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Chapter 87
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Aster:
Aster woke violently. Limbs flailing wildly, heart hammering, she bit back a scream just in time. She dreamed about the dead vampires, their bodies sizzling and slowly decomposing in the sun. She walked between them, turning them over one at a time. Each of them was someone she knew and loved – her family, slowly melting away to nothing.
Her head ached, her body screamed in pain, and the thirst burned her throat like a furnace. Sitting upright, she looked around her. She was once again in some kind of room with walls made from roughly cut stone. At least this time, she was on a soft bed and the room was big and open. Several pieces of ancient furniture decorated the room, but the grey walls were bare of any traditional artwork, instead heavy tapestries depicting violent scenes hung against the walls.
Instead of electrical lights, the room was lit with old-fashioned oil lamps and flickering torches against the wall, like the dungeon bac
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His Vampire Bride Chapter 88
Aster – Part two:It was a beautiful cloudless night, with a full moon lighting their way. The garden was wild and unkempt, the lawn overgrown; trees and plants growing out of control, breaking through stone, reclaiming what had once been theirs.They landed next to a clear stream, diamonds sparkling on the water. The air was quiet, apart from their breathing nothing disturbed the night. “It’s the spell,” Declan said, as he put everything on a flat rock next to the water. “It keeps everything away, even animals. Can you feel it?”She did. A deep feeling of unease wrapped around her, and she had to fight the urge to run away. The whole place just felt wrong.“You get used to it,” he said, pulling his shirt over his head.Aster followed suit, stripping down to her underwear, and walking into the stream without thinking twice. The freezing water wrapped around her as she slipped beneath
His Vampire Bride Chapter 89
Declan: Aster was close to hysterical when Declan returned. She sat off to the side, folding the material of the little dress she wore between her hands, staring off into the distance – although, by now he knew she wasn’t looking at nothing. The back of her dress was soaked through from her wet hair, but she barely noticed. The two elders seemed completely unaware of just how close their elemental was to breaking. “They’re on their way,” he said, and calmly walked over to his bride. He took her hand in his, and gave her a questioning look, hoping he could feel something from her, anything, apart from the panic that threatened to break out of her chest. Even if he knew nothing else about her, he’d still know she’d rather be anywhere else but this room. “Do we need to be here?” Declan asked. “Of course,” Rowan said, clearly agitated, “she’s an important part of the plan.” “I have a plan,” Aster said, and the two elders turned th
His Vampire Bride Chapter 90
Aster: At sunrise, they descended to the forest floor. A deep, dark mist hung over the entire forest, and while all of them could feel the effects of the rising sun, the rays couldn't penetrate the heavy canopy and thick mist. “It’s not far now,” Rowan said. “Can you feel it?” he turned to Aster. She nodded. The closer they came to the circle, the worse she felt. It was like the place pulled at her insides, urging her on, telling her to come closer. All the vampires felt it, and all of them were quiet and pale. Lucy sat with her head in her hands, moaning softly, “I don’t know if I want to run towards it or away from it.” Lydia put her arm around Lucy. She was the only one of Rowan’s brides who joined him – he didn’t want to bring the others, but wouldn’t offer up a reason why. “Away is always better,” Eros said, landing next to Matthew’s bride, “this place is evil. A lot of dark magic happened here.” “What are you doing?” As
His Vampire Bride Chapter 91
Declan: They crouched outside the circle just inside the treeline. The clearing appeared to be empty, but they could feel the magical shield around the place. Eros very quietly told them it wasn’t the same one the first witch had cast. It wasn’t a protection spell. It was something completely different, much stronger. “Can you break it?” Eros whispered to Aster. “I don’t know. I’ll try.” She hovered her hand in the air and pushed forward, it didn’t go through the invisible barrier. The energy built up around her, and he felt a whoosh of hot air. Aster shook her head. “Well, that didn’t work,” she sounded amused, instead of afraid. “How are we going to get through?” Declan asked. “Don’t worry,” she said, “I am going to try love. It’s stronger than hate.” “Love doesn’t kill.” “But it can break spells.” She smiled at him. The energy he felt from her this time was completely different. Warm, like the hate wave (as
His Vampire Bride Chapter 92
Aster: Her heart beating wildly, Aster stepped past the treeline and into the clearing. Cyrus gasped and took several steps backwards, looking around wildly as if trying to find an escape. “There you are,” the witch said, her tone sweet. “Here I am,” Aster said, resisting the urge to look back to her family. Smiling broadly, the witch started walking towards her, twirling a blade of grass between her fingers. Aster didn’t move, she was hyper-focused on Cyrus. God, how she hated that man. “Why are you afraid of me?” she asked him. “Am I not what you wanted?” She cocked her head, giving him her sweetest smile. “You killed my mother, almost killed me, because you wanted one like me. Well, here I am.” “He’s weak. A coward,” the witch said. “All men are at their core, even vampire men.” Not mine, Aster thought with a smile. Just thinking about them filled her with so much love that she thought she would burst wide
His Vampire Bride Chapter 93
Declan:It didn’t make any sense. Aster couldn’t be dead. She wasn’t decapitated, but he remembered the dead vampires on the lawn…none of them had any external injuries either. Dropping his sword, he put his head in his hands, crying. It was as if someone was slowly cutting him in half. Declan didn’t care about the fighting going on around him. More vampires joined the fray, including some of their own fighters, but he just couldn’t care. In fact, he hoped someone would come by and decapitate him, so he wouldn’t have to feel like this anymore.Aster lay on her back, staring at the stars, her last smile frozen on her lips. He couldn’t sit here, looking at the light leaving her beautiful eyes -- he reached out to close them.Declan didn’t mean to do it. She wasn’t quite dead yet, and somehow he connected with her. One moment, he was sitting in that circle, staring at his dead bride, the
His Vampire Bride Chapter 94
Aster: She had to force herself to run away from Declan, because she knew he wouldn’t leave while he could still talk to her. This was the afterlife, heaven, and she was supposed to be happy here. Content. Yet she wasn’t. Her heart ached to be with him, but when she asked him if he was here to bring her back, he said no – if he had said yes, she would have followed him. Her father and mother looked surprised to see her. “Baby,” Charlotte said. “What are you doing here?” “Uh…I died?” “You’re not supposed to be here,” Edward said, “it’s not your time.” “Yeah well.” She plopped down next to Brody, running a hand a through his soft, curly hair. The baby laughed and held his arms out to her. Smiling, Aster picked him up, holding him close. “Aster,” Charlotte said, “you don’t really want to be here. You will be miserable.” “Yet, here I am. Declan didn’t want me to go back anyway.” “Because he want
His Vampire Bride Chapter 95
Declan: When he heard Aster’s voice, he lost his concentration and plummeted several feet before he caught himself and straightened. Declan stared at her in disbelief. He hadn’t felt her at all, and when he reached out to her, there was nothing but a black void. There was no bond between them anymore. He hovered with Matthew in the air, watching the events below them unfold, and then for no apparent reason his brother shot past him to attack Cyrus before he could stop him. He flinched as Matthew hit the stones below, hearing his bones break. Aster stood not far from Cyrus, her black hair blowing behind her like a bridal veil. He felt it all the way up here – the terrible power. She stood with her hands on her hips, her legs planted far apart from each other, a cold, emotionless smile on her face. Cyrus roared with rage and terror, trying his best to move, but he was rooted to the spot like a statue. Aster looked up. “Come down.”
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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
His Vampire Bride Chapter 104
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
His Vampire Bride Chapter 103
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
His Vampire Bride Chapter 102
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
His Vampire Bride Chapter 100
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.
His Vampire Bride Chapter 98
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
