Ignis adjusted his tie, pausing. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed his forehead. His demeanor vaguely reminded her of Reign. Although they had similarities, the latter had grace she didn’t want to admit after what she had just seen.“What? What occurred?” Marc strode over. “Stop stalling. Tell me what happened.”“I have no knowledge of what exactly happened. I can’t reverse the memory he wiped off. Only he can do that, I’m afraid. By him, I mean the vampire you just saw over there.”She heard Loyd assuring him he looked perfectly fine when they first met. She was dying to know something else.“How old is he, actually? You said he is not 150 years old.”Ignis snickered. “He is much older than that. A thousand years is closer to his actual age. He is ancient, older than me.”The declaration quieted the conversation beside her. She felt almost lightheaded. “H—how is that possible? He’s the son of the current vampire monarch. Every vampire knows how old he is.”“No. He i
Addiction is a vise clutching one’s arteries, venules, and veins, all the blood vessels. Even if they are filled with sinful cells, composed of nutrition from humans. His blood was as red as a human’s because in appearance they didn’t look different. Only he knew how black it was in levels indiscernible to the sharpest eyes, of his own kind, of vampires.Reign was shocked when he learned he was addicted to penetrating into her thoughts. Tasting her mind was like what humans would be to cigarettes. Or worse. He was ashamed of himself for that knowledge. How revolting he was. He cut it off as his promise to her. He ended his desire to know what she might be thinking.He took off his coat and draped it over a recliner before undoing a few top buttons of his shirt. It occurred to him to summon Mr. Hacke. Yet, he must be asleep at this hour. Along the long hallway, his shoes tapped the carpeted floor quietly. The lights were dim the way he liked. The soft glow spread across the creamy surf
“I accept your offer.”The four words that changed everything.“Dani, no!” “Excellent,” uttered the archdemon. “Your word is binding.”She would help Ignis imprison Reign, Fragor, whatever name he went by, for eternity. That was what he deserved for all his sins; she could already imagine his face when he realized he had never seen his doom coming from her. He was a pursuer; he was a predator; not a victim, she knew that much. Nerves went taut inside her body, at her verbal acceptance, though the archdemon was doing visibly nothing. The room erupted into chaos for the second time since he had shown up. As he whispered an incantation, she noticed Marc reaching for her arm. She didn’t feel his finger touching her as she suddenly found herself in near darkness, alone with the archdemon. The living room was gone.“What did you do to my friends?! I swear I’ll kill–”“I simply removed the distractions.”“Explain more or I’ll shoot you.”“I don’t care about your little bullets,” Ignis sig
At first, Reign thought he was mistaken. His mistake had nothing to do with him being a thousand-year-old. Vampires’ senses were duller during the daytime and he had been far away from the front yard. Her scent was faint, through the onyx walls, which were made to erase all the distractions from the outside. Imagine his surprise when he was upstairs and saw her jumping out of the garden. Like a cute bunny hopping around, she crossed the street back and forth, unbeknownst to Mr. Hacke who thought she arrived just then. She must have been sneaking around the entire afternoon. He did not need to read her mind to know she was nervous as he watched her, through the narrow gap between the drapes. Spying on him when he finally decided to leave her alone. In fact, he was nearly planning to end his long trip among humans. Her brain must be working full force underneath her pretty shell.Interesting, he thought, when her forest green eyes jumped between the mansion and the butler’s face. Sti
“That’s okay. Make yourself at home,” she said out loud.But, that was not okay. Not okay at all! Like the monster he was, he prowled in her tiny apartment like it was some sort of hunting ground. That was how she felt as she walked to her wardrobe, turning her back on him and swallowing down her fear.Still, she was confident, compared to just a moment before. He had no idea she could now block him out of her mind. She pulled up her bathrobe as she was about to choose an outfit. Damn, everything was in plain sight here, she thought as she eyed her clothes. She should have warned him that she was about to get dressed.Tucking her wet strand of hair behind her ear awkwardly, she turned around to look at him and her breath hitched.No. He was not standing behind her nor even looking at her. He was simply lounging on her faded couch, his eyes set straight. It was how he looked, and the way he carried himself, there was something different about everything he did. In his black clothes th
Danica was experiencing what she had thought to be impossible. No time to react. That was everything that shrouded him, wasn’t that? Impossibility. That was his entire existence itself.After a few minutes of a colorful void, she found herself in a stylish, vintage hall, which she had little time to pay attention to. She was ashamed to admit she slumped down on the floor like a doll despite being a hunter. She was trying not to hurl her guts out onto the thick carpet. Dry-heaving on the floor, she looked up from his polished leather shoes to the strands of his raven hair which fell over his forehead, the most disordered state she had ever seen him in. He towered over her, making her feel like she was kneeling down in front of a king.Like she was worshiping him. He looked dignified and…and wrathful. “Where is this?! What—” she wheezed. “What did you just do? Did you tel-teleport? Could you do that?! Im-impossible.”“Teleportation?” his lips curved up slightly before his face fell fl
Never had she felt this captured in a male’s hand. Emotionally. Physically. And, mentally. Sure, she had only ever been with Dave, even a kiss. But, Dave might as well be a naïve boy compared to Reign, or Fragor. The way he possessed her lips, this time was different from the first time he had kissed her at the night of his party.She should be so ashamed of herself for comparing Dave to the one who was responsible for his death. How utterly shameless, even if it was a mere instinctive thought. Guilt took over her while she let Reign do as he wished.“Oh…” she whimpered and her lips cracked open with a press of his pointy fangs. It was not painful, but he had used slight force to let his tongue intrude into her mouth. He explored it like her mouth was no longer hers anymore. Like it belonged to him.And it might as well be, since she had become a shell filled only with guilty desire. He would not have to force a thing but she could not match his aggressiveness. Her mouth could barely
She felt his chin against her head, his smile ruffling a few strands of hair. He had always had a spell on her, the one which had nothing to do with witchcraft.Hate, want, and something deeper seized her head and her body. The fact that they were out in the open went out of her mind; she had no choice but to respond to his demand. Her body arched towards him, her lips kissing the base of his throat, between his collarbones.A pink cluster of elms swirled in the wind before it landed near their entangled feet when she was lifted from the ground. A determination glinted in his hooded eyes when he spared a glance at her, carrying her in his arms. Dangerous and dark with a warning of finality. For her.She simply leaned into his chest, finding no word or thought. Right for this second, everything was up to him. Not her. Danica shut her eyes for a second and when she opened them again, they were before the sports car with which Mr. Hacke had come visiting her street once. The car door op