VLADIMIR'S POV Present Day.California 2024. "Sire?" Why would Sven call me sire? He always like to pretend that that aspect of me didn't exist. That I was just a regular being... "Sire?" The voice called urgently. I whirled around, ready to unleash hell at the soft voice intruding my time with my beloved but instead, I found Lilya shrinking back from me. I snarled at her, utterly furious that her presence has snatched away my memories of him. It's been a long time since I heard his voice so clearly. But now, this stupid fool has just chased him away. "What do you want?" I growled and fisted her hair in my hands. I continued pulling until I felt her hair strands peel off from her scalp and she whimpered. I pushed her away from me, doing my best to calm myself More than anything, I hate the fact that I never heard her come in. When did I become so weak as to be lost in my thoughts for so long that I didn't hear her?I turned away and tried to bask in the luxury of once again bei
Vladimir's POVBeing born a vampire afforded me many advantages over your everyday vampire. I didn't have an insane aversion to the sun, I moved faster than the speed of light, I could live for all eternity and oh, my sense of smell was a hundred times better than a human’s. But there were times just like this when those abilities were more a curse than blessing. I wasn’t even in the room yet and the stench of terror and fetid piss was already clogging up my nostrils. So much so it was hard not to make my eyes water. I pressed my hand against the fingerprint scanner and waited for the flash of green that let me through. When the flash and beep sounded, I turned the heavy silver ornamental handle counterclockwise. I made three rounds before heavy mechanical dings rang throughout the basement.
Vladimir's POV (Continued)I shook my head and rid myself of the unwanted walk down memory lane. I refocused all my attention on the ball of disgust and reconsidered my strategy. Letting him go was not an option, especially not now. When I'd found out which Braille was Arthur’s, I’d had to take him, regardless of the consequence. It was a plan I had been perfecting for years and he hadn’t taken the bait until I had been able to utilize Jack Stenson against him. But Arthur himself had sealed his fate when he stole from me. Ordinarily, I just wanted to know for a fact how he was related to the Puhvels. He looked nothing like them and he was a complete wuss, a trait no single Puhvel of my knowledge had ever exhibited.
Vladimir's POV Unfortunately, the hunters, their affiliates and the lesser witches were the only ones I’ve been able to bring to ruin. The seven sisters -the ones who had caused the actual destruction- were still in the wind. How generations had been able to evade me for two centuries was still mind boggling. Natural evolution helped them more than anything else. They settled into their new environments and married, changed names, gave birth, divorced or died, making it almost impossible to track them. I found their friends, siblings or children, but never those who had torn my world to pieces. Eventually, I found one sister in Africa. Actually, I found her grave. I’d exacted my revenge on her offspring instead. Then a strange thing had happened at the house of the fifth sister -yes, each of them had a specific number they held. I remembered sta
Vladimir's POV (Continued) “w-w-water.” Only my superior hearing was able to decipher the barely whispered words. I prowled back to him, giving him my undivided attention. “Water eh? I’m afraid I’ve got none for you. I do have news of your precious Josie though.” He spasmed, then hacked painfully for several seconds. I waited until he tired himself out before continuing. “Are you trying to tell me something Arthur?” “S-s-stay a-away f-from her.” Arthur had developed the terrible habit of stuttering ever since he came to my abode. “And what will you do if I don’t?” I drawled. “T-the p-
"I know that they are the seven most powerful witches in history. A new sister is inducted only after the death of the previous sister and the mark of the seven chooses its bearer. Rumors have it that they are immortal. No sister has died in almost three hundred years." The mark being the hexagon with an eye in its middle. Arthur also made a point that was worthy of being noted. The mark chose who the next sister was. So the replacement for the fifth sister was not necessarily her daughter. I filed the information away to contemplate later. "I also know that they are planning something big. It's something that they have been planning for several centuries. I heard that they hate your kind deeply, but despise you more than any other vampire. They didn't like that you were able to unite almost all the van in [ge world and made yourself king. It is not your right. The right to rule supreme in the supernatural realm does not belong to those
Grayson's POV The sun was peeking behind a sea of clouds and the windy air had a brittle bite to it. All of it served to make this cold Tuesday morning rather depressing. It was a perfect reflection of my mood. After my chat with Stravos, I went back home and tossed around on my bed until the sun came up. Seven hours of tossing and turning and I was back where I had started, no solution in sight. Vladimir and Josie were on a collision course and the result of it will mean the end for us all. But how was I to stop it without losing my reason for living? I slammed the door of my car and stomped up the curved driveway of the Braille Manor. This route was one I had taken a thousand times, but today, it felt like I was heading to the gallows. Today, I was going to seal my fate and let g
Grayson's POV (Continued) When I was seventeen, dad had almost committed sucide. I had only been able to exact a promise that he wouldn’t try such ever again when I swore to complete his mission. A mission that was beginning to look like it would be the end of me. Promise made, I had joined the guild when I was eighteen and enlisted in the army because father had thought it was good for me. Thirteen years later and two tours of Afghanistan, I was unemployed and cursing the day I promised my father that I would complete his mission. Glaring at the bronze double doors, I cursed my existence, and hers. Protecting her had destroyed my parent’s marriage and now it was about to snatch my love from me. But what could I do? I made a promise to my father to always protect her. I blew out a gust of frustrated breath and tried to keep my temper in check. Josie had n