Never Change

Demon's Blood #2.5

by Shari Sakurai

Thane’s arms curved around his back and he felt the younger vampire trembling as he rested his head on Taku’s shoulder. So easily broken, Taku often forgot what it had been like in the beginning. For him things had been different, he reminded himself. He had already known what it felt like to take a life.

With Nagasaki in the grip of a bitter winter, two vampires struggle to hunt in the challenging conditions. When an opportunity to feed from a dying man presents itself, Taku insists that they take advantage of it. Yet his newly turned lover is left feeling devastated by their actions. Seeing Thane so distraught is more than Taku can bear and so he makes a decision to shield Thane as much as he can from the darker side to their existence. However his desire to protect Thane might one day cost him everything.

Never Change is a short story set in the Demon’s Blood universe.

47 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2018

About the author

Shari Sakurai is a British author of paranormal, horror, science fiction and fantasy novels that almost always feature a LGBTQ protagonist and/or antagonist. She has always loved to write and it is her escape from the sometimes stressful modern life!

Aside from writing, Shari enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to (loud!) music, going to rock concerts and learning more about other societies and cultures. Japanese culture is of particular interest to her and she often incorporates Japanese themes and influences into her work.

Shari loves a challenge and has taken part and won the National Novel Writing Month challenge thirteen times!

Reviews

[Rebecca Crunden]

They were not healers; this was a lesson that Taku had learned the hard way.

This was an intriguing short story about two vampires in the late 1800s in Japan. Definitely curious to check out the other books in the Demon’s Blood universe now!

Thank you to the author for a review copy.

[Kaila · Rating 4 out of 5]

so this one was good but not as good as the first two.. i did however enjoy the story of these two.. it was interesting and sexy.. well written and i liked the take on vamps. good story

[Mandy (MP Book Reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nagasaki is in the grip of a bitter Winter as we follow vampire Taku and his lover and younger vampire Thane. as they struggle to find people to feed on. When Taku insists they take advantage of a man they found who is already dying Thane is devastated so he decides to shield him from the darker side of their existence even if it might prove his undoing one day. This is a short story set in the Demon’s Blood universe.

I enjoyed this short story with was a very pleasant read as we explored the thoughts and feelings of Taku. You will have to refer to the End Notes if you need help with any of the Japanese words or customs. Well written it was easy to understand and I just wished there was more about the characters to explore them more fully.

[Gina Rae Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never Change is part of the author’s Demon’s Blood series. It's definitely a stand-alone story as I have not read any others in the series, yet quite enjoyed this one. Taku and Thane are very well written characters evoking genuine emotions from the reader.

Never Change includes the prologue and first chapter from Demon’s Blood. Between the two stories, I developed enough interested in the main characters to add the series to my reading list.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I “met” this author through hosting Bad Moon Rising a few years ago. Although I haven’t read this series, no prior knowledge is required to read this short story.

I’m always a vampire fan – have been since watching the original Fright Night. Even when they were out of fashion for a while in the book world, I had faith they’d come back. I’ve never been one to bow to fashion anyway. It’s a bitter, cold winter in Nagasaki – not that the temperature affects Taku and Thane. But plenty of snow makes it difficult to hunt and limits their food sources. Not very many warm bodies are out and about. Being a fairly new vampire, Thane still struggles with their darker side. With years (centuries?) of experience, Taku is more practical about what they should do when coming across a dying man.

Don’t think the whole story deals with heavy themes. There’s a fun, light-hearted snowball fight between the two, and even a snowman. It’s a sweet novella, and I can tell I’d enjoy this series based on meeting these wonderful characters.

[Ida Umphers · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy to revisit the world of Taku and Thane and to get even more information about their history together. This story could be read either before or after the series, but I'd suggest is it better read after so that you can fully appreciate all the information you'll get about these two and their world. We've seen Japan before in the series and England and Hong Kong, Here we are in Nagasaki and the amazing world building which combines real places and real history with the vampires and their society is on full display. This isn't a bright shiny world. It is bleak, but so well realized that you will be glad you visited. If you aren't into vampires but are into great world building, grab this series.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I met Taku and Thane in book one, and fell in love with them. This was a nice mix between darker, heavy themes with moments of levity. I loved seeing these two when Thane was a new vampire, still coming to terms with what that all entailed. This gave a new depth and meaning to everything I learned about them in the first installment, and made me love them even more. Definitely recommend reading as part of the series (although I suppose you could read this as a standalone).