Prologue

18 years ago.

Sprinting through the corridor, Saoirse dove into a hidden doorway as Cassius rushed past in the passage up ahead. Golden curls towering above the hunters following on his heels, stopping only to bark orders. Each door they reached; they broke off into pairs. The entire camp searching for her.

Not clear how long she'd be able to keep this up. At this point, unsure whether she would escape this castle alive. Along with her children, Marius wants her dead. Which would only delay things. The twins must survive. Need to be part of their family's purpose. Claim their place and figure out what she uncovered.

Hunters searched for and destroyed all non-human entities for centuries. Everyone used to coexist peacefully. Fear, jealousy, and a select few humans' belief in their superior existence turned everything into a war. The Collective recently became a new discovery, previously hidden from the supernatural world. Always disagreed on how to rid the world of magical beings. Apparently, they created their own council. How no longer being an argument; long as they were seeing results.

Each member of The Collective represented hunters specializing in hunting specific creatures; Marius' focus is vampires. Saoirse is a witch, but her husband is the vampire king.

Out of the doorway, she hurried down the hall in the direction information suggested the exit would be. Quickly turning back at the sight of Raven; another one of Marius's followers. Vampires always endured enemies. An impressive rise of them in the past few hundred years

Every hunter joining the cause is trained for years before being given a target.

Marius and his faithful four are the most lethal. Once capturing a witch, enslaved to grant eternal youth to whomever they needed. So, although they might appear young, they were well over two centuries old. Must find a way out of the castle if she wanted to survive.

If she failed to escape, her death is imminent.

Knowing what her family has been doing since the early 1700s, he decided to take matters into his own hands. The Constellation's Alliance only discovered him about fifty years. The alliance formed between the monarchies of each magical species and the Sacred One; the origin of all magic. Royals gathered to create a bond of protection over all nonhuman kind.

Concealed a little secret of his own he does not want the Sacred One to uncover. Why he wants Saoirse and her children destroyed. Powerless in the castle, Saoirse stood no chance if she came up against any of The Four or Marius.

Continued her way down the hallway as Raven's beanie-covered head disappeared from the path ahead. Down the long corridor, slowing at the corner to make sure the coast was clear. Safe, she raced to the stairs. Paused to listen, hearing nothing, and began to ascend to the main floor. Once reaching the top, she darted behind one of the giant columns off to the right as she spotted Ambrose rushing in the opposite direction. Soon as he disappeared, she hurried to the end of them all, keeping close to the walls at all ties.

The front gate of the castle, and as expected, was swarming with Followers, but she was not heading towards it.

The army weakened since the last time they kidnapped her. Saoirse's husband, Gavril, was indomitable. That was why he was the Vampire King. Unstoppable when he learned of the man who stole the woman he loved. Wanting Marius, Gavril destroyed everything in his path, wiping out most of Marius's army. Failed to capture the fiend.

The army, now since been replenished, and they were all new recruits. However, Marius's head adviser, Max, most likely trained them well.

Turning down a small hall, she rushed to the door at the end. Unlocked; perfect. Inside she ran to the tapestry on the far wall hiding a small door to the stables. Relieved to have an insider, someone to help her. Behind the door, lay something unplanned. Rounded the corner, there at the end of the tunnel, stood Marius.

No longer knowing where to go, she raced through the complicated system of tunnels as Marius began to reduce the distance between the two of them. Closing in on Saoirse, he grabbed her by her long, beautiful, auburn hair, and pulled her crashing down to her knees.

"Why, Marius?" Saoirse demanded as she stared into the face of the man continuously chasing her for three years. The man who hunted down anyone she spoke to.

"You would never understand why." His face displayed no emotion. No happiness. No anger. No relief. Nothing.

"Explain it to me" she demanded.

"And give you more pieces of the puzzle you already so cleverly put together? Never," he spat.

"Where did you hide the twins, Saoirse?"

"You'll never find them, and if you do, you will never be able to kill them," she screeched. "You will never be able to touch them. Everyone will be watching them and you."

"My dear, you underestimate my abilities," Marius tugged on her hair. "I've caught you, haven't I?"

"I expected this," she snarled. "I knew, as long as I was in this place, I was powerless against you. My children will kill you, and when they do, you won't be able to do a thing to stop them."

"Maybe not, but I can kill you," he unsheathed his dagger. "Now, where are they? Not in the mood for long, drawn-out deaths." Hysterical laughter echoed off the stone walls.

"What's so funny?"

"Do you honestly think I will give up my children? My own flesh and blood? Wouldn't give up the vampire you tortured me over. What information have I given you? Nothing." laughter rang out again as she continued. "My children will know everything, and The Alliance will reign down upon you, but next time you won't be so lucky. All of your favorite little followers, including The Four, will be against you.

Continuing to laugh, she pulled a gun from inside of her boot and stuck it to her right temple.

"Goodbye, Marius."

Hadn't expected her to pull the trigger, but her laugh still echoed through the tunnel, and his shirt was now stained with her crimson blood.

That had not been the plan. Supposed to die after the children's recovery, not before. Now it would be harder to find those stupid twins. Saoirse was a smart woman. Those children could be on the other side of the world. Understanding this, grasping he would need to rouse the entire army to go search for them.

His secret must not be found out, so they must find those children.

"Lyla."

"Yes, sir?"

"Find Ambrose, Cassius, and Raven. Then you all must go find those children," he ordered staring at Saoirse's dead body lying on the floor in front of him. "They escape, there will be a long journey ahead of us.

"Yes, sir, should I inform the rest of the army?"

"Tell Max what happened, instruct him to brief the followers and direct them to move out," Marius directed. "We mustn't waste time; we must find them."

"Yes, sir." Looking down at Saoirse's body, she turned back down the tunnel hurrying back into the castle.

"You are wrong, my child," Marius hissed, kicking the corpse strewn at his feet. "I will find them."

Hurrying toward the stables where his horse awaited. Climbing into the saddle, he rushed off in search of the children who were now his only threat.