. Despite his youth, Drake had actually been third in line to rule Blackwing as he was a direct descendant of the reigning bloodline. Unfortunately, he had been unwilling to wait his turn.

Drake lifted a pale hand and assisted Edgar into the hole, the elder vampire stamped his foot and a metal clang answered. Drake stomped again and the ground opened, they dropped through into an underground chamber. Edgar took a few steps forward and found a corridor carved into the earth, he smiled and turned back to Drake.

"Tell them to wait until I call and then they bring the offering." Drake nodded, he turned and looked up at two figures outlined against the dying light of the evening sky.

"We heard" said Mia.

"Good luck" added Fleur. Drake nodded and hurried to catch up with Edgar.

Mia watched Drake vanish into the shadows before straightening up and staring at her twin sister. The only thing that remained the same between them was their faces, high cheekbones and pointed noses just beneath sparkling blue eyes. Mia had been Midnight's friend back in the day. But once the young vampire had discovered that Edgar preferred Midnight, Mia had felt instantly betrayed and vowed revenge. She had left Blackwing and joined Whiteweb, dragging her sister along for the ride.

Mia hopped up onto a tombstone and smiled as the sun dipped below the horizon. She wore a chocolate brown corset and a deep crimson skirt that stopped just above the tops of her stockings, her feet were encased in cream coloured wedges. She yanked her purple curls into two pigtails and stretched like a cat.

"Do you think she's really in there?" asked Mia, tilting her chin upwards towards the distant castle. Fleur sniffed and turned away, staring towards the deserted village. A slight breeze sprang up and pushed her navy skirt against her ankle boots. Even after all these three hundred odd years, she still expected to find goosebumps rising on the flesh beneath her long sleeve navy blouse. Fleur pushed a strand of black hair from her eyes and turned back to her sister, pushing down the disgust she felt for the wild pyro-kinetic vampire.

"I don't know but it's not our place to question our Liderul." Mia rolled her eyes and skipped away between the stones to find something or someone to eat. Fleur looked down into the hole and sighed, a silent tear trickled down her cheek. Riordan was gone, she just couldn't take it in. Of course he never would have looked twice at a girl like her for his Lubita but he had always been kind and had helped her to master her bi-location skills. But Riordan was gone now and things were about to change.

Drake caught up with Edgar in the middle of a long tunnel, the walls were lined with torches and light flickered like dancing devils across the dirt walls. The ground sloped upwards for about a mile and then the way became almost vertical and the two vampires had to continue on their hands and feet. Edgar stopped when the passage levelled out again, there was a rather ornate wooden door infront of them. Drake looked to his Liderul and Edgar moved aside to let him go first. Drake looked at the door before pushing with his mind, the wood splintered and collapsed in a puff of dust.

"I'll check it out" said Drake. He stepped through the opening and stared around the room. The walls were papered with what used to be a deep crimson and the huge four poster bed was coated in a thick layer of dust. Drake's gaze swept over the gilded dressing table, the tarnished mirror and finally came to rest on a wall. It was plain brickwork and extended out from the main wall for about four feet by four feet.

"I found it" called Drake. Edgar stepped into the room and stared at the wall, his fangs extended and he took another deep breath that he didn't need. The stench of death was still thick even after all these centuries and Edgar relished the scent. He walked around to the right side of the wall and found a space in the brick work just big enough to slide food through. So they had tried to keep her alive to enjoy her punishment but human nutrients would do nothing for a vampire.

"Get it down" said Edgar. Drake smirked and pushed with his mind again but he was more careful this time, he didn't want to damage the precious treasure inside. When the dust cleared, they found a single soft chair in the centre of the square. Sitting in the chair was a shrivelled corpse dressed in a dark gown, waves of stringy hair hung across the face.

"Go get the twins" breathed Edgar. Drake nodded once, spun on his heel and was gone. Edgar approached the mummy but stopped when the clouded eyeballs swivelled in their sockets and stared at him. There was no fear, just curiosity.

"Good evening Countess. My name is Edgar, I am the Liderul of the Whiteweb Court and I'm here to help you." A long and drawn out scream echoed to them from the end of the corridor. Edgar stepped aside when Fleur and Mia entered the chamber, they were dragging a girl behind them. She had long blonde hair and her shirt was ripped and stained with blood. Mia took charge and buried her hand in the girl's hair and yanked her forward, Edgar lifted her arms and slit her wrist with his thumb nail. The girl squeaked and tried to pull away but she was no match for them. Edgar lifted the almost weightless corpse from the chair and held the squirming girl's wound over the shrivelled mouth.

As the blood flowed, the corpse began to change. Her hair became full and black, her skin white but smooth. The formerly milky eyes turned first black and then a deep, swirling violet. The blonde girl slumped to the floor, drained of blood and utterly dead. The woman stood up, her gown filled in all the right places. She smiled, her fangs still red with fresh blood.

"What can I do to repay you?" she asked. Her voice was thickly accented but perfectly understandable. Edgar smiled and offered her his arm.

"I was hoping you'd ask that."