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Chapter 13
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Aster:
Aster opened her eyes. She was wrapped in a blanket of complete darkness. At first, panic threatened to overwhelm her, but then she remembered. I’m dead. This is death. She sat in the dark, trying to remember how she died, but couldn’t recall anything. There was nothing really, no memories of who she were, what her life was like – nothing. It was a complete blank
The darkness was complete. She could it feel pressing in on her. Arms outstretched, Aster turned in a slow circle, and touched nothing but emptiness. She wasn’t sure if she made a complete 360 turn, but slowly she started shuffling forward, keeping her arms outstretched in case she met a wall.
Something unpleasant curled around her feet, like tendrils of slime. She inhaled, realised she couldn’t, and remembered she was dead – dead people didn’t breathe. “Hello?” she cried out.
Her voice echoed in the darkness. Apparently, dead people did have vocal chords. She
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Declan: He stood rooted to the spot, staring at Katelynn. Her eyes were red and swollen, hands twisting the hem of her top, her mouth set in a thin line of anger or sadness, Declan wasn’t quite sure. He shot a look at Rowan, hoping his face conveyed the question: What have you done? His father gave him a contemptuous smile, and turned to Katelynn, “Wait for us inside, darling,” he said and gestured to Declan to follow him. Declan glanced to the east, a thin strip of pink announced the approaching sunrise. “We have time,” Rowan said, and walked down the steps of the terrace and into their expansive garden. Declan watched him go – he really didn’t want to hear anything his father had to say, but with little other choice, he followed Rowan, who was no sitting on the wall of the huge fountain, their garden’s centrepiece. “Sit,” Rowan commanded. Declan shook his head. “Can we hurry it up? I’m really tired. These las
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Aster: The closer she got, the more impressed she was. The magnificent structure wasn’t a castle, but it wasn’t a mansion either. The sheer size of the building took her breath away. Perfectly manicured, lush, green lawns surrounded the paved path she followed. Halfway to the mansion, she came across a fountain cut from white marble. In the centre, a spectacular life-sized granite elephant spouted water from its trunk. For a moment she stopped, staring up at the splendid sculpture, completely mesmerised by the way the granite sparkled in the sunlight. Then the voice was there, urging her on, “Go. Get out. I’m waiting.” Aster looked around, but saw no one. She tried to remember why she had to get out, as the mysterious voice kept telling her, but she came up blank. All she knew was that she had to do it. Reluctantly, she turned her back on the fountain and walked up the steps to the terrace that seemingly wrapped around the mansion. Large Gree
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Declan: Stumbling into the foyer, slamming the heavy oak doors shut behind him, Declan collapsed to the floor, the cool white tiles easing his feverish skin. The sun couldn’t kill them, but it hurt like nobody’s business. The only life were their familiars, humans that swore loyalty to vampires and served them during the daylight hours. Currently they were bustling about, closing the heavy drapes, and switching on lights. Familiars lived in darkness with their masters, but they willingly gave themselves to the cause. Some, if they were extremely loyal, and gave outstanding service, were rewarded with immortality, before the ravages of old age took them. Most weren’t that lucky. “Master?” A pretty little blonde kneeled next to him, and rested a tiny hand on his sweaty neck. “Do you need help getting to your room?” He moved only his eyes to look at her. “I’m fine,” he mumbled, the tiles muffling his voice. Groaning loudly he turned on his back
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Declan: He gasped and his eyes snapped open. Sitting bolt upright in bed, Declan reached out, searching, trying to connect with her, but his mind touched only emptiness. “No,” he whispered. His throat burned, and his head threatened to split open. It wasn’t dark yet, but he forced himself to stay awake. As soon as the sun set, he planned on going back to the Montgomery estate – he had to make sure she was really dead, and then he had to tell Edward that he failed. Slowly, he got up from the bed and went to his bathroom. The warm water helped to ease his painful muscles and aching head a little. When he was done, he wrapped a towel around his waist, wiped steam from the mirror and stared at his reflection. His eyes were swollen and red, skin pale-blue, lips tinged grey. It was a consequence of making a vampire. Once the sun set and he fed, he’d look more alive than dead. Thinking about Aster hurt. It surprised him. He didn’t think he c
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Aster: Aster stepped out onto a beach. She remembered it from her childhood. Their last family holiday in South Africa. Her mother and brother were still alive. In the distance, the blue silhouette of Table Mountain rose up from the sea. She always wanted to come back here one day. To this beach, where the azure water was so clear you could see the seabed. It was different here. She could feel the wind lift her skirt, the soft cotton candy sandy tickling her feet, taste the salty sea spray that misted her face, hear the seagulls squawking in the distance and the break of the waves on the shore. But she was still alone. For now, she didn’t mind. She waded into the ocean. The water was cold, just like she remembered, but it felt good. Maybe she was in heaven now. Maybe that’s the choice she made. But it didn’t feel like heaven. Just like all the other stops on her way, this place felt temporary too. In the distance, she saw a w
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Declan: He heard her bones cracking and shifting back into place. It felt like the healing process took hours, but in reality, it took no more than thirty minutes. He winced and hissed softly when she dug her nails deeply into his forearm, but like a husband holding his wife’s hand during childbirth, he didn’t say a word. She was worse off than he thought she’d be – maybe because she was sick before he made her. When he saw her there on the ground, her body bent in all directions, the weird angle of her neck, the silent screams of utter despair, he felt his heart break into a million pieces, and for a moment, he wished he could take it all back. Declan was glad now that he decided to heal her before they attempted it, she wouldn’t have survived the process if he hadn’t. Breathing hard and sweating profusely, she relaxed against him. She was still crying softly, but her tears were drying up. He let her get it out of her system, the tra
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Aster: She didn’t think it would be this good. Nothing and no one could have prepared her for this: being a vampire. In books and movies, they called vampires the undead, but Aster had never felt so alive. The world looked and felt and smelled completely different. Despite the dark, she could see everything, and warm-blooded creatures stood out most starkly – they had a faint glow around them that kept distracting her, and every so often Declan had to fetch her as she wandered off the path to inspect a mouse or a bunny rabbit. She felt every blade of grass that tickled the soles of her feet, heard frogs singing far in the distance, and could even pick out individual frogs just by their sound. She stopped and inhaled the night air, taking in the scents that surrounded her: grass, wet soil, water, the late summer flowers, but also the rot of the compost heap at the bottom of the garden, and the decomposing corpse of an unfortunate bird.
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Declan: He could kick himself. He knew the moment they approached her room that Aster was unsettled, yet he pushed her anyway. It wasn’t until she started to freak out completely that he realised his mistake…he’d have to learn to listen the new instincts that awakened when she was reborn. Declan found two suitcases in the back of Aster’s vast closet and pulled them out. The cases clearly hadn’t been used in some time, but they looked to still be in good condition. While he gathered her clothes, his phone buzzed. Without looking at the caller I.D., he answered, “Yeah?” Holding the phone between his shoulder and ear, he kept going. “How are things there?” Rowan asked without a greeting. “It’s fine. She’s doing well.” “No brain damage or anything like that?” “No. Emotional though.” “That’s to be expected. Edward will be there in half an hour.” “Oh God,” Declan plopped on the unmade bed. The room really did
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His Vampire Bride Thank you
Dear readers, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read Declan and Aster's story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you for your support and love. It means the world to me, and I hope to see you all soon with the next one. Please feel free to leave a comment if you liked this story. I always love hearing from my readers. Remember: All writers love their readers, we would be nothing without you -- you are the engine that makes a writer's world go 'round. Much love, Celice
His Vampire Bride Epilogue
The old man sat on his balcony, looking at the beach bathed in the soft blue moonlight. It was a beautiful night, but a full moon, which meant all manner of creatures were about. Ever since that blasted vampire war fifty years ago, all sorts had been crawling out of the darkness, wouldn’t you know? It didn’t matter how many times that vampire, Rowan Watchamacallit, went on the news and every talk show known to man, just to keep telling the humans that they had nothing to fear, he knew better. He was old enough to remember that war, remembered the roving vampires that came through his town and tore his wife’s throat out. He didn’t forget and forgive that easily. The humans hadn’t been idle. They had been developing weapons that were strong enough to kill vampires. He had one. A gun that could take a vampire’s head off with one shot. It wasn’t technically speaking legal to kill vampires, but their bodies evaporated fairly quickly once the sun hit it, and no body, no ev
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Declan:He kissed her until the tension left her body, and the doubts she felt earlier released her. It was like that first time, when the world outside faded to dull insignificance, and all that mattered were the two of them, wrapped in each other’s arms, safe in their bubble.Declan didn’t understand what it was he felt the first time they had sex, but he understood it now. It was the completion of the bond. He could feel it as he pushed inside her. The way the bond united them, how it knitted them together, tying her soul to his and his to hers. The two halves becoming one. And it was stronger now than before. Much stronger.As she opened up under him, giving herself to him so completely that he didn’t even know where she began and he ended, he knew that this was forever. He would never, could never, break their bond. When her eyes filled with tears, and he felt the burden she had been carrying around lift from her shoulders
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Aster:Aster sat up, her head pounding and bladder throbbing. The last thing she remembered was sitting on the floor in the lobby with Declan, trying not to scream as her injuries healed. After that, nothing.Declan sat on the armchair, naked from the waist up, watching her with an amused smirk. It had been days since he was there when she woke. “Don’t you need to work?”“Don’t you need to pee?” he retorted.Shooting nasty glances his way, she went to the bathroom, taking a quick shower while she was there, and hoping that he would be gone by the time she was done. She was embarrassed by her actions the previous night, and she didn’t know how to look him in the eye.Wrapping a towel around herself, she went back to the bedroom, just to find that she wasn’t that lucky. Declan still sat where she had left him. “Blood’s on the bed,” he said a mischievous glint in
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Declan: Declan gasped, and dropped his pen. Aster very quickly cycled from jealous to angry to a soul-crushing sadness that threatened to eat her alive. Their connection was growing stronger – it would probably have been completely restored by now if they could spend some time together, but the logistics of Maximillian’s estate and the vampire council occupied him non-stop. She wasn’t in any danger, and she didn’t call out to him. Sighing, he blocked her out and pulled more paperwork towards him. There were hundreds of requests from sheriffs and smaller families in need of help, and Lucas wanted to help all of them. Saw it as his sacred duty as the new head of the most powerful family in the region. Declan had to keep reminding his cousin that the only reason they became the most powerful family, was because Maximillian knew when to say yes and when to say no. Lucas needed a lot of mentoring, and with no elders around to guide him, Declan did
His Vampire Bride Chapter 101
Aster:Aster strolled through the hotel, greeting the other vampires that not three weeks ago were so scared of her that they could barely look at her, but now finally treated her like family. Most of their allies had left, leaving the hotel mostly open, but the place was destroyed, because there had been simply too many people living in it.When they arrived in Slovakia, Declan asked her to take care of the humans, help as many of them get back home as she could, but a lot of them didn’t want to leave. Their homes weren’t destroyed; it wasn’t a war that was fought with bombs and guns, but many lost their families in vampire attacks. Others came to love their vampires masters, and simply refused to leave, even after their familiar oaths were broken.She walked from room to room, looking at the progress of the renovations and clean-up process. With a lot of the vampires gone, and because most of the humans were injured and traum
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Declan: Declan stood in the dark, overgrown garden, leaning against a tree, watching Aster where she lay flat on her back next to the stream, her hand dangling in the water. It had been two nights since the witch helped them reform their bond, but their connection wasn’t very strong yet. It was like a weak battery, waiting to be recharged, and he had no idea how long that would take. Still, all he could think about was her, which he took as a good sign. After a few minutes, he stepped out of the darkness and walked up to her, squatting by her side. “Hello, beautiful.” Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and she gave him a dazzling smile. That smile soothed his aching heart more than she’d ever know. He leaned over and kissed her, feeling the spark trying to ignite the fire in his heart, but not quite getting there. “You still hate it inside the castle, huh?” “Yes,” she answered. “Too many ghosts.” “Don’t they just follow you?”
His Vampire Bride Chapter 99
Aster: Aster only had one thought running through her mind as she drifted off to sleep. I want him back. Even in her sleep, it was all she could think about, and as she slipped deeper into the darkness, she dreamed about Declan calling to her, telling her to come back to him. ** She hears him calling out to her. He’s somewhere out there in the darkness. “Come to me,” he pleads, “find me.” “Where are you?” she calls back. “I can’t see.” The place is too dark. The kind of darkness that grabs you and won’t let go. The kind of darkness she only experienced once before: in the in-between. “Aster!” Declan screams. “Find me. Come to me.” “I can’t see anything,” she sobs into the darkness. “Why can’t you come to me?” “I’m stuck. Please. Find me.” He sounds so desperately afraid. So lonely. In turn, Aster’s heart cries out to him. She wants to feel his strong, comforting arms around her.
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Declan: This wasn’t Declan’s first war, and it wouldn’t be his last. Every once in a while vampires would get in a strop and start killing each other. Maybe it was nature’s way of keeping their numbers down. This was the first war that easily killed half his family though, and he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it. He lay on his side, staring at Aster, tracing the outline of her face with his fingers. Neither of them spoke, there was nothing to say. Words of comfort rang hollow, discussing the war so soon after it ended was too raw and excruciating, and he didn’t want to talk about his feelings. “I wish I could feel you,” he whispered. “Me too.” He gave her a tight smile and sighed. He didn’t know what hurt worse – the death of his family members, his mother and brother, or the broken bond. It all just blended together into one, big, brutal, open wound. For no reason, and without any conscious thought that he was about to d
