Sam gasped as she opened her eyes. Fear and confusion flooded her as she looked up at the mansion she had just left a few hours ago. Completely caught off guard, she stumbled backwards on the sidewalk. How had she gotten there? When had she gotten there? The demon wolves were still vivid in her mind, howling and growling for her to come back. She whirled around, still looking for them.

Tears welled up in Sam’s eyes as she drew her lower lip into her mouth after letting out a sob. Fear racked her body so bad that it trembled even more violently than before. When the rain started to come down again, it only made it worse. When she felt the first drops hit her head, she immediately wrapped her arms around herself and looked down. It was only then that she realized that she wasn’t wearing anything. At all.

“Hey, little one.” Amaa’s voice came from behind her just as she was about to reel into a panic attack. She let out a sound of relief, and held her hands to her mouth as the tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Amaa,” she gasped, shaking her head. “I saw something. Something horrible, I-”

“I know, sweetheart,” he soothed, “come here. Let’s get you inside and we can talk about it.” In his hands, held a dark brown chenille hooded cape open for her.

Sam went into the cape immediately, relieved that she no longer had to worry about someone seeing her at her most vulnerable.

The moment the cape was wrapped around here Amaa took her into his arms, holding her close. Although she barely knew him, she leaned fully into his embrace, caressing her cheek against his shoulder as she began to sob.

“There, there,” he soothed, pulling the hood up to cover her hair. “I know. There’s a lot of questions we have to answer.”

He lifted Sam’s chin up with the crook of his finger until her eyes met his.

“I know you’re terrified,” he whispered, “but you’ll understand soon that no one in this house will do anything but try to protect you from now on.”

Sam shook her head. “I don’t understand.” She sobbed. “Why? What’s happening to me?”

“Come inside,” Amaa urged once more. “Please, Sam. Let us explain.”

For a moment Sam considered refusing, but if he was telling the truth and they had any possible explanations to anything, she wanted to hear it. With an arm still around her shoulders, Amaa guided her back into the old mansion that was quickly becoming familiar. And just like he told her, they found Sulma in the kitchen, pouring what smelled like chamomile tea into depression era green tea cups.

“Welcome back,” Sulma greeted. When he looked up his face dropped, and he furrowed his brow.

“What happened?” He asked, coming around the counter. “Are you alright? Where are your clothes?”

“I had our driver follow her home until the storm came in,” Amaa explained, his hand still rubbing Sam’s back. “The moment it got dark I took his place. I found her in the street, screaming and…naked,” he added the last word with a wince.

“I think she had a vision. Probably her first.”

Sam jumped away from Amaa as if he struck her.

“You really know what’s wrong with me?” She asked, looking at them incredulously.

“We do,” Sulma said, calmly. “And Amaa here has done extensive research on your kind. Things will become clear very soon,” he promised.

“I want answers right now,” she snarled, suddenly feeling as if she was about to snap. “One minute I’m researching what could possibly be wrong with me, and the next I’m standing buck-ass naked in front of your house. The street front, I might add, where God-knows-who saw me! So if you know anything you need to tell me right now!”

Sulma’s lips twitched into the smallest of smiles as Amaa’s eyes went to the floor, suddenly very interested in the tile there.

“Come,” Sulma told her, moving towards the great room. “Sit with us, have some tea, and we will talk.”

He sat the tray of tea down in front of the largest of the overstuffed sofas. “Sit please,” he urged. “We need to tell you some things. And I think that you need to tell us some things as well. But I need to be sure that you have an open mind before I even attempt to tell you anything.”

He handed her a cup of tea, heavily sweetened with honey, and she took it as she murmured a thank you. The sweet, hot brew calmed her nerves as she drained the tiny teacup. Her trembling subsided now that she was no longer in the rain, and the roaring fire in the hearth was helping as well.

“Fine,” she said, after a long moment of stretched silence between the three of them. She looked up over at him, and saw they were still studying her, as if they weren’t sure she was telling the truth. She sighed.

“I’m a scientific realist,” she explained, her nerves calming. “If I can’t find an answer in a text book or a reliable internet source, I assume that what I’m searching for is yet to be proven. Except this time, I’m the answer. I need to find me, what’s happening to me, and I can’t find anything. I don’t even know where to begin. So yes, okay. I’ll keep an open mind. Because whatever you’re about to tell has to be better than me thinking that I’m somehow no longer real.”

Sam felt a blush climb into her cheeks as Sulma simply stared at her. Not just him, but all of the men in the house were eerily calm. Not at all like the hotheaded jocks she was used to having to mingle with, but more mature, levelheaded. Surprisingly, she found it almost annoying. She was almost always the calmest person in the room.

“Have you been experiencing some odd things, Sam?” Amaa asked, reaching out to touch her knee. “Odd, sexual dreams. A spike in arousal, perhaps?”

She nodded, her heart pounding insanely.

“What about when you first met us? Did you feel as if we were somehow familiar to you? Like you knew us from long ago.”

“Yes,” she whispered, nodding her head. “Yes, exactly. How did you know that?”

“These are all symptoms of a beloved awakening,” he explained, nudging the tea cup in her hands so she would take a sip.

“You all keep using that word,” she replied, taking another sip of the calming brew. “What does it even mean.”

“A beloved is someone, usually a human, from a rare lineage. Once awakened, a beloved can return emotions to a group or coven of vampires. Basically, make them feel as if they are alive again. A deep, non-jealous love develops between a beloved and her coven, and she helps their powers grow while they in turn help yours grow,” Amaa explained.

Sam shook her head. “You’re mistaken,” she told him. “I don’t have any powers.”

“Tell us about your dreams, Sam,” Sulma interjected.

Sam looked at him incredulously. Aside from the one she just woke up from, her dreams of late had been extremely sexual, specifically about the men of the house. She wasn’t sure she was ready to tell them about that.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because prophetic dreams are often the first symptom of a beloved rising,” Amaa explained. He squeezed her knee and moved an inch or so closer.

“You can trust us Sam,” he urged. “At least tell us about the dream that brought you back to us. Maybe we can help you interpret it.”

For a moment Sam went back and forth about whether or not to tell them, but then gave in when she realized she had nothing left to lose. From what she was gathering, these men were admitting they were vampires. If that was the case, her dream surely couldn’t be more ridiculous than that.

Taking a deep breath, she recalled her dream about the monster. She told them everything she could remember, down to the way the beast’s fingernails felt digging into her throat. As she talked, she realized they would need a reference to understand her fear, so she broke down and told them about the extremely sensual dream she’d had about them the night before. When she finished talking, Sulma and Amaa stared at each other for a long moment, concern written clearly on their faces.

“Belal,” Sulma growled. “It has to be him.”

“What has to be him?” Sam asked.

“It certainly sounds like him,” Amaa replied. “If we’re lucky he’s not aware of her yet, but if this dream is a warning it means that he’s close.”

“Close?” Sam asked. “How close?”

“We’ll need to amp up security,” Sulma countered, “and ask the house leaders for more men. The four of us can’t do this alone.”

“Hey!” Sam shouted, fed up with being ignored. Both men turned to look at her, their eyes wide.

“Apologies,” Sulma said, his tone sincere. “We’re just- the monster in your dream. He’s someone we believe has been terrorizing the city lately.”

“The missing girls?” Sam asked, surprised. They nodded. Being able to apply real world actions to the equation, although saddening, brought a new breath of life to Sam’s understanding, and she decided to back track a little bit.

“Vampires,” she said aloud, nodding her head, as if accepting it. “I suppose it could make sense,” she went on. “Other species have subspecies relatives that survive on blood, why wouldn’t we?”

She looked back up at them, much calmer now. “Tell me more,” she urged.

For a moment they stared at her, as if they couldn’t tell if she was either enlightened or maddened. Finally, Sulma cleared his throat.

“Um, well, for starters, that pendant of yours is so much more than an heirloom from your grandmother,” he began.

“How do you know I got it from my grandmother?”

“Taas overheard you murmuring about her in your sleep, while you clutched at the necklace. Lucky guess, really,” Sulma explained. He waited for Sam to nod, then continued.

“The symbol and metal that the pendant is made of is no mere coincidence, Sam. Your grandmother was a vampire hunter. What you wear is a magical pendant that makes you poisonous to vampires. They can touch you, yes, but if they were to spill your blood, especially drink it, they would be in extreme pain. If more than an ounce would be spilt, it would kill the vampire that injured you.”

“Vampires.” Sam deadpanned. She raised her eyebrows. Opened her mouth, closed it. Furrowed her eyebrows.

“Vampires?” She repeated, her tone unbelieving. “You’re telling me that vampires hunted my grandmother?”

“The opposite actually,” Sulma corrected. “She hunted them.”

Sam shook her head no. “I don’t understand. Why would she not give it to my father then? He would have been next in line. Why did it go straight to me?”

“Because you’re more than human,” he explained. “I don’t believe I’ve ever met your grandmother. At least, I was never on her hit list. But from what we can understand, she passed the necklace on to you because you were born special, and she could sense that. You’re human and not human. Vampire and not. No one would have been hunting for your father because he is an average man. You’re something altogether unique. A beloved.”

There was that word again. Beloved. She said out loud, feeling it on her lips.

“So I’m not a hunter then?”

Sulma shook his head.

“Hunters are called upon,” he explained. “They’re not born into it.”

Surprisingly she felt relieved. She was slowly accepting the idea of being a beloved, but not that and a hunter. Then another question popped into her head.

“So, you said a beloved can restore vampires, yes?”

Amaa and Sulma both nodded.

“Does that mean you four specifically, or does that mean anyone can just swoop up and take me?”

The men exchanged a long glance before answering her question, and when they turned to look at her she identified guilt in their eyes.

“Yes,” he told her. “But it is now a little harder for anyone to ‘just swoop in and take you.’”

Sam narrowed her gaze. “How do you mean?”

“Your powers would have started to develop on their own, whether you had met us or not,” Amaa began to explain.

“We knew immediately what you were, but we hadn’t planned on laying claim on you until after we had been able to get better acquainted.”

Sulma interjected, “but when you fell and hit your head the other night, you were about to die. We could either save you by claiming you, or let you pass on to the next life.” He paused, his eyes taking on an almost golden glow around his normally black orbs.

“We couldn’t let you go,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”

Shaking, Sam stood up abruptly. “What are you saying?” She asked. “That I what, belong to you now?”

“No! I mean yes,” he sighed, running a frustrated hand through his silver hair. “I mean, we didn’t just claim you. When we enacted the blood ritual, you claimed us just as much. We’re yours as much as you’re ours.”

“I’m my own!” She yelled, feeling irate. “You have no idea how lost I am. How confused I am. Up until now I was not a sexual person. I’m not ashamed of it either, because it was just who I was. My mind was better spent on books and plants and studies. It’s why I was so fascinated with human sexuality. Because I could remove myself from it all. But now? Now I can’t have a single thought without one of you four popping into my head for a little visit to remind me how good looking you are, or how calm you are. And now, to put the cherry on top of all of this, you’re telling me you’re vampires?” She slammed the teacup back down onto the tray, making them both rattle.

“You’re lying. You slipped me something. Some sort of aphrodisiac or something, and I deserve to know what it is.” Shaking, she moved her hands only a few inches around her body. “I don’t know what to do…with this.” She sobbed, referring to her arousal. “It’s so much all the time.”

Within a second Sulma and Amaa were in front of her, their eyes full of concern as they tried to figure out how best to soothe their beloved.

“I have books,” Amaa offered, “and Aruum does too. I can show you the library. You can go in anytime you look and read whatever you want.”

Books. Yes, books were good, Sam decided. She could trust books.

“And if it will make you feel better,” Sulma offered, I can show you what your blood can do to us. That way if you ever feel uncomfortable, you can put your pendant on and know you’re safe.”

She thought about it, then nodded. Solid proof was always a good thing. Perhaps if she had some her brain wouldn’t keep moving into panic mode.

“Yes,” she said. “I think I need that.”

Sulma moved out of the room then, faster than any creature she was aware of. In a second, he was back with a pocket knife.

“You’ll have to cut your own finger,” Sulma warned. “But remember you don’t need much.”

She did as she was told, slicing just enough so that one drop of blood welled up on her fingertip.

“May I?” Sulma asked. She nodded, and he pulled her finger towards his mouth.

Any remaining doubt she had disappeared as she watched in horror as the tiniest droplet of blood slid from the tiny puncture wound down to Sulma’s lip. Her blood, which she knew was supposed to be red, turned a bright silver the moment it touched Sulma’s skin. His lip began to simmer and burn as her blood ate away at the tissue. Sulma growled in pain as he let her go, and turned to heal himself by the fireplace. Within minutes, the blistered skin was completely healed and smooth again, looking as if nothing had ever even happened.

Sam stared at him wide-eyed, her brain desperately trying to accept the new and strange information that had been handed to her. Vampires were real. Sulma just proved it, and Amaa was offering research. The curse of her pendant was real, and vampire hunters were apparently real. She tried to picture her Nana staking a vampire, and she definitely could. Nana Burns had been a badass. It was time, she decided, to accept what was happening and adjust her situation.

She glanced up to Amaa, then over to Sulma. She searched his face once more for injury, and found none. Still, that didn’t wash away the guilt that she had in fact hurt him.

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” she whispered.

Amaa laughed, relaxing visibly before plopping down on the couch.

“Don’t worry Sam, it’ll take a lot more than that to get this guy down. He’s the strongest out of all four of us.”

“Really, you didn’t,” Sulma added, even giving her a small smile. “That was my choice. I just needed to prove that I was telling the truth.”

She nodded, relaxing a little as she played through the past twenty-four hours in her head. It was then that she realized something.

“How did you clean me up if you can’t touch my blood?”

“Once you were healed, the excess blood around you immediately dried and all but turned to dust. It becomes harmless the moment you’re healed from wherever you’re bleeding. Another magic trick the gods have for you. But I should warn you. If you ever take your pendant off, your blood no longer becomes poisonous.”

“What does that mean for me?” She asked. “Does that mean I go back to being a normal human being?”

“Not at all,” he replied. “It merely means we could taste you.”

A shiver, delicious and erotic despite the conversation, ran down her spine. Understanding was dawning on her. Realization that the world was not all as black and white as she had always tried to see it, but actually smeared with different colors and shapes.

“We can make things easier for you,” Sulma comforted, laying hand on her shoulder. “Let us try to help you adjust and understand what you are. Not just to us, but the world.” He paused, then added, “We need you, Sam.”

Sulma’s hand traveled from her shoulder to her cheek, and despite her earlier reaction, she pressed her face into his palm. Waves of comfort seemed to be flowing from his touch, so much so that when he pulled her into his arms she simply allowed it to happen. His embrace felt warm, safe. She knew then that no matter how helter-skelter it all seemed, it was all true.