-Katherine-I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been locked up down here, but the five styrofoam takeout containers and water bottles tell me that my time is up. Priest hasn’t been back down here since he left me with that bombshell, and when I wake up, there’s already food and water waiting for me.Yeah, I know that I should probably not have eaten whatever it is that my captors have given me, but the downside to this baobab mixture is that it makes you incredibly thirsty and hungry, especially when it wears off.I sit down and lean my head against the wall before getting up to resume my pacing. On the first day, I couldn’t sleep knowing that Priest had put me in a tomb with dead Pureblood vampires; I didn’t even switch on the flashlight and stayed rooted in the spot.How can I know that he’s telling the truth about the color of their eyes? For all I know, he’s stringing me along so I can feel guilty for killing his kind. I must admit that I felt guilty at first, but the more
-Gabriel-I can smell her defiance even before she walks into the room, and I let out a low chuckle as I play with the signet ring on my finger. That’s so fucking Katherine, it’s not even funny; defiance and a smart mouth that gets my cock harder than steel.I knew she would have expected cruelty, so I decided to switch up my method a little bit. She won’t expect kindness or respect, so that’s just what I’m going to show her until she’s let her guard down a little bit.She hit me when I didn’t expect her to, and I’ll be fucking sure to return the favor.Valentine drags her in by her upper arm, and her eyes go everywhere but where I’m seated. She’s looking for a weapon, I’m damn sure about that, but she’ll have a hard time finding one in my home after what happened five days ago. Everything now is made with a material spun by the Fae and cannot be broken, nor is it flammable. Why would I keep a means to kill me right under my own nose, anyway?I lean back and rest my chin on my fist w
-Katherine-I arch my back off the bed and let out a moan, his tongue lapping at my hardened clit while two of his fingers pump slip inside of me, caressing my sweet spot. Fisting his hair in my hand, I wrap my legs around his neck and drive my drenched pussy into his face; he smirks when I do this, then continues his assault on my sex until I scream out my release.Not long after this, he slams his massive cock inside of me, groaning as soon as he’s entered me to the base. I dig my nails into his tattooed back, raking them over the length of him until they find their way into his lower back, and I meet his thrusts while pushing him deeper. His thrusts become more frenzied, taking from me what he needs while I give him everything I have to offer. He lightly nips at my shoulder, his hand slipping around my neck and squeezing gently. My moans turn into screams the closer I am to my peak, while his groans become grunts, and I feel his cock becoming more engorged every time he enters me.
-Gabriel-“You can’t keep doing this,” Valentine says in a chastising voice and crosses his arms while sitting on his Harley. He’s dressed the same as I am in all black leather, including his boots, and his blonde hair is tied up in a braid.It’s been a week since I let Katherine out of the tomb and a week since I started her slow torture. She’s wound up so tight every time I see her that she might just snap from all the pressure. I’ve been nothing but kind to her, even drinking my blood out of a crystal tumbler, but I know she’s waiting for the axe to drop.My eyebrow shoots up, and I scoff. “I’m not sure I know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I say and swing my leg over my motorcycle. Valentine growls. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Gabe; you’re playing with her and pretending not to like it. But I’ve seen that look in your eyes many times before; it’s the same look you have when we go on our Fae hunts in Ireland.”I can’t help but laugh as he likens my playing with
-Katherine-The severed heads of the men I used to respect stare up at me with glazed, dead eyes. It’s been hours since Priest winded me with news that knocked everything I knew down like a Jenga tower.The Death’s Temple, my guild, my home… is, in fact, involved with the most disgusting thing to come out of humanity since slavery and segregation. I can’t doubt what’s been presented to me anymore; the more I think of what Priest has said, the more it starts to make sense.My father’s flight plans, the donations to churches, and those two specific orphanages… Disgust coils in my gut, and I rush to the bathroom only to dry heave as there’s nothing in my stomach. I haven’t been able to eat or sleep since he came in here, and now I’m sitting in front of the large windows again. Even with the sunlight streaming in, a chill still sets deep in my bones.Everything I know is a lie. If Death’s Temple is indeed part of a human trafficking ring, then what have I been fighting for? Who is the tr
-Katherine-I pace the room after Valentine leaves and try wrapping my brain around what Valentine just told me. My mother died fifteen years ago in our home with two gashes in her throat and a symbol for war carved on the walls in her blood; my little brother saw the same fate. I was thirteen at the time and hadn’t been home because my mother and I had a fight about me going to a party that night. She forbade me from going, but Xenia and I snuck out anyway after the heated argument. I was going to apologize for how I acted and what I said, but when I found my father sobbing over their bodies, I knew I was too late.My father said that it was the Devil’s Void vampires who had murdered them, and that was the day my childhood ended, and I swore vengeance on Gabriel Priest and his nest for what they did to my family. I believed my father’s words, and he trained me to become the woman that I am today.But what if it had all been a lie? “No, it can’t be true,” I repeat while I pace the f
-Gabriel- I close Katherine’s door behind me and lean my head against it. Whatever just happened between us should not have happened; I don’t even know how I fucking managed to pull away before devouring her entirely. Breathing out a strained sigh, I walk towards my Prospect’s door and bang on it. “Keep it the fuck down!” I growl before storming out of the place and heading towards my Harley. What the fuck is wrong with me? One taste of forbidden fruit, and I’m hooked like a junkie. The way her body felt against mine, the sounds of her moaning, calling out my name when she reached her climax, the sweet taste of her mouth. I hate to admit it to myself, but she’s right; I’m already fucking addicted. “Told you to stop fucking with her,” Valentine says as he slinks out of the shadows. I roll my eyes when I see him, then mount my Harley. “Not in the mood for a lecture right now,” I say, with no specific place in mind. “Save it for when I get back.” I’m about to put on my helmet when
-Gabriel- “I need your pack here within the next hour,” “Consider it done.” I get off the phone with the second pack sending their Beta warriors to protect my estate if hunters have to invade. Andreas is aware of the predicament as well and will be sending three Lycans to help us, but that’s all he can offer right now since Fenriz is in Norway. Church has royally fucked us over, and I know we’ll have to move the nest soon, but I am not going down without a fucking fight. My father built this place from the ground up, they’ll have to rip it from my cold, dead hands before I just hand it over. I burst through the perimeter of the estate, and my Harley slid out, causing me to crash right into the garage, but I just got to my feet soon after and rushed to my office. Valentine comes running out when I step foot inside and looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “We have a fucking problem,” I grumble, and he follows me down the corridors. He still has a confused look on his face, and after
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