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27 Not Here For Food
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2025-04-29 20:07:17
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Fated In Darkness 28 A Long Wait ( Adrian’s Point of View)
AdrianNatalie was perfect — a beauty crafted for me alone, even if she didn’t know it yet.Her body knew. Her soul knew.But her mind was still catching up, still caged by the fragile logic of human life.When I felt the string tighten in my chest — that sharp pull of fear — I knew it wasn’t mine. It was hers.The one I had waited centuries for. The one I had been told would never come.Being a vampire with a soul had its curses. I had sired a few, built a new bloodline stronger than the old ways, but nothing filled the hollow ache inside me. Nothing dulled the loneliness that shadowed me through endless lifetimes — through wars, through plagues, through the rise and fall of civilizations.I had lost friends, lovers, allies. I had buried them all. And yet I remained.Always waiting. Always incomplete.Unlike the strigoi before me, I could not simply choose a mate and bind her to me by force or tradition. Fate had to choose for me. And until Natalie, it never had.I had begun t
Last Updated : 2025-04-29Fated In Darkness 29 At The Door
AdrianMilo stood there, my father’s old assistant, holding a carton of wine bottles at his feet.The realization hit me. I had completely forgotten I had instructed him to stock the lake house.But even as relief started to creep in, something else made me pause. Milo was uneasy. Too uneasy for something as simple as a delivery."Master," he said, bowing his head in deference, recognizing not just my power, but who I was — his Sire, his Lord.I stepped back slightly, a grim understanding settling over me.I was not like the others. Not strigoi. Not dhampyr.I was something more. Stronger. Older. A bloodline born pure, untwisted — built from power the strigoi could only envy.I could survive on human food. I could walk freely under the sun. I had forged a new race — my own clan — stronger than anything the old world could birth.But strength came with its burdens.My body was almost invincible. My mind sharper than most. My instincts nearly flawless.And yet, my heart — th
Last Updated : 2025-04-29Fated In Darkness 30 A Cold Way Out
Adrian"Please," Graham rasped, still clutching my leg. "If she fails the transformation, she'll die. And even if she lives, I'll be powerless. I have no sons. She’s all I have left. Either way, my bloodline ends."His voice cracked under the strain. His grief clung to the air, thick and suffocating. He wasn’t wrong — but it didn’t change anything.I had seen this before — heads of families, desperate and broken, coming to me with bleeding hearts and empty hands, begging for a different fate.But my answer was always the same."No," I said quietly, my voice like stone. "I’m sorry, Graham. I can't help you."He sagged against me, the last bit of hope draining from him."If I take you into my clan," I continued, "I would be breaking the treaty. The very foundation of the peace we all cling to. When my bloodline broke from the strigoi, it was a war that could have ended us all. We reached an impasse. An agreement was forged: I would not take or turn what belonged to Volodym
Last Updated : 2025-04-29Fated In Darkness 31 The Drive Home
NatalieWe slipped into Adrian’s car in silence, the soft click of the doors closing feeling louder than it should have.I could sense the weight of his disappointment as he gripped the steering wheel a little too tightly, his jaw set in quiet frustration.He had ended the interruption quickly, whoever it was, but the damage had already been done. My mother’s call had cut the evening short, bringing an abrupt end to what was supposed to be our first real chance to just be—no past, no obligations, no shadows trailing us.I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.“Sorry about the interruption,” Adrian said gently, stealing a glance at me. His eyes softened when they met mine, but he quickly turned his focus back to the road.“It’s okay,” I murmured, though the words felt hollow. I stared out the windshield, watching the world blur by in shades of grey and gold, but my mind wasn’t in the car anymore.My mother’s voice had been steady on the phone—too steady. I knew her calm tone we
Last Updated : 2025-05-02Fated In Darkness 32 Home
NatalieAs I stepped out of the car, the night air wrapped around me, cool and still. I closed the door gently, expecting Adrian to follow, but when I glanced back, he was still seated behind the wheel, hands resting casually, eyes following my movement with quiet curiosity.I hesitated, then leaned against the window, suddenly aware of how fast my heart was beating.“I didn’t want to seem too forward,” I began, chewing on the inside of my cheek, “but… would you like to come in? I mean, just to meet my mom.”As soon as the words left my mouth, I cringed and instinctively covered it with my hand. God, why did that sound like a proposal? My face flushed with heat, and I scrambled to undo the damage.“Not like we’re getting married or anything…” I added, forcing a laugh that came out too breathy, too nervous. My mouth opened again to explain further, maybe soften the awkwardness, but I gave up and sighed instead, defeated.Adrian let out a full, warm laugh—one of those genuine, deep ones
Last Updated : 2025-05-03Fated In Darkness 33 How Did You Meet
Natalie“So,” my mother began, folding her hands in her lap with a polite smile, “how did you two meet?”There was a hint of curiosity in her voice, carefully masked but unmistakable to me. She wasn’t just making conversation—she was searching, trying to fit the pieces together.“Cainebrielle,” I answered simply, and her smile deepened. She turned her gaze to Adrian then, clearly expecting him to fill in the blanks.“A student?” she asked lightly, but I felt her eyes slide to mine, subtle and questioning. I hesitated, caught off guard. I didn’t know how much to say.Adrian, ever composed, answered before the silence stretched too long. “A former student,” he said gently. “But now, a sponsor.”His tone was modest, but I saw the flicker in my mother’s eyes—a flash of surprise she couldn’t quite hide. She was probably doing the math in her head. He was far too young, far too striking, to be a sponsor.“I’m filling in for my father,” Adrian added smoothly, catching the shift in her expres
Last Updated : 2025-05-03Fated In Darkness 34 What I Want
NatalieSomething had to have happened to make her say this—to even think about leaving Hawkshire so suddenly. My mother, for all her spontaneity, wasn’t careless. And this? This felt like more than a whim.“Is everything alright, Mom?” I asked softly, searching her face.She nodded, but the gesture was too quick, too rehearsed. She was lying. Not out of malice, but to protect me. She always did that—carried the weight quietly, so I wouldn’t have to.“You know we can’t,” I said gently, grounding the truth between us.Her eyes shimmered instantly, and she looked away. The dam behind her composure cracked, and tears welled in her eyes. She tried to blink them back, but I saw. I felt it.This confinement—this looming illness, this shadow of uncle Michael—was caging her spirit. My mother, who once danced barefoot in the rain, was now drowning in stillness.“I can’t sit back and let you sacrifice yourself for my sake,” she said, her voice trembling.I shook my head, tears already burning a
Last Updated : 2025-05-03Fated In Darkness 35 An Invite
Natalie“Let’s give it time, Mom,” I said softly, my fingers tightening around hers. “I have a plan.”She pulled back slightly to look at me, her eyes scanning mine—hope flickering there, desperate to latch onto anything that resembled a way out. “A plan?” she echoed, her voice tentative.“I’ll stall Uncle Michael,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “We won’t leave. Not yet. Not until your treatment is complete. And if he still insists on pushing this marriage nonsense… then we’ll go. But I want to be sure we’ve explored every option first.”She let out a small, bitter laugh and shook her head, though a trace of a smile tugged at her lips. “How long do you think you can stall your uncle?” she asked, her tone laced with dry sarcasm. “He’s not exactly the patient type.”Her laugh quickly faded, replaced by a flash of shame, and I saw it then—that quiet anger she carried. Not at me. At herself. At her body for failing. At the fact that her illness had become chains, not just around he
Last Updated : 2025-05-03
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Fated In Darkness 43 Getting Ready
NatalieI didn’t need to stop by my apartment—everything was already in place. My weekend bag was packed. I'd arranged everything with the quiet hope that Adrian would pick me up from my mother’s house tomorrow, just like he’d promised.When I got home, the sky was already beginning to shift into dusk. Two hours left before the ball.My mother greeted me with her usual calm, and without needing to ask, she helped me get ready—fixing my hair, touching up my makeup. I hadn’t planned to make a statement tonight, but with the chance Adrian might be there, I couldn’t help myself.Even if I wouldn’t say it out loud—I wanted to look good. Not just because of him, but maybe… because of what he made me feel.My gown was cream, soft as breath and stitched with tiny pearls that caught the light when I moved. It flowed around me, elegant and silent, with a slit running high up my right thigh—subtle, but bold. It showed more skin than a short dress ever could, and I wasn’t used to that.My hair wa
Fated In Darkness 42 It’s Thursday
Natalie“Friday after lectures,” I said, my voice softer than I intended.“No interruptions,” he promised.I sighed and then hung up. He’d called me twice since the last time we saw each other, and on both calls, I ended things quickly. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe I just didn’t want the conversations to feel finished. Hanging up meant there was still something lingering. It felt better that way—like we weren’t done.“Was that Adrian?” Lisa asked, dropping down beside me on the bench. We were at the campus park, under one of those old trees that always dropped leaves no matter the season.I smiled in her direction but didn’t say anything right away.“So, it’s official?” she pressed, eyes watching me closely.I hesitated.He had said things that day at his getaway home—things that hinted at something real. But I couldn’t tell if it had just been the heat of the moment, or if he’d truly meant it. And then there was the issue with my uncle, always looming in the background like a shadow I co
Fated In Darkness 41 Kappa Lunaris House 3
CarsonI stood the moment he walked in. My father’s presence always commanded respect, and I wasn’t about to break tradition. Grant and Willis greeted him formally, then quickly excused themselves, sensing the shift in the air.As soon as the door shut behind them, my father’s expression darkened.“Do you mind telling me why Adrian Balshov is asking for an apology?” he snapped, wasting no time with pleasantries.I exhaled through my nose, cursing silently. Of course this would be the first thing he brought up.“I didn’t get there in time,” I admitted. “It was a questioning gone wrong.”He nodded slowly, but it wasn’t approval—it was disappointment settling in.“He isn’t even part of the Strigoi clan,” he said. “So why take the fight to his doorstep? Why drag him into it?”“It was a mistake,” I said, standing my ground. “And I plan to apologise to him personally to make it right—”“You will do no such thing,” he growled, cutting me off.I tensed but stayed silent.“I’m tired of those t
Fated In Darkness 40 Kappa Lunaris House 2
CarsonI leaned forward slightly, voice lowering. “We might be supernatural, Grant… but we’re still closer to humans than you think. We’re just humans with superpowers.”Grant blinked, caught off-guard. “What are you trying to say?”“I’m saying that, unlike those blood-sucking creatures, we can die. And we do. They’re harder to kill. Much harder. Our parents told us about the war that led to the treaty—for a reason.”I paused, letting the memory settle between us.“All sides bled,” I said quietly. “But we bled the most.”Grant looked away, but I could tell the words had landed.“Yes, we can walk in the sun. Yes, we blend in better. That’s our edge. But don’t forget—Adrian’s clan has that ability too, and some of the strigoi offspring have adapted to a point. Some of them can tolerate sunlight now, even walk the streets in broad daylight. All it takes is one wrong move, and this whole campus turns into a battlefield.”“Needless to say,” I began, keeping my voice steady, “as much as I h
Fated In Darkness 39 Kappa Lunaris House
CarsonI couldn’t get her out of my head.From the moment our eyes met in the woods, she’d been lodged there—quietly, relentlessly. At first, I tried to shrug it off. Told myself it was nothing. A fleeting thought. A trick of adrenaline.But it wasn’t.Especially not after seeing him behind her. Adrian Balshov. The bloodsucker.Even that didn’t kill the feeling. If anything, it made it worse. Obsessive. Irrational. The pull I felt toward her was something I couldn’t explain—intense, magnetic, and entirely out of my control.I thought it would pass. I thought she'd be like every other girl—intrigued, flattered, maybe a little dazzled. But Natalie? She was different. She didn’t fall for smooth words or good looks. Or maybe she had… just not mine.Maybe it was his.Adrian Balshov—immortal, ancient, powerful. And if she knew the truth about what he was… how many lifetimes he’d lived… how unnatural his very existence was… would she still look at him the same way?Would she still want him?
Fated In Darkness 37 An Old Mistake
AdrianArya walked in five minutes later, moving with that same graceful arrogance she always carried like a second skin.“Took you long enough,” I said, not bothering to hide the edge in my voice.“I wasn’t in the club,” she replied, tone sharp—just a little too forward for my liking.I let the silence hang between us for a beat longer than necessary. Her tone was bold, but I understood where it came from.That confidence wasn’t entirely hers. It was inherited—gifted, even—by my mother.Ever since I turned Arya, over two hundred years ago, my mother had made her position clear: Arya was to be kept close.The girl had been the daughter of one of my mother’s closest friends—a bloodline she didn’t want to see vanish. Arya had been dying from a rare illness, the same one that had taken her mother. There was no surviving it.My mother asked me to turn her.And I did.Not out of compassion. Not because I felt some stirring in my undead heart. I did it because of obligation—to my mother, t
Fated In Darkness 36 Show Some Respect
Adrian“I plan to report everything to Dimitri,” Phelix said carefully, “so he can decide whether we hand over the vampire who turned her… or Geoffery, for deceiving us.”I didn’t need to think long. Either way, someone was going to die.But I knew how this would play out. It wasn’t the fault of the vampire who attempted the turning—he couldn’t have known. And Volodymir? He’d never sacrifice Geoffery. The man was too valuable.A loyal servant, head of a bloodline tied too deeply into the old covenants. Volodymir would rather extract a lifetime’s worth of debt from him than offer him up as payment. That was his style—slow control, not clean endings.I wasn’t about to say any of that to Phelix.He was only telling me this much because the fight had happened on my doorstep—outside my club.Otherwise, I’d be hearing it thirdhand like everyone else. He knew that, and so did I.The real conversation would happen behind closed doors—with Dimitri. The decisions, the maneuvering, the blood—non
Fated In Darkness 35 The Cause Of The Brawl
AdrianI left Natalie’s place with tension coiled tight in my chest. The moment I found out someone had ignored my direct orders, the night was over. Someone—bold or foolish—had decided to call my bluff and tell Graham exactly where I was.I had a few suspects in mind. Faces. Names. But I wasn’t the type to act on impulse. Not yet. I needed to be certain before making a move that couldn’t be taken back.Natalie hadn’t been happy about the interruption. I didn’t blame her. We'd barely had any time together before the knock interrupted us. Her eyes said everything—disappointment, frustration, the silent question she didn’t bother asking: Can you ever just stay?But this wasn’t something I could let slide. Neither of us was pleased, and both of us knew why.The club was packed—loud, chaotic, electric. Heat rolled off the crowd, thick with music and the scent of sweat, perfume, and blood.Most nights, I’d make my way to the VVIP section, let the night blur under strobe lights and velvet r
Fated In Darkness 35 An Invite
Natalie“Let’s give it time, Mom,” I said softly, my fingers tightening around hers. “I have a plan.”She pulled back slightly to look at me, her eyes scanning mine—hope flickering there, desperate to latch onto anything that resembled a way out. “A plan?” she echoed, her voice tentative.“I’ll stall Uncle Michael,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “We won’t leave. Not yet. Not until your treatment is complete. And if he still insists on pushing this marriage nonsense… then we’ll go. But I want to be sure we’ve explored every option first.”She let out a small, bitter laugh and shook her head, though a trace of a smile tugged at her lips. “How long do you think you can stall your uncle?” she asked, her tone laced with dry sarcasm. “He’s not exactly the patient type.”Her laugh quickly faded, replaced by a flash of shame, and I saw it then—that quiet anger she carried. Not at me. At herself. At her body for failing. At the fact that her illness had become chains, not just around he
