“Victoria pulled her hands from her pockets and crossed her arms over her chest. She took in the vampire standing before her and was disturbed at how comfortable she felt in his presence. After all, they were old friends as she’d met Dominic Neculai shortly after he’d been brought across in the early 1500s. That was 500 plus years of history she had with this particular vampire, and thanks to his undead transformation he still looked 22 years old, frozen in time like a statue, with a boyish but handsome face, creamy skin the color of fresh milk, dark brown hair, and silver eyes that had once been storm cloud gray. The blood of Romanian aristocrats stagnated in his veins, and his beauty, breeding, and acute intelligence had helped keep him alive and thriving in a supernatural community that often swallowed new vampires whole. He was high up in the vampire hierarchy, so it was no surprise that he was standing before her and no other vampires or otherworldly beings had come snooping around, disturbing Victoria as she tried to piece together what had happened to Mallory. Even now Dominic was looking out for her, and at that thought, her shoulders started to relax and her neck loosened up a bit.”