MichaelThe ballroom is a hellscape of color and noise. It feels like every high ranking vampire is here right now, everyone commingling and walking around the room with flutes of sparkling blood. I snatch a glass for myself off a tray being touted by a waiter and drain it quickly, letting the blood
MichaelSomething like dread creeps through my body as I scan the ball room. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears–a heavy thump, thump, thump that increases in speed as I search for Matilda. Deacon appears looking just as stressed as I feel, and we lock gazes. He gives a single head shake before disap
FayeMy entire body revolts against every move I’m trying to make as Emelda stands in the doorway, her body casting a long shadow across the floorboards. My skin feels numb. My mouth is bone dry, and my eyes sting against the firelight, but I can see the outline of a tall, darkened figure moving in
FayeThe sound of shattering glass bursts through my ears. The roar of the fire overwhelms my senses, heat licking my face. I can’t open my eyes against the smoke, and my voice is nothing but a strangled, choking gargle as I try to scream Emelda’s name. I’m grabbed from behind and dragged across th
She’d killed someone tonight–a shifter. Fed from them until her ravenous appetite was satisfied. She’d made it sound like it was Michael–my Michael. “Oh, no,” I whisper, tears welling along my lower lashes. “Oh, no, not Lowe–”“Someone help her!” Cole screams into the night while he fights to keep
MichaelI pull my battered body off the snowy ground, shaking out my coat. In my wolf form, my vision is much better than normal, but against the storm raging this far up in the mountains, I’m barely able to see more than ten feet in front of me. Matilda’s footprints have faded, carried away by the
“Matilda of Red River,” I say, pulling my belt through the loops and securing it on my waist. “The princess… she did this to Faye, her own sister. The attack, the poisoning, it was all her.”He’s silent as I sit and pull on a pair of socks and shoes. “I believe Faye was the princess that was meant
FayeI don’t know why I throw myself against Michael like my life depends on feeling him firm and whole in my arms. Maybe this feeling inside my chest is a rushed, fleeting echo of something deeper, something I’ve only known to be true in fairy tales. Maybe he doesn’t feel the same–maybe he sees me
FayeAlma and Lowe’s house is a little rough around the edges, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from a building nestled in the depths of a five-hundred year old village. It’s decorated tastefully, however, and I find myself grinning with delight as she shuts the front door behind us, my gaze swee
Michael still feels like Cole took advantage of Emelda in some way, shape, or form. I don’t necessarily disagree. But, that was four years ago, and neither of them are willing to share their feelings or thoughts on the current climate of their relationship with us. And, unfortunately, we have to ac
FayeEmelda walks in step beside me, draped in her usual black cloak, her dark eyes narrowed on the brilliant sunset as the last rays of light dip below the horizon. It’s been two weeks since the fire tore through the manor, two weeks of quiet peace that feels almost misplaced. I’m not sure how to
Michael“The second born son of this union will be handed over at birth to King Mattias and his court to be raised in Red River as the rightful heir to the throne,” Dad reads aloud as he paces in front of the windows in his office that overlook the bleak, snow drenched landscape beyond, “to ensure t
MichaelThe emissary to Red River–the real one–isn’t anyone I recognize. He’s tall and pale blond, his red eyes gleaming in the brightly lit ballroom where he and his posse of royal Red River guards have gathered. He scans the group before him–myself, my father, and my uncle, and smiles faintly, hi
I listen intently, watching a myriad of emotion play over her face as she knits her fingers together. “We spent an entire summer sneaking around,” she says softly, closing her eyes. “He’d find me in the garden, in the library, sometimes going as far as to sneak into my room at night. We couldn’t st
FayeStill in the library, I listen intently as Emelda discloses far more than I expected her to.There was a point in Emelda’s life as a vampire that she’d accepted she’d always be alone. Her bed would always be cold, her skin unblemished by a loving touch. She’d never know love again, and for deca
Faye“It really is gorgeous,” Emelda says the next morning while walking with me to the library. She runs her thumb over the massive sapphire ring and smiles faintly, raising her brows. “I think it’s a family heirloom, too. You should expect a load of fine jewelry to follow.”“You know I don’t care
FayeKing Kane is a slightly terrifying man. His presence is all consuming–like he sucks the light out of the room. He doesn’t look his age, like all vampires. The only indication that he’s a senior vampire compared to his son is the faint gray glow around his temples where his dark hair is starting