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I would chide and punish myself. James did not need to add to my guilt.

“Caroline was my sister,” James said simply.

“James, I wanted a partner, someone to share life with. I underestimated Caroline. If I had known, do you really think that I would have given Caroline such power?”

“In all honesty, Jacques, I don’t care, and I do not want to hear excuses. I ask you politely to stay away from my family, or I shall kill you. Never darken Hamilton lives again. And I thank you for my new mission in life.”

“What is that?” I whispered.

James’s stare pierced me straight through the heart. “To hunt down monsters and rid the world of them. Vampires and Vam’pirs alike are evil creatures, they must be killed. We cannot be allowed to destroy any more lives.”

James turned and fled into the night. I stood in the same place till dawn came, and I was forced to leave for my own sake.

James had a point. However, unlike his sister, we weren’t malevolent.

Caroline’s beauty had blinded me, and that was entirely my fault. I had been very selfish and stupid changing her. Three months was the entirety of the time I had known Caroline, which was not enough to get to know her properly.

Yes, I’d been a big fool, and there was no excuse for the grief that I had brought to the Hamiltons. Although Caroline herself had killed her brothers, I held responsibility, too. Recklessly, I had given her these new powers and invincibility, and that was my guilt.

Indeed, I was lonely and had searched for someone with a brain and beauty to keep me company. Hell, I wanted to be admired and doted upon, looked at as if I was someone’s hero. I had wanted to be worshipped, but Caroline had fooled me.

I neglected to learn Caroline’s personality and I accepted responsibility for that failure. Caroline was an evil, psychotic bitch. Even if I hadn’t changed her, Caroline still might have found a way to rid herself of her family.

While I am not passing the blame and accept full responsibility, the fact remains that Caroline had murder running through her veins. I didn’t give her that. Evenafter changing, you stay true to your original self. Caroline’s personality is not my fault. Changing her was.

My actions were inexcusable. An explanation, yes, but not an excuse. Caroline had been only sixteen. Now, I recognise she was too young to handle the power that I had given to her. I doubt, though, that Caroline would have been able to handle it if she had been older.

There had been something twisted and nasty inside her. Nothing James or I could have done would have stopped Caroline and made her change her ways. Caroline was the one thing that I had managed to fool myself over, and I swore not to do it again.

Another Vam’pir had been created, and I had made James strong, unlike I’d made Caroline.

As a direct descendent of mine, he was a Vam’pir, not a vampire. That was the least I could do, and the strength I gave James would be recognised as coming from a Vam’pir.

Vam’pirs would recognise him as one of us.

I gave James every last drop of blood that I had within me and made him incredibly strong. I felt James would need strength over the years, and this is the one gift I could offer.

James now hated me with a passion, and I couldn’t blame him.

He left London to travel around England, Scotland, and Wales, seeking out vampires and killing them. James became known as the Hunter, and he was feared wherever he went.

James could not kill Vam’pirs, but he could find and wipe out vampires. Which he did with relish. It felt like he was killing me every time.

I didn’t mind that as James helped us out, as we killed the same as him. Vampires were not to be tolerated. Especially those who wrapped up their existence in myth and black magic.

Chapter Twenty.

Iremained in London playing the grieving fiancé, and then, after a while, I went out and began to enjoy life once more. Sometimes I ran across the Hamiltons, and it was hard to look them in the face.

Other times, I bumped into James, but luckily, that was rare, and I always left before him. Julia stayed in London, and we had become closer than ever. We weren’t in each other’s pockets, but we did visit each other regularly. People talked as they wondered what our relationship was. Neither of us minded the rumours or gossiping happening behind our backs. In a perverse sort of way, we enjoyed it.

Soon, four years had passed, and I began to see Julia less as we both went separate ways. We still visited at least once a week, but not daily. It was just a case of bumping into each other at balls or friend’s homes.

March of 1888 arrived, and life changed forever. A prostitute, Ada Wilson, was stabbed twice in the neck. The murder was completely ignored except by those of Vampiric nature. Why should anyone care about a prostitute’s death? Stabbing someone in the neck was rare, and Julia and I paid attention. Wewondered and waited, but when nothing else came along, we just put it down to a freak murder.

Months ticked past until August. August 31st, 1888.

The victim’s identity requires no explanation.