MARIA"What the fuck?"More accurate words could not have been uttered in that moment, because seriously, what the fuck?Maria wasn't sure what just happened. One moment she'd been running out of the house, her escape plan going surprisingly well without any interruptions, when suddenly, she'd felt arms around her and before she could even process what was happening or found the strength to struggle, she'd found herself being dropped unceremoniously on the floor in the living room. Had one of the guards seen her after all?She'd looked through the window, searched very well before finally making up her mind to make a run for it when she'd found the grounds empty, without a single guard. She hadn't focused on the fact that it was odd that there were no guards; she'd simply taken her chance. Well, if she was going to dwell on odd things, then she would ponder on why Corey had left the house last night, hadn't returned, then only for the vampire to leave the house too, but no, she wasn
MARIA She fought against the men as they dragged her away, determined to make the task as stressful as it could be for them. "Stay still," one of them growled and yanked her arm, forcing her to move faster down the hall. "Fuck you," she retorted, jostling herself just to piss him off even more. Her legs skidded across the tiled floor as they pulled her along without care, and she tried to force her hands out of theirs so that she could walk on her own, but they tightened their grip, their hands like steel bands on hers, unbending. They dragged her up the stairs and her legs bumped against each step, the bone in her toes aching her. She gritted her teeth as she tried to block out the pain.She just needed to endure. That was all. She would endure for the time being and strike again. She was not going to let the vampire win. It might take her days, weeks, months, but she was going to escape eventually.She would not rest until she did.A loud crash rang out through the air, causin
BRANImmediately he stepped into the house, he knew that there was something wrong.It wasn’t just the fact that the gate was missing, that the walls supporting the gates weren’t there anymore, or the fact that three dead bodies awaited them in the yard. No, it was the fact that when he’d stepped into the main house, he’d heard nothing.Nothing at all.The sounds that usually came from the cook when she was busy in the kitchen, the children training at the back of the house, Corey’s cousin watching TV upstairs, none of it.There was just nothing.He supported Corey over to a couch and walked away, telling him that he’d be back shortly as he ran up the stairs, going straight to Maria’s room. His heart caught in his throat when he pushed the door open and saw that her room was empty. He stalked into her closet and checked, praying that she was miraculously hiding in there because she didn’t want to see him, but she wasn’t in there too.Her bed, clothes, everything was in there. But she w
BRAN "Please, no." "Don't make me repeat myself, child.""Oh, gods, no. I don't want to kill them.""You will.""Please don't make me do this.""If you want her to live another day, you will stop making me repeat myself, walk out of this room now and go do what I asked you to do."There was silence except for the distinct sound of her restricted sobs, her heart aching from the burden she was being forced to carry, aching from the knowledge of what she was about to do. She loved her mother too much to let anything happen to her. And if losing Maria's soul was the price she had to pay to keep her mother alive, then so be it, Maria thought, making up her mind to do what this man who called himself her father was forcing her to do. "That's my girl," he crooned, his face lighting up with excitement. He must have realised that she'd made up her mind. Turning away, unable to bear looking at him anymore, she crept out of the room, her long gown trailing on the floor behind her. She dress
MARIADespite all the things that her father had done to her—and there were a great number of things—never once had he locked her up in one of the cells down in the palace dungeon.She’d only been here about once or twice and on those occasions, she’d never been on the other side of the gate. Always on the outside, never on the inside. But now, she found herself locked on the inside, watching and waiting for the man she called her father to face her finally.Sitting on the ground by the gate, she leaned on it, wanting to stay as far away from the depths of the cell as she could. The bed, if it could be called that, was a wooden bench that was wider than the usual bench, and the cell didn’t have a toilet—it had a bucket, and Maria threw up in her mouth whenever she so much as looked at it.Gods, how ironic was her situation?She’d wanted to escape the vampire to come back here, but now she was here and being kept in a cell. Leaving one cell only to come to another. Well, at least her o
MARIA "Is someone there?" Maria called out after a few seconds of trying to convince herself that the voice was real. If the voice wasn't real, then that meant she'd started hearing things, which meant that she was going crazy and she didn't believe that. At least not yet. "Yes," came the voice again. It was soft and feminine with a lilting accent. Out of nowhere, Maria wondered if the girl could sing. It would be a wonderful thing to hear—and watch. Speaking of..."Where are you?" Maria asked the girl—it was definitely a girl—and she moved over to the gate, gripping the iron bars and craning her neck as she tried to look down the long dark corridor if the girl was standing out there. She wasn't. "In the cell next to yours," she spoke again, that lilting accent sounding both strange and oddly welcome to Maria's ears. "I saw them bring you in but held back from talking to you because, well, I didn't want to spook you." If she continued talking for an hour more, Maria was positive
MARIA It had been a week since she'd been here and all Ariti's attempts to get the collar off her have been futile. His frustration increased each time and after the last try, he'd backhanded her out of anger, looking away as she'd collided against the wall and fallen to the ground. The amount of strength he had in that his small frame never failed to amaze her every single time he wielded it on her. The strength of an immortal came with age, and by that rule, the longer an immortal lived, the stronger they got, irrespective of their species. Ariti was over a thousand years old. Therefore, he was a thousand times stronger than the average Sorceri. It was there, in that moment when she'd been lying on the cold floor of the court-room, the court-room where she'd once been the one torturing people and not the other way round, that she made up her mind that she was going to escape. It seemed an impossible feat and unlike before where she'd been careful in order not to get caught, th
BRAN Bran walked down the long corridor to Corey's private room, a thought running through his mind over and over like a record on loop, until it pushed out all his other thoughts and it was the only thing he could think of. When he reached the door, he pushed it open and barged in without knocking, announcing, "I'm going to get her back."The occupants of the room froze, shocked by his sudden presence and manner, and stared at him with similar expressions of shock mixed with wariness on their faces. Corey snapped to his feet, his eyes widening with surprise before he quickly masked his expression and with his eyes never leaving Bran, said, "I'll have to cut this meeting short. We'll continue later."The men nodded and hastily rushed out of the room, one of them reaching for a sheet of paper but Corey told him to leave it and he nodded sharply, hurrying out. "What the hell, Bran?" Corey asked, pushing away from the table and running his hand through his hair roughly. It was then t
I honestly do not know how to react properly to the fact that I just completed this book, but I am going to try my possible best and bring out all the words that are stuck in my heart. The Vampire King's Captive, Bran and Maria's story, has come to an end and I have never been more reluctant to let my characters go. Seriously, I found myself sitting in front of my laptop about to start writing in Maria's POV only for me to remember that I'm already done with the book. 😭I. Was. In. Pain. I have written about three books and this is the only one that I found hard to let go. I guess I'll just have to settle for re-reading their story and seeing bits of them in the next story in this series.Yes, you heard that right. It's going to be a series but whether you're going to keep reading depends on how much you want to get to know the characters(I really hope you read). The next book in the series is Corey and his mate's story, and the last book is Iris' story. I honestly cannot wait. I c
ONE MONTH LATERMARIA"Put the head in.""Bob your head faster.""Squeeze it—yeah, just like that."Flattening her tongue along the underside of Bran's cock, Maria watched his hands clench into fists, lost in the throes of pleasure and pain, his face contorted to match the emotions. In broad daylight when they both had things to be doing, such as Maria learning her new duties as a queen and Bran who was supposed to be having a meeting with his most trusted advisors, they had both snuck off into their room, wanting to take the edge off. One would think that with how hot their passion was, it would burn out quickly, but instead, it was like the more they had each other, the more insatiable they became for one another, seeking each other out during the day to get the most intense parts of their desires off before they would meet at night. But then again, maybe it was because they rarely saw each other during the day lately.Right now, he was leaning against the door shirtless, with je
BRAN Bran wasn't going to lie. When he'd walked into that crowd, he'd gone in with a plan B because he knew that he had wronged Maria terribly and the chances of her forgiving him—or even listening to him—were very slim. With his heart in his throat, he'd poured out his feelings, baring the contents of his soul in the words he'd spoken to her. He'd gone against everything he'd learnt and knew, using his words instead of his actions to show her how he felt. He had put everything on the line, professing his love out in the open for his people to hear, knowing fully well the risks behind it—knowing that she could refuse him and that the shame would have destroyed him, along with the pain.The news of what he'd done would no doubt travel far and wide across all realms, but he'd been prepared for it. As he had been prepared for the disappointment he would feel if she'd refused him. His plan B, had she refused him, was for him to tuck his tail between his legs and return back to his cast
MARIA"Don't go," The object of her suffering called out, his voice low and broken, filled with longing, want and all the things Maria couldn't bear to hear right now but wanted to hear still. "Please."Maria stopped, hyper aware that they were in the middle of a crowd and that everyone was looking at them. She wanted to run away from the onslaught of emotions that she was feeling, but a greater part of her wanted to stay, to go to the one man who could make her feel whole again. "Please," Iris added, weakening Maria's already tenacious grip on resolve. She felt betrayed that Iris had pulled such a move on her but deep down, Maria knew why she had done it and that was the only thing stopping her from feeling real anger towards Iris. Maria stopped but she didn't turn back around for fear of what she would do if she faced Bran again. She couldn't bear seeing him hurt and not go to him. Even with her back to him, she knew that he had walked closer to her. She was just that in tune to
MARIA "Why are you dressed like that?" It was the day for Iris' welcome party, and the host, currently standing on Maria's doorstep, was wearing a simple straight gown that reached her ankles. "What's wrong with my gown?" Iris frowned, pulling the material away from her body to examine it. "There's nothing wrong with it except for that fact that it's too casual to wear for your own party, don't you think?" Maria subtly stepped out of the way, making space for Iris to pass but she kept her feet firmly planted on the mat. "Oh," Realization flicked across her features and she waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about that. I'll change once I get to the castle. There's time."Maria nodded, now understanding why she was wearing that gown. She had probably showed up like this because she didn't want her gown to get rumpled or stained while coming here. Still, Maria hedged. "Do you want to come inside for a few minutes before we go?" Her eyes flicked to the car sitting in the drive
MARIAWe need a cook, Maria thought as she stirred the mixture in the bowl while fetching pans from the rack on the wall at the same time with her powers. Over the past few days, she had taken on the task of hiring a live-in maid, a cleaner that would come every two days and gardener, but she hadn't employed a cook yet. She had not been allowed into the kitchen when she was younger and therefore didn't know how to prepare a decent meal, so for the past three days—because while heartbreak couldn't kill her, she could very well die of hunger—she had taken up the task of cooking. To save her time, all she would have to do was envision the meal she wanted and it would appear in front of her, but she had recently come to see how important a cook was. She wanted to learn how to make at least a few meals and it didn't hurt to learn with a cookbook. That was what she'd been doing for the past three days anyway, and the meals had come out okay—most of the time. The doorbell rang through th
BRAN "If you value what is left of your miserable fucking life, you will tell me where my sister is right now."Bran might as well be talking to himself because there was no sign on the man's face to show that he'd just heard what Bran said. His eyes remained completely shut and his face, blank. Making a fist, Bran reared his hand back and sent his fist flying into the man's face, getting him right in his nose. The asshole jerked from the impact and groaned, his hands flying to his face to cradle his broken bone, confirming Bran's suspicions that the man actually was alive but was just pretending that he wasn't so that Bran would think him dead and abandon him. This was the man that had betrayed him. The man that had given confidential information to Ariti. The man that had indirectly contributed to him losing Maria. At the thought, his heart gave a sharp throb and an ache started at the back of his right eye. Hating the man even more for what he had caused him, Bran sent two mor
MARIA She searched all the rooms in the house, even went down to the dungeons to check but she still couldn't find who she was looking for.Then she came face to face with the door to the room she wasn't sure she wanted to enter. It's huge black mahogany door taunted her, daring her to push it open. To step into the room that she had not entered since she was a child. A room that was no doubt still filled with the presence of her late father. But she shouldn't be scared, should she? She was the Queen of Sorceri, and with every second that passed, the thought started to solidify in her mind. With a wave of her hand, she sent the door flying back and she stormed in, her eyes sweeping the dark walls of the room where a single portrait of Ariti hung. Her powers had the frame crashing to the ground face-down. The man in the picture was dead. It was fitting that the picture should be destroyed too.Her eyes searching the room, she saw a door behind a shelf. The shelf obstructed the door
MARIA"You must have done the calculations already, but just incase, I'll do it for you. Your sister is the female vampire from a royal bloodline and Maria, my clueless daughter here, is the Queen of Sorceri."After those words, Maria heard nothing else. It was like her ability to hear dissapeared and she could only think. Feel. What did her father just say? She was the Queen of Sorceri?How was that even possible? The Queen of Sorceri was basically the most powerful sorceress amongst the Sorceri and if she was that creature, then she was the most powerful sorceress in the worlds. But how could that be? She had never felt weaker than she did right now. And to think that her own father wanted to offer her as a sacrifice just to get his powers back. After using her to do all his evil work, he was going to kill her? Was she so worthless to him?Tears slid down her cheek continuously but no sound came out of her mouth. She was too astonished by everything she'd learnt today. First, fi