Author: admin

They didn’t answer, but I could see it in their eyes-the doubt, the calculation, the barely concealed disdain. “But I’m here now,” I continued, my voice growing stronger. “And if that means I have to take twice as many lessons and fall flat on my face ten times just to rise stronger on the eleventh,…

“Then maybe you’re not ready to be a princess,” he replied coldly. The words hit me like a physical blow. Heat bloomed in my face. “What did you say?” “You heard me,” he said, moving closer. “Maybe you’re not ready for this. Maybe you’re too weak, too human, too ordinary to handle the power of…

My hands pressed against the earth and gasps echoed from the ramparts above. The guards watching dropped to one knee. A sound tore from my chest, rising up through wind and stone, echoing off the mountainside, not quite a scream, not quite a roar, but something else entirely. I glanced up at my father to…

And then I said it. “Vera is not who we thought she was.” “Exactly,” Neressa said. “Which is why it’s good you’re done with her. She was barely worthy of being your mate-“ “She’s the Vampire King’s daughter,” I said. Both women froze. Neressa lowered her glass. “What?” Lady Vela blinked. “You’re kidding.” “I’m not,”…

I remembered the ceremony. The way Celene smiled beside me, triumphant and polished. I couldn’t stop myself as I stepped forward. “Vera,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. She didn’t even glance at me. I swallowed hard and took another step. “Vera, please. Just-just one word.” Her gaze slid past me like I…

King Aldric, cold and regal, sat upon it like it was part of him. He was watching us without a smile, didn’t even blink or nod, and it increased my nervousness. “Your Majesty,” I said clearly, voice steady despite the tension coiling in my chest, “I, Lord Lucien Shadowmere, present Lady Celene of House Blackthorne…

His voice, when he spoke, was low but firm. Foreign, almost regal in cadence. “Princess Vera,” he said, and the title sent shockwaves through my entire being. “We’ve been searching for you for decades.” “Princess?” I echoed, barely breathing the word. “You’re mistaken. I’m just… I’m nobody.” “Nobody?” One of the other vampires, a woman…

“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…

“I understand perfectly,” I cut her off, my golden eyes blazing. “I understand that you’re a parasite who feeds on others’ pain. I understand that you think you’ve won.” “I have won,” Celene snarled, her fangs extending. “He chose me. My blood. My power. What can you possibly offer that I cannot?” I smiled, and…

The first taste of her blood was like coming home after centuries of wandering. Where Celene’s blood was all power and magic, Vera’s was something deeper, something that spoke to the very core of what I was. There was power there, yes, but it was different. Ancient. Royal. I pulled away, staggering slightly as the…