Blood Oath

Zach felt a stirring of instinct honed when humans huddled at the edges of campfires, terrified of the noises in the dark. He suddenly knew he was in the presence of something that stalked his kind, and had for thousands of years. Something inhuman. A predator. There is a reason humans are genetically programmed to fear the dark. Zach was looking at it.

Griff recognized the smile - a politician`s grin, with the kind of animated delight reserved only for total strangers within its radius. A smile designed to win friends and influence people, so they could be used and later discarded.

"Mr. Barrows," Cade said patiently, "I killed my best friend to feed myself. And I felt nothing. I am a vampire and a murderer. Whatever else I do in this world, nothing will change that. I can fight on the side of the angels until doomsday, but I`m still damned." "Then why do it? Why bother?" Cade`s face was entirely in shadow now, so Zach couldn`t see his expression when he spoke again. "Because," Cade said, "it`s worth fighting for. That`s all that matters."