In his youth, John had learned quickly that the path to power in the vampire kingdom was one that men could not tread easily. Queen Lily came from a long line of powerful women and all the powerful vampire bloodlines were led by women. The Whitcomb line was no exception until his father was born.He had accepted that the only way to gain power was to marry a powerful woman and wait for, or orchestrate, her death to seize power. Of all the powerful noble and royal women who had been contemporary with him in his youth and throughout the war, Princess Rose August of the vampire domains was the only woman he would have happily ruled beside. Her beauty had been beguiling since they were children; her power had been enchanting.Her daughter may not have had her power, being an only half-vampire, but her scent was enthralling and she was just as beautiful as her mother had been. It had been a bit of a shock to see her exiting the carriage.Young with bright golden eyes

"W-Why are they.... What is this?""This is the royal crypt. Every member of the August line that was not killed and burned in battle is here in something like death. We call it Eternal Sleep and it is unique to the August line.""Eternal?""There are no known cases of one waking up after they have entered Eternal Sleep. They typically fall into it when it's nearing the end of a normal vampire's life or when they have taken on too much damage."Daphne's hands trembled, "W-Will I fall into this?""I don't know... You are the only half-human royal vampire we know of." Nicole said, she took a deep breath. "I brought you down here to see them and to tell you the truth. This is the only place in the castle that is beyond vampire or werewolf hearing."Daphne frowned looking at her and feeling a bit nervous about what she had to say."My grandfather was the brother of Queen Lily," Nicole smiled and Daphne took a sharp breath. "Making me your

Days passed with them gathering information in secret and plotting a path out of the castle. She couldn't find a map of the continent as a whole in the library. The other two women were growing more and more anxious and Daphne was at a loss.  She understood them wanting to escape, but there was no attempt in trying to escape when they had no idea of where they were going.She huffed, sitting on the couch in the queen's library before frowning, noticing a door on the other side of the room. Hadn't Kayley mentioned an office? She jumped to her feet. Why hadn't she thought of it before? If there was anywhere in the castle that might have had some answers, it had to be the queen's office! She approached the door, tentatively and turned the silver handle. The gems around the frame of the office filled with light as she entered.There was a door inside that led into a dark corridor behind a bookcase.She gasped. Was this how Rose escaped? If it was true that no o

“What?” Daphne asked, coming up behind her.“The tub,” Mamie said, “It should be heavy enough to break at least one of them.”She turned to the other two, “You two lock the door and make as much noise as possible. Scream, argue, whine, whatever. Daphne, sit down.”Daphne followed Mamie's instructions as the two started yelling at each other about being chosen to come with Daphne. The words were angry and spiteful, but she blocked them out as Mamie maneuvered her hands apart and flat on the floor behind her. Mamie stood beside her. She felt the leg of the tub strike one of the cuffs with a sharp snapping sound. She closed her eyes praying that no one heard anything over the sound of the two screaming. The tub struck her other cuff twice before she could pull her hands apart. She looked up at Mamie who grinned at her.Daphne stood and went to get one of them to help get Mamie's cuffs off."Hey, come in

Her breathing sputtered and stopped as the panic overtook her. How could anyone find this funny? She watched Mamie’s body move, stilted and jerky, like a crude imitation of the sharp, near unnatural movements of a vampire. The other two women turned and stood beside the vampires who turned them.“Mamie? Mamie, can you hear me?” Her body didn’t move, remaining still and unaffected by her cries. “Mamie!”“She can’t hear you,” the voice said, laughing. “Her body is there but that’s all.”Daphne’s jaw trembled as she looked toward the laughter.“Who are you?” Daphne asked. “How dare you laugh!”His laughter grew louder and slowly, the burning red of his eye cut through the darkness. He walked closer, coming out of the shadows. Daphne froze, shocked at the sight of the man. His face was familiar like an older slightly different version of Owen with a sc