Chapter 1: The familiar scent

Lumiére's POV

Next!”, a man standing by the door called.

Lumiére Colton sighed for the umpteenth time. He would give anything to not be here right now. This was the fifth lady they were interviewing today and his patience was running thin.

A lady walked into the room and stood in front of the sofa he was sitting on.

She had pale and soft skin, dark hair, irresistible red lips, sparkling green eyes, long limbs, and a body that any man would desire.

She was flawless yet she bored him.

Her demeanor screamed that she was confident in herself, but that didn’t stop her from fidgeting before him, like she wasn’t sure of herself anymore. He didn’t blame her, not everybody could stand ten feet close to him and not fidget. He was the Vampire High Lord after all.

“ My Lord, this is Valerie Adhan. She is 78 years old. A first class born vampire. The only daughter and heir to the Adhan clan. She has been trained since she was a child to be a bride to a noble like yourself. She is far better than all the other ladies we have seen today and did I forget to mention that she is a middle blood vampire too…”, Middleton ranted with a rather annoying smile on his face.

Lumiére rubbed his temple, “ too young…” he commented.

“ exactly what makes her the perfect wife for you, my Lord. She is still young and could fully carry a child for you, an important duty that becomes difficult as they age…” Middleton countered him immediately.

The thing was that, he wasn’t ready to get married yet and bound himself to a woman just for the sake of producing an heir, a child that would continue their legacy. He was fully away of his duty to protect the vampire existence and he was going to carry out said duty when he was ready.

He was High Lord Lumiére Colton - The fifth. The only living high blood in the Vampire race and the most powerful vampire. He would chose a wife when he was ready.

“ Like I said earlier, she’s too young…” he repeated, hoping that this time, Middleton would harken to his words. The old man had a knack for ignoring him.

“ I think you still need to …” Middleton started to say but he cut him off with a wave of his hand.

The old man sighed and turned to the lady who was now shaking on her feet in front of him, “ thank you for your time, Miss Adhan” he said.

Lumiére rolled his eyes as he watched her rush out of the room. She couldn’t even stand being next to him for ten minutes and they wanted him to marry her, he scoffed.

Middleton sighed before waving at the man by the door, “ call in the next person” he ordered.

“ That would be enough…” Lumiére muttered.

Middleton folded his arms across his chest with an angry expression as he stared down at him.

“ I’m sure you’re aware that your stalling wouldn’t help you… we have a few days to the full moon and it is expected that you must have found a wife by then, and is ready to bind with her. Except you want to wait for another hundred years which may I remind you would lead to the extinction of the vampire race…” Middleton lectured him, something he had been doing lately.

He stared at the man, “ I wouldn’t call nine months a few days, Middleton…” he told the Middle born vampire.

“ oh be serious for once!, Is this how you are going to behave every time we conduct a selection. That was the 45th lady we’ve interviewed this week!” Middleton fired.

Lumiére knew when his eyes turned red, he wasted no time in standing up and invading the man’s personal space. He turned his red eyes to glare at Middleton. He could tolerate a few tease from him, but the man should know when to stop.

“ I will choose the vampire who is fit to be my wife. The ladies you presented today are not fit to occupy that position. Do you have a problem with my decision?!” he spoke abruptly.

Middleton took a step back and lowered his head, “ no, my Lord…” he whispered.

“Good,” Lumiére said. He picked up his coat from the seat beside him and walked towards the door.

The door opened before he even had the chance to touch the door knob and the most annoying person walked in.

The clang of her red heels reminded him once again why it was important to choose a vampire for a wife, that wasn’t her.

Ervine Ramona was a living nightmare, his living nightmare. He had grown up with her and the older vampires expected him to make her his wife. She was everything that the High Lord’s wife was supposed to be. She had the right connection and marrying her would also give him the rights to rule the west sanctuary since she was the only heir to the west.

“ What do you want Ervine?” he spat at her.

She chuckled, “ no need to get your pants tight Lumiére, I heard you were conducting a selection today and came to check out my competition…” she spoke with such arrogance as she walked towards him seductively.

Another reason why he couldn’t marry her, she feels that she was better than every single lady in the vampire race. Her level of arrogance rivals his. The only difference was that he had every right to be proud; she didn’t.

He sighed, “ and…?” He quipped.

Ervine batted her eyelashes, “ trust me, those ladies are way below me in the ladder, they look fake, same breed, over zealous and too artificial… stop this nonsense and marry me…I think it’s time to stop Lumiére…” she said with a smirk.

He watched her take a seat; the one he had been sitting on earlier.

Lumiére shook his head and rolled his eyes, “ in your dreams Ervine…” he told her, walking out the room. He could hear her rambling as he slammed the door on her.

“ My Lord, the elders are waiting for you at the East sanctuary…” his guard told him. He looked up at the man who had delivered the message.

“ tell them I have another engagement and to choose another meeting day…” he told the guard. He had no time to sit in a meeting with older vampires that bicker among themselves like kids.

“ pardon, My Lord?” the guard stammered.

Lumiére stopped walking, turning sharply to face the guard behind him, who stopped walking too and lowered his head.

“ Well, I’m sure you heard what I said. See you then” Lumiére said as he snapped his finger, making himself invisible.

“ my Lord!” the guard shouted.

The good thing about being a high blood vampire was that he could make himself invisible and move around unnoticed like he was doing right now. He smirked as he walked down the hall, leaving the confused guard who was looking for him behind. Knowing the vampire council elders, the guard was going to be in a lot of trouble for loosing him.

“ Lord Lumiére has escaped, everyone stay on guard!” someone suddenly shouted through the speakers in the hallway.

He sighed as he heard the alarm system go off. the house was going to be on lockdown very soon until he was found. He quickly made his way towards the entrance of the building and slipped through the door, before it was automatically locked.

They were all searching for him now, not knowing that he was already outside. He looked up as the weather started to change, it was going to rain soon. He smiled, glad that he didn’t have to use his powers to make it rain.

He walked past the gates and continued walking even as the rain drops fell on him, until he arrived at the city that was not far from the sanctuary where most of the vampires lived.

People were everywhere, and almost all of them were heading to one direction or the other. He snarled as they walked past him. They were busy beings, humans.

There were few vampires too that lived in Avalon city, but most tend to stay close to the sanctuary where it was safe for them.

They couldn’t see him since he was invisible, so he was going to use that to his own advantage.

The scent hit him hard. Humans, he hated them. He was so disgusted by them and wondered why they were still in existence. He was also disgusted by the vampires who fed from them.

The traffic light turned red and the cars stopped moving. At least, humans obeyed traffic regulations. He followed other pedestrians crossing the road even when it was not necessary for him.

As he was walking, a beautiful lady bumped his shoulder. He was about to continue moving until he noticed something. He suddenly stopped and turned to the lady who had also stopped walking.

His eyes widened as he whispered to himself, “ you’re not supposed to touch me, because I’m invisible”.

He inhaled the air to know if the lady was human, but she was. She was fully human, not half vampire or anything, Human.

“ Excuse me” a voice suddenly called out to him.

Warm hands reached towards him to touch his shoulder, making him flinch. He lifted his eyes to see bright green eyes staring back at him. Her eyes looked eerily familiar, he thought.

“ are you okay?” she asked him, moving closer to cover and protect him with the umbrella she was holding from the rain.

Lumiére stared at her in shock. What was happening, she could see him?!.

He wanted to push her off because she was human and he hated their scent, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to do that. She felt familiar and her scent enveloped him.

People looked at her with puzzled expression, obviously Wondering why she was standing alone, under the rain and talking to no one like she was crazy.

“ Are you okay sir?” she asked him again.

Lumiére continued to stare at her in shock. She was human, there was no mistaking it.

“ you’re not supposed to see me…” he finally told her, sparing a glance at the ID card hanging on her neck. He saw her name, She worked at the University, he noticed.

She stared at him with an amused gaze, “ then I must be talking to a good looking ghost…” she laughed.

“ Good-looking ghosts who shouldn’t be walking under the rain without an umbrella. I would have given you mine, but I feel like you have no problems walking under the rain… very well then sir, ” She said and then tipped her head slightly, A sign of farewell, before walking away.

He stood there staring at her as she walked off. He didn’t know how long he was standing at the middle of the road, but when a car passed him, he realized that he had been there for long and the rain had stopped.

At that moment, he knew that he was supposed to run before the sun comes out, since he wasn’t wearing his sunlight ring.

One name kept running through his mind as he ran – Raven Blackwell.