The mist of darkness shaded the informal meeting place of two vampires. One male. One female. Both samurai.

Her nearly translucent pale hand rested on the hilt of her sheathed sword of pure silver. Silently, she waits for the unscrupulous murderer to give her a reason to remove his head from his body, as he had done to her husband on that winter's day in 1184.

The years to follow ensued in an unforgiving blood feud, causing numerous vampires to die fruitlessly as the war between them commenced. With only a few remaining members of the Yoshi and Yori bloodlines, both vampire and human, Gozen Tomoe and Minamoto Yoritomo were summoned by their daimyo, feudal lord. A creed of peace was set forth in order to protect the secret and the future of their kind.

Tomoe had promised her vampire sire and husband Yoshinaka that no matter what, his bloodline would continue and his greatness not forgotten. With reluctance she had agreed, and they had managed to replenish both of their clans.

It was the last vampire Yori brought into his care that forced Tomoe to call this private meeting. Yori’s latest vampire was getting out of hand. The wayward vampire was stalking and terrorizing the last human that carried a small trace of the Yoshi blood, driving him to the point of madness.

Gozen Tomoe called this meeting with her nemesis to give him a chance to defend those he was supposed to watch over before she took her grievance to the daimyo for an amicable solution. If it was left up to her, she would have killed the nuisance, but he hadn't physically harmed Hideaki. Yet.

"Did we have to meet this close to the Koyasan monastery? It makes my skin crawl and my bowls ache to be up here." The male of the two asked with a deep growl.

"Only the most hallowed ground would be safe enough to meet the betrayer of all bloodlines," she answered bitterly. "It is safe for those who lived and was reborn of pure heart."

"You will never let go of the past, will you, Gozen Tomoe?" He smirked at her as his midnight eyes grazed over her petite frame. Silently, he admired her flawless pale beauty and the way her raven blue-black hair billowed behind her in the gentle breeze.

“Yori, don’t look at me in such a lustful way! You have no right to look at me at all after what you have taken from me,” she hissed at him, her dark eyes casting an eerie reflection of the light even though it was a moonless night.

“Such desolation,” he uttered shaking his pale shaven head. “Yoshi preserved your beauty by making you an immortal. Why would you want to spend forever emotionally withering internally with your bitterness? You might as well wear your bitterness upon your face.”

She smirked at him. “Yoshi made me an immortal because I was fatally wounded during the Gampei battle against the Taira clan. Selfishly he took away my choice to die. I did not wish to live this way, even though I knew what he was. He knew this and went against my wishes. It was ruthlessly unkind!” Her voice broke. “Now, I'm so alone.”

“Tomoe,” Yori's voice softened. “Share your eternity with me.”

“How? It disgusts me to stand here before you. The thought of your hands on me sickens me. I would fall upon my sword and remove my own head. I wouldn't even spend a mortal’s lifetime with you, Yoritomo.”

She noted his set face, the muscle that flicked angrily at his jaw. His anger would have intimidated a lesser vampire turned, but she was beyond caring.

"As a none-pureblood it is you that should keep your head bowed in my presence," he snarled baring his incisors. Lines of discontent deepened along his brows and under his eyes.

"You and your brothers murdered the only man I have ever loved," she reminded. "I am destined to spend eternity alone due to your wish to covet all that your cousin had. No, Yori!" Tomoe spitted at his feet like a venomous snake. The spot sizzled and smoked. "I will kill you before I let you near me." Here eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't turn to you, even if we are the last two immortals standing."

The wind increased, as the two vampire's animosity for each other unconsciously manipulated the elements around them.

“Yamero-yo! Stop it!” Yoritomo raised a hand. A streak of lighting streaked and illuminated the sky followed by a deafening clap of thunder. “Nanka monku aru-no? Tomoe, if this is why you called me here--”

"It is not," she interrupted. "You were warned a year ago Yoritomo no Minamoto to bring your underling, Ishida Mitsunari, under control," Lady Tomoe, pointed out. "Why does he continue to haunt my husband's human kinsman, Kobayakawa Hideaki?"

"Has he harmed him?"

"He believes he is insane considering Ishida is assumed to have died after being captured and beheaded two years ago in an enemy village," she argued.

“Maybe it is Kobayakawa’s guilt that is making him go mad,” Yori reasoned. “If Ishida has not physically harmed him, I do not see any reason to intervene.”

"By the time that happens, it could be too late for Hideaki!"

"You wail on about my betrayal, yet you protect this human that betrayed Ishida when he was mortal and disclosed his position to his enemies in order to seek revenge for some wrong he thought he’d done. What is the difference?"

"The difference is I am his protector and in his current weakened condition, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself if Ishida grow tired of the game and wants him dead." Tomoe pushed back her windswept hair from her face. "Are you going to do nothing about this matter?"

“I will not chastise or punish one that has not crossed the line I’ve set forth. He has the right to seek some form of retribution towards his murderer.”

She released a bitter laugh. “If that is so then wouldn’t that give me the right to haunt your ever waking thought?”

He leered at her and her nails elongated at the thought of tearing his throat out. She winced as she balled her hands into fist and felt the crescent shaped sharpness cut into her palms. The pain reminded her of her oath to do no harm to the man that stood before her.

“Shimpai shinai-de, don’t worry, Gozen Tomoe, you’ve haunted my thoughts for centuries and my passions for you has not faded in the least. If you ease my madness for you, I will make sure Ishida never bother Kobayakawa Hideaki.”

"I chose to come to you first on this matter!" Tomoe shouted above the wind as she manipulated the element into a mournful wailing gust. She grasped the ends of the red shroud around her shoulders and draped it over her head. The wind caught beneath the soft folds billowing like the sails on a ship lifting her up into the air as if she suddenly weighed no more than a feather. She looked down at her enemy and added, "Remember this moment Yori. Whatever happens from this moment is on your head. Hideaki is at a disadvantage. Being human he is vulnerable to your minion. It shall no longer be so."

"If you are about to do what I think you are about to do, then I warn you, do not do it, Tomoe!" Yori warned.

"Only if you remove the threat from Kobayakawa Hideaki, once and for all," she threw back at him. "Kill Ishida Mitsunari before his meddling puts an end to the peace we have built over the years."

"I will not kill one of my own Tomoe. If you make Kobayakawa vampire, after our agreement to not change over any more humans, I will see it as an end to our talks of peace."

"You do not fool me Yori. You made Ishida your last changeling knowing the he used his last breath to swear revenge on Kobayakawa."

“Butsu butsu iu-na,” he chuckled. “Stop complaining.”

“Yori, you knew the hate and personality one has as a human is carried over into his life as a vampire is multiplied. Not only does your minion hate Hideaki, he’s obsessed in his desire to destroy him! Just because he has yet to draw blood, what he is doing to him is worse.”

“Nani itten- no?” He asked in feigned innocence.

“Yes. I’m accusing you of intentionally breaking the peace between our bloodline and allowing me to take the blame.” Lighting snapped across the sky followed by a lingering clap of thunder.

“Un, yes.” He grins revealing crooked tea-stained teeth. "Ultimately the choice is still yours to make, Tomoe. If you wish to live, allow the last human bloodline of my cousin to die once and for all."

"I made a promise to Yoshi," she spoke softly. "I will continue his bloodline, if not mortally, then immortally."

"I made a promise too," Yori began ominously. "I swore to my cousin that as long as I live my immortal life, his direct kinsmen would die until there were none."

Tomoe gave Yori a long embittered stare. A war cry of rage ripped from her body. "The time for peace is over!"

Hideaki raced through his small wooden single one story high home for the third time in the past hours to assure the screens, paper walls and wooden shutters were shut. He halted his frantic movement cocking his head to the side to listen for any unfamiliar sounds. His eyes travel upward as he leaned back to search wooden interlocked beams of the sloped thatched roof for any signs of the demon that waited in the shadows for him to fall asleep. He wouldn’t stop until he stole his last gasp of air and owned his soul.

He hadn't slept for eight days straight. Or was it eleven? He couldn't remember anymore. Everyone in the village stayed out of his way because they believed him to be crazy. No, it wasn't madness that dimmed his senses. It was something more horrifying and unforgiving. Guilt. Guilt forced him to relive all the wrongs he had done, all the men he had killed in the name of power and to see the face of the man that he once called friend until he saw him as his enemy. Day or night, it didn't matter he would come to him in his dreams haunting him to the point of madness.

At twenty and five, Hideaki was accustomed to war, his first battle being at fourteen. Being the fifth son of his father fertile loins, his father could afford to be generous and allow a less blessed daimyo to adopt him and make him his heir. For a while Hideaki’s future had been rich and promising for he was to inherit a small fortune of land and the forces to protect it. Then everything changed beginning with his adoption no longer being valid once the daimyo had a male heir of his own.

A lesser man would have given up, but Hideaki knew his skills and ability in warfare would carry him far. He continuously proved his worth and in exchange for his loyal services to his liege lord, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and his inheritance was restored. The proudest time of his life was the year he spent as a commander in the second Korean campaign. He was twenty-years-old at the time, and he should have realized his rise would catch the attention of his seniors causing jealousy and resentment.

Upon his return to Japan, he was stripped of his position while his inheritance was substantially lowered, and he was relocated from Kyushu to Kita no sho in Echizen. All of this because one person, the inspector of forces, Ishida Mitsunari. Unbeknownst to Hideaki, Ishida had been dispatching to his liege, Hideyoshi criticism of his every move.

From that moment forward Hideaki did everything within his power to undermine Mitsunari’s advancements. He wanted him to fail in his campaign and feel the same dishonor he felt as his betrayal of trust from one samurai to another.

He hadn't anticipated that after escaping an honorable death in battle Mitsunari would be murdered while residing in a village of farmers. His body was never recovered for a proper burial and now his restless spirit haunted him, and he didn't know what to do to make things right so that he could find peace.

Hideaki dropped down onto the tatami mats close to the irori, sunken hearth. The licking flames did nothing to ease the chill he felt to his bones. He lifted the rough-spun blanket from the mat and draped it around his shoulders. His trembling thin form began rocking back and forth. His heart thumped so hard in his chest; he felt as if it was trying to jump from his sickly body.

At twenty and five how could he have fallen so far? He was now ronin, a drifting person, a dishonored samurai. His face, which as a soldier was bare and smooth to show his rank, was covered in a full beard. His long black hair in which he was prideful was now shorn as a sign of losing his master‘s favor. He thought of many times of doing the honorable thing and commit oibara seppuku, ritual suicide, but he couldn’t. Not yet. He had to find away to make amends or risk rising again and walking on the earth troubling others as Mitsunari was disquieting him.

Walking ghostly amongst the living was a hell he wished on no man.

“Hideaki.”

He whimpered. Tonight the ghost was visiting him with a woman’s voice. “Gomen-ne, I’m sorry, gomen-ne!” His shaking hands with dirty and broken nails came up over his ears as he shook his head and clenched his eyes shut tightly.

“Hideaki, look at me. I am here to avail you of the one that threatens your sanity.” The feminine voice grew softer.

The air permeated with the smell of spring blossoms. “Jama shinai-de-kure! Baku-no sei! Bako-no sei! Bako-no sei!”

“I will not leave you alone, and it isn't your fault,” the soft voice countered. “You were deceived to believe that Mitsunari had betrayed you. You never would have undermined him if you had known the truth.”

His tears turned to sobs as he fought to resist the urge to open his eyes to stare at the holder of such a beautiful and tender voice. It probably was trickery and if he stared into the spirit's eyes his soul would forever be tied to this earth. He couldn’t bare the thought of not even being able to find peace from his rampant thoughts even in the peace that death was supposed to give him. "Jama shinai-de-kure! Leave me alone!" he repeated in a wailing moan.

He fell over onto his side pulling his knees up to his chest while pulling the cover around his shoulder up and over his face.

“We have no time for this, Hideaki. As soon as they discovered what I have done all peace will cease, and they will start to hunt us once again.” The woman then said, “Do you wish that I die for helping you? Have you wallowed so low in self-pity that you can no longer intellect the proud warrior's blood that you carry inside you?”

He felt a touch on his back. The male ghost had never touched him, so how could she? Could she really be a kind and genteel ghost sent to help him? He quieted himself, but still he was too frightened to turn around. The touch stayed with him, and he felt a glow of warmth spread through him, causing his aching cold bones to ease.

“Who are you?” he mumbled.

He heard shuffling of clothing and felt her as she curled up behind him. A deep blush ran from the top of his head to his straw sandal clad feet. He knew he looked horrible and smelled even worse. She must be as insane as he, to want to lie with him in this condition.

“Tomoe.”

Hideaki felt small firm breast pressing into his back. Gently, a hand stroke his shorn hair and thankfully it was too cold for lice to be present. Why was she here? Why was she touching him as if he was her long lost lover? Even though he was exhausted, a part of him yearned and treasured the touch of her hand. She felt so real to him.

"Why did you choose me?" He croaked through parched lips.

"Because you are a worthy samurai and there is going to be a war with the Yoshinaka bloodline. I need to start building my army." Her hot breath blew hotly in his ear as she spoke. He shuddered. It had been so long since he had been touched like this. "Hideaki, you have had a short life and most of it has been spent in battle. If you give up now, all that I have fought for all these years will be lost."

Her fingers followed the contour of his body, and even though he kept his eyes closed, the tenseness he felt was easing away, and he felt as if he was being lifted and gliding gently on the breeze that swept through his home. Such a breeze should have hurt like hell to his frostbitten hands and freezing flesh but her touch soothingly warmed him to a feverish pitch. Even though he still wore his soiled clothing, he felt naked physically and mentally beneath her soft words and gentle hands. To his disbelief, his cock hardened. How was it possible? How could he be aroused when each shallow breath, he took in, pained him?

Slow movements over his chest and down to his hips and up again along his ribcage. Her fingers lingered there, tracing the outline of bone under flesh. She didn't seem to find his unseemliness appalling. Under her tender care he felt, once again, hopeful.

She stopped caressing him and urged him over onto his back and straddled his hips. Hideaki chanced a peek from beneath closed eyelids, preparing himself for the usual horrific scene that met him when he was dreaming. He was relieved and awestruck by the ethereal beauty that was leaning over him.

Midnight black long hair, small and pale face and a full rub-red mouth. There was a fire in her, and beneath her fragile appearance and serene expression there glimmered something unspeakably horrifying.

She cupped the back of his neck tilting his head back enough to expose his throat to her wondering mouth. He released a contented but shaky sigh as she pressed her lips against his feverish skin. “It was his time to die”, he surmised. No one told him death would be so beautiful. Hideaki was tired, ill, and feverish and all of this was a wonderful hallucination.

No words passed between them, but he felt as if he was gaining a wealth of information, giving him the feeling that he had known her all of his life. His entire body bent to her will like a reed bowing from the wait of a heavy breeze.

He managed to lift a hand to hold her had to him. She licked the artery at his throat. A light frown came to his face as her knees clamped about his hips so tightly he felt she would crush him. He felt a moment’s panic like a trapped animal as nails sharp like tiny daggers bit into the back of his neck. She had him in a vice, and he couldn't protest, squirm, or move. A sharp pain rushed to the area where her teeth sank deeply. Hideaki penis jerked and semen poured forth into the cotton loincloth. His twitching cock throbbed with each beat of his heart. Both, easing, as the stillness of death beckoned to him.

His body succumbed to the sweet release. His hand dropped to his side as he became completely limp beneath her deadly kiss. A glazed look came over Hideaki's dark eyes, and he sighed with relief as all the anguish, disappointment, and worry dissolved into darkness.

CHAPTER ONE