Blood Brothers by Barbara Sheridan, Anne Cain

this time with Kuro-sama in his human form leading the onslaught.
    Kiyoshi drew blood as well, but only from those who attacked him.
    The village men lay dead, dismembered, their blood becoming like sake to his brother and Kuro. They were clearly drunk on it and the thrill of the power they wielded. Kiyoshi wished he could be like them, but he couldn’t. Kuro pointed to the first of the scattered village houses. “Bring me the women and children.”
    Sakurai grinned a vicious grin and dashed forward.
    “No,” Kiyoshi said. “I won’t do it.”
    “What?” Sakurai froze in mid-step and turned on his heel. “What did you say?”
    “You know what I said, ge-ge ,” Kiyoshi answered softly. But he stared into Sakurai’s eyes without a hint of hesitation.
    “Don’t even dare call me ‘brother’.” Sakurai was at his side in an instant, grabbing the front of his kimono. “Everything you say is an insult to me, and worse—to Kuro-sama!”
    He forced down on Kiyoshi until the younger man fell to his knees in the snow with a pained grunt. “Apologize to our father and obey! Show him we’re both good sons!”
    -50-

    Blood Brothers
    “No.”
    “Show him or I’ll beat you.”
    “Or slit his throat,” Kuro muttered.
    Sakurai looked up at Kuro-sama. The samurai produced a tanto and held the dagger before him for Sakurai to take.
    “Make your choice, boy,” Kuro’s voice rang inside his head . “Accept the world I offer or allow this unworthy thing to hold you back. Allow him to drag you once more to the rice fields where you can die as much a pathetic weakling as he is. He disgusts me. He should disgust you. How could you soil yourself with such a useless being?”
    Sakurai shook with a rage over Kiyoshi’s failings, a rage that came from somewhere outside himself. Swift enough so that the weapon was a mere flash in the darkness, he flicked the deadly blade across Kiyoshi’s throat and strode away even before his little brother fell face first into the snow.
    Kuro followed him into the nearest house.
    Kiyoshi’s body was gone by the time they finished gorging themselves on sex and blood.
    “You let him live.”
    “He was dragged away by the wolves you summoned.”
    “As you wish,” Kuro said with a knowing smirk. He placed his arm around Sakurai’s shoulders. “Come, my son. We have a very interesting life to start leading.”
    “Yes, chichi-ue .” Sakurai smiled, his pulse thundering in his ears with the excitement of things to come.
    Snow drifted down from the sky as he and his master crossed the silent village. Already the white flakes had begun to cover the red streaks of blood and signs of carnage left in the two vampire’s wake. When they stepped over the place where Kiyoshi had fallen, Sakurai made certain
    -51-

    Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain
    his gaze never shifted from its place at the edge of the village where his future with Kuro lay.
    Not once did he glance back. His heart held no regrets.
    -52-

    Blood Brothers

Epilogue
    1864, outside Edo
    The last brief frost of early Spring had already passed, leaving the air crisp and smelling of new life. Plum blossoms filled the trees lining the trail, some drifting slowly to the damp earth as the breeze jostled them from their branches.
    Though having witnessed more than two hundred of these seasons, Kiyoshi still marveled at this renewal of spirit, of life. As he approached the village at the top of the path, he reached out to capture one of the blossoms, cradling it in a hand as pale and delicate as the yae-ume flower itself. So fragile this blossom’s life had been…much like that belonging to the two boys running up the trail behind Kiyoshi. He could sense their excitement and hear their hearts pounding from exertion even before they appeared around the bend at the bottom of the hill.
    They were only about ten and fifteen years of age, hardly more than children. The older one was tall for his age with long, black hair loosely bound in a