Cat looked around to see a truck barreling its way toward her. She froze, realizing from her peripheral vision that the man carrying her wood was still on the curb. “Look out!” A woman from the sidewalk yelled. The truck loomed closer. Panic and shock filled her legs with lead and she couldn’t move. Suddenly, a dark shadow moved with lightening speed toward couldn’t move. Suddenly, a dark shadow moved with lightening speed toward her, lifted her in powerful arms, and carried her off to the side as the truck sped over the spot she had been standing on. The man who saved her continued to hold her firmly in his grip as he looked down at her face. “Are you all right?” Cat looked up at him, ready to thank him for saving her life, and felt her breath catch in her throat. My God! It was her fantasy man. The man was gorgeous, she thought in a daze. He had longish black hair, eyes the color of the midnight sky, and a mouth that oozed sensuality. But it was his skin that made her stare at him. It was smooth and translucent, almost as thought there was a faint glow about him. He had the face of an angel, a dark angel, because everything else around him was black. A black coat, black hair, black eyes. Even his mood seemed… black. Cat couldn’t find her voice. “I’m…I’m fine. Thank…thank you.” Their gazes locked, and she caught the look of recognition on his handsome face. Had she met him before? “You saved my life,” she whispered. When the Sun Sets by Anastasia Maltezos This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. When the Sun Sets COPYRIGHT 2010 by Anastasia Maltezos All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Contact Information: [email protected] Cover Art by Nicola Martinez The Wild Rose Press PO Box 708 Adams Basin, NY 14410-0706 Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com Publishing History First Black Rose Edition, 2010 Published in the United States of America Dedication To: Richard Pothier Chapter One Disgusted, Tobias Knight tossed the vampire killer on the floor, before scanning the thread bare apartment. As a four hundred year old vampire, who had seen it all, nothing shocked or surprised him, but then his gaze caught the book on the coffee table. His body stiffened in disbelief. He grabbed the book, clenching his jaw, and stared at the picture of the woman on the jacket. Tobias felt his cold, unfeeling heart jolt, his gut clench, and his breath stop. He held the book tightly, his knuckles showing white, as his heart and mind warred with the picture of the lovely lady. It couldn’t be. After all these centuries, Seraphina couldn’t be alive, could she? His beautiful Seraphina. Gone for over three hundred years, she’d left him alone to live as the undead for centuries—with nothing but torment and anguish in his cold heart. No, that wasn’t true. He felt hate. Hate for the Granger clan who had mercilessly killed his beloved. The Granger at his feet stirred, moaning under his breath. Tobias cast a harsh look at him. His vision grew so dark he viewed the killer through a black haze. His heart was cold, his blood like ice in his veins, the last of its warmth gone the day Seraphina died. “Where did you get this?” Tobias asked, his tone deadly calm. The Granger’s face twisted with hate. “Doesn’t matter, demon bastard. We’re already on her trail. Very soon we’ll send her straight to hell where she belongs.” He coughed and hacked, trying to get some 1 Anastasia Maltezos air back into his lungs. He spat blood from his swollen lip. “The demon bitch has come back from the dead, but she won’t last long in this life. She’s only a mortal now and all we have to do is snap her little neck.” Logic warred with Tobias. He knew the woman couldn’t be Seraphina, but a small part of him wasn’t so sure. And that small part surprised him into feeling a more human emotion. Hope. Besides, he had seen enough in his long life not to question anything. Werewolves, shape shifters, witches—they all existed, and he wasn’t about to discount reincarnation. He stared at her picture, not particularly bothered by the man still gasping at his feet. This Granger couldn’t harm him. He was as useless and annoying as a gnat. The modern day Seraphina’s name was Cat Luster, and she was a writer of paranormal erotica. His lips curled with wry amusement. The modern day Seraphina was not unlike his Seraphina of the past. Vampire lovemaking was the ultimate in pleasure and passion. And three hundred years hadn’t helped him forget the height of ecstasy of their past lovemaking. He stared at Cat Luster’s sky blue eyes beneath delicately winged brows, and sensual lips and felt a discomfort in his lower limbs—the past rushing forth. Her face was a replica of Seraphina’s, and he couldn’t tear his gaze away. Her hair, the same color, pale blonde curls that fell past her shoulders, the teasing look in her eyes, and a hint of a smile on her mouth made Tobias wonder again at the Granger’s words. Had she returned? Was this Seraphina? He doubted it, but he couldn’t help feeling he needed to warn her of the Grangers’ plot to kill her. After all, this woman, this Cat Luster, was a mere mortal. She didn’t have the immense strength and powers of a 2 When the Sun Sets