Mia's POVMy red, teary eyes stared back at me through the bathroom mirror of my grandfather's home—my mother's childhood home.I tried not to let my emotions get the better of me during the tour of the manor, but if I was honest with myself, I could feel myself breaking ever since I stepped foot into her bedroom. The icing on the tear-stained cake was the photo album. That photo album told me so much about the mother I had never known. A knock on the bathroom door jolted me from breaking down in yet another teary haze. "Mia?" Sol's comforting voice drifted in from behind the door. "Is everything alright?" Wiping my eyes as best as I could, I turned to the door and opened it for him. I didn't step out. I went back to the counter where the sink and mirror were placed. Sol took one look over me, walked into the door, and locked it behind him. I sniffled lightly as I shot a small, weak smile at him. He placed his strong hands on both of my shoulders. "Sweet," he murm
Sol's POV"Are you two leaving now?" Robert's voice called out to us as he noticed Mia and me reaching for our coats. I watched Mia walk toward him and engulf him in a hug. "Sol's friend needs a bit of help with a situation," she told him. "I'm sorry we couldn't stay long, but, um, do you mind if I take this with me? I promise I'll bring it back." Mia gestured to the photo album on the coffee table."Of course! Yes, yes, please. If only to have an excuse to get you back here. You will visit, won't you?" I watched as Mia nodded her head. The three of us walked out of the house together. Robert had kindly allowed us to borrow one of his cars as Gavin had not yet returned. He waved us off as we made our way down the road of his manor. "Sarah's pregnant," I told Mia as I pulled onto the highway. A gasp sounded from beside me. "That's what Serin's text was about. He learned about it just an hour ago.""Sol!" she squealed as she pulled her phone out from her pocket. "That's am
Mia's POV"Where are you going?" Sol asked me as he noticed I was walking down the stairs with my bag in hand. I waved my hand with my phone in it."Sarah asked me to come over and help her with something. Will you take me?" Sol nodded without a second thought and halfway opened the door for me when Serin spoke up."Sarah? She said she was going to her parent's house to tell them the news.""Oh, uh…" I shared a short look with Sol before answering his friend. "Maybe she was going to go after I left? She said she just needed advice on, uh, which clothes to wear. You know, she'll be needing a new wardrobe soon."Serin nodded understandingly. The excuse I hastily made up seemed to satisfy him. "That makes sense… Maybe I should come with you to check on her.""No," I said quickly, remembering Sarah's frantic voice on the other line of the phone when she called me. "Girls only. She'll be needing a lot of female attention now, you know, and I'm happy to help her out. It'll be goo
Mia's POV"What did you do at Sarah's house all day?" Sol's voice was mumbled against my skin as he placed kisses there. The two of us were lounging in his king-sized bed the night following my trip to Sarah and Serin's home. I looked at him, surprised to hear his question. "How did you know I was there all day?" I asked."I heard you come in before sunset," he mumbled in response to my question before prompting me to answer his. "We just… talked." My voice was low and breathy as he sucked on the skin of my lower neck. "She's worried." That made Sol stop. I whined lightly at his actions. There was an amused look on his face coupled with a little concern. I was confused and asked him what was wrong. "She's worried?" he asked, and I nodded."She's worried about the baby. It's nothing serious, but–"Sol cut me off. "But it's also everything serious." He slumped down on his back beside me. I spared him a woeful look as I turned onto my side and faced him, gently runn
Sol's POVI watched as Robert and Mia hugged each other again. Wide and bashful smiles spread across both of their faces as they toured the living room. There was a sense of warmth emitting from Mia, and I knew she couldn't be happier to finally be reacquainted with a long-lost family. Roberts's phone suddenly rang out in the middle of the conversation. He read the message before speaking. "Duty calls, I'm afraid." He told Mia as he handed her something. "These are the keys to the house. It's yours now. I hope you enjoy it." Robert tapped me on the shoulder and said goodbye to both of us before leaving. I saw him out the front door and watched as he drove away with a wave. I turned around to see Mia admiring the home's decorations yet again. She then turned her body to face me once Robert had completely left the premises with a look in her eyes I knew mimicked my own."So…" I watched with amusement as Mia stared up at me from beneath her lashes. "What do you say?""About
Mia's POVThe rattling of the door caught my attention first. I lifted my head from where it was resting on the couch and pushed aside my school work and laptop. The approaching figure of Sol made its way from the front door to the couch, where I was lying. "Hello," I greeted him with a smile and only laughed as he groaned and fell on top of me. A large huff of air left me as his full weight settled onto my body. I reached up to guide my fingers through his hair."Bad meeting?" I asked him. He only grumbled into my neck. I felt him snake his arms around my waist and pull me closer a short while later. His whole body was resting comfortably between my legs on the large sofa. I sunk myself deeper into the cushions. "Can I take you on a date?" My eyes shot open at Sol's question. I stared down at him almost immediately. "You want to take me on a date?" I asked while huffing a laugh, and he nodded. "Why?" I was somewhat suspicious of his actions, and his eye roll only made me
Mia's POV"Well then," Francis said as soon as he let go of my hand, "I can see you two are busy having a moment to yourselves, so I'll leave you be for now." Once again, I felt Sol's arm wrap around my waist. I looked up at him to gauge his reaction to the situation. There was something in his eyes that I couldn't place, a sort of raging something. Was… Was Sol jealous?The tightness in his jaw and the hard look he seemed to give Francis told me as much. But what did he have to be jealous about? Shaking my head lightly, I looked away from him and back to the hired vampire hunter my grandfather elected as my bodyguard.I tried not to laugh at the irony of it. If only he knew."When will I need to see you?" I turned back to Francis and ignored Sol for the time being. The vampire hunter paused for a moment to consider my words. "I have to give a weekly report to Robert on your condition as well as any potential threats I may have noticed during the week." "Are you meant
Mia's POVI felt Sol trace his hands over my skin. His cold hand left a trail of goosebumps wherever it traveled, over my back, arms, stomach, or legs. His fingers toyed there at the last place longer than the other, and I trapped his hand between my thighs. My teeth sunk into his arm to halt his movements, and I felt his chest rumble as he laughed with glee. "Not yet," I said as he shifted over me slightly. "I'm still tired." Sol didn't move. His eyes only scanned the expanse of my exposed skin. Purple and red marks on display for him were sucked, licked, and bit, each memory sending a chill of pleasure down my spine as his eyes bore into them. His fingers traced them, and my breath was stolen from me as he applied pressure to each mark on my body. He began to apologize. "I shouldn't have been so rough with you.""Why were you?" I asked him, wanting to hear the words from his mouth. He sighed. "Because I was jealous. I still am, truth be told. All the things I sa
Sol's POVOnce I knocked down the heavy iron door of the room, I came face to face with a frightening sight. Mia was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, bound by her ankles and wrists. What set an enraged feeling throughout my body was the sight of Kyrin on his knees before her. His teeth were sunk into her neck. Her blood dripped down from her neck and spilled from his mouth."Kyrin!" I roared at him as I sped toward where he was sitting. Just as I thought he perhaps did not hear me or was too slow to react, he turned around just in time. I had to stop myself from barreling into Mia.Kyrin appeared from behind me and landed a kick to my back, sending me flying. A fight ensued, as it always did. I felt an enraged roar rip through me as I lunged myself at Kyrin. His mouth was dripping with Mia's blood. That fact only urged me to move forward even harder. I felt the crack of his skull beneath my first and his entire body shake and tremble as I got on top of him a
Mia's POVI awoke to chains around me—no, not chains, rope. Harsh, thick rope rubbed against my wrists' soft skin. They felt raw and bruised from the way they had been tied. I blinked my eyes open. The light of the bright lamp beside me lit up the entire area and cast an eerie shadow at the same time. There was no one around me. I could hear the faint dripping of leaking pipes, but no other sound was heard. Suddenly, footsteps echoed across the hard concrete of the floors. I was bound by my wrists and ankles. I was unable to see who was approaching me from behind, but I didn't have to wait long to figure it out.Kyrin Montgomery's face appeared in front of mine. His expression was wide and cynical. Speaking of all the evil things that were to come, he stared at me with eyes red and blazing. A gasp left me as I tried to look away. I tried to break free, but I couldn't. "Now, now," he purred as he rested his hands on either arm of my chair. "There's no need to act like that.
Sol's POV"Did you know?" Those were the first words my father spoke to me on the phone call that changed everything. Of course, at that time, no, I didn't know. Nor would I have known unless he had told me in the coming moments of what he had learned. There was a rage in my father's voice, the likes of which I had never heard of before. It was like when he would scold Kyrin or me when either of us had done something particularly disgraceful, in his eyes, to the family name. I wasn't aware of how spot-on I was with that prediction then, but I was sure to find out. "Good evening, Father," I greeted him. "Know what?""Don't play coy with me, boy." Irritation quickly began to grow in me. Mia was missing from her own home with signs of struggle very evident at the scene where she was last found. I had no time to play games with my father or try to understand his twisted way of getting around things. "I assure you," I knew he realized I didn't by the way I spoke to him
Sol's POVSerin, Sarah, and I all made out way back inside the house. It was a lot colder than what we were used to. Despite the air not having a physical effect on me, I still moved to light the fire, knowing Sarah and Mia would appreciate the warmth. The night was colder than usual. The season was colder than it had been in the previous months. "Are you good?" I heard Serin ask his wife and watched as he draped a blanket over her shoulders. She was shivering slightly from the cold outside she had been in for so long. A part of me wanted to go back to Mia and bring her inside, but I knew she wouldn't want to leave her friend's side so quickly and for the last time. "I'll make some tea," I offered the human woman in front of me. She gave me a thankful smile. Her eyes were bloodshot and teary. She was Kaya's friend too. I supposed it was never easy for humans to lose someone they loved. For vampires, it was less… emotional. For us, it was just another stage in our life. We
Mia's POVSol's strong arms were wrapped around me as I watched Bristol flee. I growled from frustration and sank my teeth into him in my enraged state, trying to do anything to make him let me go and chase after my father. When my sharp teeth broke the skin on his neck, he only tightened his arms around me. His rich blood rushed into my mouth and invaded my senses, overwhelming my blood that I had taken in earlier and consuming me. I felt every single droplet of his blood that rushed down my throat as I swallowed it down in gulps. I could not stop as I drank from him and felt my mind slowly begin to soften and calm down. A particular type of haziness enveloped me, and I felt my body grow weak in his arms. My hands clutched onto the thickness of his arms, dragging him closer to me so that I could get a better taste of him. "Sh, sh," I heard Sol's voice hum as he stroked my hair. "It's okay, it's okay." He let me drink from him for as long as I pleased. Only after some mor
Mia's POVIt was a harrowing thing, fighting off the teeth and claws of someone who once was your best friend. I saw the look in Kaya's eyes just before she attacked me, swirling red with a bloodlust that even I could not manage. I knew my blood had the same effect on her as it did all other vampires. It was a sort of primal desire to just feast. Although my blood didn't smell like that to me, if the evidence of the events throughout my life said anything, it was that. Her jaws made a loud snapping sound as she shut them just inches from the skin of my neck. I managed to kick my leg up in time to catch her in the torso. She was knocked back for a moment, a wheezing breath leaving her before she realized she no longer needed air to breathe. It was insane. Watching Kaya come to terms with being a vampire and having her attack me as though she had been one all her life was something I found hard to comprehend. Just as I turned to run, Kaya grabbed at my arm and sunk her claw
Mia's POVEverything seemed hopeless at that point. Kaya's face was contorted into something different, something ravaged and savage all at once. Dark lines decorated her once the clear face. Her eyes were a searing red, something that bore into me wholly and completed. She stared at me, but it was like she was staring through me rather than at me. I remembered calling out to her, whispering her name in a shocking sort of trance, "Kaya, Kaya, Kaya," like a lament of some sort. But she couldn't hear me. She was too far gone from me now, in the thrall of a man who had enslaved me for the first half of my life. Like me then, like her now. "What did you do to her?" I ground out. A rage enveloped me where grief first made home, and the two danced inside of me to a beautiful anthem. The anthem's name was revenge. I wanted to hurt him in all the brutal and honest ways I knew how to."Can't you see for yourself?" He patted the top of Kaya's hair. The strawberry blonde locks loo
Mia's POV"What do you mean she's missing?" I managed to choke out through the ringing in my ears. The police officer was telling me something, something important, but I couldn't hear him. It was like a buzzing and a haze was covering my senses all at once. I couldn't get myself to fully understand the situation in front of me. Sol was the first one to notice this change. He was in front of me in a split second, knees bent in the same position I was on the floor. When did I get to the floor? Either way, I was here now. My legs felt too weak to stand up. I gripped onto Sol's hand as I forced my brain to fight through the muddled haze it was in. I came just in time to hear the police tell me they had found her phone on the corner side, just where she was supposed to get the candles. It wasn't even twenty minutes away from us. "Okay," I said once the officer had completed his rundown. "Is there anything else you can tell me?""Unfortunately, not. Due to the cases of mi
Mia's POVLaughs filled the air as the doorbell rang, indicating the last of the guests had finally arrived. Kaya was the first one here, apart from Sol and I, who had already been at my new house since the night before. He had taken a keen interest in sleeping in my new bedroom. In his words, he was making sure everything went smoothly for my first day. The house itself was surprisingly light-tight, shocking both Sol and me. But he quickly explained that it must have been because many of the houses in this part of the town were allocated to old vampire families. My family must have purchased it from one ages ago. It was a miracle in and of itself that the technology seemed to hold and gave me no little amount of anxiety for Sol's safety during the day. But all seemed well by the time the following night followed. I opened the door to see Serin and Sarah there, wide smiles and love-struck eyes as they stared at me. I engulfed them both, happy that they made it and were sa