Count Dario Giovanni swore he would do anything to save his sister from the evil countess who enslaved her. He couldn't have imagined in his most depraved nightmare just how hellish "anything" would become. Damned to walk the earth alone, his only comfort the dream woman who haunts him during slumber, he is the guardian between hell and earth.

Four hundred years later, the evil vampire rises again. Dario vows to kill her at any cost. And to hunt down the human female who turns out to be more than an elusive dream.

Reader advisory: The legend of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the "Blood Countess", is not for the weak of stomach or faint of heart.

Publisher's Note: This story was originally published in Lady Jaided magazine, 2005: Volume 1, Issues 1, 2 and 3.