“Eli?” I look down at his bruised, tear-streaked face, and my heart sinks into the pit of my stomach. “What happened to you?”The man in the fancy clothes laughs loudly, “I did. Well, actually, my men did.” He takes a step closer, and Samael’s hand tightens around mine, “Eli here seems to have broken one of our most serious laws; not only did he interact with a witch, but he went as far as accepting help from one.”I glare at him, “How can you even know that?” Looking down at Eli, I hiss, “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone!” He just cries, his eyes faraway, like he’s not really paying attention to his surroundings.“Cassian, what the fuck is the meaning of this?” Samael growls dangerously, and I notice some of the men shifting uncomfortably, their eyes darting to Samael, then away quickly as if they are afraid to even look at him. Wait, he called that man Cassian… this is the fucking emperor.I grow a bit weary of the situation, and Danika’s senses go on high alert, as I take in a
TRIGGER WARNINGS!: This book contains some dark material including, explicit descriptions of rape, violence, gore, torture, murder, drug use, abortion. There are also detailed sex scenes, some including kinks such as, breath play and knife play. Aurora’s POV I wake up to the familiar pain of a spring digging into my back. Goddess, this cot is unbearable. How I am able to fall asleep every night is beyond me. I groan as I sit up, stretching my back and arms, trying to ease the pain. After a couple of satisfying cracks, it feels a bit better. I shiver and watch as my breath rises above me in this bitter dungeon cell. Living the same day every day has been exhausting. I always wake up too early. It'll be a while before they bring around breakfast. It's not much to look forward to, but it keeps me alive. Then I'll probably do some pacing. Contemplate every life choice I ever made that ended up with me here. I'll curse myself a bit for being so careless as to get arrested in the firs
Aurora’s POV My attention snaps back to the vampires who are now leading us closer to these unruly beasts leading the large wagons. The horse's mostly ignore us, which is a relief. My eyes fall on the group of wagons I assume we are about to be herded into. They actually don’t look all too bad. The wheels alone are taller than me, and the wagon portion looks big enough to fit ten to fifteen people. They are covered on either side and on top by a shelter made out of some type of thick, heavy cloth. The backs of the wagons are open to the night air, except for the doors that only cover the bottom half. Leaving the top half open to take in a breeze. Something I'm sure will be appreciated in the summer heat. I scan the area, counting the wagons in front of me. Six. Six wagons. Twelve vampiric horses, and with the addition of the vampires who were waiting for us when we made it up the stairs, twelve vampires. The first of the prisoners are led into the closest wagon, the rest of us
Samael’s POV I stand in front of the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling window in my throne room. My view of the mountains is hindered by the raging blizzard taking place outside. I distract myself with the snow that is swirling frantically in the wind on the opposite side of the glass. If I focus, I can pick out each individual snowflake in front of me before the howling wind takes them again. I sigh. My body is itching to go out there. To feel the wind whipping at my face and the coolness of the snow blowing around me. To feel something other than frustration. I unwillingly turn away from the window, only to be reminded of what had caused my frustration in the first place: Cassandra Hale’s poor messenger boy lays dead at the foot of my throne. I had stepped over his limp body after draining it of all his blood. His lifeless eyes stare at nothing. It seems killing the messenger can in fact be beneficial, maybe it will finally give that damn witch a hint. This is the third time C
Aurora’s POVIt’s too hot.How is it so hot?We’re going further north!It’s the third day of this incessant journey. For three nights I’ve been stuck in this wagon with two vampires and eleven other criminals. All of which are men, and all of them stare at me with dark expectations in their eyes.I recognize those lingering gazes and the not-so-subtle way they lick their lips as they trail lustful eyes over my body.They always look away though, when they meet my hardened stare. My real eyes would give them heart palpitations, but even my innocent chocolate brown gaze – the eyes they see because of the cloaking spell my foolishly hopeful mother put on me – can bring a man to his knees with fear.Gregory used to say he could see demons in my eyes, that there was always another presence within them, watching.I used to tell him that he was the demon, haunting my every waking minute. And he would shut me up with a slap across my face and a cock down my throat.A mad kind of excitement b
Aurora’s POVEveryone is staring at me. The prisoners look at me with unrestrained fear, the vampires observe me with suspicion, but some of them carry a sick kind of thrill in their eyes from witnessing me murder someone in front of them.We are all frozen in time for about five seconds. Then, three vampires take simultaneous steps in my direction. Before I can think, my arms are wrenched behind my back, and I feel a metallic coolness as my wrists are cuffed.“He deserved it” a voice comes from behind me. “He assaulted her.”We all turn to face Everett who has left the comfort of his hammock to… come to my defense?“What?” spits out the vampire still holding my arms behind my back in a vice-like grip, even though I’m cuffed.“That pile of shit was rubbing all over her and trying to force himself on her. She acted purely in self defense,” Everett states firmly. Then he turns to look at the prisoners standing in the immediate vicinity, “Didn’t she?” he asks them, and there’s an underly
“The land between the eastern bridge leading out of Shade City and the Famine Forest belongs to the Nightshade Coven! It has been our land for thousands of years. You and your despicable, void worshipping coven of witches have no right to lay any claim to it!”Adelaide’s lips curve into an arrogant sneer, “Careful leech, push me and I might just take your entire city out from under your miserable clutch. Your father would despise you for what you’ve turned his city into.”“WATCH YOUR TONGUE WITH ME WITCH OR I’LL RIP IT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH”“Oh, I would love for you to get close enough to try, you wicked old man. I see how black your soul is and I could easily twist it to do my bidding.”“Your highness!” Lucien Nightshade, leader of the Nightshade Coven, looks up at me from his seat at the grand meeting table in my council room. His expression is of disbelief and rage towards Adelaide’s attempt to, well, do exactly what she is doing, threatening the power of the coven leaders. That woman
We’re arriving today. The last three days have dragged by slowly. A few hours after leaving the Eternal Flame territory we entered into the country of Dema Mortem, and we’ve been travelling through it ever since. It is my first time ever leaving the Emberi Empire – its widespread cities and quaint little towns have been all I’ve ever known.If I hadn't spent the last year rotting away in a cell, I would have found this journey to be extremely boring. On the contrary, I’ve been quite enjoying myself. My front seat allows me to watch the scenery outside; a simple joy I didn’t realize how much I missed.Although, so far, all I’ve seen of Dema Mortem is vast forests. We’ve been following the same small, winding road for days now. Early yesterday the lush greenery turned to a frozen winter wonderland, and the wagons slowed ever so slightly as the horses had to cut a path through deep snow drifts.The sun is high in the sky and the air is pleasantly cool, which, considering how far north we