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never easy.”
    And he would know. Savannah nodded, accepting his sympathy. For months after Mark’s death, she’d hated the empty words that her friends gave her. The empty condolences. They hadn’t understood what she was going through. They hadn’t understood what she felt.
    He understood. She knew it. William understood her loss.
    “What happened to him?”
    “He was . . . killed.” A scream echoed in her mind, and a flash of blood filled her vision.
    William’s gaze was intense. The moonlight seemed to reflect in his eyes and shine back at her. “How was he killed?”
    She took a deep breath. “A vampire killed him. Him and his wife.” They’d only been married for a little over a year. They’d gone to the family cabin in the woods, planning to have a nice, romantic weekend getaway.
    “How do you know it was a vampire?”
    “Mark and I were twins. We always had a special connection. And, when the second tumor came, something happened to me. It . . . changed me. Changed my mind. After that, Mark and I weren’t just close emotionally, we were—” She broke off, not certain how to explain. “Sometimes, I could read his thoughts. Share his dreams. We were connected. More connected than I’ve ever been to another person.” At first, the connection had been frightening, overwhelming. But, then, with each day that passed, she’d grown more accustomed to the feeling of sharing another’s mind, another’s thoughts.
    William nodded once, accepting her words. “Were you connected to him the night that he died?”
    She swallowed and looked down at her hands. They were clenched into tight fists. “I thought it was just a nightmare. I could see him, I could see Sharon, and they looked so happy.” When she closed her eyes, she could still see them sitting by the fire, laughing, kissing.
    “There was a knock at the door.” Her voice was hollow, wooden. “Mark had barely opened the door before . . . it attacked him.” A shudder racked her body. “Its eyes, his eyes,” she corrected, “were red, like they were on fire. He picked Mark up by the neck and threw him across the room.” A scream echoed in her mind. “He killed Sharon. Before she could even stand up, she was dead. Blood soaked her neck. Her gown. The floor . . .”
    Her temple began to pound. “By the time Mark realized what was happening, Sharon was gone. And then the creature turned on him . . .”
    She couldn’t, wouldn’t, tell him of the horrors that Mark had endured. He’d been tortured, viciously tortured, before he had received the release of death. In the end, he’d begged his killer to end his torment. The man had laughed, seeming to enjoy Mark’s pain, his anguish.
    William didn’t say a word. His eyes just watched her with unshakable intensity, as if he were looking into her very soul.
    “When I woke up, I told myself that it was just a nightmare. That Mark was fine. Then the phone rang.” A sad smile twisted her lips. “It was a police officer. He told me that my brother was dead. Mark’s body had just been found at the cabin.”
    “I’m sorry, Savannah.” His words were soft, sincere.
    She barely heard him. Her gaze was turned inward, viewing a blood-filled scene that only she could see. “I went to the cabin. I drove there as fast as I could. There was blood everywhere. I saw Mark. And Sharon. It looked like they had been mauled by a wild animal.”
    William touched her arm, and she blinked, her eyes focusing on his dark visage. “But it wasn’t an animal. It was a vampire.”
    “And you plan to go after him? To go after the vampire that killed your brother?” Disbelief was heavy in his voice.
    “I have to.” She couldn’t rest until her brother was avenged. And she couldn’t let that thing stay out there, killing innocent people.
    A sad smile twisted William’s sensual lips. “You haven’t got a chance. There is no way that you can defeat a vampire. You don’t have the strength.”
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