Standing on the balcony of his apartment, Cian leaned against the railing and looked toward

the glowing pale pink countenance of the Capitol. The night was muggy, and a light summer rain

fell over the city, but the weather wasn't deterring the people heading out to the clubs. The

sounds of conversation and the steady traffic drifted up to him from the street below. In the

distance, the lights of suburbia twinkled in the hills and he smiled to himself.

Time had a tendency to heal all wounds. Of course, sometimes the wounds were very deep

and it took a very long time for them to mend. When he had died at the hands of The Summoner,

Cian had lost everything that had defined him up to that point: his position at the plantation, his

family, and his people. He had felt hollowed out, empty, a mere shadow of a man. Only the

compulsion to survive had pushed him on for more years than he cared to think about. He had

often thought of just lying down and letting the sun take him, but could never bring himself to do

it. Despite everything The Summoner had done to him, he had the tiniest hope that someday,

somehow, he would find his way back to life and to himself.

Now, at last, he felt reconnected to the man he once was. He had been foolhardy to think

being with Samantha would make him human again and therefore closer to the man he had been.

It had not been the mortal coil that had defined him, but the man within. He understood that now.

Strange how it had taken someone so completely unorthodox to awaken him.

He was not an overseer at a plantation anymore, but he was the master of Austin. Before, it

had seemed like just a title, now it was his duty. He did not have a wife and two darling children

anymore, but he had a strange makeshift family with a tattooed girlfriend, spunky former

girlfriend and her new vampire hunting boyfriend, and two fearless West Texans.

And as for his people, in the last four months, he had held court to emissaries from four

vampire masters in Texas. They had long steered clear of him, afraid of his creator, and afraid of

the game he was entangled with. But now they saw him as an unknown equation in the constant

struggles in the supernatural realm and were seeking him out.

And, of course, Amaliya standing at his side was what truly brought them to him.

They were afraid of her.

In the time that had passed since The Summoner's death, he had become more aware of the

great upheavals occurring throughout the shadow world that lay hidden beneath what was

considered reality. Since his overthrow of the Austin cabal in the Seventies, he had hidden away

from the rest of the supernatural world, trying to avoid the politics he had been witness to during

his long stay in the court of Etzli in Mexico City.

His last great move in the vampire realm had been to set up the Austin cabal and have the

vampire hunters slay them so he could seize control of the city. He had been desperate to win

against The Summoner and had felt no remorse when he had plotted to destroy the vampires in

Austin and take over. At the time, Austin had been a college town and it seemed his best chance

at claiming a city. Slaughtering a few innocents had been something he had been willing to do to

make sure Summerfield moved against the cabal. He was a vampire and had no real regrets about

his choice at that time, but now with The Summoner gone, he was just as much of a target as the

former master of Austin had been.

The “Satanist Murders” were now laid to rest. The real Professor Sumner's body had been

found outside of Shreveport, Louisiana and since he had been the primary suspect to begin with,

the media and public considered the whole affair closed. Cian knew through his growing number

of contacts that the police were still looking for clues, but the evidence trail was long dead.

There had been one frightening moment when they had questioned Sergio about the call

Amaliya had made from the motel where she had killed Rob. But Sergio had quickly deflected

them by saying he received many prank calls and how was he to know one was serious? Rob was

considered another victim of the nefarious Professor Sumner and his unknown accomplices.

Amaliya received her newspaper obituary and funeral notice from Sergio. She was dead in

every way to the mortal world. Strangely, she seemed to embrace this. Whereas Cian had hated

becoming a vampire, she loved it. And because she loved it, it made him feel more at peace.

Sighing, he looked out toward the hills again and wondered how Samantha was doing. They

had avoided each other for a week after The Summoner had died and then, as Sam had a

tendency to do, she barged into the apartment and demanded to talk to him. They had spoken on

the balcony while Amaliya lurked inside looking pensive, and he had received an earful from the

tiny blond.

Samantha completely and utterly reamed him out, her eyes flashing, and her foot stomping.

He was completely guilty of all she accused him of and had profusely apologized to her. She had

burst into tears and told him he was still a good man and that obviously he should be with

Amaliya because she made him be who he really was. He had embraced Samantha warmly and

remembered all the reasons he had loved her and still did in a different way. She had clung to

him and told him that he sucked and that she wanted Roberto's old job without the blood stuff.

Cian had laughed and not refused her.

She was now his right-hand person and better at the job than Roberto had ever been.

Samantha would always be a tiny whirlwind whipping through their lives, but he rather liked

that. She was dating Jeff and they seemed very happy. Jeff could hang out on Sunday afternoons

with her family and go to football games. He was everything Samantha needed and everything

Cian was not. He was very happy for both of them.

Meanwhile, his relationship with Jeff was steadily growing. They had made a new pact

between them. Cian would police the vampires that entered the city and would make the call

whether or not to let them stay. But if any of them should kill, Cian would take care of it. Jeff

belonged to a society that believed in finding harmony with the supernatural community, but

they both knew that there were other societies that believed in the extermination of all creatures

not human. It was best to keep hidden behind the veil of secrecy.

The most unexpected result of the death of The Summoner was Innocente's and Sergio's

induction into the society to which Jeff belonged. Both seemed more than happy to embrace the

secret life of a hunter and Innocente's fame in supernatural circles was amusing to Cian. He got

along with her well enough, but every once in a while she would remind him of what she had

done to The Summoner and that he better treat Amaliya right or else.

The door opened behind him and Amaliya slid out onto the balcony. Dressed in a simple

black sleeveless summer dress, she was talking on the phone in broken Spanish. She was

learning the language from him. His years in Mexico had made him a fluent speaker and she was

trying hard to grasp it. It was obvious from her exasperated expression that she was talking to

Santos.

Snagging her arm, he drew her into an embrace and kissed her forehead. Not really paying

attention to her words, he listened to the tone of her voice and was comforted by it.

The Summoner was gone, but all was not well in the world. The placement of the body of

Professor Sumner in Louisiana was disturbing to him. He was certain Rachoń had done it and,

considering her long and passionate relationship with The Summoner, he was not sure the danger

to them was truly over. The master of New Orleans was powerful and in the new modern world,

the cities of Austin and New Orleans were not that far apart.

Amaliya clicked her phone shut and snuggled into him. “Santos wants to send an emissary

again. ”

“I think I'll continue to let him sweat for another few weeks,” Cian decided with a wide grin.

“You just love him being scared of you,” Amaliya laughed.

“You mean, afraid of you,” Cian teased and kissed her lips lightly.

Rolling her eyes, Amaliya held tighter to him. She didn't speak about her powers that often.

She wasn't completely at peace with them quite yet. “Afraid of us,” she decided.

Cian shrugged slightly and held her close to him as he stared out over Austin. His city. His

home. His life.

And he was happy.

* * *

Cian was deep in thought and Amaliya knew better than to do anything more than hold him.

He would tell her what he was pondering when he was ready. She was learning a lot about him

and respected that at times he needed his silence. In his quiet moments, with his face set, he

seemed more powerful than ever. He was a different man from when she had first met him. And

she was a far different person from when he had first punched her lights out and kidnapped her to

his lair.

The Summoner had changed them all.

Yes, Amaliya had woken up in a grave, but she had also woken up to a new life where she

knew who she was and understood her purpose. She was a vampire, a necromancer, Cian's

second, and his lover. Tucked into a beautiful apartment in the city she loved, she had found the

happiness that had eluded her all her life. And though her presence had shaken the lives of many

around her, they, too, had, in essence, crawled out of their self-made graves and found a fresh,

new life.

Resting her head on his shoulder, she looked back through the doors into the apartment and

embraced the knowledge she was home.

And as her reflection formed in the glass, shaped by Cian's vision and love of her, she knew,

at last, she was done running.

The story continues in book 2, Mere Pretty when she Kill

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