Julian's Farewell

By Jaden Sinclair

Noble born, Julian Marino turned his back on the only life he has ever known to search for a lost friend he has always cared about and never forgotten. Groomed to take his place as an Elder, his father's ambitions, not his own, Julian set out to reinvent himself. Learning to fight, to hunt, to track has been very successful for him, but not in his many year quests to find his best friend. Feeling defeated, Julian goes to the one and only home he still has left and discovers new problems within his race as well as a new war brewing.

Serina Ferrari was born a bloodmate. She is destined to be mated with a vampire and will suffer greatly if not. Her system isn’t designed for a human life. Her body functions only for a vampire, and without enough nutrition as well as feedings from a vampire, she will die. Her father refuses to accept this fate. He thinks he can cure her and is blind to the suffering she goes through. He takes vampires and even Elders with the hope of finding the cure needed for his daughter. Has no care with how many lives he takes either or how they die. He only wants to save his daughter and kill as many vampires as he can. But when he ends up taking Julian all bets are off and the war that had been brewing starts, not to mention there’s a Guardian tagging along right behind Julian—a legendary protector to the vampire race, and very deadly when crossed.

Now the battle is on, but who comes out a victor, or a victim?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melange Books, LLC
• Release date: Oct 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781680461817

Book preview

Julian’s Farewell

BLOODMATES #1

by Jaden Sinclair

Published by

Melange Books, LLC

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

www.melange-books.com

Julian’s Farewell, Copyright 2015 Jaden Sinclair

ISBN: 978-1-68046-181-7

Names, characters, and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States of America.

Cover Design by Caroline Andrus

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Julian’s Farewell

Glossary

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Sneak peek at book 2, The Guardian's Embrace

About the Author

Previews

Glossary

Bloodmate: Girls born either of a vampire father and bloodmate mother or two human parents. They bear a birthmark in the shape of a fang, somewhere on their bodies to identify them. Their systems are designed to feed a vampire. Extra blood builds internally, and if not bled they will experience intense pain, drown, and die.

Guardian: One who protects the vampire race, trained to kill. They tend to be the unwanted second and third born sons of Noble families.

Nobles: High-ranking vampires. They are old families with old money and old beliefs with a huge influence over the race.

The Prophet: Born of a vampire and bloodmate, the only male child with the bloodmate mark and the knowledge of an elder. He will bring balance to the race.

Elders: Oldest vampires.

Breeds: Humans mutated to vampires for the sole purpose of killing anything they are told to kill.

The Crossover: When a vampire becomes a Guardian by drinking the blood of the ancient Elders. They have extra strength and heightened senses and become a weapon to defend the vampire race.

JULIAN’S FAREWELL

by Jaden Sinclair

Noble born, Julian Marino turned his back on the only life he has ever known to search for a lost friend he has always cared about and never forgotten. Groomed to take his place as an Elder, his father's ambitions, not his own, Julian set out to reinvent himself. Learning to fight, to hunt, to track has been very successful for him, but not in his many year quests to find his best friend. Feeling defeated, Julian goes to the one and only home he still has left and discovers new problems within his race as well as a new war brewing.

Serina Ferrari was born a bloodmate. She is destined to be mated with a vampire and will suffer greatly if not. Her system isn’t designed for a human life. Her body functions only for a vampire, and without enough nutrition as well as feedings from a vampire, she will die. Her father refuses to accept this fate. He thinks he can cure her and is blind to the suffering she goes through. He takes vampires and even Elders with the hope of finding the cure needed for his daughter. Has no care with how many lives he takes either or how they die. He only wants to save his daughter and kill as many vampires as he can. But when he ends up taking Julian all bets are off and the war that had been brewing starts, not to mention there’s a Guardian tagging along right behind Julian—a legendary protector to the vampire race, and very deadly when crossed.

Now the battle is on, but who comes out a victor, or a victim?

To my very good friend, Pat Sager. You’ve been there since Julian first spoke to me and through all the changes—good and bad ones.

Finally, your Julian is here!

Chapter One

The need to feed was upon him, strong and urgent, transforming Julian Marino from a man to a predator. Squatting and perched on the edge of a rooftop, his weight balanced on the balls of his feet, he watched the busy streets of San Francisco below, waiting. He scanned every corner within in his view, every face, searching for someone who might take the hunger away, but knowing none would completely quench his thirst.

Incisors lengthened, and his cock burned with a need left unfulfilled. While on the hunt, his eyes, usually brown, turned to the silver metallic, a distinct characteristic of only his race. They glistened brightly in the moonlight, shining a pathway from him as he scanned everything and everyone.

Wind whipped through his long, thick, dark hair and tore at his trench coat, yet he didn’t flinch.

Things had changed in the city since his last visit, things that didn’t sit well with him, no more than the letter in his pocket from Ambrose D'Abigne, an Elder to the race. He’d received the letter months ago and still wondered what the old man wanted. Julian wasn’t anything special anymore, not like he had been in his youth, not since he gave up his noble status. Now he’s just another vampire lost in his own grief, tracking for others, finding things and people that were lost. For him to be singled out was unusual. He hadn’t done Ambrose any favors in many years, and their parting had not been friendly. Were he still in his father’s house, he could almost understand. Nobles were contacted, not rogues like himself. Not a stray that has no home, no status, no nothing really but the training he’d picked up over the years that he used to hunt.

To have the title of Noble was something special, but also suffocating. They were the oldest families, raised with the belief that every other vampire was beneath them. Bondings to bloodmates were arranged, making many unhappy unions. His own father wanted him to bond with a girl of great breeding and to take up the seat at the Council, to be picked to train as an Elder—his father’s dream, not his. Nobles had a way of life they wanted to keep. Turning his back on that life hadn’t been hard, no more than making a life for himself, if he could call being alone a life. It seemed that when he’d walked away from the Nobles and his father, the whole world turned its back on him. A few times, he’d wished like hell his father could be different, and to support the choices he’d made. The support never came. Instead, for declaring his wishes, his desires, his father had cast him out, as were many other Noble children who chose their own way, breaking from tradition.

A disgrace, his father had called him, and pointed a finger at him, then screamed it was all her fault. Blaming Julian’s very dear friend for him wanting a different life, his father made a vow to punish her. Thinking about that night brought forth so much pain, and Julian would never forget how he went running back to warn her of his father’s anger, only to find her gone. Not only had his father turned his back on him, but Julian lost his good friend, and had never been able to find her again—Carissa.

She was a one of a kind, and not only as his friend. Born of a union so rare as to be thought by most impossible, a vampire and a human who was not a bloodmate, Carissa was a half-breed. Somehow, that human woman conceived a child that lived after the birth, something that should never have happened. Her mother couldn’t handle the truth of what she gave birth to and left Carissa when she was only five. Carissa had no place to go. Nothing. Ambrose took her in, raised, and treated her like his own daughter. What happened to her father, no one ever knew. The vampire that sired her had also disappeared.

Julian met her the summer his father sent him to Ambrose with the hope he would be picked as an apprentice. It happened to be a birthday party for Carissa, and she was so sad. She wanted her mother but instead got him, and they became close friends. Each summer for years, he went back to spend time with her while his father thought it was to be with Ambrose. The year it came to an end, he lost it all but only cared about her—Carissa.

We’ll always be friends, Julian, she’d whispered, her bright eyes holding so much sadness he didn’t understand. Nothing can ever change that.

She was so pretty, it seemed he was seeing her for the first time all over again. Gone was the little girl he grew up with, and in her place stood a stunning young woman at only thirteen. She stood five foot three with bright grey eyes and thick, long hair as black as night.

You sound like we are never going to see each other again. He chuckled. I’m just going down to talk to my father. He needs to know I’m not going to be an Elder or follow the Nobles any longer. I’m going to make my own way in this world and bond with whomever I choose.

She smiled, but it wasn’t the cheerful smile he was so used to. She’ll be lucky, whoever she is.

And yet I’m still alone, and you’re still gone. He sighed to the night and reached into his pocket for the one and only photo he had of her, a picture of a sad little girl. Instead, his hand closed on the letter he’d received months ago. He still couldn’t make sense of it.

Julian,

I need your help. I can’t go into the details now, but let me just say to keep your eyes open. Things are not as they seem, and you need to watch your back. We are at war, Julian, and I’m letting you know because I need your arm.

Ambrose D’Abigne

Still confusing, the message baffled him every time he read it. Something was going on for sure. He couldn’t dismiss the notion that things were changing in their world. Stories of savage deaths, bloodlines destroyed, families disappearing, all forced Julian to go out and hunt for the answer as to why. The only thing he knew so far was a vampire of some sort was responsible, yet he knew it wasn’t any kind of vampire he’d ever met. The proof of it was in the facts that no blood was left in the bodies, and the throats had been ripped from the corpses. Vampires of his kind fed from their bloodmates. Until theirs were found, they drank from humans, but only enough to leave them strong. Never did they kill or tear one apart to expose and bring attention to their kind from the outside world.

Standing up slowly, Julian scanned the busy streets without finding what he searched for. He leaned forward, letting gravity pull him down to the ground. Landing with a light thud and a hop, he shook his shoulders to adjust his coat before striding off to mix in with the humans on the block.

His fangs throbbed to sink into flesh and drink, and his dick reminded him he hadn’t had the satisfaction of a warm body in a very long time. The urge to feed was a priority, more so than getting laid. His hunger came first.

Julian found his prey for the night—a dark haired beauty working First and Main Street. He had no trouble at all in convincing her to go with him into the alley once he handed over the money she’d asked for. Giving into his powerful urges, he backed her up against the wall, his throbbing cock pressing hard against her. He could sense how she liked to play and how rough she wanted things, which was fine with him. Tonight, gentle wasn’t a preference.

His need for release grew, forcing Julian to fight the need to drain her dry. He shoved up her skirt, ripped away her panties and wrapped her legs around his hips. His erection, hard, heavy, and painful, pressed against her. Heat, hunger, and lust raged through him, reminding him of how desperately he needed to find his bloodmate. Only she would be able to completely quench this lust and hunger.

Julian’s hands roamed over the prostitute’s body, heating her up for his entry. His incisors lengthened further while he moved in over the artery throbbing in her neck. Brutally, he entered her pussy sinking his fangs deep into her throat at the same instant. He moaned at the taste of her passion. Fucking her hard and fast, he drank deeply, trying to reach the satisfaction he longed for. His orgasm came, but his need remained. Julian hoped he could get just one small amount of pleasure, a tad bit of satisfaction. He got nothing more than a physical release. The girl screamed out her climax, and he withdrew, closing the wounds on her neck with a lick. Empty and alone as always, without his bloodmate, he would never find peace, only carry a hollowness deep in his soul. Every fucking he gave into was the same. He would find someone, fuck, feed, and leave with the same frustrations that drove him insane in the first place.

He fixed his clothing, the unfulfilled frustrations ever present. For the longest time, he stared down at the female shaking her head in dazed confusion. She didn’t know exactly what had happened, and she never would.

Sensing a presence, Julian swung around and looked up. In the shadows on a rooftop, a figure stood alone, so still he wondered for a brief moment if he saw anyone at all. He was about to turn away when it moved. The darkness surrounding him lightened with the brightness from the eyes of one of his own kind. A vampire!

Neither said a word, but Julian made out eyes that shone brightly and the shape of a female body behind a long coat with a hood. Something he had never seen before, a female vampire, but he knew he was right. Only vampires had those eyes. Yet, this female perched on the roof watching him didn’t move from him, and her stance seemed almost lethal, as if she was poised, ready to strike. He couldn’t deny what he saw, even if it was unbelievable.

About to speak, a scream of pleasure from further down the alley distracted him. He peeled his gaze away from the figure on the roof and glanced into the dark at two lovers. Taking in the scent of their pleasure, he wished it were his. When he glanced back up, the woman was gone. Searching the roof peaks to find her, he saw nothing. Curious as to not only what she was, but also why she was there, Julian did what any other hunter would do. He found an old fire ladder and climbed it.

From up on the roof, he looked down at dark alleys, and people, but not the one thing he sought. Off in the distance he caught sight of something black disappearing over another roof. Turning, wind picking up his trench coat, Julian went in the direction of his prey. He ran on top of the slippery roofs, jumping over old smoke stacks shooting hot steam. Only four houses behind her, she was so fast he couldn’t catch up as quickly as he should.

When close enough, he lunged at her, wrapping both arms around her legs, taking them both down to the roof. He thought he had the upper hand, but she shocked the shit out of him by turning her body and kicking him in the face with unbelievable strength, more than he knew any vampire could have, breaking his hold on her.

He sprang back up to his feet, only to have her sweep his legs, knocking him down once more. Staying down, one leg bent ready to move if he needed to, Julian watched her slowly stand. The hood covered her hair and most of her face, and now dark sunglasses covered those shiny eyes of hers. He didn’t need her eyes to be visible to know she glared down at him. He could feel it.

Julian lunged, grabbing the front of her coat. She hit his hand away, swung her body around, backhanding him hard in the face.

Here I was going to be nice, he said.

She snorted loudly, and a very small grin tugged at the corner of her mouth.

Her fists flying, she went at him. Blocking the blows took all of his training and most of his strength to stay on the roof and not slide off. She caught him with painful hits on the arms. He blocked a strike to his head with both of his arms. She kicked him in the gut, knocking the air out of his lungs and dropped him to his knees again.

I’m almost impressed, she said, her voice sounding detached. Almost—but not quite. She turned her back on him and ran to the next house. Skidding to a stop at the edge of the roof, she turned once more toward him.

Julian held his gut, trying to breathe without feeling pain, tried not to get sick. He stood up just as she jumped up in the air, did a back flip with her legs stretched out as far as they would go, and disappeared. By the time he reached the edge, there was no sign of her up or down the dark alley.

Shit, he mumbled, rubbing his stomach.

* * * *

Julian headed for the only home he had left since leaving his father’s, Lucian’s place. Lucian was his other best friend. The day he turned his back on his father and Carissa disappeared, Lucian had been there to pick what was left of him. Lucian’s father, also a Noble, didn’t expect or pressure Lucian to follow the old ways. Lucian wasn’t expected to bond with whomever the families chose, and when he decided it was time to go out on his own, his father supported him. Lucian built himself a home and offered it to Julian as well. They may have