226

 "Where are we going?" I asked my trouble-seeking mate after scolding him for the uncomfortable situation from earlier.

"I dont like that Aldric kept you on the sidelines for so many years, " he hissed, not letting go of my hand as we walked down the hallway.

He had his reasons to hate the Dark Realm.

I hated it too," 1 sighed, wanting to leave the past behind.

"T understand, but that doesnt mean I have to like it." He stopped in front of me, his cold hand caressing my cheek.

The intensity of his emotions always wrapped around my soul.

You wanted to know where I was taking you? Come, I have a surprise I had brought here for you," he said before opening a door toa massive library.

I stared in awe at the towering bookshelves, stretching from floor to ceiling, forming what looked like a labyrinth.

Hanging lamps cast soft, shifting shadows, and though the heavy curtains were drawn, pale sunlight filtered in through an enormous terrace.

Standing there, his back to us, was aman.

His noble clothing was tattered and stained, darkened by dried blood.

---- Something about him instantly put me on edge.

"My beloved Celine, allow me to introduce you to your new servant.

He will do anything you ask, endure everything you desire.

He is my wedding gift to you.

Greet your mistress!" Zarek commanded with cruelty, and my heart nearly stopped when the man turned around.

Chestnut hair, brown eyeshis features struck me as eerily familiar, despite the stiffness and unnatural pallor in them.

Thad seen those same features many times before...

in my own.

reflection.

He's the one who gave life to my form," Camilla hissed with venom.

She didnt seem happy to see him.

Neither of us was.

"princess Celine, Iam your slave, here to serve your will," he bowed respectfully, his gaze fixed on the floorsubmissive, obedient.

But that only enraged me further.

Without thinking, I strode forward, unsheathing my claws in pure hatred, and ripped half of his face apart.

I kicked him to the ground, hearing the sickening crack of his bones breaking, and from the boot I always carried, I pulled out my hidden dagger.

Then, like a madwoman, I stabbed himagain and againfinally releasing all the hatred, all the resentment that had been festering inside me.

---- Even after accepting my vampire side, I couldn let this go.

This was the man who had violated my mother...

and sealed my fate forever.

My erratic eyes saw nothing but a bloodied, pulpy mess beneath me.

My trembling hand still gripped the dagger, its blade soaked in crimson.

I didnt even know how he still bledif I had understood correctly, Zarek had turned him into nothing more than a puppet.

"He died recently.

My men hunted him down.

But I can assure you, he is feeling every ounce of the pain you're giving him," Zarek murmured, gripping my tense shoulders, pulling me up from the gore-stained floor, my body splattered with the blood that had created mine.

The heavy weight pressing against my chest had lightenedjust a little.

I spat on his mutilated body, disgusted, but with a dark sense of satisfaction, knowing that I had, at least in part, avenged my mother.

"Get up, you miserable bastard!" I commanded, and I watched as he struggled to rise.

His legs were fractured, his arms broken, one eye completely destroyed.

He couldn't even use the railing for support, yet he still tried to stand.

"Go downstairs.

I dont want to see your horrid face," I snarled, and for a fleeting moment, his dull eyes met mine.

Tloved him.

He was my mate.

But I knew exactly how selfish he could be.

Of course.

That little Selenia intrigues me.

Shes going to be very powerful.

I won't let that potential go to waste," he mused, his expression unreadable.

"How often do I get the satisfaction of watching a being as dark as me be born?" He whispered, and something about his sly, Machiavellian smile gave me a very bad feeling.

Poor Aldric and Valeria...

I think their daughter is about to become this familys next serial killer.

"Come to my world of madness!" he declared, making a gesture in the air.

T looked down in shock as the entire graveyard began to rumble and split apart.

A dark, bottomless abyss seemed to grin at us with sinister delight.

His grip tightened on my waist, and when he jumped, taking me with him, all I could do was cling to his chest.

The wind howled in my ears, my world plunging into darkness.

But with him by my side...

Nothing and no one could ever scare me again.

Never again.

---- Dragging his broken body, he began to crawl, disappearing into the castles shadows as he descended the stairs.

Who told you that you could walk down like a being with dignity? " Tstepped closer to him.

Seeing him like this awakened every murderous instinct he had passed down into my very genes.

"For what remains of your existence, until I take my last breath, you will learn how horrible it is to be forced to do something you dont want," I told him, my voice laced with disgust and cruel satisfaction.

"Throw yourself over the railing.

And every time I order you to come down, Woe to you if you use the stairs.

You are nothing but filth.

You were in life, and you will remain so in death." And I watched as, leaving a trail of blood, dragging his nearly severed limbs, he leaned over the stone railing and hurled himself over like a lifeless puppet.

A second later, I heard the dull thud of his body hitting the graveyard grounds.

"How did you know he was my father? I had never even seen him before," I asked Zarek, who grabbed my waist and turned me to ---- face him.

"I knew from the moment I met you," he said, pulling out a handkerchief and beginning to wipe the blood from my hands.

"Not all vampires have a spiritual presence inside them like Camilla.

Only one vampire lineage ever developed that abilitythe Nightwoods," he confessed while gently caressing my fingers, then wiping my face.

"We vampires simply have our inherent powers.

We're not like werewolves with a wolf spirit inside them.

However, the first Nightwood mated with a powerful sorceress, and their children were born with that inner personality, making them far more powerful," he explained, surprising me.

"So [had him tracked downdead or alivein the lands of the Nightwoods, which he ruled as a noble," his crimson eyes locked onto mine, but before he could say another word, I threw myself into his arms, kissing him passionately.

Clutching his shirt with clenched fists, biting his lips, sucking on his tongue with hunger, I wanted to fuse him into my very soul.

"Thank you..." "Never thank me, little one," he murmured against my lips, caressing my cheek.

"Nothing I do will ever be enough to show you how I truly feel, Celine.

Whatever you desirethe entire world, if you want it1 will lay it at your feet." "Dont you think youre being a bit too arrogant, my dear prince?" ---- I smiled at him lovingly, my chest radiating warmth.

"This world isnt yours to offer me." "If you wish, Ill challenge fate itself to give it to you," he whispered, lowering his head before capturing my lips once more.

Goddess, how I love this mancruel, bloodthirsty, obsessive, and only mine.

"Lets have some fun, my princess.

I promised you a good show, and we havent seen it yet," he said, gripping my waist and lifting me onto the balustrade.

The cold breeze made my black dress billow, my hair rising with the wind.

Narrowing my eyes, I gazed down at the vast lands of the castle and beyondthis kingdom, steeped in darkness and scars.

A few rays of sunlight pierced through the dense clouds and the perpetual mist that shrouded the Vampire Princes lands.

My black boots teetered on the edge of the precipice.

"Lets at least watch one act, because soon, theyll come looking for me," he stood beside me, his hand gripping my waist as he extended the other outward.

"Who's coming for you?" "Gabrielle.

Shes going to ask me to give my blood to her granddaughter.

The little one needs itshes weak.

And in the end, that pup is my bloodline," he said with such casual ease, I was stunned by how calmly he spoke about something so important.

"ant will you do it?" I asked, suddenly worried.

Well, alittle.

You won't sleep well tonight.

Do you want to go outside to get some air?" I brushed her hair back from her forehead, ready to lift her.

"No, no.

Take me to bed.

I want to sleep a little more."