Lucian peered down at the corpses writhing under him as he was standing on the balcony. The only thing about the massive quantity of flesh on show that he found alluring was breaking everyone's necks in the club. Even though he made an effort to suppress the need, it continued to consume him deeper and deeper with each passing second.

Protecting the innocents of this planet, whether they were humans or vampires, had been his only goal in life. He had been on this quest for more than a thousand years, but as each day went by, his bloodlust grew stronger, pushing him ever-closer to the precipice that he had seen so many other vampires cross.

Some of those other vampires, who he had thought to be far stronger and better than he was, had yet given in to their darker desires. He managed to hang on and was now the oldest vampire alive—not only among the guys in his close-knit circle, but among all vampires.

Every morning when he awoke, he wondered whether that day would be the one when he succumbed to temptation and turned into the thing he hated the most—a Savage. He didn't make an effort to convince himself that he would never cave. He had done that for many years, but in the previous year, he had begun to suspect that maybe it was inevitable that he would give in to his bloodlust. If he didn't commit himself before that, he would begin to murder the defenseless people he had shielded.

It would be challenging to first commit suicide. Vampires were vicious creatures who lived off the blood of innocent people, but they weren't ignorant or blinded by the horror of the deaths they caused. No, many of them still had their intelligence and cunning, and they wanted to live. Simply put, a vampire who succumbed to their barbarism did not see anything wrong with what they were doing. The blood they ingested changed them, making them think that killing was a vampire's real nature and that they were merely behaving in accordance with vampire conventions.

Regardless of how much he hated Savages, if he caved in, he would probably start to believe it as well.

Maybe they were correct, but Lucian wasn't going to accept the idea that vampires were only vicious killers of the lesser members of society.

No matter what he believed or didn't believe, he was veering dangerously close to the Savage side. Would his troops, or even many vampires, be able to kill him when he passed over, just as he had killed so many of those who had perished before him?

He hated learning the answer to that inquiry so soon. Every day that went by and each death he caused for the Savages among his people made the narrow line he trod more thinner. He had previously been pleased by the rush of murdering the vampires he sought, but that was millennia ago. It now barely managed to keep the demon aspect of him at bay.

He would never be able to fill the void within himself. No longer was there enough blood or death to even begin to satisfy him. He had to choose between an eternity of nothing or the chance that giving in to their more feral nature might at last fill the void within, which was the same grim choice that the many who had fallen before him had also had to make.

Some vampires hadn't found it to be a tough decision.

How much time do I still have?

His teeth tightened and his fangs slipped free to push against the back of his lips as his fists clenched the railing and twisted over the chilly metal.

I'm not going to be one of them!

Every morning as he opened his eyes to the empty, he would tell himself this. However, it always sounded hollow, and it still does. He was an exception and more powerful than the others, even among those who were born vampires, the purebreds like himself. Although not as severely as the purebreds, the transformed vampires still struggled with their darker sides. Turned vampires have more humanity than purebreds since they were humans before turning into vampires.

He would never experience the feeling of being ripped in two again if he surrendered to the darkness, and, if he could be stopped, he would massacre hundreds, if not thousands, of people before being stopped.

He just couldn't let himself spiral out of control like that. Although he wasn't particularly fond of people, he knew that following the rules was essential if the vampire species was to survive in secret. Vampires were far more powerful than humans, yet mortals outnumbered them greatly.

Fear would make others turn against them, kill them, and use them as lab rats for experimentation. Some of the mortals—if not the majority—might attempt to turn into vampires, which would breed more Savages. The globe would descend into anarchy and the vampire food supply would be exhausted.

The guidelines have to be adhered to exactly.

He had grown up with this from the time of his birth. His parents had made sure he understood that he would someday take charge and safeguard the vampire and human populations. that he would turn into a Defender, a vampire who guarded the defenseless and ensured that the law was upheld. Although much has changed since his parents were alive, that purpose still motivated him every day.

Declan adjusted his position next to him as he sent a sidelong look Lucian's way. Declan observed the landscape below with eyes that were so utterly gray as to resemble silver. He combed his long auburn hair with a hand before pulling at the ends.

Declan, who was 600 years old, was the only member of their group who was younger than him. Since Declan turned 24 and had achieved adulthood, they had been battling together. Despite the fact that Lucian had known Declan his whole life, he was unaware of all of his secrets.

He was aware that he had never previously seen his buddy to be so nervous over a potential murder, and he didn't know why. Declan, he had assumed, would be eager to eliminate Joseph. Rather than the fact that they were now chasing one of their own, Lucian felt Declan's anxiety was caused by the fact that his father had been the last Defender to succumb to his Savage nature and it was bringing back painful memories.

For almost to fifty years, Joseph had been a formidable combatant and ally. But anytime they were in the same room, he and Declan would circle each other like two dogs. Declan's more laid-back disposition and Joseph's strict demeanor had clashed.

Joseph had been a great fighter and had survived the demanding training any purebred Defender that worked with him had to go through, but in reality, Lucian had never liked Joseph either and had never thought of him as a friend like he did the other Defenders who worked with him.

Since Joseph oversaw the training center for purebred and transformed vampires who wanted to hunt Savages, Lucian hadn't seen much of him throughout the years. Joseph had caved in to his bloodlust and turned Savage months before. Since then, Lucian had been attempting to find him, but Joseph was aware of their tactics and understood how to avoid being seen. Up to this moment, not even Brian, a transformed vamp who sometimes assisted them in finding Savage vamps, could locate Joseph.

A few hours earlier, Brian had phoned to inform him that he had located Joseph in this region of Providence, Rhode Island. The location where Joseph was most likely to be drawn was this club. A club packed with inebriated people served as a homing signal for vampires on the hunt. Since it was simple to prey on people in this area, Lucian would come here tonight if given the opportunity.

They could wait to eat since they were now looking for something else.

His gaze once again scanned the dance floor. He had put on a pair of dark shades before entering since he couldn't stand flashing lights in situations like this, but the pulse of the lights still made his head pound. The floor under his feet shook from the music's pounding pulse. He focused on the DJ. He considered ripping the man's neck out to stop the obnoxious rhythm and ran his tongue over his teeth.

What has become of authentic music like that of Chopin and Beethoven? Even some Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, or Duke Ellington would be preferred by him over this. He was far from the greatest vampire, but this garbage would have driven even the best of them insane. However, the humans enjoyed it as they pressed up against one another in a foreplay-like frenzy.

Killean and Saxon were approaching in the darkness when he saw something behind them. The few individuals who were still there in the area backed away from Killean and disappeared down the stairs.

Lucian asked of them, "Anything?"

Killean shook his head and looked to the dance floor, beyond Lucian, with eyes like golden tigers. Straight down from his deep brown hairline, across his right eye, and halfway down his face was a scar that ended. Four hundred years ago, when Killean was fifty-two, he started working with Lucian, but Lucian still didn't know what had caused the scar or who had given it to him. Only because it persisted did he realize that Killean had received it before developing into a fully developed vampire.

Saxon sat next to Killean with his arms crossed over his chest and his hazel eyes staring up at the ceiling. Around his head, his dark blond hair rose in spikes. Saxon speculated that "something else might have drawn him away from here." There could be a different pub or club nearby, or we might have overlooked anything.

Or Joseph had been able to evade them once again. As Lucian released the railing, his teeth grinded against one another. Although he didn't want to murder the vampire he had previously thought of as an ally, he needed to finish this. Joseph was significantly more deadly than many of the other Savages they had faced because of his purebred status, familiarity with how they operated, and full contempt for human and vampire life. Years had passed since one of their own had succumbed to their savagery.

Lucian estimated that Joseph had murdered over a hundred people and was killing at least one every day, based on the rise in disappearances, slit throats, and animal attacks since he had caved in. That didn't account for all the vampires he also killed.

Joseph's strength increased, but he also became weaker with every human death. By this time, Lucian was aware that his former comrade could no longer stand the light. If he was still able to today, holy water and crucifixes would eventually have an impact on him and prevent him from being able to traverse enormous quantities of water.

He saw movement on the dance floor as a tall guy with black hair effortlessly moved through the throng. Some of the dancers halted their movements to make advances toward him and the three guys pursuing him. As if they didn't see the ladies, all the males kept moving through the throng.

As he saw the four of them, Lucian once again grabbed the rail. When the humans had all checked theirs, Lucian could tell what they were by the way they moved and the heavy coats they were wearing.

"Hunters," he mumbled. And not people, but born hunters.

The native vampire hunters sometimes took in people who were aware that vampires existed. These humans were taught by the hunters how to kill vampires, although often the humans served as vampires' bait. Although the hunters thought vampires were the real monsters, the use of humans as bait was more brutal than anything the country of Luxembourg had ever done to a person.

Killean snarled, "Bastards," in a voice that Lucian hardly heard.

Declan rested his hip on the rail and remarked, "Well, that made this night a lot less fun."

Do you believe they are following Joseph? Saxon questioned.

Lucian said, "I don't know," as he saw the four guys slide down the balcony. Observe the steps. Be ready to battle if they approach from this direction.

Moving among the few people huddled in the darkness, Saxon and Killean snuck back toward the steps. The majority of the mortals were involved with another person or people. A few others were huddling close together, looking for their preferred drug's dose.

Lucian had come here to kill Joseph, but now they may also have to deal with a foe they weren't expecting—a foe who wouldn't have needed to be a foe if the hunters weren't so dumb. But despite sharing similar forebears throughout history, hunters have long held the opinion that all vampires were evil. There was only one option for dealing with them: survival.

He had previously done what was necessary to live and had slain a few hunters over his existence. He would repeat it tonight if necessary.