Alina
By the time Jordan dropped me off in front of my apartment, it was almost eleven-thirty in the evening. I had never been out till this late. The traffic was awful tonight, but the ride had been good. Jordan was a very funny guy, and I laughed the entire night away at his ridiculous jokes. He even gave me an inside scoop on Erick’s childhood and about his hidden phobias. My thoughts did occasionally wander off to the conversation I had with Papa and how I could persuade Erick into confessing the whole truth, but other than that, I had a wonderful evening. Now, I was starving for some spaghetti that I made before leaving for the hospital.
However, as soon as Jordan drove away, my mind drifted into darker topics. Did I even want to know the whole truth? I couldn’t also ignore the fact that I didn’t really remember much about that night four years ago. I remembered Erick coming into my old house drunk
Alina“Kendrick, it’s not stopping! There’s too much blood!” I screamed, pressing down harder on the wound to check the blood flow. “Tell me what to do, Kendrick!”“Alina, you have to stay calm. He’s a vampire. The healing will kick in soon.” Kendrick reassured me, driving as fast as he could without having the traffic police at our tail because only one of us could use compulsion, and he wasn’t conscious right now. Thankfully, he was not dead.I looked down at Erick again. He was lying on the back seat with his head on my lap and my hands on his chest, trying desperately to stop the blood flow. He wasn’t conscious yet and hasn’t been since I found him, except for when he called my name once Kendrick had wrenched the stake out of his chest. Well, that was another myth proved wrong about vampires.I could still remember how I found him ly
ErickEvery breath stung.Even a tiny movement felt like I was in that hell hole once again trying to get Alina to safety… and struggling to keep Emiel from killing me.“Ugh.” I opened my eyes with much difficulty. The light in the room felt blinding. I closed them again, groaning. God, why do I feel so weak?“Erick?” Was that Alina? She was here? She sounded worried. I might not be in enemy hands after all.“I—” My throat felt like someone had scrubbed it raw with sandpaper.“Hang on. I’ll get some water.” I felt the bed rise as she got up. She had been right next to me.“Here.” She didn’t touch me, but I felt the glass near my face. I opened my mouth a tiny bit and was rewarded with the cool flow of the liquid down my throat. I gulped it down greedily.A sigh left my mouth as my throat felt norm
AlinaErick wasn’t done yet.“Tell me why you care, Alina?” He sounded dead serious, prepared to peel away every layer of my defence. “You’ve kept in so much for so long. Let it out. Tell me why you care. Tell me why you’re ready to forgive me so easily after everything I did to you? Tell me, damn it!”It was like a floodgate being opened.“I don’t want to feel anything towards you, not even hate. Because what you did to me? No amount of punishment can ever give me back what I lost, and I’m not talking about my virginity.” His face paled at every word I spoke. “You took away from me my choice, my free will, and at one point, even my will to live—”“Don’t—” he interjected, but I didn’t stop. I wasn’t done yet. He wanted the truth, so I’ll give it to him“I kept on l
AlinaErick was right next to me when I woke up the next morning. One of his arms was folded under his pillow while the other was draped over my waist, and my hand was placed over his. He was fast asleep. His blond hair fell onto his forehead, swaying slightly from the sea breeze coming in through the huge open windows. He looked peaceful andnormal, not at all like the mean and arrogant prince of all vampires.Keeping my hand in place so as not to wake him up, I ran the fingers of my other hand through his soft hair. My eyes went wide when the early morning sunlight caught on the diamond and was scattered into hundreds of fragments all over the room. My engagement ring!Why doesn’t it work on you, Alina? Even Erick couldn’t escape it, so why doesn’t it work on you?Suddenly, the reason for not being compelled by Emiel was crystal clear. Erick had given me his great g
AlinaWhen I woke up, it was already five in the afternoon and Erick was nowhere to be seen. Giving him my blood made me weak, so Erick let me rest for the day. On the other hand, he had to leave to investigate the slaughter and find out who was helping Emiel by providing him the required arms.By now, all we could confirm was that Emiel had broken free of Marcellus’s line of descendants, and no one in their family could trace him. It was as if he had disappeared from the face of the Earth. But we knew for sure that he was getting help from somewhere because it would be impossible for one person alone to decapitate eight members of the Royal Guard. The question was, who could it be?Getting up, I took a quick shower and dressed in the coral pink top and black jeans that had been laid out for me yet again. Leaving my hair down to dry, I came out of the bathroom to find Kendrick standing by the bed with a glass
Alina“We’re here.” Kendrick’s deep voice woke me up oh-so-rudely from my power nap. Seriously, it was the second time today! When Erick informed us that we would have to wake up early to get to the venue, I thought early like six o’clock in the morning or maybe five... but notas earlyas three fucking am in the bloody morning!Since Erick was banned from seeing me until the wedding, it was Kendrick who had to wake me up. He came barrelling into the room, literally dragging me up from the bed and throwing me inside the bathroom. I finally managed to clean up, brush, and dress up in a pair of comfortable blue jeans and a full-sleeved white sweater with black polka dots after falling asleep nearly a hundred times. It was all thanks to Kendrick who threatened me every five minutes with various modes of torture.By three-thirty in the morning, I was ready and inside the
Alina“King?” My voice sounded hoarse.Miaka’s smile seemed to light up the room. I couldn’t help feeling a spark of jealousy running through my veins.What was Erick’s connection to this girl? He obviously knew her if his mother did. From the way Kenna reacted to her, she had to be pretty high up in the ranks, but what rank could be higher than that of the king and queen? Moreover, she called herselfking, not queen.“You know I can hear you, right?” She brought her face closer to mine and whispered low enough so that only I could hear her. “Mage spells don’t work on me.”I stared at her wide-eyed as she leaned back with a huge grin. She then motioned for the maids to start working, and they finally started to wash my hair.“Alright!”Miaka clapped her hands together and looked at Kenna for approval. Upon her
Erick“Erick! Brother!”I turned to face the duo I had least expected to show up at my wedding.“Lancelin! Acelin! I’m so glad you guys made it.” I gave them both a hug and motioned for a waiter offering champagne flutes.“No dates?” I asked the brothers. Well, half -brothers actually. Ace and Lance both had the same mother.“We’ve fed before arriving,” was Lance’s curt answer.By fed, he didn’t mean blood. It had more to do with the body. Ace and Lance are incubi, sex demons who feed on the life force of the opposite sex. I knew it was their source of nutrition, but Lance could be a bit too blunt sometimes.“Don’t mind the prince,” Acelin cut in with his usual refined cheerfulness. “He seems to have left his good humour back home.”“Like I keep saying,” Lancelin retor
For The Last ChristmasA The Vampire’s Bride Christmas BonusZaira sat crouched in front of the high walls that surrounded the old manor. According to some very reliable sources, this particular vampire had chosen the most obvious of clichés and decided to reside in an old castle that scared the crap out of even the most badass hunters.Zaira contemplated going in guns blazing since her spies had informed her that only a single vampire inhabited the manor, but then she looked up at the darkening sky and knew that she was at a disadvantage. Even though it was only around one in the afternoon, dark clouds had gathered in the sky out of nowhere, and it kept getting darker by the minute. Soon, there wouldn’t be any difference between day and night.It’s gonna be a white Christmas this year, Zaira thought to herself as she looked away from the sky and took out a gun from her thigh holster. Sing
Secret SantaErickAlina stood in the middle of the Grand Hall, her dress a stunning gold with intricate flowers embroidered from one shoulder to the other. That same embroidery was present on the skirt of her gown, thin at first, but they flared out at the end. Her hair was in loose curls down her back and her green eyes sparkled with fake joy that only people closer to her would understand. She looked like a glorious golden goddess who would rather be anywhere other than the Royal Christmas Party.
Interview for The Vampire’s BrideFor AlinaYour relationship with Erick didn’t start out so well. Is it hard to fall in love with a man you thought caused your miseries?Alina: Falling in love with Erick had never been the hard part. The hard part had been to accept the fact that I had. We’d
Erick and Alina’s Great EscapeAlina“I am so done with this!” I slammed the humongous book shut and would’ve thrown it across the room if I had the strength to lift the damn thing.Emiel pushed his spectacles down his nose to witness my tantrum before burying his nose back into another book. He didn’t really need the spectacles, vampires being unable to have any diseases unless they were magically induced, but Emiel apparently likes to look nerdy.“Is something the matter, highness?” A maid poked her head from another isle. By now, it seems everyone was accustomed to my tantrums.“Where on Earth is Erick?” I snapped at her, needing an outlet for my frustration.“His Highness is having a meeting with the Nobles.” The maid answered, head bowed.“Argh!” I grunted and stomped out of the library and headed straight for o
EpilogueAlinaSix months laterThe Royal Castle was abuzz.Flowers were being brought in, curtains were being changed, fancy dresses and glittering diamond jewellery were donned by pretty maidens, and elaborate attires were worn by the gentlemen. It was a day of celebration and a day to rejoice. After all, Erick and I were being crowned today.We had to go through another one of those cleansing rituals and then ushered into different rooms to get dressed. Come to think of it, Erick and I had been too busy for the last six months that we barely had a proper conversation with each other; me with lessons after lessons on vampire culture, dancing, and etiquette, and Erick with learning statecraft from the nobles.It was in these six months that I had come to learn exactly how attached I have become to Erick. It was like he was so near, yet still far enough that I couldn’t reach him.
Alina“How are you feeling?”“Like I’ve spent enough time in this damned place and am ready to finally move out.”“But you know that’s not possi—”“Of course, it is, Alina!” Papa sat up straight, taking my hands in his wrinkled, trembling ones. He looked far too old for his age, yet he looked happy. “Darling, I’ve already spent a long time here, and it’s enough. The doctors have done all they could. They tried everything in their power, but they can’t do any more than they already have. It’s time I live my remaining days reminiscing about the life I’ve had. I want to relive every memory I’ve cherished, and I can’t do that if I’m here. It’s time you let me go.”I understood what he was trying to tell me, but I just couldn’t imagine a life without him. I’ve been
Alina“What’s going on? What is she chanting?” Erick yelled at Kendrick, the howling winds making it near impossible to listen to anything.“It’s the transfusion spell!” There was urgency in Kendrick’s voice as he turned to face me. “Alina, your transformation isn’t complete yet. Do you know about anything that connects you to Tuhin? Something that Tuhin or Aaron had given you?”“The necklace!” Erick and I said in unison.“Aaron said only Tuhin can remove it from me. I tried to, but it electrocuted my hand,” I yelled at Erick as the chanting got nearer and nearer.“I think I can get it off,” Erick replied then unsheathed a huge sword with a blade completely made of ice. “Hold up the strings.”I did as he told but removed my hand as soon as sparks began to dance on the surface of the penda
Erick“Erick!” Both Kendrick and my mother were by my side as I teleported back to the throne room of the castle.“Oh God, Erick! You’re freezing!” Mother knelt down next to my slouched form on the floor.“We don’t have time, Kendrick. We must leave right now,” I told him while gathering my strength to get up again. “Emiel, you’re coming too.”“Me?” Emiel asked, eyes wide in surprise.“Yes.” I made that conscious decision moments ago. “You’ve been their bitch for long enough. You just might come in handy.”“But Erick, we still don’t know the location of Aaron’s hideout,” Kendrick pointed out.“I might be able to help with that.”“Erick, take the guards—”“We can’t, Father. If we take the guards, we&rsqu
Erick“Arctic Blade?”Mother sounded just as surprised as Father. “I haven’t heard of any such blade, son. I’ve already asked the elder historian, but he doesn’t have any idea what it could be.”Both my parents had no clue about the existence of the Arctic Blade, and neither did Emiel. This led me to the only option I had left: the Dark Council that was out of my reach as of now. Which was appropriate since the Ancient itself was a mage of unparalleled power.“No,” Ken answered, “I don’t know of any such blade, but the Chrone might.”“Ken, Merida hates me,” I said, referring to Ken’s grandmother, the elder of his coven of mages. “She’s always been against you becoming a part of the Vampire Royal Guard.” Ken, however, was no longer a guard. He commanded the Royal Guard itself, but Merida Blackbur