• Preface


    The night grew colder with every breath of wind. The autumn colored-leaved rustled in their places, whispering their stories to me in their papery voices. A dog howled in the distance, setting birds to flight.
    I sat in the soft knee-length grass, caressing the well-worn headstone I leant on. My Mother’s headstone. “Sylvia Arnai Karmicheal 1848-1932, May the Lord Take Her Soul and Fill it With Tranquility.” Mine lay next to her headstone. “Vennitai Selencia Karmicheal, 1871-1882, As the Colors of the Day Had Faded Away, Her Mother Laid Down Her Head in Her Soft, To-Be-Buried Bed.” My headstone was large, nearly bigger than I was, and made of marble, like my mother’s.
    I did not lie in my casket, rotting away. Nevertheless, Mother did. She would never be seen alive again. Nor would I. At least, I should try to keep myself hidden.
    I was born from a human mother, created by a vampire father. He was one of the Elite 5, a rebel group of immortals devoted to overthrowing the world’s worst rulers. He worked in Germany for his group. Mother could not believe a word of it. Father, an immortal rebel, me, an immortal child. Scared, Mother sent me away to England after Father left for Germany. Queen Elizabeth X was in rule, and, oh, how I hate the way she ruled. I rose up against-not caring if I died in the process-and started a group of Royal Rebels, we proclaim ourselves as the Shadow Roses. With myself as head, we wished overthrow the Queen and her government in the ultimate act of treason.