-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
-Valentine-“It’s about fucking time,” Church says with a grin as he walks through the clinic doors. “I thought you were a goner for sure!”I roll my eyes and catch the shirt he throws toward me. “I thought I was, too,” I admit while slipping the shirt on. “Good thing she found me.”Church crosses his arms. “Might wanna dial back on being thankful so soon after what Amara did. For all we know, this doctor has something to hide too.”I don’t want to admit to him that I thought the same thing, so I keep quiet. Amara had me fooled; she knew through me ingesting her blood, I’d be able to see her past. Little did I know she used Fae magic to tamper with flashes of her past. Yes, Kazimir killed her husband and took her daughter hostage, but she’s not too cut up about it.Because she fucking sold them for a chance to be Gabe’s wife. When that didn’t work, she came after me and that’s how I ended up here - so lonely and starved for love that I didn’t see the snake she truly was.By allowing h
-Autumn- They used to call us The Asa; medicinal women trained in human sciences as well as supernatural medicines and healing. We don’t have any magical powers, we’re simply humans trained and used by creatures who use our mortality against us. I used to hate it, but my seeing the women in my family heal so many, made me grow to love it. Now it’s my greatest passion and I get the rewards ten times over. Well… except for this afternoon when I was face to face with something that made my heart beat a little too fast for my liking. I try to focus on the paperwork in front of me, but my mind is not cooperating. Instead, all I can see are those seductive green eyes belonging to the definitely off-limits vampire, Valentine. When I found him that morning, I had decided to leave for work a little earlier - not something that I usually do. But the second I saw him, my instincts kicked in and I dragged the heavy, muscle-bound man into my tiny Mini Cooper. The rest is history, I guess, a
-Valentine- I walk away from her with every intention of turning back but ignoring my selfish thoughts. I can’t be invading her space like this just because she saved my life, and she’s a human, damn it! Reaching the SUV, I drive out of the parking lot before I can change my mind and head back to the mansion. If there’s one way to get her out of my head, it’s through torture, and I still have Amara waiting for me at the estate. I wasn’t angry enough to face her earlier on, but seeing Gabe torn up and broken after what happened, I’m feeling murderous. Of course, I had to check on Autumn first before I could really get into it. Removing the key from my back pocket, I walk towards the cell where she’s kept in and the second she sees me at the door, her eyes widen. “Oh, my god!” she cries out and runs over to me, throwing her hands around my neck and sobbing. “I thought you died! I thought he killed you!” I listen to her racing heartbeat, that sweet scent I used to find so alluring
-Autumn- When I woke up this morning, I expected another usual day; I didn’t expect to end it off with Valentine asking me to drink his blood. Then again, I didn’t expect my husband to come here and beat me within an inch of my life either. It’s been close to two weeks since I last saw Valentine, I actually thought he’s forgotten about me by now. But then he showed up here at my weakest moment like some vampire knight in shining armor, eyes blazing red, and yet I have never felt safer. He strokes my cheek, then holds up his wrist to his mouth and pierces a vein. “Drink; I promise nothing will happen,” he says, holding his wrist out to me, the blood slipping out of two perfectly spaced holes. “Preferably before I heal.” I blink, then realize what he’s saying and raise his wrist to my mouth. To be honest, I expected to be grossed out by the average iron taste of blood… I did not expect it to taste sweet at all. Like something similar to cherry wine. Not only that, but the dull thr
-Valentine-I’m driving with Autumn and taking her back home when her cell phone suddenly rings. I gesture with my head that she can answer, and she does.“Doctor Hayes,” she answers in her professional tone and I hear the police officer introduce himself over the line. I don’t have to guess what this is about since I saw the accident before 5 am this morning; I didn’t even have to intervene because the fucker crashed all on his own.“Oh, my gosh! No, I can be right over; thank you for the call!” she says, dropping her phone into her lap and breathing out a sigh.“Everything okay?” I ask, about to turn into her street, but she shakes her head.“That was the police; apparently they found my husband's car wrapped around a tree and they pronounced him dead on sight. They suspect drunk driving, which I really wouldn’t put past him,” she says, sounding more shocked than hurt. “Do you mind taking me down to the morgue? They need me to identify his body.”I place my hand over hers and nod. “
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