Chapter 1: her season of discontent
Rosa Violente, Vampress supreme, and Dame of the House of Vladmir, watched the dimly lit cobblestoned street, secretly observing the few people out on this foggy, bitter night. Her black velvet cloak, complete with monk’s cowl, hid her from anyone who cared to glance her way. No one did. Passerby's kept heads tucked into collars pulled high against the bitter, pelting drizzle and fog that seeped into and permeated even the warmer wool overcoats and slickers. She hummed “ The Fugue in D minor by Johannes Sebastian Bach ” under her breath, briefly reliving her time in Vienna, where she sat rapt in the court of the King, as the young genius made the massive pipe organ come alive with untamed aggression; the harmonic agonies resonating with his movements, while spiking her eardrums. She had begged Father to turn the virtuoso composer but he refused. Rosa, as a relatively young vampirette, did not understand at the time, but she did now. This musical genius was supposed to live on.
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The hamlet of Nairn, located on the Moray Firth, an inlet that accepted the North Sea above and emptied into the River Ness below, was perfect for occasional (not more than twice a year) hunting. Human memories were short, but hunting in the same location on a regular basis was a recipe for extermination. Modern technology made it increasingly difficult to commit wholesale murder if one left the telltale fang marks, or too many people disappeared without a trace.
Rosa began hunting alone again only in the last three months. The others clouded her thoughts with their incessant telepathic chatter, reminding her of monkeys babbling in the forests of a long forgotten jungle. Although their childish behavior exacerbated her growing feelings of resentment toward them, she knew the real reason lay elsewhere. However, this was not the time to contemplate these thoughts.
The slicing drizzle, buffeted and fell in pockets, mocking the rain. The glow of Rosa’s green orbs, hidden by the cowl, penetrated the miasma, and locked on a lone figure. The woman advancing toward Rosa, secreted in a narrow alley strewn with refuse, and was oblivious to the lurking danger. She just wanted to get home to a warm, dry hearth, have a steaming cup of tea, and read another chapter of her current novel about a reigning vampire queen. Anne Rice knew a thing or two about the undead. And such a romantic world to dive into!
A manic grin split Rosa’s lips, revealing the inch long fangs, as she read her prey’s thoughts. She felt the woman's pulse, and listened to the beating of her heart. The woman walked with her head down against the weather and as she passed the dead end alley, Rosa reached out and snatched her victim with effortless grace. She dragged the speechless woman deep into the darkness. Rosa waited, her hand clamped over the struggling woman’s mouth, to ensure the action had not been noticed. There was no hew and cry.
“Thank you for your sacrifice, Molly,” Rosa whispered as she sank her tools of the trade into the woman’s neck. A barely audible sigh escaped Molly O’Donnell as she succumbed to Rosa. The vampire drank deeply and affectionately, as she drained the unfortunate mortal until the body was shrivelled and lifeless. Rosa deftly cast the bloodless, pale husk into one of the partially filled dumpsters. Rosa licked her lips and floated out of the alley and was immediately enveloped in the swirling fog and rain streaked darkness. Her strength and vitality renewed yet again, she looked forward to a night of debauchery with her young, adopted family.
CHAPTER 2: homecoming of the queen
Floating on heather and gorse fragranced winds, Rosa Violente thought of Karn. He had remained with Rosa as her loyal familiar and daytime protector since she spared him decades before. Karn was born to Wolfshifter parents, and he indeed was one himself. Dangerous in their own right, shapeshifters had an uncanny
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