Taylor POV
She had appeared, seemingly from nowhere, perched on a barstool at the end of the bar. My amulet had suddenly become hot against my shin and I knew she was supernatural. I ducked down, pretending to situate something under the bar, so I could peak inside my top and see what I was dealing with. I furrowed my brow in confusion. My amulet was red, it was never red. Black meant vamp, golden yellow meant were, white meant fae, occasionally it would be a mix of those colors signifying a hybrid. I took a deep breath to steady myself and stood, making my way to her.
“What can I get for ya?”
"Your tattoos look so real" he whispered in awe, tracing his finger over the outline of my retracted wings.Humans were funny, they didn't really believe in us Fae, but they had the expectation that our wings were an external appendage. The reality was we could release or retract them at will, allowing us to blend in with the neighboring kingdoms. I propped myself up on my elbows, allowing my eyes to rake over this Adonis. I had picked him up in a human bar hoping for a fun romp in the hay and he had delivered."I should get going, it's getting late and I have things to do tomorrow." I said, lifting myself from the bed to begin dressing."Well maybe let's exchange numbers and we can do this again," he grinned, "it was fun.""I don't have a phone." I responded flatly, pulling on my boots, "Besides, I know where to find you if I want another roll in the hay"."Off the grid huh? Wow, sexy and mysterious"."That's me." I chuckled, running my finger do
I sat near the fire with my hood up, picking at the rabbit that had been cooked looking at the handful of soldiers with me. It had been five days since Mikah's murder. When I had bolted from his room when my mother confirmed that his wings had indeed been taken, I had run blindly to the barracks to find Xaviar. I knew he would help me enact my revenge plan against the Fire clan, a plan that I needed to complete to assuage my guilt at ignoring my brother's link in his final moments. Xaviar had helped gather a dozen of the most trustworthy soldiers, ones that wouldn't question a stranger joining them on a mission. I had forged orders from my father for Xaviar to pass on. The men were to accompany a hired assassin undetected into the Fire kingdom and were to retrieve Mikah's wings while the assassin eliminated the royal line of the Fire clan. To everyone around the fire, excep
I came to in a cell. My head throbbing from the blow that had knocked me out. I stood up, wanting to see what I could discover about where I was being held. Black spots clouded my vision accompanied by dizziness and an overwhelming need to vomit, forcing me to sit back down with my head between my knees. As I sat there, taking small slow breaths to calm my stomach, electricity filled the room. It felt like lightening was about to strike in my cell, causing the hair on my arms to stand up. "Why are you here?" came a man's voice that sent shivers of excitement to the core of my being. When I didn't respond, I heard him sigh. I chanced a peak and was surprised to find him close to the cell bars, staring at me intently. The light I had seen around him during the fight seemed brighter inside the dark room. Before I knew I had done it, my body had risen and I was standing directly in front of him, only the bars separating us. "Why are you here?" he repeated.
AroGoddess she was beautiful. I was stunned when she threw herself on me in the cells, but I knew she didn't really have a choice either. It had taken all of my willpower not to have her right then and there. My father may have been a cold-hearted, evil bastard, but I was thankful in that moment that his abuse had taught me how to reign in my urges and maintain control always. Fated or not, I don't think she would have ever forgiven me if I had succumbed to the primal need to have her. She had surprised me during the skirmish. The seer had said a band of soldiers was coming to assassinate me, had given the location that would be easiest to subdue them, but he hadn't said anything about a woman. I had seen her glowing before I even landed and knew that if my men hadn't had the situation in hand, I would have been slain while I stared at her. I had reacted i
Miriam I had tossed and turned all night; what little sleep I did get was haunted by my vision of Mikah's last moments. I laid in the king-sized bed, feeling the hollowness in my chest expand. Not all of it was for Mikah, as soon as Aro had closed the door last night I had been hit with a deep ache and longing that only grew the empty feeling in my chest as the night went on. A light knock on the door interrupted my internal cursing of the Goddess for fating me to someone who was not only my enemy but had a reputation for extreme cruelty. "Your highness, I have brought you some fresh clothing." Said a petite woman, entering the room with her arms overloaded with gowns. I moved from the bed intent on helping her, the tiny woman looked like she would topple over at any second due to the massive load of gowns she was carrying. "His majesty has requested your presence for breakfast. We weren't sure what you would like so we took the liberty of selecting several options based on the size
MiriamI don't know why I was surprised to find myself led to a room next to the one I had shared breakfast with Aro in. He has said he was moving me to an adjoining suite to consolidate the guards, increasing security for us both. Still, I had expected to be returned to my original suite when we left the cells. I flung myself face down on the king-sized bed before me. The hollowness in my chest had decided to rear its head, leaving me with a painful emptiness.I wish you were here so I could talk to you Mikah. I thought to myself, knowing full well that I wouldn't be in this situation if my brother hadn't been murdered. I pushed my thoughts out, reaching for my twin, wanting a response I knew wouldn't come. Tears soaked the pillow I had buried my face in, and sobs racked my body. I hadn't been given anything to occupy my time when I was left in the room alone. There was nothing to keep the pangs of loss away. I sobbed until my eyes felt dry and there were no more tears to cry.
AroI was a little hurt when Miriam hadn't answered the door when I knocked. I knew she would need time to realize the rumors about me were just rumors and opted to give her space rather than force her to be around me. I couldn't help coming back to the door adjoining our rooms ever so often though. I needed to be near her. I could hear her laughing with Kira, it eased the ache of longing I felt for her to know that I had chosen the right person to care for her. Kira was a sweet girl. I knew she could comfort Miriam in her grief and would go above and beyond her duty to ensure her happiness. I couldn't help but hope that she would also dispel some of the rumors surrounding my personality.When the need to be near Miriam began to press against the edge of my self-control, I left my room to check on the status of the summit arrangements. Miriam had sent one of her men to the Water kingdom this morning, the guard that escorted her to the cells assured me she seemed confident he wou
MiriamI woke up feeling refreshed for the first time since Mikah had been murdered. I had a vague memory of dreaming about his last link with me and then it was all peace and electricity. I stretched, noticing the room was still full of the electric charge I had sensed last night. I glanced at the door between mine and Aro's rooms, it was closed, but he must be in there for the air to be so charged. My mind wandered back to the things Kira had told me last night as I kicked my feet over the side of the bed."Ooof" came the sound of a male voice from the lump I found myself tripping over.Arms reached up from under blankets I hadn't noticed before, grabbing me and pulling me down into an electric filled embrace. Aro was on my floor! The memory of asking him to stay with me came rushing back and my face flushed red. "Sorry, so sorry"" I stuttered, scrambling away from him.I saw a disappointed frown flash across his face as he realized I had pulled away from him. He quickly rep
Taylor POV She had appeared, seemingly from nowhere, perched on a barstool at the end of the bar. My amulet had suddenly become hot against my shin and I knew she was supernatural. I ducked down, pretending to situate something under the bar, so I could peak inside my top and see what I was dealing with. I furrowed my brow in confusion. My amulet was red, it was never red. Black meant vamp, golden yellow meant were, white meant fae, occasionally it would be a mix of those colors signifying a hybrid. I took a deep breath to steady myself and stood, making my way to her. “What can I get for ya?”
I could see from the look in her dark green eyes, she knew exactly what I was. “I’m not sure what you mean.” I responded. “Sure, you do. You’re a vamp. I sensed you the moment you crossed into town.” She whispered, her voice barely audible over the noise of the few customers in the place. “I think you’ve been watching too many movies.” I scoffed, trying to continue the ruse that I was human lik
Prologue In the time before, there was only the three goddesses, and their brother. In their loneliness, the goddesses created creatures to populate the Earth. The wolves belonged to the Goddess Selene, the fae belonged to the Goddess Mab, and the vampire who belonged to the Goddess Nyx. Seeing how their creations worshipped his sisters, their brother created man, and referred to himself only as ‘God’. For a time, these creations lived
I stood in awe of the expansive castle before us. Our tour of the kingdom had gone exceptionally smooth. Aro had greeted the people as if he were one of them, rather than the fearsome Prince of the Fire Kingdom he was rumored to be. At each village he had taken it upon himself to help lighten the workload for the citizens for the time we were there, rising early to assist in the fields and hear any concerns they had. My people loved him. I ran my hands over my now visible baby bump and smiled as I thought of all he had done in our six weeks travel through the kingdom. My home kingdom had been the last one we visited, and after all the work we had done to gain acceptance from my people and establish local councils made up of fae from all the kingdoms had paid off. We now stood outside of the place called Exordia on the ancient maps my bi
Miriam“Are you nervous?” My mother asked, securing a sapphire encrusted comb in my hair. “A little. This isn’t exactly how I had imagined things happening.” “Well, it would have been much the same if it were Xaviar at the end of the aisle rather than Aro.” My mouth suddenly went dry, as if it w
Tyler I gently removed myself from Celeste’s hold. I didn’t want to wake her, but I needed to get to work hunting down any remaining vamps and destroying them. Aro had left Fredrick with the task of running the kingdom in his absence, but he had tasked me with ensuring that the vampire threat was eliminated completely.I paused for a moment to look at my mate as she slept peacefully before kissing her forehead and readying myself for the day. All of the packs were currently reporting to me at the fire keep, I wasn’t their alpha, but they understood t
Aro Miriam had maintained a respectful distance from the wake and funeral that followed. I could tell that it had triggered her grief over the loss of her twin brother. For the most part, I was able to excuse away her absence as exhaustion from traveling so recently after her capture. I was relieved that she appeared in time for the wing burning ceremony. While the people of the Earth Kingdom were understanding of her need for rest after my explanations, I doubted they would accept her as their new Queen if she hadn’t shown up for the ceremony.
“You know that we are now the rulers of all five kingdoms, right?” Aro asked after we had returned to our rooms for lunch. “Your birth parents insisted that they hand over their kingdom to their rightful heir, you.” I stared at my mate dumbfounded. My birth parents had shown up in the midst of the madness, talking about me being prophesized to reunite all five kingdoms, but I hadn’t expected them to just hand over the spirit kingdom. I was still a stranger to them after all, I had grown up believing I was water clan. I picked over my food, mulling over what Aro had just said, not quite able to wrap my mind around everything. “Miriam.” He said, pulling my attention fr
Miriam I woke to find Aro staring at me as if he wasn’t sure the previous night had been real. I stretched lazily before pulling his face to mine for a kiss. Feeling him relax at my touch, I took a moment to luxuriate at how rested I felt. A mild coma followed by a night of exquisite love making did wonders for me. My stomach growled ending the moment. “We should probably feed you.” Aro chuckled. “You’ve been nothing but