“Ahhhgghhhhhh, get this bastard out of me!” Tears streamed down Lady Briseis face as another contraction took hold of her.Achilles was frozen watching Lady Briseis’ body contort in pain.“You did this to me!” Her black eyes bore into him. “Fucking do something!”Achilles stumbled back out of the room, “HELGA! HELGA! QUICK, COME QUICK!”Helga fell out of the library and rushed over to Achilles, her face paled as she noticed his distress.“What’s wrong? Is it Seraphina?”
Achilles frowned at Isobella and Eloise.“I don’t understand, I know her parents, they are both Vampires.”“Her mother may be a vampire but, I can assure you, her biological father is not.” Eloise fumbled with her hands.“But she has a familiar, I’ve seen her marking,” Achilles shook his head.“That could be genuine or, it could be another glamour but, she is a Dhampir, a powerful and dark Dhampir.” Isobella shivered.A heavy silence hung in the air.
The afternoon sun had just begun to set, lighting up the evening sky in an array of purple, blue and orange light. Seraphina tightened the blanket around Leonardo as a cool breeze drifted through the garden.His head turned to root against her breast, Seraphina chuckled as she unlaced her dress.“Does he ever stop feeding?” Ethena gasped.“No,” Achilles answered, “He’s been like this for the last week, constantly attached to Seraphina’s breast.”“Feeling jealous brother?” Aurelia teased hi
Grief. Bone chilling, stomach turning, blood curdling grief. That’s all Seraphina could feel. She collapsed and let out a wail that sounded demonic. Wait… Seraphina had been here before. She recognised this dream, this vision.Her consciousness fought to the surface as she tried to pull through the haze of sleep.Excruciating pain coursed through her body as she abruptly awoke. It took all of her strength to not pass out again.The stench of blood mixed with something else burned her nostrils.Seraphina opened her mouth to scream but, no sound came out. She out stretched her hand in the bed to feel for Achilles, her panic only rose furth
“Please, Isobella! You’ve got to do something, Bethel, Helga, Aurelia, Rose, Melanie, even my mother has tried to get through to her! She’s been like this for weeks now. She’s completely catatonic, the only time she moves out of bed is to feed Leo and then its just back to staring at the walls.” Achilles ran a frustrated hand through his hair as tears pooled in his eyes.His clothes were dishevelled, he had started to grow a scraggly beard and dark circles sat under his eyes.Isobella sighed as she extended her hand to give Achilles’ a gentle, reassuring squeeze.“Your highness, she is grieving. She is allowed to grieve, there is no right or wrong way, she su
The sun had set completely and the first stars were visible in the sky before Seraphina returned to the DeBeaux Angelo manor.She landed in the garden where Achilles and Aurelia were sat waiting for her. She quickly shifted back to her Dhampir form and hurled her naked body at the two. Her eyes were red and swollen and her voice raspy.She wrapped her arms around each of their necks pulling them into her, her body shook with sobs.They held her like that for a long while until the moon bathed the garden in a faint white glow.Seraphina finally drew back, “I-is Leo o-okay?”
Seraphina bolted upright in bed startling Achilles awake. He turned to face Seraphina and froze as he took in her appearance.The blue and purple eyes he adored had turned a terrifying silver and her dhampir markings as well as her familiar marking were all glowing a bright white. Even from a distance, he could feel the heat radiating from them.“Seraphina, what’s wrong?” his voice laced with panic.She turned slowly to face him, her head slightly titled. The sight sent a shiver across his body.“De-Buccleuch, I’m going to kill them all,” she spoke in barely a whisper, her voice sounded hollow as her gaze bore into Achilles.
Seraphina and Aurelia readied themselves for another attack as further footsteps could be heard in the distance. Aurelia picked up a sword from one of the dead soldiers as Achilles burst into the entrance hall. He paused, taking in the piles of dead bodies around him and turned to look at Seraphina, a pain stricken look on his face.“Seraphina…Did you do this?” he gestured to the charred bodies.She gave him a single sharp nod. “You should be at home with Leonardo.”Achilles frowned at her, “He is with Isobella… Seraphina, I understand your need for revenge but, why didn’t you bring me?”