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her safety, cared for her and placed his life on hold day after day after their parents were murdered. The sensation of eyes burning a hole in the back of his head prompted him to turn around and find his little beauty standing in the carriage eyeing him curiously.
    “Oh, do tell! What exactly did I miss tonight, Luce? I don’t ever recall seeing that look on your face. Ever.” Raven kicked at her brother. “Are you going to get me out of this oven?” Lucian swung Raven around to the ground and hugged her.
    “Can we go inside, Raven?” Lucian pleaded.
    “You’re an imbecile, Luce. But I feel it, too.” Raven had her hand over her heart as she spoke, “She’s different, all right.” Giving her brother a quick glance, she wrinkled her nose. “Nice trousers, Luce. Do I want to know why you’ve got this wrapped like a kilt?”
    Lucian shook his head no.
    Raven grabbed the afghan. Lucian held tight. Regardless, it became a tug of war between sister and brother with Lucian winning as Raven fell into a fit of hysterical laughter. “I don’t even want to know what happened to you tonight, but if that woman saved you, then I owe her. I don’t ever want to think about losing you, Lucian. I’m willing to share you, but never to lose you.” Raven tossed her arm around her brother’s waist and began walking towards Serina’s home. “God, Lucian, you smell absolutely rancid.” Raven chortled.
    “She saved you as well, Ray. Vampires? I’d heard a few tales, but I thought they were just that—tales.” They proceeded up the pathway arm in arm, surrounded by beautifully thick black rose bushes.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    Once inside Serina’s home, Raven went to work, the professional snoop she was. She needed to find out everything about the woman because, from her shoes it looked like her brother had met his match. Everywhere Raven looked vases filled with both fresh and dried blooms hogged the tables, the floors, the windowsills, even a player piano. Family photos were lost behind the bouquets. Intricate bottles filled with fragrant oils cluttered another table and gave the home a heavenly scent.
    Serina entertained a unique style when it came to her home décor. She possessed a bold passion for the unusual bordering almost on atrocious. Not one thing matched. Wallpaper boasted yellow roses with light green leaves and vines that crept across the walls. A sapphire colored velvet couch and love settee held plump, orange taffeta toss pillows. The pink paisley curtains? What was this woman thinking?
    Raven thought her words carefully. “You have a flare for the unusual, Serina. The flowers are breathtaking.” Raven raised her voice, uncertain where the doctor had gone. “Who is your gardener?”
    “Me,” Serina answered from a small room off her kitchen. Coming out in a clean yellow linen blouse with a purple and black striped skirt, that accented her figure without flaunting it, she carried a tray of tea into the room and placed it on the table.
    “My background may be in medicine but my true passion is chemistry, the way things are put together and why. I’m still working on how the black roses came to be. My mother sneezed on one of them and it turned black. They used to be white. Her sneeze began a reaction that went from one rose to the next and so on, just like dominos as they tumble.”
    Raven’s eyes went wide with disbelief. “You are, of course, joking.”
    Serina shook her shook. “I swear it. Strangest thing I’ve ever witnessed. Anyway, from the black roses I’ve developed a fragrance. Would you care to try it? ’Tis sold in the markets. I’ve named it Eden’s Black Rose after my mother. She told me I’d recreated Eden’s garden.” Serina handed Raven a small ornate rose-colored bottle. Raven started to shake her head in protest of the gift, but Serina pushed the gift into her hand. “This way you’ll always remember me.”
    Raven gave Serina a warm hug. “Thank you for