-Katherine-I watch over the New York skyline and the realization hits me that I’ve never truly had a moment to just step back and appreciate something as simple as a sunset. After years of living my life in survival mode, I’m always wondering if I should take this breather or if there’s something else to worry about.But Gabriel promised no work or outside life for the next two days; just us spending some much-needed time together in an expensive hotel suite. The idiot, paranoid part of me thinks it’s something else, while the exhausted part of me is thankful for the break. Gosh, I need to stop worrying so much.Taking a deep breath, I mentally decide to shrug off the nasty feeling and enjoy my time with only Gabriel. It hasn’t just been us since he had me locked up back in Las Vegas, and somehow that seems like forever ago. Speaking of the devil, he walks up behind me and slips his arms around my waist, and rests his chin on my shoulder.“Deep in thought there, little lamb,” he say
-Church-“They’ve just crossed the halfway mark and should be landing soon,”“I’ll be there before they arrive; let the others know,”“Yes, Pres,”I kill the call, and my hands fall to my sides, slowly balling into fists. This is the worst fucking thing that could ever happen; the entire council will be in town because of what Pres did. They’re all confident about this plan, but if there’s one thing that I’ve learned, it’s that once you get a slimy feeling about someone, no amount of sob stories will take it away.This Amara bitch is lying about something.Leaning over the stone balustrade, I watch as Valentine walks with her to his car and opens the door for her. There’s some hectic sexual tension between the two of them, and it fucking pisses me off. He’s tasted her blood, so he trusts her word, but I know a soul sucker when I see one. Christ, why won’t anyone listen to me about this?!“Deep in thought there, Beast,” Xenia’s voice comes up behind me just as Valentine drives off and
-Gabriel-I’m laying with Katherine in between my legs, holding up her hand and adoring the way my mother’s ring perfectly fits on her finger. As if it was always meant to be there. She’s naked while I’m only wearing boxers, so the ring isn’t the only thing I’m admiring.“Katherine Priest - who would have thought,” she says and I can tell she’s smiling, but she’s got something wrong.“Katherine Preutescu. Priest is just a last name my father took on when we moved here.” We all hated the name, but my father insisted on it since we had to hide from the council. It stuck even after they found us, though.“Oh, I wondered why your family tomb had that name and why Eirisse called you that. Well, either way, I’ll be happy to take your name and get rid of my own which means Death,” she says while twirling the ring around her finger.Katherine Preutescu; fuck, I love the sound of it.“What was your mother’s name?” she suddenly asks, snapping me out of my thoughts and threading her fingers with
-Gabriel-I bring the Harley to a stop outside of the designated meeting point, but even as excitement courses through my veins, something feels off. Church should be here along with Valentine, but I only see Church’s bike along with the others’ vehicles. After Church’s apprehension about Amara, I decided not to let her in on this meeting so she’s not aware of the hidden Vasile. “Priest,” the twins greet me when I walk inside the abandoned warehouse. They both look pumped and ready for what’s about to happen, knowing that they will finally get their revenge. I nod in greeting, then see Gustav standing off to the side with a tall, blonde man - a fucking spitting image of Kazimir.“Gustav,” I call and walk over to them. Gustav nods, and the blonde gives me a once over, then takes a step towards me. “Gabriel Preutescu, the man who would have been my brother-in-law,” he says casually, dropping my heart right into my feet with ease at those words.“What? Brother-in-law?” I ask, shaking
-Gabriel- A deathly silence falls over everyone when Ryker speaks and even I am left stunned. He did what we all said we would do… he just killed the entire fucking council except for the Vasiles. Axel has Kazimir pinned to the ground with his hand around his neck, both staring at Ryker when Kazimir jumps up and takes a careful step back. He looks at his dead comrades, all of them desiccated and eyes glazed over. “What… w-why are you here?” Kazimir stutters, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head when he looks at Ryker. Ryker turns his gaze on Kazimir and grins. “I don’t recall ever inviting you back here, Vasile. As per an arrangement I had with your father, the next time this fucked up council enters my country, you’re all dead. I’m just keeping my end of the accord.” He says, wiping his hands on his jeans. “But how… HOW-” “How did I know you were in town? I could smell you three cities over, Vasile. I allowed you and your sister to enter since you never truly stayed more than
-Valentine-I open my eyes, and it feels like a jackhammer is hitting me right between the eyes. Constant thrumming and my body hurts all over as if I’ve been in a sparring match with Gabriel. Immediately sitting up straight at the thought of my Maker, I realize my error too late when my eyesight goes white.“Easy there, cowboy; still got a buncha these in ya,” a soft, gentle voice speaks to me and slowly pushes me back down.“W-what… who…?” I stutter, trying to get my eyesight to focus on my surroundings, but all I see are stark white and bright lights. “Where… am I?”“In my clinic,” she answers again and I feel something being pulled out of my chest and clattering on a tray. “There ya go, good as new! Well, almost new; here.” A clinic? Wait, is this a human? She shoves the end of a blood bag in my mouth before I can ask her, and my bloodlust takes over. When that bag is finished, she hands me four more. I can feel my wounds slowly healing and my eyesight slowly comes back just as
-Valentine-“It’s about fucking time,” Church says with a grin as he walks through the clinic doors. “I thought you were a goner for sure!”I roll my eyes and catch the shirt he throws toward me. “I thought I was, too,” I admit while slipping the shirt on. “Good thing she found me.”Church crosses his arms. “Might wanna dial back on being thankful so soon after what Amara did. For all we know, this doctor has something to hide too.”I don’t want to admit to him that I thought the same thing, so I keep quiet. Amara had me fooled; she knew through me ingesting her blood, I’d be able to see her past. Little did I know she used Fae magic to tamper with flashes of her past. Yes, Kazimir killed her husband and took her daughter hostage, but she’s not too cut up about it.Because she fucking sold them for a chance to be Gabe’s wife. When that didn’t work, she came after me and that’s how I ended up here - so lonely and starved for love that I didn’t see the snake she truly was.By allowing h
-Autumn- They used to call us The Asa; medicinal women trained in human sciences as well as supernatural medicines and healing. We don’t have any magical powers, we’re simply humans trained and used by creatures who use our mortality against us. I used to hate it, but my seeing the women in my family heal so many, made me grow to love it. Now it’s my greatest passion and I get the rewards ten times over. Well… except for this afternoon when I was face to face with something that made my heart beat a little too fast for my liking. I try to focus on the paperwork in front of me, but my mind is not cooperating. Instead, all I can see are those seductive green eyes belonging to the definitely off-limits vampire, Valentine. When I found him that morning, I had decided to leave for work a little earlier - not something that I usually do. But the second I saw him, my instincts kicked in and I dragged the heavy, muscle-bound man into my tiny Mini Cooper. The rest is history, I guess, a