Erick
“Where is he?” I barged into the throne room without knocking, Kendrick in tow. My father was in the midst of a conversation with his general, Vishal.
“In the dungeons. We were just heading there for the questioning,” Father spoke in an even tone, but I knew he was seething inside. Emiel and his goons had taken out ten of our finest guards.
“The soldiers?” Kendrick asked Vishal.
“Disabled,” was Vishal’s curt reply. “They were of little use after the possession faded. We plan on sacrificing them to our Lord tonight.”
Sacrificing to the Lord meant they would be slain in the Constantium. Their blood will be offered to Hades as an offering. That was a good idea. They were no better than rotting vegetables now that they had been possessed. Weaker vampires couldn’t handle possession by an Ancient, but a strong vampire like Emiel was a whole differ
AlinaGasping in deep breaths, I woke up with a start. I felt like my lungs were on fire, and my body felt even worse. It felt like I have been running for hours. Now, everything hurt to the point that I saw black spots cloud my vision. No! Closing my eyes, I let the pain wash over with teeth gritting strength. It took a long time to subside, but I didn’t give in to unconsciousness.I moaned in pain as my body cramped, and my hands flew to my chest to makes sure my rib cage was whole. It still was. I was having a nightmare. It had to be. There was no way Erick would try to hurt me. It had to be a nightmare.I felt the pulse of the mating bond in my head and felt relief flood me from the inside. Erick was near me. He had to be.I opened my eyes again, blinking rapidly, only to find everything extremely hazy. I panicked. Flailing my hands around, I tried to get a grasp of where I was. They said that when one sen
Erick“Why didn’t you warn me before, damn it! Why didn’t you tell me?” The table in front of me cracked in the middle, its contents falling to the floor. Glass shattered to a million multi-coloured pieces.“That’s because you have this vexatious anger with anything that has to do with Emiel that blinds you to the truth. You just don’t listen to any other recourse!” This was the first time Ken had ever raised his voice at me, but I was too blinded by anger to care.“He took Alina, Kendrick!” I gritted out. “My bond to her is gone. It just shut down, and I have no other way of contacting her. She might be hurt, Ken! Why didn’t you warn me the second that piece of trash uttered a single word?”“Are you even listening to yourself, Erick? That piece of trash is your brother, and he risked his own life to try to warn me!” Ken snapped back. &
AlinaI watched in horror as the thing sitting on the throne moved its head to look down at me. Just like in my dreams, this monster was made up of only flesh and bones, but his condition seemed far worse.Maggots crawled out of the hollow spaces that were the eyes, staring out of a skeletal face. Muscles and skin hung loose on the exposed parts of his body. There was blood dripping onto the floor in a constant rhythm, and his clothes were drenched in it. But the most horrifying fact was the number of bodies that were scattered all around him. I tried and failed to keep the bile down my throat and ended up retching at the sight of half-rotten corpses of hundreds of men and women that lay scattered by the monster’s feet with their hollow chests. Their rib cage wastorn open like egg shells to expose their heartless bodies.“Your assumption’s correct, my lovely granddaughter.” Aaron ca
Erick“Arctic Blade?”Mother sounded just as surprised as Father. “I haven’t heard of any such blade, son. I’ve already asked the elder historian, but he doesn’t have any idea what it could be.”Both my parents had no clue about the existence of the Arctic Blade, and neither did Emiel. This led me to the only option I had left: the Dark Council that was out of my reach as of now. Which was appropriate since the Ancient itself was a mage of unparalleled power.“No,” Ken answered, “I don’t know of any such blade, but the Chrone might.”“Ken, Merida hates me,” I said, referring to Ken’s grandmother, the elder of his coven of mages. “She’s always been against you becoming a part of the Vampire Royal Guard.” Ken, however, was no longer a guard. He commanded the Royal Guard itself, but Merida Blackbur
Erick“Erick!” Both Kendrick and my mother were by my side as I teleported back to the throne room of the castle.“Oh God, Erick! You’re freezing!” Mother knelt down next to my slouched form on the floor.“We don’t have time, Kendrick. We must leave right now,” I told him while gathering my strength to get up again. “Emiel, you’re coming too.”“Me?” Emiel asked, eyes wide in surprise.“Yes.” I made that conscious decision moments ago. “You’ve been their bitch for long enough. You just might come in handy.”“But Erick, we still don’t know the location of Aaron’s hideout,” Kendrick pointed out.“I might be able to help with that.”“Erick, take the guards—”“We can’t, Father. If we take the guards, we&rsqu
Alina“What’s going on? What is she chanting?” Erick yelled at Kendrick, the howling winds making it near impossible to listen to anything.“It’s the transfusion spell!” There was urgency in Kendrick’s voice as he turned to face me. “Alina, your transformation isn’t complete yet. Do you know about anything that connects you to Tuhin? Something that Tuhin or Aaron had given you?”“The necklace!” Erick and I said in unison.“Aaron said only Tuhin can remove it from me. I tried to, but it electrocuted my hand,” I yelled at Erick as the chanting got nearer and nearer.“I think I can get it off,” Erick replied then unsheathed a huge sword with a blade completely made of ice. “Hold up the strings.”I did as he told but removed my hand as soon as sparks began to dance on the surface of the penda
Alina“How are you feeling?”“Like I’ve spent enough time in this damned place and am ready to finally move out.”“But you know that’s not possi—”“Of course, it is, Alina!” Papa sat up straight, taking my hands in his wrinkled, trembling ones. He looked far too old for his age, yet he looked happy. “Darling, I’ve already spent a long time here, and it’s enough. The doctors have done all they could. They tried everything in their power, but they can’t do any more than they already have. It’s time I live my remaining days reminiscing about the life I’ve had. I want to relive every memory I’ve cherished, and I can’t do that if I’m here. It’s time you let me go.”I understood what he was trying to tell me, but I just couldn’t imagine a life without him. I’ve been
EpilogueAlinaSix months laterThe Royal Castle was abuzz.Flowers were being brought in, curtains were being changed, fancy dresses and glittering diamond jewellery were donned by pretty maidens, and elaborate attires were worn by the gentlemen. It was a day of celebration and a day to rejoice. After all, Erick and I were being crowned today.We had to go through another one of those cleansing rituals and then ushered into different rooms to get dressed. Come to think of it, Erick and I had been too busy for the last six months that we barely had a proper conversation with each other; me with lessons after lessons on vampire culture, dancing, and etiquette, and Erick with learning statecraft from the nobles.It was in these six months that I had come to learn exactly how attached I have become to Erick. It was like he was so near, yet still far enough that I couldn’t reach him.