Aldric's POV “Are you sorry you made me?” Simone asks. I slowly shake my head from side to side. “I know you want me to be, but I’m really not.” She pulls her knees up to her chest and folds her arms around her ankles. “Did you fight it? The change?” “Yes,” I reply. “For a long, long time.” “But you didn’t get the blood madness thingy?” I laugh softly. “No. It doesn’t happen to everyone who resists the change.” “So we don’t know how I’ll turn out?” I shake my head at her again and get to my feet. “I want to find out who sent that werewolf. Do you want to come with me?” “What?” she asks surprised. “I’m not supposed to stay locked up in my room?” “You can, if you want, but I thought you’d like to get some answers.” “You trust me?” Smiling at her, I nod. “As long as I can keep an eye on you.” “When Baron made new vampires, he sequestered them for six months.” “How many vampires did he make while you were there?” She shrugs. “Is it important?” “Yes. He’s a powerful vampire
Aldric's POVI don’t need much. I came here with the clothes on my back. Simone has even less. All we need is the potion and Vesper’s instructions and we can be on our way.Vesper doesn’t allow anyone to go into his alchemy room, so we wait for him in the kitchen, listening as everyone rushes around to get their things packed.I take up position by the door, placing myself between Simone and any possible danger, while she sits on the kitchen table with her legs tucked in under her rump. She’s so incredibly vulnerable right now, and she doesn’t even know.“I am going to miss this place,” my young bride says.A week ago, she told me that she wanted to leave here. Maybe I just asked her at the wrong time, but it’s all moot now. We have to go anyway. “We’ll be able to come back. Eventually, Baron will lose interest in Vesper.”“Why does Baron care about your brother so much anyway?”“He thinks Vesper wants to overthrow him.”“Does he?”“Oh yeah,” I say with a little laugh. “But he doesn’t
Simone's POVMy eyes snap open and I jerk upright. Blinking rapidly, I try to figure out where I am.A bedroom of some kind. The room is big, twice the size of the one I had at Baron’s mansion, but the windows are boarded shut. The rustic old furniture is well kept, and the bed I’m lying on is soft and luxurious. The linen is like a feather, softly draping over me. I swallow against the drought in my throat and hold a palm to my steadily pounding head.On the far side of the room, a door opens and Aldric steps inside. “Oh,” he says, sounding surprised. “You’re awake already.”“Yes,” I croak through dry and cracked lips. “I don’t feel great though.”He darts across the room and hands me a blood bag. My hands are shaking so much that I can’t tear it open. “Tomorrow morning you should feed before you rest for the day,” Aldric says as he takes the bag from me and opens it. "It helps."My stomach churns when I see the blood, but it smells fantastic. I suck the tube into my mouth and sigh
Simone's POV “You should be okay to leave the room now,” Aldric says ten minutes later. “Are you sure?” “Yes, you have yourself under control, and you are satiated…but just in case, we’ll bring blood with us.” After what happened, I don’t really want to leave. I don’t trust myself. “What if I…lose it again?” “I’ll be right by your side. I won’t let anything happen to you.” “It’s not me I’m worried about.” Aldric gives me a lopsided little grin. “When I was a neophyte, Darrick forced me to face my bloodlust. It’s the best and fastest way to learn how to control it.” “The other neophytes don’t,” I say. “Victoria told me they killed a whole camp.” Aldric grimaces. “Because their creators make them and leave them to their own devices.” “Why?” “I don’t know. Most of them don’t even know who made them.” “Don’t they meet their makers in the afterlife like you and I did?” Aldric grabs his ankles and leans forward. “We only do it that way when we take brides.” “Then…how did you kn
Aldric's POV I wish I didn’t have to bring the subject of sex up with Simone. I should have left well enough alone, but I am afraid that the same thing that happened with Victoria will happen with her, and I’d rather find out sooner than later if she doesn’t feel the same way I do. It would spare us both a lot of heartache down the road. It wasn’t until Vicky and I had sex after I turned her that the bond changed. We both knew the moment I entered her. We knew that it was wrong and we both stopped it at the same time. It was one of the worst moments of my life, and it came back to haunt me at various times over the years. The other reason we need to complete the union is more practical. While my bond with Simone is incomplete, I can’t be away from her for more than a few hours at a time. I couldn’t concentrate on my meeting with Richard, and it took all of my substantial willpower to get through the sentencing of the neophytes. All I could think about, all I wanted, was to be with
Aldric’s POV I sit on the couch in Simone’s room, waiting for her to wake up. At her age, it’s jarring when death let’s go for the night and returns you to the land of the living. It's like you're reborn all over again. My bride inhales sharply and bolts upright. Her eyes are wild as she looks around her. She’s confused and afraid. I don't say anything. She has to learn how to deal with waking up. Gradually, the fear eases out of her and she looks straight at me. “Is it always like this?” she asks. “Only in the beginning,” I say and get up from my seat. I hand her a blood bag and sit next to her on the bed. “It will get easier. Did you dream?” I ask. “Yes. Why?” “I felt something from you earlier. You were scared.” “My mother. It’s always the same dream. It stopped for a little while when I lived with Vesper, but…they came back.” “Okay.” My throat constricts while I watch her drink the blood. The way my body reacts to her is violent and painful and it takes everything I have to
Simone's POVThe meeting with the sheriffs takes hours. Aldric mostly discusses new procedures for the creation of vampires and measures to address the blood shortage. More than once, my mind drifts and I slip into daydreaming about more interesting things, just like I used to do when Baron dragged me out of my cage so he could show me off to his guests.This time, I don’t get to linger in my make-believe worlds though, just when I get good and settled into one of my little fantasies, Victoria roughly kicks me on the shin and brings me back to reality.I have no idea why Aldric insisted on me joining him. I’m no one important and have no authority over other vampires. I’m just an accessory – this time as a bride and not a doll, but it’s essentially the same thing. I feel as if he just brought me along so he can show the other sheriffs that he bagged himself a bride.“I am placing an embargo on creation,” Aldric says. “From now on, you will apply and obtain permission to create new vam
Simone's POVI’m seething with rage by the time Aldric puts me down in front of my bedroom. He doesn’t say a word when he opens the door and ushers me back inside. “What’s eating you?” he asks, and leans against the doorframe.“Nothing,” I say and fall down on the couch, throwing one leg over the other and crossing my arms under my breasts.“Okay,” he replies with an amused grin. “Sit there and stew then. It’s really no skin off my nose.”He closes the door and perches on the edge of the bed. “I thought you’re leaving,” I say.“No.”“Why not.”Aldric smiles at me. “You astound me, you really do.”“What? Why?”“You seem to be embracing the change and just...going with it. You have a good hold of your emotions, considering you're less than three days old." He shrugs. "It's unexpected, that's all. Are you still angry at me for turning you?”“No. I was never really angry at you.”“You are now.”“Not for the reason you think.”He leans forward and dangles his big hands between his knees. “
Dear Readers, As per usual, after the end of a book, I would like to thank you all for taking the time to read my twisted imaginings. Thank you for the comments and the gems, the ratings and the words of encouragement along the way. This was a particularly difficult book to write, and there were days I felt like giving up, but knowing that you liked it and wanted to keep reading about Aldric and Simone kept me going. Don't get me wrong, I loved them both, but my goodness, could those two be difficult at times. It probably doesn't help that I am anal retentive and wanted to get the historical facts "just right," even if I only wrote two sentences about a certain period in history. I swear, I fell down a historical rabbit hole every single time. And so, we've reach the end of this particular journey. Thank you for coming along. It is, and always will be, appreciated. Until next time. Much love,Celice.
Aldric’s POV Before any of the vampires around me can get any ideas, I break Asmodeus’s neck. For a long time, no one moves. Everyone’s staring at the dead man in disbelief. Within minutes, I flipped their world upside down and ended a war we thought would last centuries. All of us are unsure what to do next, including me. The only person that's not deeply affected by Asmodeus’s death is Simone. She barely knew him, she didn’t know what life was like before the vampires came. She doesn’t fully understand the gravity of the thing I had just done. Herod and Darrick feel their father’s death most keenly. They hated him, but they are heartbroken at the same time. After a while, the two originals come unstuck. Wordlessly, they pick their dead father up from the ground and disappear with him into the night sky. "Call a meeting of the families,” I say to Lazarus. My brother nods and kicks off. One by one, the vampires start to come back to reality. “What do we do now?” Knut asks. “Go ba
Simone’s POV I don’t know if Asmodeus can hear Aldric. I don’t think so. All I know is, is that my groom is in my head, using our telepathic connection to translate the conversation between the two most ancient vampires that ever walked this earth. “Ruth,” Asmodeus says. “I have missed you.” “No,” she says. “You forgot about me.” “Never,” he says and takes a step in our direction. I try to get away, but Ruth’s hand quickly shoots out and she grabs me, her eyes pleading with me not to leave her side. “Even when I was entombed, my dreams were with you,” the vampire goes on. “You are a liar Asmodeus. You betrayed me. Betrayed our bond. You even betrayed the blood god himself. Surely he will punish you severely for what you had done.” The vampire snorts loudly. “If he wanted to punish me, he would have done so by now.” Ruth is quiet. I’m with her on this one. Why hasn’t the blood god punished Asmodeus? “He doesn’t work that way,” Aldric says in my head. “Then what is the point of
Simone's POV “I’m really fucking angry at you,” I snap at Aldric when he walks into my room. "You just sent me away like a naughty child." “I know, dear,” he says and folds his arms across his chest. "It won't happen again." “Don’t do that.” “Don’t do what?” he asks, his voice filled with fake innocence. “Don’t be all charming like that.” He chuckles and grabs me around the waist, lifts me a little too high in the air and throws me on the bed. He crawls onto the mattress after me, already taking off his shirt, his eyes filled with fire and lust. “Take off your pants,” he orders me. I don’t even argue with him. I don't want to. There are days that I feel like I can't get enough of him, can't get enough of his body and his touch. Today, is such a day. I slither out of my leggings while he yanks down his jeans. Aldric spins me around, lifting me up onto all fours. He smacks my ass. Hard. The warmth that follows the sharp sting settles between my legs as a throbbing, aching need.
Aldric’s POVVesper lands first, followed by Lazarus and Hagar who have Ruth between them. “Did you bind her with magic?”“No,” Vesper answers. “She came willingly.”“Did she? And you weren’t afraid that she’d try to escape?”“No,” Vesper lifts and drops one shoulder. “She talks about her destiny and Athenia a lot.”“Yes. Our sister is the one that freed her.”No one looks surprised by this news. I'm guessing Ruth already told them.Simone walks out onto the porch and runs straight to Vesper, launching herself into my brother’s arms. He snatches her out of the air and spins her around in a little circle. “Hello, Poppet,” he says with a grin. “You are growing up way too fast.”I glance at the pair. He’s not wrong. Simone is quickly shedding her neophyte skin – it’s too fast and it bothers me, but there’s nothing I can do about it. All vampires mature at different rates, and Simone chose to express way.Lazarus comes over to say his hellos while Hagar stays next to Ruth just in case she
Aldric's POV I want to strangle Athenia for showing Simone every horror show the humans ever created, and none of the beauty. “Go up to the house,” I say to my bride. “I need to have a word with my sister.” Simone is emotionally shattered, and instead of the argument I've come to expect of her, she simply kicks off and fly in the direction of the mansion. “Why did you do that?” I ask Athenia. “You had no right.” “She needed to understand.” “You deliberately showed her the worst of humanity! Why?” "If she does not understand reality, she will not fight. She needs to learn that everyone, regardless of species, is capable of the worst kinds of depravity." "Fine. But there are other ways, better ways." “My end is near,” she says. “I did not have time to be delicate.” “What?” She gives me a sly smile. “I will not live to see you end Asmodeus. In fact, I won't live to see another sunrise” My insides turn to water. “Who is coming? Tell me so I can stop them. You don't have to die.”
Simone's POVI inhale sharply as the world is suddenly ripped out from under me and we’re sucked into nothingness. For a moment, we linger in complete darkness, then the cosmos opens up in front of us.The sight of it almost brings me to tears. All the stars and moons, all the colours of the universe are in full display like a Van Gogh painting. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful, and I've never felt so at peace with myself.We fall out of universe and land back on earth. My head spinning a little by how quickly everything happened. “They can’t see or hear us,” Athenia says as we walk up to something that resembles a house.The mud structure has a grass roof, and orange light flickers in the small niches along the wall. Without thinking twice, Athenia pushes the rickety door open and kneels next to a labouring woman lying on a pile of straw covered with rough fabric. Blood streams down the woman's legs, colouring the straw red. The only light is coming from the blocked hearth. The
Simone’s POV“Why have I never seen Ruth before?” I ask Aldric. "I have gone to that beach almost every day since I was reborn, and I never saw her there."He groans and swings his legs off the bed. He rests his elbows on his knees and cradles his head. “Different time zones maybe. She’s constantly on the move.”“Yes, but at some point…she was with Darma, wasn’t she? Ruth convinced her to free Asmodeus.”“Who told you that?"'No one. I just assumed."No,” Aldric says and scratches the back of his head. “Darma decided by herself to free Asmodeus. He said she did it because she thought he’d grant her favours.” My groom shrugs. “But who knows, he might have been lying.”“Asmodeus is a lot of things, but he never lies,” I say and sit next to Aldric. He is exhausted, and he has been ever since he came here. “If Ruth was made by the blood god, doesn’t she have all the talents like Asmodeus does?”“She might have had them at one point,” Aldric says, “but since her blood is so terribly corrup
Simone's POV “This actually explains a lot,” Aldric says. “Why?” “Sargon was an orphan that founded the Akkadian empire. A man that ambitious…sooner or later, he’ll want to get all of that back. Living a life in the shadows, unknown and unseen...that would never be good enough for a man like that. Baron wanted nothing less than absolute rule over everything and everyone.” “What happened to him? Sargon, I mean.” Aldric shrugs. “According to history he died around the age of fifty-five, but he might have been younger. Humans weren’t good at tracking the passage of time back then.” “He didn’t die, he was turned into a vampire,” I state. “Yeah.” “To get more power.” Aldric peers at me through the fringe of hair that flops over his eyes. “Probably…and what he got was a life of darkness and secrecy.” “I created him when he was about twenty-five,” Herod says from nowhere. Aldric and I both look up to stare at the vampire at the foot of the stairs. "In human years, he was sixty-five