Filed to story: Two Vampire Brides (Vera & Lucien) Book PDF Free
“Call it what you will.” She moved closer, her expensive perfume suffocating in the narrow hallway. “Your little display at the ceremony may have temporarily disrupted our plans, but make no mistake, your departure is a blessing in disguise.”
“Then we finally agree on something.”
Her perfectly painted lips curved into a cruel smile. “Where will you go, I wonder? What house would take in a mate who publicly rejected her lord? What vampire would want a human proven to be barren and disloyal?”
“I don’t need another vampire,” I said, the words tasting of newfound freedom. “And I certainly don’t need your son.”
“Such brave words from a human with no protection,” Neressa taunted. “The world isn’t kind to lone mortals, especially ones as weak as you.”
“Especially ones who know our secrets,” Celene added, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “You’ve seen too much, heard too much. What’s to stop you from selling information to rival houses?”
“I would never-“
“Wouldn’t you?” Lady Vela adjusted her immaculate sleeve. “Lucien’s recovering from the bond-sickness. Had you stayed, he might have been obligated to offer some form of protection despite your actions. But since you’re choosing to leave…”
“Your concern is touching,” I replied, sarcasm dripping from each word. “But I’ll take my chances with whatever’s out there. At least external threats are honest about their intentions to destroy me.”
Lady Vela’s eyes hardened. “Get out before I call the guards to drag you out. Your renunciation of the blood bond means you have no place here. You’re nothing to us now, less than nothing.”
“I was always nothing to you,” I said quietly. “The only difference is now I know my worth isn’t determined by your approval.”
I pushed past them all, head held high despite the hurricane of emotions threatening to tear me apart from within. Their voices followed me down the corridor.
“Good riddance to weak blood,” Neressa called after me.
“Don’t come crawling back when you realize what you’ve lost,” Celene added.
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. The weight of their words, the revelation about the political nature of my marriage, the sight of Celene glowing with Lucien’s blood, it all crashed over me like a wave, threatening to drown me in despair.
But as I reached the main entrance, I felt something stir deep within me. A warmth, a power, something that pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat.
VERA’S POV
“Be sure to tell any rogues you encounter that you were once the mate of Lord Shadowmere,” Lady Vela added with false sweetness. “I’m certain they’ll be terribly impressed before they drain you dry.”
I didn’t dignify the comment with a response, keeping my pace steady as I descended the main staircase for the final time. Vampires scattered as I approached, averting their eyes or openly staring, depending on their courage. News of my bond severance had spread like wildfire through the estate.
No one offered a goodbye. No one stepped forward with a kind word or well-wish. Three years of service to this house, and I left as I had arrived, alone and uncertain of my future.
The night air hit my face as I pushed through the main doors, cool and sweet with the scent of jasmine and freedom. I breathed it in greedily, like a prisoner tasting life outside the cell for the first time.
Behind me, the stone manor loomed in silence, its windows flickering with candlelight that no longer belonged to me.
Then I heard him.
“You weren’t going to say anything?”
I stopped. Turned.
Lucien stood a few feet away, just inside the boundary. Still in control, as always. But there was tension in his posture, something unsettled in his face.
“You didn’t say anything when it mattered,” I said.
He didn’t argue. Just looked at me like he was waiting for a different version of this moment.
“I thought, maybe, you’d come back around,” he said. “Eventually.”
“To what?” I asked. “More silence? More standing there while they tore me apart in front of you?”
He shook his head once. “You didn’t want the bond.”
“I wanted you to act like I mattered without it.” I exhaled, sharp and tired. “You wanted me to be with you, but only on your terms. And you couldn’t stand that I wouldn’t fold.”
“It wasn’t about folding. You don’t understand what it means-“
“No. You don’t.” My voice cracked slightly, but I didn’t let it show. “You think offering me your blood was enough? Like that fixed everything else you failed to protect me from?”
He looked away. His jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond.
“Is there a reason you followed me out here?” I asked.
He hesitated. “If you change your mind-“
“I won’t.”
That was it. No last plea. No apology. Just the same guarded face I’d seen for months.
“Goodbye, Lucien.”
I turned and walked into the trees.
My boots clicked against the cobblestones as I crossed the outer threshold of the estate’s domain. The ancient trees thickened around me, rising like watchful sentinels, branches arched as though eavesdropping. Shadows pooled between trunks, shifting and restless.
Each step deeper into the forest was a step away from the only life I’d known, and yet, I felt no grief for it. Just a hollow ache in my chest where the blood bond had been, like torn flesh that hadn’t stopped bleeding.
The memory of Lucien’s fangs at my throat flashed through my mind, followed immediately by the image of him drinking from Celene’s wrist. The way his eyes had rolled back in ecstasy, the soft moan that had escaped his lips, it had been more intimate than any kiss we’d ever shared.
I pushed the thoughts away, focusing on the path ahead. The forest wasn’t dead, but it wasn’t alive either. It was holding its breath.
Something was wrong.
The hairs at the base of my neck lifted, a tingling warning creeping down my spine. I inhaled slowly, scenting the air.
Then I smelled them.
Not Shadowmere. Not Blackthorne. They were strange vampires that I didn’t recognize, more than one, their scents threading through the wind like smoke. They weren’t chasing me.
They were hunting.
Fear lanced through me like ice water. A lone human, estranged, exhausted, and freshly severed from a bond, was little more than a wounded deer to hungry vampires.
My pulse thudded in my ears as I picked up my pace. I moved quickly, weaving through the narrowing path.
My breathing came faster, every muscle pulled taut. The forest around me seemed to darken, closing in. Their scent grew stronger, and closer.
Then came the snap of a twig.
Too close. My heart jolted. I bolted forward without thinking, instinct taking over.
I ran.
Branches clawed at my face, snagging in my hair. My lungs burned, my legs pumping as I leapt over a gnarled root, then a fallen log.
Behind me, the forest erupted. The pursuit was no longer subtle, feet thudding against soil, the crush of underbrush, breathless snarls carried on the wind. I could feel them closing in.
I pushed harder, feet barely finding purchase as the terrain sloped unevenly. I turned sharply left, then right, heart thundering. I didn’t know where I was going.
Suddenly, a dark shape emerged ahead.
It was massive, solid, and blocking the path entirely.
I skidded to a halt, momentum nearly throwing me forward into the figure’s chest. I backpedaled instinctively, breath ragged as my eyes adjusted.
The vampire stood tall, easily a head above any warrior I’d ever seen. His eyes, glowing silver in the moonlight, locked onto mine. Not with hunger. But with purpose.
I twisted to flee, but it was too late. Four more figures stepped from the shadows behind me, flanking like coordinated predators. I was surrounded and trapped.
They were all armed. The moonlight caught the polished edge of silver blades at their sides, deadly, ceremonial, precise. My blood turned to ice.
With no way out, the last remnants of pride dissolved. I fell to my knees, fingers digging into the earth, head bowed. My voice shook as it escaped me, cracked and barely above a whisper.
“Please… I’m leaving the territory. I don’t want trouble. I’m no threat to anyone.”
There was no response or movement. My chest rose and fell with the effort of holding back the sob that wanted to crawl out of my throat.
And then… one by one, the vampires dropped to their knees.
Every single one of them knelt with their heads bowed.
I stared and blinked in confusion. My mind refused to process what I was seeing. I’d prepared myself to be torn apart. But reverence? This made no sense. My lips parted, dry as bone.
“What… what is this?”
The largest of them, the one who had blocked my path, raised his head. His face was strong-jawed, older than me but not aged, his eyes the pale silver of moonlight on steel.
He wore a breastplate etched with a sigil I didn’t recognize: a crowned raven beneath a blood moon.