He was mostly absent, and when he was there, he was strict and rigid with Aurora, drilling into her since she could barely walk her future purpose in life, to defeat the Vampire King. His attention, although hard and unyielding on her, was something I craved desperately and was deprived of. I didn’t exist for him. I was just the magicless child that caused mother’s death. Another guilt I carry around with me through this pathetic life.
And then there was my twin, the one person who was supposed to be by my side for as long as we lived. She was supposed to be my confidante, my rock, my shoulder to cry on. Instead, she was the sole reason I would cry at night soundlesslyunder the blankets. I can’t even remember a time when Aurora didn’t hate me with a scary ferocity. I used to wonder what I had done to deserve such unspeakable cruelty, but as I grew older, I gave up trying to understand. I accepted the reality that some people are born evil, just as others are born weak.
My grandmother died the following year of faemonia, a terrible disease that eats you from the inside out, and things took a turn for the worse.
While grandma was alive, my sister would find ways to torment me that were, well, child-play. And she would sweet-talk her way out of anything. My bruises? Oh, poor Aimee, she’s just clumsy. She has two left feet and a frail body. The puppy incident? Oh, some predator must have entered the shed at night and killed the helpless animal.
But after grandma died, there was nobody left to care for me, to offer me a warm smile or a kind word. Just torment after torment, each abuse more soul-wrenching than the last, until I ran away as far as I could, and never looked back.
The frigid air hits me all at once as soon as I step out of the Twinkling Meadow. I should have stopped long enough to grab a cloak from the changing room, but it’s too late now. I’m not going back. I’m vaguely aware that I’ve also left my trusted dagger behind, and it feels wrong to walk out in the open unprotected. But there is no way in hell I can turn around now.
“Nothing’s going to happen,” I say to myself. “Just make a run for it. You can get your dagger back tomorrow.”
I start running through the empty streets, the night still thick and menacing. The clouds cover the sky, not letting the moonlight cast its shine on the cobbled roads. At least this way, nobody still up at this ungodly hour will see me in the darkness, running only in my bejeweled bra and thong. Just a few more turns and I will reach home, where I can barricade myself in the safety of my room, and focus on banishing the nightmare.
I’m so lost in my thoughts, in the thudding of my heart, and in the sour taste in my mouth, that I don’t realize right away that something is off. The silence is eerie, as if the entire world is holding its breath in the presence of a mighty predator.
Two outlines seem to peel themselves off from the shadows on the buildings in front, and come to stand in the middle of the road, bringing my feet to an abrupt stop.
Two sets of bloody red eyes watch me in unison, the vampires’ faces not betraying anything. Shit, I recognize the one on the left. It’s the same damned creature that bumped into me in the crowd yesterday. The same arrogant smirk, standoffish posture, and coffee-brown long braids.
My blood freezes in my veins. That was no coincidence then.
I try to assess my whereabouts, taking one step, two steps behind me, but I bump into a hard chest. They grab my hands, forcing them to my back, and cold stone bands clasp unforgivingly to my wrists. I thrash in my captor’s hold, kicking my feet backwards, trying to hit him in his shins, but it’s no use. I’m overpowered in two moves, another reminder that I am just a powerless girl with no magic.
“Let me go, you fucking bloodsuckers! You can have your fill of blood from anyone willing in this town. I am not your dinner.” Seething, I stare at the vampires dead in their soulless eyes. I will not show them fucking fear, even though I feel it consuming my insides.
“Well, of course you’re not, pretty princess,” the creature on the left says, smirking at me, showing off just the tip of his fangs. “We haven’t been scouring the lands for you for so long, just for a quick bite. Although your neck does look tempting.” His laugh is full of malice, and he gestures to the one behind me. “Lukha, secure our asset for transportation.”
What the fuck do they want then? Before I can gather my wits about me, they shove a cloth against my nose and mouth.A pungent, acrid smell fills my nostrils. The world tilts on its axis, my body swaying, and my knees hit hard on the pavement, before darkness swallows me whole.
“He’s going to be pleased,” is the last thing I hear before I lose consciousness.
CHAPTER 5
Aimee
Dreamless.
I rise from a deep, untroubled slumber for the first time in what has to be, well, ages. I can’t even remember the last time I slept with no nightmares to wake me up in the middle of the night. But something is different. The caress of the sheets on my skin is way softer than I’ve ever felt. The coolest, smoothest fine silk embraces me like a lover’s reverent whisper in the heat of passion.
I open my eyes and look around the massive bed draped in gunmetal gray sheets.
What the actual fuck? Where am I?
I shake my head slightly, trying to dissipate the haze around my brain, and then it all comes crashing down to me.
The Twinkling Meadow.
Khain.
The nightmare.
Running.
The vampires…
I’ve been fucking kidnapped.
