DARK LOVE

Prologue

She stood at the balcony outside her quarters. Night had fallen and she was ready to hunt. Or, almost ready she was still wearing only her sheer silk nightgown. Silk was Princess Ayana's favorite fabric. She loved the softness and smoothness of it. 'I'd better put some more appropriate clothes on,' she mused, 'mother would steal my own soul if I ruined this.' That thought made Ayana smile. Her parents were the vampire king and queen of the succubi. She appeared to be mostly a vampire, although she enjoyed touring people's dreams. She finished dressing in some riding clothes then sprang off her balcony and into the night.

It was dark in the forest, but Cloak liked it that way. His piercing grey eyes peered out from under the hood of his black cloak. He had several stakes of various woods, two crosses, and garlic hidden under his cloak. He was tracking a deer through the woods. 'Oddly late for one of these to be out,' he thought to himself, 'but at least I'll have dinner tonight.' As he continued to follow the deer, he saw a stealthy figure in the trees tracking the same deer. He followed it. Vampire! His senses were screaming it. He could tell by the inhuman fluidity and grace in the movements of his query. He reached inside his cloak and pulled out a stake made of a blood red wood with black stripes. Snakewood, one of the hardest known. As he approached a clearing he saw a girl not much younger than him feeding on the deer. 'She's gorgeous,' he thought. Then he shook himself he hadn't even seen her face yet, but that was beside the point. She was a vampire and he was a hunter. He had a duty. But why was she using a deer for food?

She had found a deer and went sailing through the trees after it. She loved doing this. It was so much fun! Finally she caught it in a clearing and started to feed. As she finished she sensed a presence. "Show yourself." She said in a voice that no mortal could have resisted.

He stepped from the shadows, stake in hand. "Who are you?" Ayana asked. He said nothing, then without warning leapt to attack.