Maia hummed along with the car radio as Remy took a left and drove up the long winding road to the Himura Castle—her nickname for the Himura mansion. It wasn’t an actual castle, but to someone who’d grown up on the wrong side of the tracks, it was enormous. And now, as the ‘Himura Princess’ she got unofficially dubbed, she could call it her home. 

Of course, it came at a small price; Her life. But hey, who needed to be alive when there was so much more fun to be had when you were dead? Her existence sure had taken a turn for the better. 

Okay, maybe the very start of her life as a vampire hadn’t been made of roses. But after the initial hiccups had passed—think pissed of Makers, the bloodlust, and almost getting executed for having been killed—, it had been alright. Perhaps not what she would’ve chosen if she’d had a choice in the matter. But then again, people rarely had a choice in life-and-death situations. 

After a vampire attacked and forcefully fed Maia her blood, Remy, a youth counselor at the Community Center,  saved her by giving her his own blood. It hadn’t stopped her from becoming a vampire, but at least now he became her Master. Heroic as that sounded, it was a Methuselan faux pas; As a slave himself he wasn’t allowed to Claim anyone, especially not without the Elders’ consent. To make matters worse, he hadn’t even asked permission from Raenef, his Master. When the Elders found out—as they always did—they wanted Maia executed. And Remy faced a lifetime of torture in prison. But Raenef had seen that coming and therefore had given her his blood as well and told the Elders it was his intention all along to turn her. A lie, but enough to save their lives.

Vampires were funny that way; All it took was a few drops of blood and they loved you as if you were their own. Not quite the cold-hearted monsters human lore will have you believe. In fact, very little considered to be ‘known’ about vampires was true. Crosses, stakes through the heart, sleeping in coffins, even glittering in the sun; it was all fiction. No, real vampires, or Methuselah as they preferred to call themselves, were far more mundane than one might expect. Most of them, especially the younger ones—a relative term when it came to Methuselah—preferred to mingle amongst humans, living very human lives, if not long ones. The only thing that gave a clue as to their nature was that vampires all had preternatural good looks.

By far the main perk of becoming a vampire was that she’d gained a whole family, and by extension an entire Clan of brothers and sisters. For an orphan, that was quite a step up. Her human adoptive family, the Millers, had accepted her undead status as well. And although her adoptive father, Joe, still wasn’t on the best of terms with her new undead family, he tried. And that was all she could ask of them. 

The Himura Castle lay nestled on a sprawling estate of more than a thousand acres of land, most of which were forests and a lake. It had stables, a swimming pool, a library, and every other amenity one could wish for. 

But Maia didn’t care for those. She only cared for the family it housed. As an only child, she’d dreamed of being part of a large family, and with the Himuras, that wish had become a reality. Despite being extremely busy people—running both a large, Royal Clan and a multi-billion-dollar company will do that to you— the Himura Clan Leaders always made time for their family. They were identical twins, if not for their different hair colors, and even finished each other’s sentences. If Eclipse was the protector of the family, Raenef was the domestic foundation of the family. Like a mother hen looking after her chicks. He loved to cook and made it his life’s mission to ensure everyone was healthy. 

This weekend had been no different, and from the moment Remy and Maia stepped through the front door, the twins put their work to the side. They spent most of the day walking outside in the forest, admiring the million shades of fall as they caught up on each other’s lives.

Upon their return, they were enjoying hot chocolate and freshly baked cookies, courtesy of Raenef, when Eclipse got up and checked his phone. Again. 

“Is everything alright? Are you expecting a call?” Maia asked when the raven-haired vampire checked it for the umpteenth time. Eclipse was the youngest twin, and the only thing setting him apart from his twin in appearances were their hair colors; his a deep black with red streaks in it—a Pureblood trait— and Raenef’s a pearly white with electric blue streaks.

Eclipse smiled, but it looked forced. “No, it’s rather the opposite. It might be nothing, but I have the feeling something’s wrong with Silas,” he added when he saw the confusion on her face. It was generally the fledgling picking up on pain or distress from their Master. But when you were as closely connected as the Himuras were to their fledglings, it wasn’t unheard of for them to be sensitive to the other’s feelings as well. Remy, her Master, had the uncanny talent to read her like a book.

“Isn’t he on tour?” Maia asked. Silas, Eclipse’s fledgling and Remy’s younger brother, was a famous DJ and spent most of his time either on tour or hiding away in a studio to work on his next album. 

Non. He’s in between tours at the moment. He came home from spending a vacation in Japan with Shinta last week,” Remy said. Being Silas’ manager, he knew his schedule inside and out.

Eclipse nodded. “He promised to drop by this weekend, though it didn’t take much to convince him when he heard you guys were coming,” he added. He shook his head. “Maybe that’s just what I’m feeling, him drawing near.” He smiled, but it was clear it wasn’t only them he tried to convince. 

“He’s fine. Perhaps he’s kicking himself for having forgotten and being late,” Remy suggested.

“Yes, perhaps,” Eclipse mumbled with a last glance at the screen of his phone. 

“Try calling him if you’re that worried,” Raenef said.

“I already did, but he’s not picking up.”

Remy gave him a knowing look. “Did you piss him off again?” No one understood what drove Eclipse and Silas into each other’s arms because they acted like oil and water. It took little to set off Silas’ short temper—especially not when it came from Eclipse, and the two often had blowouts, only to kiss and make up soon afterward.

“No, I swear! We’re doing better than we ever did before. With his new career, we hardly get to spend time together, and we don’t have time for silly arguments,” Eclipse said in his defense. 

As the evening progressed, and with still no sign or word from Silas, Eclipse grew edgier by the hour. He tried to hide it, not wanting to alarm the others, but even Maia could tell he was concerned. It was almost cute to see the big bad vampire worried over his slave—Yes, an awful term, but in the Himura Clan, that was all it was; a term.

“Why don’t we have dessert in the living room, hm? That movie you wanted to watch is about to start,” Raenef said, handing Maia a pile of plates to take with her. 

“I still can’t believe you’ve never watched ‘Titanic’,” she said, exasperated.

Raenef shrugged. “A cousin of ours was on it when the ship sank, so we got a first-hand report. I don’t see how a Hollywood production could add anything we don’t know yet.”

Maia’s eyes widened. “He’s joking, right?” she asked Remy.

Her Master chuckled. “No, it’s a true story. But it takes more than an iceberg to kill a vampire.”

Maia was halfway down the foyer when the doorbell rang. Not the polite dingdong one might expect in a luxurious home, but a non-stop clanging. She was about to park the plates on a nearby table to answer when Eclipse rushed past her and almost pulled the heavy oak door off its hinges.

“SILAS!” 

The second the raven-haired vampire opened the door, the doorbell stopped ringing and a dark-clad form fell inside, barely caught by Eclipse’s quick reflexes.

In horror, Maia watched as Eclipse laid out Silas’ drenched form on the hardwood floor of the foyer. When the strong, metallic scent of blood registered and Eclipse checked for a pulse and called for his twin in panic, she knew something was horribly wrong. She kneeled beside them and only then noticed the quickly pooling blood underneath Silas. Most of it came from a large knife sticking out from his abdomen.

With great caution, Eclipse extracted the blade, but Silas’ anguished screams made her shudder. The young vampire was barely conscious and was coughing up blood as he desperately tried to speak, grasping the older vampire’s clothing blindly. 

“Don’t talk, you little idiot,” Eclipse said. “What happened? Who did this to you? RAENEF!” he yelled at the same time. 

Raenef, who’d heard it the first two times his twin had hollered, was already kneeling next to the young man on the other side. His hands were tinged in an unearthly light as they hovered over Silas’ chest. Maia had only seen it once before and knew it meant Raenef was using his Mana, or life energy, to heal. It was a rare gift that only a few powerful Methuselah possessed. 

“D..d..don’t…g..go c’estttt unnn~” Silas was cut off by a groan as his body convulsed.

“Shhhh, it’s okay. You got to stay with me, you understand?” Eclipse said, slapping his fledgling against his cheek when the young man’s eyes fluttered shut. “Who did this you?! I swear I’ll—”

“—It’sss a hn~ ..trap…Don’t…g..go.”

“Go where? Where are they? Who did this?” Eclipse pushed. “Ra!” he urged his brother as Silas’ life quickly faded. 

“I’m trying!” Raenef said, tone clipped as he needed to focus on what he was doing; One slip in concentration and his healing Mana turned deadly. 

“Maia, go get blankets. Lots of them,” Raenef instructed the pale girl.

Maia nodded and after a last glance at Silas, who was like a brother to her, she rushed off upstairs to do as told.

“What’s he saying?” Eclipse asked when his fledgling, who was barely conscious anymore, started mumbling in his native Cajun.

Remy shushed the irate vampire in order to pick up his younger brother’s raspy words. “They jumped him when he left his apartment this morning,” he translated. “He keeps going on about how it’s a trap and to not go,” he added after asking Silas more questions in their native dialect. 

Both boys had grown up on the streets of New Orleans, and though Remy had always insisted Silas speak ‘proper’ English, they still spoke Cajun now and then between them. 

“Hmm, guys?” Maia said, her eyebrows furrowed. She’d covered Silas’ shivering form with the blankets, as per Raenef’s instructions, when her eyes fell on the knife on the floor. Around the hilt—for once, the blood didn’t make her hungry—she noticed a piece of paper. “There’s a note,” she added, holding up the bloodied scrap of parchment.

40.703305, -74.122372

New York

Midnight

Come alone, or we’ll pick your entire Clan off one by one.

Eclipse cursed as she’d never heard him do before and a wave of nausea hit her, making her dry heave and sway on her knees. She recognized it as Mana being expelled; The Methuselan way of saying ‘Back off, I’m pissed and I’ll rip your throat out if you don’t’. 

“Eclipse, calm down,” Raenef warned halfheartedly. 

“—Don’t tell me to calm down! They hurt my boy,” the raven-haired vampire snapped.

Silas moaned and, probably sensing his Master’s distress over their Bond, grasped for his clothing again. “J..je sssuis..bon D…don’t go..” 

“He says he’s—” 

“—I KNOW!” Eclipse bit. “I’m sorry, I didn’t~” he was quick to apologize. 

Remy nodded. He understood and couldn’t blame the vampire. The man loved Silas with everything he had. And Methuselah loved deeply. 

“Ra’?” Eclipse asked, getting worried when his twin kept awfully quiet. 

“He’ll live. But it’ll take most of my Mana to get him through the night.”

Eclipse closed his eyes for a moment. But the relief on his face was short-lived, and almost at once Maia could see a change come over him. One that sent shivers down her spine and was a scary reminder he was a powerful vampire, not a domesticated businessman. 

When Silas had slipped unconscious and with Raenef’s reassurance that he’d be okay, Eclipse kissed his fledgling on his pale, unresponsive lips before straightening up to his full height. Without another word, he left the foyer and climbed the stairs four steps at a time.

Maia looked after him, confused and wondering if she should head after him, but Remy motioned her to stay put. Within minutes, the raven-haired Methuselah returned, having exchanged his jeans and sweater for black leather pants and a skin-tight sleeveless turtleneck. He was strapping on a belt with one hand, holding his beloved katana in his other, while a smaller sword was clenched between his teeth. Once he got the belt on, he strapped in his swords, and by the time he was back in the foyer, he was tying his hair in a low ponytail. Next, he walked over to the side table and pushed against a hidden panel to stock up on even more weapons. 

Maia swallowed. This was no longer an aggrieved lover, worried over his beloved. No, this was a man on a mission. Out to spill the blood of those who’d dared to hurt whom he considered his. 

“Eclipse, don’t be rash. You heard Silas; it’s a trap. They’re counting on you to do exactly this,” Raenef said, never looking up from his healing. 

“Then let’s not disappoint them, shall we?” 

Raenef rolled his eyes. “I know you want your revenge, and you will, but at least wait for backup. I already called the Makhai. They’ll be here any minute. Let them handle it.”

“You read the note; he wants me to come alone. If I’ll bring in the cavalry, they won’t show and be in the wind. Then what? We’ll wait till they get their filthy hands on Remy? Or Maia? No, I’ll show them once and for all they messed with the wrong fucking vampire. It’s time these little low-life shits learn who’s boss.” 

Maia looked from one to the other, too uncomfortable to speak. She’d never seen them this serious before, and dare she say, she barely recognized them anymore. Oh, she’d seen them in a fight; When her Maker had shown up to claim her, they’d come to her rescue. But although the fighting had been rough, their attitudes had been almost light; Even cracking jokes back and forth while they were cutting down their enemies one by one. Now, the mood was grim, and it was clear that this time, the odds weren’t in their favor.

“Don’t you see?! They didn’t kill Silas, only hurt him bad enough that I can’t leave him alone to come to your aid. They’ve got you exactly where they want. Please, wait for backup.” 

But there was no talking Eclipse out of it, and the vampire was already donning his leather trench coat. 

Maia bit her lip, a nervous gesture she had whenever she wasn’t sure how to act. Instinctively, she looked to her Master for answers and was surprised to find Remy looking at her as if she had the answers to the universe written on her forehead. 

He huffed, rolled his eyes, and gave her an apologetic smile. “Please forgive Remy, Cher,” he whispered to her. “It’s okay, Remy’ll have his back,” he added to Raenef. Raenef gave him a knowing look and kissed him. 

Remy got to his feet and strapped on several weapons of his own before catching up with Eclipse in the garage. “Remy’ll come with you.”

The older vampire looked somewhat surprised but didn’t object.

“They’ll be alright, right?” Maia asked when the foyer became deadly silent and she stared after the duo.

Raenef gave her a solemn look. “I hope so.”

Great, that didn’t sound comforting at all. 

Maia looked from Silas’ pale, bloodied form to the closed doors and had the unsettling feeling that her fairytale new life had just come to a grinding halt. 

Remy had given her his blood when her Maker had turned her. By doing so, he’d stolen—or saved, depending on which side you looked at it— her from the monster that had killed her. However, since he was not her Maker, his action caused a stronger Bond to form between Master and fledgling than usual. Meaning; that if one of them died, the other would too. 

“Satis, take us to 40.703305, -74.122372, New York” Remy instructed the onboard computer Eclipse had installed into the sports car. Though for what reason was anyone’s guess; the Himura Clan Leader barely knew how to operate the modern gadget.

Before Remy could fasten his seatbelt, Eclipse revved the engine and sped off, sending a spray of gravel behind them and Remy almost against the dashboard. Both of them were well-aware they’d be driving straight into a trap, and possibly their deaths. 

The Himura Clan Leader pushed the poor car to its very limits. The Bugatti was the fastest car allowed on the public road, but that didn’t mean there was no traffic, or that there weren’t any bends in the road. 

Mon Dieu, slow down a little,” Remy urged, holding on for dear life. “It’d be pointless if we never even made it there alive, non?”

Eclipse’s jaw tensed, but he never eased up on the pedal until they reached the highway where traffic forced him to lower his speed—At least enough to push everyone else to the side. 

What should’ve been a two-hour drive only took them twenty minutes. 

“Are you sure this is the place?” Eclipse asked, looking at the rows upon rows of stacked shipping containers and warehouses. 

“It’s around the corner, but he figured we’d better not park right in front. She kinda sticks out,” he added, referring to the blood-red Bugatti, in an attempt to lighten the mood somewhat. Eclipse gave him a look and stepped out of the car. Remy took a deep breath and did the same. Leaning back against the door, Remy patted his coat for his cigarettes. He rarely smoked—Maia hated it—but he figured the situation warranted a smoke. Maybe the nicotine would calm his nerves. After Eclipse walked to his side of the car, he offered the other vampire a smoke. He was glad to see the other accept and lit them both up with the snap of his fingers—the Himura Clan Leader was a powerful Fire Elemental, after all.

Remy was relieved Eclipse hadn’t barged straight into the nearest warehouse on a rampage. His Master’s twin was one of the strongest vampires he knew, but carelessly charging inside in a fit of rage never ended well, no matter how strong you were. “How many are there?” he asked. He could feel Mana signatures nearby, indicating other Methuselah, but he wasn’t powerful enough to determine how many there were. 

Eclipse inhaled deeply before slowly releasing the acrid smoke from his lungs again. “At least forty, and about a dozen more in the building to the right.” 

Remy kicked against an imaginary pebble on the ground. This was bad. Really bad. They’d be walking straight into a trap, outnumbered at least twenty to one, if not more. “We should wait for backup.” 

Eclipse grinned almost maniacally. “Yes, we really ought to.”

Remy shook his head and laughed. He had to hand it to the older vampire; the man sure had balls. But he respected him all the more for it. This was someone willing to put everything on the line to get back at the people who hurt his beloved fledgling. A fledgling who so happened to be Remy’s little brother. So, as far as he was concerned, he was on the same page.

“You should wait here,” Eclipse said. “You’re a Master now. If you die~”

Remy scowled. Like most Methuselah, he wasn’t too worried about his own death. He’d prefer it to be later rather than sooner, but he’d lived a long life. But that changed when he’d became Maia’s Master. If he died, she would too. And her life had only just begun. What’s more; he’d promised to protect her, not cause her untimely, permanent death this time. He huffed. “Oui, he really ought to,” he parroted Eclipse’s words. “But you don’t know Maia well enough if you think she’ll forgive him for letting your sorry ass get killed all by its lonely self.”

Eclipse clucked his tongue and shrugged. “You can’t disappoint a lady.” 

Exactement. So, do we have a plan?” 

“I figured we go in through the front door, guns blazing?” 

Now it was Remy’s turn to shrug. “Works for Remy.”

Throwing away their half-smoked cigarettes, they pushed off the car and headed straight for the double doors of the large warehouse. Remy said a quick prayer before following in Eclipse’s footsteps.