Imagine an earth just a bit different from ours. In this world normals unknowingly share the planet with all manner of beings, including vampyres, most of whom rely on bagged blood, which is supplemented by the blood of sabors, valued individuals whose blood contains an element necessary for the survival of the species. Tyrell Small has always felt different. He just never knew how different. On his sixteenth birthday, his father reveals Ty is one such sabor, with the birthmark to prove it. Upon learning he’ll be required to feed vampyres, Ty decides he’s not having any of that. He’ll run away and make his own destiny. Slipping out his second story bedroom window, he finds Adam Dasani, the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen, waiting for him on the roof. Adam is reluctant to distress the young sabor about to slide down the drainpipe, but he’s one of the vampyres Ty will one day feed. Equerry to the vampyre king, Adam had been given the task of guarding Ty on the day he was born. Because the blood of the two most powerful saborese families in the shared history of vampyres and sabors runs through Ty’s veins, some vampyres will do anything to obtain him for themselves. It will be up to Adam to keep Ty safe, not only from those rogue vampyres but from others who have plans of their own for him. Everyone keeps telling Ty he can’t escape his destiny, but he has no intention of sitting around twiddling his thumbs, waiting for life to catch up with him. However, will something Adam inadvertently said give Ty a way to live the life he wants and keep those he loves -- including Adam -- out of danger?

They Come by Night

I slurped down about a quarter of the shake—I didn’t want to get brain freeze—then picked up my cell phone. No bars on the battery icon, which didn’t make any kind of sense; it had been partially recharged before Adam took me to the citadel. Maybe it was just a crap battery. I’d let it charge overnight and see what happened in the morning. I plugged it into the charger, then reached for the house phone, opened the address book, and pressed one.


How was I going to tell Dad what was going on? He had to know. Things were getting too hinky to keep it from him any longer.


“Hi Dad,” I said when he answered the phone.


“Ty. Thank you for returning my call.”


“I was about to ask you the same thing. I’ve been trying to reach you since Friday.”


I checked the answering machine, and sure enough, it was blinking. There were eight messages. “What’s going on? Ken and Chrissie haven’t canceled the wedding, have they?”


Chapter 157