-Katherine-I walk downstairs the following evening and see a flash of blonde hair and a tight red dress whipping past me. She stops in her tracks when she sees me and I can literally see the blood draining from her face.How can anyone be this beautiful without even trying? I feel like a trash goblin next to this flawless woman.“You’re Gabriel’s Fated,” she says, all perfect poise and not a hair out of place. “And you’re his fake wife. Nice to finally meet you, I’m Katherine.” Oh my God, why am I sounding so petty? This woman has the ability to turn me into a raging jealousy-fuelled piece of shit and all she has to do is breathe.Her lips are a thin line and she nods. “Amara,” she says and is about to turn around when I call out to her, feeling like a massive asshole for being rude for no reason.“Wait, sorry, I didn’t mean for that to come out as harsh as it did,” I say, walking the last few steps down and coming to a stop in front of her. “Newborn emotions and pregnancy hormones.
-Gabriel-By the look Katherine gave me before storming out, I can safely say that I am in a world of trouble. I didn’t mention our visitors to her before knowing what he had planned, but now they’ve surprised me by arriving earlier than expected.“She looks peeved off, mate,” Aaron comments when Katherine leaves. “Perhaps we should plan this better, yeah?”“I didn’t expect you until later on this evening,” I say, before turning to Valentine. “Please see to Amara before joining us in the office.”He nods, then heads towards her and I gesture for the rest of the men to follow me. The things I discovered about Amara and her family have not only added to my fury, but now I have guilt coiling in my gut as well.She was exactly what I asked for and the council found her, ripped her from her family, killed her husband, and now holds her daughter captive. Her misery is all because of me, now it’s up to me to make it right.“So, what is this about using the Fae woman to get Kazimir here?” Gus
-Katherine-I watch over the New York skyline and the realization hits me that I’ve never truly had a moment to just step back and appreciate something as simple as a sunset. After years of living my life in survival mode, I’m always wondering if I should take this breather or if there’s something else to worry about.But Gabriel promised no work or outside life for the next two days; just us spending some much-needed time together in an expensive hotel suite. The idiot, paranoid part of me thinks it’s something else, while the exhausted part of me is thankful for the break. Gosh, I need to stop worrying so much.Taking a deep breath, I mentally decide to shrug off the nasty feeling and enjoy my time with only Gabriel. It hasn’t just been us since he had me locked up back in Las Vegas, and somehow that seems like forever ago. Speaking of the devil, he walks up behind me and slips his arms around my waist, and rests his chin on my shoulder.“Deep in thought there, little lamb,” he say
-Church-“They’ve just crossed the halfway mark and should be landing soon,”“I’ll be there before they arrive; let the others know,”“Yes, Pres,”I kill the call, and my hands fall to my sides, slowly balling into fists. This is the worst fucking thing that could ever happen; the entire council will be in town because of what Pres did. They’re all confident about this plan, but if there’s one thing that I’ve learned, it’s that once you get a slimy feeling about someone, no amount of sob stories will take it away.This Amara bitch is lying about something.Leaning over the stone balustrade, I watch as Valentine walks with her to his car and opens the door for her. There’s some hectic sexual tension between the two of them, and it fucking pisses me off. He’s tasted her blood, so he trusts her word, but I know a soul sucker when I see one. Christ, why won’t anyone listen to me about this?!“Deep in thought there, Beast,” Xenia’s voice comes up behind me just as Valentine drives off and
-Gabriel-I’m laying with Katherine in between my legs, holding up her hand and adoring the way my mother’s ring perfectly fits on her finger. As if it was always meant to be there. She’s naked while I’m only wearing boxers, so the ring isn’t the only thing I’m admiring.“Katherine Priest - who would have thought,” she says and I can tell she’s smiling, but she’s got something wrong.“Katherine Preutescu. Priest is just a last name my father took on when we moved here.” We all hated the name, but my father insisted on it since we had to hide from the council. It stuck even after they found us, though.“Oh, I wondered why your family tomb had that name and why Eirisse called you that. Well, either way, I’ll be happy to take your name and get rid of my own which means Death,” she says while twirling the ring around her finger.Katherine Preutescu; fuck, I love the sound of it.“What was your mother’s name?” she suddenly asks, snapping me out of my thoughts and threading her fingers with
-Gabriel-I bring the Harley to a stop outside of the designated meeting point, but even as excitement courses through my veins, something feels off. Church should be here along with Valentine, but I only see Church’s bike along with the others’ vehicles. After Church’s apprehension about Amara, I decided not to let her in on this meeting so she’s not aware of the hidden Vasile. “Priest,” the twins greet me when I walk inside the abandoned warehouse. They both look pumped and ready for what’s about to happen, knowing that they will finally get their revenge. I nod in greeting, then see Gustav standing off to the side with a tall, blonde man - a fucking spitting image of Kazimir.“Gustav,” I call and walk over to them. Gustav nods, and the blonde gives me a once over, then takes a step towards me. “Gabriel Preutescu, the man who would have been my brother-in-law,” he says casually, dropping my heart right into my feet with ease at those words.“What? Brother-in-law?” I ask, shaking
-Gabriel- A deathly silence falls over everyone when Ryker speaks and even I am left stunned. He did what we all said we would do… he just killed the entire fucking council except for the Vasiles. Axel has Kazimir pinned to the ground with his hand around his neck, both staring at Ryker when Kazimir jumps up and takes a careful step back. He looks at his dead comrades, all of them desiccated and eyes glazed over. “What… w-why are you here?” Kazimir stutters, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head when he looks at Ryker. Ryker turns his gaze on Kazimir and grins. “I don’t recall ever inviting you back here, Vasile. As per an arrangement I had with your father, the next time this fucked up council enters my country, you’re all dead. I’m just keeping my end of the accord.” He says, wiping his hands on his jeans. “But how… HOW-” “How did I know you were in town? I could smell you three cities over, Vasile. I allowed you and your sister to enter since you never truly stayed more than
-Valentine-I open my eyes, and it feels like a jackhammer is hitting me right between the eyes. Constant thrumming and my body hurts all over as if I’ve been in a sparring match with Gabriel. Immediately sitting up straight at the thought of my Maker, I realize my error too late when my eyesight goes white.“Easy there, cowboy; still got a buncha these in ya,” a soft, gentle voice speaks to me and slowly pushes me back down.“W-what… who…?” I stutter, trying to get my eyesight to focus on my surroundings, but all I see are stark white and bright lights. “Where… am I?”“In my clinic,” she answers again and I feel something being pulled out of my chest and clattering on a tray. “There ya go, good as new! Well, almost new; here.” A clinic? Wait, is this a human? She shoves the end of a blood bag in my mouth before I can ask her, and my bloodlust takes over. When that bag is finished, she hands me four more. I can feel my wounds slowly healing and my eyesight slowly comes back just as
The filth of Las Vegas never fails to disgust me. I don’t know why my father insists that I come here and take over what he’s left behind when I would gladly have stayed at his side as his second. But I suppose that my best friend is here, and he owns Vegas, so there’s an upside to it. I walk into the upmarket club I’m supposed to meet him in and take a seat in the reserved VIP section. We’re meeting up for a few drinks to formally welcome me to Vegas. However, he also has some news regarding his ascension after his father’s retirement and wanted to get pissed while he’s at it. Not that it will help, since he’s a hybrid Lycan. After ordering a bourbon from the server, I sit down and observe the cattle rolling in. Every woman looks the same and they all want the same thing; it’s even more evident when you’re a vampire. You can smell the lust coming off them in waves and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a needy, easy woman. The blatant stares coming my way makes me roll my ey
-Katherine- It's been six months, and I knew this day would come. Gabriel and I are sitting in Autumn’s office and I have Elijah in my lap. He’s cooing and making cute as fuck baby noises; this shouldn’t be a problem at all since it signifies a happy, healthy baby. But for Pureblood vampires it is because the infancy stage usually lasts for five years whereas Elijah is growing like an average human baby. “Okay, there’s no bad news,” Autumn says as she opens the folder in front of her. “But there is something.” I can tell Gabriel’s getting antsy, and so am I but there’s no point in getting impatient with the messenger who’s trying to help us. “We’re listening,” I say, taking Gabriel’s hand in mine under the table and giving it a squeeze. Autumn sighs. “Elijah is growing like a human baby because of what happened to him in utero; the stakes, the baobab mixed with blood that you ingested. This seems to have interfered with the slow growth spurt of an average Pureblood baby,” she sa
-Gabriel-“GABE!” My heart literally drops when Katherine’s scream echoes throughout the mansion. I run from my office and fly up the stairs to our bedroom, only to see Katherine standing there looking down at her feet. Her head whips up towards me and she points down. “My water broke!” And that is how I felt fear chill me to my bones. I move on autopilot and grab a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from her walk-in, then slowly walk with her to the bathroom. Her panicked heartbeat keeps me calm for some reason, even as she trembles while I help her clean up and get into dry clothing.Afterward, I grab the overnight hospital bag by the bedroom door and pull out my cell phone. “It’s time, let Autumn know,” I tell Valentine, then kill the call and lead my woman downstairs with the SUV keys in hand. Luckily it’s just after 1 AM, so we’re able to get to Autumn’s without a problem. However, just as I put her into the passenger seat, I feel a sharp sting on my shoulder - a familiar fuckin
-Gabriel-It’s been a week since we returned from Las Vegas. Katherine is settling back in again but she’s been busy with her secret project while I’ve had to deal with starting up something similar to the council. The twins and Gustav are helping me back in Europe, while I oversee the States for now. There will be a meeting in about a month’s time to see where we sit with everything after the demise of the original council.After getting back to DC, we haven’t been able to schedule a checkup with Autumn for Katherine since the doctor has been busy. But right now we’re on our way to her first checkup and to say she’s nervous is putting it lightly.“Don’t worry, little lamb, I am sure everything is fine with the little one,” I say for the fifth time as I pull into the parking lot of her clinic. It’s 9 PM, so there’s no one around right now.“I know! But I can’t help worrying about the baby after everything that has happened. The baobab stakes, the baobab in the blood Matthew gave me, n
-Katherine-Gabriel and Church join us outside not too long after that and we sit at the pool’s edge. He takes my hand and kisses the back of it before chuckling; all of us look at him as if he’s gone insane.“I forgot to tell you all Valentine has met his second chance Fated,” he says, stunning us all with this news. Church’s mouth hangs open and Xenia literally has to close it, I am sure that I’m wearing the same shocked expression on my face. “Second chance Fated? I thought that doesn’t exist for vampires?”Gabriel nods and leans forward with his elbows resting on his knees. “They rarely happen since we never reject what the Goddess has given us; I mean, 200 years of waiting for your soulmate is a long time!” He says, winking at me. “However, if a vampire finds themselves rejecting their Fated, they have the option to choose who they want to be with afterward. This is why the second chance Fated is called a Chosen. Their Threads of Fate are gold, similar to a wedding ring.”This c
-Katherine-Gabriel is quiet while staring at my stomach, but I can hear how his heartbeat picks up after a few seconds… then he looks up at me with wide eyes.“W-what…? I don’t understand, how is this possible?” he asks, his voice and scent both laced thickly with confusion.I sigh. “At first when I left DC, it was because I was hurt and angry at everything that happened; but then when I went up to our bedroom, I heard our baby’s heartbeat and knew I had to make a choice for all three of us.”He furrows his brow and lightly shakes his head, but I continue. “I wanted you to put your all into picking up the pieces of the authority you had left, I wanted you to grow into the leader everyone wants you to be. I wanted you to focus on the role you had…without worrying about me and placing me above everything else.” He stares at me with a glazed expression while I explain.“You left not only because you were hurt, but so I can focus on being a leader?” he asks incredulously, and I catch a q
-Gabriel-I can’t blame Church for not telling me about Matthew Décès before I tended to Xenia; he only wanted to save his Fated. But this might leave me without mine and while running into the mansion, I pray to fucking Gods that I’m not too late.I strain my hearing to listen out for her, but all I hear are muffled voices. There’s no scent of blood either, and I have no idea if this is a good thing or not. Following the voices, I barge into the room that used to be Katherine’s…Only to find Matthew sitting on the bed with her, holding her hands gently in his. Her head whips up towards me and her eyes widen; that heartbeat I’ve missed so much picks up its pace and she gets to her feet.“Gabe!” she exclaims, her hand going to her chest as she takes a tentative step toward me. She’s wearing a pair of black silk shorts and a tank top to match, but it still makes her look like the most beautiful woman in the world.My eyes flicker to Matthew, who stands up and crosses his arms, grinning
-Xenia-It’s a blistering day today and I find myself at the pool after 4 pm. Last night was somewhat therapeutic; clearing things up with Church and having a heart-to-heart with Kat about what’s going to happen next. Things feel better, and less strained and I actually feel lighter because of it.They should be waking up soon, too.The conversation Church and I had still sticks with me. It looks like he knows me better than I know myself and this is all from spending maybe a week or two with me. I have to admit that thinking about Entwining with him still scares me a bit, but he knew that before I even admitted it to myself.Becoming a vampire is a scary as fuck thing, so unless it’s a life-or-death situation, I’d rather stay warm-blooded for now. But Church knew that too.God, the man is perfect; while I’m over here, still indecisive about things.I hear the roar of a vehicle in the distance and get to my feet; no one should be heading this way unless they’re a Devil’s Void member o
-Church-Xenia doesn’t know this yet, but I can tell when she’s serious about something and when she’s just saying it out of excitement. I’ve been around her long enough these last few weeks to know this about her.So when she mentions she wants to Entwine in the middle of sex, I knew that she didn’t mean a fucking word of it. I storm into my bathroom and wash my hands before splashing my face with cold water and raking my fingers through my hair in frustration. This is definitely not how I pictured our first intimate moment going. It started off sexy as hell, I could barely contain myself while slamming into her; then she had to fucking ruin it with those words.How the fuck do we come back from that?A knock on my door and I know it was Xenia. She opens it and walks inside, wearing nothing but a t-shirt. Her face is somewhat red, and a confused expression marrs over her face.“I’m not in the mood for a fight right now, Xenia,” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Let’s just coo