Vampires once more walk the Earth. Kings have bowed before them. The Church has been corrupted and only a few renegade priests and musketeers hold out to save humanity. It is against this backdrop that seminary student Rene D’Herblay finds himself fighting not only for his life, but for the lives of those he holds dear. Fleeing an attack on his seminary, young Rene embarks upon a new mission, one to cleanse his ancestral lands of the vampires and one that ultimately leads him to cross paths with musketeers Athos and Porthos. This leads to a new life and identity and Rene, now Aramis, will join Athos and Porthos to become the Three Musketeers. First Blood is a prequel novella to Sword & Blood, the first book in the Vampire Musketeer series. Included with First Blood is a free preview of Sword & Blood. For a limited time, the price has been reduced.

In a world where vampires have taken every humble chapel, defiled every grand cathedral, subdued most nations, and treated every human as cattle, Dumas' hero musketeers rise to a greater challenge than they ever met in their original adventures. Athos has spent a decade fighting vampires in the king's musketeers. He never expected to see his wife again—he'd discovered Charlotte was a vampiric servant, hanged and left for dead ten years before—yet it is she who turns Athos into a vampire. Or does she? Despite the craving for blood and overwhelming sexual hunger, Athos walks the fine line between the worlds, remaining human enough to fight vampires. Only his commitment and loyalty to his friends—fellow musketeers Porthos and Aramis—and a young Gascon named D'Artagnan, allows him to keep his soul through an adventure that tests the heights of his heroism and the depth of his darkest desires.

The King is dead! Long Live the King! France's mortal queen has been abducted. Both musketeer Aramis and Madame Bonacieux-D'Artagnan's lover and a priestess of natural rites feel responsible. In fact, they fear the queen has been abducted to assure, through arcane rites, that any heir to the throne will be born a vampire. They and their companions must save her!